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B E A D IS G D IR E C T O R Y â 1 9 1 7 .
P o ito u and C orn w all, b roth er o f H e n ry I H . d . 2n d A p r il, 1 2 7 2 ; C on Â
stance, d au gh ter o f isdm uud P la n ta g e n e t, ot L a n g le y , L u k e of k o r k , and
w ifo o f T h om a s L e sp e n c e r, K arl ot G lo u c e s t e r ; an d A n n e, C oun tess o f
W a r w ic k : a t the tune o f its d issolution u s revenues w ere n o t less than
£ 1 938 13s. 3 id . y e a r ly :
o f its bu ildin gs, w ith the e x cep tion o f the g a te Â
w ay hard ly m ore than enorm ous and shapeless m asses o f Hint and rubble
n o w â r e m a in ; the ch ap ter house is n o w alm ost th e o n ly ap artm en t
rem aining to a certain ex te n t en tire, a lth ou gh m asses o f w alls denuded
o f their stone fa cin gs an d n ow co v e re d w ith iv y exten d in various
directions, and one o r tw o bases o f th e p iers o f th e great ch u rch are
v e t in s i t u : the gardeu o f the m onastery stretch ed from th e p resent
c o u n ty p o lice c o u rts n e a rly to the M ark et p lace, and the stables, w h ich w ere
v e ry ex ten siv e, o ccu p ie d a site a d jo in in g H o ly B r o o k : th e con ven tu a l
church w as a N orm a n stru ctu re : the w ain scotin g o f th e refectory is now
in the hail o f M agdalen C olleg e, O x f o r d : th e catalog u e of the lib ra ry in
the rel<m o f H e n ry H I . is stiff e x t a n t ; it then co m p rised 100 v olu m es, 38
o f w h ich con tain ed the H o ly S crip tu res o r p o rtio n s th ereof. H u g h F arin gdon 3 1 st and last a b b o t ot B ead in g, sturdily refusing to acknow ledge the
suprem acy o f H en ry V H I . o r to surrender his house, w as, w ith tw o o f his
m onks, B u g g and U nyon, hu ng, draw n and qu artered w ithin sight o f his
ow n gatew ay, N o v . 14th, 163y : the g reat gatew ay , w h ich origin ally gave
access to th e in n er cou rt o f the ab b ey , has been v e r y ca refu lly restored ,
and is a rectan gu lar stru ctu re o f tw o sta g e s, con stru cted o f flin t w ith
ston e d r e s s in g s ; a w id e p oin ted a rch w a y pierces th e lo w e r s t a g e ; in
the upper are sm all trefoil-headed w ind ow s, surm ounted by a plain parapet
and a t th e angles are o cta gon al turrets rising ab ove the w hole. T h e ruina
are the p rop erty o f the C orporation , and, to g e th e r w ith ad join in g p rop erty
k now n as the K orbu ry, are used as p u b lic w alks and pleasure grounds.
In the ruins and in th e F re e B u b lic L ib r a r y are ex h ib ited plans and
chronological charts o f the ancient a b b e y , and there are tixed on various
_ r A. I. _ .. I. U
,1
! I,n n t w .iu n t n o n e rtf r t f i m i i
O f oth er m onastic establishm ents once existin g here, the m ost im portant
was th at o f the F ranciscans o r G rey F ria rs, w h o established them selves in
R eading in 1285, by perm ission o i P o p e G regory LX. and ill 1286 m oved to
a new site, upon w hich, w ith the help o f K dw ard I . w h o furnished them
w ith tim ber, th e y erected their c o n v e n t: its church, c o m p leted , as is su pÂ
posed, a b o u t 1311, is one o f the finest exam ples o f this period extaut, and
has been r e sto r e d : this house was surrendered to H en ry V H I. lo t h Sept.
1539, by the warden, B e te r Scuefi'ord S .T .B . and eleven fr ia r s : in 1640
the dom estic bu ildin g 3 w ere g ran ted to B o b e r t S ta n sh aw , a retainer o f
the K in g , and in 1543 the C orporation obtain ed possession o f th e chu rch,
w hich th e y co n v erted in to a to w n hall ; in 15b0 it becam e a w ork h ou se,
and in 1613 a prison , w h ich p urpose it continued to serv e until it was
purchased in la b 3 b y th e late V en. A rch d e a co n P h e lp s , an d b y him
restored t o its origin al uses, a t a c o s t o f o v e r £ 1 2 , 0 0 0 .
H u g h , w h o becam e e ig h th a b b o t ab ou t 1180, fou nded an oth er h osp ita l,
dedicated to S t .J o h n th e B a p tist, fo r th e re lie f of strangers an d p ilgrim s,
near St. L au ren ceâs ch u rch , and con d u cted b y a sisterh ood o f 13 w id o w s :
A b b o t T h o m e , in the reign o f E d w a rd I Y . suppressed th is h osp ita l and
at the im p era tiv e su gg estion o f H e n ry Y I I . it was con v erted in to a
gram m ar sch o o l, A .D . 1485.
BEAD.
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