Reading

Reading is the largest town in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, situated at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Kennet. Its origins stretch back to the 6th century, when a Saxon leader named Reada settled here with his tribe, giving the place its name — Reada ingas, meaning «the people of Reada». The settlement was first recorded in 871 when the Danes captured it and built a fort between the two rivers. In 1121 Henry I founded Reading Abbey, which grew into one of the wealthiest monasteries in medieval England and became the king’s own burial place.

For centuries the town thrived on its strategic river location. By the 17th century Reading was a prosperous cloth-trading centre, and during the 19th century it became famous for its «three Bs» — beer, biscuits and bulbs — with Simonds Brewery, Huntley & Palmers biscuit factory and Suttons Seeds all based here. The arrival of the Great Western Railway in 1840 transformed the town into a manufacturing powerhouse. In 1895 the writer Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in Reading Gaol, where he composed De Profundis and later wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

Today Reading is one of the UK’s leading technology and business hubs, often dubbed the «Silicon Valley of the South». Major IT and insurance firms have made the town their home, while the University of Reading — established in 1926 — is renowned for its research in agriculture and horticulture. Every August the town hosts the Reading Festival, one of England’s biggest music festivals, drawing hundreds of thousands of rock and pop fans from across the globe.