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VILLAGES DIRECTORY— 1917.

Tanner W illiam John, farm bailiff to Col. Vickery George, farm bailiff to the Rt.
J. Baskerville D .L ., J.P. Frieze farm
Hon. Sir W alter George Frank Philli­
Thames Valley H orticulturies
(C .
F.
m ore bart. D .C .L ., L L .D ., J.P. BinHarding, proprietor)
fteld heath
Tubb George W illiam , beer retailer & hoot Waltelin Ada M ercy (M iss), district nurse
m aker, Sbiplake bottom
Shiplake rise
T ubb J. W illiam , gardener to Col. John Werrell H erbert Richard, coachman to R.
Baskerville D .L ., J.P. Crowsley park
H. Mardon esq. Haileywood
W oods G. Bottle & Glass P.H.Binfield hth
s o i r t T i i i r G is a picturesque village and
parish on the banks of the Tham es,
over which is a. bridge, built about 1903,
connecting the Berks with the O xford­
shire portion o f the p a rish ; it is 4 miles
north-east from R eading and 2 north-west
from Tw yford (G reat W estern railway)
station, and having a station at Earley,
on the Reading and Reigate branch of the
South Eastern railway, *34 m iles from
London. The London and South Western
railway has also a service of trains from
W okingham , over the same line.
The
parish consists of the liberties of Sonning Town and W oodley and Sandford,
in the Eastern division of the county of
Berks, hundred of Sonning and the liberty
of Earley, in the hundred o f Charlton, all
in the petty sessional division and union
of W okingham , county court district of
R eading and county of B erk s; and also
com prises the liberty of Eye and Dunsden.
in Oxfordshire, within the hundred of Bin­
field and Longtree, union of Henley-onThames, all in the rural deanery of Sonning, arcbdear nry of Berks and diocese
of Oxford. The church of St. Andrew is
a large edifice of flint and stone, dating
in part from the n t h century, and con­
sists of a spacious chancel with aisles,
clorestoried nave o f five bays, aisles,
north and south porch and an embattled
western tower containing 8 bells and a
c lo c k : in 1912 the hells were taken down
and re-hung in a steel fram e : the arches
on the south side of the chancel are
ellip tic a l; those on the north side are
pointed, on clustered piers, and the
easternm ost arch is richly sculptured with
figures in stone representing on one side
Our L ord blessing the Apostles, on thp
other, figures of kings and queens, with
the V irgin and Child as a keystone, and
serves as a canopy to a m onum ent, erected
to the m em ory of the Rev. Hugh Pearson,
canon of W indsor and vicar of Sonning
1841-82 : in the south aisle is a modern
m arble
m onum ent
with
brasses
to
various m em bers of the fam ily of Palmer,
o f H olm e Park, and here also is a painted
m onum ent of m arble to Katherine, Lady

L idcott, 1630, with her efflgy kneeling at
a desk : a m ortuary chapel, separated
from this aisle by an oak screen, is
almost entirely allotted to m emorials of
this fam ily, and the belfry contains a
ponderous m onum ent of black m arble to
Thomas Rich, alderman of Gloucester
1613, and to Sir Thom as Rich, bart. of
Sonning, his son, oh. Oct. 15, 1667 : in
the wall by the vestry d oor aTe two
curious tablets, dated respectively 1533
and 1605 ; in the vestry, north of the
chancel, is a m ural inscription to Robert
W right S.T .P . Oxon, and oth ers; below,
to R obert (1533) and Agnes (1579I, pro­
bably children, with a shield of arms : on
the floor of the nave are brasses to
Laurence Fvton esq. bailiff of -Sonning,
*434 ; W illiam Barker, steward of thè
lordship of Sonning, 1549, and Anne his
wife ; W illiam Barker esq. 1575, and
Anne (Stoughton) his wife ; Anne ¿Barker),
wife o f W illiam Staverton, of Oakingham,
gent. 1589 ; and Elizabeth, daughter of
St.. G eorge and Dame Ann Chute, 1627;
in the north aisle is a fine tom b to Anna,
wife o f Sir John Clarke bart. of Salford,
W arwick, -1 6 5 4 ;
and there are also
m emorials to W illiam (S cott), first and
only Baron Stowell, who died Jan. 28,
1836; to Viscount Sidm outh and to E.
G olding esq. : there are m em orial win­
dows to Hugh Henry and Caroline Pear­
son, and one, inserted in 1893, to William
Gregory, late organist: the font is of
Caen stone with a lofty canopy of oak :
in a niche over the door of the north
porch is a figure of St. Andrew, the
patron saint : the church was completely
restored in 1853, and further restorations
were effected during the period 1879-90,
at a cost of ¿ 9 0 0 : there are 800 sittings.
The chancel roof has also lately been
decorated by M r. Bodlev R .A . and a list
of bishops of Sonning dating from 909
A.D. and vicars of Sonning since 1222,
have been added.
T he register dates
from the year 1592.
The living is a
rectory, gross yearly value ¿9 7 0 , includ­
ing 3 acres of glebe, with residence, in
the g ift of tho Bishop of Oxford, held