Kellys_1917_0414.jpg

VIL LA G E S D IR ECTO RY— 1917.

EARLEY.

399

May Arthur, farm er, Park farm (letters
through Em m er Green, Caversbam)
May Ernest W. farm er, Play Hatch farm
R
am
pton Charles, builder
Atherton W illiam , blacksmith
B a r lo w
Reuben, beer retailer (letters Silver W illiam , dairyman
W errell Ernest Alfred, beer retailer, &
through Binfield heath)
post office
Cane Thom as, fanner, Roe Lane farm
W ootten Fredk.The Crown P.H.Play Hatch
Cullum A. E. farm er, Play Hatch house
Fisher Frederick, Bird-in-Hand P.H
SONNING E YE .
Fisher Harry, farm er, Deane’s farm,
Cooper Charles, The Eyot house
Lower Caversham
Ford George, farmer, Dunsden Green frm Ogle Miss Edith, The Bridge house
Ford W alter, farm er & thrashing machine Phiilim ore G odfrey W illiam , Aberlash
proprietor,
Bishop’s Land
farm
A Reeve W illiam , Grenville house
W oollcom be Mrs. Caroline, Kencoed
Bryant’s farm
COM M ERCIAL.
Fry W illiam, beer Tetailer, Play Hatch
Hill Samuel, rod merchant
Green S. parish clerk
Russell E . (M iss), French Horn hotel
Harris John, farm er, Hampstead farm
Smallpiece W m . Charles Haydon, farm er,
Harvey J. Coach & Horses P.H
Sonning Eye farm
Hullcoop W illiam , schoolm aster, Public
Talbot Sarah Elizabeth (M rs.), rod m er­
Elementary -school
chant, The Elms
Inwaixis Charles, farm er, Cork’s farm
Loader W alter, county constable (letters Wheeler Mrs. Flowing Spring P.H
W itherington C.H. & Son,m illers (water),
through Binfield heath)
Sonning m ill
Wigan Rev. H erbert M .A. The Vicarage
CO M M ERCIAL.

E A R L E Y (or E rleigh) is an ecclesias­ of glebe, with residence, in the g ift of the
tical parish form ed April 28th, in the
year 1844, out of Sonning parish, and
comprising the liberty of Earley and part
of W oodley, in the Eastern division of the
county, Charlton hundred, W okingham
petty sessional division and union, R ead­
ing county cou rt district, Sonning rural
deanery, archdeaconry of Berks and diocese
of Oxford. At Earley is a station on the
Reading and Reigate branch of the South
Eastern railway and on the South W estern
line from Reading to London, about 2
miles south-east from Reading and 40^
by rail from London. The church of St.
Peter, consecrated Sept. 21st, 1844, *s an
edifice of brick in the Early English style,
consisting of chancel, nave of five bays,
aisles, vestry, organ chamber, south porch
and a tower at the north-west angle, con­
taining one b e ll: in 1882-3 the transepts
were removed and aisles and a new chan­
cel and other additions made, at a cost
of £ 4 .3 3 8 : the east window is stain ed :
the west window is a m em orial to the
Rev. GeoTge Porcher and his two daugh­
ters ; and there is another m em orial win­
dow to Mrs. Frances St. A u b y n : the
church affords 500 sittings, of which 300
are unappropriated; a lych gate was
erected about 1902, as a m em orial to
Charles Stephens J.P. at a cost o f £250.
The register dates from the year 1844.
The living is a vicarage, of the average
annual incom e of £290, including 2 acres

vicar of Sonning, and held since 1904 by
the Rev. Canon W illiam W eekes Fowler
M .A ., D .Sc. of Jesus College, Oxford,
prebendary of Lincoln, and surrogate. A
Parish Hall was built in 1909. Bulmershe
Court, the property of Captain James
W illiam St. Lawrence W heble R .A ., J.P.
of Hungerford Lodge, Reading, and now
occupied by Joseph Rushbrooke esq. is a
mansion of stone standing in its own
park-like grounds, and comm ands fine
views of the surrounding- country.
The
district of Earley contains several p ro­
perties of note and in terest; the ancient
dom ain
of
W hiteknights,
form erly
possessed by the Dukes of Marlborough
and famous fox its elegant gardens, has
been parcelled out into several properties
for building purposes; the “ W ilderness,’’
once renowned for its collection of rare
trees and shrubs, has been divided and
several residences built, including W ild er­
ness House, the residence of Frank
Stewart Barnard J.P. and F ox H ill, a
mansion in the Elizabethan style, from
designs by Alfred W aterhouse esq. R.A.
architect, now occupied by Lord Reading
P.C., K .C .V .O . (Lord Chief Justice).
Maiden Erlegh. the old seat of the G old­
ings, is the residence of Solomon B. Joel
e s q .; Sidm outh Grange, of Ernest Philips
Foquett Sutton esq. and Earley Court,
the property of L ord Sidm outh, is now
I occupied by Mrs. Rushby. The principa