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Reading (Parliamentary and municipal)

a parliamentary and municipal borough of England; capital of the county of Berks; on the Kennet, near its confluence with the Thames; 36 miles W. of London. The town is well built and laid out, and there are an assize hall, the Royal Berkshire hospital, a town hall of recent erection in the Renaissance style, etc. The industrial establishments include a large and celebrated biscuit factory, iron foundries, breweries, corn mills, etc., and there is a considerable agricultural trade. There are interesting remains of a magnificent abbey founded by Henry I., who was buried within its precincts in 1135. Pop. (1917) 82,475.