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d ir e c t o r y . ]

B E R K S H IR E .

R E A D IN G .

15*1

Poitou, and Cornwall, brother of Henry III. d. 2nd an answer from Sir A rth ur Aston that “ he would
operations were then commenced,
April, 1272; Constance, daughter of Edmund Plan­ starve or die in i t ;
tagenet, of Langley, Duke of Y ork, and wife of Thomas and Essex having taken a fortification at Mapledurham
and
another
at Caversham H ill, which gave
Despencer, Earl of Gloucester; and Anne, Countess of
W arw ick: at the time of its dissolution its revenues him the command of the town, it was m uch battered
were not less than ¿1,938 13s. 3 ^ . yea rly: of its; by the shot; it however held out, but the governor
buildings, with the exception of the gateway, hardly having sustained severe in jury by the falling of a brick,
more than enormous and shapeless masses of flint and the command was transferred to Colonel Fielding, and
rubble now rem ain ; the chapter house is now almost the garrison having at length exhausted their am m uni­
the only apartm ent remaining to a certain extent entire, tion,'’ held out a flag of truce, at which juncture Prince
although masses of walls denuded of their stone facing Rupert and the K ing, who had marched from Oxford
and now covered with ivy, extend in- various directions to their relief, engaged the besiegers on Caversham
and one or two bases of the piers of the great church Bridge, but after a severe struggle were defeated; the
are yet in s itu ; the garden of the monastery stretched Kino- then retired to Caversham House, and the town
from the present county police courts nearly to the; urrendered upon the terms of the garrison being per­
Market place, and the stables, which were very exten­ m itted to m arch out w ith their colours, arms and
sive, occupied a site adjoining Holy B roo k: the con­ baggage to join the K in g ’s troops at Oxford. The town
ventual church was a Norman structure : the wainscoting continued afterwards to be garrisoned at intervals b_y
of the refectory is now in the hall of Magdalen College, both the contending parties. In 1663, when Charles II.
Oxford: the catalogue of the library in the reign of passed through Reading, the Corporation presented the
Henry III. is still extan t; it then comprised 100 King, Queen and their servants with sums of mone>;:
volumes, 38 of which contained the Holy Scriptures in 1688 a skirm ish took place in the streets between the
or portions thereof. Hugh Faringdon, 31st and last Soots and Irish of James II. and the troops of the
abbot of Reading, sturdily refusing to acknowledge the Prince of Orange, known as the “ Reading fight, 7 ]n
supremacy of Henry V III. or to surrender his house, which the former were beaten, and left the town in
was, with two of h’is monks, R ugg and Onyon, hung, the hands of the Dutch troop s: this affair is still
drawn and quartered within sight of his own gateway, celebrated annually by the ringing of bells on Dec.
Nov. 14th, 1539: the great gateway, which originally 21st. Queen Anne visited the town in 1702 and received
gave access to the inner court of the abbey, was some from the m unicipality 40 pieces of gold.
The church of St. G iles, standing on the east side ef
years since very carefully restored, and is a rectangular
structure of two stages, constructed of flint with stone Southampton street, is a building of flint and stone, in
mixed
styles, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays,
dressings; a wide pointed archway pierces the lower
stage; in the upper are small trefoil-headed windows, aisles, south porch and a battlem ented western tower
surmounted
by a slender stone spire, and containing a
surmounted by a plain parapet, and at the angles are
octagonal turrets rising above the whole. Two mural clock and 8 b e lls; there are 10 stained windows, and a
tablets to the memories of the first and last abbots brass to John Bowyer, tanner, 1521, and Joan his wife.:
were placed on the walls of the chapter house in June, the church suffered m uch from the artillery of the
besiegers during the Civil War, and until a few years
1911.
since= was somewhat inconvenient and unsightly, but
Of other m onastic establishments once existing here, was completely restored and enlarged in 1873 at a
the most im portant was th at of the Franciscans or Grey total cost of ¿10,660, and now affords 1,200 sittings.
Friars, w h o established themselves in Reading in 1233, The register dates from the year 1564. There is a
by permission of Pope Gregory IX . and in 1285 move_d fund of about ¿250 yearly from house property for the
to a new site, upon which, with the help of Edward I. maintenance of the fabric of the church. The livin g is
who furnished them with tim ber, they erected their a rectory and vicarage, net income ¿210 , in the g ift of
con ven t: its church, completed, as is supposed, about the Bishop of Oxford, and held since 1903 by the Rev.
1311, is one of the finest examples of this period extant, Robert W alter Carew Hunt M.A. of Merton College,
and has been restored: this house was surrendered to
Oxford.
j
Henry V III. 13th Sept. 1539, by the warden, Peter
St. Michael and A ll Angels (tem porary) church, in
Sehefford S.T.P. and ten friars: in 1540 the domestic E lgar road, is also attached to St. Giles’s, and was
buildings were granted to Robert Stanshaw, a retainer erected in 1899 at a cost of ¿ i , 7S°of the King, and in 1343 the Corporation obtained
St. Luke’s church, on the Redlands estate, attached
possession of the church, which they converted into a to St. Giles’s and built in 1885 at a cost of ¿ 9 .° 7°\ is
town h a ll; in 1560 it became a workhouse, and in 1613 a structure of red brick in the Italian style, consisting
a prison, which purpose it continued to serve until it of chancel, nave of five bays, vestry, transepts, aisles
was purchased in 1863 by the late Ven. Archdeacon and an eastern bell-cot containing one bell. St. Agnes
Phelps, and by him restored to its original uses.
churcb. in Silver street, also attached to St. Giles's, is
Hugh, who became eighth abbot about 1180, founded a small edifice of brick and will seat 200. Both these
another hospital, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, for are served by the clergy of St. Giles’s.
the, relief of strangers and pilgrim s, near St. Laurence’s
The church of St. Laurence, on the north-east side of
church, and conducted by a sisterhood of 13 w idow s: the Market place, is a building of flint and stone,-in
Abbot Thorne, in the reign of Edward IV. suppressed the E arly English and Perpendicular sty le s: it was
this hospital and converted it into a gram m ar school, partially rebuilt in 1434, and consists of chancel, nave
of five bays, north aisle, with chan try chapel, south
A.D. 1485.
8g
In i2;2 the Pope’s Legate held a council here, and porch, and a fine western tower of flint and stone ■
in the following year K in g John m et the legate and feet high and containing 10 bells, the largest weighing
barons at Reading and held a parliam ent. Henry III. 4,109 lbs.; the tenor bell was recast on Jan. io, 1882,
after several visits also held parliaments here in .1241 and the weight was then increased from 23 to 24 cwts. :
and 1263; Edward II. was at Reading in 1314, and the tower is Perpendicular, and has octagonal turrets
Edward III. passed Christmas in the town and held a at the angles, rising into spirelets above the parapet,
grand tournament in 1346 ; hither also, in 1380, came which is battlem ented: the north aisle, called also St.
Richard II. to punish such of the townsfolk as had lent John's chapel, from its having been used by the sisters
help to the rebel, W at T yler: in 1415 Henry Y . and in of the hospital of that name, retains its original ro o f;
1440 Henry VI. who then m et his parliam ent: the this aisle and the chancel were restored in 1848, and
m arriage of Edw ard IV. with Elizabeth Woodville was most of the windows filled with stained g la s s ; th e
first openly acknowledged at Reading in 1464, when remainder of the church was restored in 1867-8, when
she made her public appearance at the abbey, being the church walk or piazza, built by J. Blagrave on
conducted thither by the Duke of Gloucester and the the south side in 1690, was removed, the interior re ­
Earl of Warwick. Parliaments were held here in 1466- seated and two stained windows inserted, at a total
67 in the great hall of the abbey. Henry V II. was at cost of ¿4,000, and further in 1882, at a cost of ¿4.580:
Reading in 1487: Henry V III. on several occasions, and in the south aisle lies buried John Blagrave, author of
in 1552 Edward VI. visited it and was received with “ The Mathematical Jewell,” who died 9 August, 1617,
m uch ceremony by the authorities, as afterwards m and on the wall above is a curious painted monument,
1554, weTe Philip and Mary. Queen Elizabeth visited with his demi-effigy, in cloak and ruff, holding a skull
Reading in 1568, 1572, 1575, 1592, 1602, and in 1603 in one hand and a quadrant in the other, w ith the
shortly before her d e a th : the law courts were held here inscription:
in Michaelmas Term 1625, on account of the plague
“ Johannes Blagravius,
raging iu London, the judges sitting in the great hall
Totus m athematicus,
of the abbey, the town hall and council chamber. In
Cum m atre sepultuS: ”
1643 the town sustained a very severe siege of ten days
from the Parliamentary forces, under the command of a figure in ruff and hat, kneeling at a desk, com ­
the Earl of E ssex: the town itself was strongly fortified, memorates Martha, wife of Charles Hamley, ob. 1636:
and Essex having summoned it to surrender, received there are a few memorials to the Hungerfords of W rits;