Destination Berkshire, England
Berkshire is one of the oldest counties in England. It may date from the 840s, the probable period of the unification of "Sunningum" (East Berkshire) and "Ashdown" (the Berkshire Downs, probably including the Kennet Valley). The county is first mentioned by name in 860.
• Discover Berkshire At-A-Glance A-Z
» Ascot Racecourse
The centrepiece of Ascot's year, Royal Ascot is one of Europe's most famous race meetings, and dates back to 1711 when it was founded by Queen Anne. Every year Royal Ascot is attended by HM Elizabeth II and various members of the British Royal Family such as The Prince of Wales, arriving each day in a horse-drawn carriage …
» Basildon Park
Basildon Park is a country house situated between the villages of Upper Basildon and Lower Basildon. It is owned by the National Trust and is a Grade I listed building. The house was built between 1776 and 1783 for Sir Francis Sykes and designed by John Carr in the Palladian style at a time when Palladianism was giving way to the newly fashionable neoclassicism …
» Berkshire Downs
The Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in southern England, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Berkshire Downs were wholly within Berkshire until the 1974 reorganisation of local government boundaries divided them between the counties of Berkshire and Oxfordshire …
» Bisham Abbey
Bisham Abbey is a Grade I listed manor house at Bisham in the English county of Berkshire. The name is taken from the now lost monastery which once stood alongside. Bisham abbey was previously named Bisham Priory, and was the traditional resting place of many Earls of Salisbury. The complex is now one of five National Sports Centres run on behalf of Sport England …
» Calleva Atrebatum
Calleva Atrebatum (or Silchester Roman Town) was an Iron Age oppidum and subsequently a town in the Roman province of Britannia and the civitas capital of the Atrebates tribe. Its ruins are beneath and to the west of the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, which is just within the town wall and about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of the modern village of Silchester, in the English county of Hampshire close to the boundary with Berkshire …
» Donnington Castle
Donnington Castle is a ruined medieval castle, situated in the small village of Donnington, Berkshire. Donnington Castle was built by its original owner, Richard Abberbury the Elder, under a licence granted by Richard II in 1386 and was bought by Thomas Chaucer before the castle was taken under royal control during the Tudor period. During the First English Civil War the castle was held by the royalist Sir John Boys and withstood an 18-month siege …
» Eton College
Eton College, usually referred to as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boarding pupils aged between 13 to 18 years. It is a large boys' school, with over 1,300 pupils, and was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor". The School is located in the village of Eton, near Windsor in England …
» Frogmore
The Frogmore Estate or Gardens comprise 33 acres of private gardens within the grounds of the Home Park, adjoining Windsor Castle. It is the location of Frogmore House, a Royal retreat. It is also the site of three burial places of the British Royal Family: the Royal Mausoleum containing the tombs of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum, burial place of the Queen Victoria's mother; and the Royal Burial Ground …
» Greenham Common
RAF Station Greenham Common RAF Station Greenham Common is a former military airfield in Berkshire, England. The airfield is located approximately 2 miles south-southwest of Thatcham; about 50 miles west of London. Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces during World War II and the United States Air Force during the Cold War …
» Highclere Castle
Highclere Castle is a country house in high Elizabethan style, with park designed by Capability Brown. The 1,000 acre estate is in the English county of Hampshire, about a mile south of the border with Berkshire. It is the country seat of the Earls of Carnarvon; a branch of the Anglo-Welsh Herbert family …
» Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor is a child-oriented theme park in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 1996 on the site of what was the Windsor Safari Park, as the second Lego Group Legoland (the first was Legoland Billund in Denmark). The park is located within close distance of Windsor Castle …
» Madejski Stadium
The Madejski Stadium is a football stadium in Reading, Berkshire, and the home of Reading Football Club and the rugby union club London Irish as tenants. It also provides the finish for the Reading Half Marathon. The stadium is named after Reading's chairman Sir John Madejski. The West Stand contains the Millennium Madejski Hotel …
» Museum of English Rural Life
The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) is a museum dedicated to recording the changing face of farming and the countryside in England. It houses designated collections of national importance that span the full range of objects, archives, photographs, film and books. The museum is run by the University of Reading, and is situated in Redlands Road to the rear of that institution's London Road Campus …
» North Wessex Downs
The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The name North Wessex Downs is not a traditional one, the area covered being better known by various overlapping local names, including the Berkshire Downs, the White Horse Hills, the Lambourn Downs, the Marlborough Downs, the Vale of Pewsey and Savernake Forest. …
» Discover Reading
Reading was an important national centre in the medieval period, as the site of an important monastery with strong royal connections. Today it remains a commercial centre, with links to information technology and insurance. Reading also hosts two universities and a large student population. It is also home to one of England's biggest music festivals …
» Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey was an important national centre in the medieval period, as the site of an important monastery with strong royal connections. Today it remains a commercial centre, with links to information technology and insurance. Reading also hosts two universities and a large student population. It is also home to one of England's biggest music festivals …
» Shaw House
The manor house of Shaw, Shaw House was built by the wealthy cloth merchant, Thomas Dolman, and completed in 1581. It is famous for being believed to be King Charles I's headquarters during the Second Battle of Newbury, however recent research has disproved this. However other Royals have visited the House, most notably Elizabeth I …
» Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror, and since the time of Henry I it has been used by a succession of monarchs …
» Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park (locally referred to simply as the Great Park) is a large deer park of 5,000 acres, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. The park was, for many centuries, the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle and dates primarily from the mid-13th century. Now largely open to the public, the parkland is a popular recreation area for residents of the western London suburbs. It is owned and managed by the Crown Estate …
