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2o2

WANTAGF.

BERKSHIRE.

late Mr. C harles H art, and known as the “ V ale of
W hite Horse Ironw orks,” em ploys a considerable num ber
of h a n d s; it is now the p roperty of L a d y W antage.
The C ottage H ospital, endowed in 1885 w ith £5,000
under the w ill of Mr. P ercy S m ith , was opened in the
follow ing year, subscriptions being raised for th e p u r­
chase of th e prem ises and the cost of alteration s, the
fu rn ish in g being defrayed by M rs. S ilver, of Letcom be
R eg is: th e hospital has 12 beds and is under the
control of a com m ittee : the F irth M edical Dispensary
is endowed w ith £2,000 under the will of M rs. H arriet
F irth .

[ k e l l y ’s

the R idgew ay leading over the Downs, is the in terest­
ing and h istorical relic called « W avland S m ith ’s C ave.”
a crom lech b u ilt up of m egaliths called “ Sarsen stones,”
found in th e neighbourhood, and doubtless the burial
place of some p rehistoric c h ie fta in : in a charter of
E dred, A.D . 955, it is m entioned as “ W elland’s S m ith y .”
W eland, the N orthern Vulcan (A. S. “ w e a lla n ," 'to
fabricate), bein g one of the m yth ic deities of the S can ­
dinavian legend, who fabricates the arm s of the heroes
of the early S a g a s ; but the tradition here is th at this
spot was form erly inhabited by an invisible blacksm ith
who good-naturedly shod an y horse that was le ft there,
The charities of the t-own are valuab le ; the town provided a piece of m oney was deposited at the same
lands consist of about 156 acres, w ith a few houses and tim e to reward th e labours of the workm an, and Sir
q u it rents in the parish of W antage, and 18 almshouses W alter Scott, in “ K en ilw o rth ,” ch. xiii. has skilfully
in the town of W a n tag e; the p resen t yea rly incom e is availed him self of th is picturesque legend : the m onu­
about £456, out of which the trustees have to pay m ent as it now exists consists principally of four flat
the tithe rent-charge and oth er usual outgoings. The stones, three slan tin g edgeways and a fourth placed
charities fu rth er include £2,820 in Consols. B y a scheme flat upon them ; the spot was form erly surrounded bv
of the C h a rity Com m issioners a sum of £220 is ap­ others, arranged probably in oblong form , extending
propriated yea rly towards the support of K in g A lfred’ s due north and south, th e existin g stones occupying
G ram m ar School in W antage, and the rem ainder of the the eastern side of its southern e x tr e m ity : though
incom e is applied to the m aintenance of aged and in ­ b earing a Saxon name and connected w ith a Saxon
firm persons resident in th e alm shouses, m arried in ­ legend, it is probably only a C eltic grave.
m ates receiving 6s. and single persons 4s. w eekly, pro­
A bout 5 m iles from W antage, near K ingston L isle,
vided the incom e of the ch a rity is sufficient. Stile’ s
on the estate of M iss M artin-A tkins, is the fam ous
alm shouses, m anaged by the churchw ardens, are for
“ Blow ing Stone,” a mass of red sandstone about 3 feet
12 persons, each receivin g 3s. per w eek ; the incom e of
high, 3 feet 6 inches broad and 2 feet thick, pierced in
this ch arity, derived from 238 acres of land, is £100
a sin gular m anner on three sides, w ith holes which, if
y e a rly ; the rem aining charities produce £68 7s. çd.
blown th rou gh , produce a dull, m oaning sound, audible,
yearly, w hich is chiefly assigned to the almspeople.
if th e blower have strong lun gs and some skill, at a con­
The V ale of W hite H orse in th is neighbourhood and siderable distance.
west of the town is celebrated in ancient story as
W antage is fam ed as bein g the residence of some of
the scene of E nglish victories over Danish invaders,
trad ition ally perp etuated by the rude b u t well-known the early E n glish m onarchs and especially as the b irth ­
place (Oct. 25, A.D . 849) of one of the m ost illustrious
figure on one of the hills form ing th e south boundary
am ong th em , K in g A lfred th e G reat. The palace of the
of the vale, and known as the W h ite Horse H ill, of
Saxon kings is believed to have stood in an oblong
a white horse in a gallopin g position on the upper part
piece of ground of about six acres, bounded on three
of the hill. 374 feet in le n g th and occupying nearly
sides b y the hollow w ay in to the town from Faringdon
an acre of ground ; its shape is determ ined by trenched
by M ill street and by some run n in g w ater which divided
lines between two and three feet deep and about ten
the “ h ig h garden ” (origin ally a Roman work) from the
broad, cu t in the w h ite c h a lk ; the head, neck, body
lo w e r; near to it is an orchard, still called “ C ourt
and ta il are composed of one lin e varyin g in w idth,
close.” and about' a quarter of a m ile from the town
and one line or trench has been m ade for each of the
between Lim borough and th e riv er is a b rick paved pool
legs ; this figure has been p opularly accepted as a
and a well, both associated by local trad ition w ith the
m em orial of the grea t v ic to ry of Æ scendune or A sh ­
name of th e g rea t k in g, who is said to have died at
down fou gh t in 871, in which K in g Æ thelred with
Faringdon, and to have been first buried , A.D . 903, in
A lfred his brother sign ally defeated the Danes and
the cathedral of W inchester, and afterw ards re-interred
slew th e ir k ing, B aegsaeg; the battle is believed by
in 1116 at Hyde A bbey, w ith o ut th e walls of th at c it y ;
some to have been fought on this spot, and th is view is
the rem ain s of the king are fu rth er asserted to have
supported b y Dr. W ise and m ore recen tly by Mr.
been discovered on this site, Janu ary 1, 1866, b y Mr.
H ughes, au thor of “ Tom Brow n,” b ut other au th ori­
John M ellor, of D erby, and to have been afterw ards
ties fix the site of the encounter m ore to the east, on
placed in two m ortu ary chests and conveyed to the
the sw elling hills above Aston Upthorpe, one point
ch urch of St. Bartholom ew , W in ch ester, b ut according
in w hich has long been known as “ K in g ’s S tan din g ; ”
to another account, A lfred was buried in the ch urch of
though the situation of the figure effectually preserves
L ittle D riffield, Y orksh ire. In 1849, the thousandth an ­
it from absolute obliteration, yet the inhabitants of the
n iversary of K in g A lfred’s birth was celebrated at
neighbouring p arishes w ere wont from tim e to tim e to
W antage w ith m uch cerem ony and great rejoicing, on
hold a ru stic fête, on w hich occasion th ey cleared away
which occasion a m edal was struck, b earing the k in g ’s
any accum ulation of weeds. It is a trad ition recorded
profile, an oration delivered by M r. M artin F. Tupper,
by B askerville (1677-8) and L yson s (1806) th at some
and a “ Jubilee Song,” specially composed, was sung by
neighbouring lands were held by the ten ure of cleaning
a g rea t concourse of people. In th e centre of the
the figure, i.e., cu ttin g aw ay th e evergreen t u r f at
spacious m arket place stands the fine statue of K in g
regu lar intervals ; this obligation or custom had, how­
A lfred, presented to th e town b y the late Lord W an­
ever, died out in 1780, b u t was revived w ith m uch
tage V .C . and unveiled by H is late M ajesty K in g Edward
success in 1858, b y the late E . M. A tk in s esq. of K in gV II. and Queen A lexandra, then Prince and Princess of
stone L isle, an event w h ich has been am u sin gly p er­
Wales, J u ly 14th, 1877; the figure, executed in Silician
petuated in Mr. T . H ughes’s “ Scouring of the W hite
m arble by H .S.H . the Prince of H ohenlohe-Langenburg,
Horse,” and the figure has since been several tim es
at a cost of 2,000 guineas, is 9 feet high, and, w ith its
cleared under th e direction of the A tk in s fam ily.
pedestal, 17 fe e t ; the face, as well as the costum e, has
W hite Horse H ill is m entioned in a c artu la ry of the been m odelled from the best existin g au thorities, and
abbey of Abingdon, tem p. H en ry II. and in another the general asp ect of the statue, w hich faces towards
c artu la ry of the same abbey, tem p. K in g John.
the west, is strik in g ly heroic and effective. Dr. Joseph
On the sum m it of the h ill is a m agnificent B ritish B utler, Bishop of B ristol, 1738-50 and of D urham ,
or Danish cam p, known as “ Uffington C a s tle ,” after the 1750-2, the celebrated author of “ T h e Analogy of
village ly in g below ; it is 700 feet in diam eter from N atural and Revealed Religion,” was born here in 1692
east to w est and 900 from north to south, and is s u r­ in a house called “ Th e P rio ry,” on the south side of the
rounded by a high inn er vallum , and a slig h ter one on ch u rc h y a rd ; he died at Bath, June 16, 1752, and was
the outside, both of which are regarded as Danish, buried in B ristol C ath edral.
but it bears evidence of its subsequent occupation by
Th e Urban D istrict Council of W an tage are lords of
the Rom ans ; half a m ile fu rth er north-w est is another
the m anor. Th e p rin cipal landowners are L ad y W an ­
cam p called “ H ardw ell C astle,” n early square in form
tage, A . S. C astle esq. Edward Orm ond esq. J.P. and
and surrounded also by a double vallum : its dim ensions W illiam H illier esq.
are 140 by 180 feet. R ig h t down below the W hite
Th e area of the township and Urban D istrict is 2,471
Horse is a curious deep and broad g u lly called “ The
M anger,” into one side of which the hills fall in sweep­ aores of land and 7 of w a ter; rateable value, £ 13,59 4 ;
population in 1911 w as
ing curves known as “ T h e G ian t’s S tairs : ” the other assessable value, £ 12 ,8 6 7;
side of the M anger is called “ Dragon’s H ill,” or more 3,628 in the township and 3,974 in the ecclesiastical
p roperly “ Pendragon’s H ill,” from a chief slain in battle parish, in cluding 7 officers and 124 inm ates in the Poor
L aw Institution.
and buried here.
A bout a m ile westward from W hite Horse h ill, near
Parish C lerk , A lban Kent.