|
|
|
|
|
 |
| HOME WHAT'S NEW BOOKLIST eBOOKS UPCOMING EVENTS NEWSLETTER (free) SOFTWARE SUPPORT CONTACT US |
Order Online or Call
1-800-361-5168 |
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
Books, Maps & Other Resources  England & Wales  Genealogy & History BOOK - History of Berkshire (England) By: Judith Hunter 
Berkshire came into existence more than a thousand years ago. At that time a buffer zone, fought over by the Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex, by 1086, when Domesday Book was compiled, Berkshire had taken on the shape it was to retain until 1974. Through the local government and reorganisation of that year it lost its ancient heartland, the Vale of the White Horse, but gained the southern tip of Buckinghamshire. Today, further restructuring threatens the new county with a loss of identity; which gives timely topicality to the publication of this long awaited account, in which Dr. Hunter tells the story of all the Berkshires, old and new. Naturally, her narrative and illustrations include all those towns and villiages transferred to Oxfordshire, such as Wallingford, Abingdon and Wantage - their history, for a millennium, lay in Berkshire - while she also incorporates such recent acquisitions as Eton and Slough.Recurrent themes in its story are the importance of its proximity to London and its strategic significance as the corridor fo the routes to the west. Since prehistoric times, the Thames and the Kennet, together with the ancient Ridgeway, served travellers and trade; and by the early Middle Ages the Bath Road was one of England's five great highways, linking London to Bristol. Though Berkshire's towns have a fascinating variety of origins, all the major ones lie close to the rivers or the great west road. Much of their prosperity depended on transport as their products - wool, cloth, corn and malted barley - helped swell the export trade or feed London's evergrowing population. In the 19th century the railway added yet another great east west link and Berkshire boomed on the supply of milk to the capital. Today, with the M4 as well, it forms part of that area of prime business land to the west of London known as the Golden Triangle; it is also commuter country. Hard Cover, Illustrated ISBN
|
|
|
