Editing Reading, Berkshire (section)

===Administrative history===
[[File:Reading Abbey Gateway restored 2018-04-15 16.38.31.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Abbey Gateway, Reading|Abbey Gateway]]]]
Reading was an [[ancient borough]], being described as a borough by the time of the [[Domesday Book]] in 1086. The borough was initially controlled by [[Reading Abbey]] as its [[Manorialism|manorial]] owner. The town gradually gained a degree of independence from the abbey from the 13th century onwards, particularly after the town's [[Guild|merchant guild]] was granted a [[royal charter]] in 1253. Following the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolution]] of the abbey in 1538 the borough was granted a new charter in 1542.{{sfn|Ditchfield|Page|1923|pp=342–364}} The borough boundaries were then set out in a subsequent charter from [[Elizabeth I]] in 1560. The borough covered the whole of the parish of [[St Laurence's Church, Reading|St Laurence]] and parts of the parishes of [[St Giles' Church, Reading|St Giles]] and [[Reading Minster|St Mary]]. The part of St Giles' parish outside the borough was known as the [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] of [[Whitley, Reading|Whitley]], and the part of St Mary's parish outside the borough was known as the [[tithing]] of [[Southcote, Berkshire|Southcote]].<ref>{{cite book |title=First Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Municipal Corporations in England and Wales: Part 1 |date=1835 |page=111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7pNRAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA111 |access-date=8 November 2024}}</ref>

The borough was reformed in 1836 to become a [[municipal borough]] under the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]], which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country.<ref name=VoB/> The borough boundaries, which had not been changed since 1560, were enlarged in 1887 to take in Southcote, Whitley, the north-western parts of [[Earley]], and the eastern end of the parish of [[Tilehurst]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Reading Corporation Act 1887 |date=1887 |page=56 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVUwAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA56 |access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Phillips|1980|p=135}} When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the [[Local Government Act 1888]], Reading was considered large enough for its existing borough council to provide county-level services, and so Reading was made a [[county borough]], independent from [[Berkshire County Council]].<ref name=VoB>{{cite web |title=Reading Municipal Borough / County Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10153384 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=28 June 2023}}</ref>

The borough boundaries were enlarged again in 1911 to take in Caversham on the north bank of the Thames from [[Oxfordshire]] (except the [[Caversham Park]] area, which was transferred to the parish of [[Eye and Dunsden]]), and most of the parish of Tilehurst (including the main village at Tilehurst Triangle and the area around the parish church at Churchend) to the west.<ref>{{cite web |title=Local Government Board's Provisional Order Confirmation (No. 11) Act 1911 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo5/1-2/148/contents/enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=7 November 2024}}</ref>

Local government was reformed in 1974 under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], which saw Reading redesignated as a [[non-metropolitan district]], with Berkshire County Council providing county-level services in the borough for the first time. Ahead of those reforms, the borough council campaigned to have Reading's boundaries enlarged to take in Earley, [[Woodley, Berkshire|Woodley]], [[Purley on Thames]], the residual [[Tilehurst (civil parish)|Tilehurst parish]] (covering the parts of Tilehurst which had not been transferred into the borough in 1911), and the eastern part of the parish of [[Theale]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Boundaries: Reading plea |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search-newspapers |access-date=7 November 2024 |work=Reading Evening Post |date=6 June 1972 |page=4}}</ref> The government decided to make no change to Reading's boundaries, leaving them as they had been since last reviewed in 1911.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|accessdate=9 November 2024}}</ref> Shortly after the 1974 reforms came into effect, a more limited review of the borough's boundaries north of the Thames was carried out, which saw the Caversham Park area and part of the parish of [[Mapledurham]] on the western side of Caversham transferred into the borough of Reading in 1977.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Berkshire and Oxfordshire (Areas) Order 1977|year=1977|number=218|access-date=7 November 2024}}</ref>

The borough council became a unitary authority in 1998, when the county council was abolished under the [[Banham Review]], which saw the borough council take over county-level functions, effectively restoring the council to the powers it had held when Reading was a county borough prior to 1974.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Berkshire (Structural Change) Order 1996|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/1879/contents/made|publisher=legislation.gov.uk|access-date=20 June 2011|archive-date=29 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329005331/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/1879/contents/made|url-status=live}}</ref> As part of those reforms, the Local Government Commission had initially recommended expanding Reading's boundaries to include Earley, Tilehurst parish, Purley on Thames and the parts of the parishes of [[Shinfield]], [[Burghfield]] and Theale north of the [[M4 motorway]], but it was ultimately decided to leave Reading's boundaries unchanged.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Future Local Government of Berkshire |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search-newspapers |access-date=9 November 2024 |work=Bracknell Times |date=11 August 1994 |page=11}}</ref>

Reading's boundaries south of the Thames therefore have not changed since 1911, despite the urban area having now expanded well beyond the borough boundaries. Cross-boundary working between the borough council and the neighbouring councils which cover the suburban and adjoining rural areas is sometimes criticised, particularly over matters such as transport and school catchment areas.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = South Oxfordshire District Council | url = http://www.southoxon.com/sites/default/files/Wokingham_BC_EM5.pdf | title = South Oxfordshire District Local Development Framework - Core Strategy Examination - Written Statement of Wokingham BC for the Exploratory Meeting on: Tuesday 17 May 2011 | access-date =14 June 2011 | date = 17 May 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120325170754/http://www.southoxon.com/sites/default/files/Wokingham_BC_EM5.pdf | archive-date = 25 March 2012 | url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Third Bridge | url = http://www.cadra.org.uk/Third_Bridge.asp | publisher = CADRA | access-date =4 October 2011 | date = August 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120425044412/http://www.cadra.org.uk/Third_Bridge.asp | archive-date = 25 April 2012 | url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | publisher = Hansard | url = https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo060111/halltext/60111h04.htm | title = Transport (Greater Reading) | access-date = 3 August 2006 | date = 11 January 2006 | archive-date = 14 September 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070914040040/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo060111/halltext/60111h04.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref>
[[File:Hospitium of St John the Baptist.jpg|thumb|The former [[hospitium]]]]
[[File:Reading Town Hall, UK - 20150707.jpg|thumb|[[Reading Town Hall]]]]
Prior to the 16th century, civic administration for the town of Reading was situated in the ''Yield Hall'', a [[Guildhall|guild hall]] situated by the [[River Kennet]] near today's Yield Hall Lane.{{sfn|Phillips|1980|p=42}} After a brief stay in what later became [[Greyfriars Church, Reading|Greyfriars Church]], the town council created a new town hall by inserting an upper floor into the refectory of the [[Hospitium of St John]], the former hospitium of [[Reading Abbey]].{{sfn|Phillips|1980|p=42}} For some 400 years up to the 1970s, this was to remain the site of Reading's civic administration through the successive rebuilds that eventually created today's [[Reading Town Hall|Town Hall]].{{sfn|Phillips|1980|p=88}} In 1976, [[Reading Borough Council]] moved to the new [[Reading Civic Centre|Civic Centre]].{{sfn|Phillips|1980|p=168–9}} In 2014, they moved again to civic offices in a refurbished existing office building on [[Bridge Street, Reading|Bridge Street]], in order to facilitate the demolition and redevelopment of the previous site.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-30481854 | title = Reading Borough Council moves to new building in Bridge Street | publisher = BBC | date = 15 December 2014 | access-date = 15 August 2016 | archive-date = 2 January 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160102082143/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-30481854 | url-status = live }}</ref>