BERKSHIRE, one of the south-eastern counties of England, bounded on the N.E. by Buckinghamshire, from which it is separated by the Thames; N. by Oxfordshire and a small portion of Gloucester; W. by Wilts; S. by Hants; and S.E. by Surrey. It is of a very irregular figure, extending from east to west fully 60 miles; while from north to south, in its widest part, it is about 35 miles, and in its narrowest part, at Reading, not more than 7. Area, 450,132 acres.
In respect to the character of its surface and soil, the county may be conveniently regarded as consisting of two divisions the eastern, containing the six districts east and inclusive of Bradfield, and the western, embracing the re maining six districts. The surface of the eastern division is partly level and partly undulating, and in many places, as at Windsor, it is beautifully wooded. The highest ground is at Bagshot Heath, a sandy plateau 4GO feet high, at the south-east corner of the county. The character of the soil in the eastern division is considered poorer than in the west, and consists mostly of blue clay and gravel, resting on a chalk formation. In this division, tillage, dairy farming, and manufacturing are more extensively pursued than in the other, and it is consequently more thickly populated. The western or upland division contains a large proportion of elevated ground, and its soil is a reddish gravelly loam. Here a line of chalk hills, reaching from Aid worth to Ashbury (vhich includes the Ilsley Downs), runs east and west, separating the two fertile valleys of the Kennet and the Thames. Another range of chalk downs, known as the Cuckamsley Hills, extends from the neighbour hood of Wantage to the border of Wiltshire, the highest point being White-Horse Hill, 893 feet high. In this part of the county the rearing of sheep is largely carried on, while in the district of Hungerford, which is situated in the basin of the Kennet, the soil allows a large breadth of tillage, and a greater number of persons are engaged in agricultural pursuits there than any other district in the county.
Wheat and beans are extensively cultivated; and a species of peat found on the banks of the Kennet yields ashes that are of great value to the soils near that river. In the vales of Kennet and White-Horse dairy farming predominates. Near Faringdon pigs are extensively reared, and the breed is celebrated. The estate of Pusey, in the district of Far ingdon, presents one of the best examples of high class farming, while in the eastern division the model farms in the district of Wokingham, the property of John Walter, Esq., M.P. for the county, may be referred to as the best specimens of the recent improvements in agriculture. Mr Walter's mansion at Bearwood, too, is an instance of a bar onial residence seldom equalled in extent and admirable disposition.
Few parts of England are better supplied with the faci lities of water communication than the county of Berks. It is connected by means of the Thames with London on the one hand, and on the other with the Severn at two separate points on that river; one through the Thames and Severn canal, some miles below Gloucester, the other through the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon canal by Bath and Bristol. Besides the navigable rivers, it enjoys the benefit of the Wilts and Berks canal, which connects the Thames at Abingdon with the Avon at Trowbridge in Wiltshire, and communicates with the Kennet and Avon canal. The other rivers, which all finally fall into the Thames, are the Ock, the Loddon, the Enborne, and the Lambourn.
The turnpike roads are generally good. The principal of these are the roads from London to Bath and Oxford, both of which enter the county at Maidenhead, and soon afterwards separate, the former running S.W. to Read ing, the latter nearly N.W. to Henley. Eight branches of railway intersect the county, viz., the Great Western, from Maidenhead to Reading, and from Reading to Shrivei)ham; the branch from Didcot to Hincksey and Oxford; the Berks and Hants railway branches from Reading to Morti mer and Basingstoke, and from Reading to Newbury and Huugerford; the Reading, Guildford, and Reigate line; and the Reading, Wokingham, and Staines branch of the South- Western Railway.
Berkshire is not a manufacturing county, although the woollen manufacture was introduced here as long ago 0.3 the time of the Tudors. There are some paper-mills, par ticularly in the neighbourhood of Newbury, and an exten sive biscuit manufactory at Reading. The chief trade consists in agricultural produce.
From its vicinity to the metropolis, the salubrity of the climate, and the general beauty of the country, few counties have more numerous seats of the nobility and gentry than are to be found in Berkshire. Among these stands pre eminent the royal castle of Windsor, the favourite residence of our monarchs during many centuries. There may also be mentioned Wytham Abbey (earl of Abingdon); Ashdown Park and Hamstead Marshall (earl of Craven); Coleshill (earl of Radnor); Shrivenham House (Viscount Barrington); Easthampstead Park (marquis of Downshire); Englefield House (R. Benyon, Esq., M.P.); Aldermaston House (Higford Burr, Esq.); South Hill Park (Rt. Hon. Sir AV. G. Hayter, Bart.); Pusey House (Sydney Bouverie Pusey, Esq.); Bearwood (John Walter, Esq., M.P.); and Lockinge House (Col. Loyd Lindsay, V.C., M.P.)
The county comprises 20 hundreds, 6 municipal boroughs, and 142 parishes, besides 14 others chiefly or partially in cluded in Berks. The county is in the diocese of Oxford and the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury. It forms an archdeaconry by itself, and is divided into the four rural deaneries of Abingdon, Newbury, Reading, and Wallingford. It is in the Oxford circuit, and the assizes are held at Reading. County courts are held at Abingdon, Far ingdon, Hungerford, Maidenhead, Newbury, Reading, Wallingford, Wantage, Windsor, and Wokingham.
Berkshire returns 3 members to parliament for the county, 2 for the borough of Reading, and 1 for each of the boroughs of Abingdon, Wallingford, and Windsor. At the three decennial enumerations the population of the county was as follows:—
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Houses. 1S51 35,075 1861 37,324 1871 41,821 Population. 170,065 170,256 190,475 Increase per cent. 5 4 10 The chief increase has taken place in the eastern division of the county, where the density of the population amounted in 1871 to about 1 person to 1 5 acre; while in the western it was 1 person to 3 5 acres. The principal towns in the county are Reading (pop. 32,324), Windsor (11,709), Newbury (6602), Maidenhead (6173), Abingdon (5799), Wantage (3295), and Wallingford (2972). The popula tion of the parliamentary districts differs from the above, as these districts include persons located beyond the bound aries of the boroughs.
