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Originally the parish was heathland and common land covered in gorse and blackberries, with a few scattered settlements. Bricks used to be made at Tadley Common and the manufacture of besom brooms was, and still is, another local industry. Relics of these industries can be seen in the names of houses in the village such as Kiln House and Broom Cottage.
A congregational chapel was founded in Tadley in 1662; this may be identified with a chapel which was converted into the first village school in 1820.
In recent years Tadley has become a township, with residential estates covering the former heathlands. Development has occurred on either side of the Hampshire/Berkshire border following the growth of the Atomic Weapons Establishment at AldermastonAldermaston is a village in the English county of Berkshire, two miles north of Tadley. During the 1950s and 1960s the name Aldermaston became synonymous with the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston (AWRE) but in fact that establishment is in the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb. and the designation of BasingstokeBasingstoke is a new town in the county of Hampshire in the UK. It is the seat of the Basingstoke and Deane district. In 1996 it had a population of 86,600. Basingstoke is a prosperous town with an above-average standard of living and low unemployment. as a LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri overspill town in the 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends.
At one time, part of Tadley lay in the neighbouring county of Berkshire; the boundary has since been moved so that the entire town is now in Hampshire.
Tadley considers itself the home of the besom broom industry. This is the sort of broomA broom is a cleaning tool with a stick, the broomstick . Brooms have a long history of connection with witchcraft, almost universally regarding female witches. Some people speculate that in the Middle Ages, women publicly accused of being witches (or at that witches are traditionally said to carry around with them. The brooms that are used on the Queen'sGolden Jubilee in 2002, wearing her Canadian orders) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary), styled HM The Queen (born April 21, 1926) is the Queen regnant and Head of State of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland an premises are manufactured in Tadley.
North of Tadley is the large atomic weapons plant, AWE Aldermaston, where many anti-nuclear demonstrations have taken place through the years. The plant is one of the area's largest employers, and a large number of houses were built in Tadley during the 1950s/ 1960s to accommodate AWE workers. The plant is built on the site of a World War II airfield; Tadley streets such as Hangar Lane bear witness to its former usage.