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HEADING DIRECTORY— 1 9 1 4 .

T h e different alm shouses in R ea din g w ere som e tim e since con solidated
under the approval o f the Charity Com m issioners ; the old houses were
then vacated and th e alm speople rem oved to new buildings o f red brick
w ith stone dressings in the G oth ic style, on th e south side of Castle street,
erected in 1864-65 from designs by M r. W illia m H enry W ood m a n , arch i­
t e c t ; these consist o f tw o rows of houses on either side of a roadw ay,
each row being div id ed into four separate blocks ; and they are available
in all "for 32 inm ates, either men or w om en, viz, : — 16 for the general
charities and 16 for the church charities.
The charities for distribution in St. G iles’ parish are about £ 4 5
yearly ; St. Laurence, £281 yea rly ; St. M ary, £5 6 . T he St. Laurence
charities are given m ostly in small pensions for aged parishioners and
numerous gifts of bread, g rocery, m eat, flannel, calico and coals.
T h e R ea din g M u nicipal Church Charities produced in 1908 a gross
incom e o f £ 2 ,3 4 3 10s. 7d. T h is sum is largely used for educational
purposes and fo r the f o llo w in g :— A pp ren tice prem ium s, £ 2 1 0 ; alms
persons and pensions, £ 2 5 3 ; m aid servants’ g ifts, £ 1 0 0 ; clothin g
children o f Sunday schools, £100.
The General M unicipal Charities am ount to £ 1 ,0 8 6 yearly ; Sim eon’s
charity o f £ 1 ,00 0 , in Consols, the interest o f w hich is now £ 2 5 yearly,
o f w hich £ 2 0 is paid to the Queen V icto ria In stitu te for nursing the
sick poor o f the tow n.
T he old w orkhouse for the Parish of R eadin g, situated in the O xford
road, was begun in A p ril, 1866, and occupied in June, 1867: it is a
building o f local red brick, in the Elizabethan style, designed by M r
W . H . W ood m an , arch itect, o f R eadin g, and was erected at a total cost
qf a bout £8,100. I t has since been extended and rem odelled b y the
erection of new buildings at a cost o f nearly £ 3 0 ,0 0 0 , from plans by
Messrs. C. Sm ith and Son and M r. J . G reenaw ay, architects, o f Reading,
and is practically a new w orkhouse. T he old buildin g accom m odated
300 inmates, the new buildings provide for 5 0 0 ; alterations, w hich
include the addition of a new aged and infirm b lock and phthisical
quarters, w ere made in 1911 and have increased the accom m odation to 650.
T he accom m odation is o f the usual character, and includes hospital w ith
160 beds, detached nurses’ hom e, im becile b lock, adm inistrative building
&c.
T he "C orporation ow n ten parks or pleasure grounds, com prisin g over
220 acres, including P alm er P a rk, presented by the late G eorge Palm er
esq. o f th e firm o f H u n tley and Palm ers ; the park covers an area of
about 50 acres in the eastern pa rt of the borou gh , and is used as a
p u blic recreation ground. M r. Palm er also gave at an earlier date a
large recreation ground in the K in g ’ s m eadow s, w hich is extensively
used for cricket, footb a ll and other ou t-door games.
T he
C orp oration
have also acquired about 15J acres o f land
extending for a bou t three-quarters o f a m ile w estw ard from Caversham
B ridge and abuttin g upon the river Thames. T h is land, w h ich has a
uniform depth of 150 feet, has been laid out as a p u b lic prom enade,
and is a valuable add ition to the am enities of the tow n.
A t B o b ’s M ount, overlookin g the K a tesgrov e clay p it, a Rom an
am phora was foun d, and on th e same spot flint instrum ents w ere dis­
interred b y th e late L ieu t.-C ol. C. C ooper K in g P .G .S . D uring the