History of Slough
Slough is a town and unitary authority (Borough of Slough) in the English county of Berkshire, just to the west of Greater London. Until 1974 the town was in Buckinghamshire. The town developed in the 19th and 20th centuries from a number of villages, mainly in Buckinghamshire, along the Great West Road, with growth being accelerated by the construction of the Great Western Railway and later by the Slough Trading Estate. In the 2001 census the population was 119,070 (est. 122,000 in 2006). It is one of the most ethnically diverse towns in the UK, situated some 22 miles (35 km) west of central London and 20 miles (32 km) east of Reading. History Prehistory Evidence of Slough's prehistoric past can be found in its archaeology. Britwell and Farnham Royal sit on the Lynch Hill Gravel terraces, which is one of the best areas for prehistoric artefacts in the Thames Valley. Excavations in Cippenham during the early twenty-first century show evidence of human activity through time, with Mesolithic finds, Neolithic pits, a Bronze Age occupation site and cemetery, and late Iron Age/Roman features. There is also evidence of Roman sites (43 AD to 409 AD) from finds of pottery sherds and coins as well as features such as ditches and hearths. Medieval history Most of the area was traditionally part of Buckinghamshire and formed over many years by the amalgamation of villages along the Great West Road from London in the east to Bath and Bristol in the west. The first recorded uses of the name occur as Slo in 1196, Sloo in 1336, and Le Slowe, Slowe or Slow in 1437. The name may have derived from the various sloughs in the area caused by rain water flowing from the Chilton Hills to the River Thames, or it may refer instead to Sloe bushes growing in the vicinity. The name first seems to have applied to a hamlet between Upton to the east and Chalvey to the west, roughly around the 'Crown Crossroads' where the road to Windsor (now the A332) met the Great West Road. Along with Salt Hill, these settlements formed the parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey. The Domesday Survey of 1086, refers to Upton, and a wood for 200 pigs, worth £15. Upton, with its Norman Church, was situated at the top of the slope from the river terrace - the various levels in the area having been formed in the Ice-Age. In 1196, one Henry de Slo is mentioned in a Pipe roll - the earliest documentary reference found to Slough. During the 13th century, King Henry III had a palace in Cippenham: the spot (now a scheduled ancient monument) is still marked on modern maps as "Cippenham Moat". St Laurence's Church in Upton is around 900 years old and is the oldest building in Slough. Parts of Upton Court were built in 1325, while St Mary's Church in Langley was probably built in the late 11th or early 12th century, though it has been rebuilt and