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82

FAR ING DON .

B E R K S H IR E .

[

b e l l y ’s

about a cen tu ry la t e r ; the Pve chapel, attached to the and general assem blies. Two room s, b u ilt originally
chancel, was probably added soon after the Reform a­ for a savings bank, form an adjun ct to the E xchan ge,
tio n ; the east window and six others in the chancel, and are used for sm aller m eetings. Th e Post Office, in
four in the south transept, three in the aisle of the M arlborough street, erected in 1898, is an edifice of
south transept and two in the south aisle of the nave, red b rick w ith stone dressings. A m ark et is held here
are s ain ed ; in the Unton chapel is an alabaster tomb, every Tuesday and the g rea t cattle m arket on the first
with recum bent effigies of Sir Thom as Unton k t. of T uesday in every m o n th ; there are statute fairs on the
W adley, and E lizabeth, his w ife ; adjoining is a m onu­ Tuesday before and the T uesday after Old M ichaelm as
m ent to S ir A lexander Unton kt. ob. 1547, w ith effigy day. The Police S tation is in Coach lane, and the Fire
of h im self in a tabard, and his two w ives, M ary and Engine station in C h urch street. Sir H enry Unton k t.
C ecyll, in heraldic m antles, w ith ten c h ild re n ; on the left in 1591 £38 yearly, derived from land, for appren­
west wall is a m arble m onum ent to S ir E dw ard Unton, tice fees and blankets for the benefit of the poor of the
made a kn ight of the B ath a t the Coronation of Queen Port of F arin gdon ; a sum of ¿ 1 5 from Eleanor G off’9
E lizabeth, who m arried Anne (S eym ou r), widow of John ch arity, le ft in 1756, is for apprentice fe e s ; Johanna
Dudley, E a rl of W arw ick, daugh ter to E dw ard Seym our. Alford in 1721 gave ¿20 ann ually to ten poor fa m ilies;
Dube of Som erset, Lord Protector of E n g la n d ; on the there are several other charities for bread, coals and
east wall is a tab let to S ir H en ry Unton, knighted in clothing, am ounting to about £50 yea rly, w hich am ount
Holland in 1586. by Robert, E arl ol Leicester, for his is distrib uted by the trustees. Th e Faringdon C ottage
b ravery a t the siege of Z u tp h e n ; he was tw ice chosen Hospital, on the C oxw ell road, was opened J u ly 15th,
am bassador to France, and died in 1596, during the 1892, both the site and buildin g bein g the g ift of the
em b assy; the m onum ent was erected in 1606 by his late W. Dundas esq. J.P . of the E lm s. Th e buildin g
widow, Dorothy, whose kneeling effigy form erly stood on is of red brick and stone, from designs by M r. John
a pedestal at the foot, b u t is now in the P ye c h a p e l; Lu ker, arch itect, of W est D ulw ich ; there are at present
in th is chapel, on a b u ttress of f he tower, is a m ural eig h t beds and two cots. F aringdon H ill, east of the
m onum ent to Lionel R ich , ob. 1742, who m arried in 1734, town, is an em inence of considerable h eight, crowned
Annie, daughter of H enry Pye esq. ; against the north wall w ith a plantation of lofty firs, planted by Mr. Pye, the
is a noble m onum ent of white m arble, w ith blue colum ns Poet L a u r e a te ; circu lar and transverse walks round
supporting cherubs of alabaster, to Jane Pye, ob. 1706; and throu gh the plantation form a favourite prom enade,
another m onum ent of variegated m arble, supported by com m anding beautiful and extensive view s of the su r­
colum ns of the Tuscan order, in m em ory of Ann P y e ; rounding country. A bout 1^ m iles north is Radcot
there are m any additional m onum ents and brasses to Bridge, over the Isis, w hich separates this county from
the P arker, Purefoy, P leydell and other fam ilies, bnt O x o n ; it has three pointed arches, one large and two
these have been m ostly m utilated or rem oved from sm aller, and m assive parapets risin g to a point in the
their original p o sitio n s; Richard Lenton, vicar, ob. c e n tr e ; th is bridge was the scene of a b attle in 1387
1410; Thom as Faryndon esq. ob. 1396, and M argaret, his between Robert de Vere, 9th E arl of Oxford and Duke
wife, ob. 1402; and their daugh ter, C atherine Pynche- of Ireland, a favourite of R ich ard II. and the forces of
pole, ob. 1443: in the chancel is a m em orial window, the disaffected nobles under H enry, E arl of D erby (a fte r­
»■rected in 1902, to th e late Mrs. Bennett, of F aring- wards H enry IV .) and Thom as, Duke of G loucester,
don House : the oak vestibule screen w ithin the south when the troops of de Vere, num bering some 5,000,
door was erected in 1904, at a cost of £78. In 1909 a being surrounded, he secured h is personal safety only
«tained glass window was erected by the parishioners by divesting him self of his arm our and sw im m ing down
to the m em ory of the late G . W. Habgood esq. The the r iv e r ; it was also held by the Royalists d urin g the
m iles
church was thoroughly restored in 1854 : there are 900 C iv il W ar as an outpost to Faringdon House :
sittin gs, 300 being free. Th e church is approached by south-east is the celebrated White Horse (from which
a pleasant avenue of ch estn ut trees. Th e reg ister dates the vale is nam ed), rudely cut th rou gh the tu rf on the
from the year 1582. The liv in g is a vicarage, w ith L ittle side of the chalk h ill, and dating in all probability from
Coxw ell annexed, net yearly value £220. includin g 76 j the Saxon period. Faringdon House, re-erected in T780
acres of glebe, w ith residence, in the g ift of Sim eon's j by Henry Jam es Pye esq. M .P. for Berks and Poet
trustees, and held since 1909 by the Rev. John Edward L aureate, is a b u ild in g in the Italian style, situated on
Cow ell M A. of C orpus C h risti College, C am bridge. The an em inence, w ith fine views of the counties of Oxford
m eeting house of the Society of Friends in Lechlade and G lo u ceste r; Mr. Pye, who received from the U n i­
road is a b u ild in g of stone. T h e B aptist chapel. Block versity of Oxford the honorary degrees of M .A. in 1766
G reen square, first founded in 1576, is of stone, and and D .C .L . in 1772, becam e P oet Laureate in 1790, and
will seat 250 persons. T he Congregational chapel, in 1792 one of the police m agistrates for W estm in ster;
M arlborough street, erected in 1840, has 300 sittin gs. he was the author of a poem called “ Faringdon H ill,”
The P rim itive M ethodist chapel, C oxw ell street, erected and other works, and died A u g u st 11, 18 13: the m an ­
in 1896. will seat 200 persons. Th e W esleyan chapel, | sion is now the residence of Col. W ard B en n itt J.P . The
G loucester street, erected in 1837, has 180 sittin gs. I trustees of the la te Daniel B ennett esq. are lords of
The Nonconform ists’ cem etery of about i£ acres, on 1 the m anor, a cou rt leet is held annually at the Crown
The p rin cipal landowners are Oriel College,
the western side of the town, was opened for b urials | hotel.
in 1865, b ut has no m ortu ary c h a p e l; it is under O xford, Lady W antage, the trustees of the late Daniel
Bennett
esq. and S ir A lexander Henderson b art. M .P .,
the m anagem ent of trustees. Th e Town H all or M arket
H all, situated in th e centre of the town, is a re c t­ J.P. Th e area is 5,872 acres of land and 25 of w a te r;
rateable
value, includin g Littlew o rth , £14,291 ; the
an gu la r structure, p artly open below, and carried on
p illa r s ; the upper p art, which has a truncated population in 1911 was 3,079 in the c iv il and 2,898 in
the
ecclesiastical
parish, includin g 7 officers and 139
p yram idal roof, w ith a vane, is used for parochial
purposes, and the lower as a fire engine station. Th e inm ates of the Poor Law Institution.
P
arish
C
lerk
,
W
illiam
Collins Sell, M arlborough street.
Corn E xch a n ge, b u ilt in 1863, an edifice of stone in
Sexton, Mark Haynes.
the G othic style, is now chiefly used for balls, concerts
O F F IC IA L E S T A B L IS H M E N T S ,
Post, M. 0 . & T . & Telephone Call Office.— H arry John
S m ith , p ostm aster
L e tters received from London k all parts (n igh t m ail)
are delivered to callers k by le tter carrier a t 8 a m .
& 12.30 k 7.10 p .m . ; office open from 8 a.m . to 8
p .m . On Sundays, one delivery, 7 a.m . & to callers
from 8.30 to 10 a.m . The office is open from 8.30
to 10 a.m . on Sundays. Telegraph office open from 8
a .m . to 8 p .m
L etters dispatched to :
London, Swindon k W est of E ngland, 9 a.m . ; London,
O xford, R eading, A bingdon, M idland Counties k the
N orth, 11.35 a.m . (ex tra £d. stam p) 11.40 a.m . ;
Swindon, W est of E n glan d & W ales, x p .m . ; Bam pton, B uckland, C oxw ell, Clanfield, Eaton H astings,
Longw orth, Uffington, W oolstone, Longcot & Fernham ,
12.20 p .m . ; London, Swindon & the N orth, 5.30
p .m . ; North k Midlands k O xford, 7 p.m . ; London
k all p arts, 9 p .m . (extra £d. stam p) 9.15 p .m .;
W itney k Faringdon postal d istrict, 3.30 a.m . ; Su n­
days, London k all p arts, 9 p .m . (extra $d. stam p)
9.15 p.m

L O C A L IN S T IT U T IO N S &c.
Parcels P ost.— Th e post office is open for parcels postbusiness on week days from 8 a.m . to 8 p.m . On
Sundays no parcels post business is transacted. Parcels
deliveries com m ence at 7 a.m . k 12.20 k 7.20 p.m .
Parcels m ails are dispatched at 9 & 11.35 a.m . & 1,
5.30,
7 & 8 p.m
W all L e tte r Boxes.— Stanford road, cleared at 8.50 k
11.15 a.m . & 5.20 k 8.45 p .m . week days & 8.45 p .m .
Sun days; G ravel w alk, cleared at 8.50 k 11.15 a m .
k 5.20 k 8.45 p.m . week days & 8.45 p .m . 6undays;
Coxw ell street, cleared at 11.5 a.m . k 6.55 & 8.45
p.m . week days & 8.45 p .m . Sundays; C oxw ell Lodge,
cleared at 1 k 6.50 p.m . week days & 12.10 p.m .
Sundays
F A R IN G D O N R U R A L D IS T R IC T C O U N C IL
T h e parishes in the D istrict are A shbury, B au lkin g,
B ourton, Buckland, Buscot, Charney B assett, Colesh ill, Compton Beaucham p, C oxw ell— G reat, C oxw ell—
i
L ittle, Eaton H astings, Faringdon— G reat, Fornbam ,
i H atford, H inton W ald rist, K ingston Lisle, Longcot,