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 heath lands. Development has occurred on either side of the Hampshire/Berkshire border following the growth of a government establishment in the 1950s and the designation of Basingstoke as a London overspill town in the 1970s.
Some inhabitants of Tadley lived in a part of Tadley that was in Berkshire, but now the borders have been moved so that all of the town is now in Hampshire.
Tadley is the home of the besom broom industry. This is the sort of broom that witches are traditionally said to carry around with them. The brooms that are used on the Queen's premises are/were made in Tadley.
North of Tadley is the huge atomic weapons plant, Aldermaston, where many anti-nuclear demonstrations have taken place through the years.
Tadley has a thriving pub industry - but tourists beware, as the locals might not greet you with open arms.
Tadley does not really have places of interest to visit, although there is a Roman wall and amphitheatre at nearby Silchester, the site of a big Roman settlement.