New! Forums
New! Local Links
Welcome to Berkshire

Home
Search
Site Map
Services

Our Hometown Sites

Hometown EnglandTM
Hometown CanadaTM
Hometown USA®
Hometown ForumsTM
Hometown CardsTM
Hometown Catalogs TM
Maineiac Jokes & GamesTM

Privacy Statement
Mission Statement
Values Statement
Company Profile
Press Releases
Contact Us

All pages Copyright © 2011
A2Z Computing Services, Inc..
All rights reserved.

Click to verify Better Business Bureau accreditation and to see a BBB report.

Select your town below for the fastest way to Community Information.

If your town isn't listed, let us know


If you have problems using the drop down list, then click here to use our site map.


Our hometown sites offer: Yellow Pages, Classified Ads, Guestbooks & Forums, Community Calendars, History and Trivia.

These Community Websites are part of a network of over 11,000 represented within the Hometown England Network of Communities. We rely upon and encourage all members of the community to participate in the development of these pages. So come on in and visit with us, see what our great communities have to offer and if you can't find what you are looking for, let us know by posting a question in our Community Forums so that a member of that hometown can reply to you or email you the answer.

Check out our new Local Link Directory and
Add Your Site
!
Click Here To Learn More!


Berkshire

Berkshire's Location within England
Berkshire's Location within England
Berkshire's Coat of Arms
Berkshire's Coat of Arms

Berkshire's Districts
Berkshire's Districts

  1. West Berkshire (Unitary)
  2. Reading (Unitary)
  3. Wokingham (Unitary)
  4. Bracknell Forest (Unitary)
  5. Windsor and Maidenhead (Unitary)
  6. Slough (Unitary)

Berkshire; sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a ceremonial and traditional county in the south of England, to the west of London and also bordering on Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Greater London, Surrey, Wiltshire and Hampshire.

It is also known as The Royal County of Berkshire — this title being made official with a grant in the 1930s.

Geography
Status Ceremonial and Non-metropolitan county (no county council)
Traditional county
Region South East England
Area
- Total
Ranked 40th
1,262 km²
NUTS 3 UKJ11
Demographics
Population
- Total (2003 est.)
- Density
Ranked 26th
803,657
636
Ethnicity 88.7% White
6.8% S.Asian
2.0% Afro-Carib.
Politics
Members of Parliament Adam Afriyie
Richard Benyon
Andrew Mackay
Fiona Mactaggart
Theresa May
John Redwood
Martin Salter
Rob Wilson

History

The county is one of the oldest in England, being reliably dated back to the setting of the traditional county borders by King Alfred the Great of Wessex. Following the reorganisation of local government in 1974, Abingdon (its traditional county town) and the Vale of the White Horse were transferred to Oxfordshire, Slough was added from Buckinghamshire, and Reading became the county town. On April 1, 1998 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.

Berkshire has been the scene of many battles throughout history, during Alfred the Great's campaign against the Danes, including the Battle of Englesfield, 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 small Battle of Reading

Geography & Geology

The highest point in the county is Walbury Hill at 297m (974ft). It is the highest point on Salisbury Plain and in the whole of South East England.

Kennet Valley
The Kennet Valley

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 of the county, with West Berkshire being much more rural.

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 and traditional county, and it is unusual in England in that it is the only administrative county with no county council. The district councils are unitary authorities but have no county status. In the unitary authorities the Conservatives control the West Berkshire, Wokingham and Bracknell Forest councils, Labour control Reading council, whilst the Liberal Democrats control the Windsor and Maidenhead council. Slough is controlled jointly between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.

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.

Settlements

The largest town in Berkshire by population is Reading, however possibly more famous is the town of Windsor, the most famous resident being Queen Elizabeth II.

By population:

Reading (144,000)
Slough (119,070)
Maidenhead (60,000)
Bracknell (52,000)
Newbury (32,000)

Due to the administrative changes in 1974 there are a number of towns which are no longer administered as part of Berkshire, but instead as part of Oxfordshire. These include Abingdon, Didcot, Faringdon, Wallingford and Wantage.

The above article in gray is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia Article titled:

 

[an error occurred while processing this directive]