Historically, Berkshire has been bordered to the north by the ancient boundary of the River Thames. However, much of the border with Oxfordshire for the western part of the county was moved in 1974.
Alfred the Great was born in Wantage, previously in Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire. The Great Western Railway reached Didcot in 1839. MG (part of Morris Motors) was founded in Abingdon in 1929.
The Vale of White Horse and parts of Oxfordshire south of the River Thames were previously part of Berkshire, but were lost to the county in 1974. Conversely, the Slough area north of the Thames was historically part of Buckinghamshire, but was transferred to Berkshire in 1974.
Important historical abbeys include Abingdon Abbey, Dorchester Abbey and Reading Abbey.
Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in Reading Gaol after his court case.
The county is known as the Royal County of Berkshire since the Royal residence of Windsor Castle is in the county. Politically, the county is now made up of unitary authories.
Famous quotes containing the words history of and/or history:
“the future is simply nothing at all. Nothing has happened to the present by becoming past except that fresh slices of existence have been added to the total history of the world. The past is thus as real as the present.”
—Charlie Dunbar Broad (1887–1971)
“In all history no class has been enfranchised without some selfish motive underlying. If to-day we could prove to Republicans or Democrats that every woman would vote for their party, we should be enfranchised.”
—Carrie Chapman Catt (1859–1947)