Welcome to Reading

Reading, the county town of Berkshire, is located on the River Kennet near its confluence with the River Thames, approximately 42 miles west of London and 17 miles north-east of Basingstoke.

The town has a population of around 222,700. Administratively it is within the Borough of Reading which covers an area of approximately 40 sq kms.

Set amidst the beautiful countryside of the Thames Valley this important university town owes its rapid expansion during the 19th-century to the arrival of the railways. Today it is a thriving commercial and retail centre with excellent leisure and entertainment facilities, and despite modern developments it retains some notable architecture and historic buildings. Its proximity to London and good transport links also make it an attractive base for commuters working in the capital.

The town's history dates from the 8th century. During medieval times Reading Abbey, founded by Henry I in 1121, attracted many people on pilgrimage. Reading's Merchant Guild was granted a charter in 1253 and, following the dissolution of the Abbey, Henry VIII granted the Guild a new charter in 1542 with which to become a borough corporation to run the town.  Reading became rich on its cloth trade and was the largest town in Berkshire by the end of the 16th century. The 18th century saw the arrival of ironworks and the growth of the brewing trade for which the town became famous.

Historically the town's economy was based upon its cloth trade. Today the town is an important business centre, often referred to as the capital of the Thames Valley, with the headquarters of major British companies and a number of foreign multinationals.

The name Reading is generally accepted to derive from the Saxon for "place of Readda's People", the name may be Celtic Rhydd-Inge or "Ford over the River" which fits the town's topography rather well. The river would, of course, be the Kennet, not the Thames.