Reading is a borough in Berkshire, southern England, and the county town of the historic county. It is the largest town in Berkshire, with a built-up area population of 203,795 recorded at the 2021 census, while the wider Reading urban area is estimated at around 355,000 residents. The town sits in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the Thames and the Kennet, 40 miles west of London and 40 miles east of Swindon.
Reading has been settled since at least the 8th century and held town status by 1086. In the Middle Ages it was a trading and ecclesiastical centre, dominated by Reading Abbey, founded in 1121 by King Henry I and one of the wealthiest monasteries in medieval England. Henry I was buried in the abbey church in 1136, and the site retained royal links throughout the Middle Ages. The 12th-century inner gateway and substantial ruins survive in the Forbury area of the town centre. By 1525, Reading was the tenth-richest town in England by taxable wealth.
The town suffered a heavy siege during the English Civil War and a sharp loss of trade. In December 1688, the only significant military action of the Glorious Revolution, known as the Battle of Reading, was fought on its streets and ended with a Williamite victory over the forces of James II. The 18th century brought ironworks and the start of the brewing trade for which the town later became known. The 19th century brought the Great Western Railway, large-scale baking (Huntley and Palmers, at one point the world’s largest biscuit factory) and seed merchants such as Sutton and Sons. The “three Bs” of beer, bulbs and biscuits became a local shorthand for the Victorian economy.
Reading today is a commercial centre with a concentration in information technology and insurance. The retail core is built around the Oracle shopping centre on the banks of the Kennet, the Broad Street Mall and the pedestrianised stretch of Broad Street itself. The University of Reading, founded in 1892 as an extension college of Oxford and chartered as a university in 1926, occupies the Whiteknights campus to the south of the centre. The annual Reading Festival, held in late August on Richfield Avenue, is among the largest music festivals in England. Reading F.C. plays its home matches at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.