Sonning Common is a large village on the B481 road between Reading to the south and Nettlebed to the north. Once it was apparently a community of scattered cottages, farms and beerhouses. Local pastures were used for grazing and pigs were allowed to feed on beech mast in the woods.

The settlement was mainly on the road that leads to Kidmore End. However, in the first half of the last century housing began to spread southwards along the road towards Caversham and now Sonning Common is a dormitory village.

The village's Anglican church is the Church of Christ the King, a small, modern flat-roofed, rather unattractive structure. The other church is the Church of St Michael, which is Roman Catholic. This is also a modern building but is more pleasing to the eye!

Sonning Common's reputation has been enhanced in recent years by its status as a centre of the English wine industry.