Newbury, Berkshire

Newbury is the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in the United Kingdom. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many seventeenth century buildings.

History

Newbury was founded late in the eleventh century and acquired its name through being new in the sense of postdating the Doomesday Survey. Historically, the town's economic foundation was the cloth trade. This is reflected in the person of the fourteenth century cloth magnate Jack O'Newbury and the later tale of the Newbury Coat. The latter was the outcome of a bet as to whether a gentleman's suit could be produced by the end of a day from wool taken from the sheep's back earlier the same day.

Related Topics:
Eleventh century - Doomesday Survey - Fourteenth century

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Newbury was the site of two English Civil War battles, the First Battle of Newbury in 1643 and the Second Battle of Newbury in 1644. The nearby Donnington Castle was reduced in the aftermath of the second battle.

Related Topics:
English Civil War - First Battle of Newbury - 1643 - Second Battle of Newbury - 1644 - Donnington Castle

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In 1795, local magistrates, meeting nearby, introduced the Speenhamland System which tied parish welfare payments to the cost of bread.

Related Topics:
1795 - Speenhamland System

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A large airforce base was established during the Second World War at Greenham Common on the edge of the town. In the 1950s it became home to US Air Force bombers and tankers, for which it was equipped with the longest military runway in the United Kingdom. In the 1980s it became one of only two bases in the United Kingdom equipped with ground-launched nuclear-armed cruise missiles, causing it to become the site of prolonged and vigorous protests by up to 40,000 protesters. With the end of the Cold War the base was closed, the runway broken for use as fill material in building the Newbury by-pass (see below), and much of the area restored to heathland.

Related Topics:
Airforce - Second World War - Greenham Common - 1950s - US Air Force - Bomber - Tanker - Runway - United Kingdom - 1980 - Nuclear - Cruise missile - Protester - Cold War - Heathland

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The town's location at the intersection of the routes from London to Bristol and from Southampton to Birmingham made it, for many years, a transport bottleneck. Since the first bypass opened in 1963, the A34 road and M4 motorway trunk routes have intersected 5km north of the town, at Chieveley. The ring road around the town still suffered serious congestion and the Newbury bypass was proposed in 1981. The plans were approved in 1990 however they were extremely controversial and this led to a major environmentalist campaign (sometimes dubbed the Third battle of Newbury) opposing the development. In spite of this, the road was built and finally opened in 1998.

Related Topics:
London - Bristol - Southampton - Birmingham - 1963 - A34 road - M4 motorway - Chieveley - Newbury bypass - 1981 - 1990 - Environmentalist - 1998

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In August 2004, the improved A34-M4 junction was opened which allowed north-south traffic on the A34 to completely bypass the roundabout at the M4.

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See also: Newbury Castle, Newbury bypass, Greenham Common

Related Topics:
Newbury Castle - Newbury bypass - Greenham Common

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