Is Reading, Berkshire a city? If not, why not?

Question

There is a major bet riding on this and I can't remortgage again.

Answer 1

Reading is a large town, unitary authority area (the Borough of Reading) and urban area in Berkshire, England.

The borough council has bid for city status in several recent competitions but, as of 2007, these have been unsuccessful. The application for city status is politically controversial, with some groups of residents strongly opposed, whilst others support the bid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading,_Berkshire


City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The status does not apply automatically on the basis of any particular criteria, although in England and Wales it was traditionally given to towns with diocesan cathedrals. This association between having a cathedral and being called a city was established in the early 1540s when Henry VIII founded dioceses (and therefore cathedrals) in six English towns and also granted them all city status by issuing letters patent.

There are currently 66 officially-designated cities in the UK, of which eight have been created since 2000 in competitions to celebrate the new millennium and Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. The designation is highly sought after, with over 40 communities submitting bids at recent competitions.

Full info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_status_in_the_United_Kingdom

Good luck!!

Answer 2

Is Reading A City

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Is Reading, Berkshire a city? If not, why not?
There is a major bet riding on this and I can't remortgage again.

Answer 4

I wonder if mal g can explain why Guildford in Surrey has a Cathedral but is not a city, St Davids in Wales has a Cathedral and is also not a city, also although i cannot remember there is i believe one designated city in the UK that does not have a Cathedral. I believe that the link between Cathedral and city is a general rule and not absolute.

Answer 5

Originally, regardless of size of community:-
No church ----------------------------- Hamlet
Church but no 'Town Hall' ---------Village
'Town Hall' but no Cathedral ------Town
Cathedral ------------------------------ City
This gave rise to some very large towns (e.g. Sunderland pop. over 177,000), and some very small cities (e.g.Ely 14,000).
This all changed in 2001 (?) when some larger towns were granted City status (again e.g. Sunderland)
To answer your Question, I agree with other answers, in that Reading has been unsuccessful in more than one bid for City status.

Have you bet the right way?? :-)


*edit*
Hi! freddiem. I 'sort of' agree that what I gave may be only a general rule, but if you click on this link you will see that St. David's is indeed designated a city. http://www.stdavids.co.uk/
As for Guildford, I think you will find that if it hasn't got city status it's because the Cathederal is a relatively new building added to the town on a completely new site.

Answer 6

No, it's just a town.

They competed to get city status a few years ago but Brighton won instead. No idea why (though Brighton is probably bigger).