Berkshire (pronounced 'Barksheer') is a
county in the south of
England, to the west of
London. It is also known as
Royal Berkshire, and this title was made official with a grant in the
1930s. The
historical county is one of the oldest in England, being reliably dated back to the setting of the county borders by
King Alfred the Great of
Wessex. The
administrative county, formed in the
1890s originally followed very similar borders to the historical county, but
Reading, as a
County Borough, was not part of this so
Abingdon became the county town. Following the reorganisation of the administrative counties in
1974,
Abingdon and the
Vale of the White Horse were transfered to
Oxfordshire,
Slough was added from
Buckinghamshire, and
Reading became the county town. In the
1990s the county council was abolished and the districts became
unitary authorities.
The county takes its name from a large forest of birch trees that was called Bearroc (Celtic for 'hilly') and was originally a transaction of land to King Cenwalh of Wessex. At this time, it only consisted of the northerly and westerly parts of the current county.
In the past the county town (capital) has been in Abingdon (which became administered by Oxfordshire when boundaries were changed in 1974) and Reading.
Other notable towns are:
The town of
Slough, in the historical country of
Buckinghamshire, became part of the
administrative county of Berkshire as part of the reorganisation of 1972. At the same time the following Berkshire towns, mainly in the
Vale of the White Horse, became administered by Oxfordshire:
External Links
Royal Berkshire History
