:''"Berks" redirects here. For the county in Pennsylvania, see
Berks County, Pennsylvania.''
Coat of Arms
'Berkshire' (
IPA: or say: Baak-shuh/-sheer); sometimes abbreviated to 'Berks') 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 goes back to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1958, and
Letters patent issued confirming this in 1974.
[1]
Berkshire borders the counties of
Oxfordshire,
Buckinghamshire,
Surrey,
Wiltshire,
Hampshire and
Greater London.
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 [1] 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
April 1,
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.
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
# Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
# Includes hunting and forestry
# Includes energy and construction
# Includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Geology, landscape and ecology
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.
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 may be in part due to the sweeping boundary changes however. In 1831 there were 146,234 people living in Berkshire, by 1901 it 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
Politics
Berkshire is a
ceremonial county and
non-metropolitan county and it is unusual in England in that it is the only such county with multiple districts but no
county council. The district councils are unitary authorities but do not have county status.
In the
unitary authorities the
Conservatives control the
West Berkshire,
Windsor and Maidenhead,
Wokingham and
Bracknell Forest councils,
Labour control
Reading council.
Slough is under no overall control.
Since the
2005 general election, the
Conservative Party dominates, controlling 6 out of 8 constituencies.
Slough and
Reading West are both represented by the
Labour Party.
''See also:
List of Parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire''
Places of interest
See also
★
Thames Valley
★
References
1. Berkshire, The Royal County Berkshire Record Office
External links
★
Berkshire information
★
Royal Berkshire History
★
Photographs of Berkshire
★
Reading Borough Council
★
Wokingham Borough Council
★
footstepspast.co.uk — Berkshire connections
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