READING, a county borough and county town of Berkshire, England, 36 m. W. by S. of London by the G.W.R. Pop. (1931) 97,153.
Reading early became a place of importance. In 871 the Danes encamped here, and in 1006 it was burned by Sweyn. It consisted of only 3o houses at the time of the Domesday Survey. It is thought that a fortification existed there before the Conquest, and Stephen built a masonry castle which Henry II. destroyed. On the foundation of Reading abbey the town, hitherto demesne of the crown, was granted to the abbey by Henry I. Henceforth, until the 16th century, its history was that of the struggle as to rights and privileges between the abbey and the merchant gild. A 16th-century account of the gild merchant shows that many trades were then carried on, but Leland says the town "chiefly stondith by clothing." By the 17th century the trade began to decline ; the bequest of Kendrich did little to revive it, and it was greatly injured by the Civil War. In the 18th century the chief trade was in malt. The first town charter is that given by Henry III. (1253) confirmed and amplified by succeeding sover eigns. The governing charter until 1835 was that of Charles I. (1639) incorporating the town under the title of the mayor, alder men and burgesses. The town surrendered to the parliamentary troops, after a siege, in 1643 ; it was occupied subsequently by the forces of both parties: in 1688 a skirmish took place in the town between some Irish soldiers of James II. and the troops of William of Orange. The market, chiefly held on Saturday, can be traced to the reign of Henry III. ; four fairs granted by the charter of 1562 are still held.
Reading is an important junction on the G.W.R. and has com munication southward by the S.R. The Kennet and Avon canal, to Bath and Bristol, and the Thames, afford it connections by water. It lies on the Thames where the Kennet joins the main river. All the ancient churches are restored. Greyfriars church,
formerly monastic, was completed early in the 14th century; and after the dissolution of the monasteries served successively as a town hall, a workhouse and a gaol, being restored to its proper use in 1864. St. Mary's was rebuilt in 1551 from the remains of a nunnery founded by Aelfthryth in expiation of the murder of her stepson Edward the Martyr. St. Lawrence's is a Perpendicular building, and St. Giles's was much damaged during the siege of 1643 by the parliamentary forces, and is almost wholly rebuilt. A Benedictine abbey was founded in 1121 by Henry I., with a church among the largest in the country. By Henry VIII. the abbey was converted into a palace, which was destroyed during the civil wars. The greater part of the site is occupied by public gardens.
A University College was opened in 1892 and affiliated to Ox ford; its success led to the gathering of an endowment fund and it became an independent university with a charter in 1926. Its agricultural researches have been of special importance. The grammar school, founded in 1485, occupies modern buildings. There are also a blue-coat school (1656), and other charitable schools of early foundation. The municipal museum, besides an art gallery and other exhibits, includes a collection of Romano British relics from Silchester.
Reading is a railway centre and an agricultural centre with famous nursery gardens. The industry for which it is chiefly famous is biscuit manufacture. There are also iron foundries, engi neering works and factories for agricultural implements, and manufactures of tin boxes, potteries, sauces, velvet and silk, and sacking, together with riverside boat-building yards. The parlia mentary borough, which used to return two members before the re form act of 1832, now returns one member. A new bridge over the Thames to Caversham was opened in 1923, and the old one adja cent was closed for rebuilding in 1925.