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B E R K S H IR E .

T h a m es and th e K ennet, the cou n ty is crossed by two
canals, the W ilts and Berks in the n orth, proceeding
from A bingdon b y W an tage into W ilts, w here it joins
th e K ennet and A von canal a t S e m in g to n ; the Kennet
and A von canal runs throu gh S outh B erks from N ew ­
b u ry by H ungerford into W ilts and thence b y Devizes
to B ath, and so b y the A von to B ristol.
B erksh ire is now well supplied w ith railw ay com ­
m u n ica tio n ; the chief railw ay is the G reat W estern,
th e m ain line of w hich enters th is cou n ty by Slough
(B uck s), w ith a branch th rou g h Eton to W indsor, thence
proceeds to M aidenhead b y T w yford to B eading, which
is a principal station, thence b y Fangbourne, M oulsford,
D idcot Junction and S teven ton , and so near W antage
and Uffington to Swindon and B a t h ; it has branch lines
from Didcot to O xford (w ith a sh ort line to Abingdon)
and from D idcot to N ew bu ry, th en ce to W inch ester,
g iv in g access to the S ou th of E n g la n d ; from M aiden­
head, down the T ham es to H igh W ycom be (B ucks),
th rou gh C o o k h a m ; from Cookham to M arlo w ; from
M oulsford to W a llin g fo rd ; from Uffington to F arin gd o n ; from T w yford to H e n le y ; from Reading to
B asingstoke on the London and S outh W estern, and
from Reading throu gh N ew bu ry to H ungerford and
D evizes, by th e Berks and H an ts E xten sion , thence to
B ath. T h e lines from O xford to the n orth place Read­
in g in d irect com m unication w ith the n orthern p arts of
th e kingdom .
The Reading, G uildford and R eigate lin e of the South
E astern and C hatham and S outh W estern railw ays,
connecting th e towns from w hich it is nam ed, crosses
the S ou th W estern a t G uildford and joins the South
E astern and C hatham and B rig h to n lines near R eigate,
thus u n itin g the town of R eadin g w ith th e whole of the
southern system of railw ays.
The S ou th W estern line starts from the same station
in B eading as the S ou th E astern and C h atham , and
passes b y W okingham , A sco t and Staines (from w hich
place is a branch to W in dsor), and afterw ards through
Richm ond to London.
T h e Lam bourn V a lley railw ay, opened in 1898, con­
nects L am bourn w ith N ew bu ry, on the G re a t W estern
line.
The cou nty is health y, w ith a good soñ, though the
hills T u n in to chalk. Th e valley of the Tham es has
v e ry rich ground, p articu la rly m eadow, and so have
the vales of the W h ite H orse and th e K ennet.
T h e m anu factures are n ot of im portance— some m at
and m a ttin g and sail clo th bein g the principal—
th ou gh Reading, N ew bu ry and A bingdon used to be
g rea t clothing to w n s ; this trad e is revivin g at A bin g­
don. A t R eadin g are th e large b iscu it works of
H u n tley and P alm ers, the R eading Iron W orks and
the g re a t seed establishm ent of S utton and Sons.
W h itin g is m ade a t K in tb u ry from th e soft upper
chalk. Som e considerable am ount of b oat b uildin g is
carried on. T h e produce of B erkshire is chalk, chert
and flint, clay, g ra vel and sand, corn, beans, apples,
cherries, onions, asparagus, tim ber, hoops, broom sticks,
osiers, carthorses, calves, b u tter, p ig s, sheep, wool,
besides trou t and other fish.
T h e county derives benefit from its position on the
riv er T ham es, w hich a ttra c ts num erous visitors for boat­
in g purposes, and also for inspection of the royal C astle
of W indsor.
T h e num ber of parishes is 198. B erkshire is in the
O xford C ircu it and has one court of quarter sessions
and 12 p etty sessional divisions, viz. :— A bingdon, Faringdon, H ungerford, Ilsley, L am bo u m , Maidenhead,
N ew bury, Reading, W allingford, W an tage, W indsor and
W okingham . S ittin g s are held in each case a t the place
g iv in g nam e to th e division.

[ k e l l y ’s

C oun ty C ourts are held at N ew bu ry and Reading,
which are included in C ircu it No. 45. R eadin g has
jurisdiction in bankruptcy.
Th e shire towns are R eadin g and Abingdon : b y an
Order in C oun cil of Septem ber 14, 1868, th e assizes
and sessions are to be held exclusively at R eading.
The county w as separated from S alisb u ry diocese in
1836, and is now in th e diocese of Oxford and arch­
deaconry of Berks, w hich is sub-divided into th e ru ra l
deaneries of Abingdon, Bradfield, M aidenhead, N ew ­
bury, Reading, Sonning, V ale of W h ite Horse, W a llin g ­
ford and W antage.
Th e m un icipal boroughs are :— A bingdon, population
in 1911, 6,809; M aidenhead, 15,219 ; N ew bury, 12,107;
Reading (county borough), 75,198; W allin gford, 2,716 ;
New W indsor/ 12,681; and W okingham , 4,352. O ther
towns are— Faringdon, 3,079; H ungerford, 3,040; and
W antage, 3,628.
B y th e R eading (Extension) Order, 19 11, w h ich cam e
into operation 9th Novem ber, 1911, R eadin g county
borough was extended to include parts of Theale and
Tileh u rst c iv il parishes and p art of C aversham (Oxon)
civ il parish and Urban D istrict, and the population
increased to 87,693.
T h e shire is divided into tw en ty hundreds (at Dom es­
day S urvey, tw enty-tw o). T h ey are B eynhurst, in the
e a st; B ray, in th e e a s t; Com pton, in th e M idland;
C harlton , in th e s o u th ; Cookham , in th e s o u th -e a st;
FaiTcross, in the M idland ('form erly T h a tc h a m );
Farin gdon , in the n orth -w est; G ranfield, in th e noTthw e s t; H orm er (form erly H ornim ere), in th e n o rth ;
Lam bourn , in th e w e s t ; K in tb u ry E agle, in the south ­
w est M idland (form erly K en n etbu ry and E g le y ) ; M oreton (form erly B rew bury), in the n o rth -east; Ock, in
the n o rth -e a s t; Reading, in the n o rth -e ast; Ripplesm ere, in the e a s t ; Sh riven h am , in th e n o rth -w est;
Sonning, in th e e a s t; Theale, in the n orth -e ast; W an ­
tage, in the M idlan d; and W argrave, in the east.
T h e registration districts a r e :—
No.
Place.
Area.
Newbury
44,216
114
H
ungerford
1 15
96,430
116
Faringdon
64,984
117
Abingdon
55,710
118
W antage
76,973
Wallingford
42,696
119
120
Bradfield
64,369
Reading
121
5,876
122
W okingham
44,401
123
Maidenhead
29,926
124
Eastham pstead
27,°33
Windsor
21,070
I2 5

Pop. in 1911.
22,864
16,116
12,946
18,731
>5,653
>4,975
20,238
7 5 ,>98
21,004
27,530
17,548
40,602

N o t e .— B y th e Reading (Extension) O rder, 1911,
which cam e in to operation Novem ber 9th, 1911, Reading
registration d istrict was extended to in clude parts of
Theale and T ileh u rst c iv il parishes in Bradfield reg is­
tration d is tr ic t; by th is alteration the area and popula­
tions of the two d istricts are as follows :—
Area.
Population.
Bradfield
...
62,606
17,528
Reading
...
7,639
77,908
The following list gives the several poor law unions, with
the parishes contained in them :—
A b in g d o n U n io n .

Abingdon
Abingdon St. Helen W ithout
Appleford
Appleton w ith Eaton
Besselsleigh
Binsey (Oxford Co. borough)
Burcot (Oxon)

Chislehampton (Oxon)
........
Clifton Hampden (Oxon)
Culham (Oxon)
Cum nor
Draycott Moor
Drayton
Drayton St. Leonard (O xon)