Chapter III: Part 3

Neolithic implements are of stone, but in many cases they are unlike the older implements in being of polished stone. In the Reading Museum there is a fine polished flint chisel from Englefield, and also polished axes from Broadmoor, from Pangbourne, and from the beds of the Thames and Kennet. In the British Museum there is a beautiful dagger of flint from a barrow on Lambourn Down. Pretty little arrow-heads have been found at many places on the downs and in the Wallingford district.

There was in Berkshire a long interval between the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic Periods, but so far as we know there was no such break between the Neolithic Period and the Bronze Age. All we can say is that there was a time when the inhabitants of our district began to use implements of copper, or of copper alloyed with tin, i.e. bronze, for some purposes, but they still continued to use implements of stone, and it is not always possible to say whether a stone implement belongs to the Neolithic Period, to the Bronze Age, or to an even later date.

Many remains of the Bronze Age have been found in burial-mounds or barrows, and the barrows of this period are circular, with a diameter of fifty to one hundred feet, and hence termed round barrows. Many pieces of sepulchral pottery of this age from Berkshire will be found both in the British Museum and the Reading Museum. A considerable number of bronze implements were found in one place at Yattendon, and another hoard of them was discovered at Wallingford. A great many bronze swords, daggers, and spear-heads have been found in the river Thames, and are to be seen in the Museums.

A cemetery of this period was found at Sulham, and many earthenware urns from it are in the Reading Museum. There are also in the Museum some urns from Neolithic barrows at Sunningdale.

The extensive deposits of peat at and around Newbury show that it was a marsh and lake district until historical time, and remains of pile dwellings have been found in the market-place, in Bartholomew Street, and in Cheap Street. Their date cannot be fixed with certainty, but they are almost certainly prehistoric in age.

The substitution of iron for bronze indicates a considerable advance in knowledge, for, except in meteorites, pure iron is not found in nature, and no small skill is required to separate the metal from the earth or rock in which it occurs. There is, however, no definite division between the Bronze and the Iron Age, for implements and ornaments of both bronze and stone continued to be used. Nor is there any definite end to the Iron Age: it passes onwards into the period of written history.

A number of bones and various objects found in a grave on Hagbourne Hill seemed to show that a man, a horse, and possibly also a chariot had been buried there.

Ancient British coins have been found at Brightwell, Newbury, Wallingford, and at other places in Berkshire. Many of them bear on one side a rude representation of a horse, probably an imitation of the horse on the gold stater of Philip II of Macedon, who became king in B.C. 359. These gold coins, known as Philips, were current in Greece and in the East for a long period, and have been occasionally found in circulation even in modern times. The White Horse, which is cut in the turf on the chalk hill above Uffington, bears a considerable resemblance to the horse on the British coins, and may very probably be of the same date.

There are a great number of mounds and earthworks scattered over Berkshire, and it is exceedingly difficult to assign to them their proper dates. We have already mentioned Wayland Smith's Cave as the remains of a long barrow of the Neolithic Period, and we have also referred to the round barrows of the Bronze Age. Some of the fortifications may date from these early times but many are probably of later date. It was for a long time needful to provide defence for the dwellings, not only against men, but also against wild animals, and the earthworks were no doubt used over and over again by successive peoples.

As we have said, the chalk district was at one time the most populous part of the county, and we consequently find the downs dotted over with mounds and earthworks of very ancient date. Perhaps the best known of these is the fine earthwork named Uffington Castle on White Horse Hill (see p. 7). Alfred's Castle is a circular earthwork close to Ashdown Park and three miles south-west of Uffington Castle. Letcombe Castle is another fair-sized work on the Ridge Way, rather more than five miles east of White Horse Hill. There is a large earthwork called Danish Camp on Blewburton Hill to the south of Didcot.

There are a few old earthworks in the Vale of White Horse district. One crowns Badbury Hill near Faringdon. Cherbury Camp is a large oval work on low ground near Buckland. Sinodun Hill to the north of Wallingford has evidently been fortified in early times, and Wallingford itself has the remains of an old and extensive earthwork round the town.

Passing to the Forest District we find many mounds and banks on the heaths, and there is one very fine earthwork known as Caesar's Camp near Easthampstead. It was very likely used by the Romans, but is almost certainly of still older date. Finally it is highly probable that Windsor Castle stands on the site of an old fort.

16. ANTIQUITIES--(B) ROMAN AND SAXON.

The Reading Museum contains one of the finest Anglo-Roman collections in England. It is the result of careful and systematic excavation, carried on for a series of years, on the site of the town of Silchester, and the collection is of the greatest interest to us as illustrating the life in an English country town in the days of the Romans. The locality is however in Hampshire, the Berkshire boundary making a detour so as to leave it in the neighbouring county.

According to the ordnance map, Speen House near Newbury was the site of the Roman Spinae, but no Roman remains have been found there, though there is evidence of a settlement of some importance at Newbury itself.

The foundations of houses of the Roman period have been found at several places in Berkshire; thus at Frilford near Marcham the remains of a small Romano-British house were found; and near by, in Frilford Field, a cemetery of the same period, which had subsequently been used by the Anglo-Saxons. Remains of a house with tessellated pavements were found on the Great Western Railway at Basildon, and other remains of Romano-British buildings have been discovered near Maidenhead and Waltham St Lawrence.

The words "Roman Villa" will be found marked on the ordnance map at two places to the south of Hampstead Norris, and remains of buildings have been discovered near Letcombe Regis, and at other places. The earthworks on Lowbury Hill to the west of Streatley are usually believed to be a Roman camp, and it is probable that the Roman soldiers occupied many of the old British forts at one time or another.

Roman coins and pottery of the Romano-British period have been found almost all over the county, though they may be said to be most common along the valley of the Thames and least so near Faringdon. In the Reading Museum there are a good many objects of Roman date which were found in Reading itself. Specimens are exhibited from two small hoards of coins dating from the Emperor Valentinian A.D. 364 to the Emperor Honorius A.D. 423. The coins are in very good preservation and were probably hidden when the Roman soldiers departed from England.

There are signs of Roman settlements along the Devil's Highway, the road from Silchester to London. Thus there was evidently a Romano-British village at Wickham Bushes close to Caesar's Camp on Easthampstead Plain. A collection from this locality exists at Wellington College.

A number of objects of the Anglo-Saxon period found in Berkshire will be seen in the Anglo-Saxon room at the British Museum. There is a very fine sword-blade from Ashdown, and a variety of objects--shield-bosses, knives, etc.--from Long Wittenham, where a Saxon burial-place has been explored. In some cases the body had been burnt, whilst in others the skeletons remained, and were found to be of a large-sized and robust race. Another Anglo-Saxon cemetery was discovered at Arne Hill near Lockinge, and a number of Anglo-Saxon interments in the Lambourn valley near East Shefford. Two burial-places of this period have been found at Reading. One contained spear-heads, knives, and bronze ornaments, and was probably of pagan date, whilst the other is believed to have been to some extent a Christian burial-place. In it a pewter chalice was found which may have been buried with a priest. The objects from these two localities are in the Reading Museum. Numbers of Anglo-Saxon coins have been dug up in Berkshire, more especially in the Cholsey and Wallingford district. They are of silver about the diameter of a sixpence but much thinner and are called pennies.

17. ARCHITECTURE--(A) ECCLESIASTICAL. CHURCHES.

A preliminary word on the various styles of English architecture is necessary before we consider the churches and other important buildings of our county.

Pre-Norman or, as it is usually, though with no great certainty termed, Saxon building in England, was the work of early craftsmen with an imperfect knowledge of stone construction, who commonly used rough rubble walls, no buttresses, small semi-circular or triangular arches, and square towers with what is termed "long-and-short work" at the quoins or corners. It survives almost solely in portions of small churches.

The Norman conquest started a widespread building of massive churches and castles in the continental style called Romanesque, which in England has got the name of "Norman." They had walls of great thickness, semi-circular vaults, round-headed doors and windows, and lofty square towers.

From 1150 to 1200 the building became lighter, the arches pointed, and there was perfected the science of vaulting, by which the weight is brought upon piers and buttresses. This method of building, the "Gothic," originated from the endeavour to cover the widest and loftiest areas with the greatest economy of stone. The first English Gothic, called "Early English," from about 1180 to 1250, is characterised by slender piers (commonly of marble), lofty pointed vaults, and long, narrow, lancet-headed windows. After 1250 the windows became broader, divided up, and ornamented by patterns of tracery, while in the vault the ribs were multiplied. The greatest elegance of English Gothic was reached from 1260 to 1290, at which date English sculpture was at its highest, and art in painting, coloured glass making, and general craftsmanship at its zenith.

After 1300 the structure of stone buildings began to be overlaid with ornament, the window tracery and vault ribs were of intricate patterns, the pinnacles and spires loaded with crocket and ornament. This later style is known as "Decorated," and came to an end with the Black Death, which stopped all building for a time.

With the changed conditions of life the type of building changed. With curious uniformity and quickness the style called "Perpendicular"--which is unknown abroad--developed after 1360 in all parts of England and lasted with scarcely any change up to 1520. As its name implies, it is characterised by the perpendicular arrangement of the tracery and panels on walls and in windows, and it is also distinguished by the flattened arches and the square arrangement of the mouldings over them, by the elaborate vault-traceries (especially fan-vaulting), and by the use of flat roofs and towers without spires.

The mediaeval styles in England ended with the dissolution of the monasteries (1530-1540), for the Reformation checked the building of churches. There succeeded the building of manor-houses, in which the style called "Tudor" arose--distinguished by flat-headed windows, level ceilings, and panelled rooms. The ornaments of classic style were introduced under the influences of Renaissance sculpture and distinguish the "Jacobean" style, so called after James I. About this time the professional architect arose. Hitherto, building had been entirely in the hands of the builder and the craftsman.

Much of the stone used in Berkshire is of local origin, as has already been mentioned in Chapter 12, but a great deal has also been brought from a distance. Thus it is recorded that when the Abbot of Abingdon in 1100 rebuilt the conventual buildings as well as much of the abbey church, the materials were brought from Wales, six waggons, each drawn by twelve oxen, being engaged in the work. A great deal of Bath stone will be found in Berkshire buildings and some has even been brought from Caen in Normandy. Pillars and tombstones of Purbeck marble are common in the churches. In the south wall of the Dean's Cloisters at Windsor (temp. Henry III) there are clusters of columns and one column in each is of Purbeck marble.

The tower of the church at Wickham, north-west of Newbury, is of a very early style of architecture, showing a variety of "long and short" work. Two of the belfry windows are double with a pillar in the middle, and are characteristic of this early work. The walls are very thick. The remainder of the church has been rebuilt.

On pages 96 and 97 there are views of Norman doorways at Faringdon, both round-headed and one with an embattled moulding over the door. The church at Avington on the banks of the river Kennet a little below Hungerford is a good example of the Norman style of architecture, and there is a most interesting little church at Finchampstead near Wokingham of which a view is given on page 98. It was built in the twelfth century and the east end of the chancel is round, as was usual at that time. The original windows were probably very small, and those which we now see were cut in the wall since Norman times. The north aisle, too, is newer than the body of the church, and the brick tower only dates from the seventeenth century. In the church there is a Norman font. There is more or less Norman work remaining in many of our other churches. Thus the illustration on page 92 gives a view of the church of St Nicholas at Abingdon, and a round-headed Norman doorway will be seen under the tower, whilst the remainder of the building belongs to a later style of architecture, probably of the fifteenth century. The tower of West Shefford church is curious, the lower part is round and of Norman date, whilst the upper part is octagonal and was built subsequently.

Passing now to the Early English style of architecture there is on page 99 a view of Faringdon Church, which it will be seen is built in the form of a cross with a massive square tower in the middle. Some of the arches inside the church are round-headed like Norman arches, but the windows are of the long narrow shape usual in the Early English style of building. We have churches built mainly in this style in many places, such as Ardington, Buckland, and Uffington.

Of the Decorated style there is a most beautiful church at Shottesbrook near White Waltham, which was built by Sir William Tressel in 1337. It is cruciform with a tall spire. The walls are of small dressed flints, with corners and window and door frames of stone. The roof is tiled and the spire of stone, the east end window large with beautiful stone tracery (p. 158), and the church is an unusually good example of the Decorated style. The Greyfriars Church at Reading was also built in the Decorated style. It was long a ruin or used for various purposes, but is now restored. We also have churches mainly in this style of architecture at Sparsholt, Warfield, and at other places.

We have many examples of Perpendicular style in Berkshire, but by far the best is the Chapel of St George in Windsor Castle (pp. 69, 71). The greater part of this chapel was built in the time of Edward IV. The windows are large and the nave consequently very light. The stone roof of the nave was added by Henry VII, and that of the choir by Henry VIII. In the choir are the stalls of the Knights of the Garter, and installation ceremonies of the Order are performed here. St Helen's Church, Abingdon, is our best Berkshire parish church in the Perpendicular style (the tower is Early English). It is large, with five aisles, as will be seen in the illustration here given. The church at Bray is chiefly celebrated on account of a vicar, one Simon Aleyn, who died in 1588 after holding the living under Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth and altering his views as occasion required. The church is however of itself interesting, and in it will be found examples of Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular work. The tower belongs to the latest of these styles and is but badly joined on to the aisle of Edwardian date. It is mostly built of flints, but a broad band of chalk will be noticed about half-way up (p. 149). There is a good example of a church in this style at Newbury.

Brick church towers are a feature of eastern Berkshire and many of them date from the seventeenth century. One of these, at Finchampstead, is shown in the illustration on page 98.

There are crosses or their remains in many of the churchyards and villages. At Ardington there is both a new cross and the shaft of an old one. There are crosses at Denchworth, Goosey, East Hagbourne, Inglesham, North or Ferry Hinksey, Steventon, etc.

At Harwell the rood-screen still remains; there are interesting lead fonts at Childrey and at Long Wittenham; and stands for hour-glasses still exist in the churches at Binfield, Hurst, and Inglesham.

In former times it was very common to keep books in the churches fastened to the shelf or reading-desk by chains, and a few of them still remain. There are several in St Helen's Church, Abingdon. A chained Bible of 1611 is in Cumnor church, and until recently there were several at Denchworth, but they have been removed to the vicarage, and Caxton's Golden Legend of 1483 which used to be chained in Denchworth Church is now in the Bodleian Library.

18. ARCHITECTURE--(B) RELIGIOUS HOUSES.

In the year A.D. 528 Benedict of Nursia drew up his celebrated rules at Monte Cassino in Italy, and founded the order of the Benedictine or Black Monks. The order rapidly spread over Europe and was established in Berkshire at an early period. The great Abbey of Abingdon dates from the days of the Saxon Kings, and at the time of Domesday survey it possessed 30 manors in Berkshire besides lands in other counties, and it continued to grow in wealth and power until its dissolution by Henry VIII. The great church of the abbey has been destroyed, but there are some interesting remains of the abbey buildings which, after having been put to varied uses, are now in the hands of the Corporation and carefully preserved. The illustration given on page 74 shows the south side of what appears to have been a dormitory divided by partitions.

In 1121 Henry I founded a second great Benedictine abbey in Berkshire at Reading, probably upon the site of an older monastic dwelling. Cluny had been founded in 910 as an order with a reformed Benedictine rule, and Reading was founded as an abbey of that order. Its connection with Cluny did not, however, last long, and early in the thirteenth century the abbey seems to have become attached to the general Benedictine order. Reading became one of the greatest of English abbeys. Its abbot, like the Abbot of Abingdon, was entitled to wear the mitre and was summoned with the other spiritual peers to attend parliament.

Both Reading and Abingdon were dissolved by Henry VIII, and on November 14th, 1539, Hugh Faringdon, the 31st abbot of Reading, was hanged, drawn, and quartered within sight of his own gateway. The last abbot of Abingdon had made himself more agreeable to the king, and was granted the manor of Cumnor for life, and a pension as well.

The stone from Reading Abbey was much used for buildings in Reading and the neighbourhood, and in 1556, during the reign of Philip and Mary, a great deal was removed from the abbey and taken by river to Windsor for building the Poor Knights' Lodgings. The inner gateway of the abbey is still standing but has been partially rebuilt in modern times. There are also some remains of the abbey buildings probably belonging to the Hospice of St John.

In the time of William the Conqueror (about 1086) Geoffrey de Mandeville gave the church of St Mary at Hurley, together with certain lands, for a cell of Benedictine monks to be subject to the Abbey of Westminster, and the remains of the priory thus founded are exceedingly beautiful and of much interest. The chapel, built in the Norman style of architecture, is now the parish church of Hurley. The illustration above shows the refectory or dining hall of the priory. The lower part is in the Norman style and the upper part of Edwardian date. On the opposite side of this building is the river Thames.

There was a priory of the Benedictines at Wallingford, and a Benedictine nunnery at Bromhall in the parish of Sunninghill, but there are now no remains of either.

The only establishment connected with the great order of the Cistercians in the county was a small cell at Faringdon and a grange or barn at Great Coxwell, both belonging to the Abbey of Beaulieu in Hampshire. The fine abbey barn, dating from the fourteenth century, still remains.

The Austin Canons, an order founded at Avignon about 1061, had priories at Bisham, Poughley, and Sandleford. After the dissolution of the monasteries Bisham Abbey became the seat of the Hoby family. It is beautifully situated on the Thames. Poughley Priory was situated in the chalk district one and a half miles south of Chaddleworth, and there are remains of the buildings at a farm. Sandleford Priory is about the same distance south of Newbury, and some remains are incorporated in the modern house which was built after plans by Wyatt in 1781 for Elizabeth Montague (1720-1800) the leader of the Blue-stockings.

We have already mentioned Bisham as an abbey of the Austin Canons, founded in 1338, but it had previously been a preceptory of the Knights Templars. That great military order was however suppressed in the time of Edward II and the preceptory dissolved (cir. 1312). The Templars also had a preceptory at Brimpton which passed into the possession of the other great military order of monks, the Knights Hospitallers. Their chapel, which stands close to Brimpton Manor, still remains and is an interesting building. Shalford farm, a little to the east, was also the property of the Hospitallers. The order was suppressed in England in 1540, and was only temporarily revived under Queen Mary.

There were priories in the county belonging to foreign abbeys and hence termed Alien Priories--one at Steventon belonging to the Abbey of Bec in Normandy, and the other known as Stratfieldsaye, but in Berkshire, belonging to the Abbey of Vallemont, also in Normandy. Both were abolished in the time of Edward III and there are no remains of buildings. A farm named the Priory near Beech Hill occupies the place of the latter, which was on the site of an old hermitage.

There were colleges at Shottesbrook, Windsor, and Wallingford. They were houses of priests who performed divine service in the churches attached to the colleges. We have already mentioned Shottesbrook. There is a very curious alabaster monument to William Throckmorton, one of the later Wardens of the college, in the chancel of the church representing him lying in his coffin.

Besides these religious houses there were houses of Friars at Reading and Donnington, and a number of Hospitals in the county.

19. ARCHITECTURE--(C) MILITARY.

Attention has already been drawn to the earliest fortifications in the county. They were banks of earth and had probably wooden palisades. In Norman times fortified residences became common and were usually of stone. The history of a Norman castle was probably often as follows. In the first place a tower called a "keep" was built and was protected by a moat and probably by some earthworks. Then at a later date the earthworks were replaced by walls, which usually enclosed a larger space than the older fortification. The walls were usually strengthened by towers, but the keep still remained the citadel of the fortress.

We know that William the Conqueror built a castle on the chalk hill at Windsor before the year 1086, but we know nothing of its plan or form, for no part of the present castle can be dated before the reign of Henry II, and even of that time there are only the foundations and part of the lower story on the south side of the Upper Ward. The imposing western wall of the Lower Ward, with its three towers, belongs to the time of Henry III. The Round Tower on its high mound is the keep of the castle, and much of it is as old as the time of Henry III. The top part, however, is modern. Close to the Round Tower is an old Norman gate which was rebuilt by Henry III and again by Edward III. The gateway could be closed by doors and also by a portcullis or grille let down from above, and the portcullis is still in its place ready to be lowered.

The view of Windsor Castle given on p. 2 is taken from the Buckinghamshire bank of the river Thames and shows the north side of the castle. On the left are the buildings which contain the state apartments; in the centre is the Round Tower. To the right we see St George's Chapel with its great west end window, and still further to the right is the Clewer or Curfew Tower with the pointed roof. The main part of this tower dates from Henry III, and it has been used as a bell tower since the time of Edward III. The pointed roof is modern. St George's Hall (p. 78) is in the part of Windsor Castle known as the State Apartments, and in it the feasts of the Knights of the Garter are held. It is an old hall, but was much altered by Sir Jeffry Wyatville, the architect employed by George IV to repair the castle. There was nearly always a well in the keep of a Norman castle, and this was the case at Windsor, the well in the Round Tower being 160 feet deep.

There is a great rectangular earthwork at Wallingford which may go back to Roman or early British times, but in any case it was adopted by the Normans and a castle was built on the site. The mound on which the keep was built still exists, but little else of these buildings survives.

No remains of the castle at Newbury exist. It stood on the south bank of the river Kennet and was built about 1140. The mound upon which the keep stood is all that we have left of the castle of the St Walerys at Hinton Waldrist, and a moated enclosure by the side of the river Loddon is all that remains to mark the site of the castle named Beaumyss, built by one of the De la Beche family in 1338.

Of Donnington Castle near Newbury we have the remains of some walls and a gateway with two round towers. The walls are mainly flint with some stones of various sorts intermingled. There are stone courses and stone door and window frames. Repairs have been made with brick. The castle was built in the time of Richard II. It stands upon a hill or spur which runs out in a southerly direction from the plateau named Snelsmore Common, and it overlooks the valley of Newbury. On the west and south there is a steep slope down towards the river Lambourn, and on the east is a deep valley in the chalk. On the north the slope up to the Common is gradual, and so the position is a very strong one. Donnington Castle played an important part in the Civil War of 1642-9, and underwent a long siege in 1644-6.

In former times dwelling places, even though not fortified, were at least protected by a moat. The interesting old manor house of Ashbury is still moated on three sides, and the old moat remains in a more or less perfect state round many a farm in the county.

20. ARCHITECTURE--(D) DOMESTIC.

The churches of the eleventh and succeeding centuries which remain are well adapted for their use now, but this cannot be said of the dwelling-houses of Norman or Edwardian landowners, and this is one reason why we have but few left in anything like perfect condition. The residence of the chief landowners of the twelfth century, when not a castle, consisted of a hall, usually on the ground floor, but sometimes with a lower story half below the surface level, and the hall was not only a reception and dining room, but was also the sleeping place for the greater number of the persons living in the house. In many cases there were, no doubt, subsidiary chambers, which might serve as more or less private apartments for the landowner himself, and as time went on the number of the subsidiary chambers increased and the importance of the hall diminished, but it impressed itself so firmly on the popular mind that the word still remains in use for the house of the landowner, which is often spoken of as "the Hall."

There is a doorway belonging to a hall of the Norman period at Appleton in the northern part of the county, and we have already noticed some remains of the residential buildings of the monks of Abingdon, belonging to the thirteenth century. At Charney, about seven miles to the west of Abingdon, there are some interesting remains of a building which was occasionally the residence of the Abbots. The private chapel and much of the house are still standing. These buildings, known as the "Monks House," date from the thirteenth century and are incorporated in a modern house.

There are two old houses at Sutton Courtney south of Abingdon. The one is opposite the tower of the church, and is of Norman and Early English style, the second is a manor house of the time of Edward III, the hall of which, with its roof and windows, has been very little altered. Cumnor Hall has vanished, excepting a fragment of wall, but some of the windows and a doorway are still to be seen in Wytham Church.

It has been mentioned that one reason why few old dwelling-houses remain is that they would not be suited to modern requirements, but another reason is that they were often built of wood. In the fifteenth century buildings of timber and brick became common, and some of them remain at the present day. Ockwells, rather more than a mile south-west of Maidenhead station, was probably built in the time of Edward IV. It was for some time the residence of the Norris family (see page 138). The house was not fortified, and is of timber and brick with a tiled roof. One may gain a good idea of the appearance of the dwellings of our ancestors in Tudor times from the Horseshoe Cloisters in Windsor Castle, though they were practically rebuilt recently by Sir Gilbert Scott. Timber and brick farmhouses and cottages may be seen all over the county, belonging to all dates from the Tudor times to the present day.

Many of the most beautiful private houses in England were built during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and we have some examples in Berkshire. Shaw House, about a mile north-east of Newbury, was built in 1581. It is of red brick, with tall brick chimneys and a tiled roof. The corners of the house and the window and door frames are of stone, and in fact there is a good deal of stone. The house was occupied by Charles I on the day of the second battle of Newbury, October 27th, 1644, and the remains of earthworks thrown up by his troops are still to be seen in the garden. Billingbear, near Binfield, is an Elizabethan house standing in a large and beautiful park.

Ufton Court, near Aldermaston, was built in the latter part of the sixteenth century. Farmhouses of the same period are to be seen at Lyford, west of Abingdon, East Hendred, Great Coxwell and at other places.

Secret rooms are often to be found in old houses. There is an example at Bisham Abbey, with a fireplace, the chimney of which is said to be connected with that of the hall, so as to prevent its smoke being observed. At Ufton Court there are several hiding-places, one of which has an exit to the open air. It is said that Charles I passed the night of November 19th, 1644, in a secret room at the manor house, West Shefford.

In 1852 some houses which stood on the site of the former ditch of Windsor Castle were removed, and a passage was found cut through the chalk, with stone steps and stone arching. It had probably been a secret way from the interior of the Castle to the moat.

We have many buildings in Berkshire belonging to the seventeenth century. Coleshill House, south-west of Faringdon, was built by the celebrated architect Inigo Jones (1572-1652) at the time of the Commonwealth, and he also built most of Milton House, near Steventon, in which village are some beautiful old houses. Buscot House, in the north-west corner of Berkshire, is an example of the comfortable, though not very beautiful mansions built at the close of the eighteenth century. The residential part of Windsor Castle dates in part from the reign of Henry II, but it has been greatly altered from time to time. Its present appearance is largely due to Sir Jeffry Wyatville (1766-1840), who modified and rebuilt a great deal in the time of George IV. His object was to make the Castle a comfortable residence and at the same time to preserve the appearance of an ancient fortress.

21. COMMUNICATIONS--ANCIENT AND MODERN.

The Ridge Way is one of the oldest roads in England. It enters Berkshire on the chalk downs above Ashbury at a level of 600 feet above the sea, and runs in an easterly direction by Wayland Smith's Cave and Uffington Castle; thence by Hackpen Hill to Letcombe Castle, along the top of the ridge north of West and East Ilsley. From here, turning to the right across the little valley on Compton Downs, the road probably reached the river Thames at Streatley. This old road is also known as the Icknield Way, and there is another old road named the Port Way, which follows the valley north of the chalk downs, running through Ashbury and Wantage. It is marked on the maps as a Roman road, and probably both roads were in use in Roman times, though the Ridge Way at least is almost certainly of much older date.

The Roman road from Marlborough to Silchester followed much the same line as the modern road from Hungerford to Speen near Newbury, but there does not seem to be any trace of the road from that place to Silchester. The Roman road from Cirencester to Silchester ran by way of Baydon and Wickham, joining the Marlborough road at Speen. There is but little trace of the Roman road from Silchester to Dorchester in Oxfordshire, but the Silchester and London road is fairly well marked, and part of it, as we said in a former chapter, is known as the "Devil's Highway."

In the middle ages the roads were exceedingly bad, and even in the seventeenth century they were far from satisfactory. Pepys mentions, in his Diary, June 16th, 1668, that he lost his way driving from Newbury to Reading. This, it will be observed, was in the summer, and one would think on a well-known road.

In the eighteenth century the roads were gradually improved, and towards the end of the century began to be kept in good order for the coaches, which were also rapidly improving.

In the early part of the nineteenth century two mail coach routes ran through Berkshire.

The road from London to Gloucester entered Berkshire at Maidenhead and left the county at Henley. After passing through Oxford it again entered Berkshire, and ran by Cumnor and Fyfield to Faringdon. From that place it ran by Buscot Park and crossed the river Isis at St John's Bridge near Lechlade.

The London and Bath mail route ran through the county by Maidenhead, Reading, Newbury, and Hungerford.

Besides these mail-coach routes there were several roads in the county which came under the head of "turnpike roads." The term turnpike road means a road having toll-gates or bars on it. The toll-gates were first constructed about the middle of the eighteenth century, and were called turns, and the turnpike road was one upon which those who refused to pay toll could be turned back. Turnpike roads are now practically extinct and a new species of highway called main roads has taken their place. The cost of repair is borne partly by the county and partly by the Local Highway Authority.

Canals and Rivers. Canals have to a large extent been superseded by railways in these days. It is, however, possible that the advent of cheap motor traction may cause them to revive. The Kennet and Avon Canal runs from Newbury, and entering Wiltshire near Hungerford furnishes a waterway from the Thames to the Severn. The navigation of the river Thames is improved by a number of weirs and locks, most of which have been re-made in recent times, and if more useful they are much less picturesque than in former days. The level of the river at Hambleden weir is just about 100 feet above the sea. The river Kennet is also provided with a series of weirs and locks. A canal which ran from Wantage to Abingdon is now disused.

The bridges over the rivers are for the most part modern, but many of them replace older structures, indeed most of the crossing-places are very old. The bridge at Abingdon was originally built in the fifteenth century, and was under the charge of the Guild of the Holy Cross, and Maidenhead Bridge was the property of a corporation from early days.

Railways. The Great Western Railway enters Berkshire at Maidenhead, and runs by way of Reading to near Goring, where it crosses the Thames into Oxfordshire, returning into Berkshire near Moulsford. It then passes by way of Didcot into Wiltshire, which county is entered a little before the line reaches Swindon. An important branch of the Great Western runs from Didcot to Oxford, and another branch of the same railway from Reading to Newbury, Hungerford, etc. Express trains to the west of England pass over both the Didcot and the Newbury line, and in these days they are frequently run from Paddington to far beyond the Berkshire border without a stop.

The Great Western has branch lines to Windsor, to Cookham for High Wycombe, to Henley, to Wallingford, to Abingdon, and to Faringdon, and also a rather important line from Reading to Basingstoke, giving a communication from Oxford to the south coast. There is also a light railway with auto-cars running between Newbury and Lambourn which belongs to the Great Western.

The Didcot, Newbury, and Southampton Railway runs from the first-named place in a southerly direction, crossing the Reading and Newbury line at right angles.

The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Company have a branch line running to Reading. It enters Berkshire near the village of Sandhurst.

The London and South Western Railway have branches to Windsor and to Wokingham, and from the latter place run trains over the South Eastern line to Reading.

22. ADMINISTRATION AND DIVISIONS--ANCIENT AND MODERN.

The division of the county into Hundreds dates from Saxon times. Each Hundred was governed by a High Constable, or Bailiff, and formerly there was a Court of Justice, called the Hundred Court, which was held regularly for the trial of causes, but this court fell into disuse. By various Acts of Parliament the Hundred is made liable for damage caused to persons by riots.

In early days most of Berkshire was divided amongst different manors, and each manor had a Manorial Court or Court Baron.

It has been already explained in Chapter 3 that the present administrative county differs somewhat from the geographical county, and as the town of Reading with a tract around it has been formed into the "County Borough of Reading" it is not for most administrative purposes a part of the county of Berks.

The chief officials of Berkshire, under His Majesty the King, are the Lord Lieutenant, the Custos Rotulorum, and the Sheriff. The first two of these offices are usually held by the same person.

The office of Lord Lieutenant dates from about the time of Edward IV, and he was formerly the chief military officer of the Crown in the county. The Custos Rotulorum is the first amongst the justices, but the High Sheriff has precedence in the county. The Custos selects the county magistrates, and they are appointed by the Lord Chancellor. The office of Custos dates from the time of Edward III. He is nominally the keeper of the County Records, but in these days they are in fact in the charge of the Clerk of the Peace.

The Sheriff was originally elected by the people in the county, but since the time of Edward II he has been appointed by the Crown. He was the agent through whom the King collected his dues, and in time became the military as well as the judicial and executive head of the county and headed the posse comitatus or power of the county. During the Wars of the Roses his influence became less, and the Lord Lieutenant took his place to some extent. It is recorded in Domesday Book that Godric the Sheriff of Berkshire gave a lady with the name of Aluuid half an acre of the royal domain as a present for teaching his daughter the art of gold embroidery.

The Sheriff is the first man in the county, taking precedence of all peers and of the Lord Lieutenant. He is appointed annually.

The county is divided into Petty Sessional divisions for magisterial purposes, and the Court of Quarter Sessions is a general meeting of all the justices of the county. In boroughs, Reading, Abingdon, Newbury, and Windsor, the Court of Quarter Sessions is held by a Recorder.

The affairs of the county (not including Reading, which is a County Borough of itself) are managed by the County Council, which was established by statute of 1888, and by District and Parish Councils, which were established by an Act of 1894. The county is divided into eleven districts, Bradfield, Windsor, Cookham, Easthampstead, Wokingham, Newbury, Hungerford, Wantage, Wallingford, Faringdon, and Abingdon.

The affairs of the County Borough of Reading are managed by its Mayor and Corporation.

For purposes of Assizes, Berkshire is on the Oxford circuit, and the Court is held at Reading. County Courts are held from time to time at the various towns. The County Court circuits are quite different from the Assize Court circuits.

For Parliamentary elections the county is divided into three divisions, Abingdon, Newbury, and Wokingham, each of which returns one member to Parliament. Reading also returns a member to Parliament, and so does Windsor, but the Parliamentary borough of Windsor includes a considerable tract outside Berkshire.

23. PUBLIC AND EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS.

The municipal buildings at Reading were erected during the period 1875-1897, and consist of two Town Halls, the Borough Council offices, a Free Library, the Museum, and an Art Gallery. On the walls of the reading-room there is a good collection of views of Reading and of the river Thames.

The Town Hall at Windsor was built by Sir Christopher Wren. On the exterior there are statues of Queen Anne and her husband, Prince George of Denmark. The Town Halls at Wokingham and Newbury are modern brick buildings. The Cloth Hall at the latter place, now a museum, is very interesting. It was built by the Guild of Clothworkers of Newbury, which was incorporated in 1601, and has a picturesque wooden cornice and wooden pillars, and a red tiled roof.

The Town Hall at Wallingford dates from 1670, and is supported by pillars, leaving an open undercroft. The Abingdon Town Hall has also an undercroft and dates from 1677. It is said, however, to have been designed by Inigo Jones, who died in 1652. There is an interesting old Town Hall at Faringdon.

The Royal Berkshire Hospital at Reading was opened in 1839, and there are many hospitals, homes, and orphanages in various parts of the county.

The Prison at Reading stands upon part of the site of Reading Abbey. There is a large County and Borough lunatic asylum at Moulsford, and a very large criminal lunatic asylum at Broadmoor, in the eastern end of the county.

The Royal Military College, Sandhurst, is one of the chief Government institutions for the education of officers for the army. It was built in 1812, and though quite plain in style, the long frontage on a rising ground, above a fine lake, is distinctly effective. The Staff College is in the same grounds, but is in Surrey. Considerable additions are now (1910) being made to the buildings at the Military College.

Wellington College, also near Sandhurst, was built as a public school by public subscription in memory of the great Duke of Wellington, who died in 1852. By the end of 1858 a sum of £145,785 had been received. This included a grant of £25,000 from the Patriotic Fund. The buildings are of red brick with stone corners, etc., and were completed in 1859. They have, however, been greatly added to since. The chapel is by Sir Gilbert Scott. The first head master was Edward White Benson, who subsequently became Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bradfield College is another important public school, founded by Thomas Stevens in 1850. The buildings are of red brick and flint, and are partly old. There is an open-air theatre where Greek plays are performed.

Radley College is beautifully situated by the river Thames. The site was part of the property of the Abbots of Abingdon, and passed through the hands of the families of Stonehouse and Bowyer. Much of the old mansion is incorporated in the college buildings. The college was founded by the Rev. William Sewell, D.D.

University College, Reading, is a comparatively new establishment, and the buildings are still in process of construction. Higher teaching in literary and scientific subjects is given, and there is an Agricultural Department, a Dairy Institute, and a Horticultural Department. There has been a school at Reading from quite early times, but its history has been a somewhat broken one. In 1783 John Lempriere published his Classical Dictionary whilst an assistant master at the school, and Richard Valpy was its head master for 55 years (1781-1836).

In addition to the above there are several important recognised secondary schools at Abingdon, Bracknell, Clewer, Maidenhead, Newbury, Wallingford, Wantage and Windsor.

There are many almshouses in Berkshire, the most interesting of which is Christ's Hospital, Abingdon. It is of brick and timber with an open gallery (p. 63). It was founded under its present name by Charter of Edward VI, but had a previous existence. The almshouses near Wokingham, built 1663, and known as Lucas Hospital, are a good example of seventeenth century brickwork, and are very picturesque. The Jesus Hospital at Bray was founded in 1627 for 40 poor persons. It is a most attractive red brick building, with a quadrangle in the middle, and a small chapel, the windows of which have stone frames which were probably taken from an older building. The quadrangle is shown in the picture by Frederick Walker in the Tate Gallery, named "The Harbour of Refuge."

24. THE FOREST IN BERKSHIRE.

Windsor Forest consisted in early times of a tract of wood and heath which even before the Norman Conquest was looked upon as Crown property. It is one of the five forests mentioned by name in Domesday. It was no doubt of great extent, but its boundaries are not known even if they were ever very clearly defined. There is in the British Museum a volume of maps and plans of Windsor by John Norden, made in the early part of the reign of James I, and the map of the forest shows that it was at that time bounded by the Thames on the north, by the Loddon on the west, by the Blackwater on the south, and that it extended to the east into Surrey as far as the Hog's Back, Guildford, and the river Wey.

The forest was at that time divided into 16 walks, each under a Keeper. Two of these, Cranbourne and New Lodge Walks, appear to have been previously known as Cranbourne Chase, and together with Egham Walk were the part of the forest lying nearest to the castle, and including what is now the Home Park and the Great Park. The other walks in Berkshire were Swinley Walk, Easthampstead Walk, Sandhurst Walk, Bigshot Walk, Bearwood Walk, and Warfield Walk. There was also a large district extending from Maidenhead and Bray to Wokingham and Twyford, which was called the Fines Bayliwick, and of which Sir Henry Neville claimed to be Keeper by inheritance.

Several parks are marked in the forest. Of these the Little Park is now the Home Park, Windsor, and the Great Park and Moat Park are in the present Windsor Great Park. Sunninghill Park, Foliejon Park, Easthampstead Park, and Bagshot Park, the last mostly in Surrey, still remain.

Besides the Parks there were certain enclosed places called Rails. Cranbourne Rails is in Windsor Park. Swinley Rails was until recently the place where the deer for the Royal Hunt were kept, and Bigshot Rails is apparently the place now named Ravenswood, near Wellington College.

In the early part of the nineteenth century there was a great deal of discussion as to the rights of the Crown over Windsor Forest, and in 1813 an Act of Parliament was passed dealing with the matter, and the Forest is now enclosed either as Crown land or as the property of private persons. Ascot Race Course is in the old Swinley Walk.

Walter Fitz Other was appointed by William the Conqueror Castellan, or Governor of Windsor Castle, and Warden of the Forest; and the office, which has become known as that of Constable of the Castle, has existed from his appointment to the present day.

25. ROLL OF HONOUR.

King Alfred was born at Wantage in the year 849, and his statue by Count Gleichen stands in the market place. The exact site of the palace of the Kings of Wessex, in which he was born, is not known, probably it was a wooden building. Edward III and Henry VI were both born at Windsor; Henry I was buried at Reading; Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VIII, Charles I, George III, George IV, and William IV were buried at Windsor; and Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort lie in the mausoleum at Frogmore, in Windsor Park. King Edward VII was buried at Windsor May 20, 1910.

The Marshals of Hampstead Marshall were a family of warriors. The most distinguished of them was William, first Earl of Pembroke. When he was a child his father, John Marshal, was besieged at Newbury by King Stephen, 1152, and William was given as a hostage for a truce and the surrender of Newbury Castle. The father did not keep his terms, and the child would have been killed had not Stephen taken a liking to him and saved his life. He became a great soldier and served Henry II, Richard I, John, and Henry III with the utmost fidelity, becoming Regent of England during the early part of the reign of Henry III. He died in 1219 at Caversham, and is buried in the Temple Church in London.

In later times another warrior owned Hampstead Marshall. This was William Craven, Earl of Craven (1606-1697). He fought in the German wars of 1632-37 and was the faithful champion of Elizabeth Queen of Bohemia, the only daughter of James I. At the Revolution of 1688, though over 80 years old, he was in command of the King's Guards, and Macaulay, in his History of England, describes how unwillingly the stout old soldier made way for the Dutch troops at Whitehall. Ashdown Park was another seat of the Earl, and is still in the possession of his descendant.

Radley belonged to a gallant sailor, Admiral Sir George Bowyer, Bart. (1740?-1800), who lost a leg off Ushant, June 1st, 1794. Another Admiral, Samuel Barrington (1729-1800), is buried at Shrivenham. He served under Hawke and Rodney, and was commander-in-chief in the West Indies.