Mapledurham is a small estate village on the north side of the Thames a few miles west of Caversham. Facing Mapledurham on the opposite bank of the river is the village of Purley-on-Thames which is effectively a suburb of Reading.

Visitors to the village are attracted mainly by Mapledurham House and Water Mill. Mapledurham house is a Grade I Country House. c.1585 with C19 alterations and extensions. Most of the village is a conservation area and there are 33 listed buildings in and around the village, including farmhouses, barns, stables, houses, cottages, statues, etc.

The Church of St. Margaret and Bardolf dates from the C13, although there have of course been restorations and alterations carried out since.

The Mill at Mapledurham is a working flour mill and is thought to be the only mill on the Thames still working and producing flour. The core of the present building dates from the 15th century. The Mill continued working until just after the Second World War. In 1980 it was restored and brought back into use.

Part of the classic war film The Eagle has Landed was filmed in Mapledurham and many sequences were filmed around the church. A mock Norfolk village was built in the car park of Mapledurham House. The village contained shops, a pub, a dairy, etc. of the period.