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DIRECTORY.]

B E R K S H IR E .

B L E W B l ’RY.

43

V a n sitta rt N eale K .C .B . and held since 1900 by the priory, who died in 1343, is said to have been buried
Rev. W illiam F arrer
M .A. of B alliol College, Oxford. in its ch urch , togeth er w ith W illiam , h is son, 2nd
E arl K .G . who died in 1397; h is grandson, Sir John
£ 2 10s. yearly value. B isham
The charities are of
A bbey is the p roperty and residence of Sir Henry James de M ontacute, 3rd E arl, beheaded at C h ich ester, 5th
V a n sitta rt N eale K .C .B ., J.P . : th e p riory of Bisham Jan u ary, 1400; and his g rea t grandson, Thom as,
was founded in 1338 on a p re-existin g p receptory of restored as 4th E arl, and slain a t th e siege of Orleans,
the K n ig h ts T em plars, by W illiam de M ontacute, 1st 3rd Nov. 1428: h ith er, after the disastrous b attle of
E arl of S alisb ury of th at nam e and K in g of the Isle Barnet, A p ril 14th, 1471, were b rough t the bodies of
of Man, for canons
reg u lar of the order of St. R ich ard N e vill K .G . E arl of W arw ick, th e fam ous
A ugustine, and was dedicated to O ur Lord, S t. Mary “ k in g m ak er,” and his broth er John N evill, M arquess
and the H oly T rin ity, the founder endowing it w ith a of M ontagu, and here also was in terred E dw ard Plansum of £285 y e a rly ; in 1536 it was surrendered to tagenet, nephew of E dw ard IV . and grandson of the
Henry V III. by W illiam Barlow, the la st prior, who “ k in g m aker,” who was executed on Tow er H ill, in
was thereupon created Bishop of S t. David’s ; in the 1499. T em ple House, the residence of M rs. W illiam s,
following year the K in g refounded and endowed it as was erected on the site of a p receptory of the K n ig h ts
a Benedictine m onastery w ith about ,£662 yea rly, but T em plars, and is a noble m ansion of b rick , on the
in 1540 it was again and finally suppressed, and was banks of the T h am es, and surrounded by a beautifu l
granted to Queen Anne of C leves, who disposed of it p ark and grounds. S toney W are, th e residence of
b y exchange to Sir Philip Hoby kt. and it rem ained in Mrs. Taylor, is a fine tim b er-gabled m ansion p leasan tly
that fam ily till 1768, when it passed to the M ill fam ily, situated on the riv er bank. Th e T em p le Paper M ills
baronets, of Cam ois C ourt, Sussex, and M ottisfont, here g iv e em ploym ent to m an y of th e in h a b ita n ts ;
Hants, and was afterw ards sold in 1780 to the V ansit- there are two m achines, one w orking con tin u ally n ig h t
tarts, a D antzic fam ily, several of whom represented and day.
S ir H enry Jam es V a n sitta rt N eale K .C .B .,
Berkshire in Parliam ent, and one, the R ig h t Hon. J.P. who is lord of th e m anor, H enry M ills S krin e esq.
N icholas V a n sitta rt M .P ., F .R .S . after servin g the and M rs. W illiam s are the principal landow ners. T h e
office of C hancellor of the E xch equer, w as, in 1823, soil is lig h t and chalky ; subsoil, g ravel and chalk. T h e
created Baron B exley, a title th at becam e extin ct on chief crops are w heat, b arley and oats. T h e area is
his death, 8th Feb. 1851: of th e conventual b uild­ 2,429 acres of land and 49 of w a t e r ; rateab le valu e,
ings the council cham ber, the refectory and an £7,021 ; th e population in 1911 was 761 in th e c iv il
octagonal tower datin g from th e early p art of th e 12th and 565 in th e ecclesiastical parish.
century, s till re m a in ; the refectory, restored in 1859,
P a rish C lerk, H enry E dw ard A tlee.
has a fine open-tim bered roof and a g a lle ry ; the Post Office.— Miss Phoebe Tow ers, sub-postm istress.
rem aining buildings apparently enclosing portions of
L e tters arrive throu gh M arlow & are delivered at 7.30
the ancient fabric, are of th e Tudor period and were
a.m . & 12.30 p.m . ; Sundays, 7.30 a.m . ; dispatched
b u ilt by Sir Philip Hoby k t. ; of the priory church no
at 10.30 a.m . & 2.55 & 7 p .m . ; Sundays, 10 a.m .
M arlow, 1 m ile d istan t, is the nearest m oney order &
traces seem to e x is t : on th e south side of the house
is the “ C ouncil C h am b er,” w hich, w ith an adjoining
telegrap h office
bed-room, form erly constituted a single apartm en t, W all L e tte r B oxes.— T em p le M ills, cleared a t 10.15
a.m . & 6.45 p .m . ; Sundays a t 9.55 a.m . ; Bisham
and was occupied as such for three years by the
road, cleared at 10.30 a.m . & 3 & 7.5 p.m . ; Sundays,
Princess E lizabeth when in retirem en t here, under the
10.10 a.m . ; P ark farm , cleared at 7.30 & 11.45 a.m .
charge of S ir Thom as H o b y : in one of the w alls of
& 7.45 p .m . ; Sundays, 6.15 p .m . ; Q u arry W ood H all,
the house is a concealed cham ber, the ch im n ey of
cleared at 7 & 11 a.m . & 7 p .m . ; Sundays, 7.30 a.m
which com m unicates w ith th a t of the h a l l: the con­
vent barn, a detached b uildin g, is also extant, its C oun ty Police, W a lter Ponsford, constable
woodwork being of Spanish chestn ut, and the gardens National School (m ixed ), for 180 c h ild r e n ; H enry
E dw ard A tlee , m aster
are s till surrounded by a m o a t: th e founder of the
Marked thus * receive letters th rou gh Roberts Mrs. R iverdale
Stevenson-Sm ith M rs. B ridge house
Pinkney’s G reen, M aidenhead.
P R IV A T E R E S ID E N T S .
Sym s H arold S t. G eorge, Tem p le
T aylor Mrs. Stoney W are
Barreto Baron, Q uarry court
Bontor
F rank A rth u r, Woodside, Thom as F elix Jam es, Norwood cot
Q uarry wood
Thom as Jas. T heophilus, Tem p le cot
Brooke-H itching Percy M. R iversleigh Thom as M rs. Riverholm e
Walton M rs. Dunstable house
C artw right Mrs. Stokesay
Clerihew F. G. S. Q u arry Wood ha'.l W illiam s M rs. T em p le house
Easterbrook Ronald F rederick, Th e Y ou n g Thom as, W arren cottage
C O M M E R C IA L .
.Cottage
F arrer Rev. W illiam M .A. (vicar), Groves G eorge, gardener to Mrs.
V icarage
W illiam s, The G ardens, T em ple ho
Hamilton John P a yn ter,Q u arry wood H eatley E dw ard Thom as, shopkeeper
Jones Evan G riffiths, gardener to
K elly Miss. Bisham grange
•L on g E rnest, Park farm
Mrs. T aylor, Th e G ardens, Stoney
Morrison Miss
W are
K ilb y Robert B urstall, Th e C om pleat
Myers Mrs. A bbey cottage
A n gler hotel
Neale S ir H enry Jam es V an sittart
K .C .B ., J.P . B isham abbey
M ay W illiam , farm bailiff to Mark
Knowles esq. T em p le farm (postal
Rich E velyn, Beenham lo. Q uarry wd
address, H urley, M arlow)
Riley M rs. Bohem ia
B L E W B T J R Y , called in Saxon charters “ B leobirg ”
and “ B leobyrig,”
in
Dom esday “ B litberie ”
and
“ B lidberia,” and later “ B leberia ” and “ B lebire,” is a
parish 6 m iles south-w est from W allingford, 10 east
from W antage, 10 south from Abingdon. 4 north-east
from E a st Ilsley, 4 south from the D idcot junction
station on the m ain line of th e G reat W estern railw ay,
and i£ m iles from Upton station on th e Didcot, N ew ­
bury and W inchester railw ay, in the N orthern division
of the county, p artly in the hundred of Moreton, but
chiefly in th a t of Reading, p e tty sessional division of
W allingford, union and cou n ty cou rt d istrict of W an­
tage, rural deanery of W allingford, archdeaconry of
Berks and diocese of O xford. T h e village, w ith the
exception of one principal street on the h ig h road
from R eading to W antage and A bingdon, is s c a tte re d ;
from its position a t the foot of the downs it enjoys a
pure and in vigoratin g air and abounds w ith springs
affording an am ple supply of good water.
The church of St. M ichael, form erly dependent on
Reading A bbey, is a stru ctu re of rubble, flin t and
stone, consisting of chancel, w ith a chapel on th e south
side, nave, aisles, transepts, the piers and lantern

Mead A lfred, beer retailer
Meakes Joseph G eorge, boat b uilder
Morton Sam uel, estate m an ager to
S ir H. J. V a n sitta rt N eale K .C .B .,
J.P
Porter Thom as, farm er, Town farm
•R an dall C atherine (M rs.), farm er
•Randall W illiam , black sm ith
•S h een W m .C aw ood,farm er,H yde frm
•S tra n g M atthew , farm er, L e e farm
T aylor C harles G eorge, B u ll inn
T em p le G olf C lub L td . (C apt. G .
M acdonald, hon. sec. (postal a d ­
dress, H urley, M arlow)
Thom as Bros. & Co. L im ited , paper
m akers, T em p le Paper m ills
Towers A rth u r W illiam , boot m aker
W o rkin g M en's C lu b & In stitu te
(Georg-e H arding, hon. sec)
Y a tes W a lter E rn est, assistant over­
seer & clerk to the Parish Council

stage of a cen tral tower, n orth and south porches and
a fine w estern tow er of three stages, w ith a q uartrefoiled parapet and crocketed pinnacles w ith vanes, and
containing a clock and 8 bells, of w hich th e 4th and
earliest is dated 1586, others resp ectively 1663, 1689,
1704, 1752 and 1825, and two treb le bells w ere added
in 1906: the ch urch was origin ally a N orm an stru ctu re,
erected in the 12th cen tu ry on the site of a m ore
ancient edifice, and portions of th is N orm an ch urch ,
includin g a sm all N orm an window, still ex ist at each
end of the north a rc a d e : in the T ran sition al period
(1145-90) it was grea tly enlarged and m ade crucifo rm :,
the chancel, which is p art of th is work, retain s a fine
stone groined roof and one of its origin al windows,
besides a sm all circular opening at the apex of the
eastern gable, b ut its other windows
are L a te
D ecorated : the south aisle is also Tran sitio n al, b ut
b uilt at different tim es, and restored w ith new windows
durin g the Perpendicular p erio d : its continuation east­
ward, form in g a south -east chapel, is L a te D ecorated
c. 1350, and has a p is c in a ; th e piers of the form er
T ran sition al cen tral tow er are of un u sual thickness,
and at the angles are slender nook shafts, th e capitals