DESTINATION BERKSHIRE

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.

Quick Links Windsor Castle Reading Abbey Donnington Castle Ascot Racecourse

DISCOVER BERKSHIRE: Ascot Racecourse, Berkshire Downs, Bisham Abbey, Donnington Castle, Greenham Common, Highclere Castle, Legoland, Reading, Reading Abbey, Shaw House, Windsor Castle,

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 ...

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 ...

DONNINGTON CASTLE Donnington Castle is a ruined medieval castle, situated in the small village of Donnington, just north of the town of Newbury in the English county of Berkshire. Donnington Castle was built by its original owner, Richard Abberbury the Elder, under a licence granted by Richard II in 1386 ...

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 ...

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 founded by Henry I in 1121. As part of his endowments, he gave the abbey his lands within Reading, along with land at Cholsey. He also arranged for further land in Reading, previously given to Battle Abbey by William the Conqueror, to be transferred to Reading Abbey, in return for some of his land at Appledram in Sussex ...

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 ...

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