Berkshire

For other uses, see Berkshire (disambiguation).

Berkshire
Shown within England
Geography
Status	Non-metropolitan and Ceremonial county
Origin	Historic
Region	South East England
Area - Total	Ranked 40th 1,262 km2 (487 sq mi)
ISO 3166-2	Consists of GB-BRC, GB-RDG, GB-SLG, GB-WBK, GB-WNM, GB-WOK
ONS code	Formerly 10
NUTS 3	UKJ11
Demography
Population - Total (2005) - Density	Ranked 26th 812,200 643 /km2 (1,670 /sq mi)
Ethnicity	88.7% White 6.8% S.Asian 2.0% Black.
Politics
No county council
Members of Parliament	Adam Afriyie (C) Richard Benyon (C) Phillip Lee (C) Fiona Mactaggart (L) Theresa May (C) John Redwood (C) Alok Sharma (C) Rob Wilson (C)
Districts
West Berkshire (Unitary) Reading (Unitary) Wokingham (Unitary) Bracknell Forest (Unitary) Windsor and Maidenhead (Unitary) Slough (Unitary)

Berkshire ( /ˈbɑrkʃər/ or /ˈbɑrkʃɪər/, abbreviated Berks) is both a ceremonial county and an historic county of England. The administrative county of Berkshire, including the Berkshire County Council, was abolished in 1998. The county is often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire as the royal residence at Windsor Castle is in the county; this usage, which dates from the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and letters patent were issued confirming this in 1974.

The ceremonial county has the same boundaries as the former administrative county, but the historic boundaries of the county were different. The county borders the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Wiltshire and Hampshire. However the Vale of White Horse district, including the towns of Abingdon, Didcot and Wantage, which had been in Berkshire for many years, was moved into Oxfordshire in the 1974 boundary changes. At the same time the towns of Slough and Eton were moved into Berkshire from Buckinghamshire.

In further boundary changes in 1995, the county also acquired a boundary with Greater London. Another reorganisation, in 1998, abolished the the county council. The highest tier of local government in Berkshire now consists of the unitary authorities of Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham.

History

Main article: History of Berkshire

Windsor Castle, viewed from the Long Walk

The county is one of the oldest in England. It may date from the 840s, the probable period of the unification of "Sunningum" (East Berkshire) and "Ashdown" (the Berkshire Downs, probably including the Kennet Valley). The county is first mentioned by name in 860. According to Asser, it takes its name from a large forest of box trees that was called Bearroc (believed, in turn, to be a Celtic word meaning "hilly").

Berkshire has been the scene of many battles. Alfred the Great's campaign against the Danes included the Battle of Englefield, the Battle of Ashdown and the Battle of Reading. Newbury was the site of two Civil War battles, the First Battle of Newbury (at Wash Common) in 1643 and the Second Battle of Newbury (at Speen) in 1644. The nearby Donnington Castle was reduced to a ruin in the aftermath of the second battle. The Battle at Reading took place on 9 December 1688 in Reading. It was the only substantial military action in England during the Glorious Revolution and ended in a decisive victory for forces loyal to William of Orange. It was celebrated in Reading for hundreds of years afterwards.

Reading became the new county town in 1867, taking over from Abingdon which remained in the county. Under the Local Government Act 1888, Berkshire County Council took over functions of the Berkshire Quarter Sessions, covering the administrative county of Berkshire, which excluded the county borough of Reading. Boundary alterations in the early part of the 20th century were minor, with Caversham from Oxfordshire becoming part of the Reading county borough, and cessions in the Oxford area.

On 1 April 1974 Berkshire's boundaries changed under the Local Government Act 1972. Berkshire took over administration of Slough and Eton and part of the former Eton Rural District from Buckinghamshire. The northern part of the county became part of Oxfordshire, with Faringdon, Wantage and Abingdon and hinterland becoming the Vale of White Horse district, and Didcot and Wallingford added to South Oxfordshire district. 94 (Berkshire Yeomanry) Signal Squadron still keep the Uffington White Horse in their insignia, even though the White Horse is now in Oxfordshire. The original Local Government White Paper would have transferred Henley-on-Thames from Oxfordshire to Berkshire: this proposal did not make it into the Bill as introduced.^{[citation needed]}

On 1 April 1998 Berkshire County Council was abolished under a recommendation of the Banham Commission, and the districts became unitary authorities. Unlike similar reforms elsewhere at the same time, the non-metropolitan county was not abolished. Signs saying "Welcome to the Royal County of Berkshire" have all but disappeared but may still be seen on the borders of West Berkshire District, on the east side of Virginia Water and on the M4 motorway.

Geography

Aerial view of Virginia Water Lake on the southern edge of Windsor Great Park

From a landscape perspective, Berkshire divides into two clearly distinct sections with the boundary lying roughly on a north-south line through the centre of Reading.

The eastern section of Berkshire lies largely to the south of the River Thames, with that river forming the northern boundary of the county. In two places (Slough and Reading) the county now includes land to the north of the river. Tributaries of the Thames, including the Loddon and Blackwater increase the amount of low lying riverine land in the area. Beyond the flood plains, the land rises gently to the county boundaries with Surrey and Hampshire. Much of this area is still well wooded, especially around Bracknell and Windsor Great Park.

In the west of the county and heading upstream, the Thames veers away to the north of the (current) county boundary, leaving the county behind at the Goring Gap. This is a narrow part of the otherwise quite broad river valley where, at the end of the last Ice Age, the Thames forced its way between the Chiltern Hills (to the north of the river in Oxfordshire) and the Berkshire Downs.

View from Combe Gibbet, looking north over the Kennet Valley

As a consequence, the western portion of the county is situated around the valley of the River Kennet, which joins the Thames in Reading. Fairly steep slopes on each side delineate the river's flat floodplain. To the south, the land rises steeply to the nearby county boundary with Hampshire, and the highest parts of the county lie here. The highest of these is Walbury Hill at 297 m (974 ft), which is also the highest point in South East England region and between London and South Wales.

To the north of the Kennet, the land rises again to the Berkshire Downs. This is a hilly area, with smaller and well-wooded valleys draining into the River Lambourn, River Pang and their tributaries, and open upland areas famous for their involvement in horse racing and the consequent ever-present training gallops.

As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the Summer Snowflake (a.k.a. the 'Loddon Lily') as the county flower.

Demographics

According to 2003 estimates there are 803,657 people in Berkshire, or 636 people/km². The population is mostly based in the urban areas to the east and centre of the county (Reading, Slough, Bracknell, Maidenhead, Wokingham, Windsor, Sandhurst, Crowthorne and Twyford being the largest towns) with West Berkshire being much more rural and sparsely populated, with far fewer towns (Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford and Lambourn).

The population has increased massively since 1831; this is largely due to Berkshire's proximity to an expanding London^{[citation needed]}. In 1831, there were 146,234 people living in Berkshire; by 1901 the population had risen to 252,571 (of which 122,807 were male and 129,764 were female).

Population of Berkshire:

• 1831: 146,234
• 1841: 161,759
• 1851: 170,065
• 1861: 176,256
• 1871: 196,475
• 1881: 218,363
• 1891: 238,709
• 1901: 252,571

Ceremonial County

Main articles: Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, High Sheriff of Berkshire, and Ceremonial counties of England

The ceremonial county of Berkshire consists of the area controlled by the six unitary authorities, each of which is independent of the rest. Berkshire has no county council. The ceremonial county has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff. The Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire is Mary Selina Bayliss, appointed in May 2008 and the High Sheriff of Berkshire for the year 2011 is Robert Barclay Woods CBE.

Berkshire districts

District	Main towns	Population (2007 estimate)	Area	Population density (2007)
Bracknell Forest	Bracknell, Sandhurst	113,500	109.38 km²	1038/km²
Reading	Reading	143,700	40.40 km²	3557/km²
Slough	Slough	120,100	32.54 km²	3691/km²
West Berkshire	Newbury, Thatcham	150,700	704.17 km²	214/km²
Windsor and Maidenhead	Windsor, Maidenhead	141,000	198.43 km²	711/km²
Wokingham	Wokingham, Twyford	156,600	178.98 km²	875/km²
TOTAL Ceremonial	N/A	825,600	1262 km²	643/km²

Population figures for 2007 estimates [1]. See List of English districts by population for a full list of every English district.

Politics

See also: List of Parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire

Berkshire is a ceremonial county and non-metropolitan county and it is unique in England in that it has no county council, or district council covering its entire area; rather it is divided into several unitary authorities, which do not have county status. It is the only non-metropolitan county to function in such a manner.

The Conservative Pary controls the unitary authorities of West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham and Bracknell Forest, whilst the Labour Party controls Reading and Slough.

In the 2010 general election, Conservative Party candidates were elected in seven of the eight parliamentary constituencies. Slough is the exception, being represented by a Labour MP.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Berkshire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British pounds sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added1	Agriculture2	Industry3	Services4
1995	10,997	53	2,689	8,255
2000	18,412	40	3,511	14,861
2003	21,119	48	3,666	17,406

Notes

1. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
2. Includes hunting and forestry
3. Includes energy and construction
4. Includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Industry

Slough Trading Estate plays a major part in making Slough an important business centre in South East England

Slough Trading Estate in Slough is Europe's largest Trading Estate and the worlds 2nd largest Trading Estate. 83% of the South East Daily income comes from Slough's trading estate. Slough Trading Estate is home to many major company headquarters such as Telefónica O2 U.K. also known as 02 UK. Slough is home to hunderes of company headquarters and has the most HQ buildings than any part of the UK. Slough is the most productive place in the UK and 5th most productive place in the world. The Trading Estate almost takes 30% of the town.

The global headquarters of Reckitt Benckiser and the UK headquarters of Mars, Incorporated are based in Slough. One of the Mars factories has been redeveloped and some production moved to the Czech Republic. The European head offices of major IT companies such as Research In Motion, Network Associates, Computer Associates, PictureTel and Compusys (amongst others) are all in the town. O₂ is headquartered here across four buildings. The town is also home to the National Foundation for Educational Research, which is housed in The Mere. Recent major brands include Nintendo, Black and Decker, Amazon.co.uk and Abbey Business Centres. Dulux paints are still manufactured in Slough by AkzoNobel which bought Imperial Chemical Industries in 2008. Slough is also home to HTC and RIM BlackBerry. The most noticable building in the trading estate is the Heat & Power Plant which is owned by Scottish & Southern Energy.

Slough Trading Estate is appealing to many organisations because it is right next to London Heathrow Airport, so it makes shipping easier to the factories and also a perfect place for Headquarter buildings. Slough offers more jobs than any other place in the UK excluding London & Birmingham. Just the 02 Headquarters has over 300,000 jobs. The Heat & Power Plant offers over 20,000 jobs. Segro which is the owner of the Trading Estate is one of the UK's most successful organisations, the company is owned by a Slough family and is worth over £800,000,000. They are still expanding the trading estate and over the next few years major construction projects across the trading estate will be made.

Bracknell has a small high-tech industry, home to companies such as Panasonic, Fujitsu (formerly ICL) and Fujitsu-Siemens Computers, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Siemens (originally Nixdorf), Honeywell, Cable and Wireless, Avnet Technology Solutions and Novell. Its success subsequently spread into the surrounding Thames Valley or M4 corridor, attracting IT firms such as Cable and Wireless, DEC (subsequently Hewlett-Packard), Microsoft, Sharp Telecommunications, Oracle Corporation, Sun Microsystems and Cognos. Bracknell is also home to the central Waitrose distribution centre and head office which is on a 70-acre (280,000 m²) site on the Southern Industrial Estate. Waitrose has operated from the town since the 1970s. The town is also home to the UK headquarters of BMW Group.

Newbury is home to the world headquarters of the mobile network operator Vodafone, which is the town's largest employer with over 6,000 people. Before moving to their £129 million headquarters in the outskirts of the town in 2002, Vodafone used 64 buildings spread across the town centre. As well as Vodafone, Newbury is also home to the UK headquarters of the pharmaceutical company Bayer AG, National Instruments, Micro Focus, NTS Express Road Haulage, Jokers' Masquerade, Newbury Parcels and Quantel. It also is home to the Newbury Building Society which operates in the region.

Agricultural produce

Berkshire has a number of traditional dairy farming areas and has been famous of its cheese production for centuries. Abingdon Abbey once had many dairy-based granges in the Vale of the White Horse (now Oxfordshire) and in the south-east of the county, Red Windsor Cheese was developed with elderberry marbling. Today, a number of distinctive cheeses are exclusively produced in Berkshire, including Wigmore, Waterloo and Spenwood (named after Spencers Wood) cheeses from the Wigmore family at Village Maid Cheese in Riseley [2] (adjoining the Duke of Wellington's estate); and Barkham Blue, Barkham Chase and Loddon Blewe from Two Hoots Cheese at Barkham. [3]

Sport

Horse racing

The new grandstand at Royal Ascot

Ascot Racecourse is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races, the same number as Newmarket. The course is closely associated with the British Royal Family, being approximately six miles from Windsor Castle, and owned by the Crown Estate.

Ascot today stages twenty-five days of racing over the course of the year, comprising sixteen Flat meetings held in the months of May and October. The Royal Meeting, held in June, remains a major draw, the highlight being the Ascot Gold Cup. The most prestigious race is the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes run over the course in July.

Newbury Racecourse in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury. It has courses for flat races and over jumps. It hosts one of Great Britain's 31 Group 1 flat races, the Lockinge Stakes.

Windsor Racecourse, also known as Royal Windsor Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Windsor. It is one of only two figure-of-eight courses in the United Kingdom, the other being at Fontwell Park. It abandoned National Hunt jump racing in December 1998, switching entirely to Flat racing.

Lambourn also has a rich history in horse racing, the well drained, spongy grass, open downs and long flats make the Lambourn Downs ideal for training racehorses.

Football

Reading vs Swansea in the The Championship at the Madejski Stadium

Reading Football Club is the only Berkshire football club to play professional football. Formed in 1871, the club is one of the oldest teams in England, but did not join the Football League until 1920, and first played in the top tier of English football in the 2006–07 season.

Newbury was home to Association Football Club Newbury, which was for a period one of only two football clubs to be sponsored by Vodafone (the other being Manchester United). In May 2006 Vodafone ended its sponsorship of the club, following which the club collapsed. A local pub team from the Old London Apprentice took over the ground temporarily and now compete in the Hellenic Football League as Newbury Football Club.

There are several amateur and semi-professional football clubs in the county. These include Slough Town Football Club, Thatcham Town Football Club, Ascot United Football Club, Association Football Club Aldermaston, Sandhurst Town Football Club and Windsor & Eton Football Club.

Rugby

Aviva Premiership team London Irish play at the Madejski Stadium. Please note that London Irish are a team based in Sunbury,Surrey and have no relations with the town Reading, Berkshire.

Newbury's rugby union club, Newbury R.F.C. (the Newbury 'Blues'), is based in the town. In the 2004/05 season, the club finished second in the National Two division earning promotion to National One. Newbury had previously won National Four South (now renamed as National Three South) in 1996/97 with a 100% win record. In 2010/11 the club finished bottom of National League 2S, with a single win and twenty-nine defeats. The club was founded in 1928 and in 1996 moved to a new purpose-built ground at Monks Lane, which has since hosted England U21 fixtures.

Slough Rugby Club & Windsor Rugby Club play in the Bekrs, Bucks & Oxon Southerm Premier League (5 leagues away from theAviva Premiership)

Ice hockey

The Bracknell Bees Ice Hockey Club are former national champions, who currently play in the English Premier League but have not been very successful in recent years.

Slough Jets also play in the English Premier League and are very successful, winning the play-offs in 2009–10 & 2007–08. they have finished in the top 3 in the last 6 seasons. They also won the EPIH Cup in 2010-11. Slough Jets have been in the Premier League since 1999.

Hockey

Slough Hockey Club is a very successful Hockey organisation, home to the Slough Ladies who play in the Womens Premier League. Slough Hockey club have 10 teams, most successful is Ladies First and Mens 3rd who play in Division 1 which is one below the Premier League. Slough Hockey Club is one of the most successful Hockey organisations in the UK.

Towns and villages

See the List of places in Berkshire and the List of civil parishes in Berkshire

Notable people

See also: List of people from Reading, Berkshire and List of people from Slough, Berkshire

King Edward III of England

David Cameron

Ricky Gervais

Berkshire has many notable people associated with it.

• Henry Addington, Viscount Sidmouth (1757–1844; former Prime Minister; donor of land for Royal Berkshire Hospital)
• Alexander Pope (1688–1744; poet)
• Prince Albert Victor (1864–1892; eldest son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII)
• George Alexander (1858–1918; actor and theatre manager)
• Jane Austen (1775–1817; author)
• Francis Baily (1774–1844; astronomer)
• Lucy Benjamin (1970; actress)
• Michael Bond (b1926; author, creator of Paddington Bear)
• Kenneth Branagh (b1960; actor & film director)
• Charlie Brooker (b1971; journalist)
• Richard Burns (1971–2005; rally driver)
• David Cameron (b1966; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since December 2005)
• King Edward III of England (b1312–1377; one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages)
• Emma Crosby (1977; television presenter)
• Uri Geller (b1946; mentalist)
• Ricky Gervais (b1961; comedian)
• Dani Harmer (b1989; actress)
• Chesney Hawkes (b1971; pop singer)
• King Henry I of England (1068/1069–1135; founded and buried at Reading Abbey)
• King Henry VI of England (1421–1471; King of England, born at Windsor)
• Nicholas Hoult (b1989; actor)
• Kate Humble (b1968; television presenter)
• Joseph Huntley (1775-?; innovative biscuit maker; founder of Huntley & Palmers)
• Elton John (b1947; lives in Old Windsor)
• Peter Jones (b1966; entrepreneur)
• William Laud (1573–1645; former Archbishop of Canterbury)
• John Kendrick (1573–1624; merchant and mayor)
• John Madejski (b1941; entrepreneur and philanthropist)
• Sam Mendes (b1965; director)
• A. P. McCoy (b1974; jockey and winner of the 2010 Grand National and the 2010 BBC Sports Personality of the Year)
• Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (b1982; spouse of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge)
• William Penn (1644–1718; founder of Pennsylvania)
• Lawrie Sanchez (b1959; former footballer and manager)
• Mark Stephens, solicitor and broadcaster, mediator, writer, educator and patron of the arts (b. Old Windsor 1957)
• Chris Tarrant (b1946; radio broadcaster and host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?)
• Jethro Tull (1674–1741; agriculturist)
• Theo Walcott (b1989; footballer, originally for A.F.C. Newbury)
• Neil Webb (b1963; professional footballer)
• Oscar Wilde (1854–1900; poet and playwright, author of The Ballad of Reading Gaol, and prisoner in Reading Gaol)
• Kate Winslet (b1975; actress)
• Will Young (b1979; singer-songwriter)

Places of interest

• Basildon Park
• Beale Park
• Berkshire Downs
• Bisham Abbey
• Blake's Lock
• California Country Park
• Calleva Atrebatum
• Combe Gibbet
• Donnington Castle
• Eton College
• Frogmore House
• Greenham Common
• Highclere Castle
• Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down
• The Living Rainforest
• Legoland Windsor
• Museum of English Rural Life
• Museum of Reading
• North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
• Reading Abbey
• Reading School Grade II listed building designed by Alfred Waterhouse
• Shaw House
• REME Museum of Technology
• Slough Museum
• Stanlake Park Wine Estate
• The Ridgeway
• Walbury Hill
• Watermill Theatre
• Welford Park
• Wellington Country Park
• West Berkshire Museum
• Windsor Castle
• Windsor Great Park

See also

• Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire
• High Sheriff of Berkshire
• Custos Rotulorum of Berkshire - Keepers of the Rolls
• Berkshire constituency - Historical list of MPs for Berkshire constituency
• Thames Valley
• Berkshire Record Office
• Schools in Berkshire

External links

• Berkshire at the Open Directory Project
• BBC Berkshire website
• Photographs of Berkshire
• Berkshire Enclosure Maps Digital copies of Berkshire enclosure maps and awards 1738–1883
• "Victoria County History: Berkshire". British History Online. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/subject.aspx?subject=5&gid=2. Retrieved 13 July 2009.