Berkshire Information: Tickets, Venues, Events and More

‘Berkshire’ is a Home County in southeast England. It is also famous as Royal County of Berkshire due to the presence of royal residence of Windsor Castle here. It is circled by Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Greater London. It is one of the oldest towns in England that dates back to 840. This city derives its name from a forest of box trees called Bearroc.

This city evidenced many battles throughout its history during the campaigns of Alfred the Great against the Danes. Famous battles included Battle of Englefield, Battle of Ashdown and Battle of Reading. There were two more battles during the English Civil War. It faced a second Battle at Reading during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. It is also famous as ‘Battle of Broad Street.’

Berkshire County took over functions of the Berkshire Quarter Sessions under a Local Government Act 1888, covering an area known as administrative county of Berkshire. Its northern area became part of Oxfordshire with Faringdon, Wantage and Abingdon following the Local Government Act of 1972. Berkshire obtained the towns of Slough and Eton. The County Council was abolished on April 1, 1998 under the recommendation of Banham Commission hence the districts turned into unitary authorities.

As per the 2003 census estimates, Berkshire has 803,657 inhabitants. Most of its population is based to the urban areas. The city has seen steep growth in its population since 1831. This happened due to its proximity to an expanding London. There were 146,234 people inhabiting in Berkshire in 1831. Its population rose to 252,571 by 1901.

This city is divided into two clearly distinct sections with a boundary lying roughly on a north-south line through the centre of Reading. Its eastern section is situated to the south of River Thames that also forms the northern boundary of this county. The Thames veers away to the north of the county boundary in the west and heads upstream leaving the county behind at the Goring Gap.