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D IR ECTOR Y.]

B E R K S H IR E .

in this town. C ourts of q u arter sessions for the county
are held in Janu ary, A p ril, June and October.
The
quarter sessions for the borough are gen erally held at
the Assize C ourts in th e sam e m onth as the sessions for
the county.
The C oun ty C ouncil holds all its full
m eetings at the Assize Courts, and the various C om ­
m ittees m eet at the County Offices.
The Corn E xchange, b u ilt in 1854, is about too feet
long and 50 feet wide and has a glass r o o f; it is
approached by a narrow covered w ay from the M arket
place, and over the entrance is a sm all tower with
c lo c k ; the sam e covered way gives access to the M arket
house, a narrow, confined stru ctu re in Broad street,
erected in 1854. The m arket days are— S atu rd ay for
corn and stock cattle, and Monday for fat cattle. Fairs
are held on F eb ruary 2, M ay 1, J u ly 25 and Sept. 21
for cattle.
The C attle m ark et and abattoirs are on the w est side
of the C aversham road and close to the stations of the
G reat W estern, the South E astern and the South
W estern railways.
There are nine banks— Lloyds Bank L im ited , B arclay
and Com pany L im ited , a branch of the London C ounty
and W estm inster Bank L im ited, the C ap ital and C oun­
ties Bank L im ited, the London C ity and M idland Bank
L im ited , tire London and S ou th W estern Bank L im ited ,
the United Counties Bank Lim ited and Farrow ’s Bank
L im ite d ; also a S avin gs Bank, founded in 1817
His M ajesty’s Prison, on the east side of the abbey
ruins in Forburv road, was erected in 1833, and is a
c astellated b uilding of red brick, w ith w h ite stone
dressings, arranged to hold 224 p rison ers; it was one of
the first prisons b u ilt on the separate system .
The Borough Police S tation is in V a lp y street.
The head quarters of the cou n ty constabulary are at
Reading, th e station being in A bbey street.
The M asonic H all, in G revfriars road is a stru ctu re of
brick and stone, relieved w ith em blem atic designs, and
is used for the m eeting of the Union, G revfriars,
Kendrick and Morland lodges.
The B aths are in K in g ’s Meadow road, V astern road.
The New Royal County Theatre, form erly the Royal
A ssem bly Room s, in F riar street, is a very spacious and
elegan tly decorated b uilding, 114ft. long, 38ft. w ide and
40ft. in h e ig h t ; the m eans of exit are w ell arranged and
th e b uilding will hold an audience of 1,200 p erson s; it
is under the m anagem ent of Messrs. M ilton Bode and
Edward Com pton.
In F riar street a b uilding w ith a fron tage of 122ft. of
red and grey bricks and teTra cotta, w ith colum ns of
A berdeen and Cornish granite, has been constructed for
offices and shops, w ith a fine arcade in the rear, opening
into the covered-in m arket and givin g a rig h t of way
from F riar street to Broad street.
The Reading A m ateu r R ega tta u su a lly takes place on
the A u gu st Bank holiday.
R eading N atural H istory S ociety exists especially to
prom ote the study of th e natural h istory of its own
district.
R eading was form erly dependent on the cou n try
around for its trade, and being situated in the m idst of
an agricu ltu ral district, the supplies of the neighbouring
population are s till chiefly drawn from the town. As a
m anu facturing place its chief business is to be found in
biscu it m aking, iron foundries and engine w o rk s ; and in
seed grow ing, m altin g and b re w in g ; the sale of corn,
cattle and flour is also carried on upon an extensive
s c a le ; there are boat building establishm ents and
pottery and brick works.
The large biscu it factory of M essrs. H untly and
Palm ers L im ited, in the K in g ’s road, covers m any acres,
and is the m ost extensive establishm ent of th e kind in
the w o rld ; here about 6,000 hands m eet w ith con­
tinuous em ploym ent in m aking the celebrated “ Reading
biscuits ” and preparing and packing them for the home
trade and for exp o rtatio n ; attached to the factory are
reading-room s. The Royal Seed establishm ent of Messrs.
S utton and Sons, whose head quarters are here, occupies
m ore than 10,000 acres of land in various parts of the
United Kingdom and on the Continent, w herever the
soil and circum stances are m ost favourable to seedfarm in g ; there is an experim ental farm on the London
road and flower seed grounds and a fine range of glass
houses on land adjoining the ra ilw a y s ; there are also
extensive tria l grounds situated at L an gley S lo u g h ;
the principal entrance to the business prem ises is in the
M arket p la c e ; here a large home and foreign trade is

BEADING.

155

carried on by a staff of nearly 500 clerks and w are­
housem en. A m ong the breweries those of M essrs. H.
and G . Sim onds L im ited , M essrs. F ergusons Lim ited
S outh Berks B rew ery Co. L im ited and Messrs. Brown
Dymore and Son L im ited are the la r g e s t ; and the
oldest and not least fam ous of R eading m anufactures
is its well-known “ sauce,” m ade by Messrs. Cocks for
nearly a century.
Th e F orb ury, fronting the ancient gatew ay of the
A bbey, is an open space on th e n orth-east side of the
town, laid out as a pleasure garden, w ith a fountain and
ornam ental w o rk s ; it has been considered the pleasure
garden of th e Reading townsfolk by p rescriptive rig h t,
b ut th is claim is not allowed b y th e G overnm ent, who
regard it as a freehold and have dem ised it to p rivate
in dividuals ; a Russian g u n , presented by the G overn­
m ent to th e authorities of the town, occupies an elevated
position in the grounds ; h ere also is a colossal lion, of
cast iron, on a terra-cotta pedestal, erected in 1886 as a
m em orial to 11 officers and 317 non-com missioned officers
and m en of the 2nd B attalio n , 66th B erkshire R egim en t,
who fell in the B attle of M aiwand, 27th J u ly, 1880, and
d urin g the A fgh an war, 1879-80: the pedestal, placed
in 1884 on a foundation of concrete, is 23ft. 2% in. in
length, 8ft. 7m . in b readth and 12ft. 6in. h ig h : the
lion, which was not erected u n til 1886, is said to be the
largest erect statue of the kind in the world, it bein g
three tim es th e size of life and w eigh in g 16 t o n s : from
the forepaw to the top of th e m ane it m easures 13ft.
the forearm is 5ft. ; and from th e nose to th e end of
the tail it is over 31ft. in len gth ; th e total cost was
£ g o o : th e view from this spot is v ery extensive, com ­
m anding a b eautifu l prospect over p a rt of O xfordshire :
the H o rticu ltu ra l Society’s shows are held in these
grounds.
The Tham es Side Prom enade, exten din g from C av er­
sham B ridge for a m ile along the river, is furnished
with seats and bandstands, and is grea tly resorted to by
the inhabitants and visitors.
A bronze statue of His la te M ajesty K in g E dw ard V II.
presented to th e town by M artin J. S utton esq. and
standing in th e open space facin g the G . W . R. station,
was unveiled by H .R .H . Prince C h ristian of S ch lesw ig
Holstein K .G ., G .C .V .O ., P .C . 3rd Decem ber, 1902.
The figure, m odelled by Mr. G eorge E. W ade, represents
the K in g in field-m arshal’s uniform holding th e sceptre
and orb, and stands on a pedestal of red and blue
granite.
The R oyal B erkshire H ospital, in London road, opened
M ay 27th, 1839, is an extensive b u ild in g of stone in the
Dom estic Classic style, w ith a noble p rojectin g portico
, of six Ionic colum ns, supporting a pedim ent, adorned
with the Royal A rm s ; two wings, added in 1882, com ­
! prise operating room , library, m useum , chapel, w ith
stained windows, laundry, servants' dorm itories and
dw ellings for p rivate nurses ; additional buildin gs, comI p risin g new ch ildren ’s and eye wards, septic and eye
theatres, new casualty, X -ra y and pathological depart­
m ents, were opened in 1912. T h ere is a C onvalescent
Fund for discharged patients, adm inistered by the
Board of M an agem en t; the hospital is supported by
j volu n tary contributions raised in the cou n ty and su r­
rounding district, and has 188 b ed s: the n um ber of
in-patients treated in 1914 was 2,314, and of casual and
1
out-patients, 10,356.
The Reading Dispensary T ru st, in Chain street, was
established in 1802; it had in 1912, 15,609 m em bers,
450 of which were adm itted free.
Th e Helena N u rsin g Home, B row nlow road, opened in
1878, is intended for poor ladies suffering from incurable
maladies and needing care and nursing, especially such
as are in the later stages of illness, hom eless, and w ith ­
out relations able to nurse or support th em . C ases of
infectious and m ental disorders are in eligib le. Patients
pay from £ 2 10s. m onthly in advance, and are received
in the first instance for th ree m onths. A ll applications
for admission m ust be m ade to th e L ady-in -ch arge, who
will furnish the applicant w ith a copy of the ru les, forms
of application, and forms of m edical certificates required.
The different alm shouses in R eadin g were some tim e
since consolidated under the approval of the C h arity
Com m issioners, the old houses were then vacated and
the almspeople rem oved to new buildings of red brick
with stone dressings in the G othic style, on the south
side of C astle street, erected in 1864-65, from designs
by M r. W illiam H enry W oodm an, a r c h it e c t ; these con­
sist of two rows of houses on either side of a roadway,
each row bein g divided in to four separate blocks ; and
they are available in all for 32 inm ates, either men or
women, v i z . :— 16 for the general ch arities and 16 for
the ch urch charities.