Berkshire

Berkshire, a county in England, lies in the Thames valley. Its fertile soil overlies solid chalk, and is mostly under cultivation or timber. The richest part, the Vale of the White Horse, is so named from the gigantic figure of a horse cut out in the adjacent hill. This figure, which occupies nearly an acre, is said to have been the work of Alfred the Great in commemoration of a victory over the Danes in 872. In the east part of the county is Windsor forest, and at the south-east Bagshot Heath. The county comprises 20 hundreds, 151 parishes, and 12 poor-law unions. It is chiefly devoted to agriculture, and is celebrated for its breed of pigs. Its manufactures are mainly in agricultural implements, paper, malt, and biscuits. The chief towns are Reading, the capital, Newbury, Maidenhead, Faringdon, Hungerford, Wantage, Wokingham, East Ilsley. Lambourn, and Windsor. Besides the Thames, its tributaries, the Kennet with the Lambourn, the Leddon, the Ock, and the Enborne, flow through the county. In Berkshire are numerous Roman and Saxon remains and Norman churches of the 12th century.