A city in Berkshire. Open left menu Berkshire. History in the coat of arms

This locomotive stands at the railway station in the town of Windsor. Queen Victoria came to Windsor Castle on it - the locomotive was invented during her reign.

Monument to Queen Victoria in Windsor

In front of Windsor Castle, against the background of the corner tower of Salisbury, stands a monument to Queen Victoria. The monument was erected in June 1887 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the reign of Queen Victoria.

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Norman Gate

The grounds of Windsor Castle are divided into 3 parts: the Upper, Middle and Lower Courts. The Norman Gate leads to the Upper Yard of Windsor Castle, where the royal apartments are located.

In the left wing of Windsor Castle, St. George's Chapel was built in 1348 under King Edward III. This piece of art is in typical Gothic style and is a symbol of royal British history.

St. George's Chapel is the main spiritual seat of the knightly order of England, or, as it is also called, the Order of the Garter. The chapel houses heraldic stained glass windows, coats of arms, swords and armor of all the knights of Great Britain.

King Charles I, beheaded by Cromwell, is also buried there.

Town of Windsor

Windsor is a small town known as the home of Windsor Castle, one of the residences of British monarchs. Throughout its history, the city occupied an important place in the life of the country and was one of its richest cities.

The city flourished in the period after the 13th century - the city was exempt from taxes, had its own merchant guild and received the status of a royal town. Thanks to its rich history and Windsor Castle, which is still of national importance, the city is a popular tourist destination. Windsor also attracts tourists with its developed transport infrastructure and abundance of shops.

The most popular attractions in Berkshire with descriptions and photographs for every taste. Choose the best places to visit famous Berkshire places on our website.

There is a county in England that is nicknamed “royal” - Berkshire County, located in the southeast of the country. This prestigious nickname is due to the fact that it is in the city of Windsor, in Berkshire, that the residence of the royal family, Windsor Castle, is located.

At first, Royal Berkshire was called only unofficially, but in 1958 this name was also recognized by the royal court. In 1974, the use of such a long name was already documented - “Royal County of Berkshire”.

In addition to the fact that Berkshire is a royal county, it is also considered prestigious, aristocratic, one might say, elitist.

In England, these lands are considered the best for living and recreation among the richest classes of society. Berkshire attracts with its mild climate, proximity to the capital, clean ecology, protected forests remaining from the huge Windsor Forest and well-developed infrastructure. As with all of England, there are many iconic cultural, historical and entertainment venues.

History in the coat of arms

The unofficial coat of arms of the county of Berkshire reflects not only its history, but also the history of all of England.

In the central part of the coat of arms, two lions are visible, which symbolize the connection with the Normans. Even William the Conqueror loved to visit local lands and laid the foundation for the construction of a royal residence here.

On the left of the coat of arms is a red lion supporting a sword, on the right is a horse. The Tudor rose is visible on the lion's shoulder - one of the famous symbols in England. The horse is generally the oldest symbol of the British peoples.

Specific local legends on the coat of arms include the horns on the helmet and the lone oak tree. This legend is typical only for Berkshire and is associated with the name of Herne the Hunter, who once saved King Richard II from a deer attack and suffered from it himself. Doctors saved his life, but deer antlers remained on his head.

He then lost all his hunting skills and fell out of the king's confidence. After this, his body was found hanging on the branch of an oak tree, which was nicknamed “Herne oak,” but this tree has not survived to this day. Many locals visiting Windsor Forest say they sometimes see the ghost of this huntsman and hunter..

Berkshire is considered one of the oldest counties in England. It was founded back in 840. The lands of Berkshire “saw” many battles and transformations, which left an indelible mark on history: a large number of various monuments, destroyed and newly restored castles.

Modern city dwellers are mainly engaged in agriculture: growing vegetables and fruits, as well as raising animals. This is where the Berkshire pig breed was developed.

Also located in Berkshire are the offices of world-famous companies - the information technology company HP, the large pharmaceutical company Bayer, and the cellular operator Vodafone.

The seat and capital of Berkshire is Reading.. Also known are the cities of Slough, Newbury, Maidenhead, Wokingham, Sandhurst and others. They have their own attractions, museums, theaters and other cultural sites, among which the most popular are:

Windsor Castle is undoubtedly the most important attraction in Berkshire. Tourists from many countries around the world seek to visit this residence of the royal family.

Slightly less popular, but no less historically significant, is another medieval castle, located in the settlement of Donnington near the town of Newbury in Berkshire. All that remains now is the watchtower; the rest of the castle has been demolished. The ruins of Donnington Castle are protected by English Heritage..

Next to the royal Windsor Castle in the small town of Eton opposite Windsor there is a private boarding school for boys - Eton College, which was founded back in 1440.

- The town of Ascot in Berkshire hosts the royal races, which attract almost the entire secular elite of the country. Remarkable in beauty Ascot Racecourse has been in operation for over 300 years. and witnessed the process of transforming the royal races into the most important spectacular event on a national scale.

In Reading, the capital of Berkshire, the ruins of a former Benedictine Abbey are now home to Forbury Gardens. Their decoration is considered to be a sculpture of a lion, installed in memory of those killed in the Afghan war.

Next to this park is the Church of St. Lawrence or St. Lawrence, which is interesting from an architectural point of view. Also worth visiting are the City History Museum, the English Provincial History Museum, and the Museum of Greek Archeology.. The Berkshire Aviation Museum is located near Reading.

- Legoland will be interesting for kids and older children- a park in which everything is made from Lego. It is located in Windsor, close to London's largest airport, Heathrow, which borders Berkshire.

There are also a large number of parks and family farms in Berkshire County, some of which are accessible to the public. You can enjoy the calm life of the province without the frantic urban rhythm of the capital in places like Berkshire. Even in large cities there is no particular influx of tourists, so you can see many iconic historical places and architectural structures.

The official capital of the county is the city of Reading (instead of Abingdon, which was transferred to Oxfordshire in 1962), although Berkshire is divided into several districts with the status of unitary units with their own councils, and the general county council was abolished in 1998. Berkshire borders Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Greater London.

The county is one of the oldest in England. Its formation probably dates back to the 840s, the time of the unification of "Sunnyham" (East Berkshire) and "Ashdown" (Berkshire Lowlands). The name of the county was first used in 860. According to the records of the monk Esser, the word "Berkshire" comes from "Biarroc", the name of a large forest area, in turn believed to have originated in the Celtic language.

Throughout its history, Berkshire has served as the site of many battles. During the campaign against the Danes of King Alfred the Great (849−899), the battles of Englefield, Ashdown and Reading took place in the county. During the English Revolution, two battles of Newbury took place here, and during the Glorious Revolution of 1688, a second battle of Reading took place.

Reading became the new county capital replacing Abingdon, which remained part of Berkshire. Later in 1888, the Berkshire County Council took over the duties of the Quarter Sessions Court and its authority extended over the entire administrative county of Berkshire, excluding the city of Reading. Although the county's boundaries remained almost unchanged at the beginning of the 20th century, in the second half the northern part of Berkshire - including the towns of Farington, Wantage and Abingdon - was transferred to Oxfordshire, and in return the towns of Slough and Eton were received. On 1 April 1998, Berkshire County Council was abolished and the areas within the county became unitary units, although the non-metropolitan county itself continues to exist.

After 1831, the county's population increased greatly due to its proximity to the expanding city of London. Most of the population is concentrated in urban areas in the east and center of the county (Reading, Slough, Bracknell, Maidenhead, Wokingham, Windsor, Sandhurst, Crowthorne and Twyford are the largest towns in this area), while western Berkshire has a more rural appearance and fewer population. The county is now in the London commuter belt and contains many of the ethnic groups characteristic of England, although the percentage of whites is quite high, averaging 88.7. Particularly striking is the town of Slough, which has a large Asian community including Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.

Berkshire has a three-tier education system and many schools, both public and private, as well as "grammar schools" (lyceums). Schools provide the opportunity to study in a pre-university class. The county has many colleges offering post-secondary education, as well as 6 higher education institutions: Berkshire College of Agriculture, Bracknell and Wokingham College, East -East Berkshire College, Newbury College, Thames Valley University, Reading University.

Berkeir is served by 6 major motorways, as well as railway lines, three river canals, and NCR4, part of the national cycle track system through Reading and London. The county's economy is predominantly service-based. The local football club, Reading, was founded in 1871.

In Berkshire, as in all other counties of England, tourists can visit many local museums and historical monuments, among which the most popular is undoubtedly Windsor Castle, which is still used by the royal family. Berkshire is also home to Legoland Windsor, a children's theme park, and the English Heritage-listed Donnington Castle.

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Reading is a city in England, allocated as a unitary unit in the central part of the ceremonial county of Berkshire. The city stands on the River Kennet, a tributary of the Thames.

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Ancient churches - St. Mary (XVI century) and St. Lawrence. Cluny (Benedictine) Abbey, founded by Henry I in 1121. The name Reading comes from the Anglo-Saxon tribe Readingas, whose name means “people of the chief named Reada”, and is in no way related to the homographic, but differently pronounced, word reading.

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At the end of the 19th century, Reading had 60 thousand inhabitants (1891), there were factories of canvas, velvet, ribbons, pins, iron foundries, a biscuit factory; trade played a very significant role. Farming and floriculture flourished in the surrounding area.

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Converted to a unitary unit on 1 April 1998 from the borough of Reading in the non-metropolitan county of Berkshire. It occupies an area of ​​40 km. and is bordered on the south-east by the unitary unit of Wokingham, on the south-west by the unitary unit of West Berkshire, and on the north by the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire.

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Ah, m., shower. (English berkshire after the name of the county of Berkshire in the UK). A breed of medium-sized early maturing pigs with low fertility, as well as a pig of this breed. Berkshire, pertaining to the Berkshires. || Wed. Yorkshire, Landrace... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Noun, number of synonyms: 1 pig (45) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

Berkshire- (English Berkshire) the race of the king of his own achievements with the insertion of a few races has finished off according to the English language Grofovia Berkshire ... Macedonian dictionary

Berkshire- (Royal Berkshire) (Berkshire, Royal Berkshire)BerkshireRoyal Berkshire, a county located in the south. England; pl. 1259 sq. km; 716500 people (1991); adm. center Reading. The county's territory is divided into 6 districts. Table ... Countries of the world. Dictionary

- (Berkshire) county in Great Britain, in Southern England, in the valley of the river. Thames, in the so-called Green area. Area 1.8 thousand km2. Population 612.2 thousand people. (1968). The main city is Reading. Berkshire pig... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (Berkshire, abbreviated Berks) a county in Middle England, bounded by the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Gloucester, Oxford and Buckingham, separated from the last three by the Thames, totaling 1826 square meters. km 218382 inhabitants (1881); cut through... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Berkshire- ah, h. English breed of quick mating pigs... Ukrainian Tlumach Dictionary

Berkshire- the name of a human county in England...

Berkshire- the name of the human race, the origin of the pig... Spelling dictionary of Ukrainian language

Berkshire Hathaway Year founded 1965 Key figures Warren Buffett (chairman of the board of directors) Type public company (NYS ... Wikipedia

Books

• The Picture of Dorian Grey. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Fairy Tales, Oscar Wilde. The book contains selected works of Oscar Wilde in an unusual combination. The central place is occupied by the infamous novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, which became Wilde’s calling card.…
• The Unseen, or The Secret Life of Kat Morley, Katherine Webb. Catherine Webb is an English writer popular all over the world. Her works have been translated into twenty-four languages. Webb's debut novel "Inheritance" (2010) became a national nominee...