Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0097.jpg

D IR E C TO R Y.]

B E R K S H IR E .

his wife, w ith effigies of both, kneeling at a desk, and
of several children, besides other m onum ents of the
Englefield fa m ily : there is also a m onum ent to Charles
Benyon, lieu ten an t in H .M .S. “ A ja x ,” killed w hile a t ­
tem pting to board a F ren ch vessel off the Isle of E lb a ;
on th e north wall is a m u ral tab let of b lack m arble, w ith
epitaph by D ryden, to John P aulet, fifth M arquess of
W inchester, of B asing, Hants, who held Basing House
for four years for K in g Charles I. b u t the m ansion being
eventually storm ed by the P arliam en tary forces was
b urnt to the g ro u n d ; the M arquess died M arch 6th,
1674; the m onum ent is surm ounted by a shield of arm s
and the m otto, “ Donee pax red it t e r r is ; ” a portion
of this m onum ent, hitherto m issing, together w ith
three other sepulchral stones, were discovered in the
pavem ent of the church in Septem ber, 1878, during
some alterations then proceeding, and the four slabs are
now fixed upon the s u rfa c e ; th at belonging to the m onu­
m ent of the M arquess bears a lon g inscription, d eta il­
ing his p ub lic services, m arriages and issu e; the others
are inscribed to Honora (de B u rgh ), his second wife,
1661; John Paulet, her eldest son, 1660; in the south
aisle is a b eau tifu lly sculptured m ural m onum ent to
M ary, wife of Richard Benyon esq. 1777, and another to
Powlet W righ t esq. 1779; over the p ulpit is a m ural
brass inscribed to Richard de B eauvoir Benyon esq.
1854; in the south aisle, under two obtuse arches in
the wall, are two recum bent effig ies: one of these is a
stone figure of a knight in fu ll arm our, w ith a surcoat,
and bearing his shield upon his a r m ; the other figure
is that of a lady in the costum e of the 14th century,°and
is carved out of a solid piece of o a k ; the arcade
between the nave and south aisle has E a rly English
arches w ith v ery bold m ouldings supported on plain
round m assive pillars, w ith T ransition Norm an c a p s;
in the E nglefield chapel is a piscina, discovered in re ­
m oving p art of th e wall for the introduction of a window
and sedilia ; in 1878 a m assive sign et rin g, of pure gold,
of 16th cen tu ry date and unu sually large size, was found
in the c h u rc h y a rd ; it bears a sard, engraved w ith a
helm eted head in profile, inclosed by a cable m o u ld in g :
the church was p artially reb uilt in 1874, at a cost of
¿2,200, and restored in 1891, at a cost of £450, defrayed
by the patron. There are 265 sittin g s. T he reg ister of
baptism s and m arriages dates from the year 1567:
burials 1569. The liv in g is a rectory, n et yea rly value
£ 275» w ith residence, and 26 acres of glebe, in the
g ift of J. H. Benyon esq. and held since 1904 by the
Rev G ran ville G ore Skip w ith M .A . of Jesus College,
Cam bridge. There is a ch arity of £ 27 yea rly, le ft bv
an unknown donor, for apprenticing poor childrenalso a g ift of £ 2 for bread on S t. Thom as’ day.
A
Volunteer F ire Brigade of 12 m em bers was form ed here
in 1893, and has a steam fire engine and various appara­
tus.
Jam es H erbert Benyon esq. J.P . and LordLieutenant of B erks, is lord of the m anor and principal
landow ner; his residence, E nglefield House, is a fine

FARINGDOX.

81

Tudor mansion, ch arm in gly situated on a gen tly rising
slope of the fine deer park, facing south and overlooking
the valley of the K ennet, its m any tu rre ted pinnacles
g iv in g it a noble appearance ; it was b u ilt by one of
the P au let or P ow lett fam ily, b ut reduced and m odern­
ized by one of th eir descendants, P au let W rig h t esq. and
was also renovated and refacéd by the late owner.
R ichard Benyon esq. who added a new entrance h all, and
converted th e old hall in to a m agnificent lib ra ry. Sir
Francis Englefield being attain ted of h igh treason in
1564, the m anor becam e th e property of S ir Francis
YValsingham K .G . S ecretary of S tate to Queen E liza ­
beth ; on one occasion th e Queen visited his house, and
S ir F ran cis, in order to save H er H ighness m e trouDle
of ascending th e staircase, b u ilt a g allery 120 feet long,
so as to reach the level of th e h ill outside a t the back
of the house ; this galle ry, reduced to 90 feet by
m odern alterations w ithin the house, is now used, w ith
Mr. Benyon’s perm ission, for parochial m eetin gs, school
fêtes and sim ilar u seful purposes ; from the second
storey of the b uildin g, along its passage, an ex it is
gained to th e p ark outside : a portrait of Queen E liza­
beth, presented b y herself in com m em oration of this
visit, still hangs on a w all in the lib r a r y ; in the hall
and corridor are some ex qu isite sculptures by Munro,
Foley, Power and o th ers; the draw ing room is a very
fine apartm en t, w ith a painted ceilin g rep resen tin g the
four seasons ; in one of the upper rooms is a bedstead
b rough t from G idea H all, E ssex, and said to have been
used b y C harles I. ; from these apartm ents and from
the tower m agnificent views are afforded of the beau­
tifu l woodland scenery, w hich is here th e greatest charm
of the far-stretch in g landscape ; th e gardens are very
attractive, and m any visitors from the neighbourhood
avail them selves of the opportunity of in spectin g them
on W ednesday d urin g the m onths of A u g u st and Sep­
tem ber, perm ission being kin dly given bv the proprietor.
Elias Ashm ole M.D. of Brasenose College', Oxford, W ind­
sor H erald and a distin guished an tiquary, retired to
this village in 1647; d urin g h is life tim e he founded,
by the bequest of the younger Tradescant, the m useum
at Oxford, w hich now bears his name, and died at South
Lam beth , M ay 18th, 1692, aged 76. Th e soil is g ra v e l;
subsoil, clay and chalk. Th e land is chiefly grass and
woods. The area is 1,408 acres of land and 29 of w a ter;
rateable value, £ 2 ,8 46; th e population in 1911 was 299.
Sexton, Seym our Joyce.
P ost & M. 0 . Office.— Jam es H ulford Clavdon, subpostm aster. L etters through R eading, arrive at 5.30
& 11.30 a.m . & 6.10 p.m . ; dispatched at 8.40 a.m . &
2.30
& 7.10 p .m . ; Sundays, arrive at 5.30 a.m . ; dis­
patched at 7.10 p.m . The nearest telegrap h office
is at Theale, 1 m ile distan t
E lem en tary School, b uilt in 1863 & enlarged bv the late
Richard Benyon esq. for 130 c h ild ren ; Charles F.
Golding, m aster

p r iv a t e r e s id e n t s .
COMMERCIAL.
Pocock Fredk. W m . baker & shopkpr
Benyon Jam es H erbert (lord-lieu t.), Davis H. Stanley, estate clerk of
W adds A. B. head gardener to J. H.
Englefield house
works to J. H. Benyon esq
Benyon esq
Skipw ith Rev. G ranville Gore M .A. Osmond John, farm er, W ickcroft frm
W orking Men’s C lu b (O liver Hoplev,
(rector), The Rectory
Palm er W illiam , farm steward to J.
6ec)
H. Benyon esq. Chalk P it farm

F A R I N G DON
FA R IN G D ON (or G reat Faringdon, form erly Chipping Faringdon) is a w ell-built m ark et and union town,
head of a p etty sessional division and cou n ty cou rt dis­
trict, and parish, w ith a station (on a branch of the
G reat W estern railw ay from Uffington, opened in 1864).
70 m iles from London, 14 w est from A bingdon, 25
north-w est from N ew bu ry, 17 south-w est from Oxford,
35 from Reading and 9 south-w est from W antage, in
the N orthern division of the county, p artly in the
hundred of Faringdon and p artly in th a t of Shrivenham , rural deanery of the V ale of W h ite Horse, arch­
deaconry of Berks and diocese of Oxford. The town,
which is situate on an em inence, dates as far back as
the 9th century. The Saxon kin gs had a palace here,
m which Edward the E ld er died in 925. In 1144 Robert,
E arl of G loucester, erected a castle, w hich after a short
siege was demolished b y the forces of K in g Stephen.
During the civil wars Faringdon House was garrisoned
for the king, S ir M arm aduke Rawton kt. being gover­
nor ; it was attacked in June, 1645, a °d again in 1646 ;
it was surrendered b y Royal com m and to Sir Robert
Pye kt. its owner, who was then in command of the
Parliam entary troops, considerable dam age, however,
being done both to the town and the church. Thè
town is lig h ted w ith gas by a com pany form ed in 1835,

and supplied w ith w ater by the R u ral D istrict Council.
The church of All Saints is an ancient and in terestin g
cruciform edifice of stone in the Norm an and Inter
styles, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles,
double gabled transepts and a low cen tral tow er with
plain parapet, containing 8 bells and a c lo c k ; the north
door of the nave, now disused, is E a rly Norm an ; the
nave and other portions of the church are in the T ran ­
sition style, dated from about 1180, and in cludin g the
south door, which retains some rem arkably good E arly
E nglish iro n w o rk ; the nave arches are sem i-circular,
supported b y m assive cylin drical piers w ith rich foliated
cap ita ls; the E arly E n glish tower, erected about 1200,
is sustained by four g rea t piers, lined w ith clusters
of sem i-cvlindrical shafts, each furnished w ith a capital
of an elegan t and varied fo r m ; the chancel is also
E arly E n glish , of about the sam e period, and is re ­
m arkable for its great len gth and extrem e sim p lic ity;
there are canopied sedilia, with rich decorated work,
d ating from about 1300; the Unton chapel of the north
transept is also Decorated, b ut la ter, and dates from
about 1370; the window is rem arkable as having 9
foliated canopy in its splay; the windows of the north
aisle of the nave are Perpendicular and w ere probably
inserted about 1400; the w est window of the nave is
K E R ’<S

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