Reading, Berkshire

**Reading** (pronounced: "Redding") is a large town in Berkshire in England. It is the largest settlement in Berkshire. It is home to about 230,000 people. Reading is found in South East England, between London and Bristol. The River Thames goes through the town. Reading replaced Abingdon as the county town of Berkshire in 1867.

## History

There is a large statue of a lion in Forbury Gardens, and local legend has it that the sculptor killed himself by jumping off the top because he had sculpted the legs wrong. The lion is a memorial to soldiers from Berkshire who were killed in Maiwand, (Afghanistan) in a war in 1880.

Reading is the home of a school which used to be a Hospital in World War I and World War II. It is named Redlands Primary School.

Madejski stadium is home to the Reading Football Club whose nickname is "The Royals". They are also known as the "Biscuit Men". The stadium was opened on 22 August 1998.

Reading is the largest town in England. Of course, there are larger cities in England but Reading has not been granted city status and it doesn't have a cathedral. Also, Reading is home to the Oracle, a huge shopping centre and a large university named University of Reading.

Reading began life as a Saxon Settlement. Reading was originally called Reada Ingas, which means people of Reada. Reada was a Saxon leader in the area with his tribe in the 6th century.

The Normans built a  wooden castle in Reading. It was later replaced by a stone castle. The king then demolished the castle in 1152 fearing it might come into the hands of his enemies.

Reading was an important centre in the medieval period, as the site of Reading Abbey, a monastery with strong royal connections

The Huntley and Palmer's biscuit factory was the biggest in the world in 1914 and one factory was built on Kings Road by George Palmer in 1846.

"The Blade" in central Reading is the tallest building in Reading. It is 86 metres tall. It is visible from many places in the town.

Palmer Park was founded by George Palmer and it has a statue of George Palmer in it. Palmer Park was built for his workers to rest and people still enjoy using the park today.

There is a very famous hospital called The Royal Berkshire Hospital. It was opened in 1839.

Lots of schools in Reading took part in "Beat The Street" in 2015.

## Notable people

TV presenter Chris Tarrant (_Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?_) and comedian Ricky Gervais are from Reading, and also actress Kate Winslet, who has a road named after her. Musician Mike Oldfield is also from Reading. Tony Sullivan (local legend) is also a resident in the town. The town has two universities and is famous for its rock festival. Reading is home to Championship football and rugby teams.

## Related pages

- Reading railway station
- Great Western Railway

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Reading
- **other name**: Borough of Reading
- **settlement type**: Town status in the United Kingdom, Town & Borough status in the United Kingdom, Borough
- **motto**: A Deo et Regina
<small>_With God and Queen_</small>
- **image skyline**: Reading, Berkshire montage.jpg
- **imagesize**: 280px
- **image caption**: From top left: the Reading Town Hall, Town Hall and St Laurence's Church, Reading, St Laurence's Church, the Maiwand Lion, the Town Centre skyline from the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading Abbey and The Oracle, Reading, The Oracle
- **blank emblem size**: 140px
- **image map**: Reading UK locator map.svg
- **mapsize**: 200px
- **map caption**: Reading shown within Berkshire
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Sovereign state
- **subdivision name**: United Kingdom
- **subdivision name1**: England
- **subdivision type2**: Regions of England, Region
- **subdivision name2**: South East England
- **subdivision name3**: Berkshire
- **subdivision type4**: Historic counties of England, Historic county
- **subdivision name4**: Berkshire
 <small>(south of River Thames)</small>
 Oxfordshire
 <small>(north of River Thames)</small>
- **subdivision type5**: Admin HQ
- **subdivision name5**: Reading
- **established title**: Settler, Settled
- **established date**: 871 or earlier
- **established title2**: Town status in the United Kingdom, Town Status
- **established date2**: 1086 or earlier
- **government type**: Unitary authorities of England, Unitary authorities
- **leader title**: Governing bodies
- **leader name**: Reading Borough Council
West Berkshire Council (suburbs)
Wokingham Borough Council (suburbs)
- **leader title1**: Mayor
- **leader name1**: Cllr Tony Jones
- **leader title2**: Deputy Mayor
- **leader name2**: Cllr Sarah Hacker
- **leader title3**: Leader
- **leader name3**: Cllr Jason Brock
- **leader title4**: Deputy Leader
- **leader name4**: Cllr Liz Terry
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **population total**: (List of English districts by population, Ranked )
- **population urban**: 318,014 (List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, Ranked 20th in England and Wales)
- **population blank1 title**: Borough
- **population blank2 title**: Ethnicity
- **population blank2**: 74.8% White people, White (65.3% White British)
9.1% British Asian, South Asian
6.7 % Black British, Black
 3.9% British Mixed, Mixed Race
4.5% British Chinese, Chinese and Other Asian
0.9% Other
- **population demonym**: Readingensian
Readingite
- **timezone**: Greenwich Mean Time, GMT
- **utc offset**: +0
- **timezone dst**: British Summer Time, BST
- **utc offset dst**: +1
- **elevation m**: 61
- **postal code type**: Postal Code
- **postal code**: RG postcode area, RG
- **area code**: 0118
- **blank name**: British national grid reference system, Grid Ref.
- **blank1 name**: ONS coding system, ONS code
- **blank1 info**: 00MC (ONS)
E06000038 (GSS)
- **blank2 name**: ISO 3166-2:GB, ISO 3166-2
- **blank2 info**: GB-RDG
- **blank3 name**: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS 3
- **blank3 info**: UKJ11
- **website**: [http://www.reading.gov.uk/ reading.gov.uk]