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Useful resources

Bring your studies to life through access to University-held medieval objects and manuscripts.

The University Library holds 2.1 million catalogued books and subscribes to over 17,000 e-journals. The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) houses one of the most comprehensive national collections of objects, books and archives. On campus, you will also find our very own Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology and the Visual Resource Centre.

key resources

The Town and University of Reading

Reading is a major town in the Thames Valley to the west of London. It enjoys excellent communications by road and rail with London, Heathrow Airport, Oxford, Wales and the South West forming the hub of several rail networks.

Near the town centre are the ruins of Reading Abbey, which was founded by King Henry I in 1121 and which became one of the most important and richest religious houses in England.

Reading Museum (housed in the fine Victorian Town Hall) has on show the unique nineteenth-century embroidered facsimile of the Bayeux Tapestry as well as artefacts and Romanesque sculpture from the Abbey and a display concerning the nearby deserted Roman town of Silchester.

Students with an interest in local history are encouraged to use the Berkshire Record Office , which is conveniently located in the centre of Reading.

The BBC Written archives are just a short bus ride away from the University campus. The National Archives in Kew, the British Library in London and the Bodleian Library in Oxford are also in easy reach.