Victorian

Timeline

Council

First Charter

Queen Elizabeth's Charter

Reform

Parliament

Boundaries

Town Links

Boundaries

In Victorian times Reading quickly grew in size. Many of the new houses were being built outside the boundaries of the town. When the sewerage and water systems were being sorted out, the houses outside the boundaries were not included. Eventually, after several years of discussion, the Borough boundaries were extended in 1887 to take in much of the Victorian development. In 1888 Reading became a County Borough, outside the country of Berkshire.

The next extension of the boundaries was in 1911. Tilehurst and Caversham both became part of Reading. The people of Tilehurst mostly wanted to become part of Reading and be connected to the water and sewage systems. Reading Council had already bought Prospect Park and the hospital at the site. Caversham did not really want to become part of Reading, especially because it was in a different county, but since so many people lived in Caversham and worked in Reading the proposal went ahead. Part of the agreement was that a new bridge had to be built across the Thames by Reading. In 1977 a further part of Caversham, Caversham Park Village was taken into Reading from Oxfordshire.

Reading continued to be a County Borough until 1974 when it then became part of Berkshire. This meant that Reading lost control of major planning, roads, social services, education and libraries which passed to the County. The town had already lost control of the Police, Hospital and Fire services as well as its responsibilities for water and sewage.