About Berkshire (abb. Berks):
Berkshire (abbreviated to Berks) is often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle. Berkshire borders the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Greater London.
The county is one of the oldest in England probably dating from the 840s with the unification of 'Sunningum' and 'Ashdown'. It takes its name from a large forest of box trees that was called Bearroc (believed, in turn, to be a Celtic word meaning 'hilly').
Many battles took place throughout history in Berkshire: during Alfred the Great's campaign against the Danes, including the Battle of Englefield, the Battle of Ashdown and the Battle of Reading; during the English Civil War there were two battles in Newbury; during the Glorious Revolution of 1688, there was a second battle at Reading, also known as the 'Battle of Broad Street'.
Reading became the new county town in 1867, taking over from Abingdon.
There are over 800,000 people in Berkshire, mostly living in the urban areas to the east and centre of the county (Reading, Slough, Bracknell, Maidenhead, Wokingham, Windsor, Sandhurst, Crowthorne and Twyford being the largest towns) with West Berkshire being much more rural and sparseley populated, with far fewer towns (Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford and Lambourn).
Cities, towns and villages in Berkshire (abb. Berks):
