The following is a timeline of the history of Reading, the county town of Berkshire in England.
Events Early history, Normans and Medieval periods 8th century – Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain: The settlement of "Readingum" is founded by Anglo-Saxons, probably of the Readingas tribe, at the confluence of the Rivers Thames and Kennet. 870 – Vikings capture Reading. 871 – 4 January: First Battle of Reading: Vikings defend the settlement against men of Wessex.Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 979 – Reading Nunnery is established by Queen Ælfthryth. 1006 – Vikings burn Reading. 1121 – June: Reading Abbey is founded by King Henry I. Hugh of Amiens becomes first abbot. St Laurence's Church is built alongside. 1125 – 29 March: A charter is granted to Reading Abbey, taken also as the founding date of Reading School. c.1134 – The Leper hospital is founded by Abbot Aucherius. 1136 – 4 or 5 January: King Henry I is buried in Reading Abbey. c.1140–54 – The castle is maintained at Reading by King Stephen. 1163 – Robert de Montford is victorious in a trial by combat against Henry of Essex held on Fry's Island before King Henry II, whose court is in residence at Reading Abbey, where the loser spends the remainder of his life as a monk. 1164 – Abbey church is consecrated by Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. 1189 – The Hospitium of St John the Baptist is established.
1213 – Parliament is held in Reading by King John. 1219 – Spring: In a gathering at his home in Caversham, the dying William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, places the regency of England in the hands of the Papal legate Pandulf Verraccio. 1231 – 2 May: Caversham Bridge is first recorded with its Chapel of St Anne. 1233 – The Franciscans arrive in Reading and are granted a site near Caversham Bridge. 1241 – Parliament is held in Reading by King Henry III. 1254 – The town's first charter is granted by King Henry III, following a petition in 1253 by the Merchant guild. 1261–4 – The earliest known text of the "Reading Rota", "Sumer Is Icumen In", is written at Reading Abbey in mensural notation. 1285–1311 – The Franciscans establish a new Greyfriars. 1295 – As part of the Model Parliament, Reading elects two members to the Parliament of England as a parliamentary borough. 1346 – A tournament is held in Reading by King Edward III. 1359 – 19 May: John of Gaunt, the king's son marries Blanche of Lancaster in Reading Abbey. 1384 & 1389 – Parliament is held in Reading by King Richard II. 1434 – St Laurence's Church is rebuilt. 1440 – Parliament is held in Reading by King Henry VI. 1451–3 – Parliament is held at Reading Abbey by King Henry VI. 1463 – The election of constables is first recorded. 1464 – 14 September: At Reading Abbey, King Edward IV reveals his previously secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville earlier in the year. 1466 – Parliament is held in Reading by King Edward IV.
Tudor period 1486 – Reading School is re-founded by King Henry VII on the site of St John's Hospital. 1487 – A new charter is granted to the town by King Henry VII. 1500s – The surviving houses in Castle Street are built. Dissolution of the Monasteries: 1538 Greyfriars is suppressed. 14 September: The Shrine of Our Lady of Caversham is destroyed. 1539 – 19 September: Reading Abbey is suppressed and the Abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon, is indicted and hanged, drawn and quartered for treason together with John Eynon, priest of St Giles', and John Rugg, on 14 November. 1542 – Reading is granted a royal charter of incorporation permitting the burgesses to elect the mayor. Greyfriars becomes the guildhall. 1548 – King Edward VI grants the lordship of Reading to his uncle, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector who in 1550 is overthrown for misdemeanors including misappropriating Abbey property. 1551–5 – Church of St Mary the Virgin is rebuilt with materials from the Abbey church. 1560 – A new charter is granted to the town by Queen Elizabeth I. 1566 – A civic coat of arms is granted to the town. 1585 – Local mathematician John Blagrave publishes The Mathematical Jewel.
17th century 1619 – Wiremaking in Reading first mentioned. 1625 – The law courts are temporarily relocated to Reading because of plague in London. 1628 – The Oracle workhouse opens. 1634 – The original Vachel Almshouses are built as St Mary's Almshouses in St Mary's Butts. 1640 Silk manufacture in Reading begins. Kings Road Baptist Church is founded. English Civil War: 1642 – 4 November: The Royalist garrison arrives. 1643 – 13–26/27 April: Siege of Reading: The Royalist garrison is forced to surrender to Parliamentarian forces. The Abbey church is severely damaged. 1656 – Reading Blue Coat School for boys is founded by Richard Aldworth. 1662 – The first nonconformist meeting in Broad Street takes place. 1664 – The first fire engine is active in Reading. c. 1671 – Quakers first meet in Reading. 1688 9 December: Glorious Revolution: During the Second Battle of Reading, Dutch soldiers of William of Orange, with the support of townspeople, defeat an Irish garrison of James II led by Patrick Sarsfield in a skirmish in and around Broad Street. This is the last battle fought on English soil and the only substantial military action of the Revolution, and his force's success is influential in William's decision to proceed directly to London and claim the throne and in James's decision to flee the country. Watlington House is built.
18th century
1707 The Presbyterian meeting house is built on Broad Street. The new wooden High Bridge is erected over the River Kennet. 1714 – The Puntfield (Theale) turnpike trust is authorised. 1718–1723 – The River Kennet is made a navigation from High Bridge to Newbury by John Hore. 1718 – The Basingstoke turnpike trust is authorised. 1723 – 8 July: The Reading Mercury is the first newspaper in Reading to be published. 1724 – The first known freemasonry meeting in Reading takes place at the Mitre Inn. 1738 – Origin of the Blandy & Blandy solicitors' partnership in Reading. 1748 – Reading, Pennsylvania is established and named after the Berkshire town. 1763 – The Wallingford turnpike trust is authorised. 1778 – c. May: The first pound lock at Caversham Lock is constructed by Thames Navigation Commission, replacing a flash lock. 1782 – Green Coat school for girls is established. 1784 – Major Charles Marsack, lately an army officer in British India, buys Caversham Park from Earl Cadogan. 1785 25 July: 9-year-old Jane Austen, with her sister Cassandra, begins 18 months attendance at Reading Ladies' Boarding School at the Abbey gateway. The Simonds Brewery is opened by William Blackall Simonds in Broad Street. 1786 – The Town Hall is rebuilt; Compter Gate demolished. 1788 – The new stone High Bridge is erected to a design by Robert Furze Brettingham across the River Kennet. 1798 – St Mary's Church, Castle Street is built by a secessionist congregation (façade 1840–1842).
19th century
1800 – The streets of Reading are first lit with oil lamps, and piped water supply is first provided by a private company. 1802 Blake's Lock on the River Kennet is converted from a flash lock to a pound lock. The Dispensary opens. 1804 – Summer: The Simeon Monument is erected in the Market Place to the design of John Soane. 1806 – Suttons Seeds is established as corn merchants. 1810 – End: Completion of the Kennet and Avon Canal provides through water communication to Bath and Bristol. 1813 – The first steamboat on the River Thames is recorded at Reading. 1814 – Simonds Bank is established. 1815 – The first gasworks opens in Reading on Bridge Street. 1819 – The streets are first lit by gas. 1822 – Joseph Huntley begins biscuitmaking on London Street. 1825 – The Reading Mechanics' Institution is first established. 1829 – Whilst teaching at the Castle Academy, Scottish inventor Isaac Holden develops a version of the lucifer friction match. 1830 – c. Autumn: Caversham Bridge is rebuilt with the Reading spans in wood and iron and the Caversham spans in stone. 1831 – James Dymore Brown sets up the Royal Albert Brewery. 1835 9 September: The Municipal Corporations Act makes Reading a municipal borough with effect from 1 January 1836. The Friends meeting house is built. 1836 Reading Borough Police is formed. Barrett, Exall and Andrews set up the agricultural implement manufactory known from 1864 as the Reading Iron Works. 1837 – December: The first foundation stone is laid for a church designed by Augustus Pugin, St James's (Roman Catholic), on the site of Reading Abbey; it opens on 5 August 1840. 1839 – 27 May: The Royal Berkshire Hospital opens on land donated by Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth. 1840 – 30 March: The Great Western Railway opens to Reading railway station from London Paddington and Twyford through Sonning Cutting and over Kennet Mouth, engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It is extended on 1 June to Steventon, and throughout to Bristol on 30 June 1841. 1841 – Cousins Thomas Huntley and George Palmer form the biscuitmaking partnership of Huntley & Palmers. 1843 – 1 May: The first interment at Reading Old Cemetery, established by the Reading Cemetery Company in 1842. 1844 Early: Henry Fox Talbot establishes a pioneering commercial photographic establishment in Reading. HM Prison Reading is built as the Berkshire County Gaol to the design of George Gilbert Scott with William Bonython Moffatt. 1847 – 21 December: The Great Western Railway opens to Newbury and Hungerford. 1848 – 1 November: The Great Western Railway opens to Basingstoke. 1849 – 4 July: The South Eastern Railway opens to its own terminus in Reading. 1850 – The Board of Health is established and Reading Union Water Company begins construction of a water supply system. 1852 – The Reading Union Water Company completes construction of the underground Bath Road Reservoir fed from a pumping station on the Kennet at Southcote Lock and filtered on site. 1853 – The Theatre Royal is established in the former Mechanics' Institution on London Street. 1854 The Corn Exchange and Market House are built. John Heelas opens the drapery shop which becomes the Heelas department store. 1856 23 March: Forbury Gardens, laid out with a "botanical character", are opened to the public by the corporation. 9 July: The London and South Western Railway begins services to Reading. 1860 – The Art School opens. 1861 – The Assize Courts and police station are built. 1862 – The Reading Gas Company is formed by a merger. 1863 – Greyfriars Church is restored as a place of worship. 1866 All Saints' Church is opened for worship. New workhouse established. 1868 July: The Summer assize for Berkshire is moved from Abingdon to Reading, effectively making the latter the county town. This is officially confirmed in 1869. The Bath Road Reservoir is acquired by the Borough Council from the Reading Union Water Company. 1869 – 24 July: Caversham Bridge reopens after being rebuilt in metal. c. 1870–1873 – The water turbine powered sewage pumping station is installed at Blake's Lock as part of a sewerage and sewage treatment scheme. 1871 – 25 December: Reading F.C. is founded as an Association football club. 1872 – Huntley, Boorne & Stevens absorbs the biscuit tin manufacturing business established in 1832 by Joseph Huntley. In 1918 it is bought by Huntley & Palmers. 1875 Caversham Lock is rebuilt. The Free Library opens. 17 December: Edward Jackson establishes his gentleman's outfitters, which moves to Jacksons Corner in 1885. 1877 – Kendrick School is established for girls in Watlington House. 1879 – January–May: The Reading Tramways Company horse-drawn network is constructed. 1880 – The Reading Gas Company bridge over River Kennet is constructed. 1881 – Brock Barracks is completed. 1882 – October: The new Free Library opens in the Town Hall.