Berkshire is a ceremonial county in South East England, 487 square miles (1,262 km2) of Thames valley, chalk downland and commuter town. About 951,000 people lived there at the 2021 census. Reading is the county town and the largest settlement.
It is styled the Royal County of Berkshire because Windsor Castle stands within it. Berkshire has had no county council since 1998; six unitary authorities run the county today.
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Region | South East England |
| Area | 487 sq mi (1,262 km2) |
| Population (2021) | 951,031 |
| Density | 754 people per km2 |
| County town | Reading |
| Largest town | Reading (173,371) |
| Councils | Six unitary authorities |
| County council | Abolished 1998 |
Towns and Villages in Berkshire
Berkshire has about 300 named towns, villages and hamlets. They are grouped below by the unitary authority that covers them.
West Berkshire
- Aldermaston
- Aldermaston Soke
- Aldermaston Wharf
- Aldworth
- Ashampstead
- Ashmore Green
- Avington
- Bagnor
- Beech Hill
- Beedon
- Beedon Hill
- Beenham
- Boxford
- Bradfield
- Brightwalton
- Brimpton
- Brimpton Common
- Bucklebury
- Burghfield
- Burghfield Common
- Burnt Hill
- Bury’s Bank
- Calcot
- Catmore
- Chaddleworth
- Chapel Row
- Chieveley
- Clapton
- Cold Ash
- Combe
- Compton
- Crockham Heath
- Crookham
- Curridge
- Donnington
- East Garston
- East Ilsley
- East Shefford
- Eastbury
- Easton
- Eddington
- Elcot
- Enborne
- Enborne Row
- Englefield
- Farnborough
- Fawley
- Frilsham
- Grazeley Green
- Great Shefford
- Greenham
- Halfway
- Hampstead Norreys
- Hamstead Marshall
- Heads Hill
- Hell Corner
- Hermitage
- Hill Green
- Hoe Benham
- Hollingsworth
- Hungerford
- Hungerford Green
- Hungerford Newton
- Inkpen
- Kiff Green
- Kintbury
- Lambourn
- Lambourn Woodlands
- Leckhampstead
- Leverton
- Little Hungerford
- Longlane
- Lower Basildon
- Lower Green
- Lower Padworth
- Marsh Benham
- Midgham
- Mile End
- Mortimer
- Mortimer Common
- Mount Pleasant
- New Town
- Newbury
- North Heath
- North Street
- Oare
- Old Warren
- Ownham
- Padworth
- Pangbourne
- Parsonage Green
- Peasemore
- Pingewood
- Sanham Green
- Shaw
- Sheepdrove
- Sheffield Bottom
- Shefford Woodlands
- Skinners Green
- South Fawley
- Southend
- Speen
- Stanford Dingley
- Stitchens Green
- Stockcross
- Stone Copse
- Stratfield Mortimer
- Streatley
- Stubbles
- Sulham
- Sulhamstead
- Sulhamstead Abbots
- Thatcham
- The Holt
- The Slade
- Theale
- Tidmarsh
- Tilehurst
- Trapshill
- Trash Green
- Tutts Clump
- Ufton Green
- Ufton Nervet
- Upper Basildon
- Upper Bucklebury
- Upper Green
- Upper Lambourn
- Wash Water
- Wasing
- Welford
- Wellhouse
- West Ilsley
- West Woodhay
- Westbrook
- Weston
- Westridge Green
- Whatscombe
- Whitehouse Green
- Wickham
- Winding Wood
- Winterbourne
- Woodlands St Mary
- Woodspeen
- Woolhampton
- World’s End
- Yattendon
Reading
- Caversham
- Churchend
- Emmer Green
- Hemdean Bottom
- Horncastle
- Lower Caversham
- Reading
- Southcote
- The Mount
- Whitley Wood
Wokingham
- Arborfield
- Arborfield Garrison
- Aston
- Barkham
- Chapel Green
- Charvil
- Crazies Hill
- Earley
- Farley Hill
- Finchampstead
- Gardeners Green
- Grazeley
- Great Lea Common
- Hare Hatch
- Holme Green
- Hurst
- Kiln Green
- Knowl Hill
- Langley Common
- Lower Earley
- Poundgreen
- Remenham
- Remenham Hill
- Riseley
- Ruscombe
- Ryeish Green
- Shinfield
- Sindlesham
- Sonning
- Spencers Wood
- Stanford End
- Swallowfield
- The Holt
- The Parade
- Three Mile Cross
- Twyford
- Wargrave
- Whistley Green
- Winnersh
- Wokingham
- Woodley
Bracknell Forest
- Billingbear
- Binfield
- Binfield Grove
- Binfield Park
- Birch Hill
- Bracknell
- Broadmoor Estate
- Brockhill
- Bullbrook
- Chavey Down
- College Town
- Cranbourne
- Crown Wood
- Crowthorne
- Easthampstead
- Farleywood
- Great Hollands
- Harmans Water
- Jealott’s Hill
- Maiden’s Green
- Martin’s Heron
- Moss End
- Newell Green
- North Ascot
- Nuptown
- Owlsmoor
- Plaistow Green
- Popeswood
- Priestwood
- Sandhurst
- Skimpedhill
- Temple Park
- Tickleback Row
- Warfield
- West End
- Whitegrove
- Wildridings
- Winkfield
- Winkfield Row
- Woodside
Windsor and Maidenhead
- Ascot
- Beenham’s Heath
- Bisham
- Blacknest
- Bray
- Bray Court
- Braywoodside
- Broomhall
- Burchett’s Green
- Cheapside
- Cockpole Green
- Cold Harbour
- Cookham
- Datchet
- Eton
- Eton Wick
- Fifield
- Frogmill
- Furze Platt
- Holloway
- Holyport
- Horton
- Hungerford
- Hurley
- Hythe End
- Littlefield Green
- Littlewick Green
- Maidenhead
- Moneyrow Green
- Oakley Green
- Old Windsor
- Paley Street
- Pinkneys Green
- Shurlock Row
- St Leonardshill
- Stubbings
- Stud Green
- Sunningdale
- Sunninghill
- Temple
- The Village
- Touchen-end
- Waltham St Lawrence
- Warren Row
- Water Oakley
- West End
- White Waltham
- Windsor
- Woolley Green
- Wraysbury
Slough
- Brands Hill
- Britwell
- Chalvey
- Cippenham
- Colnbrook
- Langley Marish
- Myrke
- Poyle
- Salt Hill
- Slough
- Sutton
- Upton Lea
- Upton Park
- Wexham Court
Geography
The Thames forms most of the northern boundary, so Oxfordshire lies north and Buckinghamshire north-east across the river. Greater London is to the east, Surrey south-east, Hampshire south and Wiltshire west.
The county divides in two. The eastern third, from Slough and Windsor through Bracknell to Reading, is built up and holds most of the population. West of Reading the Kennet valley runs to Newbury and Hungerford, flanked by the chalk of the Lambourn Downs and the North Wessex Downs, which reach about 297 metres at Walbury Hill, the highest chalk hill in England.
Windsor Great Park covers roughly 4,800 acres in the south-east. Berkshire lost its northern quarter in 1974, when Abingdon, Wantage, Didcot and Faringdon were transferred to Oxfordshire.
Demographics
The 2021 census counted 951,031 people across the six authorities: Wokingham 178,231, Reading 173,371, West Berkshire 161,864, Slough 158,448, Windsor and Maidenhead 153,922 and Bracknell Forest 125,195.
Reading’s built-up area holds about 204,000 people, Slough’s about 167,000. Slough is among the most ethnically diverse towns in England outside London, shaped by South Asian settlement from the 1950s onwards. Wokingham and Windsor and Maidenhead consistently record some of the highest household incomes in the country.
Economy and Local Life
Berkshire is the core of the M4 technology corridor. Reading, Bracknell and Maidenhead host the British operations of large software, telecoms and pharmaceutical firms, and Newbury is the home town of a major mobile network operator.
Slough Trading Estate, laid out in the 1920s, is the largest trading estate in single private ownership in Europe. Windsor lives on tourism around the castle and Eton. Horse racing is a serious local industry: Ascot and Newbury are top-tier courses, and the Lambourn valley is one of the two main training centres in Britain.
Farming survives on the downs, mostly cereals and sheep, and the Kennet and Avon Canal carries leisure traffic through Newbury and Hungerford.
History
Berkshire is named in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 860 and takes its name from a wood of box trees, Bearroc. Alfred the Great was born at Wantage in 849, when that town was still Berkshire.
Windsor Castle was begun by William the Conqueror as one of a ring of fortresses around London and has been a royal residence for more than 900 years. Reading Abbey, founded in 1121 by Henry I, made the town a pilgrimage stop until the dissolution.
Reading grew on biscuits, beer and seeds in the nineteenth century, the trades of Huntley and Palmers, Simonds and Suttons. Bracknell was designated a new town in 1949 and quadrupled in size. Berkshire County Council was abolished in April 1998, an unusual case of a shire county replaced entirely by unitary authorities.
Getting There
The M4 crosses the county from Slough to Hungerford, junctions 5 to 14. The M3 clips the south-east corner, the A34 runs north from Newbury to the Midlands, and the A404 links the M4 and M40 through Maidenhead.
Great Western Railway runs from London Paddington through Slough, Maidenhead, Twyford and Reading to the west, and the Elizabeth line terminates at Reading. Branch services reach Windsor and Eton Central from Slough, Windsor and Eton Riverside from London Waterloo, Marlow from Maidenhead and Henley from Twyford. Reading is also on the Waterloo line and the Basingstoke and Gatwick routes. Heathrow Airport sits immediately east of Slough.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the population of Berkshire?
951,031 at the 2021 census, spread across six unitary authorities.
What is the largest town in Berkshire?
Reading, with 173,371 people in the borough and about 204,000 in its built-up area. Slough, Bracknell and Maidenhead come next.
Why is Berkshire called the Royal County?
Because Windsor Castle, a royal residence for over 900 years, stands in the county. The title was confirmed by the Queen in 1957.
Which councils cover Berkshire?
Six unitary authorities: Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham. The county council was abolished in 1998.
What are the postcode areas for Berkshire?
RG covers Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell and Newbury; SL covers Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead and Ascot.