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D IR E C TO R Y.]
W atkins W alter Edward, farm er
W illis W illiam , farm er, Deans farm
S O U T H L A K E ST R E E T .
m iV A T E RESIDENTS.

BER K SH IRE.
K in g G eorge Leonard, E astm ere
Lakin Jam es B ates, O rchard dene
M cKenna Leopold, Honeys
Nicholson W m . Reginald, C edar cot
Puleston Crawsliay W. G t. M artins
Stanton Miss, T h e Crossways

R atten John Thom as, Tem ple grove
B esley Jam es C am pbell, Lewins
COMMERCIAL.
Coom bes Com m ander W illiam Heron
R .N . The L ittle house
Bailey Susan (M iss), laundress
Davidson Alexander, H ill house
Brooker Henry, w heelw right

WANTAGE.

261

Bush A lbert, Fox & Hounds P.H
Day E dith (M iss), dress m aker
Edwards H arry, blacksm ith
Evans Frederick W illiam , beer retlr
G rin ter Robt. H erbt.W h ite H art P.H
M ortim er A b ig ail (M rs.), grocer
M ortim er W illiam Howard, draper
O xlade R ichard, Royal Oak P.H
Spackm an John, cycle agent
W ilson H enry W ilfred, dairym an

WANTAGE
W A N T A G E , called by the Saxons, “ W a n atin g ,” from restored and fitted up for services at a cost of about
A.S. “ W ant,” a m ole, and “ m g,” a meadow, is a £ i,o o o , in m em ory of the V ery Rev. W illiam John
m arket and union town, and head of a p etty ses­ B utler D.D. late dean of L incoln and vicar of W antage
sional division and county court district, in the N orthern 1846-80: there are 1,023 sittings.
division of the county, W an tage hundred and in the
B y an O rder in C oun cil, O ctober 28, 1881, the church
rural deanery of W antage, archdeaconry of B erks and was w h olly closed against in term en ts and th e graveyard
diocese of Oxford, on a branch of the river Ock and also, w ith certain m odifications. Th e reg ister dates
on the road from Oxford to H ungerford, about 2^ from the year 1538. T he livin g is a vicarage, net yearly
m iles south from the W antage Road station on the value £378, w ith residence and 2 acres of glebe, in the
G reat W estern railw ay, 9 south-east from Faringdon, 10 g ift of the Dean and Canons of W indsor, and held since
south-w est from Abingdon and 18 m iles by rail from 1903 by the Rev. the Hon. M aurice John G eorge PonO xford, 26 from Reading and 60 from London.
sonby M .A. of C h rist C h urch , Oxford, hon. canon of
The town is not incorporated, b u t in the year 1828 B ristol, and chaplain of the union.
an A c t of Parliam ent (9 Geo. IV. c. 90) was obtained
Th e M ission chapel of th e Good Shepherd, situated in
for the establishm ent of a Board of Com m issioners, G rove street, attached to th e parish church, was erected
but under the provisions of the “ Local G overnm ent A ct, in 1888, a t a cost of £640.
1894,” the tow n is now governed by an Urban D istrict
T h e W esleyan chapel in N ew bury street is a b u ild ­
Council of 15 m em bers, first elected 17 Dec. 1894, who in g of ragstone w ith B ath stone dressings in the
have the supervision of th e paving, lig h tin g and w atch­ Decorated style, erected in 1844, a t a cost of £ 1,2 0 0 ;
ing of the town ; the D istrict is conterm inous w ith the it w ill hold 300 persons, and has attached day and
township.
Sun day schools, and a m in ister’s h o u se ; the B aptist
The town is lig h ted w ith gas from works th e property chapel in M ill street was first founded in 1640; the
of th e Urban D istrict C ouncil, and supplied w ith water present edifice was b u ilt in i860 at a cost of £1,650,
from w ells and by the W antage W aterw orks Co. Ltd . and rep aired in 1914 at a cost of £530, and seats 350
The B erks and W ilts canal passes about three-quarters persons. The P a rticu la r Baptists have also a sm all
o f a m ile distant from the town, w ith which it is con­ chapel in M ill street, erected in 1843, w ith 200 sittin g*.
nected by a b ra n ch ; a steam tram w ay, laid down in
Th e C em etery, to the south of the tow n, opened in
1875, connects the town w ith W antage Road station.
1850, and enlarged in 1897 an(* again in 1914, is about
Th e church of SS. P eter and Paul, b u ilt eith er w holly two acres and a half in extent, and has one m ortu ary
or in p art by the benefactions of the F itz-W arin e fam ily, ch a p e l; it is under the control of th e vicar and ch u rch ­
is a spacious cruciform b uilding of stone w ith Bath wardens, w ith th e exception of one portion held in tr u s t
stone dressings, in the Norm an E arly E n glish and for N onconform ist b urials.
Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, w ith clere­
Th e V ictoria Cross G allery, erected in 1865 as a corn
story, north and two south side chapels, transepts, exchange on the site of the Red L io n inn, and now th e
clerestoried nave of 10 bays, aisles, north and south property of the U rban Council, is a stru ctu re of red
porches w ith parvise, and an em battled cen tral tower, brick, 90 feet long by 22 broad, and contains a series of
containing e ig h t bells and a clo ck : it was originally forty-five piotures, form erly in the C ry s ta l Palace, Syden ­
designed to have a nave without a is le s ; th ese seem ham , and painted by the C h evalier L . W. D esanges, and
to have been added in the reign of E dw ard I. about presented to the town of W an tage in 1900 b y the la te
which tim e the chantry chapels, which v a ry consider­ Lord W antage V .C ., K .C .B . E ach p ain tin g represents
ab ly in style and date, were also b u il t : the chancel the p articu lar act of valour b y w hich a V icto ria C ross
appears to belong to the 15th and 16th c e n tu rie s : the was won, and one v e ry appropriately depicts the gallan t
east window, inserted in 1857, was one of the earliest action in the B attle of the A lm a, by w hich Lord
works of the la te G. E. S treet esq. R .A . then a resident W antage gained his C r o s s : th e g allery is also le t for
in W a n ta g e : th e church is rem arkable as bein g com ­ p ublic m eetings, balls and con certs, and w ill hold 300
plete in its general plan from th e beginning, the sub­ persons.
sequent series of additions not having yet destroyed
Th e Town H all, on the north side of the M arket place,
the original d e s ig n : am ong other details w orthy of is a tim ber-fram ed building.
m ention are the very p erfect and in terestin g rem ains
Th e ch arter for a m ark et was gran ted by H enry III.
of Pointed woodwork, consisting of a screen in the to th e Fitz-W arines, a noble fam ily, who w ere for some
south chapel, parcloses sh u ttin g off the chancel and considerable period connected w ith W a n ta g e : the
eighteen stalls, w ith carved m iserere seats and b eau­ m arket, form erly held on S atu rd ay, is now held every
tifu l poppy h e a d s : in the chancel is the canopied W ednesday; a p itched m ark et was established in 1817,
m arble tom b of Sir W illiam F itz-W arin e K .G . 1st Baron but this gradually receded into its form er condition
Fitz-W arine, a distinguished soldier in the French as a sam ple m ark et, business being u su a lly transacted
and S cottish wars of th e reign of Edward III. w ith r e ­ in the afternoon and even in g between a lim ited num ber
cum b en t figures of him self and wife A m icia (Haddon) ; of neighbouring farm ers and a few local d e a le rs : at the
he died in 1361, and was succeeded b y his son Ivo or beginning of the year 1845 a second atte m p t was m ade
John F itz-W arine, 2nd Baron, who accom panied Thom as to establish a pitched m ark et, th e resu lt of w hich has
(Plantagenet) of W oodstock, Duke of G lo ucester and been em inen tly su ccessfu l; the soil of th is d istrict is
E arl of B uckingham , in his expedition to F ran ce, and conducive to the grow th of p rim e sam ples of corn, and
was w ith him at the siege of N a n tes; he died in 1414; the G reat W estern railw a y con tributes to the attendance
in the church is a fine brass effigy of this kn ight, in of com peting p urchasers from London, B ristol, and in ter­
arm our, and another of a priest, said to be of the m ediate places in both d ire c tio n s ; the corn and cattle
same fa m ily ; there are other m em orials to the W ilm otts m arket is now held on W ednesdays.
o f Charlton and Lam borne and to the fam ily of G rove ;
Th e fa ir held an n ually on O ctober 17th and 18th was
there is also a m em orial window to the Rev. the Hon. abolished by O rder in C ou n cil M arch 5th. 1872.
Edward Foyle Nelson M .A . form erly curate of W antage,
F airs are now held on the first S atu rd ay in M arch,
who died 8th Septem ber, 1859; the ancient altar-stone the first Saturd ay in M ay, and th e first Saturd ay after
still exists and is in p erfect co n d itio n : in Lelan d’s tim e Oct. n t h , and a sale for ag ricu ltu ral stock is held
a Norman church also stood in th e c h u rc h y a rd ; the weekly on a W ednesday.
rem ains of w hich as long as th ey existed indicated that
Th e m an u facture of sacks and other hem pen articles
it had been restored or reb u ilt in the 12th c e n t u r y ; was form erly carried on h ere, b ut m ost of th is trad e
the Norm an doorway of th is b u ild in g has been r e ­ has gone northward, and is now only pursued on a
m oved to the G ram m ar school, w ith which it is still lim ited scale. The general trad e of th e town depends
incorporated: the church was enlarged in 1881, at a m ainly upon -the surrounding ag ric u ltu ra l population.
cost of £1,473, and in 1896 the south-east chapel was The iron and brass foundry established here by th e