Prehistoric artefacts have been found in the area, including a polished hand-axe from about 3000 BC found in the nearby hamlet of Exlade Street and on show in Reading Museum[2] and a 28 cm carved stone head Romano-Celtic, probably 1st–2nd century, with typical protruding eyes, exaggerated lips and flattened nose.

It is of white oolite limestone, and was found at Wayside Green, Woodcote, and is now in Reading Museum (Ref 401-78).

[4] Woodcote was first documented in 1109, when it was a dependent settlement of South Stoke, which in turn was a possession of Eynsham Abbey.

[7] Woodcote used to hold an annual sheep fair on the first Monday after St Leonard's Day (6 November).

[4] The earliest known record of it is from early in the 18th century, but the link with the feast day of the parish's patron saint suggests the fair may have begun in the Middle Ages.

[4] By 1920 most residents worked outside the parish, many commuting to either Reading or a RAF station at Goring Heath.

[4] The chapel was dedicated to St. Leonard and there is a record from 1467 of John Chadworth, Bishop of Lincoln, issuing a licence for services at it.

[4] Architectural evidence suggests that the chapel, which had an apsidal chancel, was much older and probably dated from the 12th century.

[4] The law obliged everyone to worship in their own parishes, so since 1595 the Rector of Checkendon had prosecuted people from Exlade Street and Woodcote in the local archdeacon's court for coming to his church.

[4] In response the faithful of Exlade Street and Woodcote petitioned John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury for permission to worship at Checkendon.

[4] Whitgift granted the request, so long as they continued to attend their parish church in South Stoke four times a year.

[4] In 1653 the faithful of Woodcote and Exlade Street petitioned for St. Leonard's to be made a separate parish, but their request was not granted.

It had two previous homes until in 1986, when Mrs Bella Saunders, the Chairperson at the time, along with the Management Committee began raising funds for a new building.