Reading

Sister cities

• Düsseldorf
• San Francisco Libre
• Clonmel

History

Occupation at the site of Reading may date back to the Roman period, possibly in the form of a trading port for Calleva Atrebatum. However, the first clear evidence for Reading as a settlement dates from the 8th century, when the town came to be known as Readingas. In late 870, an army of Danes invaded the kingdom of Wessex and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, in the first Battle of Reading, King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes' defences. The battle is described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and that account provides the earliest known written record of the existence of Reading. The Danes remained in Reading until late in 871, when they retreated to their winter quarters in London. Following the Norman conquest of England, William the Conqueror gave land in and around Reading to his foundation of Battle Abbey. In Domesday Book, the town was explicitly described as a borough. The presence of six mills is recorded: four on land belonging to the king and two on the land given to Battle Abbey. Reading Abbey was founded in 1121 by Henry I, who is buried within the Abbey grounds. As part of his endowments, he gave the abbey his lands in Reading, along with land at Cholsey. The town grew around a crossing of the River Kennet, about upstream from its confluence with the River Thames. In 1312, King Edward II directed that its bridges should be kept in good order. It is not known how badly Reading was affected by the Black Death that swept through England in the 14th century, but it is known that the abbot, Henry of Appleford, was one of its victims in 1361, and that nearby Henley lost 60% of its population. The Abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. The last…

Geography

Reading is north of the English south coast, 40 miles west of London and 40 miles east of Swindon. The centre of Reading is on a low ridge between the River Thames and River Kennet, close to their confluence, reflecting the town's history as a river port. Just above the confluence, the Kennet cuts through a narrow steep-sided gap in the hills forming the southern flank of the Thames flood plain. The Kennet, which naturally divided into multiple shallow streams through the centre of Reading, was embanked as part of the construction of the Kennet and Avon Canal in the 18th century, allowing the development of wharves. The floodplains adjoining Reading's two rivers are subject to occasional flooding. Natural England divides Reading between its Chilterns (110) and Thames Valley (115) national character areas. As Reading has grown, its suburbs have spread: to the west between the two rivers into the foothills of the Berkshire Downs as far as Calcot, Tilehurst and Purley; to the south and south-east on the south side of the River Kennet as far as Whitley Wood and Lower Earley and as far north of the Thames into the Chiltern Hills as far as Caversham Heights, Emmer Green and Caversham Park Village. Outside the central area, the floors of the valleys containing the two rivers remain largely unimproved floodplain. Apart from the M4 curving to the south there is only one road across the Kennet flood plain. All other routes between the three built-up areas are in the central area. Like the rest of the United Kingdom, Reading has a maritime climate, with limited seasonal temperature ranges and generally moderate rainfall throughout the year. The nearest official Met Office weather station is located at the Reading University Atmospheric Observatory on the Whiteknights Campus,…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  11,262
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,828
• Red Kite

  Milvus milvus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,977
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,401
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,231
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,918
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,465
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,755

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2020-09-22
  5 km N of Aylesbury, United Kingdom
• M 3.9 — 2020-09-08
  2 km WSW of Pitstone, United Kingdom
• M 3.3 — 2019-02-27
  3 km SE of Dorking, United Kingdom
• M 2.8 — 2018-07-05
  1 km S of Ewhurst, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2018-06-27
  5 km W of Capel, United Kingdom
• M 2.7 — 2018-04-01
  4 km E of Holmwood, United Kingdom