Borough of Reading: History
=== Origins ===
Occupation at the site of Reading may date back to the Roman period, possibly in the form of a trading port for Calleva Atrebatum. However, the first clear evidence for Reading as a settlement dates from the 8th century, when the town came to be known as Readingas. The town grew around a crossing of the River Kennet, about 1 mile (1.6 km) upstream from its confluence with the River Thames.
In late 870, an army of Danes invaded the kingdom of Wessex and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, in the first Battle of Reading, King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes' defences. The battle is described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and that account provides the earliest known written record of the existence of Reading. The Danes remained in Reading until late in 871, when they retreated to their winter quarters in London.
Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror gave land in and around Reading to his foundation of Battle Abbey. In Domesday Book, the town was explicitly described as a borough. The presence of six mills is recorded: four on land belonging to the king and two on the land given to Battle Abbey.
Reading Abbey was founded in 1121 by Henry I, who is buried within the Abbey grounds. As part of his endowments, he gave the abbey his lands in Reading, along with land at Cholsey. The foundation of Reading Abbey led to the town becoming a place of pilgrimage and enhanced the town's prosperity, however the relationship between abbey and town was to prove strained at times.
In 1253 Reading's Merchant Guild successfully petitioned for the grant of a charter from the King and negotiated a division of authority with the Abbey. In 1312, King Edward II directed that its bridges should be kept in good order.
It is not known how badly Reading was affected by the Black Death that swept through England in the 14th century, but it is known that the abbot, Henry of Appleford, was one of its victims in 1361, and that nearby Henley lost 60% of its population.
The Abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. The last abbot, Hugh Faringdon, was subsequently tried and convicted of high treason and hanged, drawn and quartered in front of the Abbey Church.
By 1525, Reading was the largest town in Berkshire and the tenth largest town in England when measured by taxable wealth reported in tax returns. By 1611, it had a population of over 5,000 and had grown rich on its trade in cloth, as instanced by the fortune made by local merchant John Kendrick.
Reading played a role during the English Civil War. Despite its fortifications, it had a Royalist garrison imposed on it in 1642. The subsequent Siege of Reading by Parliamentary forces succeeded in April 1643. The town's cloth trade was especially badly damaged, and the town's economy did not fully recover until the 20th century. Reading played a significant role during the Glorious Revolution: the second Battle of Reading was the only substantial military action of the campaign. …