Berkshire is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berkshire in 1957 because of the presence of Windsor Castle, and letters patent were issued in 1974. Berkshire is a county of historic origin, a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county without a county council. The county town is Reading.
Newbury is a market town in the county of Berkshire, England, and is home to the administrative headquarters of West Berkshire Council. The town centre around its large market square retains a rare medieval Cloth Hall, an adjoining half timbered granary, and the 15th-century St Nicolas Church, along with 17th- and 18th-century listed buildings. As well as being home to Newbury Racecourse, it is the headquarters of Vodafone and software company Micro Focus International. In the valley of the River Kennet, 26 mi (42 km) south of Oxford, 25 mi (40 km) north of Winchester, 27 mi (43 km) southeast of Swindon and 20 mi (32 km) west of Reading.
West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council.
Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 8 miles (13 km) west of Newbury, 9 miles (14 km) east of Marlborough, 27 miles (43 km) northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the River Dun, a major tributary of the River Kennet. The confluence with the Kennet is to the north of the centre whence canal and river both continue east. Amenities include schools, shops, cafés, restaurants, and facilities for the main national sports. Hungerford railway station is a minor stop on the Reading to Taunton Line.
The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The name North Wessex Downs is not a traditional one, the area covered being better known by various overlapping local names, including the Berkshire Downs, the North Hampshire Downs, the White Horse Hills, the Lambourn Downs, the Marlborough Downs, the Vale of Pewsey and Savernake Forest.
Combe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated in West Berkshire, on the top of the downs near Walbury Hill and Combe Gibbet, overlooking the village of Inkpen and the valley of the River Kennet. Historically part of Hampshire, Combe was transferred to Berkshire in 1895.
The River Enborne is a river that rises near the villages of Inkpen and West Woodhay, to the West of Newbury, Berkshire and flows into the River Kennet. Its source is in the county of Berkshire, and part of its course forms the border between Berkshire and Hampshire. Despite the name, the river does not run through the village of Enborne, although it does run through Enborne Row.
East Woodhay is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. The village is approximately 5.5 miles (9 km) south-west of Newbury in Berkshire. At the 2011 census the parish had a population of 2,914.
The Test Way is a 44-mile (71 km) long-distance footpath in England from Walbury Hill in West Berkshire to Eling in Hampshire, which follows much of the course of the River Test.
Walbury Hill is a summit of the North Wessex Downs in Berkshire, England. With an elevation of 297 metres (974 ft), it is the highest natural point in South East England. On the hill's summit is the Iron Age hill fort of Walbury Camp, whilst the flanks of the hill lie within the Inkpen and Walbury Hills SSSI. The hill is one of three nationally important chalk wild grasslands in the North Wessex Downs, the others being in the Rushmore and Conholt Downs SSSI and the Hog's Hole SSSI. The summit is popular with walkers and paragliders.
The Wayfarer's Walk is a 71 mile long distance footpath in England from Walbury Hill, Berkshire to Emsworth, Hampshire.
Inkpen is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southeast of Hungerford, most of the land of which is cultivated fields with scattered woodland was once part of a former forest of Savernake. Inkpen has boundaries with Wiltshire and Hampshire, including part of Walbury Hill, the highest point in South East England.
Pilot Hill is the highest summit in Hampshire, England, with a maximum elevation of 286 m (938 ft). It lies around 2 miles (3.2 km) to the south-east of Walbury Hill, the county top of Berkshire, which is 297 m (974 ft) high.
Overton is a large village and parish in Hampshire, England located west of the town of Basingstoke, and east of Andover and Whitchurch. The village contains smaller hamlets of Southington, Northington, Ashe, Polhampton, and Quidhampton, the latter two lying to the north of the village. The River Test has its source 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east in Ashe.
West Woodhay is a rural scattered village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. At the 2011 census it had 59 households.
Inkpen and Walbury Hills is an 86.8-hectare (214-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Kintbury in Berkshire. The site is situated on the flanks of Walbury Hill, the highest point in Berkshire and South East England, and the adjacent Inkpen Hill. A Bronze Age cemetery of three bowl barrows on Inkpen Hill is designated a Scheduled Monument.
The Hampshire Downs form a large area of downland in central, southern England, mainly in the county of Hampshire but with parts in Berkshire and Wiltshire. They are part of a belt of chalk downland that extends from the South Downs in the southeast, north to the Berkshire and Marlborough Downs, and west to the Dorset Downs.
Hungerford Rural District was a rural district in Berkshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the south-west of the county.
