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154

R E A D IN G .

B E R K S H IR E .

elude a m ace, m ayor’s chain and badge, wardens’
badges, two tipped staves, a loving and other cups, and
bo ro u gh . seals. The m ace, of silver-gilt, is 4ft. i^in.
long and has a plain staff w ith richly ornamented knops
and a large spreading foot knop, with an inscription and
the date 1770 ; four brackets support the head, which is
divided into four oval com partm ents containing the
national em blem s, crowned, and the cypher “ G. III. R .”
Above is a circlet from which springs an open crown
with orb and cross; on th e flat top are the Royal arms
in relief ; the chain, of gold, consists of oblong tublets
united by lin k s; the badge, presented by Major Silverthorne in 1870, is a pointed oval bearing a representa­
tion of th e borough seal ; the wardens’ badges, of silver,
are oval in shape and display the borough arms within
a wreath of la u rel; one is dated 1688 and the other
1744; the loving cup dates from c. 1731 ; of the seals
the earliest is of the 14th century, the others are copies ;
the m ayor and aldermen wear black robes trim m ed with
sables and the councillors sim ilar robes with velvet only.
Over the new wing of the Public Library and Museum
buildings is a sculptured frieze, representing the arts,
m anufactures and customs of different periods. The
library consists of a reference library and juvenile
departm ent, com prising about 37,000 volum es; it also
includes spacious reading and news rooms, a students'
room and a reading room for young people.
The
Museum, under the will of th e late Mr. Horatio Bland,
has become possessed of the whole of his magnificent
natural history collection. I t also contains the collection
of Roman antiquities recovered during recent excava­
tions at Silchester, and which are still proceeding under
the direction of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
The A rt G allery contains a good collection, of water
colour and oil paintings.
The County Offices, in the Forbury, opened in 1911,
at a cost of £25,000, is a building*of red brick with
Bath stone facings.
The Assize Courts, in the Forburv, im m ediately
adjoining the abbey gatew ay, are in the Italian style
and were built in 1861 ; they occupy the site of a
hospital for poor pilgrim s, founded in ’ connection with
the abbey, and form a block of buildings consisting of
a façade with a colonnade along its lower stage and
p rojecting wings ; the whole is built of freestone and is
rusticated in both stages ; the central portion term inat­
ing above in a stone balustrading. The building con­
tains a lofty hall conveniently arranged as a waiting hall
to the Crown and N isi Prius courts and Grand J u r y ,
room, with all of which it com m unicates, and also by a
passage w ith the county police station. The assizes and
sessions are both held here ; form erly the summer
assizes were held at Abingdon, but by an Order in
Council, dated Septem ber 14th, 1868, both are now held
in this town. Courts of quarter sessions for the county
are held in January, A pril, June and October.
The
quarter sessions for the borough are generally held at
the Assize Courts in the same month as the sessions for
th e county. The County Council holds all its full
m eetings at the Assize Courts, and the various Com­
m ittees m eet at the County Offices.
The Corn Exchange, built in 1854, is about 100 feet
long and 50 feet wide and has a glass roof ; it is
approached by a narrow covered wav from the Market;
place, and over the entrance is a sm all tower with
clock ; the same covered way gives access to the Market
house, a narrow, confined structure in Broad .street,
erected in 1854. The m arket days are— Saturday for
corn and stock cattle, and Monday for fat cattle. Fairs
are held on February 2, May 1, July 25 and Sept. 21
for cattle.
The Cattle market and abattoirs are on the west side
of the Caversham road and close to the stations of the
G reat W estern, the South Eastern and the South
W estern railways.
Th ere are eight banks— Lloyds Bank Lim ited, J. and
C. Sim onds and Co. a branch of the London County and
Westm inster Bank Limited, the Capital and Counties
Bank Lim ited, the Metropolitan Bank (of England and
W ales) Lim ited, the London and South Western Bank
Lim ited, the I r'+ed Counties Bank Lim ited and
Farrow’s Bank Lim ited ; also a Savings Bank founded
in 1817.
His M ajesty’s Prison, on tbe oast side of the abbey
ruins in Forburv road, was er^c .
in 1833, and is a
castellated building of red brick
white stone
•»»••«siniTs, arr nged to hold 224 prisr
-ns one of
^
• '
- built on the séparai . v>u-m
t
^f
Velio® Station is in London ■
> reeb.
>s of the county constabulary are at
i being in Abbey street,
pot of the Regimental District No.
of Wales's • lîoyal Berkshire Regi-

[ k e l l y ’s

m ent), comprising 1st Battalion (49th foot) and '2bd Bat­
talion (66th foot) ; the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve),
the 4th Battalion (Territorial Force), Berkshire Battery
R.H .A. and 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade Trans­
port and Supply Colum n, A .S.C . having head.quarters
in the town,
Reading is also the . head quarters of the Berks
(Hungerford) Yeom anry and B Squadron of the Regi­
ment.
The Masonic Hall, in G reyfriars road is a structure of
brick and stone, relieved with em blem atic designs, and
is used for the m eeting of the Union, Greyfriars.
Kendrick and Morland: lodges.
T he Baths are in K in g’s Meadow road, Vastern road.
The New Royal County Theatre, form erly the Royal
Assembly Rooms, in Friar street, is a v a r y ‘spacious and
elegantly decorated building, 114ft. long, 38ft. wide and
40ft. in h e ig h t; the means of exit are well arranged and
the building will hold an audience of 1,200 persons; it
is under the m anagement of Messrs. Milton B:ode and
Edward Compton.
In Friar street a building with a frontage of. 122ft. of
red and grey bricks and terra cotta, with columns of
Aberdeen and Cornish granite, has been constructed for
offices and,shops, with a fine arcade in the rear, opening
into the covered-in m arket and givin g a right o f. way
from Friar street to Broad street.
The Reading Rowing Club ha« its boat-house at C aver­
sham Bridge, and head quarters at the Queen’s hotel.
The Reading Am ateur Regatta, usually takes place on
the A ugu st Bank holiday.
Reading Natural History Society exists especially to
promote the study of. th e natural history of . its own
district.
Reading- was form erly dependent on the country
around for its trade, and being situated in the m idst of
an agricultural district, the supplies of th e neighbouring
population are still chiefly drawn from the town. As a
m anufacturing place its chief business is -to, be found in
biscuit m aking, iron foundries and engine w orks; and in
seed growing, m alting and b r e w in g ; the sale of corn,
cattle and flour is also carried on upon an extensive
sca le; there are boat building establishments and
pottery and brick works.
The large biscuit factory of Messrs. Huntley and
Palmer Lim ited, in the K in g’s road, covers m any acres,
and is the m ost extensive establishment of the kind in
the kin gd om ; here about 6,000 hands meet with con­
tinuous employment in m aking the celebrated “ Reading
biscuits ” and preparing and packing them for the home
trade and for exportation; attached to the factory are
reading-rooms. The Royal Seed establishment of Messrs.
Sutton and Sons, whose head quarters are here, occupies
more than 10,000. acres of land in various pqrts of the
United Kingdom and on the Continent, wherever the
soil and circum stances are most favourable to seedfarm ing; there is an .experimental farm on the London
road and flower seed grounds and a fine range of glass
houses , on land adjoining the railw ays; there are also
extensive- trial grounds situated at S.outhcote at the
western end of the tow n; the principal entrance to the
business premises is in the Market place; here a large
home and foreign trade is carried on by a staff of nearly
500 ;clerks and warehousemen. Among the : breweries
those of Messrs. H. and G. Simonds Limited.,. Messrs.
Fergusons Lim ited, Messrs. Blandy, Hawkin-s. and Co.
and Messrs. Brown Dymore and Son Lim ited are the
largest; and the oldest and not least famous of Reading
m anufactures is its well-known “ sauoe,” .made by
Messrs. Cocks for. nearly a century.
The Forbury, fronting the ancient gateway of the
Abbey, is an open space on the north-east side of the
town, laid out as a pleasure garden, with a fountain and
ornamental w o rk s; it has been considered th e pleasure
garden of the Reading townsfolk by prescriptive right,
but this claim is not allowed by the Government, who
regard it as a freehold and have demised it to private
in dividuals; a Russian gun, presented by the Govern­
ment to the authorities of the town, occupies an elevated
position in the grou n d s; here also is a colossal lion, of
cast iron, on a terra-cotta pedestal, erected in r886 as -a
memorial to 11 officers and 317 non-commissioned officers
and men of the 2nd Battalion, 66th Berkshire Regiment,
who fell in the Battle of Maiwand, 27th July, 1880, and
d uring the Afghan war, 1879-80: the pedestal, placed
in 1884 on a foundation of concrete, is 23ft.
in. in
length, 8ft. 7m. in breadth and 12ft. 6in. h ig h : the
lion, which was not erected until 1886, is said to be the
largest erect statue of the kind in the world, it being
three times the size of life and weighing 16 to n s : from
the forepaw to the top of the mane it measures 13ft.
the forearm is 5ft. ; and from the nose to the end of
the tail it is over 31 ft. in len g th ; the total, .cost was