Portal:Berkshire
Welcome to the Berkshire portal
The Royal County of Berkshire, commonly known as simply Berkshire (/ˈbɑːrkʃɪər, -ʃər/ ⓘ BARK-sheer, -shər; abbreviated Berks.), is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London to the east, Surrey to the south-east, Hampshire to the south, and Wiltshire to the west. Reading is the largest settlement and the county town.
The county has an area of 1,263 km2 (488 sq mi) and a population of 911,403. The latter is concentrated in the east, the area closest to Greater London, and includes the county's largest towns: Reading (174,224) Slough (164,793), Bracknell (113,205), and Maidenhead (70,374). The west is rural, and its largest town is Newbury (33,841). For local government purposes Berkshire comprises six unitary authority areas: Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham. The historic county included the parts of Oxfordshire south of the River Thames, which formed its northern border, but excluded Caversham and Slough.
The Berkshire Downs, a chalk downland and area of outstanding natural beauty, occupy the west of the county. They are the source of the River Kennet, which flows east through Newbury before meeting the Thames at Reading. The Thames then forms Berkshire's northern border, flowing past Maidenhead, before entering the county and flowing past Slough and Windsor. The south-east of the county contains Swinley Forest, a remnant of Windsor Forest now used as a forestry plantation.
There is evidence of prehistoric settlement on the Berkshire Downs, including the Iron Age Uffington White Horse, now in Oxfordshire. In the Anglo-Saxon period the region was contested by Mercia and Wessex, and Alfred the Great was born in Wantage, also now in Oxfordshire. Windsor Castle, which would become the official country residence of the British monarch, was built after the Norman Conquest. The county has been the site of several battles, particularly during the First English Civil War, when Reading and Wallingford were besieged two battles took place at Newbury, in 1643 and 1644. The proximity of the east of the county to London led to development from the nineteenth century, when Slough became an industrial centre and Bracknell was designated a new town. Software development and high-tech industry dominate the economy in the east, but the west remains an agricultural region. (Full article...)
Selected article
Southcote (/ˈsaʊθkət/ ⓘ) is a suburb of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Located to the south-west of Reading town centre, Southcote has a population of about 8,500 (as of 2011). The settlement lies primarily between the London-to-Bath road and the River Kennet.
The area was sparsely populated until after the Second World War, though excavations have revealed evidence of Paleolithic and Iron Age activity in Southcote, as well as Roman and Saxon habitation. By the time William the Conqueror undertook the Domesday Survey in 1086, Southcote was sufficiently established to warrant a Lord of the Manor, who at that time was William de Braose. From the 16th century onwards, Southcote Manor was owned by the Blagrave family, who sold the manor house in the 1920s. The area was subsequently developed into housing: much of the land changed from agricultural to residential. A large proportion of the land in Southcote not used for housing is classified as flood-meadow, providing flood plains between urbanisation and the River Kennet.
Southcote forms an electoral ward in Reading. The area is seen as a safe seat for Labour, as the Conservatives have not held a seat on the council since the 1980s.
Residents of Southcote generally self-classify as Christian. The male life expectancy in the area is lower than the national estimate, although the female expectancy is slightly higher. Claimants of out-of-work benefits (such as Jobseeker's Allowance) are more prevalent in Southcote than in surrounding areas. Attainment in education in Southcote is lower than the Reading average, as is residents' self-evaluation of health.
Near to the settlement is Southcote Junction, where the Great Western Main Line diverges into the Reading to Taunton line and the Reading to Basingstoke line. The railways were preceded by the Kennet and Avon Canal, which passes south of the settlement. Southcote lends its name to the 104th lock on the canal. (Full article...)
Selected biography
Sir Denys Lionel Page FBA (11 May 1908 – 6 July 1978) was a British classicist and textual critic who served as the 34th Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge and the 35th Master of Jesus College, Cambridge. He is best known for his critical editions of the Ancient Greek lyric poets and tragedians.
Coming from a middle-class family in Reading, Page studied classics at Christ Church, Oxford, and served the college as a lecturer for most of the 1930s. He spent the Second World War working on Ultra intelligence material at the Government Code & Cypher School based at Bletchley Park. In 1950, he was elected Regius Chair of Greek at Cambridge which he held until his retirement in 1973. Initially a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Page was appointed master of the university's Jesus College in 1959. He died of lung cancer in 1978.
Having published an edition of the poets Sappho and Alcaeus with fellow Oxford classicist Edgar Lobel, Page went on to write what became for some time the standard edition of the remaining Greek lyric poets, Poetae Melici Graeci (PMG) (1962). His other notable publications include commentaries on Euripides' Medea (1938) and Aeschylus' Agamemnon (1957). In 1971, he was knighted for his services to classical scholarship. (Full article...)
Topics
History: Battle of Reading (871) • Battle of Reading (1688) • First Battle of Newbury • Second Battle of Newbury • Siege of Reading
Geography: River Thames • Swinley Forest • The Ridgeway • Walbury Hill • Windsor Great Park
Towns: Ascot • Bracknell • Crowthorne • Earley • Eton • Hungerford • Maidenhead • Newbury • Reading • Sandhurst • Slough • Thatcham • Windsor • Wokingham • Woodley
Politics: Parliamentary constituencies • Parliamentary representation
Culture: Henley Royal Regatta • Museum of English Rural Life • Reading festival • Windsor Castle
Selected pictures
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Large red damselfly in Swinley Forest, Berkshire (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
Windsor Castle Upper Ward Quadrangle (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
Donnington Castle in Berkshire (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
Virginia Water Lake on the southern edge of Windsor Great Park (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
Slough Trading Estate plays a major part in making Slough an important business centre in South East England (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
Windsor Castle, viewed from the Long Walk (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
Reading Festival in 2007 (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
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The grandstand at Ascot Racecourse (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
A view of Newbury, Berkshire and its surroundings (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures)
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Did you know
- ... that today's funeral procession of Elizabeth II to Windsor Castle started at the gate to Shaw Farm?
- ... that Herbert James Gunn used a paper cut-out of Princess Elizabeth's corgi dog to help him paint his Conversation Piece at the Royal Lodge, Windsor?
- ... that three gasholders at the Windsor Street Gasworks were painted in the claret and blue colours of local football team Aston Villa?
- ... that comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?
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