Theale is a large village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Reading and 10 miles (16 km) east of Thatcham.

The compact parish is bounded to the south and south-east by the Kennet & Avon Canal (which here incorporates the River Kennet), to the north by a golf course, to the east by the M4 motorway and to the west by the A340.

The village's history is a good example of how different modes of transport have achieved dominance in England over the last three centuries, from road to canal to railway and back to road again.

The landscape of the present parish is relatively flat, with expanses of level ground flanking the main road. It is dominated by the built-up area of the village. This is residential north of the bypass, and commercial south of it.

There were many wooded areas within the old parish before 2000, but these have been annexed by neighbouring parishes and the only named wood left is a tiny fragment in the south-east corner of the golf course next to the motorway called Further Clayhill Copse.

The River Kennet runs south of the village, and is here canalised as the Kennet & Avon Canal with two sets of locks and weirs (Garston and Sheffield Locks). It used to cut through meadows occupying a wide flood plain, but this were mostly dug out in the 20th century for gravel extraction and so replaced by a mosaic of lakes. The south-east and south boundary of the parish is now the canal. Just the other side, in Burghfield and Sulhamstead parishes, one of these lakes is now a Local nature reserve called Hosehill Lake.

Theale village has one lake within its residential built-up area to the far west, with privately owned houses flanking it on its north side but recreational walking possible to the south. This is also a flooded gravel pit, the Old Theale Gravel Pit. Two further such lakes are hidden away in a business park in the extreme south-east corner of the parish.

The village business with the highest public profile in the later 19th and earlier 20th century was Blatch's Theale Brewery, located in premises off the High Street. The brewery began operations in 1752, and was acquired by the Blatch brothers (William Henry and Frank) in 1854. The family went on to create an estate of twenty-two public houses in west Berkshire and north Hampshire, including the Bull which was the tap house. The firm sold its beer under a trademark of a stylised ear of barley. There was also a bottling plant, and bottled beers were "Pale Ale", "Brown Ale", "B.B.", "XXXX" (a barley wine) and "Genuine Stout".

The company gave up brewing in 1959 after its beer lost palatability, but bought in beer from Wadworth Brewery in Devizes to sell under its own label. This continued until the death of Harold Blatch, the last chief executive officer of the family, in 1965. His heirs immediately sold out to Allied Breweries trading as "Ind Coope" in 1965, and the beer brands were terminated. The brewery buildings were not sold and some survive, converted to offices, as "Brewery Court". The company offices were at 43 High Street, a listed building, and the Bull tap house adjacent is now owned by Wadworth.

Local competition in the village before the Second World War came from Simonds Brewery of Reading which owned the Falcon and the Bridge House Inn by the canal, and from Strange's Brewery at Aldermaston Wharf, which owned the Crown and the White Hart.

The street name Blatch's Close commemorates the firm.