Kellys_1919_0413.jpg

VILLAGES DIRECTORY—1919.
SONNING EYE.

EARLEY.

399

C O M M E R C IA L .

Bartholomew Lennox, Winona
Bolton Mrs. Dunsden house
Cooper Charles, The Eyot house
Duke Lewis Hughes, The French Horn
Hornet Mrs. Barn house
Hoskins Col. The Homestead
Ogle Miss Edith, The Bridge house
Phillimore Godfrey W illiam , Aberlash
Beeve William, Grenville house

Hill Samuel, rod merchant
Russell E. (Miss), French Horn hotel
Smallpiece W m. Charles Haydon, farm er,
Sonning Eye farm
Talbot Sarah Elizabeth (M rs.), rod m er­
chant, The Elms
Wheeler Mrs. Flowing Spring P.H
Witherington C.H.- & Son,millers (water),
Sonning m ill

E A R L E Y - (or Erleigh) is an ecclesias­
tical parish formed April 28th, in the
year 1844, out of Sonning parish, and
comprising the liberty of Earley and part
of Woodley, in the Newbury division of
the county, Charlton hundred, W oking­
ham petty sessional division and union,
Beading county court district, Sonning
rural deanery, archdeaconry of Berks and
diocese of Oxford. A t Earley is a station
on the Reading and Beigate branch of the
South Eastern railway and on the South
Western line from Reading to London,
about 2 miles south-east from Reading
and 40J by rail from London. The church
of St. Peter, consecrated Sept. 21st, 1844,
is 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,
containing one bell: in 1882-3
tran ­
septs were removed and aisles and a new
chancel and other additions made, at a
cost of ¿4,338: the east window is
stained: the west window is a memorial
to the Rev. George Porcher and his two
daughters; and there is another memorial
window to Mrs. Frances St. Aubyn: the
church affords 500 sittings, of which 300
are unappropriated; a lych gate was
erected about 1902, as a memorial to
Charles Stephens J.P. at a cost of ¿250.
The register dates from the year 1844.
rhe living is a vicarage, of the average
animal income of ¿290, including 2 acres
of glebe, with residence, in the g ift of the
vicar of Sonning, and held since 1904 by
mi
n „Canon W illiam Weekes Fowler
M.A., D.Sc. of Jesus College, Oxford,
prebendary of Lincoln, and surrogate. A
Parish Hall was bu ilt in 1909. Bulmershe
Court, the property of Captain James
wimam St. Lawrence Wheble 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 commands fine
views of the surrounding country.
The
district of Earley contains several pro­
perties of note and interest; the ancient

domain
of
W hiteknights,
form erly
possessed by the Dukes of Marlborough
and famous for 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 ilder­
ness House, the residence of Frank
Stewart Barnard J.P. and Fox Hill, a
mansion in the Elizabethan style, from
designs by Alfred Waterhouse esq. R.A.
architect, now occupied by Hugo Hurst.
Maiden Erlegh, the old seat of the Gold­
ings, is the residence of Solomon B. .Toel
e sq .; Sidmouth Grange, of Ernest Philips
Foquett Sutton esq. and Earley Court,
the property of 'Lord Sidmouth, is now
occupied by Mrs. Bushby. The principal
landowners are Capt. James W illiam St.
Lawrence Wheble J.P. who is lord of the
manor, and Solomon B. Joel esq. The
area of the liberty is 1 ,8 7 7 acres of land
and 40 of water, and the population in
1 9 1 1 was 456; the portion within the
municipal borough of Reading having
been transferred to St. G iles’ parish,
Reading, by Local Government Board
Order 2 3 ,8 6 9 , dated March 24, 1 8 9 9 ; Tate- .
able value, ¿14,640 15s. The total popula­
tion of the ecclesiastical parish is 3,000.
V erg ir, J. Lewington, 27 Adelaide T o a d ,
Reading.
Assistant Overseer, Collector of Rates
and Collector of King’s Taxes, William
Henry North, Beach rocks, 387 London
road, Reading.
The Parish Council consists of 3 members,
v iz .:— J. Rushbrooke (chairman), James
Hissey (vice-chairman), Rev. Canon
W illiam Weekes Fowler D .Sc., M .A.
Henry Wooldridge & J. W. S to k es;
W illiam Henry North, Beach rocks, 387
London road, Reading, clerk
Post, M. O. A T. 0 ., S. B. & Annuity &
Insurance Office.— Henry Culham , sub­
postmaster. There is a telegraph office at
Earley Tailway station for forwarding,
but not the delivery of telegrams