Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1911_0032.jpg

30

ALDEBM ASTON.
COMMERCIAL.

Alderm aston Co-operative Industrial
Provident Society Lim ited (J. F.
Cam bridge, sec)
Bucknell W m . farm er, Fosters frm
C am brid ge
John
Foreman,
land
steward to 0 . E. K eyser esq. AI.A.,
F .S .A ., D .L ., J.P. & assistant
overseer, Church farm
C arter Robert k Sons, builders, de­
corators, plum bers k sanitarv en­
gineers ; specifications k estimates
prepared
C la rk Frederick, saddler & butcher,
Post office
Ford George k Son, farm ers, timber
m erchants & steam corn millers

B E R K S H IR E .
(letters should be addressed, Pine
Wood Saw m ills, Pond farm ,
M ortimer W est, R ea d in g ); Tel.
“ Ford, Silchester ”
Ford Charles, blacksmith
Ford Harry, carpenter & wheelwright
Galt Alexander, head gardener to C.
E.
Keyser esq
Hawkins Francis, copse dealer
Irem onger M ortim er W est, miller
(water), Alderm aston m ill
Jacob Fredk. osier grower, Rose cot
Keep Charles, farm bailiff to C. E.
Keyser esq. Park farm
Keep Henry, boot & shoe m aker
Keep W illiam , farmer, Ferris farm
(letters via Woolhampton)

A L D W O R T H , in Domesday “ Elleorde,” is a village
and parish 12 m iles north-west from Reading, about 2
east from Compton station on the Didcot and Newbury
branch of the G reat Western railway, and 3 west from
G oring station on the main line of the same, in the
Southern division of the county, hundred of Compton,
p e tty sessional division of Ilsley, union and county court
d istrict of W antage, rural deanery of W allingford,
archdeaconry of Reading and diocese of Oxford.
The
ch urch of St. Alarv is a building of flint and stone in
m ixed styles, chiefly in Decorated, consisting of chancel,
nave, south aisle, south porch and a western tower with
saddle-back roof and containing 3 bells and a sanctus
bell ; the north and south windows and a piscina in
the chancel belong to the Decorated period, while the
lately removed chancel screen and some bench ends are
of late Perpendicular work : this church is well known
as containing the famous tombs of the De la Beches,
who were resident in this parish in the 14th century;
these consist of eight altaT-tombs bearing nine recum ­
bent effigies, two being ladies, and the rest, with one
exception, of knights in arm our; six of the effigies
lie under richly foliated ogee arches attached to the
north and south w alls; the"figures, together with the
slabs on which they repose, are each carved out of a
single block of stone, excepting that in the middle of
the church, which is in three pieces ; the large figure to
the east, in the north wall, represents Sir Philip de la
Bèriie, who was, according to tradition, over 7 feet in
s ta tu re : floruit 1313-1329; the effigies on the altar
tomb under the centre arcade at the east end represent
S ir John, son of the aforesaid Philip, and Isabella his
w ife; the single figure in the middle of the same
arcade probably represents Sir Nicolas de la Bêche, who
died 1345, and who was constable of the Tower and
tu to r to the Black Prince ; the effigies have, un­
fortunately, received much w ilful injury, and on one,
which has lost both hands and feet, m ay be seen the
dates 1511, 1561, 1641 and 1706; thev were celebrated
even in the tim e of Queen Elizabeth, who herself came
hither from Ewelme to inspect them ; the de la Beche
fam ily became extinct in the direct male line, probablv
by the death of Edmund de la Beche, archdeacon of
Berks, in 1371 ; the church has been p artiallv restored
at intervals from 1845 to 1878, under the direction of
M r. J. P. St. Aubyn, architect: there are 200 sittin gs:
in the churchyard is a very ancient yew tree measuring
9 yards round the trunk, and supposed to be older than

[K E L L Y ’ s
fM illson Thomas, B u tt inn
Potter George, head gamekeeper to
C.
E. Keyser esq
fStran ge k Son Lim ited, brewers,
Alderm aston brewery
Sum m ers Fredk. farmer, Frouds frm
Teichmann
Oskar
M .A.Cantab.,
M .R .C .S., L .R .C .P.L on d., F .R .G .S.
physician k surgeon
Territorial Battalion (4th) Princess
Charlotte of W ales’s (Royal Berk­
shire Regim ent) (Detachment of
C Co. Lieut. E. Blandy)
W alters Henry, shopkeeper
Wickens Henry, Falcon inn
W right Jn. Hind’s Head hotel & frm r

the church, indeed in Rock's “ Church of Our Fathers,”
it is calculated to be over fifteen centuries since it was
p lan ted : Richard Graves, author of “ Th e Spiritual
Q uixote,” was curate here c. 1744-48. The register
dates from the year 1556. The living is a vicarage,
net yearly value £250, including 44 acres of glebe,
with residence, in the gift of St. John’s College, C am ­
bridge, and held since-1900 by the Rev. George Frederick
Afattinson M.A. of St. John’s College, Cambridge. The
Prim itive Methodists have a chapel here. Beche Castle,
the residence of the De la Beches in the reigns of
Edward I. Edward II. and Edward III. was situated
a short distance south-east of the ch u rch ; originally
a mansion, it was crenellated by Sir Nicholas de la
Beche in 1338, under licence from Edward III. ; on its
site now stands a farm house; numbers of encaustic
tiles have been found on the spot and in 1871 a silver
seal was met with inscribed “ * S ’ Isabelle de la Beche,”
and engraved with a trefoil cusped and roseated like
the south canopies in the church, within which are
three shields of arms. Sir Nicholas was created a
baron by a w rit of summons 25th February, 1342,
but dying without issue in 1347, the title became
extinct, and the estates here passed to his sisters, and
subsequently became the property of Sir Thomas Lan g­
ford, who died in 1391, but his descendants continued
here till 1509; in the reign of Elizabeth the manor
belonged to Sir John Norreys, afterwards to the Berties,
and in 1756 was sold by W illoughby (Bertie), 3rd Earl of
Abingdon, to Richard Palm er esq. of Sonning. George
Stanley S. Monck esq. of Coley Park, is lord of the
manor and chief landowner. The soil is chalk and
c la y ; subsoil, chalk.
The chief crops are wheat,
barley and roots. The area is 1,690 a cre s; rateable
value, £834; the population in 1901 was 211.
Parish Clerk, Thomas Tilton.

Post Office.— Edward John Thomas, sub-postmaster.
Letters from Reading via Streatley 8.15 a.m. & 2.30
p.m. ; dispatched 11.45 a-m - & 5-35 p.m. ; Sundays,
arrive 8.30 a.m. ; dispatched 10.25 a.m . Compton,
3 miles distant, is the nearest money order k tele­
graph office
Elem entary School (m ixed), founded by the late Air.
Alonck ALP. for Reading, for 84 children; average
attendance, 55; Aliss Leah Gwellian Jones, mistress
Carrier to Reading— George Fulker, of Hampstead
Norris, on sat
Mattinson Rev.George Frederick M.A. Bradfield W illiam Herbert, farmer, McQuhae Georgina (M rs.), Bell inn
(vicar), Vicarage
~
"
Pibworth
farm
W alters H arriet
(Mrs.),
farmer,
COMMERCIAL
Fuller James, grocer
Dumworth
Alexander Edward, carman
Johnson Jsph. builder & wheelwright Walters Percy, farmer, Bower farm
Barlow E li, hurdle maker
Lindsey Thomas, beer retailer
W interton Chas.Geo. Four Points P.H
A P P L E F O R D is a village and parochial chapelrv of the interior re fitte d : the font was retain ed : in the
Sutton Courtenay, separated from Oxfordshire bv 'th e nave is a marble tablet inscribed to Chas. Prebble esq.
riv e r Isis, which is crossed at this point bv the G reat surgeon, d. 25 Oct. 1840: a stained window was at the
W estern ra ilw ay; it is 3 miles from Culham station same time placed at the east end and a reredos erected :
by road and 4 south-east from Abingdon, in the the chancel was restored at the expense of the Ecclesias­
N orthern division of the county, hundred "of Ock, petty tical Commissioners, and has at the east end a number
sessional division, union ind county court district of of m ural monuments to the Justice fam ily of AppleAbingdon, rural deanery of Abingdon, archdeaconry of ford, 1759-1848 : there are 120 sittings. The church­
B erks and diocese of Oxford. The church of SS. Peter yard, which is well kept and surrounded by a stone
and Paul, com pletely restored and enlarged in 1885-6, wall, contains two large railed-in tombs of the Justice
under th e direction of Air. Gilbert Scott and the late fam ily, with numerous inscriptions. The register dates
Mr. Ewan C hristian, architects, at a cost of £3,300, from the year 1563. The living is a chapelry annexed
defrayed (with the exception of £300, given by the to the vicarage of Sutton Courtenay, joint net yearly
E cclesiastical Commissioners) by W alter Justice esq. of value £290, with residence, in the gift of the Dean and
London, is now an edifice of stone in the E arly English Canons of Windsor, and held since 1902 by the Rev.
style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and a Edward Bruce Mackay 'M.A. of W orcester College, Ox­
western tower w ith a quadrangular broach spire, 76 feet ford, who resides at Sutton Courtenay.
There are
in height, relieved by spire lights and containing 6 charities of £9 yearly for distribution
John Joseph
bells, presented by W. Justice esq. : the work included Eyston esq. of Hendred House, is lord of the manor
the alm ost entire rebuilding of the fabric, the nave and principal landowner. The soil is green sand and
being lengthened 5J feet, a tower and spire added and gravel; subsoil, chiefly gravel. The crops are wheat,