Berkshire
Castles Ascot and Battles
Small landlocked Berkshire more than makes up for its size by its impressive credentials, it has a long and impressive history as well as being the home to Ascot and Windsor Castle. Also known as the Royal County of Berkshire due to the presence of the castle, which is the largest oldest occupied castle in the world.
Berkshire is often described as quintessentially English with its pretty villages on the banks of the River Thames the castle the rolling hills and meadows and Lambourn with its racehorses. Berkshire also features large in English History with events like Magna Carta as well as Alfred the great who was born at Wantage.
Berkshire has its origins way back to the 840's and is one of the oldest in England. It may date from the 840s, which was the unification of Sunningum East Berkshire and Ashdown the Berkshire Downs, as well as the Kennet Valley.
Asser mentions the county and says it takes its name from the word Bearroc which is a Celtic word for tree, other records mention the word Beaurrucsir.
Berkshire was the the setting for many battles through the ages and is rich in history these include battles during the English Civil war as well as Alfred the Greats campaign. The battle of Ashdown 871 was an important victory for Alfred against the Danes.
The battle of reading in 1688 resulted in a decisive victory for supporters of William of Orange against James II who eventually fled to Ireland and then France.
The original county has been reduced in size by the boundary changes in the government reforms of 1974 with the northern part now being classed as Oxfordshire.
Other towns include
Abingdon
Didcot
Hungerford
Maidenhead
Newbury
Wantage
Towns in Berkshire
| Windsor and Eton |
Activities in Berkshire
Visit abcbritain's profile on Pinterest.