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Reading-Düsseldorf Association
About Reading
Text auf deutsch
Reading is the county town of Berkshire, situated where the River Kennet joins the River Thames, about 33 miles west of London. 143,520 people live in the Borough of Reading (2000 estimate), and almost as many in adjoining areas in other local authorities such as Earley, Woodley, Tilehurst, Theale, Pangbourne and Sonning Common.
Many people in Reading travel to work in London using the M4 motorway or the railway (trains to Paddington take about 30 minutes). Reading is a centre for information technology (with the UK headquarters of Microsoft and Oracle, among others), insurance and financial services such as Prudential Insurance, and public services such as the Rural Payments Agency and Thames Water. It has a large new shopping centre at The Oracle.
Reading is close to the M4 motorway, and is linked by railway lines in all directions, with regular services to all the major British cities. It is close to London (Heathrow) Airport and easily reached by train or car from London (Gatwick) Airport. It is well placed for visiting historic towns such as Oxford, Windsor, Stratford and Winchester as well as London.
Location map - Reading
The Romans had a major settlement at Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester), a few miles from Reading. The present site was occupied at least from Saxon times in the 9th Century. In 1121 King Henry I founded a Benedictine abbey at Reading, and was buried in it. The town received a Royal charter in 1253. Parliament met in Reading three times in the 15th century, when there was plague in London.
Like other monasteries, Reading Abbey was dissolved in 1539 under King Henry VIII, and is now in ruins. During the Civil War Reading was repeatedly besieged and occupied by both sides. It was one of the few places to see serious fighting at the accession of King William III and Queen Mary II in 1688.
Reading developed as a market town and county town of Berkshire, particularly after the opening of the Kennet Navigation in 1723 and its extension to Bristol as the Kennet and Avon Canal in 1810. The Great Western Railway reached Reading in 1840, and a major railway junction soon developed. This caused the growth of the traditional industries of “Beer, Biscuits and Bulbs”, as these products could easily be transported throughout the world. In the late 20th century, the biscuit business of Huntley and Palmers and the seed and bulb business of Suttons Seeds have moved away, but the Courage brewery is still active on a new site.
St Mary's Minster Church, Reading
A University Extension College was founded in 1892, and became Reading University in 1926. Reading was the town where Jane Austen was educated, and where Oscar Wilde was obliged to reside for a time, giving rise to his famous “Ballad of Reading Gaol”.(Details from "The Story of Reading" by Daphne Phillips; Countryside Books; ISBN 0 905392 07 8.)
Reading has other twinnings with San Francisco Libre (Nicaragua) and with Clonmel (Republic of Ireland). A twinning with Speightstown (Barbados) was launched in January 2003, and has its own website - Reading is believed to have the largest Bajan community in the UK. There are also friendly links with other places, particularly Reading, Pennsylvania (USA).
For information about Reading, see
the Reading Borough Council website
Wikipedia article about Reading in English and German
The Arms of Reading Borough Council
About Us - News - Programme - Past Activities - How it Began - The Early Years - Reading - Düsseldorf - Travel - Strategy - Organisations - Joining - Contacts - Web Links - Privacy
© Reading-Düsseldorf Association 2007
8 April 2007