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d ir e c t o r y

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B E R K S H IR E .

NEW BURY.

135

The Dispensary, in W est street, was established in
The 4th September fair is held in a small meadow
on the south of the town, near which is another field, 1835, and is supported by subscription. The num ber of
in which the horse and cow fairs are h e ld : there is a patients attended to yearly is about 2,000
lar"e hiring m arket held in the Market place, 011 the
N ewbury D istrict Hospital, in the Andover road,
first Thursday after Old Michaelmas day.
erected in 1885, is for the treatm ent of non-infectious
There is an iron clock tower in the Broadway, 30 feet cases of sickness or accident, and has 31 beds and cots.
in height, with four illum inated dials, four ornamental
The Municipal Borough Infectious Diseases Hospital,
bracket lamps and two drinking fountains, erected at a
cost of £278 5s. subscribed by the townspeople. A on Wash common, was built in 1893 at a cost of ¿ 520»
for 16 patients, and has since been enlarged at a cost
Russian gun also stands in the Broadway.
In the Market place stands a monument to the late of £400, for 6 additional patients.
-Queen Victoria, presented in 1902 to his native town by
The New Public Library, opened in 1906, is an edi­
George Sanger esq.
fice of red brick and stone, from designs by Mr. Samuel
The Hospital of St. Bartholomew, an ancient founda­ Joseph Lee Vincent A .M .I.C .E . : towards the cost £2,000
tion, to which a charter was granted by K ing John, was contributed by Andrew Carnegie esq. of Skibo
1200-15, and which is known as “ K ing John’s Court,” is Castle, N.B. ; th e site, fittings, and books being paid
still standing. In 1215, the king granted to the hos­ for by public subscription; there are at present (1911)
pital a two days’ fair for its support, and this fair is about 3,000 volumes.
still held yearly, and is opened by the town clerk or
Newbury is one of the few places possessing the right
his deputy with certain quaint fo rm alities; and the
profits thereof are paid to the alm sfolk: on this occa­ of electing boys and girls to C h rist’s H ospital (the Blue
Coat
school), now at W est Horsham, Sussex, the p rivi­
sion also a penny is collected from every licensed house
in the town. In the reign of Edw. VI. the Gramm ar lege being enjoyed under the will of Mr. John W est,
an
opulent
clothier of his time and Master of the
School was engrafted on the foundation of th e hospital,
and both are now adm inistered under a scheme which Clothworkers’ Company in 1707, who was connected with
was framed in the year 1883: the seal of the hospital is this town : in the election preference is given to founders’
of brass, and circular in form, and exhibits two con­ k in : all householders are entitled to vote.
joined crosses pattfje between four small stars, and
The town is historically im portant as the scene of
round the margin the legend *DOM VS— ST. BAR- two important battles between the royal arm y of King
THOLOMEI— IN — NEW RVRY. The charily has an in­ Charles I. and the Parliam entary forces. The first
come of £1,058 a year, which supports 24 almshouses action was fought on the Wash and Enborne Heath, to
the south of the town, 20 Sept. 1643, and resulted
and the Gram m ar School.
St. Leonard’s chapel, the “ Litt-en,” was originally unfavourably for the king, who commanded his arm y in
used as the chapel of K ing John’s Almshouses person ; between five and six thousand men were slain
founded in the 13th ce n tu ry ; divine service is held here on both sides, including the chivalrous and patriotic
in the summer m on th s; the Rev. Richard Wickham Lord F alklan d ; the tum uli where m any of the dead
L eg g M.A. vicar of S t John's, was appointed warden in were buried still exist on Wash common. A memorial
1910: at this chapel the famous “ Jack of N ew bu ry” obelisk has been erected to Lord Falkland on the battle­
is said to have been married. Fuller, in his “ Worthies field, by public subscription, on a site given by W alter
of England,” describes him as “ the most consider­ Money esq. F .S .A . hon. sec. to the com m ittee. The
able clothier (without fancy or fiction) England ever memorial, which also commemorates Robert (Dormer),
b e h e ld ;" he kept 100 looms at work in his own house, Earl of Carnarvon, Henry (Spencer), E a rl of Sunder­
and in the expedition against James IV. of Scotland land. and other Royalist officers who fell in this battle,
he is said to have equipped a contingent of 100 men was inaugurated by the late Earl of Carnarvon in Sept.
for the kin g’s service “ as well armed and better 1878. The second battle was fought on the north side of
clothed than a n y ; ” tradition relates that he feasted the town, 27 Oct. 1644, at which the K in g and the
Henrv VIII. and Queen Catherine of Arragon at his Prince of Wales (afterwards Charles II.) were present.
own house in Newbury (still existing, but now divided Cromwell also held a command on the Parliam entary
into various tenements), and that the Icing offered him side: no decided advantage was gained by either party,
the honour of knighthood, which he d eclined: he was but the quarrel between the Earl of M anchester and
a munificent contributor to the repair and adornment Cromwell, resulting from this action, indirectly led to
of the parish church, in which, agreeably to his desire, the death of the King and the advancement of C rom ­
he was buried, together w ith Alice his w ife ; Henry well to the Protectorship.
W inchcombe, of Bucklebury, his descendant, was created
The streets of Newbury exhibit a num ber of good
a baronet in 1661, and married Frances, daughter of
specimens of ancient houses. The rem ains of the house
Thomas (Howard), Earl of Berkshire, but the title
occupied by Jack of Newbury near the “ J a c k ” hotel,
became extinct at the death of his son. Sir Henry
Northbrook street, appear to date from a period earlier
W inchcombe, in Nov. 1705; the estates devolved on
than that of Henry VII. and belong m ost probably to
Frances, first wife of Henry S"t. John, the celebrated
the middle of the 15th century. A gabled house, also
Viscount Bolingbroke, but she leaving no issue, the
in Northbrook street, where the pilasters and numldproperty passed by her younger sister to the Packer
incrg with egg and tongue ornament are m ost skilfully
fam ilv, and was devised ‘b y Henry Packer, the last male
rendered, is particularly noticeable. The most interest­
"heir, * to his sister’s son, Winchcombe Henry Hartley ing specimen of old buildings th at connect the town of
-esq. which fam ily is now represented by the co-heiresses Newburv with the palmv days of the clothing trade is
•of the late W. H. H. H artley esq.
the Jacobean Cloth Hall, near the Market place: the
There is a church estate which produces about £258 upper part is supported by oak columns or piers, the
yearly for the repairs of the church and maintenance intervening spaces being closed up with brickwork
o f services. The rem aining charities amount in gross to «plaved on either side of the pillars, and above is a
£3,208 yearly, of which £572 is applied to educational bold cornice on large projecting brackets richly carved
purposes, £ 113 to apprenticing, £36 to the clergy, with grotesque heads : it is now used as a m useum.
£3,50° (including money from the church and alm s­
The soil on the banks of the Kennet forms water
house estate) to the support of almshouses, while £103
is distributed in money and £79 in kind. There are meadows in which beds of peat occur from 5 to 15 feet
th
ick; and when burnt the ashes form a valuable fer­
upwards of 60 almshouses, of various foundations, in
tilizer: in these peat beds v ery many natural and ar­
different parts of the town.
The municipal charities consist of St. Bartholomew’s tificial antiquities have been discovered, a very com­
almshouses, Raymond's, St. Mary’s and Kendrick’s. plete account of which is given in the “ Transactions of
Cowslade’s : for the education, clothing^ and appren­ the Newbury D istrict Field C lub,” vol. 1872-5.
ticeship of 10 poor boys. Kim ber's, comprising six alms­
The manor, on the accession of the Normans, fell to
houses for men and six for women, in the Market the Earl of Perche, whose successor, Thomas, was slain
place, also provides for the education of 25 boys and at the battle of Lincoln in 1217. The Bishop of Chalons,
includes out-pensions and other gifts. Robinson s his heir, sold it to W illiam Marshall, Earl of Pem ­
ch arity has three almshouses for poor w eavers; Crosse’s broke. Queen Elizabeth gave it with Benham-Valence
ch arity dispenses gifts of clothing to poor women. to John Baptiste Castillian a Piedmontese of her Privy
Th e Church almshouses, in the Newtown road, com- Chamber, “ for faithful services in her dangers.” By
p ri^ fcsix for men and six for women. Child's alms- purchase, Hampstead Marshall and Benham-Valence
houses’ are for four men. Coxedd’s and Pearce’s charity, became the property of Sir W illiam Craven kt. Lord
now administered under one scheme, has four alms
Mayor of London in 1611, and ancestor of the noble
"houses for men in Enborne ro ad ; it also distributes fam ily of Craven, in whose possession it still remains.
weekly out-pensions and educational grants. Hunt s
The area is 1,804 acres of land and 24 of w ater; rate­
consists of three almshouses for women at West mill. able value, £50,798; the population in 1911 vas, 12.108,
There i< also Dangerfield’s. benefaction and Miss Sm ith’s
including officers and inmates in the Workhouse.
Greenhorn charity.

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