Reading is a town and unitary authority (the Borough of Reading) in the English county of Berkshire. It is located at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, halfway between London and Swindon off the M4 motorway. The name Reading is pronounced to rhyme with bedding (in IPA ).

Reading is an important business centre in South East England and is often referred to as the capital of the Thames Valley, with the headquarters of some major British companies and the UK offices of a number of major foreign multinationals, especially in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Oracle, Xansa and Sage.

It should be noted that, depending on the definition adopted, the town is not necessarily co-terminous with the borough. Thus, for example, the borough has a population of 144,000 in an area of 40.40 kmÂ², whilst the Office of National Statistics' definition of the urban area of Reading is significantly larger at 232,662 people in an area of 55.35 kmÂ². This latter area incorporates the town's eastern suburbs of Woodley, Earley and Lower Earley which are not within the borough. Reading is the 17th largest settlement, and the largest town, in England, based on the population of its urban area. It is also the largest town between London and Bristol.

Geography

Reading is located at , some 66 km (41 miles) due west of central London, 48 km (30 miles) southeast of Oxford and 64 km (40 miles) east of Swindon.

The centre of Reading is on a low ridge between the Rivers Thames and Kennet close to their confluence, reflecting the town's history as a river port. Just before the confluence, the Kennet cuts through a narrow steep-sided gap in the hills forming the southern flank of the Thames flood plain. The absence of a floodplain on the Kennet in this defile enabled the development of wharves off the unimproved Thames navigation.

As Reading has grown, its suburbs have spread in three directions:
*to the west between the two rivers into the foothills of the Berkshire Downs,
*to the south-east on the south side of the Kennet, and
*to the north of the Thames into the Chiltern Hills. However outside the central area, the floors of the valley containing the two rivers remain largely unimproved floodplain. Apart from one road across the Kennet flood plain, and the M4 looping to the south, the only routes between the three built-up areas are in the central area, creating road congestion there.

Reading has its own subregional catchment area, incorporating the towns of Wokingham, Bracknell and Twyford, plus large villages such as Pangbourne, Theale, Winnersh, Burghfield, Binfield and Shiplake.

Suburbs

Reading has a number of suburbs, both within the borough itself and within the surrounding urban area. The names and location of these suburbs are in general usage but, except where some of the outer suburbs correspond to civil parishes, there are no formally defined boundaries. The borough itself is unparished, and the wards used to elect the borough councillors generally ignore the accepted suburbs and use invented ward names.

The suburbs include :
*Calcot, Caversham, Caversham Heights, Churchend, Coley
*Earley, Lower Earley, Emmer Green
*Fords Farm, Horncastle, Little Heath
*Purley-On-Thames, Southcote
*Tilehurst
*Whitley, Whitley Wood, Woodley

History

St Mary's Church and market

The lion in Forbury Gardens â€" an unofficial symbol of Reading

The settlement was founded at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet in the eighth century as Readingum. The name is probably from the Anglo-Saxon for "(Place of) Readda's People", or (less probably) the Celtic Rhydd-Inge, "Ford over the River". It was occupied by the Vikings after the Battle of Reading (871), but had recovered sufficiently by its 1086 Domesday Book listing to contain around 600 people and be made a designated borough. The town was a place of pilgrimage in medieval times to Reading Abbey. In 1253 Reading's Merchant Guild succcessfuly petitioned for the grant of a charter from the King and negotiated a division of authority with the Abbey. The dissolution of the Abbey saw Henry VIII grant the Guild a new charter in 1542 with which to become a borough corporation to run the town.

By the end of the 16th century Reading was the largest town in Berkshire, home to over 3,000 people. During the Medieval period and Tudor times Reading grew rich on its trade in cloth, as instanced by the fortune made by local merchant John Kendrick. The town played an important role during the English Civil War; it changed hands a number of times, and despite its fortifications the longest siege was only ten days in April 1643. However the taxes levied on the town badly damaged its cloth trade, and it did not recover. Reading was also the only site of significant fighting in England during the Glorious Revolution with the Battle of Reading (1688).

The 18th century saw the beginning of a major iron works in the town and the growth of the brewing trade for which Reading was to become famous. Agricultural products from the surrounding area still used Reading as a market place, especially at the famous Reading cheese fair but now trade was coming in from a wider area. Reading's trade benefited from better designed turnpike roads which helped its establish its location on the major coaching routes from London to Oxford and the west country. It also gained from increasing river traffic on both the Thames and Kennet. In 1723 despite considerable local opposition the Kennet Navigation opened the River to boats as far as Newbury. This opposition stopped when it became apparent the new route benefited the town. The opening of the Kennet and Avon Canal in 1810 made it possible to go by barge from Reading to the Bristol Channel.

In 1801, the population of Reading was about 9,400. During the 19th century, Reading grew rapidly as a manufacturing centre. From 1832, the town returned two Members of Parliament. In 1836 the Reading Borough Police were founded. A reformed town council was introduced in 1839. The Great Western Railway arrived in 1841, followed by the South Eastern Railway, in 1849, and the London and South Western Railway, in 1856. In 1851 the population was 21,500. The town became the County Town (superseding Abingdon ) in 1867 and was given county borough status in 1887. By 1900, the population was 59,000 â€" large sections of the housing in Reading are terraced, reflecting its 19th century growth. The town has been famous for the "Three Bs" of beer (from 1785 dominated by the Simonds' Brewery - India Pale Ale was invented in Reading), bulbs (1807â€"1976, Suttons Seeds), and biscuits (1822â€"1977, Huntley & Palmers). In the 19th century the town also made 'Reading Sauce', described as a sharp sauce flavoured with onions, spices, and herbs, very like Worcestershire Sauce.

The town continued to expand in the 20th century, annexing Caversham across the River Thames in Oxfordshire in 1911. This expansion can be seen in the number of 1920s built semi-detached properties, and the 1950s expansion that joined Woodley, Earley and Tilehurst into Reading. Miles Aircraft in Woodley was an important local firm from the 1930s to 1950s. The Lower Earley development, started in the 1970s, was the largest private housing development in Europe. This extended the urban area of Reading up to the M4 motorway, which acts as the southern boundary to the town. Further housing developments have increased the number of modern commuter houses in the surrounding parts of Reading, and 'out-of-town' shopping hypermarkets.

Government

Although the largest town in Berkshire over many centuries, Reading had to wait until the 1974 County change to become the official county town of Berkshire (when the much smaller town of Abingdon moved to Oxfordshire). The Borough of Reading became a unitary authority area in 1998 when Berkshire County Council was abolished, and is now responsible for all aspects of local government within the borough. The borough council has made several applications for city status, but as of 2005 these have all been rejected. Despite this buses and car park signs use the expression "City Centre".

The town's borough limits now include the former villages of Caversham, Southcote and Whitley together with part of the village of Tilehurst, but exclude several settlements which are still part of the urban area. These settlements include the eastern suburbs of Woodley, Earley and Lower Earley which form part of Wokingham unitary authority, and the western suburbs of Calcot, Purley-On-Thames, Little Heath and areas of Tilehurst, which now form part of the West Berkshire unitary authority. The exclusion of these suburbs into Reading's official population was due to a need to increase the population of the two neighbouring unitary authorities when local authority boundaries were substantially reorganised in 1998, with the abolition and fragmentation of the former Berkshire County Council into roughly equal areas of population.

These changes have resulted in around 40% of Reading's former urban area and population (all within just 7 km / 4 miles of the town centre) being officially disassociated with the town since 1998. The exclusion of these areas from the auspices of Reading Borough Council is politically controversial, and proposals occasionally surface to include them. It is believed that Reading's chances of receiving City Status would be substantially boosted if these former suburbs were to be included within the town's official borough area, returning it to its true population of over 230,000 people and thus far too populous and expansive to be considered as a 'town'. There are many inconsistencies arising from the division of the borough, such as Reading Buses serving the entire Greater Reading conurbation, despite being wholly owned by Reading Borough Council.

However, the constricted nature of the borough also creates more serious difficulties for the town, as it attempts to develop and grow. The diminishing amount suitable land within the borough's boundary can bring the council in to conflict with those neighbouring it, who in turn have their own priorities and requirements. The longest running example of this is the planned third crossing of the Thames. So far, South Oxfordshire's politicians and residents, whose primary concern is maintaining the non-urbanisation of their region, have successfully opposed this. . As a consequence, the debate has at times become somewhat acrimonious between the opposing sides, and little progress has been made.

"However, the process has been painfully slow and it appears that, for every two steps forwards, there are three steps backwardsâ€"mainly because of the view of South Oxfordshire district council, which is being incredibly parochial about this matter. Meanwhile, Reading borough council is adopting strategies that prioritise local traffic in Reading, obviously to the detriment of through traffic. We have now reached the point at which we desperately need direct Government intervention to break the logjam between those local authorities.": - Mr. Rob Wilson MP (Reading, East), House of Commons debate

Reading and the surrounding area is divided between the parliamentary constituencies of Reading East and Reading West. Historically Reading was represented at various times by the members for the former Parliamentary Borough of Reading and the former parliamentary constituencies of Reading, Reading North, and Reading South.

Institutions

Religion

Reading Abbey

Reading Minster, or the Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin as it is more properly known, is Reading's oldest ecclesiastical foundation, known to have been founded by the 9th century and possibly earlier. Although eclipsed in importance by the later Abbey, Reading Minster has regained its importance since the destruction of the Abbey and is now the seat of the Bishop of Reading. The other two ancient parish churches in the town are those dedicated to St. Giles and St. Lawrence.

Reading Abbey was founded by Henry I in 1121. He was buried there, as were parts of Empress Matilda, William of Poitiers, Constance of York, and Princess Isabella of Cornwall, among others. The abbey was one of the pilgrimage centres of medieval England, it held over 230 relics including the hand of St. James. The abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during the Dissolution and Henry VIII had the abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon, hanged.

Education

Reading School, founded in 1125, is the tenth oldest school in England. It is based in Victorian buildings designed by Alfred Waterhouse on Erleigh Road. There are 6 other state secondary schools and 37 state primary schools within the borough, together with a number of private schools.

The University of Reading was established in 1892 as an affiliate of Oxford University, and moved to its London Road Campus in 1904. Reading was chartered as an independent university in 1926 and moved onto its new Whiteknights Campus in 1949. It took over the Bulmershe teacher training college in 1982, thus creating its Bulmershe Court Campus. All three campuses are still in use, although Whiteknights is by far the largest.

The more recent Thames Valley University, which also has campuses in Slough and Ealing, now runs what was previously Reading College & School of Arts and Design on two small sites in east Reading.

Libraries & Museums

The Reading Borough Public Library service dates back to 1877. The Central Library which was opened in 1985 contains the Reading Local Studies Library which provides books, maps, and illustrations of the history of the town and Berkshire.

The Museum of Reading opened in 1883 in the Town Hall, parts of which date back to 1786. The museum contains galleries relating to the history of Reading and its related industries and to the excavations of Silchester Roman Town, together with a copy of the Bayeux Tapestry, an art collection, and galleries relating to Huntley & Palmers

The University of Reading runs the Museum of English Rural Life, the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, the Cole Museum of Zoology, and the Harris Garden. In the suburb of Woodley, the Museum of Berkshire Aviation has a collection of aircraft and other artifacts relating to the aircraft industry in the town.

Healthcare

The principal National Health Service hospital in Reading is the Royal Berkshire Hospital, originally founded in 1839 but much enlarged and rebuilt since.

Infrastructure

Transport

Reading's location in the Thames Valley to the west of London means that it has always had a significant position in the nation's transport system. The town grew up as a river port at the confluence of the Thames and Kennet. Today both of these rivers remain navigable, although such navigation is exclusively leisure oriented. The locks of Caversham Lock, Blake's Lock, County Lock, Fobney Lock and Southcote Lock are also all within the borough.

Reading was also a major staging point on the old Bath Road (A4) from London to Bath and Bristol. This road still carries local traffic, but has now been replaced for long distance traffic by the M4 motorway which closely skirts the borough and serves it with three junctions (J10-J12). Within Reading, the Thames is crossed by both Reading and Caversham road bridges, whilst several road bridges cross the Kennet. There has long been a desire to construct a third bridge across the Thames, removing one of the town's bottlenecks and easing traffic congestion. The proposal is for it to be located to the east of the existing Reading Bridge, across the waterways of the flooded gravel pits . However, due to space constraints arising from the proximity of the country border, any bridge will have to pass through South Oxfordshire and this development has so far been blocked by its residents and politicians.

Reading is a major junction point on the national rail system, and as a consequence Reading station is the UK's second largest transfer point (after Clapham Junction), as well as serving heavy originating and terminating traffic. The main route is the Great Western Main Line, which runs west from London's Paddington station before splitting in Reading with lines serving the West Country (Swindon, Bath, Bristol) and South Wales. Secondary lines connect Reading with London's Waterloo station, Guildford, Gatwick Airport, Birmingham, Basingstoke, Southampton and the South Coast. A railway-operated express bus service named RailAir links Reading with Heathrow Airport.

Local transport is largely road-based, with significant peak hour congestion in the borough. A comprehensive and frequent local bus network within the borough, and a less frequent network in the surrounding area, are provided by Reading Buses. The A329M, A33 and A4 national routes link the town with junctions 10, 11 and 12 of the M4 motorway respectively.

Retail

Reading Broad Street

Reading is a major shopping centre. The principal shopping area is around Broad Street, which was pedestrianised in 1995. Broad Street is anchored at its east and west ends respectively by The Oracle and Broad Street Mall enclosed shopping centres.

There are three major department stores in Reading: John Lewis Reading (formerly known as Heelas), Debenhams and House of Fraser. There are also branches of the chains Marks and Spencers and British Home Stores.

The booksellers Waterstone's have several branches in Reading. Their Broad Street branch is of particular interest, as it is a remarkable conversion of a nonconformist chapel dating from 1707.

Besides the two major shopping malls, Reading possesses three smaller shopping arcades, the Bristol & West Arcade, Harris Arcade and Kings Walk, which contain smaller specialist stores.

Utilities

The wind generator at Greenpark produces enough green electricity for around 1,063 local homes.

Mains water and sewerage services are supplied by Thames Water plc, a private sector water supply company. Water abstraction and disposal is regulated by the Environment Agency. Reading's water supply is largely derived from underground aquifers, and as a consequence the water is considered hard.

As with the rest of the Britain, the choice of commercial energy supplier for electricity and gas is at the consumer's choice. Southern Electric runs the local electricity distribution network, whilst Transco runs the gas distribution network. One notable part of the local energy infrastructure is the presence of a 2 megawatt (peak) Enercon wind turbine at Green Park, which is wired to the local sub-grid. It was constructed in November 2005 and is owned by Ecotricity. This turbine can be seen from a large part of Reading, as well as from near junction 11 of the M4. The turbine has the potential to produce 3.5 million units of electricity a year, enough to power 1,063 local homes. When first erected, the turbine caused delays on the M4 as people slowed down to look.

BT provides fixed-line telephone coverage throughout the town, and ADSL broadband internet connection to most areas. Parts of Reading are cabled by NTL, supplying cable television, telephone and broadband internet connections. The dialling code for fixed-line telephones is 0118.

Culture

Music

Every year Reading plays host to two important festivals. The Reading Festival has been running since 1971, while WOMAD found a home in the town in 1990 . Internationally, it is perhaps for these two events that the town is best known.

The town has had mixed fortunes in creating home-grown artists over the years. Perhaps most notable is Mike Oldfield of Tubular Bells fame. More recently, The Cooper Temple Clause, Stuart Price and Morning Runner have had some degree of success. Also, new prog band Pure Reason Revolution originate from the area.

Reading plays host to a large number of semi-professional and amateur choirs and choral societies. Reading Festival Chorus has just celebrated its 60th anniversary. RFC sings a diverse music programme, with works like Mozart's Requiem, Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man in 2005 to Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and a summer programme of English and American Folk songs by Tippett and Aaron Copland.

Media

Reading has two local newspapers.
*The Reading Evening Post is an evening newspaper published on Mondays to Fridays.
*The Reading Chronicle is published weekly, on Thursdays.

Three local radio stations broadcast from Reading: Reading 107 FM, 2-Ten FM, and BBC Radio Berkshire. Other local radio stations, such as London's 95.8 Capital FM, Basingstoke's 107.6 Kestrel FM and Slough's Star 106.6 can also be received.

Sport

Reading Football Club, an association football club nicknamed The Royals, has played in Reading since 1871. Formerly based at Elm Park, the club has played in the 24,500 capacity Madejski Stadium home since 1998. For the first time in their history, Reading will participate in the elite Premier League in the season, having won the Football League Championship with a record breaking 106 points and 99 goals scored.

Reading is a centre for rugby union football in the area, with the Guinness Premiership team London Irish currently tenants at the Madejski Stadium. Reading is also home to another three senior semi-professional rugby clubs; Reading R.F.C., Redingensians R.F.C. and Reading Abbey R.F.C.. The town also plays host to a number of other football variants, such as Gaelic football's St. Anthony's GAA, Australian rules football team Reading Kangaroos, and American football team Reading Renegades.

Reading Hockey Club is presently one of the most successful clubs in the UK with National League and Cup honours. The Men's 1st Team currently play in the English Hockey League Men's Premier Division, whilst the Ladies 1st Team play in the English Hockey League Women's Division One. In 1997 Reading hosted the European Cup Winners Tournament, and in 1999, the National League Playoffs. More recently, Reading has hosted International matches. Reading's neighbours, Sonning Hockey Club, were the first club in Berkshire to be awarded the "Club 1st National Hockey Accreditation" for junior coaching and development.

The Reading Half Marathon is held on the streets of Reading in March of each year, with as many as 13,500 competitors from elite to fun runners.

The town is also home to Reading Greyhound Racing and the Reading Racers speedway team, and there is a velodrome at Palmer Park.

Like many Thames-side towns, Reading has several rowing clubs, representing both town and university. The local Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake provides training facilities, although much rowing is also conducted on the river itself. Dorney Lake, some 27 km (17 miles) to the east of Reading, provides a full international competition venue and will host the rowing events of the 2012 Summer Olympics. There are also several sailing lakes to the south and southwest of the town, the largest being Theale Lake close to junction 12 of the M4. These lakes are also popular with water-skiing and jet-skiing enthusiasts.

From 1984 to 1994, The Hexagon threatre was home to snooker's Grand Prix tournament, one of the sport's 'big four' Grand Slam events.

Literature

Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in Reading (HM Prison) from 1895 to 1897. While he was there he wrote De Profundis, which was published in 1905. After his release he lived in exile in Paris and wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol, published in 1908.

Jane Austen attended Reading Ladies Boarding School, predecessor of the Abbey School, in 1784-86.

Thomas Hardy painted a rather disparaging picture of the town, lightly disguised as Aldbrickham, in his 1895 novel Jude the Obscure.

T E Lawrence lost the first draft of his Seven Pillars of Wisdom at Reading train station.

Thomas Noon Talfourd, the judge and dramatist was born in Reading and later became MP for the town.

Mary Russell Mitford lived in Reading for a number of years and then spent the rest of her life just outside the town at Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield.

Charles Dickens was asked to stand as MP for Reading, but declined. He became president of the Reading Athenaeum. In his Bleak House, Esther Summerson goes to school in Reading.

Jerome K. Jerome did not warm to the town on his famous journey up the Thames in Three Men in a Boat (1888): "The river is dirty and dismal here. One does not linger in the neighbourhood of Reading". He does, however, recognise the historical significance of Reading in local history.

Other

A Reading edition of Monopoly is available, see Localized versions of the Monopoly game. Perhaps surprisingly, given its size and status in the South East, Reading is not yet officially a city, having missed out during the millennium celebrations when the Queen instead granted Brighton & Hove city status in 2000.

The interview show As It Happens, which airs on CBC Radio One in Canada, is notable for its mention of Reading. Frequently, after concluding an interview with someone in the UK, the host will describe the individual in relation to how far they live from Reading. For example, one might hear "That was professional bagpiper William J. Tweed from Biggleswade, which is about 81 miles north of Reading."

In 1974, the BBC filmed The Family in the town. The show, considered to one of the first reality television shows , followed the lives of the Wilkins family.

The chain roadside of restaurants Little Chef began in the town back in 1958. Its first branch was a small eleven seater venue.

Notable people

Notable current and former residents of Reading include :
* Henry Addington (former Prime Minister; donor of land for Royal Berkshire Hospital)
* Jacqueline Bisset (actress)
* Daniel Blagrave (former Member of Parliament and regicide)
* John Blagrave (early mathematician)
* Felix Bowness (jockey in hit BBC sitcom Hi-De-Hi!)
* Kenneth Branagh (actor)
* Angela Browning (politician)
* Richard Burns (rally driver)
* Deon Burton (professional footballer)
* David Byron (original lead vocalist with rock group Uriah Heep)
* Tom Derrett (Bassist)
* Marianne Faithfull (singer and actress)
* Hugh Cook Faringdon (churchman; last Abbot of Reading Abbey)
* Michael Foot (politician)
* Dawn French (comedienne)
* Ricky Gervais (comedian)
* Matthew Greener (musician; lead singer of band Morning Runner)
* Lenny Henry (comedian)
* Joseph Huntley (innovative biscuit maker)
* Stacy Keach (American actor and narrator)
* John Kendrick (merchant and mayor)
* William Laud (former Archbishop of Canterbury)
* John Madejski (entrepreneur and philanthropist)
* Mary Russell Mitford (author, poet and playwright)
* Sam Mendes (director)
* Jeff Minter (computer programmer)
* Liz Mitchell (singer and member of Boney M)
* Mike Oldfield (composer and artist)
* George Palmer (biscuit manufacturer, entrepreneur and politician)
* Stuart Price (Electronic musician)
* Lawrie Sanchez (manager of Northern Ireland FC)
* Ayrton Senna (Formula 1 champion. For a short period during the early stages of his career, he lived in Tilehurst. Following his death, a street was named in his memory.)
* Michael Sprott (professional boxer)
* Levi Stanley (King of the Gypsies)
* John Sykes (Heavy Metal/Hard Rock guitarist)
* William Henry Fox Talbot (early photographer)
* Fiona Talkington (radio broadcaster and presenter of Late Junction)
* Thomas Noon Talfourd (judge and author)
* Chris Tarrant (radio broadcaster and host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?)
* Rudolph Walker (actor and narrator)
* Alfred Waterhouse (architect)
* Neil Webb (professional footballer)
* Oscar Wilde (poet and playwright, author of The Ballad of Reading Gaol)
* Beth Winslet (actress)
* Kate Winslet (actress)
* Charles Thomas Wooldridge (soldier, convicted murderer, subject of The Ballad of Reading Gaol)

Reading, Berkshire: Encyclopedia BETA

Contents

Reading, Berkshire