Market Place

During the regeneration, we have worked closely with partners such as Wokingham Town Council and Network Rail to improve areas like Market Place and Wokingham train station.  

To support the aims of the regeneration, and our wider environmental goals, we improved the layout of Market Place and adjacent streets to make it more welcoming and accessible to pedestrians. 

Working in partnership with Wokingham Town Council, who provided funding and helped shape the design, we paved over the access road along the western side of the town hall and significantly extended paving to the east by removing a vehicle turning. 

This created a larger and more level space for everyone to walk around, increasing the sense of safety and making it more pleasant and vibrant on market days.  

It also made it better suited to large public events like the town's annual May Fayre, fireworks parade or Christmas and Lunar New Year celebrations, and enabled a more relaxed atmosphere for customers using outdoor seats at cafés. 

By renovating the public space around the town hall, a striking Grade II listed Victorian Gothic building, we made this historic landmark more prominent and returned its surroundings to their quieter medieval roots.

A transformation to make everyone feel welcome 

By removing markings and bollards along Broad Street and Denmark Street, adding raised crossings and changing surface materials, we improved the area for all users.  

We reclaimed traffic lanes along both streets, reducing them to a single lane and creating more space for pedestrians, as well as disabled parking bays, cycle parking and unloading bays. 

This allows motorists to continue travelling through the town centre while proceeding carefully and giving way to pedestrians. It has created a greater sense of place, provided an economic boost through increased footfall and improved air quality. 

We replaced paving across the entire area with high-quality York stone to create a bold, clean and upmarket look. This linked it both tangibly and visually with the nearby Peach Place development and the refurbished Bush Walk. 

If utility firms dig up these stones, which they sometimes have to do, they’re required to replace them like for like – and we ensure they do this to protect the area’s unique identity over the years to come. 

Art and seating makes site a bigger draw 

The new paving includes five mosaics commemorating various historic aspects of the town including the granting of its market charter by Henry III in 1219 and the Heelas family, who were prominent in local business and played a part in Wokingham’s long-running silk trade. 

Two similar mosaics were installed at Peach Place, with three more at nearby Elms Field. We sponsored one, with the rest sponsored by other civic organisations. 

We also improved seating in the south-western corner of Market Place, again in line with our aim of encouraging active and sustainable travel. 

Thanks to Government funding, we installed a large upright sign in Denmark Street with a map showing walking and cycling links to other local landmarks. A similar sign followed in Broad Street in 2025, along with finger signposts across the town centre. 

The works on Market Place began in 2017 and finished in 2018, with some funding from developers building new homes in the borough.