 Local Studies
Local history sites for information & resources on the history of Reading and Berkshire
Access to Archives
http://www.a2a.org.uk/
A huge database of catalogue information for Archives across England. An easy way to see if information of an particular topic is held in a particular location.
Battle of Maiwand
http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/campafghan1878maiwand.htm
The Lion in the Forbury Gardens commemorates the men who died at the Battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan, on 27 July 1880. This site tells the story of the battle.
Berkshire Archaeological Society
http://www.berksarch.co.uk/
Includes details of meetings and membership. We have a set of their journal in the Local Studies library.
Berkshire Local History Association
http://www.blha.org.uk/
Includes a list of local history societies and their websites. We have their journal in the Local Studies library and many of the other societies.
Berkshire Local History Association
http://www.blha.org.uk/
Includes a list of local history societies and their websites. We have their journal in the Local Studies library and many of the other societies.
Berkshire Medical Heritage Centre
http://www.bmhc.org/index.htm
Located in Royal Berkshire Hospital and collects items of a medical nature from the Reading area.
Brief History of Reading
http://www.reading.gov.uk/communityandliving/readinghistory/
Written for the Borough website by specialists from Local Studies.
Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies
http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/archives/
This includes both the Archives for the county of Buckinghamshire, and the Local Studies Collection.
Centre for Oxfordshire Studies
http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cos/
Information about the whole of the modern county of Oxfordshire, including the Chilterns to the north of the River Thames, which has always been in Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse, which used to be in Berkshire.
Emmer Green Chalk Mines
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/h/hanover_chalk_mine/index.shtml
Parts of Reading suffer from subsidence from these workings. On this site Subterranean Britain explores the Hanover mine under Emmer Green, its history and details an exploration of the mine with photos and a map.
English Heritage Viewfinder
http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/easy.asp
Good online searchable collection of old photographs from across the UK. There are over 1500 available for Berkshire.
Francis Frith Collection
http://www.francisfrith.com/
We have a large collection of Frith photographs for Berkshire in Local Studies which can be inspected by members of the public. You can see them on the following website. We do not hold the copyright on these photographs so you need to contact Frith directly if you want copies.
Henley Head's Diary 1940-1958
http://www.henleyhead.blogspot.com
The diaries 1940-1958 of H. D. Barnes, headmaster of Henley Grammar School.
Historical Directories
http://www.historicaldirectories.org/
A site run by the University of Leicester, who are digitising selected Directories from England and Wales from 1750 to 1919. They are searchable by location, by time period or by keyword.
History of Reading Festival
http://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/collections/festival.htm
A history of Reading Festival from Reading Museum.
Images of England
http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/
Aiming to provide online photographs of all the UK’s listed buildings.
Kennet and Avon Canal Trust
http://www.katrust.org/
Before the M4 and the railway the canal fuelled Reading’s growth. Find out more here.
Local sites - Berkshire Historic Newspapers
http://www.berksfhs.org.uk/berkshire/BerkshireNewspapers.htm
List provided by Berkshire Family History Society. You can check our holdings in the Local History section.
National Archives
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
The new name for the Public Record Office. The Catalogue is searchable online.
New Landscapes : Enclosure in Berkshire
http://www.berkshireenclosure.org.uk/
Provides online access to historic maps and documents showing the process of enclosing the common fields in Berkshire between 1738 and 1883.
Old Redingensians
http://www.oldredingensians.org.uk/
Reading School is one of the town's oldest institutions. This is the old boys' website which has various items of historical interest relating to the school. We have various books relating to the school in Local Studies.
Oxfordshire Record Office
http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wps/portal/publicsite/councilservices?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=http://apps.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wps/wcm/connect/Internet/Council+Services/Leisure+and+culture/History+and+heritage/Oxfordshire+Record+Office/
Archives for the historic county of Oxfordshire.
People’s War – Berkshire
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/C1110
Stories about Berkshire in World War 2, from the BBC’s “People’s War” site.
Reading Abbey
http://www.berksarch.co.uk/fora/lesabbey/read.htm
The Friends of Reading Abbey run this site. Includes a list of recommended reading.
Reading Remembrance Trust
http://www.readingremembrancetrust.co.uk/
Web site for tracing First World War dead from Reading.
Reading Weather Station
http://www.met.rdg.ac.uk/Data/
Data from the station at the University about Reading's recent weather. We hold print copies of historical statistics in Local Studies.
Royal Berkshire History
http://www.berkshirehistory.com/index.html
David Nash Ford has put together a lot of information about Berkshire.
Royal Berkshire Regiment
http://www.thewardrobe.org.uk/main.php3
The Museum of what is now the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment includes on its website transcriptions of the war diaries for the Royal Berkshire Regiment.
Sumer is icumen in
http://www.soton.ac.uk/~wpwt/harl978/sumerms.htm#Date
The manuscript of the oldest secular song in English, written down at Reading Abbey, can be found here.
Thames Valley Papists : From Reformation to Emancipation 1534 - 1829
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~hadland/tvp/tvpcontents.htm
Online etext of the history of Catholicism in the local area by Tony Hadland.
The Museum of English Rural Life
http://www.ruralhistory.org/index.html
Based at The University of Reading the museum has a particularly good collection relating to the local area, especially illustrations, and includes items relating to Sutton Seeds. They are detailed on their online catalogue.
Windsor and Eton Express
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dutillieul/ZWindsorEtonExpress/IndexWindsor&Eton.html
Surname and Public House Index as well as full text articles from this newspaper from the early nineteenth century. Gives a good idea of the type of things you can find in the old local papers in the library.
Workhouses
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/index.html
Everything you wanted to know about the Poor Law, and Workhouses across the country. Reading Union Workhouse became Battle Hospital.
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