Dick Turpin to the biggest lion Berkshire's fascinating facts

Famous for Windsor Castle, Royal Ascot and pleasant countryside, it can be easy to forget how impressive Berkshire is to visitors.

READ MORE: Reading through the ages

While we may be used to living in the county with the oldest castle still in use, Berkshire's best facts are still fun to be reminded of.

We have rounded up a few of the most interesting facts about the county - and some you may not have been aware of.

1. Reading is the UK's largest town without city status

As one of the largest urban areas in the UK to be without city status, Reading has bid for city status on three recent occasions – in 2000 to celebrate the new millennium; in 2002 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and in 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. All three bids were unsuccessful.

2. It’s home to the National Trust’s oldest tree

The Ankerwycke Yew is an ancient yew tree close to the ruins of St Mary's Priory, the site of a Benedictine nunnery built in the 12th century, near Wraysbury in Berkshire.

This iconic 2,500 year old yew tress is steeped in history.

According to popular belief, it was beneath this tree that King Henry VIII courted Anne Boleyn, and some reports suggest that he even proposed in its shadow.

While Magna Carta is said to have been sealed at Runnymede, there are those who argue that the event actually took place on the other side of the river, perhaps under this very yew.

3. Windsor Castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world

It has been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years.

It is an official residence of Her Majesty The Queen and is still very much a working royal palace today, home to around 150 people.

4. It's home to the world's BIGGEST lion

The sculpture of Reading's Forbury Lion, or Maiwand Lion, took two years to design and complete, and the is one of the world's largest cast iron statues.

It was erected in 1884 to commemorate the deaths of 329 men from the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot during the campaign in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in Afghanistan between 1878 and 1880.

5. King Henry I is buried at Reading Abbey

The large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town was founded by Henry I in 1121.

He was buried in front of the High Altar at Reading Abbey on 3 January 1136.

According to Reading Museum, no expense was spared in building Henry’s abbey.

The church and other buildings were designed to impress with their size, beauty and magnificence.

The abbey church would be the fourth-longest church in England, after the cathedrals of Winchester and London, and the abbey church at Bury St Edmunds.

6. A Bracknell pub has escape routes for highwaymen

The Old Manor Inn in Bracknell is said to have been one of Dick Turpin's favourite dwelling places, perhaps because there was an escape tunnel large enough for him to ride through in an emergency.

The pub is one of the town's oldest buildings, and as a a 17th-century brick manor house, it features a number of priest holes.

Next door once stood the 'Hind's Head' coaching inn, where it is said Dick Turpin used to drink.

It is believed that there were once tunnels between the two, along which the famous highwayman could escape from the authorities.

Other surviving old pubs are the Red Lion and the Bull, all timber-framed and dating from before the 18th century.

7. Bracknell is home to one of the most famous and oldest psychiatric facilities

Broadmoor Hospital in Crowthorne is a high-security psychiatric hospital, and is the oldest of the three of its kind in England, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

READ MORE: A look at notorious patients of Bracknell's infamous Broadmoor Hospital

The hospital has played host to the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe and The Stockwell Strangler.