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Reading (/ ˈrɛdɪŋ / ⓘ RED-ing) [2] is a town and borough in Berkshire, England. Most of its built-up area lies within the Borough of Reading, although some outer suburbs are parts of neighbouring local authority areas.
Welcome to Visit Reading, the official tourism site for Reading and the wider Reading region, where you can explore things to do in Reading, find out what's on, and find inspiration of areas to explore when you visit our wonderfully cultural and diverse town.
The best things to do in Reading traverse the centuries, from old abbeys and castles to iconic artwork and innovative cuisines – not forgetting the taverns too, obvs.
4 days ago · Reading, town and unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Berkshire, southern England, 38 miles (61 km) west of London. It is an important junction of railways running west from London and south from the Midlands, and the Kennet and Avon Canal (to Bath and Bristol) and the River Thames.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Reading Museum
- Forbury Gardens
- Abbey Ruins
- Basildon Park
- Silchester
- Caversham Court
- Museum of English Rural Life
- Mapledurham House
- Kennet and Avon Canal Walk
- Museum of Berkshire Aviation
In the neo-Gothic Town Hall, the Reading Museum explores the town’s past, from its earliest days as a Saxon Settlement, through its Medieval abbey, industrialisation and up to the 21st century. There’s also a gallery for the nearby Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester), which has artefacts like a lifelike bronze eagle cast in the 1st or 2nd ...
A couple of streets east of the railway station, Forbury Gardens is a neat public park on the outer court of the former Reading Abbey, which we’ll talk about later. After the abbey was dissolved in the 16th century the space was left open and used for gun emplacements in the English Civil War and then for military drills during the Napoleonic Wars....
On the southeast boundary of Forbury Gardens, mingling with more modern buildings are the ruins of Reading Abbey, which was founded by Henry I in 1121. Like all monasteries across Britain and Ireland, the abbey was suppressed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in 1538, and it’s last abbot Hugh Cook Faringdon was hanged, drawn a...
A short trip into the Chiltern Hills, just northwest of Reading, Basildon Park is a resplendent Palladian country house designed by John Carr and built between 1776 and 1783. After being used as a prisoner of war camp in the Second World War, the house, constructed from honey-coloured Bath stone, was completely dilapidated in the 1950s and schedule...
You can see Silchester for yourself at a free English Heritage site ten miles southwest of Reading. The Roman city was built in the late 1st century over an earlier Iron Age oppidum, and was abandoned between the 5th and 7th centuries. The city walls form a polygon and were first excavated at the turn of the 20th century. They are claimed to be the...
In a conservation area on the north bank of the Thames, Caversham Court is a garden on the grounds of a former mansion. Some of Reading’s most powerful families lived here in the centuries after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and you can see pieces of its plasterwork and the 17th-century staircase at the Museum of Reading. Today, there’s no mo...
Operated by the University of Reading, this museum can be found at the back of the London Road campus near the town centre. The attraction was founded in 1951, through the university’s historic ties to agriculture, and has had a long refurbishment, opening its doors once more in 2016. The galleries map more than 250 years of the English countryside...
A few short miles up the Thames is an exquisite Elizabethan stately home, constructed in 1585 and offering tours on weekdays. When this post was written the house wasn’t part of the visit as it was being refurbished, but if you are able to go inside you’ll be shown authentic 16th-century priest holes, built to hide Catholic clergy at a time when th...
Reading is at the conclusion of the Kennet and Avon Canal, coursing along the West Country for 87 miles from Bristol. This long waterway was constructed between 1718 and 1810 and was mostly used to ship coal and building stone from Somerset to London. The canal towpath, traced by chestnut trees is another way to get to know Reading. The waterway is...
The Reading suburb of Woodley has a small but diverting aircraft museum, open Wednesdays and weekends. The attraction is in a hangar at what used to be the Woodley Aerodrome, which operated in the first half of the 20th century. The collection has machines built by the firm, Miles Aircraft (previously Phillips & Powis), which was based at the aerod...
Mar 14, 2021 · Learn about the origins, development, and features of Reading, a town in Berkshire, England. From its Saxon roots to its modern status as a major transport hub, discover the key events and people that shaped Reading's history.
Explore Reading's diverse and vibrant offerings, from historic sites and parks to arts and entertainment venues. Whether you are looking for family-friendly activities, sports and leisure, or nightlife and culture, you will find something to suit your taste in Reading.
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