Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0911.jpg

d i k e c t o h v .]

O XFO R D SH IRE.

H ENLEY-UPO N-THAM ES.

115

f jjer late M ajesty Queen Victoria, from designs by £89 yearly, four by Mrs. Ann M essenger in 1666, re­
Henry T. Hare, a rc h ite c t; it is a large stru ctu re of red built in the G othic style by th e corporation in 1846, w ith
brick with stone dressings in the L a ter Renaissance a yearly endowment of £ 1 2 , and twelve endowed by
style; on the first floor is the council cham ber and John Longland, Bishop of Lincoln (a native of th is town
committee ro o m s; the upper portion consists of a large and confessor to K in g Henry V I I I .) in 1547 ; th ey were
ball, holding 500 persons, and containing full-length reb uilt in 1830 and have an annual income of £182.
portraits of G eorge I. by S ir G odfrey K neller, and
P yrites and a black flint, used in m aking glass, are
Thomas Parker, 3rd E arl of Macclesfield, and first High found here.
Steward of the town, presented in 1750 by L a d y Kneller.
Henley is chiefly fam ous for its annual regatta, held
The municipal insignia include a m ace, m ayor’s chain on the wide and beautiful reach of water im m ediately
and badge and borough seals. The m ace, of silver g ilt, adjoining the tow n; this regatta, established in 1839 fo1
is 4
7 I in- long, and has a baluster shaft, with am ateur oarsmen, is usually held about the beginning
richly decorated knops and a foot knop w ith foliage in of July, and takes the first place among general am ateur
relief: the head, carried on scrolled brackets, is adorned aquatic contests in England, both in respect of the
with foliaged cherubs and the national emblems, character and skill of com petitors, and of the fashionable
crowned, the royal cypher G .R . and the date 1722; the assem blage of spectators which it invariably a ttra c ts :
chain and badge, of silver-gilt, purchased in 1884, con­ a course from below the island on the Bucks shore to
sists of 21 richly worked links, united by plainer ones: a point opposite the upper end of P h yllis C ourt wall
the pendent badge is a copy of the borough s e a l; of the is marked out by piles and booms ; on either side of
seals, the oldest dates from 1306; the next from 1664; which space is left for sm all pleasure c r a f t : on the
that in use is an em bossing stam p, provided in 1883, Buckingham shire side house-boats are moored, w hile or
and is a copy of th e seal of 1624, now lo s t : it exhibits, the opposite shore are th e various stands and enclosures:
in chief, rays' of the sun issuing from clouds, and in base the prizes principally contended for are challenge prizes
the letter H surmounted by a ducal coronet.
— i.e. prizes held by the winners from year to year, and
The Reading Room and Technical In stitute, in Duke include the Grand Challenge Cup and the T ham es Chal­
street, form erly a W orking Men’s In stitute, was pre­ lenge Cup for eight o a rs ; th e Stew ards’ Challenge Cup
sented to the town by the late Rt. Hon. W . H. Sm ith and the W yfold Challenge C up for fo u r s ; th e S ilv er
M .P.; the reading room is on the ground floor, and the G oblets for pairs, and the Diamond Challenge S culls for
upper portion contains a chem ical laboratory and various scu lle rs ; these are m ostly open races, but some are
subject to certain restrictions. The L adies’ Challenge
apparatus for technical instruction.
The Police station is in K ing’ s road, near the Town Plate for eights and th e V isito rs’ Challenge Cup foT
fours are lim ited to Colleges and Public schools. The
Hall.
The Salisbury C onservative Club, in Queen street and Leander Club house is situated on the Berkshire side of
Reading road, erected in 1893 at a cost of £1,800, and the river, near the bridge. The Henley Rowing Club was
enlarged in 1897-8 at a cost of £1,100 , is a handsome established in 1830, and has its head quarters at the
structure of red brick, and contains a large hall for corner of New street and Thames side. Henley is also a
favourite resort for anglers, but th e river now furnishes
lectures &c. and billiard, reading and sm oking rooms.
Tne Liberal Club, in R eading road, erected in 1899 at little else besides roach and chub : a society has, however,
been
form ed for p reserving the fish and cultivatin g the
a cost exceeding £1,600, contains b illiard, games,
smoking, com m ittee and reading rooms, baths and a exhausted species. Th e Chiltern H ills com m ence from
this point and extend to T rin g, H erts. T h e prospects
steward's residence.
There are branches of the London County and W est­ from H enley are in th e h ighest degree picturesque and
minster Bank L im ited and B arclay and C om pany’s beautiful, the country around being pleasingly diversified
by lo fty wooded hills sloping to the Tham es. Henley
Limited.
The market is held on T hursday ; and fairs on M arch Hill, th rou gh the chalky face of which the road is cut,
7th, Holy Thursday, the T hursday after T rin ity S u n ­ is to the e a st; at its base are houses in term ixed with
day, and the T hursday after Septem ber 21st (a statute wooded scenery. On a height is a circle of stones,
brought from the Island of Jersey, and popularly known
hiring fair).
The Masonic H all in the R eading road was erected as “ The D ruid’ s Tem ple.” The river Tham es, seen in
in 1889-90, from designs by M r. W illiam Ravenscroft, many parts to great advantage, considerably heightens
architect, of Reading, on a site given by W . D. M ackenzie the beauty of the prospect. John Longland, Bishop of
esq. of Fawley Court, the foundation stone b ein g laid Lincoln, 1521-47, was born here in 1473, and W illiam
30 Oct. 1389, by the R igh t Hon. th e E arl of Jersey, Lenthall, Speaker of th e Lon g Parliam en t, in .Tune,
1591. In 1664, d urin g th e C ivil W a r, a considerable
late Provincial G rand M aster of O xfordshire.
The chief hotel is the “ Red L ion ,” im m ediately north Parliam en tary force was quartered here under th e E arl
of Essex.
of the bridge.
The F air Mile is a fine avenue of trees north of the
A considerable trade is carried on in corn, flour, m alt
town, about a m ile in len gth and leading to Assenden.
and beech wood. There are two extensive breweries.
Th
e old m anor house of P h yllis C ourt stood on the
In Hart street, by S t. M ary’s church, is a drinking
fountain with an ornamental stone colum n surmounted bank of the Tham es to the north of th e town, b ut the
by a cross, erected b y his fam ily and friends and pre­ principal p art was pulled down about 1788, and the
sented to the town June, 1885, in m em ory of the Rev. rem ainder has been since rem oved to m ake room for a
Greville Phillimore M .A. rector of Henley 1867, until handsome m odem house now occupied by the P h yllis
C ou rt Club.
his death. 21 Jan. 1884.
F riar Park is the residence of S ir F ran k C risp bart.
In the m arket place is a stone horse trough, the gift
L L .B ., J.P . ; the grounds have v ery varied attraction s,
of Lady Crisp.
The Isolation H ospital in the F air M ile, erected at. a includin g mediaeval, A lp in e, Japanese, top iary and
cost of £12,000, on a site of 5 acres, given by W . D. water gardens, caves, glass houses, a m aze &c. th e
Mackenzie esq. of F aw ley C ourt, consists of four separate public being adm itted on W ednesdays, from M ay to
October.
a r V*Z ad m inistrative, free and p ayin g wards,
Edward M ackenzie esq. becam e lord of the m anor of
and disinfecting and m ortu ary cham bers. The bu ild ­
Henley
by purchase in 1853; the m anor is now held by
ups were commenced by the late R ig h t Hon. W . H.
nuth M.P. and finished and opened in 1892 by his his son, W illiam D alziel M ackenzie esq. M .A ., D .L ., J.P .
Th e area of the M unicipal B orough was, by Local
son. Viscount Ham bleden, and are available for 38
patients.
Governm ent Board Order, No. P. 837 confirmed by Local
Archbishop L aud’s charity of £ 10 yea rly is for appren- Governm ent Board’s Provisional Orders Confirm ation,
crng poor boys and for providing m arriage portions for No. 6 A ct, 1892, w hich cam e into operation 9 N ov. 1892,
Tr^10 are entitled to th e benefit of this extended to in clude p art of Rotherfield G reys civil
j
™-v.every third y e a r ; the B rid g e
rents pro­ parish.
to
3r0art y ’ of v h ic h about ¿ 1 2 is applied
G R E Y S was under the provisions of an O rder of the
to Hi« v (’ ^ I3 to cllurck purposes, and the rem ainder County Councils of Oxford. Berks and Bucks, June 14,
about r P00r > bhe rem aining charities yield 1894, form ed into a civil parish, from th at portion of
uses v V year /or cllurch p urposes; ¿ 13 0 for public Rotherfield G reys w ithin the m unicipal borough.
for r.pn *
relating to the repair of th e bridge, £48
By Local Governm ent Board O rder No. 48,671, dated
tribiit; S1°^S ^ ^lind persons and others, £ 173 for dis- ! Sept. 26, 1905, G reys was am algam ated w ith H enlevuses
/k
ani^ ruoney, and £336 for the general | upon-Tham es civil parish.
fee-hT.rv,
, P°0r' th e last-nam ed being subject to a ' T h e area of the civil parish and m unicipal borough
charitv t rG*ri
^s- 8fl- on account of H enry S m ith ’s is 532 acres of land and 17 of w a t e r ; rateable value,
¿ 35*479There
,ms Coll6se- Cam bridge,
and
, er*by-six alm shouses, situated on the east
The population of the m unicipal borough in 1901 was
bv Mrs tt 6Si.0f
M ary ’s ch u rch yard : ten endowed 5,894, and in 1911 was 6,456, v i z . : — N orth W ard, 3,078
umphrey New berry in 1664 w ith an income of and South W ard, 3,378.
o x o .w

8 *