Kellys_1919_0429.jpg

VILLAGES DIRECTORY—1910.

SO N N IN G .

4 15

VVakelin A da M ercy. (M iss), d istric t n urse,
Shiplake rise
W errell H erbert R ich ard, coachm an to R.
H. Mardon esq. H aileywood

Wood F . W . grocer
Woods R o b ert W illia m ,
P .H . B infield heath

S O N N I N G is a pictu resqu e v illa g e and
parish on the banks of the T h am es,
over which is a b rid ge , b u ilt about 1903,
connecting the B erks w ith the O xford ­
shire portion of th e p a r is h ; i t is 4 m iles
north-east from R ea d in g and 2 n orth-w est
from Tw yford (G re a t W estern railw ay)
station, and h av in g a station a t E arley,
on the B ead in g and R eigate branch of the
South E astern railw ay, 34 m iles from
London. The London and S ou th W estern
railway has also a service of train s from
W okingham , o ver the sam e line.
The
parish consists of th e lib erties of Sonning Town and W oodley and Sandford,
in the H enley d ivision o f the co u n ty of
Berks, hundred of Sonning and the lib erty
of Earley, in the hundred of C h arlton , all
in the p e tty sessional d ivision and union
of W okingham , cou n ty court d istrict of
Reading and cou n ty of B e r k s ; and also
comprises the lib e rty of E ye and Dunsden,
in Oxfordshire, w ith in th e h u n d re d o f Binfield and L o n g tree, union of H enley-onThames, all in th e Tural deanery of Son­
ning, archdeaconry of B erks and diocese
of Oxford. T h e ch urch of S t. A n d rew is
a large edifice of flin t and stone, d atin g
in part from the n t h century, and con­
sists of a spacious chancel w ith aisles,
clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles,
north and south porch and an em battled
western tow er con tain in g 8 bells and a
clo ck : in 1912 th e b ells were taken down
and re-hun g in a steel fr a m e : th e arches
on the sou th side of th e chancel are
e llip tica l; those on th e north side are
pointed, on clu stered piers, and the
easternmost a rch is ric h ly scu lptu red w ith
figures in stone represen tin g on one side
Our Lord blessin g the A postles, on the
other, figures of k in gs and queens, w ith
the V irgin and C h ild as a keystone, and
serves as a canopy to a m onum ent, erected
to the m em ory of the R ev. H u gh Pearson,
canon of W indsor and vicar of Sonning
1841-82: in the south aisle is a modern
m arble
m onum ent
w ith
brasses
to
various m em bers of the fa m ily of P alm er,
of Holm e P ark , and here also is a painted
m onum ent of m arble to K a th erin e, L ad y
Lidcott, 1630, w ith h er effigy k n eelin g at
a d esk: a m o rtu ary chapel, separated
from th is aisle b y an oak screen, is
almost en tirely allotted to m em orials of
this fam ily, and th e b e lfry contains a

ponderous m onum ent of black m arb le to
Thom as R ich , alderm an of G lo ucester,
1613, and to S ir T h om as R ich , b a rt. of
Sonning, his son, ob. O ct. 15, 1667 : in
the w all
b y th e v estry door are
tw o
curious tab lets, dated resp ectiv ely 1533
and 1605; in the v estry, n orth of the
chancel, is a m u ral in scrip tion to R ob ert
W rig h t S .T .P . Oxon, and o th e rs; below ,
to R obert (1533) and A gn es (1579)1 pro­
bably ch ild ren , w ith a shield of a r m s : on
the floor
of the nave are brasses to
Laurence F y to n esq. b ailiff of S on n in g,
1434; W illia m B arker, stew ard o f the
lordship of Sonning, 1549, and Anne his
w if e ; W illia m B a rk er esq. 1575, and
Anne (S tou gh ton ) his w ife ; Anne (B arker),
wife of W illia m Staverton , of O akingham ,
gen t. 1589; and E lizab eth , d au g h te r of
S t. G eorg e and Dam e A n n C h u te, 162 7;
in the north aisle is a fine tom b to A n n a,
w ife of S ir John ClaTke bart. of Salford,
W arwick*
1654; and th ere
are
also
m em orials to W illiam (S co tt), first and
only B aron S tow ell, w ho died Jan. 28,
1836; to V iscou n t S id m ou th and to E „
G oldin g e s q .: th ere are m em orial w in -'
dows to H u gh H en ry and C aroline P e a r­
son, and one, in serted in 1893, to W illiam G reg o ry , la te o rg a n is t: th e fon t is of
Caen stone w ith a lo fty canopy of o a k :
in a n iche over th e door of the north
porch is a figure of S t. A ndrew , the
patron sa in t: the ch urch was com pletely
restored in 1853, and fu rth e r restoration s
w ere effected d u rin g the period 1879-90,
at a cost of ¿ g o o : th ere are 800 sittin gs.
The chancel roof has also la tely been
decorated b y M r. Bodley R .A . and a list
of bishops of Sonning d atin g from 909
A.D . and vicars of Son n in g since 1222,
have been added.
T h e re g is te r dates
from th e y ear 1592.
T h e liv in g is a
rectory, gross y e a rly v alu e ¿9 70 , in clu d ­
in g 3 acres of glebe, w ith residence, in
th e g if t of the Bishop of O xford, held
since 1907 b y the R ev. G ib b s Payne C raw fu rd M .A. of C o rpu s C h risti C o llege,
O xford. R ecen t excavations in H olm e
P a rk
the
th e old bishop’s palace, and m uch of
archaeological in te re st has been
d is­
covered. There are ch arities fo r appren ­
tic in g and cloth in g, besides ch arities for
educational and fo r ch urch purposes.
Here is a C o n gregation al chapel, erected

have revealed

Bottle

It G la ss

foundations of