Editing Reading, Berkshire (section)

===Origins===
[[File:Map of Redding by John Speed, 1611.jpg|thumb|right|The earliest map of Reading, published in 1611 by [[John Speed]]]]
[[File:View of Reading from Caversham by Joseph Farington, 1793.jpg|thumb|right|''View of Reading from [[Caversham, Berkshire|Caversham]]'' by [[Joseph Farington]] in 1793]]
Occupation at the site of Reading may date back to the [[Roman Britain|Roman period]], possibly in the form of a trading port for [[Calleva Atrebatum]].{{sfn|Lawes Long|1836|p=11–13}} 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 (Germanic tribe)|Danes]] invaded the kingdom of [[Wessex]] and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, in the [[Battle of Reading (871)|first Battle of Reading]], [[Ethelred of Wessex|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]].{{sfn|Phillips|1980|p=14–15}}{{sfn|Ditchfield|Page|1923|pp=342–364}}

After the [[Battle of Hastings]] and the [[Norman conquest of England]], [[William the Conqueror]] gave land in and around Reading to his foundation of [[Battle Abbey]]. In its 1086 [[Domesday Book]] listing, 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.{{sfn|Ditchfield|Page|1923|pp=342–364}} [[Reading Abbey]] was founded in 1121 by [[Henry I of England|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]].{{sfn|Ditchfield|Page|1923|pp=342–364}}{{sfn|Slade|2001|p=1–16}}

The town grew around a crossing of the River Kennet, about {{convert|1|mile|km}} upstream from its confluence with the River Thames. In 1312, King [[Edward II]] directed that its bridges should be kept in good order.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Maxwell Lyte |first1=H.C. |title=Close Rolls, Edward II: November 1312 Pages 556-559 Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward II: Volume 1, 1307-1313. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1892. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-close-rolls/edw2/vol1/pp556-559 |website=British History Online |access-date=20 August 2020 |archive-date=21 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021112659/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-close-rolls/edw2/vol1/pp556-559 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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-on-Thames|Henley]] lost 60% of its population.{{sfn|Hylton|2007|p=34–38}} The [[Abbey]] was largely destroyed in 1538 during [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]'s [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolution of the monasteries]]. The last [[abbot]], [[Hugh Faringdon]], was subsequently tried and convicted of high treason and [[hanged, drawn and quartered]] in front of the Abbey Church.{{sfn|Slade|2001|p=17–25}}{{sfn|Fasham|Hawkes|1983}}

By 1525, Reading was the largest town in [[Berkshire]] and the tenth largest town in England when measured by taxable wealth reported in tax returns. By 1611, it had a population of over 5,000 and had grown rich on its trade in cloth, as instanced by the fortune made by local merchant [[John Kendrick (cloth merchant)|John Kendrick]].{{sfn|Hylton|2007|p=34–38}}{{sfn|Hylton|2007|p=51–52}} Reading played a role during the [[English Civil War]]. Despite its fortifications, it had a [[Cavalier|Royalist]] [[garrison]] imposed on it in 1642. The subsequent [[Siege of Reading]] by [[Roundheads|Parliamentary]] forces succeeded in April 1643.<ref>Barrès-Baker, Malcolm: ''The Siege of Reading: The Failure of the Earl of Essex's 1643 Spring Offensive''. Ottawa, EbooksLib, 2004 {{ISBN|1-55449-999-2}}</ref> The town's cloth trade was especially badly damaged, and the town's economy did not fully recover until the 20th century.{{sfn|Ditchfield|Page|1923|pp=342–364}}<ref>{{cite web | last = Ford | first = David Nash | work = Royal Berkshire History | publisher = Nash Ford Publishing | url = http://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/reading_siege.html | title = The Siege of Reading | access-date = 27 April 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090307011752/http://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/reading_siege.html | archive-date = 7 March 2009 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Reading played a significant role during the [[Glorious Revolution]]: the [[Battle of Reading (1688)|second Battle of Reading]] was the only substantial military action of the campaign.{{sfn|Ditchfield|Page|1923|pp=342–364}}<ref>{{cite web | last = Ford | first = David Nash | work = Royal Berkshire History | publisher = Nash Ford Publishing | url = http://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/reading_broadst.html | title = The Battle of Broad Street | access-date = 27 April 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080926092425/http://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/reading_broadst.html | archive-date = 26 September 2008 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

The 18th century saw the beginning of a major iron works in the town and the growth of the [[brewing]] trade for which Reading was to become famous.{{sfn|Phillips|1980|p=84–89}} Reading's trade benefited from better designed [[Turnpike trusts|turnpike]] roads which helped it establish its location on the major coaching routes from London to [[Oxford]] and the [[West Country]]. In 1723, despite considerable local opposition, the Kennet Navigation opened the [[River Kennet]] to boats as far as [[Newbury, Berkshire|Newbury]]. Opposition stopped when it became apparent that the new route benefited the town. After the opening of the [[Kennet and Avon Canal]] in 1810, one could go by barge from Reading to the [[Bristol Channel]].{{sfn|Phillips|1980|p=75–80}} From 1714, and probably earlier, the role of [[county town]] of Berkshire was shared between Reading and [[Abingdon-on-Thames|Abingdon]].<ref name="QuarterSessions">{{cite news |title=Berkshire Quarter Sessions |newspaper=Jackson's Oxford Journal |date=4 July 1868}}</ref>{{sfn|Hunter|1995|p=103}} In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was one of the southern termini of the [[Hatfield and Reading Turnpike]] that allowed travellers from the north to continue their journey to the west without going through the congestion of London.

During the 19th century, the town grew rapidly as a [[manufacturing]] centre. The [[Great Western Railway]] arrived in 1841,<ref>{{cite web|title=Building the Great Western Railway|url=http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/radstock/rht/themes/transport/gwr1.html|work=Reading History Trail|access-date=14 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514074850/http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/radstock/rht/themes/transport/gwr1.html <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=14 May 2011}}</ref> followed by the [[South Eastern Railway, UK|South Eastern Railway]] in 1849 and the [[London and South Western Railway]] in 1856.{{sfn|Kidner|1982|p=6}}{{sfn|Waters|1990|p=20}} After the Summer [[Assizes]] (courts of assize) were moved from Abingdon to Reading in 1867, the [[privy council]] made Reading the sole county town of Berkshire in 1869.<ref name="QuarterSessions"/> The town became [[county borough]] under the [[Local Government Act 1888]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Lords Hansard text for 16 Jul 1996 (160716-11)|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199596/ldhansrd/vo960716/text/60716-11.htm|publisher=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom|UK Parliament]]|access-date=14 June 2011|date=16 July 1996|archive-date=19 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919014524/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199596/ldhansrd/vo960716/text/60716-11.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=English Counties, The Real Counties|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2501029|work=[[BBC News]]|location=London|access-date=14 June 2011|date=7 April 2004|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115004916/https://h2g2.com/entry/A2501029|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 19th and 20th centuries, the town's three largest industries were known as the ''Three Bs'': beer (1785–2010, [[H & G Simonds]]),<ref name=19century>{{cite web|title=The Nineteenth Century|url=http://www.reading.gov.uk/residents/history-of-reading/the-nineteenth-century/|publisher=Reading Borough Council|access-date=5 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429163226/http://www.reading.gov.uk/residents/history-of-reading/the-nineteenth-century/|archive-date=29 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Dellor|first=Amanda|title=Reading's Courage Brewery closing|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/berkshire/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8586000/8586089.stm|work=[[BBC News]]|location=London|access-date=14 June 2011|date=24 March 2010|archive-date=18 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110118021610/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/berkshire/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8586000/8586089.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> bulbs (1837–1974, [[Suttons Seeds]]),<ref name=19century/><ref>{{cite web|title=The History of Suttons|url=http://www.suttons.co.uk/About+UsHistory.htm|publisher=Sutton Seeds|access-date=14 June 2011|archive-date=14 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614060528/http://www.suttons.co.uk/About+UsHistory.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> and biscuits (1822–1976, [[Huntley & Palmers|Huntley and Palmers]]).<ref name=19century/><ref>{{cite web|title=Huntley & Palmers Collection|url=http://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/collections/social-history/huntley-palmers-collection/|work=[[Reading Museum]]|publisher=Reading Borough Council|access-date=14 June 2011|date=7 January 2011|archive-date=4 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604182940/http://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/collections/social-history/huntley-palmers-collection/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Huntley & Palmers Timeline|url=http://www.collectionsgateway.org.uk/collections/7/hp%20timeline.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007032502/http://www.collectionsgateway.org.uk/collections/7/hp%20timeline.pdf |archive-date=7 October 2011 |url-status=live|work=[[Reading Museum]]|publisher=Reading Borough Council|access-date=14 June 2011|year=2001}}</ref>