Kellys_1914_0017.jpg

READING DIRFCTORT— 1914.

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1 1 5 6; R e g in a ld , E arl o f C orn w all, his natural s o n : R ich a rd . E arl of
P oitou and C orn w all, broth er o f H en ry III. d. 2nd A p r il, 1 2 7 2 ; C o n ­
stance, dau ghter o f E dm und P lan tagen et, o f L a n g le y , D uke o f Y o r k , and
w ife o f T h om as D espen cer, Earl o f G lou cester ; and A n n e, Countess of
W a rw ick ; at the time of its dissolution its revenues w ere n o t less than
£ 1 ,9 3 8 13s. 3Jjd. y e a r ly ; o f its b uildin gs, w ith the excep tion o f the gatew av, hardly m ore than enorm ous and shapeless masses o f flint and ru bble
now rem ain ; the ch apter house is n ow alm ost th e on ly apartm en t
rem aining to a certain exten t entire, although masses o f w alls denuded
o f th eir stone facings and
n ow covered w ith iv y extend in various
^directions, and one o r tw o bases o f the piers o f the great ch urch are
y e t in situ ; the garden o f the m onastery stretched from th e present
cou n ty police courts nearly to the M a rket place, and th e stables, w hich were
very extensive, occu pied a site a djoinin g H oly B r o o k : th e conventual
church was a N orm an structure : the w a inscoting o f the refectory is now
in the hall o f M agdalen College, O xford : the catalogue o f the lib ra ry in
the reign o f H en ry I H . is still e x ta n t; it then com prised l ' v' volum es, 38
o f w hich contained th e H o ly Scriptures or portion s th ereof. H ugh F a rin gdon, 31st and last a b b o t o f Reading, sturdily refusing to ackn ow led ge the
suprem acy o f H enry V I I I . or to surrender his house, was, w ith tw o o f his
m onks. R u g g and O nyon, hung, drawn and quartered w ith in sigh t o f his
ow n gatew ay, N o v . 14th, 1539 : the great gatew ay, w hich origin ally gave
access to th e inner cou rt o f the abbey, has been v e ry ca refu lly restored ,
and is a rectangu lar structure o f tw o stages, con stru cted o f' flint w ith
stone dressings ; a w id e poin ted arch w ay pierces th e lo w e r stage ; in
the upper are small trefoil-headed w indow s, surm ounted b y a plain parapet
and at th e angles are octagonal turrets rising above th e w hole. T he ruin*
are the p roperty o f the C orporation, and. tog eth er w ith a d join in g prop erty
know n as the F orb u ry, are used as pu blic w alks and pleasure grounds.
In the ruins and in the F ree P u b lic L ib ra ry are exh ib ited plans and
ch ronological charts o f the ancient abbey, and there are fixed on various
parts o f the abbey descriptive tablets indicating th e ancient uses o f various
portion s o f th e a b b ey. T w o m ural tablets, to th e m em ories o f th e first
and last a b b ots, w ere p la ced on the w alls o f th e C h ap ter H ouse in 1911.
O f oth er m onastic establishm ents once existing here, the m ost im portant
was th at o f the Franciscans or G rey F riars, w h o established th em selves'in
Reading in 1233, b y perm ission o f P op e G regory I X . and in 1285 m ov ed to
^ -nf W ,s*te> u pon w hich, w ith the help o f E dw a rd I. w h o furnished .them
w ith tim ber, th e y erected their c o n v e n t: its church, com p leted , as is sup­
posed, a b ou t 1311, is one o f the finest exam ples o f this p eriod, extant, and
restored : this house was surrendered to H en ry V L ll. 13th Sept.
i b y th-e vvarden- P c te r S ch efford S .T .B . and eleven fr ia r s : in 1540
in S5?m €stic bu ildin gs w ere gran ted to R o b e rt S ta n sh a w , a retainer o f
i - ? m g ’ alK* in 15 4 3 .t be C orporation obtain ed possession o f th e ch urch ,
winch th e y co n verted in to a tow n h all ; in 1560 it b ecam e a w ork h ou se,
and in 1613 a prison , w hich pu rpose it con tin ued t o serve until it w as
purchased in 1863 b y th e late V e n . A rch d ea con P h e lp s , and b y him
restored t o its original uses, at a cost o f o v e r £ 1 2 .000 .
H ugh, w h o becam e eighth ab b ot a b ou t 1180, foun ded a nother h osp ita l,
edicated to St. J o h n the B a p tist, for th e relief o f stran gers and pilgrim s,
a wn i m-Laurence’ s church, and con du cted b y a. sisterh ood o f 13 w id ow s :
A b b o t Thorne, in the reign of Edward IV . suppressed this h osp ita l and
a the im perative, suggestion o f H en ry V I I. it -w as co n verted in to a
grammar school, A .D . 1485.
RE AD .

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