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DIRECTORY.]

B E R K S H IR E .

NEW BURY.

133

F. H. (M rs.), farm er, F ulscott
P R IV A T E R E S ID E N T S .
C O M M E R C IA L .
M artin Jason, shoe ma. & post office
Beaufort Rev. Lo uis W aller W illiam Dix Jam es, baker & grocer
Reeves
John T aylor, grocer & harness
B .A . (rector), The Rectory
H all Edwin G eorge, farm er
m aker & clerk to Parish Council
Bowles E dw ard W ingfield, The C roft H ughes G eorge, gardener to Rev. L.
W est W illiam , A nchor inn
W. W. B eaufort B .A
Dixon Miss Ada, The N utshell
W igley Tom , farm er & m iller (w ater)
H unt W alter C harles, farm er
Hunt W a lter Charles
Letts H ector, Crown inn, & farm er W in ter Rd. (M rs.), farm er,M anor ho
K irb y Frank, M ill house
M O R T I M E R , see S tratfield M ortim er.
w ith in the parish of C holsey, under w hich heading it is
described. A large num ber of racehorses are trained 011
the M oulsford Downs. There is a village hall, the
prop erty of C harles A n th on y M ills esq. w hich w ill seat
about 100 persons, and has a stage for m eetin gs or con­
certs. T h is v illa g e is the resort of v ery m any artists,
anglers and b oating m en, to whom th e B eetle and
W edge hotel is a well-known and m u ch valued h ostelry
of long stan d in g ; excellent perch fishing can be had
between th e islands near the bridge. Th e splendid
stretch of w ater which the riv er here affords is usually
chosen, for th e race of the Oxford tria l eig h ts fo r the
annual in ter-u n iv ersity boat race. Th e scen ery (wood
and down) a t the back of the villag e is v ery beautifu l.
Th e m anor was given b y H enry I. to G iraldus F itz C a ru
and M oulsford, b u t how i t afterw ards descended previous
to th e 17th cen tury is not k n o w n ; at this period it
belonged to the S am b o u rn es: S ir H enry Sam bourne,
of M oulsford, was sheriff of the co u n ty in 16 31: it was
subsequently in th e possession of the G iffords and the
B akers. C harles A nthony M ills esq. is lord of th e m anor
and sole landowner. T h e soil is chalk and lo a m ; su b ­
soil, chiefly chalk. Th e crops are w heat, barley and
turn ips. The parish contains 1,030 acres of arable land
and th e downs com prise 400 acres, total 1,430, and 11
of w a te r; rateab le value, ¿ 1,8 4 0 ; thfe population in
1911 was 186.
Post, M. 0 ., T . & Telephone C all Office.— M rs. M ary
S w adling, sub-postm istress. L etters th rou gh W a llin g ­
ford arrive a t 7.15 a.m . & 1.30 p.m . ; dispatched at
10.30 a.m . & 6.55 p .m . ; sunday, d elivery, 8 a . m . ;
dispatch, 10.45 a.m
E lem en tary School (m ixed), b u ilt in 1850, for 40
c h ild re n ; M iss M. I . Slade, m istress
p r iv a t e
r e s id e n t s .
Trusted Rev. Charles Francis M.A. G ardn er W illiam , estate agen t to
C arter Mrs. V ine cottage
(vicar), Vicarage
Charles Anthony M ills esq
Chisholm e John A rth u r, Sowberry crt
Snow F. farm b ailiff to Jam es
M artineau W illiam , The G range
c o m m e r c ia l .
Falconer esq. G reenlands farm
Mills Charles A nthony, Manor house B lew itt Ida M ary (M iss), Beetle & Sw adling M ary (M rs.), shopkeeper.
M organ G eorge. M oulsford house
I W edge hotel
Post office
M O G L S F O R D is a picturesque village and com pact
parish, on the London road,
m iles from Cholsey and
M oulsford station on the G reat W estern railw ay, 47
m iles from London, 3$ m iles south from W allingford
and 11 m iles north-w est from Reading, in the Northern
division of the county, hundred of M oreton, W a llin g ­
ford p etty sessional division, union and cou n ty cou rt
d istrict, ru ra l deanery of W allin gford, archdeaconry of
Berks and diocese of Oxford. The church of S t. John
the B ap tist is a sm all b u ild in g of stone and flin t of
the 14th century, charm ingly situated on the rig h t
bank of the riv er Tham es, and consists of chancel and
nave, w ith a sm all north aisle, added in 1847, south
porch and a low w estern b elfry of wood, w ith short
spire, containing 3 b e lls ; in the w est end are m on u­
m ents to the G ifford fa m ily ; W illiam G ifford, who died
in 1694, was the first p resident of F o rt S t. G eorge, in
A fr ic a : the east window is a m em orial to Hopewell
M orrell e s q : the church was restored by th e la te Sir G .
G ilb ert S cott R .A . in 1847, and has 120 sittin gs. In
the ch u rch ya rd is a m em orial cross of white m arble,
inscribed to th e Rev. G eorge K id d M orrell D .C .L . vicar
here 1846-77, who died A p ril 18, 1881, and to his
daughter, M. A. M orrell, d. June 24, 1880. Th e reg is­
ter dates from the year 1773; m arriages only, from
1754. The livin g is a vicarage, net yearly value £50,
w ith residence, in the g ift of Charles Anthony M ills esq.
and held since 1912 by the R ev. Charles F ran cis Trusted
M .A. of H ertford College, Oxford. Sam bourne’s ch arity
of 3 acres produces ¿ 6 yearly, w hich is distrib uted in
m oney. Mrs. S ally H all Bradshaw in 1880 left ¿1,000,
the interest to be distrib uted am ongst the p oor°of the
parish annually on Ascension day. Th e County L u n atic
A sylu m , called the “ B erkshire A sylu m ,” is locally

N E W B U R Y with SPEENHAM LAND
N E W B U R I is a m unicipal borough, m arket and union
town, and gives its name to the Southern or Newbury
Parliam entary Division of the county, under the “ R ed is­
tribution of Seats Act, 1885.” I t is the bead of a petty
sessional division and county court district, in the hun­
dred of Faircross, and in the rural deanery of its own
name, archdeaconry of Berks and diocese of Oxford.
The town is on the river Kennet, and intersected by the
Kennet and Avon canal, over which is a stone bridge
of one arch, w ith a balustraded parapet ; it is near the
Ham pshire border, 56 m iles by road and 53 by rail from
London, 17 south-west from Reading, 9 east from
Hungerford, 19 south-w est from W allingford. Th e G reat
W estern , railway has a station here on the branch from
R eading to H ungerford and Devizes.
Th e Newbury
section of the Didcot, N ew bury and W inchester Tailwav,
which affords com m unication w ith the chief m anu fac­
turing centres of the north and w ith the port of S outh­
ampton, was opened for traffic between Didcot and N ew­
bury in A p ril, 1882, and between N ewbury and W in ­
chester in M ay, 1885, and a junction w ith the m ain line
of the London and South W estern R ailw ay Com pany at
Shawford, near W inchester, in accordance w ith the
Didcot, N ew bury and Southam pton R ailw ay Act, 1888,
was effected in October, 1891. T he Lam bourn Valley
railw ay, a single line connecting Lam bourn w ith N ew ­
bury, was opened A pril 2nd, 1898.
The town is of very ancient origin. A ntoninus m akes
mention in his “ Itin erary ” of xhe station of Spinæ, and
N ew bury, as its name im plies, arose and had its begin ­
ning out of the ruins of Spinæ, and therefore, says
Cam den, “ New burie m ust acknowledge Speen as its
m oth er.” In Saxon tim es there was a town here of 51
houses, belonging to a Thane named Ulward, which in
Dom esday the Normans called “ U luritone.”
N ew bury sent two m em bers to Parliam ent in the
reign of Edward I. and in the reign of Edw ard III.
being then a place of com m ercial im portance, it sent

three representatives to a great council at W estm inster.
The town was incorporated by Q ueen E lizabeth in 1596,
and Jam es I. Charles I. and C harles II. gran ted it
additional privileges. I t is now governed by a corpora­
tion, consisting of a m ayor, six alderm en and eighteen
councillors. The borough has a com m ission of the peace
and a separate court of q u arter sessions. An A ct was
obtained in the year 1825 for the im provem ent, lig h tin g
and p avin g of the town. The borough area was e x ­
tended by A c t of P arliam en t, 41 and 42 V iet. (1878) and
now embraces Speenham land, part of G reenham and
other ou tlyin g portions of the town. The gas under­
taking was also transferred to the Corporation under the
provisions of the Borough E xtension Act. Th e town is
supplied w ith w ater by a company whose works are
situated at the western boundary of th e borough, near
Northcroft, from a well sunk th rou gh the valley allu­
vium (peat on gravel) into the chalk ; it is 14 feet deep
from the surface, w ith a 7ft. b rick c y lin d e r; the yield
is from 20,000 to 34,coo gallons per h o u r ; from the
well the w ater is raised to a reservoir at Speen, about
half a m ile to the north-w est, and at a h eigh t of 110
feet above the surface of the well, the capacity of the
reservoir being about 110,000 gallons. Th e town was
thoroughly drained in 1894.
t
B y Local Governm ent Board O rder No. 31,902, those
parts of G reenham and Speen civil parishes in the
m unicipal borough w ere added to N ew bury civil parish.
Th e church of St. N icholas is a spacious edifice of
stone in the Late P erpendicular style, b u ilt in the
la tter part of the reign of H enry V II. or the beginning
of the reign of H enry V III. chiefly by the munificence of
John Sm alwood, alias W inchcom be, a clothier, com ­
monly known as ‘‘ Jack of N ew bu ry,” whose m onogram
J. S. occurs very freq uen tly on the ancient bosses of the
roof of the nave ; it consists of chancel w ith side chapels
(one of w hich is used as an organ cham ber and vestry)
clerestoried nave, aisles, north and south porches and a