The county of Berkshire is home to a through route from east to west following the River Thames, the ancient Ridgeway, the A4 trunk road, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Great Western Railway. Within this long, slipper-shaped county there is something for everyone - gems from medieval to modern times. It can be divided into five geographical sections: the Vale of the White Horse, the Chalk Downs, the Kennet Valley, the district east of the River Loddon and the Thames Valley itself. Glorious buildings stand at Bisham and Ufton Court, there is the splendid gatehouse of Donnington Castle and the crowning glory of all, Windsor Castle and St George’s Chapel. There are fine market towns, the White Horse at Uffington, Roman Silchester, the medieval barn at Great Coxwell, grand stately homes and fascinating medieval churches. Other attractions include the Savill Gardens at Windsor, the Museum of Berkshire Aviation, the Stanley Spencer Gallery at Cookham and the Sandham Memorial Chapel, the Thames Valley Police Museum, the Beale Wildlife Park and the Windsor and Eton Brewery.

50 Gems of Berkshire explores the many places and their history that make this part of the country so special, including natural features, towns and villages, buildings and places of historical interest. Alongside justly famous attractions, others will be relatively unknown, but all have an interesting story to tell.

David Meara is a retired Church of England clergyman who worked in the Oxford Diocese for twenty-seven years, and then served as Rector of St. Bride’s Fleet Street and Archdeacon of London until 2014. He has made a lifetime study of Church movements and brasses and has published extensively on the subject. He has published on a range of topics, including Anglo-Scottish sleeper trains and the scuttling of German ships at Scapa Flow. His father-in-law fought in Burma in the Second World War.