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134

NEW BURY.

B E R K S H IR E .

[ k e l ly ’s

reign of Edw ard I. and in the reign of Edward III.
the direction of Mr. Woodyer, architect, at a cost of
being then a place of commercial im portance, it sent
nearly £ 1 5 ,0 0 0 , and re-opened Oct. 8, 18 67, by the late
ree representatives to a great council at W estminster
Rishop Wilberforce, and during the period 18 7 5 -9 1 other
i he town was incorporated by Queen Elizabeth in 1506, repairs were effected at a cost of £2.444; in 1893 the
and James I. Charles I. and Charles II. granted it vails of the south chapel were decorated, a fine oak
additional privileges. It is now governed by a corpora­ screen, the gift of Aid. W. G . Adey, erected, and a re­
tion, consisting of a mayor, six aldermen and eighteen
table of Sienna marble, with medallions of lapis lazuli
councillors. The borough has a commission of the peace and jasper, was placed above the communion table:
and a separate court of quarter sessions. An Act was there are sittings for about 1 ,1 0 0 ; some of these «are
obtained in the year 1825 for the improvement, lighting appropriated, but the church is entirely free to all
and paving of th e town. The borough area was ex­ parishioners five minutes before the hour of commencing
tended by A ct of Parliam ent, 41 and 42 Viet. (1878) and ^■ach service. The registers date from the year 1538°
now embraces Speenhamland, part of Green ham and The livin g is a rectory, net yearly value £ 3 6 0 , with resi­
other outlying portions of the town. The gas under­ dence, in the gift of the Bishop of Oxford, and held since
taking was also transferred to the Corporation under tht- 190X by the Rev. L ’ onel Robert Majendie M .A. of Christ
provisions of the Borough Extension Act. The town is Church, Oxford, and surrogate.
supplied with water by a company whose works ar
The ecclesiastical parish of St. John the Evangelist
situated at the western boundary of the borough, near was formed Oct. 25, 18 59, out of portions of the parishes
Northcroft, from a well sunk through the valley allu­ of Newbury and Greenham. The church, erected by
vium (peat on gravel) into the chalk ; it is 14 feet deep Miss Hubbard in memory of her parents, from the de­
from the surface, with a 7ft. brick cy lin d er; the yield signs of Mr. W. Butterfield, architect, and consecrated
is from 20,000 to 34,000 gallons per h o u r; from the in i8 6 0, is a structure of brick in the Decorated style,
ovell the water is raised to a reservoir at Speen, about consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch and
half a m ile to the north-west, and at a height of 110 a western turret containing 2 bells : the east and west
feet above the surface of the well, the capacity of the windows and five others are stained : there are 650 sit­
reservoir being about 110,000 gallons. The town was tings. The register dates from the year i8 6 0.
The
thoroughly drained in 1894.
living is a vicarage, net yearly value £ 2 5 0 , with resi­
By Local Government Board Order No. 31,902, those dence, in the gift of the Bishop of Oxford, and held since
parts of Greenham and Speen civil parishes in the 1900 by the Rev. Richard Wickham L egg M.A of New
m unicipal borough were added to Newbury civil parish. College, Oxford, who is also chaplain of the workhouse
1 he church of St. Nicholas is a spacious edifice of and the hospital, and warden of St. Leonard’s chapel,
stone in the Late Perpendicular style, built in the the “ L itte n ,” since 19 10 .
There are two district
la tter part of the reign of Henry V II. or the beginning churches in the parish, viz. : St. Luke’s, Wash common,
o f the reign of Henry V III. chiefly by the munificence of and St. Bartholomew’s, East fields.
John Smalwood, alias Winchcombe, a clothier, com­
The Catholic Church, dedicated to St. Joseph, is a
m only known as “ Jack of N ew bury,’’ whose monogram
J- S. occurs very frequently on the 'ancient bosses of the small building of red brick, erected in 1864, and has
roof of the nave ; it consists of chancel with side chapels 150 sittings.
The Baptist chapel, Northbrook street, was first
\one of which is used as an organ chamber and vestry)
-clerestoried nave, aisles, north and south porches and a founded in 1640; th e present building, erected in 1859,
western tower of three stages, with a battlemented will seat 500 persons. The Congregational chapel, N orth­
parapet and octagonal turrets at the angles ; these have brook street, founded in 1662, will hold 700 persons.
pyram idal summits witn vanes and are surrounded by The Prim itive Methodist chapel in Bartholomew street,
crocketed pinnacles ; the tower contains 8 bells and a erected in 1878. will seat 430 persons, the other at
clock ; the chancel is lined with Derbyshire alabaster on Stroud green, of red brick, erected in 1874, has 126
flat panelling and opens to the ancient chapels by wide sittings. The Presbyterian chapel, Northbrook street,
re ^ brick, and affords 600 sittings.
depressed a rch e s; the reredos has seven panels and erected in 1697,
The Wesleyan chapel, Northbrook street, was erected
crocketed heads and a g ilt background hearing the
sacred monogram and figures; there is also a reredos in 1837-8, and has sittings for 800 persons.
The Brethren’s Meeting room, Northcroft lane, for­
inserted in m emory of the Rev. E. I. Gardiner, rector
1878-1901; there are three sedilia and a piscina, all m erly the old Baptist chapel, will hold 300 persons.
The Cem etery, on the Newtown road, is about 6 acres
with triangular crocketed can opies; the nave, separated
from the chancel by a low panelled screen w ith gilt iron in extent, with two m ortuary chapels, and is managed
by
a company.
gates, is of five bays and has arcades of four arches on
The Municipal buildings, occupying an im portant posi­
clustered colum ns; it opens to the tower by a lofty
a r c h : all the windows are stained, and' include tion in Mansion House street, and on the west side of
m em orials to Bishop W ilberforce; the Rev. James the Market place, erected during 1876 and 1877, form
Leslie Randall M .A. rector of Newburv 1857-78, and part of a scheme for an entire rebuilding of the public
his daughter, Rebe Randall; Edm und' Arbuthnot, of offices and town h a ll: the principal feature of the front
Newtown House, Hants, 1873. and Elizabeth his wife, elevation is a lofty tower, with illum inated clock, the
1866; and to the Rev. W. H. Majendie M .A. vicar of lower stage of which forms the principal entrance,
speen from 1819, and rural d ean ; the font is modern opening into a spacious vestibule, from which a broad
and has a lofty and elaborately carved pyram idal cover staircase conducts to the principal floor, the entrance
with figures of the apostles under canopies and is sus­ to the offices being in Mansion House street. The Old
pended from a bracket of wrought iron w o rk ; the Town hall was demolished in 1909 for the purpose of
Jacobean pulpit is also richly carved in two rows of widening Mansion House street and the completion of
p an els; it is painted a dark green relieved with gold the Municipal buildings. The m unicipal insignia in­
and stands on a stone ba se; there is a brass eagle clude two fine maces, one of which dates from the
le c te r n : on the walls of the tower are brasses to Stuart period, the other being somewhat later.
The Corn Exchange, standing on the east side of the
John Smalwood, alias Winchcombe, mentioned above,
ob. 15th Feb. 15x9, and Alice his w ife; to Mr. Hugh Market place., was erected in 1861-2, at a cost of about
Sheplev, a native of Prescot, Lancs, 1526, and rector £6,000, and opened on the 4th of June, 1862: it is a
here, ob. 1596; Francis Trenchard, of Normanton. building of stone in the Classic style, the front elevation
W ilts, esq. ob. 1635; and to George Widl°y, “ Mr of being relieved by four pilasters of the Corinthian order,
A rts and m inister of God’s W ord,” ob. 23 Sept. 1641 ; supporting a pediment.
there is a m ural monument to Elizabeth Catherine
Close by the church is the parish room, a structure
Maria Sheldon, and in the south chancel aisle, a of red brick, erected in 1884, and including a verger’s
m em orial to John Hinton A.M. above 40 years rector, house, strong room, and two rooms for m eetings.
1720 and Joan his wife, x7i 2 ; also a monument to John
The Conservative Club, erected in 1907, is an edifice
Lim ber, alderman, who erected almshouses and be­ of red brick with stone dressings, and possesses meetqueathed various charities to the town, 1793 ; on the ing, billiard, reading, dining and card room s; part of
exterior south wall of the chancel is a monument with a the premises are occupied by a Ladies’ Conservative
double canopy, supported on Ionic pillars, within which Club.
is a large kneeling figure of a man cased in half­
The C Squadron of the Berkshire Yeomanrv and the
armour and wearing a r u f f ; and on the other side th re“ E Co. 4th {'Territorial) Battalion Princess 'Charlotte
females, also kn eelin g; below these are eleven ch ild ren; of Wales’s (Royal Berkshire Regim ent) have quarters
on the frieze is inscribed “ Griffinus Curteyes, Nov. 3. in the town.
1587,” and above it is a shield bearing the arms and
A very im portant wool m arket was established here
crest of Curteys ; on the east chancel wall is a large on the 30th June, 1862, on which occasion there was
impaled shield with crest and m an tlin g; dexter, erm. deposited 2,300 tons of w ool; it is held annually on the
on a chief, 5 roundles ; sinister, 7 garbs, 4, 2 and 1 : first Saturday in July.
the church was thoroughly restored in 1867, under
The M arket day is Thursday.