Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire. 1911. pg1

B E R Iv S H I R E
BERKSHIRE, commonly called Berks, is a southern in­ The W hite Horse, which is the figure of a horse cut
land shire, on the south bank of the navigable Thames, out of th e tu rf on the side of th e chalk hills, and left
which forms its northern boundary m ark, and in the white, is by m ost thought to have been done by the
valley of which it lies, approaching -within 20 miles of old E n glish ; it m ay be seen from a distance of fifteen
miles and gives name to the h ill in which it is cut
London, and is about m idway between the m outh of
and to the adjoining valley. Berkshire was invaded by
the Thames and the Bristol Channel. The county is
the Danes, w ith whom several battles were fought, a
of very irregular shape, w ith its greatest length of 43
very famous one at Ashdown, in w hich Ethelred and
m iles from east to west, and with its greatest breadth
Alfred the Great beat the Danes. Th e battle of Ethanof 30 miles from north to south at the western end.
dane, in which A lfred defeated th e Danes, is also
The area was originally 462,224 acres, but by the
thought to have been fought in Berkshire. D uring the
“ Local Government Board’s Provisional Orders Confir­
middle ages frequent forays took place in this county,
mation (No. 12)
A ct,” which
came into operation
but of its many castles few rem ain: of W allingford and
Septem ber 30, 1895, the Berkshire portion of Shalbourn
Donnington there are rem ains.
parish was transferred to W ilts, the W ilts part of
In the Parliam entary wars m ost of the Berkshire
H ungerford added to Berks, and the parish of Combe
towns were the scenes of conflict. Two great battles
added from H ants; by these changes the area of the
were fought at New bury in 1643 and 1644. Reading
adm inistrative county and county borough of Reading
was besieged and ta k e n ; Abingdon, Windsor Castle
is now 460,367 acres; the population in 1831 was
and Donnington were attacked.
146,234; in 1841, 161,759; in 1851, 170,065; in 1861,
A t Abingdon and Reading were large Benedictine
176,256; in 1871, 196,475; in 1881, 218,263; in 1891,
establishm ents richly endowed, of which the abbots
238,709; in 1901, 252,571; and in 1911, 271,028,
were m itred. Of these fine buildings there are exten ­
viz., m ales, 131,818; females, 139,210. The number of
sive rem ain s; those of the G rey F riary at Reading
houses in 1901 w a s : inhabited, 53,460; uninhabited,
are converted into a church called G re y fria rs; of the
3,918 ; and building, 564.
Benedictine monastery _at H urley some rem ains are to
The Isis, or Tham es, divides it on the north from
be seen.
Oxfordshire and Buckingham shire; on the south-east
Avington is a very ancient church, said to be Old
it is bounded by Surrey, on the south by Hampshire, English or N orm an; there are also specimens of Norman
and on the west
by W iltshire.
There is m uch
in St.wood­
Nicholas church. Abingdon, and in W ilford church.
land, in which grow hazel, oak, ash, beech and alder.
The main river is the Tham es, on the northern
The southern part of the county rises to the chalk border, which bears large craft throughout its length
range, but in the west the oolite begins. The great to London and the sea, and by canal opens the way
chalk range runs through the middle of the w est to to W iltshire, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Oxford, Birm ing­
th e south of Wallingford, and joins the Chiltern Hills ham , the Midland Counties and the N orth.
The
and Marlborough Downs. Inkpen Beacon is the h ighest Thames, from its winding course, has a waterway
point of the chalk in the county, being 1,011 feet in between Lechlade and Windsor of n o m iles, and passes
height. The Berkshire Downs rise a t W hite Horse Hill Oxford, Abingdon, W allingford; Reading, Henley (Oxon),
to 893 feet high.
Marlow (Bucks), Maidenhead and Windsor. This river
Berkshire seems, like most of the southern shires, to for its entire length is popularly called the Thames,
have come into the possession of the Belgians before but its proper name is the Isis until it receives the
the Roman period, by the expulsion of the W elsh or smaller stream the Tham e, which, flowing by Dor­
“Celts. Julius Caesar found the country in the power of chester (Oxon), joins the Isis between Day’s lock and
the A tribates, though perhaps the Bibroci and Segon- Shiliingford Bridge. Am ong its fish are trout, barbel,
tiaci had also settlem ents within its bounds. Berkshire pike, eels, carp, tench, chub, roach, dace and crayfish.
had several Roman towns, stations and roads. Spinae Between the chalk downs in the west and the Thames
(Speen, near Newbury), is the only well-known station. runs its feeder, a sm all river 20 miles long, called the
There are camps and walls of various ages at W alling­ Ock, falling into the Tham es at Abingdon.
ford— Uffington oastle on the top of W hite Horse H ill;
The Kennet is the chief river of South B e rk s ; it
Sagbury Castle, on Letcom be D ow ns; Hardwell Camp, rises in W iltshire, passes by Hungerford, Avington,
near Uffington; Sherbury Camp, near
Faringdon; Kintbury (Kennetburv) and Newbury, where the Lam Caesar’s Camp, on Bagshot H eath; Ashbury Camp, or bourne, which rises a t Lam bonrn, falls in ; it after­
Alfred’s Castle, near Lam bourn and also camps on wards receives the Emborne, or Am burn, and falls into
Sinodun H ill and Badfbury Hill. Many of the hills have the Tham es at Reading. The Kennet is navigable for
barrows in them and some seem to have cromlechs. about 20 m iles, from N ewbury to R ead in g; it has
On the chalk hills near Lam bourn are some rem arkable some fine trout and other fish. The Emborne rises in
piles of large stones, one of which is called W ayland the parish of Inkpen and form s the Ham pshire boundary
Sm ith’s Cave, but which some m aintain to have been of the county for about 15 m iles; the Blackwater forms
habitations of the ancient Welsh. A t Kingston Lisle, a portion of the southern Boundary. The Loddon Tises
near Lambourn, is a curious stone, called a blowing in Hampshire, and flows through East Berks into the
stone, bored, and on blowing into which a sound is Tham es below Reading. Besides the navigation of the
given forth which can be heard six miles off. The Thames and the Rennet, the county is crossed by two
English held Berkshire as part of the kingdom .
^als, the W ilts and Berks in the north, proceeding
W essex, but it was sometimes under the Mid-English. * from Abingdon by W antage into W ilts, where it joins
BERKS.

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