| About
Berkshire |
| Berkshire
is a Home County in the South East of England. It is also
often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because
of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle
in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century
at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1958, and Letters
patent issued confirming this in 1974. Berkshire borders
Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Wiltshire and Hampshire.
Under border changes in 1995, it also acquired a border
with Greater London. The county town was Abingdon but
is now Reading. There is no county council with the highest
tier of local government being the unitary authorities
of West Berkshire, Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest,
Windsor and Maidenhead and Slough. |
|
| |
|
Berkshire History |
| 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 throughout
history, during Alfred the Great's campaign against the
Danes, including the Battle of Englefield, the Battle
of Ashdown and the Battle of Reading. During the English
Civil War there were two battles in Newbury. During the
Glorious Revolution of 1688, there was a second Battle
at Reading, also known as the "Battle of Broad Street".
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 an area known as 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, following the Local
Government Act 1972, 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 going to form part of the South
Oxfordshire district. In return, Berkshire obtained the
towns of Slough and Eton and part of the former Eton Rural
District from Buckinghamshire. 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. 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. |
| |
| Landscape
of Berkshire |
| 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. 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. 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 as the county
flower. |
|
