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16

ftEADING DlUECTOnY— 1919.

brackets support the head, which is divided into four oval compartments
containing the national emblems, crowned, and the cyph er“ G. I I I . R .” ;
above is a circlet from which springs an open crown with orb and
cross ; on the flat top are the Royal A rm s in re lie f; the chain of gold
consists of oblong tablets united* by lin k s; the badge presented by
Mayor Silverthorne in 1870, is a pointed oval bearing a representation
of the borough s e a l; the warden’s badges of silver are oval in shape
and display the borough arms within a wreath of la u re l; one is dated
1688 and the other 1744 ; the loving cup dates from c. 1731; of the
seals the earliest is of the 14th century, the others are copies. The
mayor and aldermen wear black robes trimmed with sables ana the coun­
cillors similar robes with velvet only. O ver the wing of the Public
Library and Museum buildings is a sculptured frieze representing the
arts, manufactures and customs of different periods. The Library con­
sists of lending, reference and juvenile departments, containing about
50,000 volum es; it also includes spacious reading and news rooms and
students’ room. There are also two branch libraries, presented by
Mr. Carnegie, one at Caversliam and the other at the west end
of the town, containing about 11,000 volumes.
From the vestibule
a stone staircase leads to the Museum and A rt Galleries. The Museum
contains the magnificent Silchester collection, the result of the excava­
tions carried out at Silchester, the site of the Romano-British city
of “ Calleva Atrebatum ,” where the whole of the city of over 100
acres has been unearthed. The collection is unique so far as Britain is
concerned, and contains hundreds of vessels in pottery, iron work in
great variety, architectural remains, various household utensils, and
personal and other ornaments in gold, silver and bronze, illustrative of
the everyday life of the people of “ Calleva ” in that bygone age of Roman
rule. The predominant feature of the General Museum is local archaeo­
logy. H ere w e see substantial evidence that Reading and immediate
neighbourhood has been the home of man from very remote times, each
A ge, from the Palseolithic or E arly Stone A g e down to the Norman,
being represented b y a series of relics which have been found in the
locality. The Natural History department includes collections of British
birds, moths and butterflies, chiefly from Reading and neighbourhood;
and in the A r t Galleries may be seen examples of the works of Gains­
borough, Vandyck, Lely, Cuyp, W ilson , Zuccarelli, W olverm an, Holl,
Burgess, and other well-known aTtists.
There are also exhibits of
pottery, porcelain, metal w ork &c.
The Shire hall, in the Forbury, opened in 1911 at a cost of £25,000,
is a building of red brick with B ath stone dressings.
The Assize courts, in the Forbury, immediately adjoining the abbey
gateway, are in the Italian style and w ere built in 1861; they occupy
the site of a hospital for poor pilgrims, founded in connection with the
abbey, and form a block of buildings consisting of a facade w ith a
colonnade along its lower stage and projecting w in g s; the whole is
built of freestone and is rusticated in both stages; the central portion
terminating above in a stone balustrading. The building contains a
lofty hall conveniently arranged as a waiting hall to the Crown and
N:.?i Prius courts and Grand Jury room, w ith all of which it coma n t i e s , and also by a passage with the county police station. The
(.‘sizes v.yl sessions aro both held here; formerly the summer assizes
wvre hold nt Abingdon, but b y an Order in Council, dated September
1809, both are now held in this town. Courts of quarter sessions
utuiy are held in January, A p ril, June and October. The