JFoi FOUNDED BY GOLDWlN SMITH HARRIET°S.M1TH 1901 Dfctoda Ibfstot^ of the Counties of EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE VOLUME I THE VICTORIA HISTORY OF THE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND BERKSHIRE LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LIMITED This History is issued to Subscribers only By Archibald Constable fcf Company Limited and printed by Butler & Tanner of Frame and London INSCRIBED TO THE MEMORY OF HER LATE MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA WHO GRACIOUSLY GAVE THE TITLE TO AND ACCEPTED THE DEDICATION OF THIS HISTORY THE ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE VICTORIA HISTORY His GRACE THE LORD ARCH- SIR FREDERICK POLLOCK, BART., F. HAVERFIELD, M.A., LL.D., BISHOP OF CANTERBURY LL.D., F.S.A., ETC. F.S.A. His GRACE THE DUKE OF SIR JOHN EVANS, K.C.B., D.C.L., COL. DUNCAN A. JOHNSTON, C.B., BEDFORD, K.G. LL.D., F.R.S., ETC. R'E' . President of the Zoological Society La" Director General of the Ordnance TT _ „ _ _, SIR EDWARD MAUNDE THOMPSON, Survey His GRACE THE DUKE OF DEVON- trr>nr\r>TTTni?CAn T?T> T AT A j^ Q K.C.B.,D.C.L.,LL.D.,r.s.A., PROF. E.RAY LANKESTER, M.A., „, „' /• ', ',, . • rr. , ., ETC. Director of the British Museum F.R.S.. ETC. Chancellor of the university of Cambridge ,, ,-, n HIT Director of the Natural History His GRACE THE DUKE OF SIR CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, Museum, South Kensington RUTLAND, K.G. I^C'VB-' Kl 2 /' ^ v / REGINALD L. POOLE, M.A. Present of the Royal Geographical c;mWj;> Lecturer in Dip His GRACE THE DUKE OF PORTLAND, K.G. Society Oxford _. . D,phmaUlt SIR HENRY C. MAXWELL-LYTE, I. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D. His GRACE THE DUKE OF K.C.B., M.A., F.S.A., ETC. WALTER RYE ARGYLL, K.T. Keeper of the Public Records W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, M.A. THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF SIR Jos. HOOKER, G.C.S.I., M.D., Assistant Secretary of the Society of ROSEBERY, K.G., K.T. D.C.L., F.R.S., ETC. Antiquaries THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF SlR ARCHIBALD GEIKIE, LL.D., Amon8 the original members of COVENTRY F R S ETC Council were President of the Royal Agricultural THE LATE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY Society REV. . CHARLES Cox. LL.D., ,— T-> »T /-• „ „ „ ~ ., Vc- A THE LATE DR. MANDELL CREIGH- THE RT. HON. THE VISCOUNT F.S.A., ETC. ... „ TON, BISHOP OF LONDON President of the Society of Anti- LlONEL CuST- M-V-O-, M.A., THE LATE DR. STUBBS, BlSHOP OF r.S.A., ETC. OXFORD Dinctoref 'the National Portrait Gallery TH£ LATE LQRD ACTON H FIPTH M A T T Fi r. «ir r> n. f TH, 1V1.A., L.L..U. ^HE LATE SlR WlLLIAM FLOWER Regius Professor of Modern History. _ „ ,, Oxford THE LATE PROFESSOR F. YORK L G Gt]tiTK^ M^ POWELL M.D., F.R.S., Pn.D. THE LATE COL. SIR J. FAROJJHAR- Late President of the Linnean Society SON, K.C.B. yuaries THE RT. HON. THE LORD LISTER Late President of the Royal Society THE RT. HON. THE LORD ALVERSTONE, G.C.M.G. Lord Chief Justice THE HON. WALTER ROTHSCHILD, M.P. General Editor : WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A. GENERAL ADVERTISEMENT The VICTORIA HISTORY of the Counties of England is a National Historic Survey which, under the direction of a large staff comprising the foremost students in science, history, and archjeology, is designed to record the history of every county of England in detail. This work was, by gracious permission, dedicated to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, who gave it her own name. It is the endeavour of all who are associated with the undertaking to make it a worthy and permanent monument to her memory. Rich as every county of England is in materials for local history, there has hitherto been no attempt made to bring all these materials together into a coherent form. Although from the seventeenth century down to quite recent times numerous county histories have been issued, they are very unequal in merit ; the best of them are very rare and costly; most of them are imperfect, and many are now out of date. Moreover they were the work of one or two isolated scholars, who, however scholarly, could not possibly deal adequately with all the varied subjects which go to the making of a county history. vil In the VICTORIA HISTORY each county is not the labour of one or two men, but of many, for the work is treated scientifically, and in order to embody in it all that modern scholarship can contribute, a system of co-operation between experts and local students is applied, whereby the history acquires a completeness and definite authority hitherto lacking in similar undertakings. The names of the distinguished men who have joined the Advisory Council are a guarantee that the work represents the results of the latest discoveries in every department of research, for the trend of modern thought insists upon the intelligent study of the past and of the social, institutional and political developments of national life. As these histories are the first in which this object has been kept in view, and modern principles applied, it is hoped that they will iform a work of reference no less indispensable to the student than welcome to the man of culture. THE SCOPE OF THE WORK The history of each county is complete in itself, and in each case its story is told from the earliest times, commencing with the natural features and the flora and fauna. Thereafter follow the antiquities, pre-Roman, Roman and post-Roman ; ancient earthworks ; a new translation and critical study of the Domesday Survey ; articles on political, ecclesiastical, social and economic history ; architecture, arts, industries, sport, etc. ; and topography. The greater part of each history is devoted to a detailed description and history of each parish, containing an account of the land and its owners from the Conquest to the present day. These manorial histories are compiled from original documents in the national collections and from private papers. A special feature is the wealth of illustrations afforded, for not only are buildings of interest pictured, but the coats of arms of past and present landowners are given. HISTORICAL RESEARCH It has always been, and still is, a reproach that England, with a collection of public records greatly exceeding in extent and interest those of any other country in Europe, is yet far behind her neighbours in the study of the genesis and growth of her national and local institutions. Few Englishmen are probably aware that the national and local archives contain for a period of 800 years in an almost unbroken chain of evidence, not only the political, ecclesiastical, and constitutional history of the kingdom, but every detail of its financial and social progress and the history of the land and its successive owners from generation to generation. The neglect of our public and local records is no doubt largely due to the fact that their interest and value is known to but a small number of people, and this again is directly attributable to the absence in this country of any endowment for historical research. The government of this country has too often left to private enterprise work which our con- tinental neighbours entrust to a government department. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that although an immense amount of work has been done by individual effort, the entire absence of organization among the workers and the lack of intelligent direction has hitherto robbed the results of much of their value. In the VICTORIA HISTORY, for the first time, a serious attempt is made to utilize our national and local muniments to the best advantage by carefully organizing and supervising the researches required. Under the direction of the Records Committee a large staff of experts has been engaged at the Public Record Office in calendaring those classes of records which are fruitful in material for local history, and by a system of interchange of communication among workers under the direct supervision of the general editor and sub-editors a mass of information is sorted and assigned to its correct place, which would otherwise be impossible. THE RECORDS COMMITTEE SIR EDWARD MAUNDE THOMPSON, K.C.B. C. T. MARTIN, B.A., F.S.A. SIR HENRY MAXWELL-LYTE, K.C.B. J. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D. W. J. HARDY, F.S.A. S. R. SCARGILL-BIRD, F.S.A. F. MADAN, M.A. W. H. STEVENSON, M.A. F. MAITLAND, M.A., F.S.A. G. F. WARNER, M.A., F.S.A. viii FAMILY HISTORY Family History is, both in the Histories and in the supplementary genealogical volumes of chart Pedigrees, dealt with by genealogical experts and in the modern spirit. Every effort is made to secure accuracy of statement, and to avoid the insertion of those legendary pedigrees which have in the past brought discredit on the subject. It has been pointed out by the late Bishop of Oxford, a great master of historical research, that ' the expansion and extension of genealogical study is a very remarkable feature of our own times,' that ' it is an increasing pursuit both in America and in England,' and that it can render the historian most useful service. CARTOGRAPHY In addition to a. general map in several sections, each History contains Geological, Orographical, Botanical, Archaeological, and Domesday maps ; also maps illustrating the articles on Ecclesiastical and Political Histories and the sections dealing with Topography. The Series contains many hundreds of maps in all. ARCHITECTURE A special feature in connexion with the Architecture is a series of ground plans, many of them coloured, showing the architectural history of castles, cathedrals, abbeys, and other monastic foundations. In order to secure the greatest possible accuracy, the descriptions of the Architecture, ecclesiastical, military, and domestic are under the supervision of Mr. C. R. PEERS, M.A., F.S.A., and a committee has been formed of the following students of architectural history who are referred to as may be required concerning this department of the work : — ARCHITECTURAL COMMITTEE J. BILSON, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, M.A. R. BLOMFIELD, M.A., F.S.A., A.R.A. W. H. KNOWLES, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. HAROLD BRAKSPEAR, F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A. J. T. MICKLETHWAITE, F.S.A. PROF. BALDWIN BROWN, M.A. ROLAND PAUL, F.S.A. ARTHUR S. FLOWER, F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A. J. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D. GEORGE E. Fox, M.A., F.S.A. PERCY G. STONE, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. J. A. GOTCH, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. THACKERAY TURNER GENEALOGICAL VOLUMES The genealogical volumes contain the family history and detailed genealogies of such houses as had at the end of the nineteenth century seats and landed estates, having enjoyed the like in the male line since 1760, the first year of George III., together with an intro- ductory section dealing with other principal families in each county. The general plan of Contents and the names among others of those who are contributing articles and giving assistance are as follows : — Natural History. Geology. CLEMENT REID, F.R.S., HORACE B. WOODWARD, F.R.S., and others Palzontology. R. L. LYDEKKER, F.R.S., etc. Contributions by G. A. BOULENCER, F.R.S., H. N. DIXON, F.L.S., G. C. DRUCE, M.A., Flora F.L.S., WALTER GARSTANG, M.A., F.L.S., HERBERT Goss, F.L.S., F.E.S., R. I. POCOCK, Fauna" REV. T. R. R. STEBBING, M.A., F.R.S.,etc., B. B. WOODWARD, F.G.S.,F.R.M.S., etc., and other Specialists Prehistoric Remains. SIR JOHN EVANS K.C.B., D.C.L., LL.D., W. BOYD DAWKINS, D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A., GFO. CLINCH, F.G.S., JOHN GARSTANG, M.A., B.LiTT., and others Roman Remains. F. HAVERFIELD, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. Anglo-Saxon Remains. C. HERCULES READ, F.S.A., REGINALD A. SMITH, B.A., F.S.A., and others Domesday Book and other kindred Records. J. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D., and other Specialists Architecture. C. R. PEERS, M.A., F.S.A., W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, M.A., and HAROLD BRAKS?EAR, F.S.A., A.R.I.B.A. Ecclesiastical History. R. L. POOLE, M.A., and others Political History. PROF. C. H. FIRTH, M.A., LL.D., W. H. STEVENSON, M.A., J. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D., PROF. T. F. TOUT, M.A., PROF. JAMES TAIT, M.A.,and A. F. POLLARD History of Schools. A. F. LEACH, M.A., F.S.A. Maritime History of Coast Counties. PROF. J. K. LAUGHTON, M.A., M. OPPENHEIM, and others Topographical Accounts of Parishes and Manors. By Various Authorities Agriculture. SIR ERNEST CLARKE, M.A., Sec. to the Royal Agricultural Society, and others Forestry. JOHN NISBET, D.OEC., and others Industries, Arts and Manufactures ) c • i j c -IT- r By Various Authorities Social and Economic History J ' Ancient and Modern Sport. E. D. CUMING and others. Hunting "\ Shooting j- By Various Authorities Fishing, etc.; Cricket. HOME GORDON Football. C. W. ALCOCK THE VICTORIA HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE EDITED BY P. H. DITCHFIELD, M.A., F.S.A., AND WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A. VOLUME ONE JAMES STREET HAYMARKET 1906 DA &70 V. I Counts Committee for Berkshire JAMES HERBERT BENYON, ESQ. Lord Lieutenant, Chairman. His GRACE THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, K.G., G.C.V.O. THE MOST HON. THE MARQUESS OF DOWN- SHIRE. THE RT. HON. THE VISCOUNT BARRINGTON THE RT. REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF OXFORD THE RT. HON. THE LORD ARTHUR HILL, P.C. LT.-COL. THE LORD GEORGE MURRAY PRATT THE RT. HON. THE LORD SAVE AND SELE THE RT. HON. THE LORD STANMORE, K.C.M.G. THE RT. HON. THE LORD HAVERSHAM THE REV. SIR JOHN L. HOSKYNS, BART. SIR ROBERT R. WILMOT, BART. SIR CHARLES RUSSELL, BART. SIR GEORGE YOUNG, BART. SIR GILBERT A. CLAYTON-EAST, BART. SIR W. CAMERON GULL, BART. SIR ROBERT G. C. MOWBRAY, BART. SIR FRANCIS TRESS BARRY, BART. SIR ALEXANDER HENDERSON, BART. SIR WALTER PALMER, BART. SIR CHARLES LISTER RYAN K.C.B. LT.-GEN. SIR EDWIN MARKHAM, K.C.B. SIR WILLIAM J. FARRER, F.S.A. THE WORSHIPFUL THE MAYOR OF NEWBURY THE WORSHIPFUL THE MAYOR OF READING W. W. ASTOR, ESQ. EDWARD BARRY, ESQ., J.P., F.S.A. HENRY B. BLANDY, ESQ., J.P. THE REV. C. LOVETT CAMERON, M.A. F. C. CARR-GOMM, ESQ., J.P. BROMLEY CHALLONER, ESQ. THE REV. ALAN CHEALES, M.A. MAJOR-GEN. APSLEY CHERRY-GARRARD THEODORE A. COOK, ESQ., M.A., F.S.A. FREDERICK COWSLADE, ESQ. CHARLES T. D. CREWS, ESQ., F.S.A., J.P. P. E. CRUTCHLEY, ESQ., J.P. WILLIAM H. DUNN, ESQ., D.L., J.P. JOHN EYSTON, ESQ., J.P. THE REV. J. E. FIELD, M.A. THE REV. T. FIELD, D.D., WARDEN OF RADLEY COLLEGE THE REV. JOHN FOOTMAN, M.A. R. E. GOOLDEN, ESQ., F.S.A. THE REV. H. B. GRAY, D.D., HEADMASTER OF BRADFIELD COLLEGE RICHARD HOLMES, ESQ., M.V.O. JAMIESON B. HURRY, ESQ., M.D. RUFUS ISAACS, ESQ., K.C., M.P. CHARLES E. KEYSER, ESQ., M.A., F.S.A., J.P. A. K. LLOYD, ESQ., K.C., J.P. WALTER MONEY, ESQ., F.S.A. F. J. MORLAND, ESQ. W. A. MOUNT, ESQ., J.P. WILLIAM NIVEN, ESQ., F.S.A., J.P. ALFRED PALMER, ESQ., J.P. GEORGE W. PALMER, ESQ., J.P. W. HOWARD PALMER, ESQ., J.P. HAROLD PEAKE, ESQ. THE REV. B. POLLOCK, D.D., HEADMASTER OF WELLINGTON COLLEGE THE VEN. ARCHDEACON POTT, M.A. W. RAVENSCROFT, ESQ., F.S.A. THE REV. CANON SAVORY, M.A. J. CHALLONER SMITH, ESQ., F.S.A. S. SLINGSBY STALLWOOD, ESQ., F.S.A. E. A. STRAUSS, ESQ., M.P. MARTIN J. SUTTON, ESQ. MAJOR W. R. M. THOYTS, S.C.L., J.P. A. R. TULL, ESQ., M.A., J.P. COL. VICTOR VAN DE WEYER, J.P. H. M. WALLIS, ESQ. ARTHUR F. WALTER, ESQ., M.A., J.P. THE REV. HARRY M. WELLS, M.A. PHILIP WROUGHTON, ESQ., M.A., J.P. CAPT. OLIVER YOUNG, R.N., J.P. xin CONTENTS OF VOLUME ONE Dedication ...... The Advisory Council of the Victoria History General Advertisement .... The Berkshire County Committee Contents ....... List of Illustrations Preface Table of Abbreviations .... Natural History — Geology Palaeontology ...... Botany ....... Zoology — Molluscs ...... Insects Orthoptera (Earwigs, Grasshoppers, Crickets, etc.) .... Neuroptera (Dragonflies, Lace-wings, etc.) Hymenoptera Phytophaga (Sawflies, Gall-flies, etc.) .... Hymenoptera Aculeata (Ants, Wasps, and Bees) Coleoptera (Beetles) .... Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths) . Hemiptera (Bugs) .... Spiders Crustaceans ..... Fishes Reptiles and Batrachians Birds ....... Mammals , By HORACE W. MONCKTON, F.G.S., F.L.S. By R. LYDEKKER, F.R.S., F.G.S., F.L.S. . By G. CLARIDGE DRUCE, Hon. M.A. Oxon., F.L.S. By B. B. WOODWARD, F.G.S., F.R.M.S. . Edited by The Rev. Canon W. W. FOWLER, M.A., F.L.S., F.E.S By W. J. LUCAS, B.A., F.E.S. PACE V vii vii xiii xv xvii xxi xxiii I 25 27 69 By A. H. HAMM By W. HOLLAND and Dr. NORMAN H. JOY By A. H. HAMM and W. HOLLAND . . By W. HOLLAND By the late F. O. PICKARD-CAMBRIDCE, M.A. . By the Rev. T. R. R. STEBBING, M.A., F.R.S.. F.Z.S. •»•*••« By C. H. COOK, M.A By the late CHARLES J. CORNISH, M.A. . By HEATLEY NOBLE By the late CHARLES J. CORNISH, M.A. . XV 71 72 73 74 76 79 too 117 1 20 123 132 138 140 167 CONTENTS OF VOLUME ONE PACE Early Man 173 The Paleolithic Age: Neolithic Age:) By o A . SHRUBSOLE> F.G.S. Bronze Age J The Prehistoric Iron Age : The White Horse at Uffington : Ancient British Coins : • By GeoRCE CLINCH, F.G.S. Ancient Roads : Pile Dwellings Romano-British Berkshire . . . -By the GENERAL EDITOR and Miss C. M. CALTHROP, First Class Classical Tripos . . .19? Anglo-Saxon Remains . . . -By REGINALD A. SMITH, B.A., F.S.A. . . 229 Ancient Earthworks By HAROLD T. E. PEAKE . . . .251 Introduction to the Berkshire Domesday . By J. HORACE ROUND, M.A., LL.D. . . 285 Translation of the Berkshire Domesday . By the Rev. F. W. RAGG, M.A. . . . 324 Industries By the Rev. P. H. DITCHFIELD, M.A., F.S.A.— Introduction ............... 371 Ironworks . 383 Boat Building 385 Cloth Making 387 Silk Manufacture .............. 395 Tanning ...... ......... 397 Printing ............... 400 Brewing ....... ....... 404 Biscuit Making 411 Bell Foundries . . . . -By ALFRED HENEACE COCKS, M.A., F.S.A. . 412 xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PACE Windsor Castle. By WILLIAM HYDE . Knife made from a flint flake from Reading Implement from Woodley, Reading Implement from Grovelands, Reading . Implement from Englefield Implement from Grovelands, Reading . Borer from Caversham Flat Scraper of flint, with hooked point, from Reading Scraper of flint from Reading Scraper or Polisher of veined grit from Reading . Hollowed Flint Scraper from Reading Hollowed Flint Scraper, wrought all over, from Maidenhead Knife, Scraper and Saw combined (flint) from Reading Part of radius of Bos, notched and cut by flint tool, from Reading Palaeolithic Implement, with sharp edge all round, from Caversham Late Palaeolithic Implement, chisel type, from Caversham Neolithic Implement from Reading Neolithic Flint Implement, ground and pointed, from the Kennet at Reading Neolithic Quartzite Implement, ground, from the Thames at Reading . Rude Bronze Celt from Wallingford Flint Dagger from a Barrow at Lambourn Flint Arrow-heads from Wallingford ....... Wayland's Smithy : Ground Plan of probable original arrangement Bronze Spear-head from Speen Neolithic Flint Chisel from Englefield Neolithic Flint Chisel from Boyn Hill, Maidenhead Neolithic Flint Celt from Boyn Hill, Maidenhead Neolithic Gouge from Reading Neolithic Scraper from Wallingford .... Neolithic Spoke-shave from Reading .... Holed Pebble of quartzite from Enborne, Newbury Holed Hammer-head of basalt from the Thames at Reading Flint Knife from the Kennet near Reading Flint Knife from the Thames near Cookham Bronze Sword from the Thames opposite Henley"! Bronze Blade from Thatcham . . . / Bronze Knife or Razor from Cothill . . \ Bronze Sickle from the Thames at Windsor. } Bronze Celt, with broad edge, from Cholsey Bronze Palstave, with flanges and stop ridge, from Wallingford Bronze Flanged Celt from the Kennet at Reading Bronze Palstave, with flanges hammered over, from Wallingford Socketed Celt, with loop, from Reading .... Socketed Celt, with loop and ribbed ornament, from Reading x xvii frontispiece full-page plate facing 174 ,, „ 174 176 . 177 full-page plate facing 178 • 179 1 80 full-page plate facing 1 80 . 181 . 182 full-page plate facing 182 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Bronze Chisel from Yattendon . Bronze Spear-head from the Thames at Reading"! Bronze Spear-heads from Cookham . j. . . . . full-page plate facing 184 Bronze Spear-head from Mortimer Bronze Spear-head from the Thames at Reading Urn from Sunningdale Bronze Knives from Lambourn . Drinking Vessel from Lambourn . Food Vessel from Drayton . Bronze Sword from the Thames near Reading Drinking Cup from Lambourn . Bronze Knife from Sutton Courtenay . Ring from Hagbourne Hill Horse-bit from Hagbourne Hill . Iron Spear-head from Cookham Dean Pins from Hagbourne Hill . Ring from Hagbourne Hill . Horse-bit from Hagbourne Hill . The White Horse, Uffington 189 Bronze Sickle from the Thames at Bray 1 86 . ) .. . f Cist)} ' ' ^^ *** '""** Wayland Smith's Cave, near Uffington (General view of Stone Axe from Lambourn . . . •) Hammer-head of Deer's Horn from Lambourn J Urn from Lambourn . . . \ Urn from Sunningdale . .1 ....... full-page plate facing 194 Urn found in Barrow at ChildreyJ Incense Cup from Great Shefford ....... ... 195 Thumb Pot of New Forest Ware, containing Hoard of Coins, from Reading, in the Reading Museum ........ Pottery from Abingdon, in the Reading Museum . . | /"^^ fkte faeitg Bronze Figure from Wallingford, in the Reading Museum Pottery from South Fawley, in the Reading Museum .... 1 Pottery with Dotted Diamonds in White Slip from Abingdon, in the Reading f full-page plate facing 206 Museum ........... J Ground Plan of Roman Buildings excavated at Frilford ....... 207 Cranhill Villa, Letcombe Regis ............ 211 Plan and Section of Octagonal Building at Weycock Field . ...... 217 Supposed Steelyard Weight found at Weycock Field | Fibula from Wantage ..... J Plans of Discoveries at Long Wittenham .......... 221 Oval Bronze Fibula from Long Wittenham .......... 222 Early Italian Brooch of Bronze, Battle Farm, Reading | Early Italian Brooch of Bronze j Early Celtic and Roman Brooches ........... 224 Brooch of Roman Period ............. 225 Early Roman Brooches ............. 226 Bronze Panels of Stoup, Long Wittenham . . . . . . . . . . 230 Stoup or Beaker, Long Wittenham . ..... full-page plate facing 230 Bronze Brooches, Long Wittenham, ........... 232 Cinerary Urns, Long Wittenham ........... 234 Pewter Chalice found at Reading ....... full-page plate facing 238 Bronze Brooch, Lambourn Downs ........... 240 Anglo-Saxon Antiquities found in Berkshire ...... coloured plate facing 240 Hilt of the Sword found at Reading .... ....... 24.3 xviii 1 266 ling/ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PACE Sword HUt found at Wallingford .244 Bone Seal from Wallingford, with Impressions 245 Penannular Brooch from Abingdon . . 247 Ancient Earthworks — Alfred's Castle, Ashbury 253 Blewburton Hill, Blewbury \ Borough Hill Camp, BoxfordJ ' • • • 254 Bussock Camp, Chieveley ) 2CC ** l-..........>*33 Perborough Castle, Compton) Badbury Hill Camp, Great Coxwell) , Caesar's Camp, Easthampstead . J Grimsbury Castle, Hampstead Norris 257 Parkwood Entrenchment, Hampstead Norris 258 Walbury Camp, Inkpen 259 Membury Fort, Lambourn . . 260 Letcombe Castle, Letcombe Regis 261 Cherbury Camp, Longworth) , Uffington Castle . . J Sinodun Hill Camp 263 Lowbury Camp, Aston Upthorpe) , _ i ?•••••••••• 204 Fmchampstead I Wallingford 265 South Moreton Forbury Hill, Reading] Hinton Waldrisn , Windsor Castle \ Hinton Waldrist ... "1 Donnington Castle, Donnington 272 Hardwell Camp, Uffington . Seven Barrows, Lambourn 281 Stamp of Lion's Head ^ Figure of Dragon on Bell at Dorchester (Oxon)l 413 Initial Cross of Fleurs-de-lis . . . J Figure of Horse on a Bell at Dorchester (Oxon)) \ •»•••••• 44 Stamp of Roger Landen ) Stamp of Lion's Head 4!S Stamp showing Arms of the See of Winchester) Stop introduced by Saunders . . J Ornaments used by Joseph Carter \ Border used by Yare . . . ) Stamps used by T. Swain . . ) Stamp and Initials of Thomas Eldridgej LIST OF MAPS Geological Map between pp. xxviii, I Orographical Map » 20, 21 Botanical Map » 26, 27 Pre-Historical Map . „ *72> 173 Romano-British Map » 196. 197 Anglo-Saxon Map » 228, 229 Ancient Earthworks Map .... .... „ 250, 251 Domesday Map » 322> 323 xix H PREFACE ITHERTO no complete and exhaustive history of this royal county has been written. Many attempts, it is true, have been made in this direction ; some excellent monographs have appeared dealing with special subjects, and volumes treating of the history of Hundreds, single towns and parishes, or country seats, have been written ; but no work hitherto published relating to the county as a whole can claim to be exhaustive. Among the scholars of an earlier age who have laboured in the same field may be mentioned Elias Ashmole who earned the gratitude of Berkshire men by publishing his Antiquities of Berks, as well as his Visitation of Berks and The Institution, Laws and Ceremonies of the most noble Order of the Garter, which forms an important part of Windsor history. Hearne, a native of Berkshire, wrote an Account of some Antiquities between Windsor and Oxford, and Dr. Wise in his Letter to Dr. Mead gave an account of some Berkshire Antiquities, especially relating to the White Horse Hill. Mr. E. Rowe Mores published in 1759 his Collections towards a Parochial History of Berks, but the returns which he sought from the incumbents and other gentlemen were in many cases somewhat meagre; The Antiquarian Societies of Berkshire have contributed largely to the elucidation of the history of the county. The Berkshire Ash- molean Society founded in 1840 published a few volumes, amongst which the Union Inventories was perhaps the most important. The Transactions of the Berks Archaeological Society, the Newbury Field Club, the Thames Valley Antiquarian Society, the Maidenhead and Taplow Field Club, and the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Archaeological "Journal, have been of some service in the compilation of this history. The editors wish to express their indebtedness to Dr. F. Haverfield for suggestions and help regarding the article on the Roman Remains of the county, and regret that owing to his many duties he was un- able to write this article. The editors desire also to record their thanks to the Corporation of Reading for the use of books, and for permission to have photo- graphs and drawings of various objects in the Reading Museum, to Mr. J. W. Colyer the Curator for his constant assistance and courtesy to those who have helped in the production of this volume, to Mr. J. Rutland and others. The editors also wish to express their acknow- ledgments to the Society of Antiquaries, Sir John Evans, Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co., the Royal Archaeological Institute, and Mr. A. H. Cocks for the use of blocks for illustrations. XXI NOTE. It has been thought advisable to print the Index to the Domesday Introduction and Translation ih the last volume instead of in the first volume for the county. XXll TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.) Acts of P.C. . . Add Add. Chart. . . Admir. .... Agarde .... Anct. Corresp. . . Anct. D. (P.R.O.) A 2420 Ann. Mon. . . . Antiq APP Arch Arch. Cant. . . Archd. Rec. . . Archit Assize R, Aud.Off. . . . Aug. Off. . . . Ayloffe .... Bed Beds .... Berks .... Bdle B.M Bodl.Lib. . Boro Brev. Reg. . . . Brit Buck Bucks .... Cal Camb Cambr. .... Campb. Ch. . . Cant Cap Carl Cart. Antiq. R. C.C.C. Camb . . Certiorari Bdles. (Rolls Chap.) Chan. Enr. Decree R. Chan. Proc. . . Chant. Cert. Chap. Ho. . . . Abbreviatio Placitorum (Re- cord Commission) Acts of Privy Council Additional Additional Charters Admiralty Agarde's Indices Ancient Correspondence Ancient Deeds(Public Record Office) A 2420 Annales Monastici Antiquarian or Antiquaries Appendix Archaeologia or Archaeological Archaeologia Cantiana Archdeacon's Records Architectural Assize Rolls Audit Office Augmentation Office Ayloffe's Calendars Bedford Bedfordshire Berkshire Bundle British Museum Bodley's Library Borough Brevia Regia Britain, British, Britannia,etu Buckingham Buckinghamshire Calendar Cambridgeshire or Cambridge Cambria, Cambrian, Cam- brensis, etc. Campbell Charities Canterbury Chapter Carlisle Cartae Antique Rolls Corpus Christi College, Cam- bridge Certiorari Bundles (Rolls Chapel) Chancery Enrolled Decree Rolls Chancery Proceedings Chantry Certificates (or Cer- tificates of Colleges and Chantries) Chapter House Charity Inq. . . Chart. R. 20 Hen. III. pt. i. No. 10 Chartul. . . . Chas Ches Chest Ch. Gds. (Exch. K.R.) Chich Chron Close .... Co Colch Coll Com Com. Pleas . . . Conf. R. . . . Co. Plac. . . . Cornw. .... Corp Cott Ct.R Ct. of Wards . . Cumb Cur. Reg. . D D.andC. . . . De Bane. R. . . Dec. and Ord. . Dep. Keeper's Rep. Derb Devon .... Dioc Doc Dods. MSS. . . Dom. Bk. . . . Dors Duchy of Lane. Dur East Eccl Eccl. Com. . Edw Eliz Engl Engl. Hist. Rev. . Enr Epis. Reg. . . . Esch. Enr. Accts. . Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.) Charity Inquisitions Charter Roll, 20 Henry III. part i. Number 10 Chartulary Charles Cheshire Chester Church Goods (Exchequer King's Remembrancer) Chichester Chronicle, Chronica, etc. Close Roll County Colchester Collections Commission Common Pleas Confirmation Rolls County Placita Cornwall Corporation Cotton or Cottonian Court Rolls Court of Wards Cumberland Curia Regis Deed or Deeds Dean and Chapter De Banco Rolls Decrees and Orders Deputy Keeper's Reports Derbyshire or Derby Devonshire Diocese Documents Dodsworth MSS. Domesday Book Dorsetshire Duchy of Lancaster Durham Easter Term Ecclesiastical Ecclesiastical Commission Edward Elizabeth England or English English Historical Review Enrolled or Enrolment Episcopal Registers Escheators Enrolled Accounts Excerpta e Rotulis Finium (Record Commission) xxin TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS Exch. Dep. . . Exch. K.B. . . Exch. K.R. . . Exch.L.T.R. . . Exch. of Pleas, Plea R. Exch. of Receipt . Exch. Spec. Com. Feet of F. . . . Feod. Accts. (Ct. of Wards) Feod. Surv. (Ct. of Wards) Feud. Aids . . . fol. ". ...... Foreign R. . . . Forest Proc. Exchequer Depositions Exchequer King's Bench Exchequer King's Remem- brancer Exchequer Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer Exchequer of Pleas, Plea Roll Exchequer of Receipt Exchequer Special Commis- sions Feet of Fines ' Feodaries Accounts (Court of Wards) Feodaries Surveys (Court of Wards) Feudal Aids Folio Foreign Rolls Forest Proceedings Gaz. .... Gazette or Gazetteer • Gen Genealogical, Genealogica, etc. Geo George Glouc Gloucestershire or Gloucester Guild Certif. Guild Certificates (Chancery) (Chan.) Ric. II. Richard II. Hants .... Hampshire Harl Harley or Harleian Hen Henry Heref Herefordshire or Hereford Hertf Hertford Herts Hertfordshire Hil Hilary Term Hist History,Historical,Historian, Historia, etc. Hist. MSS. Com. . Historical MSS. Commission Hosp Hospital Hund. R. . . . Hundred Rolls Hunt Huntingdon Hunts .... Huntingdonshire Inq. a.q.d. . Inq. p.m. . Inst. . . Invent. . Ips. ... Itin. Inquisitions ad quod dam- num Inquisitions post mortem Institute or Institution Inventory or Inventories Ipswich Itinerary Journ . James . Journal Lamb. Lib. . . Lambeth Library Lane Lancashire or Lancaster L. and P. Hen. Letters and Papers, Hen VIII. VIII. Lansd Lansdowne Ld. Rev. Rec. . . Land Revenue Records Leic Leicestershire or Leicester Le Neve's Ind. . Le Neve's Indices Lib Library Lich. ... Lichfield Line Load m Mem Memo. R. . Mich Midd Mins. Accts. Misc. Bks. (Exch. K.R., Exch. T.R. or Aug. Off.) Mon. Monm. . Mun. Mus. N. andQ. . Norf. . . Northampt. Northants . Northumb. Norw. . Nott. N.S. . Off. . . Orig. R. O.S. . Oxf. Palmer's Ind. . Pal. of Chest. Pal. of Dur. Pal. of Lane. . Par Parl. . . . Parl. R. . . . Parl. Surv. . . Partic. for Gts. Pat. ... P.C.C. , Pet. ...... Peterb Phil Pipe R PleaR Pop. Ret. . . . Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.) P.R.O Proc Proc. Soc. Antiq. . pt. . Pub. R Rec. . . . Recov. R. . . Rentals and Surv. Lincolnshire or Lincoln London Membrane Memorials Memoranda Rolls Michaelmas Term Middlesex Ministers' Accounts Miscellaneous Books (Ex- chequer King's Remem- brancer, Exchequer Trea- sury of Receipt or Aug- mentation Office) Monastery, Monasticon Monmouth Muniments or Munimenta Museum Notes and Queries Norfolk Northampton Northamptonshire Northumberland Norwich Nottinghamshire or Notting- ham New Style Office Originalia Rolls Ordnance Survey Oxfordshire or Oxford Page Palmer's Indices Palatinate of Chester Palatinate of Durham Palatinate of Lancaster Parish, Parochial, etc. Parliament or Parliamentary Parliament Rolls Parliamentary Surveys Particulars for Grants Patent Roll or Letters Patent Prerogative Court of Canter- bury Petition Peterborough Philip Pipe Roll Plea Rolls Population Returns Pope Nicholas' Taxation (Re- cord Commission) Public Record Office Proceedings Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Part Publications Roll Records Recovery Rolls Rentals and Surveys xxiv TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS Rep Rev Ric Roff Rot. Cur. Reg. Rut Sarum .... Ser Sess. R Shrews Shrops Soc Soc. Antiq. Somers. Somers. Ho. S.P. Dom. . . . Staff Star Chamb. Proc. Stat Steph Subs. R. . . . Suff Surr Suss Surv. of Ch. Livings (Lamb.) or (Chan.) Report Review Richard Rochester diocese Rotuli Curiae Regis Rutland Salisbury diocese Series Sessions Rolls Shrewsbury Shropshire Society Society of Antiquaries Somerset Somerset House State Papers Domestic Staffordshire Star Chamber Proceedings Statute Stephen Subsidy Rolls Suffolk Surrey Sussex Surveys of Church Livings (Lambeth) or (Chancery) Topog. Trans. Transl. Treas. Trin. Univ. Topography or Topographi- cal Transactions Translation Treasury or Treasurer Trinity Term University Valor Eccl. (Rec. Valor Ecclesiasticus (Record Com.) Commission) Vet. Mon. . . . Vetusta Monumenta V.C.H Victoria County History Vic Victoria vol. . Volume Warw. . Westm. . Westmld. Will. . Wilts . Winton. Wore. . Yorks Warwickshire or Warwick Westminster Westmorland William Wiltshire Winchester diocese Worcestershire or Worcester Yorkshire XXV A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE GEOLOC * jjfcVKJEwfcKi i^^iMW^ af \ LAABCfKgkj THE VI CTOR I A HI STORY MAP. 10 Btufsfutt and EracMesham Beds London. Clay Woolwich and neatiirut Beds UnxMhaVnitmj^ &®3&f*w*»-' ^" ,!- - ""'"" COUNTI ES OF ENGLAND County Boundary shown that GEOLOGY BERKSHIRE is in parts decidedly hilly, but nevertheless much of the high ground takes the form of flat-topped plateaux or rises with a regular and gentle slope ; indeed it might fairly be described as a county of tableland in which long and deep valleys have been carved out. The highest levels are on the ridge of Chalk which crosses the county in a nearly east and west direction from Streatley to Ashbury, it being in places over 800 feet above the sea, but elsewhere the hills and plateaux rise little above the 400 feet contour. The county is naturally divided into three very well marked dis- tricts. They are indicated by colours or groups of colours on the geological map, but are almost as clear on any map where the hills are shaded or the contours marked. The first of these districts forms the northern end of the county, and there a succession of Oolitic and Cretaceous formations cross the county in bands, with an east and west trend approximately parallel to the ridge of high ground already mentioned. These formations consist largely of clay, though there are also sands and prominent limestones. The second comprises the central part of western Berkshire, extending from the Wiltshire border to the Thames, and forming the sides of that river's valley from Wallingford to Reading. The tract included in the bend of the Thames between Twyford and Maidenhead belongs mainly to this district, as also does the ground upon which Windsor Castle stands. The geological formation is Chalk, and it is wholly calcareous. The third district includes the south-eastern end of the county, most of the area south of the Kennet and some tracts west of Reading and north of Newbury. The geological formations belong to the Eocene System, and are composed of clay and sand. The Chalk extends under the whole of these formations, forming a hollow or basin in which they rest, and this is the western end of the London Basin. In this third district therefore formations newer than the Chalk form the surface of the ground, in the second district the Chalk is itself the surface rock, and in the first formations older than the Chalk lie at the surface. Speaking generally, we pass from newer to older geological strata A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE as we travel from the south-east towards the north-west, and we find the oldest, the Oxford Clay, forming a strip of low land along the banks of the Isis from the Cole to the Thames near Oxford. The Oxford Clay is not however a very ancient formation if looked at from a geological point of view ; it belongs only to the middle part of the Jurassic Series, and it and all the other strata which form the surface of Berkshire and extend to a depth of many hundreds of feet rest upon a platform of very much older rock. What these older rocks are is not certainly known. A boring at Burford Signet, 13 miles west of Berkshire, reached the Rhastic Beds at a depth of 717 feet and the Coal Measures at a depth of 1,184 feet,1 and a boring at Richmond in Surrey, 1 2 miles east of Berkshire, reached rocks which were pro- bably New Red Sandstone at a depth of 1,239 feet below the surface ; * so it may be assumed that the platform of old rock, New Red Sandstone with possibly Coal Measures, etc., lies somewhat over 1,000 feet beneath the surface of Berkshire. Resting on these old rocks are probably representatives of the Lias and Lower Oolites, for the former is believed to have been reached in a boring at Wytham near Oxford, and rock of Lower Oolitic age was found in the Richmond boring.3 There is however very little evidence on these points, so we pass on to consider the formations which are found at the surface of the ground ; but perhaps it may be as well to point out that these forma- tions, which are coloured on the geological map in this volume, are in fact very often hidden from view by beds of gravel, sand, clay, etc., which in places attain a thickness of many feet and are included under the general term ' Drift.' They will be dealt with after the formations indicated on the map have been described. One of the recent deposits, the Alluvium which accumulates along our rivers, is, it will be seen, marked upon the map. The geological history of Berkshire may be said to open in the period .of the Oxford Clay. At that time the sea extended over the whole county and also over nearly all England, though there was probably land to the west in Cornwall, Wales, etc., and perhaps also to the east from east Norfolk to east Kent. This submergence continued through succeeding periods, though in Portlandian times the land seems to have closed in on the north, and eventually the Purbeck continent arose and separated the northern or Aquilonian from the southern or Tithonic sea. Probably the whole of Berkshire then became land, and so it continued through the Purbeck and Wealden periods. This change in the distribution of land and sea was due to great earth movements which eventually resulted in a considerable folding of the Oolitic strata. 1 H. B. Woodward, 'Jurassic Rocks of Britain,' Geol. Survey, iv. 303. 2 J. W. Judd and C. Homersham, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. (1884) xl. 724, (1885) xli. 523. Compare fig. 22 (p. 44) and fig. 145 (p. 299) in 'The Jurassic Rocks of Britain,' Geol. Survey, vol. v. (1895). GEOLOGY TABLE OF THE GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS OF BERKSHIRE Period Formation Character of the strata Approximate thickness in feet Recent to Alluvium Silt clay marl, peat 2O Neolithic Brickearth Loam IO Pleistocene, Palaeolithic, Valley Gravel .... Gravel, mainly flint, both sub-angu- lar and pebbles and sand . to 30 and of doubtful Plateau Gravel .... Gravel and sand, with ferruginous conglomerate .... to 2O age Clay with Flints . . . Pebble Gravel .... Clay, flints and pebbles .... Gravel, mainly flint pebbles . . . to 20 IO Barton or Upper Bagshot Bracklesham or Middle Bagshot Light coloured sand Sand, clay, pebbles ; much green coloured sand 2OO 45 Eocene Lower Bagshot Beds . London Clay .... Reading Beds .... Yellow sand, some clay .... Blue clay, with Septaria Sand and pebbles at the base Mottled clay, grey clay, pebbles and sand IOO 52 to 3491 70 to oo Upper Chalk .... Chalk with flints, the Chalk Rock at the bottom 720 Upper Cretaceous Middle Chalk .... Lower Chalk .... Chalk with very few flints, the Melbourn Rock at the bottom . Chalk and Chalk Marl with no flints 170 215 Upper Greensand . Gault .... Malmstone, green sandy marl . 90 22O Lower Cretaceous Lower Greensand . Sand with ironstone, chert, pebbly gravel and calcareous sponge gravel to 60 Upper Oolites Portland Beds .... Kimeridge Clay Pebbly limestone, sand .... Clay and shale, with septaria and nodules of earthy limestone . to 20 140 Middle Corallian Limestone coral rag sand and clay 50 to 80 Oolites Oxford Clay Clay with septaria 4. CO In course of time a subsidence of the land took place and the sea again spread over Berkshire, and in so doing no doubt effected consider- able destruction of the older oolitic beds and apparently removed all land or freshwater deposits which may have accumulated during the time of emergence. The result is that our next formation, the Lower Green- sand, rests upon the denuded folds of the Oolite in an unconformable manner. Our Lower Greensand is a marine formation, but there was probably land in the western counties, Wales, etc., and also in Kent and Belgium. 3 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Further earth movements took place at the close of the Lower Greensand period, and the sea gradually extended until in Chalk times it stretched far and wide over south Europe. There was however still in all probability a land area to the west, including Cornwall, part of Wales and Ireland.1 After the deposition of the newest beds of Chalk now remaining in Berkshire there is a very long break in our geological history, which can however be filled in by a study of the rocks in other parts of England, in Belgium and Denmark. Our next formation, the Reading Beds, records a time when, though sea water flowed over at least the south and east of the county, it was water of a great estuary and not of the open sea. The succeeding deposits of Eocene age are more marine in character taken as a whole, but land was never far off, and possibly they may even in a small part be of fluviatile origin. During or soon after the close of the Eocene period further great earth movements took place, and as the result of the consequent folding of strata the London and Hampshire Basins were separated from one another and Berkshire eventually emerged from the sea and has remained land until the present day. A list of works relating to the geology of Berkshire was compiled by Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S., and will be found in the Report of the British Association for 1882, p. 340. This list, as well as the 'Geology of parts of Oxfordshire and Berkshire' (GeoL Survey, 1861) by Messrs. Hull and Whitaker, and the 'Geology of the London Basin' (GeoL Survey, 1872) by Mr. Whitaker, have been largely used in the preparation of the present history. OXFORD CLAY As has been already stated, the Oxford Clay is the oldest geological formation which comes to the surface in Berkshire, and it forms a narrow strip of low-lying land extending from the river Cole to the Thames at the northern end of the county. Buscot, Eaton Hastings and Dencourt stand on it. It is a good deal hidden by Gravel and Alluvium, and is mainly grass land. It consists of dark-coloured, often shaly clay, with bands of sep- tarian nodules and sometimes a little clayey limestone. Its thickness has been estimated by Mr. H. B. Woodward at 450 feet, the lower part of which represents the Kellaways Rock of other areas. Carbonaceous matter, selenite and pyrites are common. It is a marine mud, and a large oyster (Grypbaa dilatata), a characteristic fossil, has been recorded from Fyfield Marsh. It is not a water-bearing formation. The Oxford Clay dips underground to the east and is covered by newer rocks, the first of which is the Corallian. For further details reference should be made to Mr. H. B. Wood- ward's monograph on the 'Jurassic Rocks of Britain' (Geol. Survey, 1 W. F. Hume, 'The Genesis of the Chalk,' Pnc. Geol. ASM. (1893-4), xiii. 211. 4 GEOLOGY 1895, v. 5,40, etc.), which work has been largely used in the description of the succeeding Jurassic formations. CORALLIAN The Corallian forms a very well marked band running across the county from the Cole to the Thames. Below it is a thick bed of clay — the Oxford Clay already described — and above it there is another thick bed of clay — the Kimeridge Clay ; and the Corallian, essentially a calcareous formation with hard limestones, rises above these two clay beds as a ridge of elevated ground. Shrivenham, Coleshill, Faringdon, Stanford, Kingstone Bagpuize, Garford and Cumnor are situated on it. In the north near Wytham there is a small outlying patch of Corallian rocks which reach a height of 583 feet above sea level. The land is largely laid out in cornfields. The thickness of the formation in Berk- shire is from 50 to 80 feet, but it is very variable both in thickness and in character, and though, as has been said, it is essentially a calcareous formation, the lower part is often sandy or clayey and in places sands and even clays occur in the upper part. The formation is highly fossiliferous and has been divided into two fossil zones, the lower of which is known as the zone of Ammonites perarmatus and the upper as that of Ammonites p/icati/is, and both these ammonites are found in Berkshire. The Lower Corallian was found to be 35 feet 3 inches thick in a boring at Shillingford north of Wallingford. It consisted to a con- siderable extent of clays and partly of sand, but both the clays and sands contained bands and layers of stone. At Marcham the sands are current bedded and in places ripple marked, and Mr. H. B. Woodward remarks that their irregular cemen- tation into doggers and into bands of sandstone was well shown in the quarries there. These sands are fairly fossiliferous, and Marcham is famous owing to the fine examples of Ammonites perramatus, mostly in the form of casts, which have been found there. Pebbles of quartz, lydite, etc., frequently occur in the Lower Corallian. The Upper Corallian consists mainly of limestone, oolitic, pisolitic and shelly beds, with very subordinate sands and clays and with rubbly coral rag near the top. Its thickness was 44! feet in the Shillingford boring. At Shrivenham Professor Hull noted a local deposit of ferru- ginous sands separated from the coral rag by a parting of clay, and Mr. Woodward remarks that it may be difficult in some places, in the absence of the upper coral band, to discriminate between this deposit and the Lower Greensand, which now and then rests on the Corallian. The Upper Corallian is exceedingly fossiliferous, and one bed, which is termed the Trigonia Bed owing to the abundance of the shell Trigonia perlata, is clearly marked at Faringdon, Fyfield, Marcham and other places. The bed contains the shell Ammonites plicatilis, which gives its name to the fossil zone, and also Ammonites cordatus^ Belemnites, Lima, Ostrea, Ecbinobrissus, Pygaster, etc. 5 • A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Corals are abundantly found in the topmost beds, and Messrs. Blake and Hudleston, in their account of the quarry at Bradley farm north of Marcham, describe those beds as ' about six feet of magnificent coral, the massive portions growing in lenticular masses with bases not horizontal and the intermediate spaces filled to a large extent with Thecosmiliae, and they add that the reef corals there are in a more perfect state of preservation than in any locality they know of.'1 Brachiopoda and bryozoa are not common in this district, and echinoderms are far less abundant than in the Corallian of Calne and other places. As in the Lower Corallian, there are in some of the beds numerous pebbles of quartz, lydite, etc., and there are also rolled fragments of hard limestone bored by Lithodomi and encrusted with Serpulas. The fossils of the Corallian are all marine, and the above evidence points to a sea with shallow sand and coral banks or shoals. The pebbles suggest that land was at no great distance. The late Mr. J. H. Blake stated that good supplies of water are frequently to be obtained from the Corallian, but the amount varies according to the circumstances of the locality. Sometimes it is met with in the upper part of the formation — being held up by clay seams or chert bands — but it is usually most abundant near the bottom, where it is held up by the Oxford Clay.2 KIMERIDGE CLAY The calcareous beds of the Corallian are overlain by another clayey series, the Kimeridge Clay, which like the older formations already described forms a narrow east and west band across the country. The town of Abingdon stands on it. It is a good deal hidden by gravel and alluvium. It consists of dark-coloured clays and shales with septaria, and occa- sionally nodules or bands of earthy, fossiliferous limestone. The bones of the reptiles Campfosaurus, Ichthyosaurus and Pliosaurus have been found in it as well as many marine shells. Ammonites biplex is characteristic of the upper part and Exogyra virgula and Ostrea deltoidea of the lower. Many other fossils occur and also driftwood. These fossils taken together with the character of the strata show that it is a marine mud accumulated at some distance from land and probably in fairly deep water. Possibly there was land in the west, Cornwall, Wales, etc., and Mr. H. B. Woodward suggests that there was a coast to the south, south-east and east. In Dorsetshire bituminous shales occur in this formation, but have not been recorded in Berkshire. Fruitless trials for coal have been made at times. The soil is cold and stiff. Oaks grow well on it. It is according to Mr. J. H. Blake apparently 140 feet thick at Denchworth, 1 1 1 feet at Goosey, 94 feet at Wantage, and less at Chawley. 1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. (1877), xxxiii. 307. 'The Water Supply of Berkshire from Underground Sources,' Gecl. Survey (1902). 6 GEOLOGY Near Faringdon and Cumnor the Kimeridge Clay has suffered denuda- tion before the overlying deposit, the Lower Greensand, was laid over it, and consequently its thickness has been much reduced. It was estimated at from 70 to 80 feet near Cumnor by Prestwich. PORTLAND BEDS Next in succession above the Kimeridge Clay we come to the Port- land Beds, a formation which once extended over a large tract in north Berkshire and the adjoining counties. It has however suffered greatly from denudation, and only fragments remain here and there to show its former extent. In Berkshire only one very small patch occurs at the surface. It caps the rising ground south of Shrivenham, and the village of Bourton stands on it. The formation is calcareous — the upper part consists of soft, thin bedded, chalky oolite and hard, bluish limestone with pebbles of quartz and lydite. The lower part is sandy, and the thickness of the whole is perhaps 20 feet. Though this patch is very small there can be no doubt as to the age of the rock, for the characteristic Portland fossils Ammonites giganteus and Cardium dissimile have been found here. They are marine shells, and the formation appears to have been a series of sands and calcareous mud deposited on the bottom of a shallow sea. The gradual depression which went on during the periods of the Oxford Clay, Corallian and Kimeridge Clay had come to an end, and a period of elevation was begin- ning. The result of this was that the shore was closing in and Berkshire and the greater part of England were gradually becoming land, part of what has been termed the Purbeck continent. In lakes, lagoons and rivers of this continent the Purbecks, the closing formation of the Oolites, and the Wealden, the beginning of the Cretaceous system, were deposited. It is possible that patches of Portland or even of Purbeck strata may lie buried under the newer formations in Berkshire, but there is at present no satisfactory evidence of this. The rocks of Oolitic age above described dip away to the east, but it is not improbable that they lie in the form of a basin or synclinal and that they soon curve up again, in which case the various formations, Kimeridge Clay, Corallian and Oxford Clay, would be successively cut out or end off against the overlying rocks. The evidence of the Richmond boring which has been already mentioned favours this view, for there the above mentioned formations were all absent and the section passed from Cretaceous into Bathonian rocks which are older than the Oxford Clay. LOWER GREENSAND We cannot tell to what extent freshwater deposits such as are found in other parts of England may have been laid down in this county 7 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE during the continental period, for no remains have been found — prob- ably any that existed were washed away when depression again set in and the sea waves advanced over Berkshire. In any case our next deposit, the Lower Greensand, is, in so far as this county is concerned, of marine origin, and owing to the earth movements which had taken place since the deposit of the underlying strata it rests upon them in an unconformable manner. The effect of this unconformity is an overlap which is very clearly indicated on the geological map, for it will be observed that the Lower Greensand does not cross the county in a band parallel to the older series but occurs in an irregular and patchy way. The largest patch extends from Uffington almost to Faringdon, and near that place are two small outliers. There is a narrow line between Bourton and Compton Beauchamp, a patch near Drayton, and three outliers near Wootton and Cumnor. The Lower Greensand of Faringdon is of great interest, indeed the sponge gravel found there is probably the most interesting geological deposit in Berkshire. In 1850 a party of geologists, Professor Edward Forbes, Mr. Sharpe, Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Prestwich, Mr. Tylor, Mr. Cunnington, and Mr. R. A. C. Austen visited Faringdon, and the results of their investigation are given in a paper by the last named published by the Geological Society.1 He remarks : ' What seemed to render this district more peculiarly interesting was the circumstance that it included the beds at Faringdon, so well known from their fossils, as far back as the catalogue of Llwyd, 1759, described by Dr. Fitton2 as outlying masses of lower greensand, and considered by him to be especially deserving of notice ; also that published lists afforded indications of fossil forms peculiar to this portion of the Cretaceous series and limited to a few localities, and which seemed to present a wide departure from the ordinary conditions which influenced the Lower Cretaceous deposits, such as the numerous and perfect Amor- phozoa at Faringdon.' The late Mr. C. J. A. Meyer made a careful study of these beds and divided them into three divisions : — 1. The lowest the calcareous sponge gravel. 2. Above it the red gravel. 3. At the top ferruginous sands with ironstone. The sponge gravel is seen in the pit known as the Windmill pit or Ballard's pit north of the village of Little Coxwell ; it is about 30 feet thick, is fairly well and evenly stratified, and is crowded with fossil sponges and shells. Portions of the beds are here and there consolidated into calcareous masses. The shells are mostly brachiopoda, both Rhynchonella and Terebratula are abundant and belong to several species. The valves are often united, but single valves are quite common, they have not however been at all rolled or waterworn. Many bryozoa are to be found and are in beautiful preservation, but it is the sponges which have made Faringdon celebrated, and they occur in vast abundance. 1 Quart- 7°un>- Geol. Sx. (1850), vi. 454. » Geol. Tram. iv. part ii. ser. 2,271. 8 GEOLOGY They are quite unwaterworn, and appear to have lived on the spot attached to the pebbles which form part of the gravel. They all belong to the group of Calci sponges, that is to sponges whose skeleton spicules are formed of carbonate of lime. Calci sponges are rare fossils in any case, and it is most unusual to find them as here with no admixture of sponges whose spicules are siliceous. About seventeen species occur, the commonest of which, Rapbi- donema faringdonensis, is locally known as the petrified salt cellar.1 Pebbles of quartz and other rocks are fairly abundant, and amongst them are many fossils derived from oolitic formations. Thus the Kime- ridge Clay has furnished Exogyra, Ostrea, Perna and Belemnites. There are Cidaris, Diadema, Exogyra and Pecten from the Corallian, and Grypbcea, Belemnites and Ammonites from the Oxford Clay, showing that all these formations were undergoing much denudation during the deposit of the Lower Greensand. Owing to the unconformable overlap of this formation the sponge gravel rests partly on Kimeridge Clay and partly on Corallian beds. Possibly it thins out to the south-east. Mr. Austen remarks2 that 'apart from the organic remains [this gravel] might be taken for a mass of stratified drift, a geologist who should be guided by such characters as those of general aspect, mineral composi- tion and mode of accumulation, and who, finding himself in one of these pits was required to determine the age of the deposit, might most excusably suppose himself to be in the Crag district of Suffolk : in both accumulations there is a like condition of the mineral materials, a like arrangement of the component beds, and a like proportion, as well as condition, of the included animal remains. In these latter respects the Faringdon Beds are of great interest as they present to us the only instance now remaining in any part of Great Britain of a bank of sub- angular sea gravel of the secondary period.' s The red gravel which rests on top of the sponge gravel at Little Coxwell consists of ferruginous sands and pebbles with beds of hard con- glomerate with Terebratula, bryozoa, etc., but with few sponges. Its thickness is about 20 feet. The highest division of sands, with ironstone and some chert, about 30 feet in thickness, occupies the upper part of Furze Hill, etc., and the ironstone has been worked in former times. These old workings are known as Coles' pits, and one of them is, according to local tradition, the site of the castle of King Cole.4 Like the underlying beds the bands of iron ore contain marine shells such as Leda, and this is of some 1 See G. J. Hinde and H. B. Woodward, Proc. Geol. Assoc. (1891-2), xii. 327, and references given at p. 333 ; see also E. C. Davey, Papers contributed to the second volume of transactions of the Newbury District Field Club (Wantage, 1874). 2 Loc. cit. p. 454. 3 On November 7, 1 809, Mr. James Sowerby gave a short account of this gravel to the Linnxan Society (Trans. Linn. Sac. x. 405). 4 Davey, op. cit. p. 17. I 9 "2 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE importance, for very similar beds at Shotover Hill in Oxfordshire con- tain fossils of freshwater origin. The patches of Lower Greensand near Cumnor consist of pebbly sand and ironstone. Mr. Whitaker notes that at Broom Hill these beds fill in and cover the eroded surface of the Kimeridge Clay.1 The Lower Greensand is absent under Wantage, for a boring passed from the Gault directly into the Kimeridge Clay. This shows that the patchy character of the formation is largely due to erosion at an early period, before the next bed, the Gault, was deposited. At Shillingford the thickness was 25 feet, and the water obtained from it was saline, containing 98 grains per gallon, 54 of which was chloride of sodium.8 The Lower Greensand has been found in a boring in east Berk- shire, so that it probably occurs in patches large or small under much of the county. The boring was at New Lodge in the parish of Winkfield rather more than 3! miles west-south-west of Windsor Castle.3 The Lower Greensand was reached at a depth of 1,234 feet (or 1,016 feet below the sea), and consisted of fine sharp light brown sand and contained water. It was penetrated to a depth of 9 feet only. The supply of water was good and it rose to a height of 7 feet 8 inches above the level of the ground. It was found to be remarkably pure so far as regards organic matter, but it contains a large quantity of common salt. This, Dr. B. Dyer, who made the analysis, remarks, is of course not prejudicial to health, though persons of delicate palate might detect a faint trace of salt. The hardness is only 3°, so that for laundry purposes the water would be economical. It would be excellent for boiler purposes in the sense that it would not form a crust, though a steam boiler would want occasional blowing out owing to the concentration of salt. GAULT AND UPPER GREENSAND The Gault and Upper Greensand have been grouped together by Mr. Jukes-Browne under the name Selbornian,4 and as they are very intimately related to one another they may well be taken together. There was, as has been explained above, a great unconformity between the Lower Greensand and the Oolitic rocks which underlie it, and there is again evidence of a break in the continuity of deposition between the Lower Greensand and the Gault, for the latter overlaps the former in many places and rests directly upon older formations. This overlap is not so noticeable in Berkshire as in other districts, but one instance of Gault resting on Kimeridge Clay has been already mentioned as occur- ring at Wantage. The Selbornian crosses Berkshire in a nearly east and west direction from Wallingford to Ashbury, and together with the Kimeridge Clay i W. Whitaker, 'Geology of Parts of Oxfordshire and Berkshire,' Geol. Survey (1861), p. 15. H. B. Woodward, 'Jurassic Rocks of Britain,' Geol. Survey, v. 127. 3 W. Whitaker and A. J. Jukes-Browne, Quart. Journ. Geol. Sx. (1894), 1. 496. ' See A. J. Jukes-Browne, 'The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain,' Geol. Survey (1900), i. 10 GEOLOGY forms the valley which lies between the ridge of Corallian rocks on the north and the great ridge of the Chalk on the south. This valley was long ago described by Dr. Beke as ' the remarkably fertile vale of Berk- shire which crosses the county from the parish of Shrivenham on the west to Cholsey on the eastern boundary. At present, as when Domesday Survey was taken, the western part of this vale is employed as pasture land, chiefly dairy, while the sides and eastern part are arable, and may be reckoned some of the most productive wheat land in the kingdom. The soil of this vale in general is a strong grey calcareous loam which evidently owes its excellence to the intimate mixture of vegetable mould with cretaceous earth.' l The lower 175 feet of the Selbornian is a grey clay belonging to the Lower Gault. This is overlain by some 50 to 60 feet of light grey silty marl which is darkest towards the bottom. This latter is the lower part of the zone of Ammonites rostratus, and together with the Lower Gault is marked Gault on the map. The ground is generally flat and marshy. This part of the series contains no water. The higher beds of the Selbornian are mapped Upper Greensand. They are composed of 60 to 90 feet of sandy marls and malmstone, and i o to 12 feet of grey marl with large grains of glauconite at the top of the formation. The total thickness of the Selbornian is about 315 feet. Steventon, Wantage and Didcot are situated on it. The stone beds form a broad plateau by Ardington, Hendred, Harwell, Didcot, Hagbourne, North Moreton and Brightwell, and Mr. Jukes-Browne observes that it is along this tract that the malmstone attains its greatest thickness, probably about 90 feet. The stone lies in regular beds, the central part being a fairly pure malmstone containing sponge spicules and globular colloid silica in large quantity and weathering to a very light grey, so that it might easily be mistaken for grey chalk on a cursory inspection. The beds form a ridge of high ground to the west and south-west of Wallingford. Strong springs are thrown out on the inner side of this ridge at Sotwell and Brightwell, but Mr. Jukes-Browne thinks that a considerable amount of water must find its way beneath the Chalk, a good supply having been obtained from these strata by borings at Wal- lingford and Moulsford. The water is sometimes rather hard. The fossils of the Selbornian are all marine ; the lower clayey part was probably laid down in fairly deep water, the upper part may possibly have been deposited during a pause in the depression of the sea-bottom, causing a shallowing of the sea, and the change in mineral character may be due to earth movements causing an alteration in the coast-line and a consequent change in the nature of the sediment carried out to sea in this area. Probably the sea was by degrees spreading over this part of. Europe. In the south-west corner of the county the Upper Greensand comes to the surface near Inkpen. It forms a patch, for the most part outside 1 Dr. Beke in Lyson's Mag. Brit. I (1806), 188. II A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE the county, which is surrounded by Chalk, and is known as the Shal- bourne Inlier. It consists of greyish and yellowish-brown sand with green grains (glauconite) and with beds of irregular blocks of hard grit. It is, according to Mr. J. H. Blake, probably over 45 feet thick. In east Berkshire the boring at New Lodge, Winkfield, reached the Upper Greensand at a depth of 939 feet, or 721 feet below the sea level. The thickness of the formation was 295 feet, much the same as in the west, and probably it passes under the whole of Berkshire east of its outcrop. CHALK The Chalk occupies a large part of the surface of Berkshire, and in the eastern part of the county when not at the surface it is to be found underground. It is a porous formation, and the rainfall on the large area at the surface collects and furnishes a water supply throughout nearly its whole extent. In the east earth movements have folded the Chalk into a basin shape, the middle of which is filled with clay and sand beds of Eocene age. The south side of this basin lies in Hampshire, and there the dip is steeper than on the north side, a fact of much importance from the well sinker's point of view. The Chalk was found at a depth of 603 feet at Wellington College, and at 490^ feet at Ascot Racecourse. At Wokingham the depth to the Chalk was found to be 344 feet, at Bearwood 350 feet, at Burghfield Hill 280 feet, and at St. Mary's College, Woolhampton, 2781 feet. The solid bottom of the Thames valley below the alluvium and gravel is Chalk for the whole distance from Wallingford to Bray and also at Windsor, where the Chalk is bent into an anticline. The Kennet valley is cut in Chalk from the county boundary to Newbury and from Theale to the Thames. The Lodden flows over Chalk for the last three miles of its course only. In Reading the Abbey Ward is on Chalk, and so is the whole of the Oxford road and most of the area between the river Kennet and the London road. The Chalk in the town as in many other places is nearly concealed by coverings of gravel, alluvium, etc., and wells and other sections show that it is often 1 5 feet, 20 feet, or even more below the surface of the ground. One well passed through 28 feet of drift before reaching the Chalk. In central Berkshire the Chalk is much covered by a formation known as clay with flints, the result of its dissolution by surface water, as will be explained later on. The Chalk is a light coloured limestone, sometimes soft and earthy but often very hard. Its total thickness at Winkfield was found to be 725 feet. It is divided into three divisions : — 1. The Lower Chalk, about 215 feet thick. 2. The Middle Chalk with the Melbourn rock at its base, about 170 feet. 12 GEOLOGY 3. The Upper Chalk with Flints and with the Chalk rock at its base. Its greatest proved thickness is 329 feet. THE LOWER CHALK. This division is usually of a darker colour than the upper ; the lower part, which contains Ammonites variant, is equiva- lent to the Chalk Marl of other districts, but here it is mostly a firm- bedded Chalk. The upper part contains the urchin Holaster subglobosus and it is separated from the lower part by a representative of the Tot- ternhoe stone of other districts. This stone band was fairly well marked in the Winkfield boring and is recorded by Mr. Jukes-Browne as seen in the railway cuttings between Upton and Chilton, where it consists of dark brownish-grey stone with phosphatic nodules from i| to 2 feet thick. Mr. J. H. Blake observes that springs emanate from the Tottern- hoe stone horizon along the lower part of the escarpment at Letcombe Basset, Manor farm (Wantage), East Lockinge, East Ginge and south of West Hendred. He adds that these springs are of considerable volume and form streams which unite with those from springs in the Upper Greensand, and after working various mills along their course join the Thames at Abingdon and Sutton Courtney. THE MIDDLE CHALK consists of white chalk both hard and soft, and in Berkshire only rarely contains flints. Fossils are common, and Rhyn- cbonella cuvieri and Ostrea vesicu/osa are characteristic forms. The Mel- bourn rock at its base is a hard nodular band with some glauconite. It is 4 feet thick near Chilton * and probably represented by part of a bed of very hard white chalk 14 feet thick at Winkfield. THE UPPER CHALK. The Chalk rock at the bottom of this divi- sion is about 3 feet thick and contains green grains and green coated phosphatic nodules. It is exposed in several quarries on the Hendred Downs near Cuckhamsley Knob, and a fine collection of fossils now in the Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge came from these pits. The mollusca have been described by Mr. H. Woods.2 The cephalopoda are represented by species belonging to 7 genera, the gasteropoda by species of 9 genera, the lamellibranchiata by species of 15 genera, and there is a species of Dentalium. The Chalk rock was first described by Mr. Whitaker.3 The Upper Chalk is distinguished in Berkshire by the presence of flints, though this distinction does not hold good in all other parts of the country. The flints have been largely used as building material. The Roman walls at Silchester are to a great extent made of them, and there are also chalk flints at the Roman settlement known as Wickham Bushes near Easthampstead which are shown by their black colour not to have been taken from the neighbouring gravel pits, and as there is no Chalk near the surface at either Silchester or Wickham Bushes the Romans must have carried the flints for some miles to those places. 1 See A. J. Jukes-Browne, 'The Geology of Upton,' etc. Proc. Geol. Atsot. (1889-90), xi. 198. 2 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. (1896), Hi. 68, and (1897) liii. 377. 3 Ibid, (i 86 1), xvii. 1 66. 13 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE The urchins Echinocorys vu/garis and Micraster cor-anguinum are to be found in most pits in the Upper Chalk and also often occur in flints in the gravels. All the fossils of the Chalk are marine. Windsor Castle stands upon a mound of Chalk which is believed to be an inlier,1 that is to say the Chalk projects through the Eocene Beds, and Mr. H. B. Woodward tells me it may be seen in the ice-house in the Castle grounds ; the relations of the formations are however greatly obscured by a thick covering of gravel and alluvium. Chalk has been extensively used as a building stone, and many churches are at least partially built of it. Mr. Whitaker remarks that in some old churches, as at Tilehurst and Sonning near Reading, there may be seen a variety of chalk with irregular veins of a dusky tint as in many marbles. He adds that he had not met with it in any section.8 Chalk is also used as a dressing for the clay soils, and many of the pits in the county have been worked mainly for that purpose. It is the great water-bearing formation of all the counties round London, and the water is almost invariably colourless, palatable and brilliantly clear.3 The full thickness of the Chalk is not found in Berkshire, possibly the highest beds were not deposited over this area, certainly great denudation took place before the time of the Reading Beds, the next over-lying formation in the district. In fact there is here a very great break in the geological succession and a considerable series of strata occur in Denmark, Belgium and France, and even in other parts of England, which are absent here. READING BEDS The Reading Beds are the oldest Eocene formation in Berkshire ; there are however older members of that series in other places, for not only the top of the Cretaceous but also the bottom of the Eocene is wanting here. The Calcaire de Mons of Belgium and the Thanet Sands of Kent and Surrey, for instance, are older Eocene formations than any we have in this county. Hence the Reading Beds lie upon a very greatly eroded surface of Chalk. A band of Reading Beds crosses the flat ground from Bray by White Waltham and St. Lawrence Waltham to Twyford, and then turns by way of Sonning to Reading. Most of the town between the London Road and Southern Hill stands on them as does Coley and the higher part of Castle Ward. The plateau of Tilehurst is formed of this formation with a capping of London Clay and gravel. A strip of Reading Beds runs along the sides of the hills by Engle- field, Bradfield, Bucklebury, and spreads out to some width at Oare. The bottom of the Kennet valley below the alluvium and gravel is mainly formed of Reading Beds from Theale to Newbury, from which 1 W. Whitaker, 'The Geology of London,' Geol. Survey (1889), i. 176. 8 'Geology of Parts of Oxford and Berks,' Geol. Survey (1861), p. 22. 3 'The Water Supply of Berks,' Geol. Survey (1902). M GEOLOGY place they form a band on the south of the Kennet past Inkpen and extending almost to the county boundary. There are a number of outlying patches of Reading Beds, some with cappings of London Clay. They mostly lie on rather high ground. Then there are some small patches near Cookham and a large one near Wargrave. Yattendon stands on one, and there is another near Fril- sham. There are several north of Newbury, one of which runs out from Newbury to Wickham. There are also a number of small outliers dotted about on the Chalk near Basildon, Aldworth, Great Fawley, etc. The Reading Beds are a great deal hidden by alluvium and gravel. They consist in the main of clay though important beds of sand occur. The clay is often mottled, red, blue, orange, etc. Beds of pebbles occur in places. The thickness, according to Mr. Blake, varies from about 70 to 90 feet, but it is a little less in places. Good supplies of water are to be obtained from the sands and it is often soft in character. The Reading Beds, as has been said, rest upon a greatly eroded surface of Chalk, but it is a fairly even surface and is usually covered by holes or perforations filled with sand. These perforations are prob- ably often the work of boring shell fish, or, as Mr. W. H. Hudleston has suggested, they may in some cases be due to the roots of seaweed. Upon this Chalk floor lies the bottom bed of the Reading series consisting of green loamy sand with pebbles of flint. These pebbles are derived from the Chalk and show to what a large extent the Chalk had been eroded before the deposition of the Reading Beds. The bottom bed also contains flints which are of irregular shapes and have not been at all waterworn or rolled. They have become externally green and are usually spoken of as ' green-coated flints.' At Reading, Newbury, Kintbury and other places this bottom bed contains great numbers of oyster shells, usually Ostrea bellovacina, but at least one other species occurs. The two valves of the oysters are fre- quently united and they are not rolled or waterworn, showing that they lived where we find them. In some places at Reading there are two distinct oyster beds a foot or so apart. A few marine shells and many sharks' teeth occur in the bed. This bed of oysters has long attracted attention. It is referred to by Robert Plot in his Natural History of Oxfordshire (folio, Oxford, 1705), p. 1 20. He remarks that ' at Cats Grove near Reading they met with a bed of oyster shells both flat and gibbous about 12 or 14 foot under- ground, not at all petrified, all of them opened except some very few that I suppose have casually fallen together, which how they should come there without a deluge seems a difficulty to most men not easily avoided.' Dr. William Stukeley in Itinerarium Curiosum (folio, London, 1724), p. 59, also refers to this locality. He says that 'near the trench the Danes made between the river Kennet and the Thames is Catsgrove 15 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Hill, a mile off Reading ; in digging there they find first a red gravel, clay, chalk, flints, and then a bed of huge petrified oysters 5 yards thick 20 foot below the surface ; these shells are full of sea sand.' Above the bottom bed at Reading are some sandy beds which occur in a very irregular manner and occasionally contain layers of clay with abundant and very perfect impressions of leaves of plants. This leaf bed has also been found in the brickfields at Knowl Hill between Twyford and Maidenhead l and at Shaw Hill near Newbury. The oyster bed shows that this formation was deposited in salt or at any rate brackish water, and the leaf beds that land was not far away ; probably Berkshire was at the time in the seaward part of the estuary of a great river. Mr. J. Starkie Gardner has remarked that the plants are of a remarkably temperate aspect, the leaves and fruits of the plane tree for instance being conspicuous.2 In some places these sands contain numerous clay galls of large size, some as much as 18 inches in diameter. Some are mottled, but the majority are grey in colour. Many are ferruginous and somewhat sep- tarian, and ferruginous nodules also are found.8 Above the sand there is usually some 40 to 50 feet of mottled clay without fossils and above it are sometimes more sands, but the whole of the Reading Beds are irregular and no two sections are alike. They are worked for bricks, tiles and coarse pottery at many places. There is a record of an unsuccessful attempt to obtain coal at Hose Hill in the parish of Burghfield on the south bank of the Kennet valley about 4! miles south-west of Reading.4 It was probably through alluvium and Reading Beds. LONDON CLAY The Reading Beds are overlain by the London Clay ; its basement bed, some 10 feet thick, consists of green-coloured sands and clay with bands of calcareous stone and some pebbles. It usually contains one or more lines of fossils, and in one case, Mock Beggars Brickfield on the east of Reading, it was found to be fossiliferous throughout. The shells are of marine species ; Pectuncu/us and Cardium are very common at Reading. The two valves are frequently united and the shells show no sign of rolling, so that they no doubt lived on the spot. The annelid Ditrupa plana is very abundant. In the Winkfield boring this basement bed was 6 feet thick and consisted of green-coloured sand with shells. Its stony beds, with the characteristic Ditrupa, may be seen in the Bray cut. It was 10 feet thick in the Wokingham well, and has been exposed in the railway cutting at Sonning and in many brickfields near Reading, Newbury and other places ; in short it is very persistent throughout the county. It is a water-bearing bed, but only furnishes small supplies. 1 H. J. O. White, Pnc. Geol. Assoc. (1901), xvii. 181. 8 The British Eocene flora (Palaeontographical Society), ii. I. ' T. R. Jones and C. C. King, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. (1875), ***'• 453- * J. Rofe, Trans. Geol. Soc. ser. 2, v. 129 (1837). 16 GEOLOGY The London Clay itself is as its name implies almost wholly clay and of a very uniform character throughout, excepting near the top, which is often rather sandy. It is practically impervious to water. It extends over a broad belt of country from Windsor to Reading and from that town south to the county boundary. West of Reading it is largely covered by the next formation, the Bagshot Beds. Most of Windsor Park, Winkfield, Hawthorn Hill, Warfield, Bin- field, Hurst, Arborfield, Shinfield, Swallowfield, Mortimer, Burghfield and Beenham are on London Clay. It is but little obscured by superfi- cial deposits. Its colour is dark, usually of a bluish tint, but near the surface of the ground it is reddish or reddish-brown, the effect of the action of air and percolating water. It contains layers of septaria or cement stones, i.e. nodules of hard calcareous clay with divisions of calcite or aragonite. In the east of the county the London Clay is very thick. Several wells and borings have passed through the whole formation. At Cum- berland Lodge, Windsor Park, it was 314 feet in thickness, and at Ascot Racecourse as much as 349! feet, but it gradually thins westwards. At Wokingham it was 273 feet, Bearwood 256 feet, in the Burghfield district it is only a little over 200 feet, and at Inkpen only 52 feet in thickness. In all these cases the basement bed is included in the figures given. It forms a stiff soil. At Bracknell, Wokingham and other places the clay is worked for brick and tile making. Fossils are not common but occur in the sep- tarian nodules. The bivalves usually have the valves united and are not waterworn. Mr. Gardner considers that the climate was warmer than in the Reading Bed period. The fossils are marine, and the extent, thickness and uniform character of the greater part of the formation suggest that owing to depression the sea water had encroached much further up the estuary than in the time of the Reading Beds and even than in that of the basement bed. BAGSHOT, BRACKLESHAM AND BARTON BEDS The three formations, Bagshot, Bracklesham and Barton, may be taken together, for they are intimately connected with one another and indeed are often all included under the general name Bagshot Beds. They extend over a considerable area in Berkshire. Sunninghill, Ascot, Bagshot Heath, Easthampstead Plain, Sandhurst, Wokingham, Sulhampstead Abbots, Ufton, Padworth, Aldermaston Park, Wasing and Brimpton are on beds belonging to these formations. The surface of the ground is however to a large extent covered with gravel; indeed it is to this fact that the patches of Bagshot Beds owe their preservation. They are essentially soft formations, consisting of sands with very subordinate beds of clay, and they have consequently suffered great erosion from rain, streams, etc., so that though they i 17 3 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE probably once had an extension far and wide we now only find patches left where beds of gravel have protected the soft strata beneath. One result of this is that on the roads in the district from Newbury to Windsor we find hills with a tolerably gradual ascent over the sandy Bagshot Beds and a steep bit up the gravel capping at the top. The nomenclature of these formations is in a somewhat indefinite state, but the facts are perfectly clear and simple. There are three formations as already mentioned : — 1. The Bagshot Beds or Lower Bagshot Beds. 2. The Bracklesham Beds or Middle Bagshot Beds. 3. The Barton Beds or Upper Bagshot Beds. The Bagshot or Lower Bagshot Beds are about 100 feet in thick- ness, and consist of yellow sand with a little clay in places and here and there a few flint pebbles. There is no satisfactory record of fossil shells from these beds in Berkshire, but evidence from Surrey is in favour of the view that the upper part at least was deposited in salt water. The sands show much sign of currents, and probably the truth is that they were like the underlying strata deposited in or near the mouth of the estuary of a great river which was subsiding, and that at some times the salt water advanced further up it than at others. This division of the Bagshot series frequently yields a very soft and pure water; owing however to the porous character of the beds the water is liable to surface pollution. The Bracklesham or Middle Bagshot Beds rest on the Lower Bag- shot ; they are composed of light-coloured sandy clays, green and yellow sands with occasionally beds of stiff dark-coloured clay and usually some layers of flint pebbles. The beds of green-coloured sand are found more or less well developed and often contain pyrites and fossil wood. Beds of lignite occasionally occur. The greatest thickness is about 50 feet. Fossils are scarce, but here and there casts of shells occur in some abundance and occasionally the shell is preserved. Corbula, Cardium and a large Cardita together with a small oyster are fairly common. The valves are always or almost always united, and probably the shell fish lived where we now find them. They are all salt water forms ; many casts of these shells were collected from a cutting just within the county on the railway between Ascot and Bagshot, and specimens will be found in the Museum of Practical Geology in Jermyn Street. The water found in the Bracklesham Beds is usually of an unsatis- factory character. The clays are worked for brickmaking near Ascot, etc. The Barton or Upper Bagshot is again a sandy series, indeed it consists practically of yellow sand. The greatest thickness is about 200 feet. The only fossils found in Berkshire are very indistinct casts of shells ; better specimens have however been discovered in Surrey, 18 GEOLOGY and show that the sands are of salt water origin and of the age of the Lower Barton Beds of Hampshire. The soil over the Bagshot and Barton Beds is very poor, and the ground is to a great extent uncultivated and covered with heather and fir plantations. It forms however healthy residential tracts. The soil of the Bracklesham Beds is slightly better, and fine trees grow on it at Swinley and in many other places. Springs are thrown out at the bottom of the Barton Beds and a fair supply of water may often be obtained in wells sunk to that horizon; the upper part of the sands seldom contains any water. DRIFT AND SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS The Bagshot series is the most recent formation in Berkshire which can with certainty be stated to have been deposited in sea water. At some time after Upper Bagshot and Lower Barton date, elevation of this part of England took place and Berkshire became dry land, and the oldest record of dry-land condition is probably the clay with flints. THE CLAY WITH FLINTS covers a large part of the Chalk district. It consists of clay, loam and earth full of flints, which retain their original irregular shape and have not been rolled or waterworn. The deposit is of the most variable thickness up to about 20 feet, often filling pipes or hollows in the Chalk. It is believed to be largely due to the dissolution of the Chalk near the surface of the ground by the action of water which percolates through it, the water carrying away in solution the carbonate of lime and any other easily soluble minerals and leaving the insoluble residue, i.e. flints and earthy or loamy material, with which is often mixed clay and flint pebbles, the relics of Eocene beds which lay on the surface of the Chalk.1 The irregularity of the deposit and the pipes in the Chalk are due to the irregular course underground taken by the percolating water. Sometimes these hollows in the Chalk are of considerable size and form what are known as ' swallow holes,' since they swallow up the water which flows into them. Mr. Whitaker explains that the swallow holes are often due to streams which, rising in the higher ground, flow down an escarpment of Eocene beds until they reach the pervious and jointed Chalk, the water flowing into which forms in time a swallow hole through the chemical action of the carbonic acid which it contains, assisted by the mechanical action of the water itself ; and the presence of swallow holes at a dis- tance from Eocene clays is probably an indication of their former extent in comparatively recent geological times. Some of the best timber in the county grows upon the clay with flints, and good crops are often found on it in spite of the stony ground. It is a sub-aerial deposit — the sea has had no part in its formation — and as the process must have been very slow, its thickness and great 1 See W. Whitaker, ' Geology of London,' Geol. Survey (1889), i. 281. 19 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE extent show that a very long time has elapsed since the sea retreated from the high ground of Berkshire. PEBBLE GRAVEL. The oldest gravel in this part of England consists almost wholly of pebbles, hence the name Pebble Gravel. There are small patches on the top of Ashley Hill and Bowsey Hill near Twyford, and on the high ground above Streatley, which may belong to this deposit or are perhaps mainly formed of debris from it. It occurs in many places north of the river Thames.1 PLATEAU GRAVEL. Much of the high ground in east and south Berkshire forms wide and flat-topped plateaux in which rain and streams have carved out valleys. These plateaux are covered by sheets of gravel, and at one time there was a pretty general opinion that the gravels were of marine origin. The present tendency however seems to be opposed to such a conclusion, and recent authors are inclined to regard them all as gravels laid down by our rivers and streams and deposited at various levels during the process of the formation of the present surface features. The complete absence, so far as is known, of marine shells, etc., in the gravels, and the existence of the clay with flints, support this view, and the composition of the various sheets of gravel is also in its favour, for it is not uniform as might be expected of a marine deposit, but differs probably in accordance with the variation in the materials found in the drainage areas of different rivers. Thus the gravels of the high ground near the Thames contain pebbles and boulders of grey, pink and purple quartzite, which have almost certainly been derived from the Triassic pebble beds of the Birmingham district. They might have been brought by a river flowing in the direction of the Thames itself, along the Cherwell and Evenlode, though it is true that the Birmingham district is now in the drainage area of the Severn ; but it is suggested that that river has in course of time been gaining on and acquiring parts of the old drainage area of the Thames. Then the sheet of gravels of Bucklebury Common, Greenham Heath and of the great plateau between Aldermaston and Mortimer are without the peculiar quartzites, etc., alluded to above, and contain only such stones as might be derived from the drainage area of the Kennet and its tributaries. Again, and still passing eastwards, the gravels of Finchampstead Ridges and Easthampstead Plain are distinguished by the presence of fragments of a peculiar chert and ragstone which has been recognized as having come from the Lower Greensand of Surrey away to the south- east, and though that country now belongs to the drainage area of the Wey, it is suggested that it once belonged to that of the Lodden and its tributaries, and that the Wey has gained on the Lodden, or rather on the Blackwater, just as the Severn has gained on the Thames. The plateau gravels are mainly composed of flint from the Chalk. 1 H. J. O. White, 'Westleton and Glacial Gravels,' Proc. Geol. Assoc. (1895-6), xiv. 1 1. 20 HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE OROGRA 45' 3O' 15' 40' .70' THE VI CTOR I A HI STORY , MAP. REFERENCE NOTE above 800 feet 600 to 800 feet 400 to 600 feet 2OO to 400 feet OUNTI ES OF ENGLAND County Boundary shown thus GEOLOGY It is usually sub-angular and somewhat rolled and waterworn, and long exposure to the atmosphere has changed its colour from the black of the ordinary chalk flint to a brown or orange tint. There are also very frequently large numbers of pebbles derived from the Eocene pebble beds. In some places the sand and stones are consolidated by a ferruginous cement into a hard conglomerate, and this has been used as a building stone. The tower of Wokingham church, for instance, is mainly built of this conglomerate. The ferruginous bands in this gravel frequently hold up the water which percolates from the surface of the plateaux, and there are in consequence very often springs at the bottom of the gravel near its junction with the underlying formations. The plateaux vary greatly in height above the sea. Bucklebury Common is 444 feet, Tilehurst just over 343 feet, Mortimer Common 334 feet, Easthampstead Plain rather over 400 feet, and the plateau above Sonning 205 feet above sea level. VALLEY GRAVEL. In the valleys of the Thames and its tributaries there are numerous sheets and patches of gravel which it is convenient to separate from those at higher levels under the term Valley Gravel, though in fact there is every stage of transition between the gravels which form flats on the floor of the valleys and those which, owing to elevation and denudation, have become the capping of plateaux. In many cases patches of gravel are separated from the drift on the floor of the valley, but denudation has not proceeded far enough to form them into plateaux, and they are in the intermediate form of terraces. Near Maidenhead, for instance, there are three such terraces,1 but the highest of these terraces has in some places already become a plateau, as above Staverton Lodge, for instance. There are flats and terraces of gravel at many places by the side of the Thames and Kennet, and a large part of Reading is built on Valley Gravel. There is very little gravel in the valley of the Lodden until it is joined by the Blackwater, but the sheets of gravel along that river and by the Lodden after the Blackwater has joined it are extensive, giving support to the suggestion already mentioned that the drainage area of the Blackwater was once more extensive than now. In the north-west of the county there is also a certain amount of gravel. Buscot Park, for instance, is on flint gravel on Oxford Clay. The thickness of the gravel is very variable, but is often 20 feet or more in the neighbourhood of Reading. Flint implements have been found in many places and mammalian remains have been recorded from gravel at Reading, Windsor, etc. The gravels at all levels in Berkshire often present a curiously contorted stratification, and probably in many cases this may be due to the action of river ice. Possibly much of our gravel was formed during the period of extreme cold known as the Glacial period, but there is a lack of evidence on this point. The Boulder Clay is not found in or 1 W. Whitaker, ' Geology of London,' Geol. Surt'ey, i. 391. 21 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE anywhere near Berkshire, and a great deal of ice work may take place in a river without a glacial period. All that can at present be said is that the Glacial period covers a portion, perhaps a large portion, of the time during which the present surface features of Berkshire were carved out and its gravels deposited. The valley gravel is very sandy in places and often contains an abundant supply of water, which Mr. Blake remarks is of good quality but very liable to pollution. The quartzite boulders above mentioned are very hard, and often used as cobbles. CHALK RUBBLE. In some of the valleys in the chalk district and on the sides of the chalk downs there have accumulated patches of gravel consisting of fragments of chalk and irregular or broken flints. In one. of these patches at Chilton, nearly 400 feet above the sea, Sir Joseph Prestwich found a quantity of mammalian remains and land shells, with which were associated two species of mollusca, Planorbis albus, Ltnncea truncatula, which are of amphibious habit. He compares this interesting deposit to the beds of angular rubble overlying the raised beaches of Sangatte and Brighton.1 ALLUVIUM is the modern deposit of our rivers. It is muddy or silty, and small sections may be seen in the river banks. In Lyson's Magna Britannia (1806), i. 192, it is noted that peat is found in the vale of the Kennet on both sides of the river for several miles above and below the town of Newbury. ' The stratum of peat lies at various depths below the surface of the ground, and varies in thickness from i to 8 or 9 feet. Horns, heads and bones of various animals have been found in the peat.' Professor Rupert Jones in 1879 referred to a place near Newbury where the peat had been excavated a comparatively few years previously, and which had become entirely rilled up with fresh accumulations of vegetable growth, Equisetum having been an active agent among the plants.2 A well in London Road, Newbury, passed through 15 feet of drift. At the bottom there was 3 feet of gravel, above it z feet of peat and 6 feet of malm, and then more gravel forming the surface of the ground. Speaking of the river Kennet near Hungerford and the soil around that place Dr. Stukeley, writing as long ago as 1724, says : ' I have often wished that a map of soils was accurately made, promising to myself that such a curiosity would furnish us with some new notions of geography and of the theory of the earth.' 3 An interesting and early suggestion in favour of a geological map. 1 J. Prestwich, Quart. Journ. Geol. Sac. (1882), xxxviii. 127 ; A. J. Jukes-Browne, Proe. Geol. Atsoc. (1889-90), xi. 204. 2 Proc. Geol. Assoc. (1879-80), vi. 188 ; see also T. R. Jones, A Lecture on the Geological History of Netobury, Berks (8vo, London, 1854), where lists of the fossils are given. 3 Itinerant* Curiosum (1724, fol. London), p. 60. 22 GEOLOGY MALM OR TUFA. In the valley of the Kennet there are a few small patches of a calcareous loam. They rest upon peat or alluvium. One patch near Newbury has been described as full of shells of land and freshwater mollusca and caddis-worm cases. Many of them were coated with concretionary carbonate of lime. It is a flood water deposit. In a well already mentioned it was found to be 6 feet thick.1 GREYWETHERS OR SARSEN STONES The greywethers have long attracted attention. They are de- scribed in Lyson's Magna Britannia as ' those remarkable stones, called by the country people sarsden stones or the greywethers, which are scat- tered over the Downs. They appear to have been removed by some violent concussion of the earth, as they evidently lie on strata to which they do not naturally belong. The greatest number of them are to be seen in a valley near Ashdown Park on a stratum of chalk, others on a bed of clay in the parish of Compton Beauchamp. They are frequently blasted with gunpowder and used for pitching, etc., but are too hard to be worked.' * The ' Blowing Stone ' on the road from Faringdon to Uffington was described by Mr. James Sowerby in a communication to the Linnsean Society on November 7, 1809." Mr. Aveline remarks that around Middle farm, Knighton Bushes, Weathercock Hill and Hone Warren they are plentiful, and he gives the dimensions of a number of stones, the largest measuring 8 feet by 8 1 feet by 5 feet, 9 feet by 5 feet by 2 feet, and 12 feet by 6 feet by i foot.4 Similar stones occur on the east of the county on Bagshot Heath, etc. These stones are believed to be derived from the Reading and Bagshot Beds and possibly in some cases from the basement bed of the London Clay. They are usually formed of hard, often very hard, sand- stone or quartzite, and sometimes have a somewhat cherty appearance. Their minute structure, according to Professor Judd, varies greatly. Those with saccharoid fracture stand at one end of the series. An example from Camberley in Surrey is wholly made up of sand grains, and much of the cement is ferruginous. At the other end of the series stand sarsens with a fracture like some cherts. He mentions one case where the original sand grains had almost wholly disappeared and an aggregate of grains of secondary quartz had been formed.6 Mr. Hudleston has described this class of stone as siliceous doggers or concretionary slabs which have hardened in situ and have resisted the atmospheric agencies of destruction, and after noting specimens which 1 Prof. Geol. Assoc. (1879-80), vi. 188 ; see also a paper by A. S. Kennard and B. B. Woodward, op. cit. (1901-2), xvii. 213. 8 Lysons, Magna Britannia (1806), i. 192. s Trans. Lin. Soc. x. 405. 4 'Geology of Parts of Oxford and Berks,' Geol. Survey (1861), p. 47. 6 Geological Mag. (1901), p. i. 23 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE seemed to bear the marks of roots, he adds, 'It is by no means improbable that the decomposition of vegetable matter and consequent formation of humus, and the various organic acids which arise from its gradual alteration into carbonic acid, may have had something to do with the concretionary action.' 1 A somewhat similar opinion has been expressed by the Rev. Dr. Irving.2 Greywethers or sarsens are often to be seen at the corners of roads or used as stepping stones, and, as stated in the passage in Lyson's referred to above, they have been used as building stone. Mr. H. B. Woodward remarks that much of Windsor Castle is built of greywether sandstone.8 In the sandy and clayey districts the older buildings often consist of a considerable variety of material. The tower of the church of Waltham St. Lawrence, for instance, is built mainly of chalk and of flints, but there are also several fragments of sarsen, a number of blocks of irony conglomerate and a few bricks. In addition to the works referred to above, several papers relating to Berkshire will be found in the recent volumes of the Quarterly 'Journal of the Geological Society f, the Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, and the Geological Magazine. 1 Pnc. Geol. Assoc. (1881-2), vii. 138. * Ibid. (1883-4), viii- 'S3- 3 Geology of England and Wales, ed. 2 (1887), p. 449. For further details of sarsens in Berkshire see T. R. Jones, Geol. Mag. (1901), viii. 54, 115. A bibliographic list of works treating of sarsens will be found at p. 124, and a paper by the same author in the Berks, etc. Arch. Journ. for July, 1901, vii. 54. PALEONTOLOGY ALTHOUGH Berkshire has no extinct vertebrate fauna peculiar to itself, and apparently only a single species hitherto unknown elsewhere, yet it enjoys the distinction of being the county which first afforded evidence as to the former existence of the musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus) in Britain. The imperfect skull (now in the British Museum) on which this deter- mination was made came from a pit in the lower level drift near Maidenhead, where it was discovered in July, 1855, by the Rev. C. Kingsley and Mr. John Lubbock (now Lord Avebury). It attracted much interest at the time, and during the same year was described by Sir Richard Owen in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London ; a note on the age and relations of the deposit in which it was found being added by Sir Joseph Prestwich.1 Remains of the musk-ox have been subsequently discovered in several other British localities, notably at Bromley, Freshford near Bath, Barnwood near Gloucester, in the Thames Valley at Crayford and also at Cromer. The county also appears to be the first from which remains of the beaver (Castor fiber) were obtained. This record dates from the year 1757, when a letter from Dr. John Collet to the Bishop of Ossory was published in the Philosophical Transactions,2 which contains an ac- count of the well-known peat-pit near Newbury, and states that ' a great many horns, heads and bones of several kinds of deer, the horns of the antelope, the heads and tusks of boars, the heads of beavers, etc.,' were disinterred. This account was subsequently fully confirmed by later discoveries, Sir R. Owen 3 stating that from 20 feet below the present surface of the New- bury peat valley a Mr. Purdoe obtained jaws and teeth of the beaver in association with remains of the wild boar (Sus scrofa ferus), roebuck (Capreolus capreolus), goat (Capra hircus), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and wolf (Cants lupus). The goat is of course the ' antelope ' of the earlier account. Sir R. Owen * doubtfully refers a skull from Newbury to the fallow deer (C. dama). From the same deposits have been subsequently recorded B remains of the badger (Meles meles), water-vole (Microtus amphibius), Celtic shorthorn (Bos taurus), extinct wild ox or aurochs (B. t. primigenius) and horse (Equus caballus). Of the aurochs a fine skull from Ham Marsh is preserved in the museum of the Newbury Institution. Of nearly equal antiquity with the record of remains of the beaver from Newbury is an account of the discovery of tusks and other teeth of the wild boar at Abingdon. These were sent to John Hunter in 1787 by a Mr. W. Jones of Abingdon, accompanied by a letter de- scribing their discovery in a layer of sand accompanied by hazel nuts about ten feet below the surface.6 Remains of the mammoth (Elephas primigenius) and straight-tusked elephant (E. antiquus) are also recorded by Messrs. Woodward and Sherborn from Abingdon, although the writer has been unable to discover on what authority. In digging the foundations for new cavalry barracks at Windsor in 1867, there were dis- covered in a bed of gravel numerous mammalian remains, among which Professor W. B. Daw- kins 7 identified a bear (perhaps Ursus spelaus), the wolf, horse, fossil bison (Bos priscus) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), the antlers and bones of the latter largely outnumbering the other remains. From Ufton remains of the extinct Irish deer, or ' Irish elk ' (Cervus giganteus), are recorded in Woodward and Sherborn's catalogue. In the communication referred to above Sir J. Prestwich mentioned the occurrence of remains of the mammoth in the same pit at Maidenhead, and likewise that mammalian bones had been obtained by Mr. Blackwell in the Kennet valley at Aldermaston near Newbury. ' Vol. xii. 124, 132. a p. 109. 3 Brit. Foss. Mamm. and Birds, p. 193 (1846). « Op. cit. 483. 8 See Woodward and Sherborn, Brit. Fan. " Owen, op. cit. p. 430. Vertebrates. 7 See Early Man in Britain, p. 155 (1880). 25 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Mammalian remains, together with trunks of trees, have also been reported from Pleisto- cene sands near Reading by Professor E. B. Poulton.1 The former have been assigned to four species, namely the mammoth, the wild ox, the fossil race of the horse (Equus caballus fossilii), and a rhinoceros, which is probably the woolly Siberian Rhinoceros antiquitatis. A couple of years later, during the construction of a line of railway from Didcot to Newbury, some sections in gravel between the main Great Western line and the village of Chilton yielded other mam- malian fossils which were identified by Sir J. Prestwich 2 as belonging to the mammoth, horse, woolly rhinoceros, red deer, reindeer, and probably the fossil bison. A gravel-pit on the Tilehurst Road near Reading has likewise afforded mammalian remains, Mr. O. A. Shrubsole recording those of the mammoth, aurochs, horse, red deer and an undetermined species of rhinoceros. To this list Sir J. Prestwich 3 has added the Pleistocene hippopotamus (Hippo- potamus amphibius major), whose former presence in the county has been indicated by a dis- covery at East Challow.* Other references to mammalian remains from the Reading neighbourhood will be found in the Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, xi. 204 and xv. 306. The earliest record of such ' finds ' appears to be one by Rofe in the Transactions of the Geological Society for 1834 (ser. 2, v. 127), where mention is made of the occurrence of elephants' teeth near Reading. Vertebrate fossils from strata older than the Pleistocene appear to be rare in the county and only one peculiar type seems to have been hitherto described. The following forms have been identified, but it is probable that remains of some of the commoner Cretaceous fishes likewise occur in the Berkshire Chalk. From the base of the Eocene Reading beds at Tilehurst Road two fish-teeth have been identified by Mr. E. T. Newton as belonging respectively to the common Tertiary sharks known as Lamna macrotus and Odontaspis contortidens. A shark's tooth assigned to some member of the genus Lamna has likewise been obtained from the basement bed of the London Clay in the Great Western railway cutting at Sonning ; while two other teeth, apparently referable to the same genus, have been collected by Mr. L. Treacher in the upper part of the London Clay at Bracknell and Wokingham. From the Lower Greensand of Faringdon the British Museum possesses a plesiosaurian vertebra provisionally identified with the species now known as Murtznosaurus latispinus, and likewise teeth of the enamel-scaled fish Lepidotus maximus, both of these being derived from Kimeridgian strata. By far the most interesting Berkshire fossil vertebrate is however a small iguanodon-like dinosaur, of which the imperfect skeleton (now in the Oxford Museum) was obtained from the Kimeridge Clay of Cumnor Hurst. This unique specimen was described in 1880 by the late Mr. J. W. Hulke 5 under the name of Iguanodon prestwichi. Seven years it was made the type of a new genus, Cumnoria, by Professor H. G. Seeley,8 but in the following year it was referred by the present writer 7 to the American genus Camptosaurus. The reptile in question was much smaller than the iguanodons of the Wealden. Among specimens collected in the Coralline Oolite at Marcham near Abingdon by Mr. Treacher is an undetermined saurian vertebra ; another specimen of the same nature has also been obtained by that gentleman from the Corallian at Shellingford. 1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. rxxvi. 303. ' Ibid, xxxviii. 102. 3 Ibid. xlvi. 588. « Geol. Mag. 1898, p. 411. • Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. xxxvi. 433. • Rep. Brit. Assoc. for 1887, p. 698. ' Cat Toss. Reft. Brit. Mus. i, p. 196. 26 HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE BOTANIC 3O 15' -«.lWk Ki*ii,.i.i : . * v,.. «• i fri*?" M i7,«T,nr, ^ -»!t"*_ ^5 < -" ^-— — ~-^_ W.Clwlli.w/ : ^'."Ai, lui.it..,, ,m,,.. E,1{.,^"ffcrWiu^-*-n'rt^ "' »-• AUbumiic ^"'t' U>», Jfrmtoj ,-.,;/. n,,r«ii, i -^5-gs,,!,,.,,,,,,,,, THE VI CTOR I A HI STO ISTRICTS. LIST OF BOTANICAL DISTRICTS E COUNTI ES OF ENGLAND BOTANY ALTHOUGH the highest point in Berkshire does not reach 1,000 feet above the sea, there is probably no equally level county which can compare with it in the picturesque char- acter of its scenery ; while its rich meadows, the graceful outline of the chalk hills, its high breezy heathlands, its sombre pine- woods, and its stately royal park and forest afford varied and delightful scenes of quiet and peaceful beauty. The contour of the county is rather unusual. If a section of it were made from north to south from Lechlade to the Hampshire border, which is to the south of Hungerford, it would be found that on the north the river Thames at Lechlade is about 250 feet above the sea level. From this level the country rises and attains the height of 465 feet on Badbury Hill. This hill is on the western side of a range which stretches nearly west and east, its highest eastern points being Pickett's Heath, which is 535, and Wytham Hill, which is 539 feet above the sea. This range slopes gently down to the south so that near Shrivenham its altitude is about 200 feet. The country then rises rapidly to the summit of the White Horse Hill, which is 840 feet high. This chalk ridge, like the preceding range of hills which belong to the Coralline formation, also runs in a direction which is nearly west to east ; in fact, it is one of the four ranges of chalk hills which radiate from the high ground of Salisbury Plain. In its progress through Berkshire it sinks slightly in elevation, so that while on the White Horse it is 840, at Wantage it is 740, at Letcombe Castle it is 690, at Lowbury it is 585, and at King Standing Hill it is only 391 feet above the sea : the river Thames at Mongewell is about 160 feet above sea level. Returning to consider the imaginary section on the west of the county, it will be found that from the summit of the White Horse Hill the ground gradually slopes towards the Kennet, which enters the county near Hungerford ; there the river is about 328 feet above the sea, while at its outfall into the Thames at Reading it is not more than 123 feet. This river runs also in a direction nearly west and east in Berkshire. From the trough of the valley at Hungerford the ground soon rises in an abrupt escarpment of the chalk to the greatest altitude which this formation reaches in southern England, namely on Walbury Camp, which is 959 feet above the sea ; the neighbouring hill, called Gibbet Hill, reaches 955 feet, and in the slight depression between the two hills there is a small pond 27 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE which is 9 1 2 feet above the sea. This range does not pursue the easterly direction for any considerable distance, but turns southwards and soon leaves the county. It will thus be seen that the county slopes from west to east, and that three distinct ranges of hills traverse it from the west to the east. South of the Kennet, to the east of the point where the chalk range leaves the county, the country rises in a gentle slope, and separates for some distance the valley of the Emborne from that of the Kennet ; but the height of the hilly ground forming the watershed is only about 400 feet on Greenham Common, and this height gradually sinks eastwards, Crookham Common being 382, Burghfield 313, and Sulhampstead only 300 feet above sea level. To the south of Reading the watershed of the Blackwater is formed by hilly ground belonging to the Tertiary formations. The river enters Berkshire at a point where the height of the surface of the water is about 200 feet above the sea, its outfall near Twyford, after its junction with the Loddon, being about i oo feet. The hills in this southern part of the county are not arranged in regular lines as are those already mentioned, but are irregularly scattered over the area. In the south-east there is a flat tract between Twyford and Maidenhead, of which a considerable extent is less than 150 feet, and some not more than 90 feet above the sea. East of Twyford a rather conspicuous and picturesque group of hills is formed by the London clay, one of which, Bowsey Hill, reaches an altitude of 454 feet, Ashley Hill being 358, and Crazey Hill 316 feet above the sea. On the south-west the same formation rises into a hilly country which on Hawthorn Hill is 248, on St. Leonard's 294, and on High Standing Hill and Cranbourn Park is 280 feet above the sea. South-west of Wokingham the ground rises at Finchampstead to 320 feet, and overlooks the valley of the Black- water ; Caesar's Camp near Bracknell attains an elevation of 410 feet, Lodge Hill is 377, and Easthampstead Plain, the highest point of the Bagshot beds, is 423 feet above the sea. The river at Maidenhead is only 84 feet above the sea. Berkshire therefore not only slopes from the west to the east, but there is also a decided slope from the north to the south. It must be borne in mind that the central plateau of the chalk is by no means a plain, or even an inclined plain ; on the contrary it is very diversified, and may be roughly divided into two parts ; of these the western, which is on the whole the more elevated of the two, is drained by the Lambourn, its northern side being terminated by the White Horse, and, as has been said already, the country slopes down towards the Kennet. In this part the elevation of Wickham Heath is 477 feet, the river Lambourn near Welford is 329 feet, and at its junction with the Kennet near Shaw is 254 feet above the sea. The eastern side includes the high ground of the chalk which rises at Lowbury to a height of 585 feet ; further south, overlooking the Pang stream, is Oare Hill, which is 397 feet high, and in the vicinity is the earthwork known as Grimsbury Castle, which is 461 feet high. The high ground about Aldworth reaches 579 feet, and Beedon touches 545 feet, while Ashampstead is 447 feet, and 28 BOTANY Cold Ash Common is 513 feet above the sea. The watershed of the Pang and the Kennet near Englefield is nearly 300 feet above the sea. In the following pages, which by the kind permission of the dele- gates of the Clarendon Press at Oxford I have been allowed to compile from my Flora of Berkshire published by them in 1897, 1 shall endeavour to give a general idea as to what species are native of the county, and of those which are, although not indigenous, yet now well established, and to show roughly their distribution through its area, for which purpose various botanical districts essentially based upon the river drainage have been made. The boundaries of these districts will be briefly described, and a list of the more interesting species occurring in each district will be enumerated ; but for those who seek a more intimate acquaintance with the distribution of plants through the county, and an account of the various local forms and varieties, or for a complete Botanologia of those botanists who have assisted to bring our knowledge of the county flora to its present state of completeness, my Flora of Berkshire already alluded to should be consulted. The following tables show the number of species which have been reported on good authority to have been seen growing in a wild state in the counties surrounding Berkshire, as well as those compiled for the county by myself : — Berkshire Oxfordshire Bucks Native plants . . 898 . . 847 . . 818 Denizens. ... 46 .. 49 .. 25 Colonists .... 56 .. 43 .. 34 Total. . 1,000 939 877 The word native, as used above, signifies the grade of citizenship of the plant in Berkshire, namely an aboriginal species ; denizen means that although the plant at present maintains its habitat, as if a native, without the aid of man, yet it is liable to some suspicion of having been originally introduced, for example the common elm ; while colonist suggests a weed of cultivated land, or about houses, and seldom found except in places where the ground has been adapted for its production by the operation of man, as the red poppy (Papaver Rhceas). Besides these species about 400 named varieties and forms, and about 70 hybrids, and over 200 species not native in Britain, or of casual occurrence or planted in Berkshire, have been observed. The total number of species native in the British Isles is about 1,750, and about 250 of colonists, denizens and aliens are also included in our British lists ; but of these 144 are confined to the neighbourhood of the sea, 17 are confined to Ireland, about 20 to the Channel Isles, while 200 are plants of northern latitudes, or are not found so far south as Berk- shire except in mountainous situations. It will be observed that after making these reductions about 1,350 species remain which might occur in the county ; yet we find from the 29 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE above table such is not the case, no fewer than 350 being unrecorded. And while it is probable that a few additional species will reward the searcher, yet there are few areas which have been more systematically worked than Berkshire ; but it must be borne in mind that however minute and assiduous the research of a botanist may be, finality can never be attained, since only a small portion comparatively of the actual surface of the ground comes within his observation, and that only for a short time. In the Compendium to the Cybele Britannica, Mr. H. C. Watson made a classification of the British plants according to their distribution. He regarded the universally distributed plants as ' British,' the southern plants as ' English,' the species having their headquarters in the western counties as ' Atlantic,' the eastern plants as ' Germanic,' while the northern species were ' Scottish ' or ' Highland.' ' Intermediate ' was applied to plants having their headquarters in the midlands and thinning out to the north and south ; ' local ' was applied in a few cases of almost isolated species. These terms were further differentiated by combining them ; thus, ' British-English ' means a plant of wide diffusion with a tendency towards the southern type, and ' English- British ' signifies a plant of a southern type widely diffused. Adopting the specific limits laid down by Mr. Watson (and omit- ing about 1 20 critical and other species, some of which have been in- cluded in the British flora since the publication of the Compendium] our Berkshire flora is constituted as follows : — ENGLISH ENGLISH-BRITISH . Intermediate , Germanic Atlantic . . Local . Total BRITISH. British-English . British-Germanic Scottish . . Atlantic . Intermediate . Highland . Total . GERMANIC . . . Germanic-English British. 183 67 3 47 i 3 3°4 379 in i 9 i 2 3 _ 506 23 4 Myosotis sylvatica, Aquilegia, Carex elata Scutellaria minor Elatine Hydropiper, Sisymbrium Sophia, Tordyliumy the latter now extinct Local Capnoides claviculata (CorydaHs) Saxifraga granu/ata, Polygonum Bistorta Vaccinium Myrtillus, Lycopodium Selago, Chrysosplenium oppositifolium Astragalus danicus, A. glycyphyllus, Con- vallaria, Hypochceris glabra Orchis militaris, O. Simia (? extinct), Muscari (? if native) Total 49 BOTANY ATLANTIC 2 Cervicina hederacea (Wahlenbergia], Agrostls setacea Atlantic-Local ... i lllecebrum vertidllatum British .... 2 Hypericum Androseemum, Erodium mos- chatum (? native) English .... 3 Hypericum elodes, Cotyledon, Verbascum virgatum Total ... 8 SCOTTISH i Pinus sy/vestris (replanted) Scottish-British i . 10 Scottish-Local ... i Asperugo procumbent (casual) Total ... 12 INTERMEDIATE ... 2 Rites nigrum, R. Grossularia Intermediate-British . i Gagea fascicularis English .... i Poterium officinale Local I Campanula rapunculoides Highland .... i Galium sylvestre Total ... 4 Grand Total . 885 The Scottish-British types are Sagina subulata, Vicia syhatica, Par- nassia, Antennaria dioica (but I have not seen it in the county), Pinguicula vu/garis, Galeopsis speciosa, Carex dioica, Pbegopteris polypodioides, and Pyrola minor. The British-Scottish types are Potentilla palustris, Pyrus Aucuparia, Geum rivale, Epilobium angustifolium, Gentiana campestris, Myosotis repens, Habenaria -viridis, Eleocbaris uniglumis, Scirpus ccespitosus, and Eotrychium. Among the records which have been published respecting the plants of the county many have been reported which are almost cer- tainly errors of identification, and probably all of the following belong to this category, and they cannot be admitted into our estimate of the ingredients of the county flora until they are refound. These errors are : Thalictrum majus, a mistake for T.jtavum, which is common ; Cardamine impatient, a mistake for C. syhatica, but the true plant occurs in Surrey ; Draba inflata — this was a form of Erophila prczcox ; Lepidium latifolium, recorded by Mr. Bicheno from Newbury peat pits, but if it ever occurred there, which is very unlikely, it was only a casual plant ; Polycarpon tetraphyllum was never likely to have been seen ; Viola Cur- tisii- — a large flowered form of V. tricolor probable var. bella was mistaken for this species, which is a maritime plant ; Linum angustifolium — this was L. usitatissimum, the common flax, which occasionally occurs as a casual ; Geranium syhaticum, mistaken for G. pratense — the former does not reach so far south as Berkshire as a native plant ; Vicia Orobus — the pretty V. syhatica was doubtless the plant observed, but V. Orobus has been found in Hants ; Rosa villosa — all the Berkshire plants so named appear to be forms of R. tomentosa, which is synonymous with R. mollissima, Willd. ; Drosera anglica occurs in Hants but awaits confirmation for 31 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Berks, as D. longifolia (D. intermedia) was probably mistaken for it ; Chrysosplenium alternifolium, but the reported locality was on the Buck- inghamshire side of the river at Cliveden, and the plant was possibly C. oppositifolium ; Sedum Forsteri was a small form of the introduced S. rejiexum ; Peucedanum officinale was probably Silaus pratensis — it is certainly an error ; Cicuta virosa, perhaps confused with Conium ; Rubia peregrina — possibly Asperula was mistaken for this plant, which is never found so far inland. Cnicus heterophyllus — the form of C. pratensis with leaves more deeply cut was the plant seen ; Crepis paludosa — this is not found so far south in a native condition, forms of C. wrens being doubt- less mistaken for it ; Melampyrum arvense, M. syhaticum and M. cristatum — probably all of these were forms of M. pratense, which is a variable species ; Orobanche purpurea — the purple flowered form of 0. Trifolium- pratense (O. minor) was the plant seen ; Euphorbia platyphyllos has some chance of being correct, it appears to be a decreasing species ; Allium Scorodoprasum was only large A. vinea/e ; Habenaria albida was white flowered H. conopsea ; Cephalanthera ensifotia, but probably a form of C. pallens, which is a frequent plant of the beech woods of the Berkshire downs, was mistaken for it ; Potamogeton gramineum (heterophyllus) was probably a form of P. polygonifolius ; and Carex arenaria and C. CEderi, the first being probably C. disticba, the latter a small form of C. flaw. In addition to the above there are also a few species which I have been unable to discover in the reported stations, and respecting which some mistake of identification may be suspected or the plant may have been extirpated. They are Lathyrus palustris, recorded by Blackstone from woods in the neighbourhood of Abingdon and possibly by Miller from the neighbourhood of Windsor, and these may have been correct, unless Lathyrus montanus, which does occur in these localities, was mis- taken for the marsh pea ; Rosa pimpinellifolia, so far as the Wellington College plant is concerned, is a form of the sweet brier, and the other records have never been corroborated ; Pyrus scandica may be refound unless a form of P. Aria was really observed instead of the plant we now know as P. rotundifolia var. decipiens ; Tillcea muscosa may possibly have been correctly named and be again found ; Antennaria dioica has been found on the Oxfordshire Chilterns and we may expect it in Berks, but if it occurs it must be very locally ; Arctium tomentosum — possibly a cottony form of A. minus may have been confused with it, but a plant so named said to have been brought from Bagley Wood was at one time cultivated in the Oxford Botanic Garden, but whether this is identical with the Bagley Wood plant is not absolutely clear ; Filago gallica — the Buckinghamshire locality of Iver Heath was probably confused with this county ; Ajuga Cbamcepitys occurs in Surrey, and so may reward the searcher in this county ; Stacbys germanica — an Oxfordshire locality (Ducklington) was by mistake referred to Berkshire ; and Calamagrostis lanceolata was probably C. efigeios, as the synonymy of these two species was much confused, and Dr. Lightfoot's record for Windsor Park may have meant C. epigeios, which still grows there. 32 BOTANY In addition there are a few alien species which I have not been able to verify, although they are probably correctly identified, namely Anemone apennina, Isatis — the woad was formerly cultivated about Want- age ; Silene conica, which I have seen as a casual in Oxfordshire at Goring ; S. quinquevulnera, Pyrus germanlca — the medlar occurs in a wild state in the Oxfordshire hedges, but very rarely ; Doronicum plantagineum and Polemonium were garden escapes ; Chenopodium Botrys, a mere casual ; and Aristolochia Clematitis — the Oxfordshire locality at Godstow is just on the Berkshire border, and the Reading locality has apparently been lost. Among the native species which have become so scarce as to elude my observations are Lythrum Hysoppifolia ; Tordylium maximum ; Crepis fcetida, if indeed this was not mistaken for C. taraxacifolia ; Damasonium Alisma, which is a decreasing species in the Thames province ; Dryopteris Thelypteris^ which may possibly be refound ; and the two club-mosses, Lycopodium clavatum and Selago) are likely to still occur in some portion of the Kennet or Loddon districts. Two plants, Tordylium maximum, which formerly certainly grew near Windsor but probably on the Buckinghamshire side of the Thames only, and is not now to be found there or in its Berkshire locality near Frilford, and the monkey orchid (Orchis Simia) may be put in the category of extinct species, and it is most sincerely to be hoped that the list of extinctions will not be enlarged in the immediate future. A few statistics on the comparative distribution of the Berkshire plants in Great Britain may not be unwelcome. Mr. H. C. Watson in the first edition of Topographical Botany (ii. 665-710) gives a comitial census of British plants which shows in a tabular form their comparative distribution. It must be borne in mind that the census numbers there given are now much too small, as many additions have been made since the publication of that work. It must also not be overlooked that these census numbers, while useful to show the distribution of a species through Britain, give no idea of the relative frequency of the species ; but adopting the list of species there given, with the specific limitations as made by Mr. Watson, we find that — Of the 368 species, which in that work are stated to be found in from 80 to 110 counties and vice-counties of Great Britain, all occur in Berkshire. Of the 127 species found in from 70 to 80 counties and vice-counties, two inland species, Sparganium natans and Eriophorum vaginatum, are not actually known to grow in Berkshire, but Dr. Eyre de Crespigny in the London Flora has stated that the latter occurs at Sunningwell, and a renewed search may possibly put its occurrence in our county beyond doubt. Of the 1 17 species recorded as occurring in from 60 to 70 counties, Berkshire has 108, the four missing inland species being Empetrum nigrum, Cystopteris fragilis, Polypodium Dryopteris (Phegopteris Dryopteris) (which occurs in woods on the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Chil- terns, may yet be found), and Cbrysosplenium alternifolium. The five 1 33 5 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE maritime species are not likely to occur, and in future the maritime species will not be considered in this summary. Of the 103 species which are recorded for 50 to 60 counties Berk- shire has 8 1, n of the missing species being maritime. The 9 inland species not recorded for the county on recent or trustworthy authority are the cranberry (Oxy coccus quadripetala, the Vaccinium Oxy coccus of Linnasus), which may possibly occur in the bogs of the southern part of the county. The throat- wort (Campanula latifolia), a very local plant in southern Britain, occurs in Bucks, but from its being so conspicuous is scarcely likely to have eluded observation ; and the sweet cicely (Myrrhis Odoratd) is chiefly found in northern Britain, and there as a somewhat questionable native ; and the pond-weed (Potamogeton gramlneum (P. heterophyllus] may yet possibly be found in some of the large sheets of ornamental water. The other absentees, Viola lutea, Tbalictrum minus, Trollius, Geranium sanguineum, Prunus Padus and Vaccinium Vitis-idaea, are perhaps with occasional exceptions, as the bird cherry, northern plants or natives of mountainous districts, or, as in the case of the bloody cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum), of rocky limestone places or sand dunes. Of the 1 06 species stated to occur in from 40 to 50 counties, Berkshire has 79. Of the missing ones, 13 are maritime species ; one of them however, the grass Sclerochloa (Panicularia) distant, being occa- sionally found inland. The other absentees are chiefly plants of northern Britain or are mountainous species, such as the stone bramble (Rubus saxa- tilis]. The Alpine club-moss (Lycopodium alpinum) is found in Hampshire and Gloucestershire, and being in southern England a very local species may with Habenaria albida, which occurs but rarely on the southern chalk downs, possibly be found, and there is even greater probability of adding the round leaved mint (Mentha rotundifolia], the great sundew (Drosera anglicd] and the sedge (Carex diandra = C. teretiuscula) to our list. Of the 89 species recorded from 30 to 40 counties Berkshire has 57. Of the 35 missing ones 15 are maritime, and 9 are nothern species which do not reach so far south as Berkshire, while the green spleenwort (Asplenium viride) is a fern inhabiting damp rocky places. The practical absence of the burnet rose (Rosa pimpinellifolid) accounts for the non- occurrence of Rosa Sabini and other members of the irrvoluta group, since these are now to be considered to be hybrids of R. pimpinellifolia with jR. canina or members of that group. There is some remote possibility of one or other of the following being found : Linum angustifolium, Pyrola media, Pulmonaria, Ma/axis paludosa, the two latter being found in the New Forest ; and Ma/axis should be well searched for in the sphagnum bogs of the Loddon district, Carex filiformis also occurring in the Hamp- shire bogs, and the reed grass (Arundo Calamagrostis = Galamagrostis lanceolata), a local grass, in damp woods. Of the 103 species recorded from 20 to 30 counties Berkshire has only 51, but of the 52 missing ones 14 are maritime, and 21 are 34 BOTANY northern species. Of the remaining plants, Scirpus Savii (S, nanus) and Rubia are rarely found inland ; Impatient Noli-tangere is not native so far south ; and Arenaria verna itself is a plant of mountainous situations, al- though a variety called Gerardi occurs on the rocks of Kynance Cove in Cornwall ; Cicuta is very local and chiefly found in East Anglia, and Sparganium minimum is very local in southern Britain. The remaining absentees, of which one or two may yet be added to our list, are Cardamine impatiens (found in Surrey), Vicia Orobus (found in Hants), Campanula patula (also in Hants, and as a casual in Berks), Andromeda recorded on very old authority for Bucks), Pinguicula lusitanica (a western species falling short of Berks), Symphytum tuberosum (recorded for Surrey and Beds), Euphorbia platyphylla, Salix acuminata (now regarded as hybrid), Gastridium, Lastrea eemula, and Hymenophyllum tunbridgense (the latter, although found at Tunbridge Wells, is not likely to occur, as we have no damp rocks such as those on which it finds a home). We now come to the more local British species, and in order to save space we shall now enumerate, not the absentees, but the plants which occur in Berkshire, and are found in from 15 to 20 counties or vice-counties of Britain. Of the 75 species found in from 15 to 20 counties Berkshire possesses Anemone Pulsatilla, Fumaria Boreei, F. confusa, F. parvifolia, F. pallidiflora, F. muralis, Polygala vu/garis, Viola tricolor, Geranium rotundi- folium, Medicago denticulata (casual), Epilobium tetragonum, Galium elongatum, G. erectum, G. syhestre, (Enantbe silaifolia, Cineraria (Senecio) campestris, Filago apiculata, F. spatbulata, Linaria repent, Stachys ambigua (now con- sidered to be a hybrid), Chenopodium Jicifolium, Stratiotes Aloides, Fritillaria, Orchis incarnata, Apera Spica-"uenti and Lycopodium inundatum. Of these the census numbers for 'Polygala vu/garis, Orchis incarnata, Viola tricolor and some others are much too low. Of the 99 species found in from 10 to 14 countries we have Helleborus feetidus, Iberis amara, Draba brachycarpa (Eropbila prcecox), Polygala calcarea, Ulex nanus (U. minor), Erodium moschatum, Barkhausia (Crepis] faetida (?), B. (C.) taraxacifolia (now rapidly spreading over Eng- land), Crepis biennis (a colonist), 'Taraxacum erytbrospermum (now con- sidered to be only a variety of the common dandelion), Hieracium rigidum (not the type), Asperugo procumbens (as casual), Villarsia nympbpbczoides (Limnantbemum peltatum), Teucrium Scordium, Potamogeton zosterifolius (P. compressum), Carex Bcenningbausiana (now considered to be a hybrid of C. remota and paniculata), C. elongata, Actinocarpus (Damasonium Alisma) (not recently found), and Agrostis setacea. Of the 307 very local plants found in 9 or fewer counties, we possess Ranunculus intermedius (with some doubt), Adonis (as a casual), Viola lactea, Fumaria Vaillantii, Diantbus prolifer (Tunica prolif era], Elatine Hydropiper, Tblaspi perfoliatum (casual), Pyrus scandica, Rosa agrestis (sepium), Epilobium lanceolatum, Caucalis latifolia (as a casual), Ly thrum Hyssopjfolia, Tordylium (probably extinct), Gentiana germanica, Verbascum Lycbnitis, Illecebrum verticillatum, Ballota ruderalis (now considered to be a 35 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE variety only of B.fcetidd), Calamintha Nepeta, Daphne Mezereum, Polygonum dume forum, Asarum (?), Orchis Simla (? extinct), Ornithogalum pyrenalcum, Orchis mllitarls^ Leucojum eestivum, and Potamogeton compressum (P. Friesii) . In the two groups mentioned last there are several species which have much too low census numbers, and among these we may mention Crepls taraxaclfolla and C. biennis, Ulex minor ( U. nanus] , Eropbila prcecox, Potamogeton compressum (P. zosterifolius, P. Friesii (P. compressum) and Polygala calcarea, Of the 58 species said to be limited to a single county in Topogra- phical Botany we have not a single example, for Rosa septum (R. agrestls] has now been found in several, but I have discovered one endemic species limited to Berkshire, namely Potamogeton Drucei, Fryer, which is as yet known from no other locality in the world. If we compare the flora of Oxfordshire with that of Berkshire we shall find that the two counties are more dissimilar than their contiguity and physical characters would have led one to expect. Oxfordshire possesses a few interesting species not known to occur in Berkshire, and which are chiefly round on the oolite and forest marble, geological formations which do not extend into Berkshire. These species are Thlaspl pe rfo/iafum, only found as an introduced plant by the railway near Denchworth in Berkshire ; the limestone polypody (Phegopterls calcarea) and the spider orchid (Ophrys aranifera), very rare; the green hound's tongue (Cynoglossum. montanum) ; the woundwort (Stacbys germanlcd) ; and the meadow sage (Safola pratensis] , but this is found in solitary examples in Berkshire and possibly may be introduced. The once extensive fen district of Otmoor in Oxford has yielded three species not known in Berkshire, namely the marsh sowthistle (Sonchus palustrls) , the fen violet (Viola per sl- ccefolia) and the marsh dock (Rumex limosus), but the two latter have not been met with recently. The Oxfordshire Chilterns have the sword- leaved helleborine (Cephalanthera ensifolia), the oak fern (Phegopterls Dryopteris) and the mountain cat's-foot (Antennaria dlolca), but all three are excessively local in Oxfordshire. Potamogeton declplens, Rubus PoiveHii, R. fusco-ater, Teucrlum Chamcedrys, Aristolochla and Fesfuca hetrophylla. The last three species more or less naturalized in Oxford- shire are either not recorded or, as in the case of the birthwort, recorded only on very old authority for Berkshire. A few local plants are more plentiful in Oxfordshire than in Berk- shire ; among them are Helleborus fcetidus, H. viridis, Cnicus eriophorus and Colchicum, which are not only more frequent but have a wider dis- tribution in Oxfordshire than in Berkshire. Pyrola minor, which is widely distributed in the woods of the Oxfordshire Chilterns, appears to be absent from similar woods on the Berkshire side of the Thames, though it is found in two localities on the Bagshot sands in the latter county. The Berkshire flora, as will have been seen by the enumeration already given, is larger than that of Oxfordshire, the extensive heaths and bogs 36 BOTANY of the former county affording a home for many additional species. To this category of ericetal and uliginal plants belong Ranunculus Lenormandi, Sagina subulata, Drosera rotundifolia (formerly grew on bogs in Oxfordshire but now extirpated by drainage), D. longifolia (D. intermedia], Hypochceris glabra, Gentiana Pneumonantbe, Myosotis repens, Illecebrum iierticillatum, Myrica Gale, Narthecium ossifragum, Scirpus ctzspitosus, Carex elongata, C. elata (C. stricta=C. Hudsonii], C. Icevigata, Agrostis setacea, Osmunda, Pbegopteris polypodioides, Pilularia globulifera and Lycopodium inundatum. Arnoseris, which is a plant sometimes found in sandy cornfields recently reclaimed from heath vegetation, is another interesting species. A few maritime or semi-maritime species occur in a meadow near Marcham, in which there is a saline spring, namely Buda media, Juncus Gerardi, Scirpus maritimus and Zannicbellia pedicellata. We have also Tunica prolifera (Diantbus prolifer], Stellaria umbrosa, Fumaria muralis, Elatine hexandra, E. Hydropiper, Impatiens bijiora, Myriopbyllum alternifolium, Epilobium lanceo- latum, Cer-vicina (Wahlenbergia) bederacea, Utricularia minor, Verbascum Lycbnitis, Erigeron canadense, Myosotis syhatica, Polygonum dumetorum, Crocus vernus, Ornitbogalum pyrenaicum, Allium oleraceum, Potamogeton Drucei, P. obtusifolius, P. coloratus, Carex Bcenningbausiana, Apera Spica- venti, Poa Cbaixii, Tolypella glomerata and Nitella translucens. The bramble flora of Berks is also very rich, and Rubus sulcatus, R. nessensis (R, suberectus), R. Colemanni, R. lentiginosus, R. mercicus var. bracteatus, R. Questierii and several others with the above species are not recorded for Oxfordshire. I may also state that the following species which have been recorded for Oxfordshire have now either become extinct through drain- age and cultivation or are so rare as to have eluded my observation in that county, although I have found them in Berkshire, namely Anemone Pul- satilla, Ranunculus sardous (R. hirsutus], Dianthus Armeria, Viola palustris, Trifolium subterraneum, Potentilla argentea, Carduus pycnocephalus (C. tenui- ftorus] , Pulicaria vu/garis, Gentiana campestris, Ecbinodorus ranunculoides, Carex strigosa, Juncus squarrosus, Salix repens, Equisetum syhaticum, Ryncbospora alba, Cerastium quaternellum (Mcencbia), Dryopteris montana (Lastrea Oreop- teris], Herminium, Orobanche Rapum-genistez and Teucrium Scordium. There are several species which are extremely rare in Oxfordshire, being confined to a few localities, but have a much wider range and are much more abundant in Berkshire, and these give a different aspect to the country in which they grow, especially the ericetal species such as Vaccinium Myrtillus, Erica cinerea, E. Tetralix, Calluna, Scutellaria minor, Genista anglka, Molinia varia, Carex binervis and Solidago Virgaurea, Other heath loving species are Centunculus, Millegrana, Scirpus fluitans, Viola lactea, Antbemis nobilis, Plantago Coronopus, Rhamnus Frangula, Nardus stricta and Potamogeton polygonifolius. The Solomon's seal (Poly- gonatum multiflorum) is very rare in Oxfordshire but is widely distributed, and a very beautiful feature in the woods of the centre and south of Berkshire, and the pendulous sedge (Carex pendula] is abundant in Wytham Woods in the north of the county. The beautiful snowflake (Leucojum cestivum) is an example of a riverside species which is more 37 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE frequent in Berkshire, where it is known as the Loddon lily ; but if the unrestricted rooting up of this charming ornament from our rivers is allowed to persist, the plant will meet with a similar fate to that which it has met with in the neighbouring county. The poisonous waterdrop- wort (CEnantbe crocafa), which is absent from the greater part of Oxford- shire and is very rare in its restricted range, is an abundant and conspicu- ous feature in Berkshire south of the Kennet. The small shepherd's rod (Dipsacus pilosus) is also rather more frequent in Berkshire, while Mercurialis annua and Antirrhinum Orontium, both very rare in Oxford- shire, are found, the former in plenty in garden ground near Bisham, the latter also frequently in cultivated soils in the Kennet and the Loddon districts. Comparing the flora of Berkshire with that of Buckinghamshire it will be found a few plants which occur in the latter county are unre- corded for Berkshire ; among these are the great earth-nut (Carum Bul- bocastanuni) ; the limestone polypody (Phegopteris calcarea = P. Robertiana) ; the oak fern (P. Dryopteris) ; the milk parsley (Peucedanum palustre), but this may have been planted ; the sedge (Carex montana), and the fern (Lastrea uliginosa). Besides the foregoing a few species have been recorded for Bucking- hamshire but on very unreliable authority, and in one or two cases they are certainly erroneous ; none of these are known to grow in Berkshire. They are Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Melampyrum cristatum, Filago gallica, Aceras anthropophora, Orchis purpurea, Campanula patula (casual in Berks only) and Utricularia intermedia, but the two last named are almost cer- tainly mistakes for C. rapunculoides and U. major (U.neglecta) respectively. The flora of Buckinghamshire is less perfectly known, so that Berkshire has a large number of plants not at present recorded for the larger county, but it is probable that the flora of Buckinghamshire is numerically inferior to that of Berkshire. In comparison with Surrey the flora of Berkshire will be found to be rather poorer in the number of its recorded species. The principal species which have not been found by me in Berkshire but which have been reported from Surrey are Barbarea stricta, Cardamine impatiens, Cerastium pumilum, C. tetrandum, Linum angustifolium, Trifolium glomeratum, T. ochroleucon, Lathyrus hirsutus, Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Epilobium Lamyi, Bupleurum fa/cafum, B. tenuissimum, Hieracium surrejanum, Senecio viscosus, Centaurea Calcitrapa, Lactuca Scariola, Phyteuma orbiculare, Cam- panula latifolia, C. patula (casual in Berks), Oxycoccos, Cynoglossum mon- tanum, Symphytum tuber osum (? native), Orobancbe Picridis, Mentha rotundi- folia, Teucrium Botrys, Chenopodium glaucum, Rumex limosus, Buxus (extinct as a native plant in Berks), Ma/axis, Cephalanthera ensifolia, Orchis pur- pur ea, Aceras, Scilla autumnalis (? extinct), Sparganium affine (S, natans, auct. var.), Potamogeton gramineum (P. heterophyllus], P. decipiens, P. Zizii (P. angustifolius], P. acutifolius, P. trichoides, Cyperus fuscus (? native), Scirpus Tabernamontanus, S. carinatus, S. triqueter, Eriphorum vaginatum, E. gracile, Rynchospora fusca, Carex diandra (C. teretiuscula], C. depauperata 38 BOTANY (C. 'ventricosa], C. Jiava var. cyperoides, C. Jiliformis, Homalocenchrus (Leersia}, Gastridium, Deschampsia discolor (D. setacea), Bromus madritensis, Equisetum litorale (a hybrid) , E. hyemale, Char a aspera and Nitella gracilis. In addition to this somewhat lengthy list there are several brambles of which we lack records for Berkshire but which occur in Surrey, and the two following species although recorded for Surrey appear to need confirmatory evidence, namely Opbrys aranifera and Calamagrostis lanceolata. Berkshire possesses a few species which are not, so far as I am aware, recorded for Surrey : Anemone Pulsatilla, Tunica prolifera, Astragalus danicus, Geum rrvale, G. intermedium (a hybrid), Senecio squalidus, Carduus pycnocepbalus, Cnicus eriopborus, Gentiana gfrmanica, G. campestris, Linaria repens, Pinguicula -vulgaris, Mentha Cardiaca, Teucrium Scordium, Illecebrum •verticil latum, Leucojum (estfoum, Ornitbogalum pyrenaicum, Potamogeton coloratus (P. plantagineus], P. Drucei, Zannichellia maritima, Eleocbaris uniglumis, Car ex elata (C. stricta), C. distant, Poa Cbaixii, Phegopteris polypodioides, Tolypella prolifera, T. intricata and Nitella mucronata. In comparing the flora of Berkshire with that of its bordering county of Hampshire, I omit the plants peculiar to the Isle of Wight because Mr. Watson makes that island a separate vice-county, nor do I enumerate the maritime species which the extensive coast line of Hamp- shire affords. The large sylvan tract of the New Forest affords several species which are not found in Berkshire, and we do not possess as native plants the following species : Ranunculus tripartitus (this may occur), R. ophioglossifolius (?), Viola persiccefolia, Silene nutans (casual in Berks), S. quinquevulnera, Cerastium pumilum, Linum angustifolium, Trifolium glomeratum, Vicia Orobus, Latbyrus palustris (? in Berks), Tilia parvifolia (T. cor data], Pyrus scandica (P. rotundifolia var. decipiens] , Rosa leucocbroa, R. pimpinelli- fo/ia, Cbrysosplenium alternifolium, Till&a muscosa (? in Berks), Drosera ang/ica, Ludwigia apetala (Isnardia palustris) , (Enanthe pimpinelloides, Senecio viscosus, Centaurea Calcitrapa, Gnapbalium luteo-album, Pbyteuma orbiculare, Campanula patula (casual in Berks), Oxycoccos, Microca/a, Pulmonaria angustifo/ia, Bartsia viscosa, Rbinantbus major, Utricularia intermedia, Pin- guicula lusitanica, Veronica spicata (??), M. pratensis, M. gentilis (?), Mentha rotundifolia, Melittis Melissophyllum, Stachys germanica, Rumex limosus, Salix acuminata (hybrid), S. laurina, S. pentandra (??), Herniaria hirsuta (? colo- nist), Ma/axis, Gyrostacbis (Spiranthes] cestivalis, Listera cor data, Acer as (?), Orchis bircina (extinct), Opbrys aranifera, Melampyrum cristatum, M. arvense, Gladiolus, Polygonatum officinale, Sparganium minimum, Potamogeton gramineum (P. beteropbyllus], P. decipiens, Cyperus fuscus, Eriopborum vagina turn, E. gracile, Rynchospora fuse a, Cladium, Car ex diandra (C. teretiuscula), C. limosa, C. humilis, C. montana, C.jia'ua var. cyperoides, C. filiformis, Homalocenchrus (Leersia) Gastridium, Deschampsia discolor (D. setacea), Bromus madritensis, Lycopodium alpinum, Chara connivens and C. aspera. The following plants are not likely to grow in Berkshire from the fact of their usually occurring near the sea, although occasionally found inland : Cerastium tetrandrum, Trifolium sujfocatum, Lotus hispidus, Rubia, 39 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Scirpus nanus, S. cernuus, Carex punctata, Cyperus longus and Scirpus Taberncemontanus. Berkshire therefore lacks many plants possessed by Hampshire, but several are confined to the New Forest, others are limited to the neigh- bourhood of Fleet Pond and the bogs of the neighbourhood, while the southern chalk downs afford Carex bumilis and Phyteuma orbiculare not yet detected on our chalk range. There are reported for Berkshire, on the other hand, several species which do not appear to be recorded for the larger county. The chief of these are Anemone Pulsatilla, Sisymbrium Sophia, Roripa syhestris (Nasturtium syhestre), Eropbila prcecox, Geranium rotundifolium, Astragalus danicus, Callitriche polymorpha, Crepis biennis, C. fcetida (?), Pimpinella major, Rosa agrestis (R. septum], R. glauca, Limnan- themum peltatum (Villarsia), Verbascum Lychnitis, Mentba piperita, Teucrium Scordium, Galeopsis speciosa, Calamintba parvifolia (C. Nepeta), Illecebrum •uerticillatum, Orchis militaris, O. Simla (? extinct), Leucojum czstivum, Valerianella carinata, Senecio squalidus, Cbenopodium opulifolium, Ornithoga- lum pyrenaicum, Potamogeton coloratus (P. plantagineus], P. Drucei, P. com- pressum (P. zoster cefolius], P. prcelongus, Zannichellia maritima, Carex Baenninghausiana, Alopecurusfuhus, Festuca rubra var. fallax, Poa Chaixii, Tolypella intricata, T. glomerata and T. prolifera. Compared with the flora of Berkshire the flora of Wiltshire will be found to be considerably poorer in the number of recorded species, but Wiltshire has several plants which are not on authoritative record for our county. Those in square brackets however appear to require recent confirmation. The chief of these plants recorded for Wilts not pos- sessed by us are Ranunculus tripartitus (possibly in Berks), Cerastium pumilum, \Cardamine impatiens~\, Thlaspi perfoliatum (casual in Berks), Linum angustifolium, Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Cnicus tuberosus, (Enanthe piminelloides, Phyteuma orbiculare, Campanula latifolia, C. patula (casual in Berks), Orobanche Hedercz, Pinguicula lusitanica, Mentha rotundifolia, [M. pratensis], Melittis Melissophyllum, Asarum, Cephalanthera ensifolia, Ophrys aranifera, Polygonatum officinale [Potamogeton gramineum (heterophyllus]\, Cyperus longus, [Eriophorum vagina turn], Scirpus Tabernamontani, Carex digitata, C. humilis, C. tomentosa, [C. diandra (C. teretiuscu/a)], Bromus madritensis, Phegopteris calcarea and [Festuca syhatica~\. Berkshire has upwards of eighty species not recorded for Wiltshire. East Gloucestershire has several species which are either not recorded for or are extinct in Berkshire ; among these are Vicia Orobus, Rubus saxatilis, (Enanthe pimpinelloides, Mentha pubescens auct. angl. Cephalanthera rubra, C. ensifolia, Polygonatum officinale, Melittis Melissophyllum, Carex digitata, Lycopodium alpinum var. decipiens (L. complanatum var. fallax}, Carex tomentosa, Ranunculus ophioglossifolius (now extinct), Thlaspi per- foliatum (casual in Berks), Cerastium pumilum, Chrysosplenium alternifolium, Epilobium Lamyi (?), Campanula latifolia, Cynoglossum montanum, Mentha rotundifolia, Cystopteris fragilis and Phegopteris calcarea. The records of Linum angustifolium, Prunus Padus, Melica nutans, Eriophorum "vaginatum and Orobanche Hederce appear to need confirmation. 40 BOTANY The flora of east Gloucestershire is but imperfectly known, so that Berkshire possesses a very large number of species which are not recorded for it. Several of the Berkshire species are not likely to occur in Gloucestershire, nor are we at all likely to have as native plants many of the above species. The geological map of Berkshire shows that the outcrop of the several formations appears as a series of approximately parallel strips crossing the county from west to east, and the dip of the beds is to the south ; so that in travelling from north to south we pass continually on to more recent beds. For botanical purposes subdivisions of the county are essential, and following the practice adopted in the floras of the bordering counties, including my own Flora of Berkshire, these divisions are based, not upon soils or geological formations, but upon river drainage, as by many authorities the latter leads to the most valuable scientific results. Much however is said in favour of choosing divisions based upon the geological formations, but the extent to which these are obscured by surface deposits negatives to a great extent its value, the influence of the surface soil being infinitely more powerful than the bed rock far below. We shall find however that the divisions based upon the river drainage in such a small area as the one we are treating of is by no means perfectly satisfactory for several reasons, among which may be named the difficulty in suggesting boundaries when the gradient is so small as that which occurs in some places, while the fact that some of our streams run transversely to the geological formations, and not unfre- quently cut through several beds of extremely different character, also give results which may perplex the student of phyto-geography. In passing we may mention that the oldest and most northern geological formation represented in the county is that of the Oxford Clay, which, as will be seen from the map, occurs on a narrow strip of low-lying land, chiefly pasture, a mile or two across, which borders the southern bank of the Thames from Lechlade to Botley, and it also stretches in the west from Lechlade to Coleshill and on the east as far south as to Iffley. It offers no exceptional plant vegetation, but the graceful sedge (Carex pendula) is very abundant on it in Wytham Woods, the Cyperus grass (Scirpus sylvaticus) is plentiful in one locality, and the horsetail (Equisetum maximum) is also frequent at its junction with the coralline oolite in several localities. Plants which are exceptionally common on it are a groundsel (Senecio erucifolius] , the teasel (Dipsacus syfoesfris), the hard rush (Juncus glaucus) the ox tongue (Picris Echioides), the knapweed (Centaurea nigrd) and the fleabane (Pulicana dysenterica), but these also reappear on the other impervious formations. Next in order are the Corallian Beds, which afford a valuable soil, sandy or rubbly, but always porous and warm according as sand or lime- stone forms the bed rock. On the south these beds can be traced trom Shrivenham and Faringdon eastwards in a belt about 3 miles wide as far as Abingdon. At Wytham they form a picturesque outlier which rises to a height of 538 feet, and give a home, the most northerly in the i 4i 6 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE county, for the calcareous loving species, the broad-leaved helleborine (Cephalanthera palkns) and the yellow birds'-nest (Hypopitys Monotropa). The stone-crop (Sedum dasyphylluni) is abundant on many of the village walls built of this coral rag, and the navel-wort (Cotyledon Umbilicus) (once an abundant species on the walls of Oxford) also occurs and appears to be limited to this formation. The traveller's joy (Clematis Vitalbd), the hoary-headed thistle (Cnicus eriopborus], the grasses Avena pubescent, A. pratensis, Bromus erectus, Brachypodium pinnatum, the hairy violet (Viola birta), the salad burnet (Poterium Sanguisorba), the field chickweed (Cerastium arvense), the round-leaved cranesbill (Geranium rotundifolium), the hawk's beard (Picris Hieracioides) , the gromwell (Litbo- spermum officinale] and the milk licorice (Astragalus glycyphyllus) are characteristic plants. Several very local species are found on it, including such well known calcareous loving xerophytes as these hygrophilous species are called, such as the pasque flower (Anemone Pulsatilla), the trefoil (Tri- folium scabrum), the flix-weed (Sisymbrium Sophia), the sandwort (Arenaria tenuifolia), the small-headed thistle (Carduus pycnocephalus var. tenuiflorus), the cotton thistle (Onopordon Acanthium), the lesser calamint (Calamintba parvifolia], the burnt orchid (Orchis ustulata), the rusty-back spleen wort (Ceterach officinarum) and the maiden- hair spleenwort (Asplenium Tricho- manes) . In some instances, especially on the eastern side of the Berkshire Corallian Beds, small streams have cut their way down through the lime- stone to the impervious Oxford Clay, and marshes and bogs of a very interesting character may then be seen, such as that at Cothill and those on the Boar's Hill range, where many original species may be found, including a pond weed (Potamogeton coloratus) not known to grow else- where in the county. The next belt is formed by the Kimeridge Clay, and consists of flat and unpicturesque country, with a stiff, cold, damp soil. It is from i to 3 miles broad. Many large fields, separated from each other by watery ditches, are found to occupy a considerable portion of the formation, which owing to its soil, and to its being almost entirely under cultivation, is very poor in botanical features. In addition to the plants mentioned as being plentiful on the Oxford Clay, we may allude to the prevalence of the two willow herbs Epilobium hirsutum and E. parmforum, and the water parsnip (Apium nodiflorum) in the watery ditches. The occurrence of drift gravels does something to relieve the monotony of its surface and flora, and at Bagley an extensive woodland tract already mentioned occurs which has several very interesting botanical features, including the ivy-leaved campanula (Cenncina [Wablenbergia] hederacea). The crimson grass-leaved vetchling (Lathyrus Nissolia) is found at the junction of the Kimeridge with the Corallian Beds, and the everlasting pea (L. syhestris] is locally common, as on the Boar's Hill range. One locality of special interest in the Kimeridge Clay area is a detached patch forming the meadows near Marcham. Here a spring rises from the junction of the Kimeridge with the Corallian Beds, and 42 BOTANY its water is loaded with a sufficient percentage of chloride of sodium to exert a considerable influence upon the surrounding vegetation, so that several maritime or sub-maritime plants occur in this inland situation. They are the sea sandwort (Buda marina), the sea club-rush (Scirpus mari- timus), a rush (Juncus Gerardi], a sedge (Carex distant], \he celery (Apium graveolens), the water dropwort ((Enanthe Lacbenalii], and a horned pond- weed (Xannichellia maritima], the X.pedunculata, Reichb., of my Berkshire Flora. In addition to these there are forms of Atriplex deltoidea and of Agrostis alba, which resemble the marine forms of these plants. THE PORTLAND BEDS exist only as a small outlier on which the village of Bourton is built, and the formation does not exhibit any special plants. THE LOWER GREENSAND occupies a much less continuous belt than the formations already alluded to, as in places it is overlapped by the gault. The outlier of Boar's Hill, where it reaches its highest point in the county of 535 feet on Pickett's Heath, Faringdon Clumps and Badbury Hill in the west of the county are capped by the formation, and there are some picturesque cliffs of it at Clifton Hampden. These detached areas of the Lower Greensand form a light sandy soil, and offer a home for many interesting and local species. The bramble flora especially is as rich as it is poor on the Oxford Clay and Gault. The crimson poppy (Papaver hybnduni), the pink (Tunica prolifera), the English catchfly (Silene anglicd), the sheep's scabious (Jasione montand), the heaths Galluna and Erica cinerea, the climbing bindweed (Polygonum dumetorum) and many other species are found on it. The Lower Greensand contrasts very markedly in the character of the scenery from that of the Oxford Clay and Gault, which is further accentuated by the fact that the flora itself is so very different in appearance. THE GAULT forms another zonal band, i to 3 miles in width, across the county, and consists of a blue clay which is usually calcareous and often micaceous. It forms a stiff, heavy and rather cold soil, which were it not for a few deposits of drift would be a singularly undiversified country, either as regards its scenery or its vegetation. The sparsity of woodland is an especially noticeable feature, and accounts for the absence of many sylvan species from the district. The ragwort (Senecio tenuiflorus) is a conspicuous plant, and the willow herb (Epilobium tetragonunf), and a hybrid of this with E. parviflorum occur. The marshy meadows afford the orchid (Orchis incarnata) and the bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliate?) . THE UPPER GREENSAND occupies a belt which narrows, from 5 or 6 miles at Wittenham, till it almost thins out at Woolstone, and forms a steep terraced escarpment to the south of the Gault plain. The upper part is calcareous, and also contains occasionally phosphatic matter ; therefore the soil is very fertile, which is further increased by the supply of marly debris which every shower washes down from the chalk escarpment and spreads over its surface. The flora is consequently much more varied than that of the Gault. About twenty miles south 43 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE of the main outcrop a small outlier is found at the base of Riever Hill, on which the village of Shalbourn is built. The richer and more fertile country afforded by this formation is plainly shown from the high chalk hills of Walbury Camp and the White Horse. The mouse-tail (Myosurus minimus), the hone-wort (Corum segetum) and the grass Bromus interruptus are found on it, and it gives the most northerly home in the county for the water dropwort (QLnanthe crocata). In the streams which issue from the base of the chalk escarpment a pond-weed (Potamogeton densuni) is a prominent feature. The presence of calcareous matter in the soil is shown by the occurrence of such eminently gypsophilous plants as the traveller's joy (Clematis), the candy-tuft (Iberis amara), the grass Bromus erectus, the striped toadflax (Linaria repens), and the thistle (Cnicus elio- phorus. On the Upper Greensand hops are cultivated in small quantity near Didcot, and there are very extensive orchards of plums, cherries and other fruit. THE CHALK, like the last two formations, extends right across the county from i o to 12 miles broad, and rises above the vale of Berks in a long graceful escarpment, forming by far the most striking physical feature in the county. This escarpment is indented by numerous narrow winding valleys, most of which are dry, and as viewed from the vale of the White Horse it presents the appearance of a long alternation of bays and promontories, which give it a striking resemblance to a coast-line, but there can be no doubt that its outlines are the product of subaerial denudation and not of marine action. The Dorchester or Wittenham Clumps are two outliers of the chalk on the upper greensand, and Windsor Castle is built on an inlying boss. In addition to the main mass of the Chalk there is a second area to the south of the Kennet, but this, although apparently distinct, is really conterminous with the Chalk of the central plateau, the beds of which, in their gentle southern slope, dip under the tertiaries of the Kennet valley to reappear at a more abrupt angle, and then form the line of picturesque hills of which Walbury Camp, 957 feet above the sea level, is the highest point. The chalk is also present in the south-east of the county from Sonning to Maidenhead, but the eminences in this area are capped with London clay. Where chalk actually comes to the surface we find rolling downs overgrown by short turf, which forms excellent pasturage. Over con- siderable extent of county this has been removed, and then the arable fields show great quantities of the yellow flowered mustard (Brassica alba), here called charlock, and four species of fumitory (Fumaria) have been found, Fumaria officinalis, F. parvijiora, F. Vaillantii and F. densiflora, as well as the candy tuft (Iberis amara), the sainfoin (Onobrychis), the chicory (Cichorium), etc. The turf offers in profusion the beautiful blue flowers of the milkwort (Polygala calcarea), the pink flowered squinancy wort (Asperula cynanchica], the blue Canterbury bell (Campanula glomerata], the purple flowered gentians (Gentiana germanica and G. Amarella), and here too the writer was fortunate enough to discover a new hybrid of these species which he has named G. Pamplinii. There are also the field rag- 44 BOTANY wort (Senecio campestus], the parasitic Tbesium bumifusum, the eyebrights E. Kerneri, E. gracilis and E. nemorosa, the orchids Orchis ustu/afa, Herminium Monorcbis, Ophrys apifera and Habenaria viridis. The pasque flower (Anemone Pulsatilla] is local, but the horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) and the rock-rose (Helianthemum Chamcecistus] and the scabious (Scabiosa Columbaria) are abundant. In one locality the purple horseshoe vetch (Astragalus danicus] occurs. The grasses Bromus erectus, Bracby- podium pinnatum, Kaeleria, Avena pubescens and A. pratensis are common. The juniper is rather, and the bedstraw (Galium sy/vestre) very local. In the woods and hedges on the chalk we shall find the white-beam tree (Pyrus Aria], the buckthorn (Rbamnus catbarticus), the cornel (Cornus sanguinea), the wayfaring tree (Viburnum Lantana), the yew (Taxus baccata), the spurge laurels (Daphne Laureola and D. Mezereuni), the holly (Ilex Aquifolium)., and the beech is a prevailing tree. In and about these woods, especially on sunny banks, the violet (Viola hirtd) is a conspicuous feature, and in such places the rare orchids 0. Simla and 0. militaris have been found. The bear's foot and stinking hellebore (Helleborus viridis and H. faetidus] occur, and the orchids Ophrys muscifera, Epipactis vio/acea, Habenaria bifolia, Cephalanthera pallens and Neottia Nidus-avis grow as well as the yellow birds' nest (Monotropa], the poisonous deadly nightshade (Atropa Belladonna], the butcher's broom (Rascus acu/eatus), where it was first noticed as a British plant, the wood barley (Elymus europceus), the wall lettuce (Lactuca mura/is), the St. John's wort (Hypericum montanum), the tutsan (H. Androscemum) , the stinking gladdion (Iris fcetidissima] , and the wood-rush (Juncoides or Luzu/a Forsteri), as well as very locally the tooth-wort (Dentaria or Cardamine bulbifera), and the wood forget-me-not (Myosotis syhatica). This by no means exhausts the flora of the chalk formation, but such species are chiefly selected which appear to be influenced by the surface soil. Over a large portion of the county coloured as Chalk in the geological maps, and where chalk does exist at a moderate depth, the actual surface is overspread by a stiff red clay full of flints, known as ' clay with flints,' and this deposit gives to the soil and what grows upon it a different character from that which prevails where the chalk rises to the surface, and this too holds true of the deposits of the sandy clay known as ' brick-earth,' which also occurs over considerable areas. On these more impervious soils we find extensive tracts of woodland where the meadow saffron (Colchicum autumna/e), the spiked star of Bethlehem (Ornitbogalum pyrenaicum) and the Solomon's seal (Polygonatum multifloruni) are found. The dry valleys in the chalk country often contain a spurious gravel made up of broken flints, and sometimes a thin bed of clay spread over these troughs. In such situations the silvery leaved Potentilla Anserina is often very abundant, and may be seen for a considerable distance away. By walking across the belt of Chalk from Wantage to Newbury or UfEngton to Hungerford, or from Ilsley to Theale, the peculiar character of the Chalk formation can be well seen. The 45 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE northern portion is composed of grassy downs with softly curving out- lines, or of the more undulating tracts which have been brought under cultivation. Further south the chalk becomes covered with ' clay with flints ' and ' brick-earth,' and is often a woodland tract, and extensive heathlands prevail where the tertiaries are present, and boggy ground where these are impervious. From the base of the porous chalk copious streams of water issue, in which large quantities of water cress are grown. READING BEDS. The lowest tertiary strata found in Berkshire consist very largely of stiff clay, but also include beds of sharp sand and loams. These beds once formed an unbroken sheet extending over the whole of the chalk, but they have been largely swept away by denudation, and beyond their main mass a very large number of outliers testify that they had formerly a much wider range. They are now found scattered over a large area of southern Berk- shire, and are shown on the geological map. The varied soils formed by them necessarily give rise to a varied vegetation, which includes several local species, but as the beds are much broken up it would not be easy, even if desirable, to keep their flora apart from that of the other members of the tertiary beds. The extensive deposit of drift gravels with which they are often covered also increases the difficulty of keeping the flora of the ' Reading Beds ' distinct. One must content oneself by saying that where the * plastic clay ' is the pre- dominating surface, there plants which prefer an argillaceous soil will be found, so that the bladder sedge (Carex vesicaria) and the greater spear-wort (Ranunculus Lingua) appear in ponds on the clay of the ' bottom bed ' near Marlstone and Yattendon ; in Oare Woods the pale sedge (Carex pallescens) is to be found. South of Newbury, in ponds, the pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegiuni) occurs ; at the base of the Wargrave outlier is a marshy spot which gives a home for the tussock sedge (Carex pantcu/a fa), etc. On the sandy portions of the beds sand- loving arenaceous plants are necessarily found, such as the cudweed (Filago apiculata), the clovers Trifolium striatum and T. arvense, the bird's-foot (Ornitbopus perpusillus), the hawkweeds Hieracium boreale^ H. sciaphilum and H. umbellatum. The drift gravels which overlay these Reading Beds give a specially interesting flora, as from the absence of rich pasturage and the more exposed condition of the surface soils such local species as the cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea), the clovers T. scabrum, T. subterraneum, the pinks Dianthus Armeria and D. deltoides, the centaury (Erythrcea ramosis sima] , and the scabious (Jasione montana) are found, as well as a very varied bramble flora. THE LONDON CLAY is a thick mass of a bluish or greyish clay, which weathers brown on the surface, and has a broad outcrop in Berk- shire. The range of hills from Cold Ash Common to Mare's Ridges consists very greatly of this formation. There are several outliers north of the Kennet, such as the large area of Bucklebury Common, where the clay is much obscured by drift gravels. South of the Kennet the 46 BOTANY London Clay is much more continuous, especially from Crookham nearly to Reading. It also occupies a large area between Reading and Windsor. The country formed by it is often flat, but the well marked range of hills on the south near Binfield, Winkfield, Warfield and Snow Hill in Windsor Great Park belong to the same formation, and the hills of Ashley, Bowsey and Crazey, where the London Clay reaches 454 feet, its highest elevation in the county, although at their base are composed of the Reading Beds, are thickly covered by London Clay. These hills form striking objects which can be seen for many miles off, and are rendered more conspicuous and beautiful from their being covered with wood up to the top. Both Bowsey and Ashley Hills are capped with pebble gravel. This and other drift gravels make the vegetation of the London Clay more varied than it would otherwise be, and the old sylvan vegetation has contributed in turn to make it more extensive by the deposits of peaty growth with which it is sometimes overlaid, while its situation in many cases at the base of the Bagshot Beds again help to contribute to the variety of species. Instances of peat-loving species are the royal fern (Osmunda regalis] ; the sedges Carex elongata, C. elata (C. stricta), C. pulicaris, C. Pseudo-cyperus, C. echinata, etc. ; the sundews Drosera longifolia and D. rotundifolia ; the Lancashire asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum], and the deer's grass (Scirpus ccespitosus) . The combination of gravel overlying a peaty gravel is especially conducive to the occurrence of such plants as the all-seed (Millegrana Radiola], the chaffweed (Centunculus minimus], the lesser skull-cap (Scutellaria minor) and others. More distinctly argillaceous species are the grass Alopecurus fufous, the bur marigold (Bidens cernua), the knot grasses Polygonum minus and mite, the reed mace (Typba angustifolia), the orchid Orchis latifolia, and the sedges C. vesicaria and C. axillaris, THE BAGSHOT BEDS. In its upper part the London Clay grows sandy and passes into a very variable group, to which this name is given. It consists of alternations of sands, greensands, pebble beds and clays, and is subject to many local variations as it is traced from place to place. Its junction with the London Clay is marked by springs, the water of which has percolated through the porous Bagshots till it is thrown out by the impervious clay on which it rests, and in such places a bog is formed with a vegetation essentially dissimilar from the dry, porous and more elevated gravelly and sandy hillocks of the Bagshot sands, so that in a few steps one- passes from the heaths and their accompanying parasite the dodder, the dwarf furze, the brambles and hawkweeds and grasses Descbampsia Jiexuosa, Aira caryopbyllea, A. preecox, the foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), the St. John's wort (Hypericum pulcbrum] and the cudweed (Gnaphalium syfoaticum) to a sphagnum bog with its sundews, Lancashire asphodel, smaller skullcap, its sedges Ryncbospora alba, Scirpus ccespitosus, Juncus bulbosus (supinus), etc., and in the wettest portion we may see the bogbean (Menyantbes], the floating club rush (Scirpus Jiuitans) , the cotton grass (Eriopborum angustifolium), the sedge Carex rostrata, and the marsh St. John's wort (Hypericum Elodes). 47 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE The Bagshot Beds form the high grounds of Cold Ash Common, Hartshill and Bucklebury Commons. South of the Kennet they extend from Inkpen Common to Greenham and Crookham Commons, and the commons of Brimpton, Tadley, Silchester and Burghfield. Here a gap occurs owing to the denudation of these beds from the valley of the Loddon ; they reappear however near Risely Common, and the main mass rises up to form the beautiful Finchampstead Ridges, and covers a considerable tract of the country which extends from Wokingham and Sandhurst to Ascot racecourse, Sunninghill and the border of Virginia Water. The elevated ground of Cassar's Camp, Wickham Bushes, Easthampstead Plain, Tower Hill, etc., belong to the upper Bagshot sands, and are often covered with pebble drift. In the Windsor district the lower Bagshot Beds are to be seen about Cranbourn Lodge, and in the wood near the stream has cut itself through to the London Clay. A very interesting flora is to be found on the great tracts of heath- lands, pine woods, numerous and rather extensive bogs and open com- mons which is formed of the Bagshot Beds, but it is much too large to be quoted in full ; moreover, as has already been hinted, the occurrence of certain plants appears to be induced by the condition of porosity or imperviousness, by the presence or absence of peat or humus, by sun and wind exposure, by shade from sun or shelter from wind, and such physical causes, rather than by the various geological strata on which they grow, except inasmuch as these in themselves act as any of the above factors in plant distribution. The contrast between the country formed by these Bagshot Beds is however very marked from that of the more northern parts of the county. Instead of the rich meadows of the Oxford Clay and its oak woods, studded with primroses or blue with wild hyacinths, or the stone walls and houses of the Corallian Beds, or the flat uninteresting agrestal districts of the Kimeridge and Gault, or the gently undulating and fertile greensand, with its fields of blazing poppies and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), or the crisp turf of the chalk downs, redolent of thyme, with its maple and buckthorn hedges and its fields sometimes dazzlingly yellow with mustard, at other times white with corn camo- mile— instead of these we have an area to a great extent uncultivated, sometimes showing a golden coloured common owing to the abundance of the dwarf gorse (U/ex minor), or crimson with the heath (Erica cinerea), or amethystine with the heather (Calluna Erica). In other parts great tracts of sombre pine woods, showing on their borders the grass Agrostis setacea, an Atlantic species here perhaps in its most easterly situation ; or it may be we observe a shallow trough or valley, with somewhat sombre colouring, caused by the combination of the cross-leaved heath (Erica Tetralix) and the grass Molinia varia, among which grow the sweet gale (Myrica Gtf&),with here and there the sedge Carex echinata, the orchid O. ericetorum, the rich orange spikes of the Lancashire asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum), and the meadow thistle (Cnicus pratensis) . In drier and more exposed situations we may observe 48 BOTANY the dwarf willow (Sa/ix repens] or occasionally the gregarious bilberry (Vaccinium Myrtillus}. In other places monotonous tracts yielding little besides the sombre grass Molinia varia occur. In the short turf, especially of the riding through the pine woods where there is good sun exposure, we may pick the local Hypochaeris glabra, Teesdalia nudicaulis, or Ceras- tium quaternellum (Maencbia), and it will often be found studded with the beautiful blue flowers of Myosotis collina or the dainty Ornithopus perpusillus. Instead of the buckthorn of the chalk and limestone we have the genus represented here by the alder buckthorn (Rhamnus Frangula) ; instead of the oaks and elms and beech we have the pine, not indeed as a native but as a replanted tree. The Molinia grass replaces the wood barley (Elymus] and the Milium eff'usum of the chalk woods. The violets here are not the hairy and sweet violets (Viola hlrta and odorata) of the chalk and oolite, but V. palustris and V, lactea. Instead of the butterwort (Pinguicula)., the sedges Carex dioica, C. vulpina and C.fu/va, the orchid Epipactis palustris of the calcareous bogs, we have in this more acidulated peat water .the sundews Drosera rotundifolia and D. longifolia, the sedges Ryncbospora alba^ Scirpus ccespitosus^ Carex data and C. canescens, and the Lancashire asphodel (Nartbecium) . The pondweed Potamogeton polygonifolius here takes the place of P. natans, so common in the ponds north of the Kennet, while P. alpinus replaces P. prcelongus in the streams. In the northern bogs the cotton grass is usually Erio- phorum latifolium, in these it is E. angustifolium. The ponds in the north have usually a coarse vegetation in which Bidens tripartita is often fre- quent ; in these B. cernua is more likely to occur. Instead of the Charas C, fragi/is, C. bispida and C. contraria of the north, here they will probably be Nitella opaca or N. fexilis. The bottom of the northern pools are too muddy or are too much disturbed by cattle and domestic poultry to yield any interesting species, but in these comparatively undisturbed waters the very small and local plants Elatine hexandra or E. Hydropiper may occasionally be met with, or certainly a profuse growth of the shoreweed (Littorella), or perhaps the pillwort (Pilularia globuliferd] . Instead of the ferns the Ceterach or Asplenium Tricbomanes, we shall meet with Blecbnum and Dryopteris montana (Lastrea oreopteris) or perhaps Osmunda. But space prevents one extending these com- parisons, interesting and suggestive as the subject may be. The following species have as yet been found on no other of the formations : Illecebrum verticillatum, which was discovered by my young friend Mr. Fisher, and known elsewhere in Great Britain only from Devon and Cornwall ; the winter green (Pyrola minor] ; the beech fern (Pbegopteris polypodioides] , found by my lamented friend Mr. F. Tufnell ; the marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris) ; the marsh gentian (Gentiana Pneumonanthe) ; the swine's succory (Amoseris pusilla] ; the pillwort (Pilu- laria} ; the climbing fumitory (Capnoides [Coryda/is] claviculata] ; the club moss (Lycopodium inundatum) ; and the grass Agrostis setacea. The enumeration of the stratified rocks of Berkshire may be con- sidered to come to an end with the Bagshot Beds, using that term in a i 49 7 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE wide sense, so as to include the Bracklesham and Barton formations. Besides these formations however, as has been stated, the surface is much modified by deposits of POST TERTIARY AGE, which, unlike those already alluded to, may be distinguished as superficial deposits.1 Though nowhere reaching any great thickness, they are often thick enough to be the determining factors in fixing the character of the soil and of the plants that grow on it. This fact has been already mentioned. So that over each of our geological formations there is a considerable portion which differs essentially from the ' bed rock,' so that, for instance, on the high ground above Cumnor, Wytham and Bagley, the Corallian or Kimeridge beds are covered with a pebble drift, largely composed of quartzite, and which therefore must have been brought from long distances. In addition to these we have bordering our streams alluvial deposits made up of materials carried down by the streams, and dropped whenever a slackening of the current prevented the matter being carried further. They naturally vary in their character, and may be of gravel, loam, or of a clayey consistence, but their constituents must be similar to the river valley in which they are found. Thus, in the alluvial deposits of the Thames above Oxford the pebbles of the gravels are masses of the Jurassic rocks across which the river has run in the part of its course above that city, and the only foreign elements are such as are derived from gravels of an older date which may have been cut through and reasserted. On this alluvial deposit the vegetation will be much influenced by the composition of the gravel. If much limestone be present we may find, as near Yarnton, the orchid Orchis ustu/ata, growing in a rather unusual situation, and the bell flower (Campanula glomerata), lady's fingers (Anthyllis Fulneraria), the grass Bromus erectus, and ploughman's spikenard (Inula Conyza) may often be found in the gravels made up to a great extent of chalk fragments in the meadows near Windsor and Newbury. The sulphur wort (CEnanthe silaifolia), the water avens Geum rivale and its hybrid G. intermedium, the dock (Rumex maritimus), the snake's head (Fritillaria Me/eagris), the great burnet (Poterium qfficinale], the pearl wort (Sagina nodosa], the sedge Scirpus caricis, and the adder's tongue (Ophioglossum -vulgatum) are characteristic species of the alluvium. The high-level alluvium is also largely represented in our area, and as it affords a porous soil, and from its varied composition, it yields an interesting vegetation. In some of our valleys peaty deposits are found, and at Newbury they were somewhat extensive. In the Lambourn valley also peat was cut at the beginning of last century, and in such situations the tussock sedge (Carex paniculata) and the water dropwort (CEnantbe crocatd] are sure to be found. 1 With the exception of some of the alluvia, these deposits are not shown on the Geological Map, but will be found in the ' Drift ' edition of the maps of the Geological Survey. 50 BOTANY THE RIVER DRAINAGE OF BERKSHIRE as used for dividing the county into botanical districts must be next considered. Berkshire is wholly in the Thames basin, the area of which is about 5,162 square miles, or over 3,300,000 statute acres. For no miles of its course the Thames forms a boundary for Berkshire. At the point of its touching Berkshire near Lechlade it receives a small stream, the Cole, which rises from the chalk hills of north Wiltshire near Idstone. It is this small portion of our county, as well as the long strip, chiefly of Oxford clay, and the corallian oolite ridge which stretches from Oxford to Faringdon, which is com- prised in our first division, namely i. THE Isis OR UPPER THAMES, which corresponds to the district ' Thames 3 ' of Preston's Wiltshire Flora, and to the district ' 5. Isis or Upper Thames ' in my Oxfordshire Flora. It would perhaps have been well to subdivide this into two parts, that drained by the Cole, and the second into that portion drained by the main stream from Faringdon to Oxford ; the Cole itself contains a country with very varied geological character, since the stream drains the upper and lower chalk, the upper and lower greensand, the gault, the Kimeridge clay, the corallian oolite and the Oxford clay, while the portion drained by the main stream only consists of the two latter, and it is consequently much less diversified in scenery and much less rich in vegetation than the former. The northern boundary of the district is the Thames, the western boundary is the Cole and the county of Wilts, and the southern boundary is practically that of the turnpike road between Oxford and Faringdon. From this highway very extensive and pleasing prospects can be obtained, and many interesting species occur even by the roadside. In this district the beautiful estate of Wytham is con- tained, and this yields several varieties. It is the only locality known with us for the rose Rosa agrestis, and it is the most northern locality for the orchid Cephalanthera pollens. In the woods still grow the beautiful wood vetch (Ficia sylvatica), and the deadly nightshade (Atropa Belladonna), the yellow star of Bethlehem (Gagea fascicularis), the henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), the hound's tongue (Cynoglossum ojficinale), the gromwell (Lithospermum officinale), the herb Paris (Paris quadrifolia), the elecampane (Inula Helenium), the spurge laurel (Daphne Laureola), the wild everlasting pea (Lathyrus sylvestris), the large burnet saxifrage (Pimpinella major), the small buttercup (Ranunculus parviflorus], Samolus Valerandi, the bog pimpernel (Anagallis tenella), the spindle tree (Euonymus europaus) and birds' nest (Hypopitys) occur, as well as a most profuse growth of Carex pendula. Between Wytham and Faringdon the district of the upper Thames is well cultivated, heathland and true bogland being almost entirely absent, so that Drosera, Narthecium, Erica, Calluna, Juncus squarrosus, Plantago Coronopus, Anthemis nobilis and Salix repens, so common in the south of the county, are very rare or wanting, nor are the natural woods very extensive. On the corallian oolite the great thistle (Cnicus eriophorus) is found, and also the zigzag clover (Trifolium medium), the mullein (ferbascum nigrum), and the calaminth (Calamintha montana), while the grasses Bromus erectus, Brachypodium pinnatum and Avena pubescens are common, and Keeleria cristata local. The Thames meadows have a rich riparian vegetation, which includes the great spearwort (Ranunculus Lingua), the bitter cress (Cardamine amara), the bogbean (Menyanlhes trifoliata), the stitchwort (Stellaria palustris), the louse wort (Pedi- cularis palustris), the sulphur wort (CEnanthe silaifolia), the bistort (Polygonum Bistorta), and the elegant water parsnip (Sium latifolium). It has one feature of special interest in the occurrence in some plenty over a limited area of the water germander (Teucrium Scordium), a very rare and local and decreasing species in Britain, which was first made known as a British species from the neighbourhood of Oxford in 1552, but which appears to be quite extinct on the Oxfordshire side of the Thames. In some of the sluggish waters grow the bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris), the water primrose (Hottonia palustris), and the frog bit (Hydrocharis Morsus-ranie. A characteristic grass is Bromus commutatus. In the main streams there are quantities of pondweed, but they chiefly consist of common species, Potamogeton interrupts being especially a noticeable feature, with the buttercup (Ranunculus fluitans). Here and there the beautiful fringed water lily (Limnanthemum peltatum) occurs, and both the common yellow and white lilies abound. The ornamental waters at Buscot have both species of reed mace (Typha), and the mare's tail (Hippuris), and Lotus tenuis, and the leopard's bane (Doronicum Pardalianches) occur in the vicinity. In Buckland Park the bear's foot (Helleborus viridis) and the box tree 51 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE are naturalized, as well as the spotted hawlcweed (Hieracium maculatum), while the lake has Chara hispida. In gravelly fields near, those very local plants Hypochaeris glabra and Dianthus Armerta have been found by Miss M. Niven. Pusey Woods have the viper's bugloss (Echiuni) and the moschatel (Adoxa\ as well as great quantities of a naturalized Russian species of balsam (Impatient parviflord). Tubney Woods yield Polygonum dumetorum, Rosa mol/issima, Willd. = the R. tamentosa, Sm., R. glauca and var. subcristata, Lathyrus syhestris, and Sedum Telephium. At Kingston Bagpuize the lily Li/ium Martagon is completely naturalized. Appleton Common Woods have the autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) and spurge laurel (Daphne Mezereum), and the copses at Cumnor still yield the yellow star of Bethlehem (Gaged), the toothwort (Lathred), and abundance of the great horsetail (Equisetum maximum). The portion drained by the Cole is very pleasing. The contrast between the elevated bare bleak fields, without trees and almost without hedgerows, near the Ridgeway, with its extensive prospects over the vale, and the sheltered village of Shrivenham, with its well wooded park and its murmuring brook, and the deep coombes, with the extensive watercress beds of Ashbury and Kingstone, is very marked. Another distinct kind of scenery may be seen at Coleshill, where in the beautiful park an extensive view is obtained over gently undulating and well wooded country, which in turn changes as the Thames is approached to large flat alluvial meadow lands which are characteristic of the upper Thames, and, as Leland says, ' are often overflown with rage of rain.' By the Cole some upland pastures near Watchfield have large quantities of the star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatuni), and very rarely the garlic (Alllum oleraceum) ; near Coleshill the snake's head (Fritillaria Meleagris) is found, and here too are the black currant (Rites nigrum) and the purple willow (Salix purpured). Two plants of the neighbouring counties, Carex tomentosa and Ecbinodorus ranuncu/oides, do not appear to come within our border, the latter being plentiful in the canal where the water is almost undisturbed by traffic, just outside our boundary ; the character of our meadows is very different from those of the Colne where the sedge grows, but I should not be surprised to hear of its occurring on some of the upland pastures of our own river Cole. In addition to the plants mentioned in the preceding notes as occurring in the district of the upper Thames, we may mention : — Ranunculus Drouetii, F. Schultz Sisymbrium Sophia, L. x Viola permixta, Jord. Geranium rotundifolium, L. — pyrenaicum, VHir. Hypericum quadrangulum, L. Rubus dumnoniensis, Bab. — Balfourianus, Bab. — diversifolius, Lindl. — pyramidalis, Kalt. — imbricatus, Hort. — thyrsoideus, Wimm. Cratasgus Oxyacantha, L., var. eriocalyx, Druce Sedum dasyphyllum, L. Cotyledon Umbilicus, L. Sambricus Ebulus, L. Apium graveolens, L. CEnanthe Lachenalii, Gmel. Inula Helenium, L. Senecio aquaticus, Huds., var. dubius, Druce [Crepis nicaeensis, Balb.~\ Hieracium murorum var. pellucidum, Laeit. — vulgatum, Fries. Calamintha arvensis, Lam. Salvia pratensis, L. Polygonum mite, Scbrank. — minus, Huds. — minus X mite — Bistorta, L. Ceratophyllum demersum, L. Epipactis media, Fries. — palustris, Crantz. Orchis latifolia, L. — pyramidalis, L. — ustulata, L. Ophrys apifera, Huds. Habenaria conopsea, Bentb. Zannichellia palustris, L. Eleocharis acicularis, Br. — multicaulis, Sm. — uniglumis, Schult. Scirpus setaceus, L. — pauciflorus, Lightf. Carex acuta, L., var. impuncta, Druce — paniculata, L. — distans, L. x Lolium festucaceum, Link. Dryopteris montana, Kuntze = Lastrea Oreopteris, Presl. — dilatata, Asa Gray — spinulosa, Kuntze Ceterach officinarum, Willd, Asplenium Trichomanes, L. — Adiantum-nigrum, L. Botrychium Lunaria, Stv. (not recently seen) Chara hispida, L. Tolypella glomerata, Leonb. 2. THE OCK DISTRICT drained by the river of that name, which is entirely a Berkshire stream, and corresponds to 52 BOTANY a great extent with the district ' 6. The Thame ' in my Oxfordshire Flora. It is of con- siderable size, and consists essentially of the vale of the White Horse. It also includes the north side of the chalk escarpment and the whole of the Boar's Hill range. It has for its boundaries on the west and north the Isis district just described, on the north-east the river Thames from Oxford to Mongewell, while the southern boundary passes from the Thames near Mongewell over King Standing Hill to East Ilsley, and then follows the Ridge road to the Wiltshire border on the south-west. The Ock is a stream with many head-waters, several of which spring from the junction of the chalk and gault ; in fact, the site of many villages at the base of the chalk escarp- ment were chosen on account of the presence of springs of clear pure water, and the bare chalk slopes were rejected, while the sheltered spots with water springs were selected by the early inhabitants, and villages grew up around them. These springs, which issue from the base of the hills at about 460 feet elevation above the sea, flow at first bright and sparkling, and are filled with ' cresses ' and the pondweed Potamogeton densum, but on reaching the clay of the vale are soon sullied. The vale part is to a considerable extent excavated in Kimeridge clay. The Wilts and Berks Canal traverses part of the district, and yields the local pondweed P. pnehngus as well as P. compressum (zostereefolius), P. Friesii and P. pusil- lum, and Tolypella glomerata also occurs. By its banks Cerefolium Anthriscus, Ceterach and Juncus obtusiflorus are found. One of the feeders of the Ock passes by Cherbury Camp, an interesting earthwork on which several local plants are found, and in the neighbourhood of which the pasque flower (Anemone Pulsatilla), the frog orchis (Habenaria viridis), the field chickweed (Cerastium arvense\ Orchis ustulata and Asperula cynanchica occur. Another, the Frilford brook, drains a particularly interesting piece of ground, in which are rich marshes and dry gravel commons. The latter afford the clovers Trifolium striatum, T. scabrum, T. arvense ; the cotton thistle (Onopordon Acanthium), which may be native here ; the bugloss (Echium), and the mullein (Ferbascum nigrum). Another and still more interesting feeder is a small brook with two or three branches which comes from Besilsleigh, and the branch which passes by Cothill forms a marsh which is one of the richest and most interesting in the midland counties. It is a very pretty bit of scenery, consisting of woodland merging gradually into marshland, with both bog and fen vegetation, so that there is the pondweed Potamogeton coloratus in its only known Berkshire locality, the bladderworts Utricularia major and U. minor, the sundew Drosera rotundifolia, the butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris), the grass of Parnassus (Parnassia), the cotton grass (Eriopho- rum latifolium), the marsh orchids Epipactis pa/ustris, Orchis incarnata and 0. latifolia, the dropwort (OLnanthe Lachenalif), besides Samolus Valerandi, Echinodorus ranunculoides, Menyanthes, Anagallis tene/la, Valeriana dioica, Carex dioica, C. pulicaris, C. echinata, C. Bcenninghausiana, C. flava, C. Hornschuchiana, C. xanthocarpa, C. rostrata, Schaenus nigricans, Molinia, Juncus obtusiflorus and Cnicus pratensis. In the drier portions Genista tinctoria, G. anglica, Lithospermum officina/e and Euonymus occur. In its lower course this brook has marshy ground on its margin, where the peppermint (Mentha piperita) and the spearmint (M. longifolia var. villosa, Sole) occur, the latter in great quantity. The high ground of the Boar's Hill range, with Cumnor Hurst and the coppices about it, and Bagley Wood is also very productive ground to the botanist, although building opera- tions threaten to destroy some of the county which is most prolific in rare plants. The northern side is marked by watercourses which have cut their way through the soft strata, and in one of these, now occupied by the ' rifle butts,' there is a large quantity of that elegant plant Scirpus sylvaticus. The village walls of Hinksey give Sedum dasyphyllum, which appears to be native in this district, so widely distributed is it, the navelwort (Cotyledon Umbilicus), the shining cranesbill (Geranium lucidum), and the round-leaved cranesbill (G. rotundi folium), the last a very abundant plant on the coralline oolite, but which rapidly thins out or disappears on the more southern strata. The summit of Boar's Hill — from whence may be seen one of the most beautiful views in the county, comprising as it does the vale of the White Horse, the coast-like range of the chalk hills, the woodland tracts of Bagley and Wytham, and the spires and towers of Oxford immediately below — is especially characterized by the rich bramble flora which it affords. Here, in one of the few spots known in Britain, is Rubus Colemanni. Another very handsome species is R. sulcatus, and R. flssus, R. mercicus var. bracteatus, R. nessensis, R. holerythros, R, idaus var. anomalus, R. affinis, R, Marshalli, R. Sprengelii, R. putescens, R. oigoclados, R. folio- sus, R.fuscus, R. rudis, and many others have been found. The marsh violet (Viola pa/ustris) occurs where it was first mentioned by Dr. Plot, the beautiful horsetail (Equisetum syhaticum), 53 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE the cress (Teesdalia nudicau/is), the catchfly (Silene anglica), the spurrey (Spergula sativa), the clovers T. medium, T. arvense, T. striatum, T. filtforme ; the wild licorice (Astragalus glycy- phyllos, lady's ringers (Anthyllis), the vetches Vicia gracilis and V. lathyroides, the grass leaved pea (Lathyrus Nissolia), the everlasting pea (L. sylvestris), a rose (R. mollissima var. pseudo-mollis, (Baker f.), Druce), the hare's ear (Bupleurum rotundifolium), a hybrid bedstraw (Galium verwn x Mollugo), the thistles Cnkus eriophorus and C. pratensis, the saw-wort (Serratula), the hawk- weeds H. sciaphilum, H. rigidum, H. boreale ; the scabious (Jasione montana\ the Canter- bury bell (Campanula rapunculoides), now extirpated ; the ivy-leaved bell flower (Cervicina \Wahlenbergia~\ hederacea, tracts of ling and heather, the bog pimpernel (Anagallis tenella\ the blue pimpernel (A.femina), the yellow wort (Blackstonia), the toadflaxes Linaria spuria, L. Elatina and L. viscida ; the clary (Salvia Verbenaca\ the cat mint (Nepeta Cataria), the plantain (Plantago Coronopus), the large bindweed (Polygonum dumetorum), the orchids Neottia, Epipactis latifolia, E. pa/ustris, Orchis pyramidalis, 0. latifolia, Ophrys apifera, Habenar.ia conop- sea, H. viridis, H. btfolia ; the gladdion (Iris faetidissima), the daffodils N. major and N. Pseudo- narcissus], the lily of the valley (Convallaria), the ramson (Alllum ursinum), the garlic (A. vineale), the star of Bethlehem (Gagea), and many sedges and grasses already mentioned are some among the many rarities of this rich area. The Thames meadows from Oxford to Abingdon have afforded Thalictrum flavum Myosurus, Stellaria palustris, Slum latifolium, CEnanthe silaifolia, Hottonia, Samo/us, Polygonum minus, P. mite, Rumex maritimus, Hydrocharis, Leucojum tsstivum, Fritillaria, Typha angustifolia, Zanniche/lia pa/ustris and var. repens, Eleocharis acicularis, Acorus Calamus, Scirpus caricis, Carex vesicaria, C. Pseudo-cyperus, C. distans, Juncus compressus, Catabrosa, Tolypella prolifera, and T. intricata among many interesting species. The meadows at Marcham on the Kimeridge clay, in which there is a saline spring, have already been alluded to, and the course of the brook through the meadow may be traced by the growth of the wild celery which fringes its margin. In this vicinity there are also Sagina nodosa, Callitricha obtusangula and Carex axillaris. On the slopes of the chalk downs as about Blewbury we have, in addition to many plants previously noted, Anemone Pulsatilla, Fumaria Vaillantii, F. densiftora, F. parvtflorat Papaver hyiridum, Valerianella rimosa, Gentiana germanica, Crepis biennis, C. taraxacifolia, Senecio campestris, Orchis ustulata, Gyrostachis (Spiranthes) autumnalis, Ga/eopsis speciosa, Linaria repens, Juniperus, Taxus, Carum segetum, Ophrys muscifera, 0. apifera, Bromus interruptus and Phyllitis vulgaris (Sco/opendrium). About Dry Sandford Tordylium was once gathered, and the thistle (Cnicus tenuiflorus) and the wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium) occur, while the abundance of Calamintha montana (C, officinalis) is remarkable. In the park at Besilsleigh several species are naturalized, including Galanthus, Tulipa, Ornithogalum umbellatum and Campanula Rapun- culus, while Miss Walker has found Salvia pratensis in the meadows, and the leopard's bane (Doronicum Pardalianches) and the cudweed (Filago spathulata) and the great broom rape (Oro- banche major (0. elatior, Sutton) are in the vicinity. Among the noticeable absentees from the district are Narthecium, which was eradicated about a century ago, Scutellaria minor, Millegrana, Hypericum Elodes, Scirpus ctespitosus, Geum rivale and Cerastium quaternellum, but this latter is likely to occur about Frilford. The large meadow near Abingdon has a rich fen vegetation in which Ranunculus Lingua is a conspicuous species, and the water soldier (Stratiotes Aloides) almost chokes the trenches of stagnant water, where Lemna trisulea, Hydrocharis and Hottonia abound, and on the banks of which Polygonum minus and mite occur. Orchis latifolia and incarnata and Menyanthes are also abundant, and the variations of Carex acuta are remarkable. Samolus Valerandi is also in the vicinity. Among other interesting plants of the Ock district not yet alluded to are : — Adonis annua, L. [Lepidium Draba, L.} Ranunculus parviflorus, L. Roripa amphibia var. variifolia, Druce [Delphinum Ajacis, Reichb.] [Thlaspi perfoliatum, L.] Berberis vulgaris, L. Tunica prolifera, Scop. (? extinct) Fumaria confusa, Jord. Saponaria officinalis, L. — capreolata, L. [ — Vaccaria, L.] — muralis, Sond. Arenaria tenuifolia, L. Sisymbrium Sophia, L. x Viola permixta, Jord. Erophila praecox, DC. Geranium pyrenaicum, UHer. [Camelina sativa, Cr.] Malva sylvestris, L., var. lasiocarpa, Druce [Isalis tinctoria, L.] [_ pusilla, SOT.] 54 BOTANY Ulex Gallii, Planch. Melilotus arvensis, Wallr. — alba, Dew. Lotus tenuis, Kit. Vicia gemella, Cr., var. tenuissima, Druce Alchemilla vulgaris, L., var. filicaulis (Buser) Pyrus torminalis, Ehrh. Agrimonia odorata, Mill. Rubus Babingtonii, Bell-Salt — carpinifolius, W. & N. Rosa mollissima, Willd. var. sylvestris (Lino1/.) „ scabriuscula (SOT.) „ Sherardi (Davits) — Eglanteria, L. Lythrum Hyssopifolia, L. Sherardia arvensis, L., var. maritima, Griseb Valerianella carinata, Lois. Sambucus Ebulus, L. Senecio vulgaris, L., var. radiatus, Koch [ — squalidus, L.*\ [— crassifolius, Willd.} Filago germanica, L., var. laxa, Druce Arctium intermedium, Lange — Newbouldii, Williams Taraxacum officinale var. alpinum, Koch var. taraxacoides, Koch Campanula Rapunculus, L. x Gentiana Pamplinii, Druce Euphrasia Kerneri, Wettst. Orobanche Trifolii pratensis var. flavescens, Druce [Melittis officinalis, L.] Calamintha parviflora, Lam. Mentha aquatica, L., var. affinis (Bar.), Druce var. Ortmanniana (Opiz), Druce x — Cardiaca, Baker Salvia pratensis, L. [Galeopsis Ladanum, L. ; G. intermedia, Teucrium Scordium, L. (? extinct) Chenopodium Vulvaria, L. — album, L., var. glomerulosum, Reichb. var. lanceolatum (M'Ahl.) [ — opulifolium, Schrad.] — ficifolium, Sm. — murale, L. — urbicum, L. [Euphorbia Esula, LJ\ Ceratophyllum submersum, L. x Juncus diffusus, Hoppe Eleocharis uniglumis, Schult. Carex acuta, L., var. impuncta, Druce [Setaria viridis, Beauv.] Bromus arvensis, L. Avena pratensis, L. x Salix undulata, Ehrh. x — Smithiana, Willd. Botrychium Lunaria, SOT. 3. THE PANG OR MID THAMES bears a considerable resemblance to the district ' 7. The Thames' of my Oxfordshire Flora, and is bounded on the north by the Ock district, on the east by the river Thames, and is separated by the watershed of the Lambourn and Kennet on the west and south from the Kennet district. Although small the Pang district has many interesting features. It is wholly situate on the cretaceous and Eocene measures, and a considerable portion is more than 300 feet above sea level. The northern part is bare and bleak, and is formed of chalk down covered by short grassy turf, and almost destitute of trees ; but the turf is thickly covered with individual plants in countless numbers, although its number of species is not large. The chalk milkwort (Polygala calcarea), the rock rose (Helianthemum Cham&cistus), the squinancy wort (Asperula cynanchica), the bastard flax (Thesium humifusum), the field ragwort (Senecio campestris [S. integri- folia]\ the orchids 0. ustulata and O. pyramidalis, the chickweed (Cerastium arvense), the gentians G. Amarella and G. germanica, and the scabious (Scabiosa Columbaria) being the con- spicuous features. The arable fields have already been alluded to, and one of these yielded a grass which subsequent examination and cultivation shows to be a good species, and I have called it Bromus interruptus (see my Flora of Berkshire, p. 593, and Journ. Linn. Sac. (1896) pp. 426—30). It differs from any other known species of Bromus by the inner pale being split to the base, as well as by its inflorescence. I have already alluded to the flora of the wooded portion of this district under the geological formations, but one can scarcely realize their charm until they have come under observation, each coppice having something fresh to show. At Hampstead Norris there is a particularly fine growth of the spurge laurel (Daphne Laureola], Unwell Woods have a very varied flora, including the Solomon's seal. Nearer Basildon, but in woods away from the river, the hellebore (H. viridis, L., var. occidentalis) occurs in quantity ; in another bushy place near H. faetidus grows. Where the chalk becomes coated with tertiaries, as at Ashampstead Common, another flora presents itself; and in this place, which resembles rather a hilly woodland tract than what is usually meant as a Berkshire common, we find very fine beech and splendid hawthorns, the true cherry (Prunus Cerasus], as well as a variety of the cow wheat (Melampyrum pratense var. latifolium), the hound's tongue and sweetbriar. Near 55 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Hawkstone there is a coppice known as ' Hurt's Copse,' from the profusion of Vaccinium Myrtillus which grows there. The Pang itself rises near Compton at about 320 feet above sea level, and flows past Hampstead Norris to Frilsham, near which is Marlstone Park, a locality for the yellow tulip, and then to Bucklebury and Stanford Dingley. Here tufts of Carex paniculata and (Enanthe crocata begin to appear and Carex dioica has also been found. The Pang then passes by Bradfield, once the residence of Elias Ashmole, and on its way to Tidmarsh and Pangbourn flows through meadows where the avens Geum rivale and its hybrid G. intermedium appear ; while Aconitum Napellus has become naturalized on one place. A profusion of Cardamine amara is to be noticed, and in the damp coppices the Solomon's seal is luxuriant. Trifolium uabrum occurs on a patch of gravel on its banks. The once interesting marsh near Pangbourn is now nearly ruined and, like the village itself, suffers from the irruption of residents from Reading ; but I saw Genista anglica once there as evidence of what it formerly was. To the south of this marsh rises the beautiful wooded slopes of Sulham and Purley, which are charming in themselves, and are also the home of many local species. The rose of Sharon (Hypericum calycinum) is quite naturalized there, and H. Androstsmum and H. montanum are native. On the sloping grassy bank in its only known Berkshire locality grows Galium syhestre, and near it is naturalized Euphorbia Chamescyparissias, while Cuscuta Epithymum and Thesium still grow, and formerly Gentiana campestris occurred. In this vicinity also are Arenaria tenuifolia, Ruscus, Carum segetum, Valerianella carinata, Geranium rotundifolium, Linaria repens, Iberis amara, Papaver hybridum, Antirrhinum Orontium, Myosurus, Lonicera Caprifolium, Blackstonia, Dianthus Armeria, Arabis hirsuta, Viola tricolor var. bella (Gren. and Godr.), Lactuca virosa, Vinca minor, V. major, Vhcum, Saponaria, and also a variety of Malva moschata with nearly uncut leaves, which comes under var. Ramondiana (Gren. and Godr.) and is the var. integrifolia of Lejeune. A form of the winter cress occurs, which I have named Barbarea vulgaris var. transiens, Druce (see Flora of Berkshire, p. 44). The more elevated portion of the Pang district, such as that about East Ilsley, is bare and bleak, but further south there are extensive woodlands, such as Ashridge, where the spiked star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum pyrenaicum) grows, and in which there is also Colchicum, Vicia sylvatica, Lathyrus sylvestris and Polygonatum multiflorum. At Oare, where the London Clay is worked for brickmaking, we have Equisetum sylvaticum and Carex pallescens. In the vicinity is Grimsbury Castle, 460 feet above sea level, with its circular rampart now overgrown with whortleberry. The higher portion of Fence Woods leads to the elevated plateau of Cold Ash Common, from which a glorious prospect of the surrounding country can be obtained, and near are the extensive commons of Bucklebury and Chapel Row, and there are some very lovely bits of country and rich botanizing to be found about them and in Fence Woods and the numerous coppices. In this vicinity we have Aquilegia, Arabis perfoliata, Cerastium quaternellum, very abundant on some of the gravelly commons ; Hypericum Elodes, Millegrana, Genista anglica, Drosera longifolia (intermedia), Cuscuta Epithymum, Carex dtoica, C. Itevigata, C. Hormchuchiana, C. vesicaria, and a magnificent clump of Osmunda once grew near a bed of Menyanthes. As specially interesting plants of the Pang district, in addition to those already mentioned, are the following : — Ranunculus Lingua, L. Rubus Borreri, Bell-Salt. Anemone Pulsatilla, L. — anglosaxonicus, Gelert Adonis annua, L. — foliosus, W. and N. Fumaria Vaillantii, Lois. — Lejeunei var. ericetorum, Lefev. — parviflora, Lam. - rosaceus, W. and N. [Barbarea intermedia, Bar.'] Geum rivale, L. Lepidium heterophyllum, Bentb, var. canescen x — intermedium, Ebrb. Gr. and Godr. Pimpinella major, HuJs. x Viola permixta, JorJ. [Lonicera Caprifolium, L.} — palustris, L. Crepis biennis, L. Polygala oxyptera, Relcbb. Myosotis annua, Mcench, var. umbrosa (Bab.) Lychnis dioica x alba [Scrophularia vernalis, L.] Ulex Gallii, Planch. [Mimulus Langsdorffii, Donn.} Trifolium subterraneum, L. (? extinct) Euphrasia Kerneri, Wetts. Vicia gemella, Cr., var. tenuissima, Druce Mentha Pulegium, L. Lathyrus Aphaca, L. [Chenopodium opulifolium, ScbraJ.] Rubus erythrinus, Geniv. Leucojum aestivum, L. — pallidus, W. and N. Orchis Simia, Lam. (? extinct) 56 BOTANY Orchis militaris, L. Scirpus pauciflorus, Lightf. [Lilium Martagon, L.~\ Elymus europasus, L. Convallaria majalis, L. Dryopteris montana, Kuntze Bromus hordeaceus, L., var. glabrescens (Cost.), Lomaria Spicant, Desv. Druce 4. THE KENNET DISTRICT is a large and unequally shaped tract of country, which is bounded on the north by the Ock district, on the east by the Pang district, on the west by Wiltshire, and on the south by Hampshire and the portion of Berkshire drained by the Loddon and Blackwater. Near East Ilsley the summit of the watershed is about 600 feet, and the ridge rises to 650 feet at Cuck- hamsley Knob, while the downs above Wantage are 740 feet high, and White Horse Hill, 840 feet, culminates this northern range. Membury Fort, on the Wiltshire border, is a little over 700 feet, but Hungerford is only 328 feet above sea level. The drainage area of the Kennet district consists mainly of three portions : that traversed by the main stream of the Kennet ; secondly, that through which the Lambourn flows ; and, thirdly, that drained by the Emborne stream. The Lambourn sub-division consists of the upper chalk formation, and a great part of it is bare, arable soil with numerous dry valleys. In the upper portion trees are few, and com- paratively small bits of the original grassy downs remain. The river issues near the base of the ' Seven Barrow Field,' near Upper Lambourn, and passes by the sequestered town of that name and by East Garston and the pretty villages of Great and Little Shefford. It is here a pleasant, clear trout stream with a gravelly bottom, and the narrow meadows are on peat, since peat was cut in them a century ago for fuel. The tussocks of Carex paniculata are conspicuous, and (Enanthe crocata grows here and there in the irrigated fields. The river then passes the villages of Weston and Welford, where there is a row of fine old crab-trees, a lime avenue and a considerable growth of mistletoe ; it then flows by Boxford and past the ruined, ivy-mantled castle of Donnington, where Chaucer's Oak formerly grew, to the Kennet. The northern part is bare and bleak, and resembles in its flora the similar area belonging to the Pang district in many respects ; but the soldier orchid (Orchis militaris) and the monkey (0. Simia) have never been recorded for it, nor does the pasque flower (Anemone Pulsatilla) or the butcher's broom (Ruscus) extend so far to the west. But one plant at least occurs in the upper Lambourn district which has not yet been found elsewhere in the county, namely the purple milk vetch (Astragalus danicus), which occurs near West Ilsley over a very limited area. Further south in the Lambourn, as in the Pang district, the chalk becomes covered with deposits either of brick earth or else of tertiary beds, and then extensive woodlands prevail, or gravelly commons whose borders shelve down into boggy tracts. One of the richest of these heathy and boggy commons is that of Snelsmore, 470 feet above sea level, where one has in close contiguity a rich ericetal flora with numerous interesting species of brambles, including Rubus nessensis, R. plicatus, R. nitidus and R. Sprenge/ii, and deep sphagnum bogs with an extensive uliginal vegetation. Near Bagnor the monkey flower (Mimulus Langsdorffii) is completely naturalized, and Akhemilla vulgaris var. filicaulis occurs. Rosa systyla has been found near Donnington. The Emborne stream runs through pretty scenery south of the Kennet and drains very rich and interesting country, including Inkpen Common, where Viola lactea grows, and the southern side of Greenham Common and Crookham Heath, as well as the woods of Sandleford Priory, where there is a locality for the field gentian (Gentiana campestris). On Greenham Common grows the sweet gale (Myrica Ga/e), and by the stream the American balsam (Impatiens biflora) and Mimulus Langsdorffii are both naturalized, and probably were brought down from the ornamental water in Highclere Park. On the common also grows a rich bramble flora including R. Babingtonii, R. Sprengelii, R. holerythros, R. rosaceus, R.plicatus, R. carpinifelius, R. infestus, R. Borreri, R. oigoclados var. Newbouldii, R. Bloxamii, R. Marshall'^ etc., as well as Trigonella, Hypericum Elodes^ Carex Baenninghausiana, a hybrid of C. remota and C. paniculata. The main stream of the Kennet, which runs in a trough in the synclinal chalk in its course from Chilton Foliat to Reading, is a pleasing stream with charming villages near, and the extensive irrigated meadows are a feature in its scenery, as are the large and luxurious reed beds, which however are somewhat disappointing in variety of vegetation. The avens Geum rivale is a characteristic plant, especially as the stream nears Reading, and occasionally its hybrid with G. urbanum may be seen. I 57 8 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE To the south Walbarrow Camp rises to the greatest altitude the chalk attains in the county, 957 feet, and on its slopes the musk orchid (Herminium monorchii) still grows. An upland pasture near Inkpen affords the spring crocus (Crocus vernus) in great quantity, the spiked star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum pyrenaicum) grows near the county border, and Myosotis sylvatica, Carex strigosa and Poa Chaixii also occur. The latter may possibly be native here. Rubus dumnoniensis grows near Hungerford. In a wood near Kintbury the tooth-wort (Lathrea Squamaria] occurs, and the great park of Hampstead Marshall has the lady's traces Gyrostachis autumnalis, Iris faetidissima and Cynoglossum. Near Newbury the banks of the Lambourn railway are white with Lepidium Draba, and in the peaty meadows near Newbury and Chilton Foliat Scirpus cartels and Sag'tna nodosa occur; near Newbury also grows Ranunculus sardous, Latbyrus Nissolia, Afuscari, Orobanche major (0. elatior] and Barbarea prescox. At Southcote formerly occurred Damasonium Alisma, and Smyr- nmm Olusatrum still is plentiful. The beautiful woods and heaths of Aldermaston, Wasing, Brimpton, Ufton and Mortimer are particularly rich, and in them and on the commons we have a very varied flora, including Viola lactea, Stellaria umbrosa, Sagina subulata, Vicia graci/is, Pulicaria vulgaris, Anthemh nobilis, Jasione, Utricularia major, Drosera longifolia, Littorella, Euphorbia Lathyrus (probably native), Convallaria, Scirpus caspitosus, Agrostis setacea, and Festuca rubra var. fallax. Among other interesting plants of the district may be mentioned : — Anemone Pulsatilla, L. Adonis annua, L. Papaver hybridum, L. Fumaria parviflora, Lam. Diplotaxis tenuifolia, DC. Silene anglica, L. Dianthus deltoides, L. Millegrana Radiola, Druce Rhamnus Frangula, L. Hypericum quadrangulum, L. Geranium lucidum, L. Genista tinctoria, L. Vicia sylvatica, L. Lathyrus Aphaca, L. Rubus scaber, W. and N. — saxicolus, P. J. Muell. Agrimonia odorata, Mill. Rosa mollissima, Willd., var. Sherardi (Davits) var. sylvestris (Lindl.) Callitriche polymorpha, L'tun. Epilobium lanceolatum, Seb. and Maur. — roseum, Schreb. Myriophyllum alterniflorum, DC. Kentranthus ruber (DC.), Druce Caucalis daucoides, L. Sambucus Ebulus, L. Valerianella carinata, Lois. [Petasites fragrans, Presl.'] Hieracium rigidum var. acrifolium, Dakht. Lactuca virosa, L. Filago apiculata, G. E. Sm. — germanica, L., var. laxa, Druce Senecio aquaticus, Huds., var. dubius, Druce Centunculus minimus, L. Hottonia palustris, L. [Asperugo procumbens, L.~\ Gentiana Pneumonanthe, L. (extinct) Samolus Valerandi, L. Orobanche Rapum-genistx, Thuill. [Scrophularia vernalis, Z,.] Veronica scutellata, L., var. villosa, Schum. Rhinanthus stenophyllus, Scbur. Euphrasia Kerneri, Wetts. Polygonum Bistorta, L. — dumetorum, L. Rumex acutus, L. [Beta trigyna, Waldst. and Kit.] Mentha Pulegium, L. — longifolia, Huds. Melissa officinalis, L. Littorella juncea, Berg. Mercurialis annua, L. Salix purpurea, L. x — ambigua, Ehrh. Galanthus nivalis, L. Paris quadrifolia, L. Colchicum autumnale, L, Epipactis violacea, Bar. — latifolia, All. Orchis maculata, L., var. ericetorum (E. F. Llntori) Gagea fascicularis, Salisb. Convallaria majalis, L. Allium ursinum, L. Echinodorus ranunculoides, Eng. Scirpus caespitosus, L. — fluitans, L. Rynchospora alba, L. Carex Pseudo-cyperus, L. Alopecurus fulvus, SOT. Lycopodium Selago, L. — clavatum, L. — inundatum, L. Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum, L. Dryopteris montana, Kuntze Phegopteris polypodioides, A. Br. Polystichum angulare, Presl. — aculeatum, Presl. Osmunda regalis, L. Equisetum sylvaticum, L. 5. THE LODDON OR LOWER THAMES is an irregularly shaped district which is bounded on the north-west by the Kennet district from the Hampshire border not far from the hamlet of Forward nearly to Reading. Then 58 BOTANY the Thames divides it from Oxfordshire as far as Henley, and thence on the south-eastern side from Bucks between Henley and Old Windsor. Southwards its boundary is often of an arti- ficial character, but from Old Windsor to Blackwater the county boundary of Surrey is the line of limitation. From Blackwater to Thatchams Ford near Swallowfield the river Black- water separates it from Hampshire, and thence to the Forward Road the county boundary of Hants is its western limit. The district is the least homogeneous of all the botanical divisions of the county. It has four well marked kinds of soil. First, that of the heathy, sandy tract of country such as is found round Wokingham and Sandhurst ; secondly, that of the flat clay-land about Rus- combe ; thirdly, that of the hilly chalk country of Wargrave and Cookham ; and lastly, that of the elevated knolls of London clay, often capped by gravel, to be seen at Ashley, Crazey, and Bowsey Hills. But these by no means represent all the varieties of soil. The drainage of the district is complex and often obscure, since a great extent of the area is below 150 feet. The highest point reached by the London clay is at Bowsey Hill, 450 feet, and Easthamp- stead Plain is 430 feet. The Blackwater where it enters the county is about 200 feet, and its outfall into the Thames is about 150 feet above sea level, and the scenery in its course is essentially different from that found in the Isis, Ock, Pang or northern part of the Kennet districts, consisting as it does of extensive tracts of heathy ground planted with pines, which seed freely, stretching in various directions for a considerable distance, and include in fact the hilly country leading up to Easthampstead Plain, Wickham Bushes, Broadmoor and Crow- thorn, the country south of the long Roman road known as the Devil's Highway, and that which lies about Long Moor, Wellington College and the beautiful Finchhampstead Ridges. From the summit of one of the rounded hills the view is over a stretch of dark pine planta- tions covering the lower eminences, or else over an expanse of heather and gorse showing here and there green patches where the sphagnum growth denotes boggy ground. And the vegetation, as has already been stated, is quite as different as the geology or the scenery. In the damper parts, as under Finchampstead Ridges, the birch is plentiful, and in one or two of the wooded portions we may get the Pyrola minor or winter green. The berry-bearing alder (Rhamnus Frangula) replaces R. catharticus, so common on the chalk, and the sweet gale (Myrica Gale) here and there may be found. Two species of sundew grow on the boggy parts, and a rich uliginal vegetation is found, including Illecebrum verticillatum, only known from Devon and Cornwall elsewhere in the British Isles. In the ponds I have found both species of Elatine, E. hexandra and a variety which I have called sessilis, and E. Hydropiper, and the mud wort (Limosella aquatica), but very sparingly. The sedge vegetation is rich and varied, including C, elongata, C. pulicaris, C. canescens, C. turfosa, a hybrid probably of C. data (stricta) with Gordenawii (vu/garis), C. vesicaria, C. rostrata, Rynchospora alba and Schcenus. The form of Veronica scutellaria which occurs is usually var. villosa ; in the northern part of the county the glabrous form alone occurs. The ponds also occasionally yield the pill wort (Pilularia globulifera\ and I have found Nitella flexilh also. The shore weed (Lit- torella juncea), which is absent from the county north of the Kennet, often covers the bottom of the ponds with a dense vegetation, and in one instance I am afraid has extirpated Elatine. A small fruited form of the bur-reed, S. erectum var. microcarpum (Neum.), has been noticed, and on one of the moors the beautiful Gentiana Pneumonanthe has been found. The heathy portion offers several species which are unknown in our county north of the Kennet, such as the grass Agrostis setacea, the buttercup (Ranunculus Lenormattdi), the violet V. lactea, the marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris), and some plants which are very rare on the Pang and other districts are not uncommon, such as Genista anglica, Teesdalia, Hypocharis glabra, Anthemis nobilis. The hedge banks have Stellaria umbrosa and very rarely Fumaria pallidiflora and F. muralis, while the stream sides afford Epilobium roseum and hybrids of it. A hawkweed (Hieracium murorum) has been found near Wellington College, and a bell flower (Campanula Rapunculus) has been seen near Sandhurst. The bramble flora is particularly rich, and one at least is unknown elsewhere in the county, i.e. Rubus lentiginosus, Lees, the R. cambricus of Focke. Of the suberect forms R. nessensis, R. fissus, and R. plicatus occur, and R. ericetorum, R. Marskalli, R. cognatus, R. nitidus, R. holerythros, R. carpinifolius, R. rhombifolius, R, silvaticus, R. £>uestierii, so far only known in Berks from Sandhurst, R. Sprengelii, R. mucronatus, R. Gelertii, R. infestus, R. Babingtonii, R. Lejeunei var. ericetorum, R. foliosus, R. rosaceus and others. The cultivated fields in the Sandhurst district have yielded Apera Spica-venti, Agrostis nigra, Silene anglica, Arnoseris (limited to this district), Mercurialis annua, Filago apiculata, and Antirrhinum Orontium. The railway embankment gives a home for a few species which are rare elsewhere in the district ; such are 59 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Origanum (probably chalk ballast accounts for this calcareous loving species), Calamintha offici- nalis, Kcehria, Erigeron acre, Jasione and Serratula, while the cutting in the stiff clay near Wellington College often has on the barer portion Lycopodium inundatum, and a profuse growth ofNartkecium is not unfrequent, while the moonwort fern (Botrychium), the sweet scented moun- tain fern (Dryopteris montana), and the royal fern (Osmunda) are among the other filices which occur. The district about Loddon Bridge and Wokingham has a varied flora, as one might expect from the different soils which occur. In rapid succession come the alluvial meadows of the Thames, the gravelly soil near Early and Reading, the clayey ground about Ruscombe, the sandy soil near Bearwood, and the gravels of Twyford, Wokingham and Hurst. From Swallowfield to Twyford the Loddon flows through pleasant and more highly cultivated country, passing in one of its reaches through the ' verdant alders,' where it is fringed with the beautiful snowflake (Leucojum astivum). Loddon lilies is the local name, and it has the privilege in another portion to yield one of the few endemic species which the British Flora includes, for in abundance grows a pondweed which in my Berkshire Flora I called with some doubt Potamogeton fluitans, or a hybrid species, but which subsequent research and culture has proved to be a new species which Mr. A. Fryer has described and also beautifully figured in his Monograph of the British Potamogetons under the name P. Drucei. P. alpinus also occurs in the same stream, and Carex data grows in one of the marshes on its borders. Carex elongata is in the vicinity and Pulicaria vulgaris, Polygonum minus, P, mite, Carex axillaris, C. Pseudo-cyperus, C. vesicaria, Dipsacus pilosus, and Echinodorus ranunculoides are found. Rosa systyla and R. obtusifolia are not uncommon, and on the dry gravelly soils we have Trifolium subterraneum, T. striatum, Arabis perfoliata, Dianthus Armeria and Potentilla argentea, and Geranium lucidum, Ft/ago apiculata and Cynoglossum are also found. The Bearwood district affords Epipactis latifolia, many brambles including R. nitidus, R. incurvatus, R. car- pinifolius, R. rudis, R. Lejeunei, Scirpus fluitam, Chrysanthemum Parthenium (and it may be native here), Apium inundatum and many other species. The creeping jenny (Lysimachia Nummularia) was found fruiting by Mr. Broome and myself near Hurst in 1900; the capsule is very similar to that of L. nemorum ; it has not, that I am aware of, been found in that con- dition before in Britain. Near Shottesbrooke and elsewhere in the neighbourhood (Enanthe Phellandrium occurs in the ponds, and a scarce grass, Alopecurus fulvus, is locally common. One of the small streams which run into the Loddon is called the Ermine brook ; it rises on the north-eastern side of Easthampstead Plain and drains the interesting earthwork known as Caesar's Camp with its distinct double vallum now overgrown with whortleberry. From the summit a fine view is to be obtained as far as the chalk hills of Oxfordshire over, in the near distance, a beautifully mingled foliage of birch, chestnut, oak, beech, larch and pine. The Broadwater drains the hilly and heathy district of Bracknell. In Easthampstead Park Samolus grows, and the Swinley oaks are very fine ; under them I have found the pill wort (Ranunculus Ficaria) fruiting freely, and in the neighbourhood Lepidium Smithii, or as it is now called L. heterophyllum var. canescens, is found. Other parts have a rich bog flora similar to that of the Sandhurst neighbourhood, but as the stream leaves the Bagshot sands it passes into the flat tract of the London clay, through which it winds in a very devious course through country which is so low and flat that the waters formerly inun- dated the country round for a considerable distance, the stream being then more worthy of its name and appearing on the map as Ruscombe Lake. The numerous ponds and the deep ditches by the roadsides are evidences of the former marshy condition of the country, which at one time was the habitat of Damasonium Alisma. Next to be briefly described is the portion of the county drained by the main stream of the Thames between Reading and Maidenhead, and it has both a rich flora and lovely scenery, the highest ground in the Loddon district being found in it. About Wargrave and Twyford we have the great dodder (Cuscuta europtea), the Loddon lilies (Leucojum), the mint (Mentha longifilia), the white mullein (Verbascum Lychnitis), the lettuce (Lactuca virosa), the cress (Lepidium Smithii), and the small teasel (Dipsacus pilosus). The range of chalk hills by the river afford, or have afforded, the orchids Orchis militaris, Epipactis violacea, Neottia, Gyrostachis autumnalis, Ophrys muscifera and Aranifera, besides atropa Bella- donna, Helleborus fcetidus, Monotropa, Daphne Mezereum and Linaria repens. The arable fields here afford Bromus interruptus, Alyssum calycinum, Iberis amara, etc.; and the meadows are often crimson with the abundance of Pedicularis palustris. The river itself yields Lim- nanthemum, Acorus and Typha angustifolia, its ditches give Hottonia and Hydrocharis, while its 60 BOTANY banks and holts show abundance of Saiix purpurea, and the black poplars and limes are not unfrequently the home of the mistletoe. The Bisham Woods have the toothwort Dentaria or Cardamine bulbifera, its only known Berkshire station, and the local sedge Carex strigosa also is found ; while there and at Cookham we have Hypericum Androscemum, Ranunculus Lingua, Arabis perfoliata, Iris faetidissima, Juncoides Forsteri, Utricularia vulgaris, Lactuca virosa, Hypericum montanum, Elymus europeeus, and the hornbeam (Carpinus) is native. Maidenhead Thicket, once notorious as the resort of highwaymen, and its vicinity yields Rubus Gelertii, R. micans, Rosa systyla, Trifolium subterraneum, Ft/ago spathulata and Ranunculus parviflorus. The meadows between Maidenhead and Windsor give/-. Ga//'«»z erectum. The walls of Windsor Castle, although not so rich in mural plants as formerly since the wall rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) has disappeared, still show the red valerian (Kentranthus ruber), the wall lettuce (Lactuca mura/is) and the wall rue (Asplenium Ruta-muraria); and in the Home Park and in some part of the private grounds the spotted medic (Medlcago arabica) is very abundant. Campanula Rapunculus is quite naturalized in the private portion of the park, and the snowdrop and the double daffodil are semi-wild. Near to and about the grotto Lactuca muralis is common (Windsor Castle is built on a boss of chalk), and Geranium sanguineum and Sedum dasyphyllum occur, but the two latter are doubtless introduced. Chara fragilis and Potamogeton pusillum grow in the streams with Ceratophyllum, and I once found the latter growing there in symbiotic union with a sponge. The beauties of the great park have so often been described that one need only say in the sixteenth century Windsor Park was visited by the celebrated botanist De L'Ecluse, when he recorded for the first time as Berkshire plants the heaths Calluna and Erica cinerea. Shortly afterwards Johnson, the author of the second edition of Gerardis Herbal, found Rynchospora alba there, while in later times Dr. Lightfoot, author of the Flora Scotica, a tutor of Queen Charlotte's, and Dr. Goodenough, afterwards Bishop of Carlisle, botanized there, the latter recording some sedges from this locality in his classical monograph of this genus. The Long Avenue, consisting of upwards of a thousand trees, chiefly of elm, planted in 1680, stretches for three miles, and there is much in the wooded district in its upper portion to attract the attention of the botanists, and its magnificent examples of oak and beech command the admiration of all visitors. Herne's Oak fell in 1862 ; Queen Victoria had a cabinet made of the wood. The country about Virginia Water is in the drainage area of a small stream which passes into Surrey. On the turfy margins of this artificial piece of water grow Sagina subulata, S. ciliata, Cerastium quaternellum, Myosotis versicolor var. Balbisiana and Plantago Coronopus. By its sides it has Carex canescens, C. paniculata, C. echinata in very luxuriant condition ; dcorus, Molinia varia and Bidens. In the lake grow Ranunculus peltatus, Potamogeton obtusi- folius, P. alpinus, P. polygonifolius, Littorella, Eleocharis acicularis, Scirpus fluitans, Nitella opaca; and in the Surrey portion, only so far as my observations go, Elatine hexandra var. sessi/is. In damp shady places my friend Mr. Nicholson found for the first time a new hybrid of Scutel- laria galericulata and S. minor, which has since been called S. Nicholsoni. The gravelly uplands of the park give Echium, Hieracium umbellatum, H. boreale, H. sciaphilum, H. rigidum, Solidago, Erigeron acre, Cynoglossum officinale, Carex binerus, Cerastium semidecandrum, Myosotis collina, Melampyrum pratense, etc., while Calamagrostis epigeios and Dryopteris Thelypteris grow, or used to grow, in the marshy portions. The once celebrated and fashionable watering place of Sunningwell is still interesting to the botanist for its historic piece of bog, which was a favourite hunting place of the botanists of the seventeeth and eighteenth centuries, including Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Goodenough and others. The bog, although it has suffered much from the encroachment of the railway and by building operations, still affords Carex rostrata and C. canescens, C. dloica, C. Hornscbuchiana, Scirpus ceespitosus, S. pauclflorus, S. fluitam, S. multicaulis, Eriophorum, Rynchospora alba, Ranun- culus Lenormandi, Festuca ovina var. paludosa, and many other uliginal plants. The Loddon district, in addition to the preceding species, has also many other interesting plants, among which may be given: — Adonis annua, L. [Bunais orientate, L.] Ranunculus sardous, Crantz Viola lactea x canina Caproides (Corydalis) claviculata, Druce Sagina nodosa, Fenzl. Fumaria Boraei, Jord. [Malva pusilla, Sm.] [Barbarea praecox, Br.} [Oxalis corniculata, DC.] [Lepidum Draba, L.] Vicia gemella, Cr., var. tenuissima, Druce 61 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Vicia lathyroides, L. Fragaria vesca, L., var. bercheriensis, Druce Potentilla procumbens x sylvestris — procurabens x reptans — reptans x sylvestris Rosa sarmentacea, Woods, var. Deseglisei (Bar.) Epilobium lanceolatum, Sel>. and Maur. Crepis fcetida, L. (f extinct) [ — setosa, Hall, f.] Hieracium vulgatum, Fr. [Anchusa officinalis, L.~] Scrophularia nodosa, L., var. bracteata, Druce Mentha piperita, Hurls. Scutellaria galericulata, L., var. leiosepala, Druce Galeopsis speciosa, Miller Chenopodium opulifolium, Schrad. — ficifolium, Sfflf. — murale, L. Polygonum dumetorum, L. x Salix ambigua, Ehrh. Orchis maculata,i., var. ericetorum [E.F. Linton] Tulipa sylvestris, L. Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus, L. x Juncus diffusus, Hoppe — bulbosus, L., var. Kochii, Druce x Carex axillaris, Good. Molinia varia, Schrank, var. breviramosa (Pan.) — var. major (Roth), Druce Elymus europaeus, L. THE BRAMBLES (Rubt) As will have been gathered from the preceding pages, Berkshire is found to be very rich in the forms of brambles, as these species delight in heathy country with peaty and gravelly soils, such as are so well represented in the Pang, Kennet and Loddon districts. The Oxford and Kimeridge clays and chalk formation yield but few species, and over the greater portion where these formations come to the surface we shall find only R. ulmifolius, R. corylifolius and R. c&sius with their forms and hybrids, unless in some woodland spot where R. leucostachys and forms of R. Radula and R. rhamnifolius may be found. But on the greensand a rich variety may be observed, the Boar's Hill range being especially representative, and my friends Dr. Focke and the Rev. W. Moyle Rogers, to whom we owe so much for the identification of these critical plants, were both delighted with the forms they found. It was on this spot I pointed out that beautiful species which I called a pink-flowered nitidus to Dr. Focke, and he has since named it R. holerytbros ; and the heaths and woods on the Bagshot sands are also very prolific. Among our rarer plants are R. Colemanni, R. /enttginosus, R. su/catus, R. saxicolus, R. holerythros, R. mercicus var. bracteatus, R. imbricatus and R. rudis. Even now there is much work to be done at them, and several additional species will assuredly be added to our list. THE ROSES are not so well represented, as we have no authenticated record in a native situation of the burnet rose (R. pimpinellifolia}, hence Rosa invo- luta, R. Sablni and R. hibernica, which are hybrids of this with other species, are also absent. Rosa vittosa, L. (R. mo//is, Sm.) is also, I believe, absent, although an allied species, R. mo/h'ssima, Willd., which is an older name for JR. tomentosa, Sm., is widely distributed, and in one of its varieties, var. pseudo-mollis (E. G. Baker), bears much resemblance to it. We have also var. Sherardi (Davies) -subglobosa (Sm.),var.jy/i;w/r/j(Lindl.) and var. scabriuscula (Winch.). The subcristate forms so common in the north of Britain are very scarce, but we have R. glauca, as at Tubney, and its variety var. crassifolia (Wallr.), which is the R. corii- folia, Fries, and R. c&sia, Sm. ; the var. subcristata (Baker) also occurs. 62 BOTANY At Wytham there is a bush of R. agrestis, Savi., and in the Loddon district R. sty/osa, Desv., is rather common as the var. systy/a, Bast., and is often a very beautiful plant. The sweet briar (R. Eglanteria, L.) is more frequent on the chalk, and it is curious to note that while the clays and chalk yield a curiously unvarying bramble flora, yet on these formations we meet with most variation in the roses. jR. obtusifolia and its variety tomentella are somewhat widely distributed, and many forms grouped under R. verticil lacantba are found. Near Winkfield I saw a plant of R. Deseglisei, which I have placed as a variety of R. sarmentacea, Woods. I am under great indebtedness to M. Crepin for kindly examin- ing my roses. THE VASCULAR CRYPTOGAMS THE CLUBMOSSES (Lycopodiace*) The three recorded species (L. inundatum, L. Selago and L,. c/avatum are all very local and the two latter very rare, and are confined to the Bagshot sands of the Kennet and Loddon districts. THE HORSETAILS (Equisetum) Five species are found, and with the exception of E. sylvaticum, absent from the Isis district, are widely distributed. E. maximum is a handsome species and is especially fond of a wet, sheltered situation at the base of a porous formation where the water is thrown out by the clay at its juncture. A hybrid, E. litorale, should be sought for in the neighbourhood of Sandhurst, as it occurs near our county in Surrey. THE PILLWORT (Marsiliacea) One species only is known as British, and this (Pilularia globulifera) has a very restricted range with us, being confined to the Bagshot sands near Sandhurst, but may easily be passed over from its small size and place of growth. THE FERNS (Ft/ices) Although we have twenty species recorded, yet, with the exception of the bracken, Berkshire is but poorly represented. Even such com- mon ferns of the west of England as the hart's tongue, Scolopendrium (Pbyllitis vu/garis), and Asplenium Trichomanes and A. Adiantum-nigrum are scarce ; while our woodlands are being ravaged to such an extent that Dryopteris montana (Lastrea Oreof ten's) has been extirpated from the Isis and Ock districts. How long is this wholesale depredation of the roots of plants to go on unchecked by legislation ? is a question the field naturalist is asking. Three other species, Botrycbium, Osmunda and Tbe- /yf ten's, are also being gradually exterminated. In one sheltered trench on the Bagshot sands the beech fern (Phegopteris) still luxuriates. May it long remain undetected by the marauder. 63 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE THE MOSSES (Musci) The moss flora of Berkshire is but imperfectly known except for that portion included in the Ock and Isis district, which have been investigated by my lamented friend the well known bryologist Mr. Henry Boswell, and a detailed list of the species observed is given in my Flora of Oxfordshire. In our neighbourhood Bagley Wood was also investigated by Mr. W. Baxter, and this wood is especially rich in species, while Mr. H. E. Garnsey of Magdalen College has also inves- tigated the bryology of this neighbourhood. Pleuridium nitidum Pogonatum nanum — subulatum — aloides — alternifolium Polytrichum juniperinum Weisia microstoma — piliferum — viridula — commune Dicranella heteromalla Antitrichia curtipendula Dicranum palustre Neckera pumila — scoparium — complanata Campylopus flexuosus Homalia trichomanoides — turfaceus Thamnium alopecurum Leucobryum glaucum Isothecium myurum Fissidens exilis Camptothecium lutescens — taxifolius Brachythecium glareosum — bryoides — velutinum Phascum serratum — rutabulum Leptodontium flexifolium Eurhynchium striatum Tortula fallax — praelongum Ulota intermedia — pumilum Orthotrichum affine Rhyncostegium confertum — Lyellii Hypnum aduncum — leiocarpum — cordifolium Bartramia pomiformis — cuspidatum Mnium hornum Hylocomium splendens — punctatum Sphagnum recurvum Philonotes fontana — cymbifolium Aulacomnion palustre — subsecundum Atrichum undulatum The neighbourhood of the Hinkseys, Wytham, Kennington and the Boar's Hill range afford in addition to some of the above : — Systegium multicapsulare Tortula Hornschuchiana Dicranella varia — revoluta Phascum muticum var. sardoa (Br. Sch.). Wytham — cuspidatum — convoluta Fissidens viridulus — sinuosa var. fontanus — subulata — inconstans, Schimp. Sunningwell — marginata Pottia minutula — latifolia — intermedia — bevipila — lanceolata _ intermedia Trichostomum rubellum ruralis — luridum _ papjllosa Tortula cavifolia, very common on the — lanceolata oo'Ite Grimmia apocarpa — ri§ida — orbicularis — vinealis _ pulvinata 64 BOTANY Zygodon viridissimus - Stirtoni (H. E. Garnsey, IPytham, 1884) Orthotrichum saxatile — cupulatum — diaphanum — obtusifolium — tenellum Encalypta vulgaris Physcomitrium pyriforme Bryum uliginosum (Mr. Holliday) - murale — atropurpureum — capillare — turbinatum Mnium undulatum Cryphaea heteromalla Pogonatum urnigerum Climacium dendroides Leskea polycarpa Anomodon viticulosus Eurhynchium Swartzii — speciosum Rhyncostegium murale Hypnum Schreberi — Kneiffii — filicinum - chrysophyllum Plagiothecium denticulatum Sphagnum contortum - — cymbifolium - — recurvum The neighbourhood of Buckland and Pusey was investigated by Mrs. Milne and Messrs. Boswell and Holliday, and in addition to some of the preceding species they found :— Fissidens incurvus Plagiothecium undulatum Trichostomum rubellum Hylocomium splendens Bryum nutans Racomitrium canescens. Tubney Mnium cuspidatum Hypnum triquetrum Cothill Bog affords : — Hypnum stellatum Hypnum cuspidatum — falcatum Mnium hornum The Seligerias are represented only by the rare S. paucifolia, which the Rev. W. O. Wait has found on the White Horse Hill. The woods and commons and streams of the Kennet valley are rich in mosses, and Mr. A. B.Jackson and others have observed the following : — Atrichum undulatum Polytrichum nanum — juniperinum — commune - formosum. Sulham Pleuridium subulatum Dicranoweisia serrata Ditrichum flexicaule Phascum cuspidatum Pottia truncatula — cuspidatum var. piliferum Barbula revoluta Zygodon viridissimus Physcomitrium pyriforme Bartramia pomiformis Bryum capillare Pleuropus sericeus Camptothecium lutescens Brachythecium velutinum Eurhynchium rusciforme Hypnum riparium Hylocomium triquetrum Bryum erythrocarpum. Padworth Sphagnum subsecundum — acutifolium - — cymbifolium. Burghfield — squarrosum. Greenhorn Orthotrichum cupulatum Splachnum ampullacum. Greenham Windsor Forest and the neighbourhood of Virginia Water, and the bogs of Sunningdale and Sandhurst are also rich hunting grounds, but they are only scantily explored. Among the species found are :— Buxbaumia aphylla Tetraphis pellucida Dicranella cerviculata Atrichum undulatum (fruit) — heteromalla Polytrichum formosum Bryum nutans — subrotundum (P. nanum) var. lon- Aulacomnion androgynum gisetum, with the type (Virginia - — palustre Water] Orthotrichum diaphanum, Mnium hornum and several species of Sphagnum i 65 9 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE THE LIVERWORTS (Hepatic^) The recorded species include : — Scapania nemorosa Madotheca platyphylla Jungermannia albicans Metzgeria furcata - crenulata var. seruginosa - sphaerocarpa Pellia epiphylla — ventricosa Aneura pinguis pumila Marchantia polymorpha — bicuspidata Plagiochila asplenioides Lophocolea bidentata Frullania dilatata Radula complanata but the damp woods of Aldermaston Soak, Padworth, Hermitage and Finchhampstead are at present unexplored. CHARACE^ This curious group of aquatic plants, of which twenty-eight have been recorded as British, and eleven of which have been found in Berkshire, inhabit pools, streams and ponds, but are often of very ephemeral duration, occurring sometimes in immense quantities for one season and then disappearing for many years. They often occur in newly cleared out ditches and pools, and it may be that the competitive growth of leafy forms of phanerogams such as Callitriche exert a malign influence by shutting out the sunlight, and that it is to this cause rather than to the exhaustion of the food supply that their short-lived duration is due. One of the rarest species, Nitella mucronata, was discovered in Britain for the fourth time by me in 1892, and then it filled up a large ditch for about 100 yards just on the border of our county at Godstow, and subse- quently I found it on the Berkshire side of the Thames. It existed in quantity till the following February, since which time I have been unable to find it in the ditch where it was so abundant. On the basic strata of the north of the county the species Chara vu/garis, C. contraria and C.fragilis, the latter chiefly as the var. Hedivigii, occur, the latter often in great quantity in the Thames tributaries. Tolypella glomerata is very sporadic in its occurrence, and for one year I noticed T. prolifera opposite the college barges at Oxford. On the more silicious Bagshot sands Nitella Jiexilis and N. opaca, the latter com- mon in Virginia Water, and the very handsome N. translucent are found, Pools of stagnant water, as at Wytham, Buckland and Cothill, yield the large species Chara hispida. FRESHWATER ALG^E Very little systematic work has been done at this group, but the county affords very rich hunting grounds not only in the marshes and ditches of the north but in the bogs and peaty moors of the south. In the saline meadow at Marcham Vaucheria dichotoma var. submarina occurs. 66 BOTANY LICHENS (Ucbeni) Our knowledge of the lichens of Berkshire is in an even more elementary stage than that of the fungi. Beyond a few species collected by Mr. Baxter, Mr. E. M. Holmes and myself, and those mentioned in Leighton's Lichen Flora of Great Britain, scarcely anything is known. Collema crispa. Windsor Great Park — nigrescens — fascicularis Baeomyces roseus. Bagley Cladonia gracilis. Wokingham Usnea plicata — articulata. Bagley Ramalina fastigiata Sticta pulmonaria Thelotrema lepadinum Physcia pulverulenta var. subvenusta. Windsor Great Park — parietina f. cinerascens — lychnea. Windsor — ciliaris. FaringJon, Windsor Parmularia nigra Pannaria nigra — psotina Lecanora murorum var. corticola — laciniosa — vitellina sub-sp. xanthostigma Lecanora aurantiaca — luteo alba — phlogina — irrubata — allophana — Hageni — orosthea var. sublivescens Lecidea alboatra var. epipolia — caradocensis — myriocarpa Opegrapha lyncea — atra — varia Graphis inusta f. macularis. Windsor — elegans Verrucaria rupestris — cinerea — nitida — mutabilis. Bagley Among special localities are the old walls of coralline oolite and the damp heaths of the Bagshot sands, as well as the trees of the extensive woodlands of the Kennet valley. FUNGI The very varied character of the soil of Berkshire afford a rich gathering of fungi ; and an autumnal walk through the extensive woods such as border the Kennet valley or those of Wytham and Bagley in the north, or the park of Bearwood and the chalk woods of Bisham and the great park of Windsor, will reward the student of this perishable order of plants a very numerous gathering. But it must be confessed that the information about the Berkshire fungi is very scanty, and that much remains to be done to bring the knowledge of their distribution to any degree of completeness. Mr. Baxter made a close investigation of the microscopic forms in the neighbourhood of Oxford. Bagley Wood proved a specially rich locality, and in his published set of dried specimens many of these species came from this and other localities on the Berkshire side of the Thames. Both Miss Beatrice Taylor and I collected many species from the Boar's Hill range, and I have seen how rich some parts of the Kennet and Loddon districts are. 6? A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Among the species noted are : — Amanita vaginata — phalloides — rubescens — strangulata — strobiliformis - — vernus. Boar's Hill — muscaria. Very common in many parts of the Kennet and Loddon districts — mappa. Bearwood Lepiota granulosa — cristata — clypeolaria. Boar's Hill Tricholoma sejuncta. Bagley — spermatica. Unwell Clitocybe infundibuliforme — laccatus. Boar's Hill — fragrans. Windsor Collybia dryophila. Boar's Hill — esculentus. Windsor Leptonia asprella — lampropa Nolanea pascua. Boar's Hill Alcyena lactea. Wellington College Hebeloma crustuliniformis — geophylla Hypholoma fascicularis Psilobyce spadiceus Coprinus micaceus - atramentarius Paxillus involutus Lactarius vellereus — quietus. Boar's Hill — torminosus. Bearwood Russula nigricans — emetica — ochroleuca — alutacea — fragilis — rubra — cyanoxantha. Boar's Hill Cantharellus cibarius. Bearwood, Windsor Marasmius peronatus Boletus flavus — subtomentosus — chrysenteron. Boar's Hill — laracinus. Bearwood — edulis. Windsor — luridus. Bearwood Polyporus versicolor — hispidus. Boar's Hill Fistulina hepatica. Windsor Tremella mesenterica. Kintbury Hirneola auricula Judae. Wargrave Phallus impudicus. Sulkampstead, etc. Lycoperdon pyriforme — saccatum — gemmatum — giganteum Hygrophorus conicus Paxillus involutus. Boar's Hill Morchella esculenta Peziza coccinea, etc. Bagley Lactarius piperatus The naturalists of Wellington College and the Rev. H. P. Fitz- gerald have done good work in discovering many varieties in their district. In the pine woods around the College fungi are very prolific. The following varieties have been found : — Cantharellus aurantiacus Laccaria turpis — deliciosus - rufus Russula furcata, var. ochroviridis — fragilis Mycena epiterygia Collybia semitalis — butyracea - maculata Tricholoma sordidum — album Scleroderma vulgaris Auricularia mesenterica Sparassis crispa Thelephora laciniata Calocera viscosa Stereum hirsutum — purpureum Hydnum repandum Daedalea quercina Polyporus abietinus Boletus badius — flavus — variegatus — scaber Stropharia aeruginosa — Percevali - semiglobata Paxillus atrotomentosus Clitopilus prunulus — nudum — flavo brunneum — rutilans Armillaria bulbigera Hygrophorus virgineus Gomphidius viscidus 68 ZOOLOGY MOLLUSCS The published accounts of the Berkshire Mollusca are few and relate principally to the neighbourhoods of Wellington College l and of Oxford 2 : these, supplemented from the observations of Mr. W. Holland and the Rev. S. S. Pearce, as well as the Records of the Conchological Society, have yielded a list of 97 species. Seeing that the soil and physical features of Berkshire are such as to favour the development of molluscan life this number is not high ; but several other forms out of the 139 known to inhabit the British Islands should be forthcoming with further investigation. Although Helix pomatia, the Roman snail, has been named as occurring in the county (Nature, xxviii. 8 1 ) this is apparently an error, at the same time its absence is unaccountable, seeing that it is found not far from the border in Oxfordshire, and there is no obvious reason why it should not be present in Berkshire as well. The most noteworthy species in the fauna is the pretty little Acanthinula lamellata, a single specimen of which was found by Mr. Holland in a ditch by Theale Lock near Reading. This species had not previously been found living further south than mid Staffordshire, though in Pleistocene deposits it has been met with in Essex and at West Wittering near the coast of Sussex by the Hants border. Except for the presence of this northern form the assemblage is of an average British facies. A. GASTROPODA I. PULMONATA a. STYLOMMATOPHORA Testacella maugei, FeY. Faringdon — haliotidea, Drap. Reading - scutulum, Sby. Faringdon Limax maximus, Linn. — flavus, Linn. — arborum, Bouch.-Chant. Agrlolimax agrestis (Linn.) — /avis (Mull.). Wytham Hill Vitrlna pelludda (Mull.) Vitrea crystallina (Mttll.) — lucida (Drap.). Near Reading — alliaria (Miller) — glabra (Brit. Auct.) — eel/aria (Milll.) — nitidula (Drap.) l H. W. Monckton, Rept. Wellington Coll. Nat. Hist. Sue. 1888. 9 J. F. Whiteaves, 'On the Land and Freshwater Mollusca inhabiting the neighbourhood of Oxford' (Aihmolean Society), 1857. 69 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Wellington ; Streatley Wellington Vitrea pura (Aid.) — radiatula (Aid.). — excavata (Bean). — nltida (Mull.) — fufaa (MQll.) Anon ater (Linn.) — hortenstS) FeV. — circumscriptus, John. Near Oxford Punctum pygmeeum (Drap.) Pyramidula rupestris (Drap.). Sandford — rotundata (Mall.) Helicella virgata (Da C.). Streatley ; Cum- nor ; etc. — itala (Linn.) — caperata (Mont.) — cantiana (Mont.) Hygromia granulata (Aid.) — hispida (Linn.) — rufescens (Penn.) Acanthinula aculeata (Mtill.) — lamellata QefF.). Theale Lock, near Reading Vallonia pulckella (Mull.) Helicigona lapicida (Linn.) — arbustorum (Linn.) Helix aspersa, Mull. — nemora/is, Linn. — hartensts, Mull. Buliminus obscurus (Mttll.) Cochlicopa lubrica (Moll.) Ciecilianella adcula (Mtlll.) Streatley Pupa secale, Drap. Unhill, near Streatley — cylindracea (Da C.) — muscorum (Linn.) Sphyradium edentulum (Drap.) Vertigo antivertigo (Drap.) — pygm&tf (Drap.) Eaka peruersa (Linn.) Clausilia laminata (Mont.) — bidentata (Strom.) — rolphii, Gray. Newbury ; S. Hinksey ; Sulham Succinea putris (Linn.) — elegans, Risso. Near Reading b. BASOMMATOPHORA Carychium minimum, Mttll. Ancylus fluviatilh, Mtlll. Velletia lacustris (Linn.) Limntsa auricularia (Linn.) — pereger (Mull.) — palustris (Mtlll.) — truncatula (Mtlll.) — stagnalis (Linn.) — glabra (Mtill.). Ditch near Kennington Amphipeplea g/utinosa (Mtlll.). Near Reading Planorbis corneus (Linn.) - albus, Mtlll. — glaber, JefF. Wellington ; Bulmershe Park, near Reading — nautileus (Linn.). Bulmershe Park, near Reading ; Chieveley - carinatus, Mtlll. — marginals, Drap. — vortex (Linn.) — spirorbis, Mtlll. — contortus (Linn.) — fontanus (Lightf.). Wellington ; Bul- mershe Park, near Reading Physa fontinalii (Linn.) — hypnorum (Linn.). Near Reading, Ken- nington II. PROSOBRANCHIATA Bithynia tentaculata (Linn.) — leachii (Shepp.). Near Reading Vivipara vivipara (Linn.) — contecta (Millett) Valvata piscina/is (Mtlll.) - cristata, Mtlll. Pomatias elegans (Mtlll.) Neritina ftuviatilis (Linn.) B. PELECYPODA Dreissemia polymorpha (Pall.) Unto pictorum (Linn.) — tumidus, Retz. Anodonta cygntea (Linn.) Sphterium rivicola (Leach) — corneum (Linn.) Sphisrium lacustre (Mull.). Near Reading Pisidium amnicum (Milll.) — puiillum (Gmel.). Near Reading — nitidium, Jenyns. — fontinale (Drap.) 70 INSECTS' The insect fauna of Berkshire is very large and varied ; the lists of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera Aculeata, and Lepidoptera are very good, but in this, as in other counties, very much remains to be done in the other orders : the Diptera, for instance, which are very abundant and probably very well represented, are as yet very partially worked. The surface of the county is much diversified with woods, downs, streams, etc., and the chief localities may be classified as follows : — 1. The Thames Valley, in its restricted sense. This has hardly yet been properly worked, but will probably be found to be exceedingly rich in Coleoptera. 2. The Beech Woods. These are very characteristic of the county; the larger beech woods have but little undergrowth in them, but are always well fringed with it and the more open spaces are occupied by it ; some of the smaller and more open woods have patches of wych- elm, and here and there a sprinkling of oak, ash, holly, yew and occasionally fir, and in the undergrowth on the fringe we find maple, buckthorn, dogwood, spindle and large-leaved sallows. Perhaps the most characteristic insect of the beech woods is Stauropus fagi, the Lobster Moth, which is usually accounted a great rarity, but in some seasons has been found quite commonly since Mr. J. Clarke discovered that it selects the youngest and smallest trees to rest upon. 3. The Chalk Hills and Downs, producing an extraordinary abun- dance of the ' Blues ' of various species and also many rare beetles. 4. The Valleys and Meadows. Here the wood is various, but chiefly consists of elm, poplar and willow, with frequent beds of sallow and willow by the small streams. 5. The Heath-lands, which are chiefly found about Wellington and Eversley, but stretch more or less continuously to Newbury. These give us many good species, not only from the heath and fir, but from the moist dips or hollows so frequent on our well-wooded portion. The dips have a flora of their own and a good growth of oak, alder, sallow, willow and sometimes poplar ; in fact, some of the larger dips are filled with good oak woods ; on the higher portions of the heaths there are often large plantations of birch and larch. Among the many interesting insects which are found in these localities we may mention Apatura iris, the Purple Emperor, and Limenitis sibylla, the White Admiral, which occur all along the line, and in some seasons not uncommonly, and many rare moths, such as Endromis versicolor, Trochilium crabroniforme^ » Edited by W. W. Fowler. 71 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Sest'a sphegiformis, Dicycla oo., Dasycampa rubiginea and Acronycta aim \ of the latter species about twenty larva; have been beaten out of oaks, on the edge of a single wood in one afternoon. These heath lands, moreover, abound in good beetles, the ant's-nests species being particularly noteworthy, and the Hymenoptera are well worthy of attention. Throughout the lists the species that are common and generally distributed are marked with an asterisk ; whereas those which have occurred in several localities at some distance from one another, but are not, in the present state of our knowledge, general, are marked with a dagger ("f") ; it has been found necessary to adopt these signs through the exigencies of space. Many species are common or generally distributed on particular plants or trees only, but these can be learned from any manual of entomology. The abbreviation Well. Coll. has been used for Wellington College. In the case of the Lepidoptera, and, as a rule, in the other orders where no name is attached to a locality, the species has been taken either by Mr. Holland or Mr. Hamm. In the list the nomenclature follows the undermentioned authorities : — Lepidoptera, Entom. Syn. List., South. Coleoptera, Fowler's Coleoptera of the British Islands, Sharp and Fowler's Catalogue 1903. Aculeate Hymenoptera, Saunders's Aculeate Hymenoptera of the British Islands. Hemiptera, Saunders and Edwards, 'The Hemiptera Heteroptera and The Hemiptera Homoptera of the British Islands. ORTHOPTERA1 Records of the occurrence of Orthoptera in Berkshire are not numerous. The chief cause of this, no doubt, is that workers in the order have been so few, although, excepting the Aptera, this would seem to be the most ancient group of insects and therefore should not be the least interesting. Probably, however, even if the distribution of the Orthoptera in Berkshire were well known we should find this county is not so prolific as many others owing to the large pro- portion of the land under cultivation and to the necessary absence of a coast fauna. FORFICULODEA. The Common Earwig (Forficula auricularia) is very common throughout the county. The Little Earwig (Labia minor) has been taken by Mr. Holland at Tubney and is not uncommon. There are two records of the less known Russet Earwig (Forficula lesnef) — a male at Wallingford, September 1892 (Donisthorpe), and a specimen at Bradfield College near Reading (Chitty). Afterygida media should be sought for. BLATTODEA (Cockroaches). The indigenous species (Ectobia lapponica)has been taken by Mr. Holland in most of the woods in the county. Two established aliens, Pbyllodromia germanica and Blatta orientalis, the " Black Beetle," are recorded, the latter being a very common pest. One or two other aliens will probably be recorded and possibly the British species Ectobia livida. ACRIDIODEA. Of the short-horned grasshoppers, though the records are few, a good num- ber of species are present. Stenobothrus lineatus (rarely), St. viridulus, and St. rufipes are given in the ' Flora and Fauna ' as present near Radley College (Burr). St. bicolor is recorded from Chilswell Hill (Lucas), Crookham Common near Newbury (Morley), Wellington College and Tubney (Hamm), Bradfield College (Chitty), and near Radley College (Burr) ; St. elegans from Crookham Common (Morley) ; and St. parallelus from Wantage (Holland), near Radley College (Burr), Chilswell Hill (Lucas), and Crookham Common (Morley). Of the club- horned Acridians Gompbocerus rufus is present (Hamm), while the commoner G. maculatus has been recorded from Tubney (Hamm) and Bessels Leigh (Burr), lettix bipunctatus occurs at Radley (Burr), and at Wantage and Tubney (Holland). Burr says that the other species, T. subulatus, also occurs, though not commonly, at Radley : this I usually look upon as a very i By W. J. Lucas, B.A. 72 INSECTS local coast species. All the Acridians so far known as British occur in this list, except the large Mecostethus grossus, which may be present if there are any bogs sufficiently extensive : it is common in the New Forest. LOCUSTODEA (Long-horned Grasshoppers). Leptophyes punctatissima occurs at Radley and Bagley Wood (Burr), while Radley (Burr) is the only locality recorded for the common Meconema varium. Locusta viridissima is present at Tubney (Hamm), and used to be, if it is not now, at Chilswell Hill (Lucas). Thamnotrizon cinereus is recorded from Radley and Bag- ley Wood (Burr), and Platycleis brachyptera is present in the county (Hamm). Of the other four British species three are almost certainly absent, but Xiphidium dorsale may occur in boggy places. GRYLLODEA. Of the four British crickets the common one, Gryllus domesticus, is no doubt well distributed over the county, while the Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa) has been re- corded from Bessels Leigh (Distant). It is possible that the local Wood Cricket (Nemobius sylvestris) may occur, and although the Field Cricket (Gryllus campestris) seems to be scarce in England, there is no reason why it should not occur in Berks. NEUROPTERA1 In Britain the natural order Neuroptera of Linnaeus is represented by the sub-orders, Mallophaga, Psocidia, Perlidia, Ephemeridia, Odonata, Planipennia and Trichoptera. At present, of the first two no records seem to have been made for Berkshire. Possibly they have received but little attention, the insects comprised in them being usually very small, and often obscure in addition. In the other sub-orders work of a more or less extensive character has been done ; but yet on the whole we must admit that naturalists have done little more at present than break the ice in the matter of the study of the Berkshire Neuroptera. Passing over, therefore, the MALLOPHAGA (Bird-lice) and PSOCIDIA (Psocids), we come to the PERLIDIA (Stone-flies). Possibly most of the PERLIDIA prefer in the nymph-stage rather rapidly flowing water, and this may be the reason why but one species has been noted — Ne- moura variegata, at Bagley Wood (Holland), and Wellington College (Hamm). Of the EPHEMERIDIA (May-flies) five species only are on the list ; but the conditions in Berkshire are such that many more may be looked for. Ephemera vulgata has been found at Reading and Woolhampton (Hamm), Thames side above Godstow (Holland), and Crookham Common near Newbury (C. Morley) ; E. danica, Reading (Hamm) ; Leptophlebia marginata, Thames side above Godstow (Holland), Thames side below Oxford (Lucas), Wellington College (Hamm) ; Centroptilum pennulatum, Thames side near Oxford (Hamm) ; Ecdyurus volitans, an interesting species, Thames side above Godstow (Holland). Although individual records of the ODONATA (Dragon-flies) are not numerous for Berkshire, yet they include more than half the British species. Of the remainder Sympetrum sanguineum, 5. scoticum, Orthetrum cancellatum, Anax imperator, and Lestes sponsa most probably occur, while it is not at all unlikely that a systematic search would reveal in addition Libellula fulva, Lestes dryas, Pyrrbosoma tenellum, Iscbnura pumilio, and Agrion mercuriale. The list at present is —Sympetrum striolatum, Wellington College (J. E. Tarbat), near Eynsham, near Godstow, near Oxford, and near Kennington (Lucas), Wokingham and near Bagley Wood (Hamm). S. flaveolum, a male, early in July 1 899 near Wellington College Station (Tarbat), and 21 August 1898 a male near Oxford (Hamm). Libellulla depressa, common at Windsor (E. R. Speyer), Reading (Tarbat). L. quadrimaculata, Dry Sandford (M. Burr), Reading (Tarbat), Bulmershe Park near Reading (Hamm), Windsor (Speyer). Orthetrum coerulescens, Reading (Hamm). Cordulia Streatley (Lambert) — humeralis, Grav. Well. Coll. and Mortimer (Joy) — cognata, Mark. Mortimer (Joy) — lugens, Grav. Well. Coll. (J°y) — laticollis, Mark. Well. Coll. and Mortimer (Joy) *Astilbus canaliculatus, Fabr. Callicerus obscurus, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) ; Boar's Hill — rigidicornis, Er. Well. Coll. (Fowler) Thamiarasa cinnamomea, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) ; W ailing- ford (Lambert) — hospita, Mark. Bradfield G°y) Notothecta flavipes, Grav. WeU. Coll. (Joy) — confusa, Mark. Well. Coll. (Joy) — anceps, Er. Well. Coll. (J°y) Alianta incana, Er. Bradfield (J°y) Homalota insecta, Thorns. Kennet side, Reading — cambrica, Woll. Well. Coll. (Joy) — gregaria, Er. Reading (An- drewes) ; Wallingford (Lambert) 83 ALEOCHARINA (continued) Homalota luridipennis, Mann. Well. Coll. (Joy) — hygrotopora, Kr. Bradfield (Joy) — elongatula, Grav. Reading (Andrewes) — volans, Scrib. Thatcham (Joy) — vestita, Grav. Bradfield vicina, Steph. Bradfield and Aldermaston (Joy) ; Wan- tage graminicola, Gyll. Thames side, Reading; Tbatcham (J°y) squata, Er. Well. Coll. (Joy) angustula, Gyll. Bradfield (Joy) ; Thatcham (Har- wood) ; Wantage linearis, Grav. Windsor Park (Blatch); Bradfield .. circellaris, Grav. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) immersa, Heer. Windsor Park (Blatch) ; Bradfield (Joy) • cuspidata, Er. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) analis, Grav. Bradfield (Joy); Wallingford (Lambert) exilis, Er. Thatcham (Joy) depressa, Gyll. Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) xanthoptera, Steph. Well. Coll. and Bradfield (Joy) euryptera, Steph. Bradfield (Joy) trinotata, Kr. Well. Coll. (Barnes) fungicola, Thorns. Well. Coll. (Barnes) ; Tubney liturata, Steph. Windsor Park (Blatch) sodalis, Er. Aldworth (Joy) gagatina, Baudi. Reading (Andrews) divisa, Mark. Windsor Park (Blatch) ; Tubney (Walker) scapularis, Sahl. Bradfield (Joy); Wytbam (Walker) celata, Er. Windsor Park (Blatch) sordidula, Er. Bradfield (J°y) canescens, Sharp. Windsor Park (Blatch) macrocera, Thorns. Ferry Hinksey atramentaria, Gyll. Reading longicornis, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE ALEOCHARINA (continued) Homalota sordida, Marsh. Bradfield (Joy); Boar's Hill (Lambert) — laticollis, Steph. Tbeale * — fungi, Grav. Gnypeta labilis, Er. Walling- ford (Lambert) ; Bradfield Tachyusa atra, Grav. Brad- field (Joy) ; Thatcham (Harwood) *Falagria sulcata, Payk. — sulcatula, Grav. Bradfield (J°y) — thoracica, Curt. Aldwortb (J°y) t — obscura, Grav. tAutalia impressa, Ol. — rivularis, Grav. Bucklebury (J°y) Encephalus complicans, Westw. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney (Walker) Gyrophaena affinis, Mann. Bradfield (Joy) — gentilis, Er. Bradfield (Joy) — fasciata, Marsh. Boar's Hill — minima, Er. Aldworth (Joy) — manca, Er. Wytham(Wz]ker) — strictula, Er. Well. Coll. (Barnes) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney (Walker) Agaricochara bevicollis, Kr. Bradfield (Joy) Placusa pumilio, Grav. Windsor Park (Blatch) Epipeda plana, Gyll. Bradfield (J°y) Silusa rubiginosa, Er. Reading (Andrewes) Leptusa fumida, Er. Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) ; Lam- bourn (Harwood) Sipalia ruficollis, Er. Aldworth (Joy) ; Lambourn (Har- wood) Bolitochara lucida, Grav. Brad- field (Joy) ; Bagley (Walk- er) — lunulata, Payk. Aldworth (J°y) — bella, Mark. Reading; Cal- cot ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley (Walker) Hygronoma dimidiata, Grav. Cookham (Harwood) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Harwood) ; Tubney (Wal- ker) Oligota inflata, Mann. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) — parva, Kr. Bradfield (Joy) — pusillima, Grav. Bradfield (J°y) ALEOCHARINA (continued) Oligota atomaria, Er. Bradfield (J°y) — punctulata, Heer. Boar's Hill (Lambert); Bradfield (Joy) Myllaena dubia, Grav. Grand- pont, near Oxford; Alder- maston (Joy) — intermedia, Er. Bradfield and Aldermaston (Joy) — minuta, Grav. Bradfield (J°y) — kraatzi, Sharp. Well. Coll. (Joy) — elongata, Matth. Bradfield (J°y) — gracilis, Matth. Aldermas- ton (Joy) ; Grand-font, near Oxford — infuscata, Matth. Thatch- am (Joy) — brevicornis, Matth. Alder- maston (Joy) Deinopsis erosa, Steph. Alder- maston (Joy) TACHYPORIKA "Hypocyptus longicornis, Payk. — seminulum, Er. Aldermas- ton (Joy) ; Wytham (Walk- er) Conosoma littoreum, Linn. Well. Coll. (Joy) ; Reading (Andrewes) ; Newbury (Harwood) — pubescens, Grav. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Har- wood) - immaculatum, Steph. Well. Coll. (Joy) ; Newbury (Harwood) ; Tubney (Wal- ker) — pedicularium, Grav. Reading (Andrewes) ; near God- stow (Walker) — lividum, Er. Wallingford (Lambert) ; Newbury (Harwood) "Tachyporus obtusus. Linn. — formosus, Matth. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney ; South Hinksey ; Wytham (Walker) — solutus, Er. Reading ; Brad- field (Joy) — pallidus, Sharp. Reading (Andrewes) ; Wytham (Walker) ' — chrysomelinus, Linn. t — humerosus, Er. — tersus, Er. Thames side, Reading; Boxjord (Har- wood) - hypnorum, Fabr. 84 TACHYPORINA (continued) Tachyporus pusillus, Grav. Brad- field (joy) ; Berks (Collins) — brunneus, Fabr. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) — transversalis, Grav. New- bury (Harwood) Lamprinus s.iginatus, Grav . Tubney (Walker) Cilea silphoides, Linn. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) "Tachinus humeralis, Grav. t — rufipes, Linn. t — subterraneus, Linn. — marginellus, Fabr. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) — laticollis, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) — elongatus, Gyll. Boar's Hill Megacronus cingulatus, Mann. Reading (Andrewes) t — analis, Fabr. — inclinans, Grav. Bradfield (Joy); Aldwortb (Joy); Berks (Collins) 'Bolitobius lunulatus, Linn. * — trinotatus, Er. — exoletus, Er. Well. Coll.; Bradfield (Joy) — pygmaeus, Fabr. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) Mycetoporus lucidus, Er. Well. Coll. (Joy) — splendens, Marsh. Reading (Andrewes) ; Aldwortb (J°y) — punctus, Gyll. Aldworth (Joy) — lepidus, Grav. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — longulus, Mann. Walling- ford (Lambert) ; Brad- field (Joy) — angularis, Rey. Well. Coll. (Joy) . — clavicornis, Steph. Brad- field (joy) — splendidus, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytbam (Walker) Habrocerus capillaricornis,Grav. Aldworth (Joy) ; Bagley and Wytbam (Walker) STAPHYLININA Heterothops dissimilis, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) ; Boxford (Harwood) Quedius longicornis, Kr. Aid- worth (Joy) — microps, Grav. Well. Coll. (Barnes) ; Bradfield (Joy) — ventralis, Ar. Bradfield (Joy) — lateralis, Grav. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) ; Aldworth (Joy); Wytbam (Walker) INSECTS STAPHYLININA (continued) "Quedius mesomelinus, Marsh. — fulgidus, Fab. Reading (Andrewes); Boar's Hill — puncticollis, Thorns. Brad- fieM,Aldworth,znd Thatch- am (Joy) — brevicornis, Thorns. Aid- worth (Joy) ; Wantage — cruentus, Ol. Bradfield (Joy) ; Netobury (Har- wood) ; Wytham and Bag- ley (Walker) — scitus, Grav. Windsor Park (Blatch) * — cinctus, Payk. — brevis, Er. Well. Coll. (Joy) t — fuliginosus, Grav. * — tristis, Grav. — molochinus, Grav. Brad- field (Joy) ; Tubney ; Boar's Hill — picipes, Mann. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — nigriceps Kr. Bradfield (Joy) ; Boar's Hill ; Hen- wood — fumatus, Steph. Aldermas- ton (Joy) ; Aldworth (Joy) ; Bagley (Walker) - — maurorufus, Grav. Cumnor Hill; Tubney (Walker) — suturalis, Kies. Bradfield (J°y) — obliteratus, Er. Bradfield Coy) — rufipes, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytham (Walker) — attenuatus, Gyll. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Chilswell Hills — semiaeneus, Steph. Fyfield (Butler) ; Bradfield (Joy) t — boops, Grav. "Creophilus maxillosus, Linn. tLeistotrophus nebulosus, Fabr. t — murinus, Linn. Staphylinus pubescens, De G. Bagley Wood. Rare. t — stercorarius, Ol. — latebricola, Grav. Sulham ; Ferry Hinksey — erythropterus, Linn. Sul- ham ; Tubney ; Bagley Wood t — caesareus, Ceder. "Ocypus olens, Mull. — similis, Fabr. Reading — fuscatus, Grav. Reading (An- drewes) ; Aldworth (Joy) t — cupreus, Rossi. t — ater, Grav. * — morio, Grav. — compressus, Marsh. Brad- field (Joy) ; Streatley ; Tubney ; Cumnor Hill STAPHYLININA (continued) tPhilonthus splendens, Fabr. t — intermedius, Boisd. t — laminatus, Creutz. * — seneus, Rossi. — proximus, Kr. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) — addendus, Sharp. Bradfield (J°y) — carbonarius, Gyll. Brad- field (Joy) — decorus, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood * — politus, Fabr. — lucens, Er. Reading ; Tub- ney ; Boar's Hill * — varius, Gyll. t — marginatus, Fabr. — albipes, Grav. Bradfield (J°y) — umbratilis, Grav. Thatcham (Joy); Berks (Collins) — cephalotes, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wallingjord (Lam- bert) t — fimetarius, Grav. — sordidus, Grav. Reading ; Aldermaston and Bradfield (J°y) — fuscus, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) t — ebeninus, Grav. — fumigatus, Er. Boar's Hill — debilis,Grav. Reading; Brad- field (Joy) ; near Kenning- ton — sanguinolentus, Grav. Brad- field (Joy); South Hink- sey * — cruentatus, Gmel. — longicornis, Steph. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) * — varians, Payk. — agilis, Grav. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) — ventralis, Grav. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — discoideus, Grav. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — quisquiliarius, Gyll. Read- ing (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Foxcombe Hill — thermarum, Aube. Brad- field (Joy) — fumarius, Grav. Reading ; Midgham — micans, Grav. Fyfield (But- ler) ; Reading — nigritulus, Grav. Reading (Andrewes) ; Lower Ear- ley (Barnes) — trossulus, Nord. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) Actobius cinerascens, Grav. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytham (Walker) STAPHYLININA (continued) Actobius procerulus, Grav. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney Xantholinus fulgidus, Fabr. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) * — glabratus, Grav. — punctulatus, Payk. Reading, Bradfield (Joy) — ochraceus, Gyll. Bradfield (J°y) — atratus, Heer. Tubney — tricolor, Fabr. Aldttiorth(]oy) »— linearis, Ol. t— longiventris, Heer. Leptacinus parumpunctatus, Gyll. Bradfield (Joy); Newbury (Harwood) — batychrus, Gyll. Reading (Andrewes) — linearis, Grav. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — formicetorum, Mark. Wind- sor Park (Blatch) ; Well. Coll. (Joy) ; Reading tBaptolinus alternans, Grav. tOthius fulvipennis, Fabr. — • laeviusculus, Steph. Wall- ingford (Lambert) ; 'Tub- ney ; Aldermaston (Joy) t — melanocephalus, Grav. — myrmecophilus, Kies. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tub- ney P.SDERINA tLathrobium elongatum, Linn. t — - boreale, Hoch. t — fulvipenne, Grav. * — brunnipes, Fabr. — longulum, Grav. River Kennet (Joy) ; Bagley (Walker) — punctatum, Zett. Well. Coll. (Joy) ; Reading (An- drewes) — filiforme, Grav. Reading ; King's Weir (Walker) — quadratum, Payk. Fyfield (Butler) — terminatum, Grav. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Cold Ash (Harwood) ; King's Weir — multipunctum, Grav. Brad- field (Joy); Berks (Collins) Achenium depressum, Grav. Thames side, Reading ; Ferry Hinksey — humile, Nic. Reading ; Pangbourne (Joy) tCryptobium glaberrimum, Herbst. Stilicus rufipes, Germ. Alder- maston ; Bradfield (Joy) ; W ytham (Walker) A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE PJEDERINA (continued) Stilicus orbiculatus, Er. Read- ing (Andrewes) "— affinis, Er. — geniculatus, Er. Streatlcy (Lambert) Scopaeus sulcicollis, Steph. Bradfield (Joy) Medon castaneus, Grav. Tub- ney — dilutus, Er. Tubney (Collins) — brunneus, Er. Bradfield (J°y) — fusculus, Mann. Reading (Barnes) ; Aldworth (Joy) — apicalis, Kr. Windsor Park (Walker) - propinquus, Bris. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) t — melanocephalus, Fabr. — obsoletus, Nord. Windsor Park (Blatch); Streatley (Lambert) Lithocharis ochracea, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) Sunius filiformis, Latr. Reading (Andrewes) — diversus, Aube. Bradfield CM — angustatus, Payk. Common and general Pasderus littoralis, Grav. Com- mon everywhere — riparius, Linn. Thames side, Reading ; Thatcham (Joy); Newbury (Harwood) ; King's Weir (Walker) EV.SSTHETINA Evaesthetus scaber, Thorn. Thatcham (Joy) — ruficapillus, Lac. Thatcham (Joy); Cold Ash (Har- wood) STENINA Dianous caerulescens, Gyll. Bradfield (Joy) Stenus biguttatus, Linn. Aid- worth (Joy) — bipunctatus, Er. Well. Coll. (Joy) ; Reading ; South Hinksey — guttula, Mull. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield .(Joy) * — bimaculatus, Gyll. * — juno, Fabr. — longitarsis, Thorn. Thatch- am (Joy) — speculator, Er. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy); Ferry Hinksey — providus, Er. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytham (Walker) STENINA (continued) Stenus buphthalmus, Grav. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood — melanopus, Marsh. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield . (J°y) — incrassatus, Er. Bradfield (Joy). — melanarius, Steph. Hen- wood (Collins) ; Bradfield U°y) — canaliculatus, Gyll. Brad- field Qoy) — pusillus, Er. Reading ; Bradfield (joy) ; Thatcham (Harwood) — exiguus, Er. Wokingham — fuscipes, Grav. Fy field (But- ler) ; Reading (Andrewes) — circularis, Grav. Reading (Andrewes) ; Thatcham (J°y) — declaratus, Er. Kennet side, Reading — opticus, Grav. Reading; Thatcham (Joy) — carbonarius, Gyll. Banning ; Reading (Andrewes) — argus, Grav. Bradfield (Joy) — nigritulus, Gyll. Ferry Hinksey * — brunnipes, Steph. • — subaeneus, Er. Aldworth and Bradfield (Joy) ; South Hinksey — ossium, Steph. Bradfield (Joy) — palustris, Er. Pangbourne (Lambert) t — • impressus, Germ. — erichsoni, Rye. Bradfield Q°y) — pallipes, Grav. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) — flavipes, Steph. Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Har- wood) ; Bagley (Walker) — pubescens, Steph. Bradfield (Joy); King's Weir — binotatus, Ljun. Fyfield (Butler) ; Bradfield (Joy) — canescens, Ros. Reading (Andrewes) — pallitarsis, Steph. Bradfield (Joy); Botley — nitidiusculus, Steph. Fyfield (Butler) ; Thatcham (Joy); Newbury (Harwood) — picipes, Steph. Fyfield (But- ler) ; Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — foveicollis, Kr. Reading t — cicindeloides, Grav. — similis, Herbst. Reading; Aldermaston (Joy) ; . Tub- ney ; Boar's Hill 86 STENINA (continued) Stenus solutus, Er. Thatcham (Joy); Newbury (Harwood) — tarsalis, Ljun. Kennet side, Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — paganus, Er. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — latifrons, Er. Reading (An- drewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Harwood) — fornicatus, Steph. Well. Coll. (Joy) OXYPORINA Oxyporus rufus, Linn. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) OXYTELINA Bledius femoralis, Gyll. Well. Coll. (Joy) — opacus, Block. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney (Walker) Platystethus arenarius, Fourc. Reading (Andrewes); Brad- field (Joy) — cornutus, Gyll. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney - capito, Heer. Reading *Oxytelus rugosus, Grav. - insecatus, Grav. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) t — sculptus, Grav. t — laqueatus, Marsh. * — inustus, Grav. t — sculpturatus, Grav. - nitidulus, Grav. Reading (Andrewes); Bradfield (Joy) — complanatus, Er. Reading (Andrewes) — clypeonitens, Pand. Aid- worth (Joy) t — tetracarinatus, Block. I Haploderus coelatus, Grav. tTrogophloeus bilineatus, Steph. — rivularis, Mots. Bradfield (J°y) — elongatulus, Er. Reading; Thatcham (Joy) ; Newbury (Harwood) — corticinus, Grav. Reading (Andrewes) ; Thatcham (Joy) ; Newbury (Har- wood) — pusillus, Grav. Bradfield and Thatcham (Joy) tSyntomium aeneum, Mull. tCoprophilus striatulus, Fabr. OMALIINA "Lesteva longelytrata, Goeze. t — sicula, Er. — pubescens, Mann. Ferry Hinksey "Olophrum piceum, Gyll. •Lathrimsum atrocephalum, Gyll. OMALIINA (continued") *Lathrimaeum unicolor, Steph. Philorhinum sordidum, Steph. Boxford (Harwood) Orochares angustatus, Er. Bradfield (Joy) Coryphium angusticolle, Steph. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Aldworth (Joy) ; Bagley (Walker) *Omalium rivulare, Payk. — septentrionis, Thorns. Brad- field and Aldermaston (Joy) ; Tubney ; Wytbam (Walker) — oxyacanthae, Grav. Tubney (Lambert) t — - excavatum, Steph. t — caesum, Grav. — nigriceps, Kies. Bradfield (Joy) ; South Hinksey ; Wytham (Walker) — pusillum, Grav. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Well. Coll. — punctipenne, Thorns. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Brad- t — rufipes, Fourc. — vile, Er. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Bradfield (Joy) — iopterum, Steph. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytham and Bag- ley (Walker) — planum, Payk. Bradfield (J°y) t — concinnum, Marsh. — deplanatum, Gyll. Brad- field (Joy) Hapalaraea pygmaea, Gyll. Brad- field (Joy) Eusphalerum primulae, Steph. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) Anthobium minutum, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) ; Ferry Hinksey t — opthalmicum, Payk. — torquatum, Marsh. Read- ing ; Bagley (Walker) — sorbi, Gyll. Aldworth (Joy) ; Bagley PROTEININA Proteinus ovalis, Steph. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — brachypterus, Fabr. Burgh- field ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — macropterus, Gyll. Brad- field (Joy) - atomarius, Er. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield U°y) INSECTS PROTEININA (continued) Megarthrus denticollis, Beck. Bradfield (Joy); Wytham (Walker) — affinis, Mull. Reading (An- drewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) — depressus, Lac. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — sinuaticollis, Lac. Bradfield (J°y) — hemipterus, 111. Bradfield (Joy); Wytham (Walker) Phloeobium clypeatum, Mull. Reading (Andrewes); Brad- field (Joy); Newbury (Har- wood) ; Tubney (Walker) PHLCEOCHARINA Phloeocharis subtilissima, Mann. Well. Coll. (Joy) Pseudopsis sulcata, Newm. Bradfield (Joy) PlESTINA Prognatha quadricornis, Lac. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Hen- wood PSELAPHID.E PSELAPHINA Pselaphus heisei, Herbst. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Harwood) — dresdensis, Herbst. Thatch- am (Harwood and Joy) Tychus niger, Payk. Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Har- wood) Bythinus puncticollis, Denny. Bradfield (Joy) — bulbifer, Reich. Reading ; Bradfield and Thatcham (J°y) — curtisi, Denny. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytham and Bag- ley (Walker) — securiger, Reich. Bradfield (Joy) Bryaxis sanguinea, Linn. Fy- field (Butler) ; Reading — fossulata, Reich. Reading ; Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy); Bagley (Walker) — haematica, Reich. Reading (Andrewes) — juncorum, Leach. Brad- field (Joy) ; Newbury (Harwood) ; B alley — impressa, Panz. Thatcham 0°y) Euplectus karsteni, Reich. Aldworth (Joy) — signatus, Reich. Aldworth (Joy) 87 PSELAPHINA (continued) Euplectus nanus, Reich. Windsor (Fowler) ; Aldworth (Joy) - - sanguineus, Denny. Brad- field Qoy) — piceus, Mots. Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) CLAVIGERINA Claviger testaceus, Preyss. Aldworth (Joy) Neuraphes elongatulus, Mull. Aldworth (Joy) — angulatus, Mull. Well. Coll. (J°y) - carinatus, Muls. Bradfield (Joy) - sparshalli, Denny. Bradfield (Joy) Scydmaenus scutellaris, Mull. Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Harwood) — collaris, Mull. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Har- wood) — pusillus, Miill. Longmere (Barnes) ; Bradfield (Joy) — poweri, Fowler. Aldworth (Joy) Euconnus denticornis, Miill. Wytham (Walker) — hirticollis, 111. Thatcham ' . — fimetarius, Chaud. Well. Coll. (Joy) — maklini, Mann. Bradfield (J°y) Eumicrus tarsatus, Miill. Bradfield (Joy) ; New- bury (Harwood) ; Bagley (Walker) Cephennium thoracicum, Mull. Reading ; Mortimer and Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Harwood) LEPTINID.E Leptinus testaceus, Miill. Brad- field (Joy) ; Bagley (Wal- ker) SILPHID^E CLAMBINA Calyptomerus dubius, Marsh. Bradfield (Joy) Clambus pubescens, Redt. Bradfield (Joy) — armadillo, De G. Bradfield . — minutus, Sturm. Aldzeorth (J°y) A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE ANISOTOMINA Agathidium nigripenne, Kug. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Wytham (Walker) — at rum, Payk. Reading; Aldworth (Joy) ; Tubney ; Berks (Collins) — seminulum, Linn. Well. Coll. (Tomlin) ; Mortimer, Bradfield, and Aldworth (J°y) — laevigatum, Er. Tubney (Walker) ; Aldworth (Harwood) — marginatum, Sturm. Read- ing (Andrewes) — varians, Beck. Windsor Park (Blatch) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley (Walker) — convexum, Sharp. Well. Coll. (Joy) ; Aldworth (Harwood) — rotundatum, Gyll. Ald- wortb (Joy) ; Tubney (Walker) - nigrinum, Sturm. Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley (Walker) Amphicyllis globus, Fabr. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Wallingford Liodes humeralis, Kug. Read- ing (Andrewes) ; Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) — orbicularis, Herbst. Aid- worth (Joy) ; Wytham (Walker) Cyrtusa pauxilla, Schmidt. Bradfield (Joy) Anisotoma cinnamomea, Er. Wytham (Walker) — oblonga, Er. Bradfield (Joy) — dubia, Kug. Burghfield — badia, Sturm. Bagley (Wai- ker) — ovalis, Schmidt. Bradfield (Joy) ; Aldworth (Har- wood); Wytham (Wal- ker) — punctulata, Gyll. Bradfield smdAldteorthQoy); Wood- bay (Harwood) ; Wytham (Walker) — calcarata, Er. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney, Wytham, and Bagley (Walker) — nigrita, Schmidt. Well. Coll. (J°y) — rugosa, Sahib. Tubney (Wal- ker) — parvula, Sahib. Aldworth (Harwood) Colenis dentipes, Gyll. Brad- field (Joy); Wytham (Walker) Agaricophagus cephalotes, Schmidt. Bradfield (Joy) ANISOTOMINA (continued) Hydnobius punctatissimus, Steph. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytham (Walker) — migosus, Schmidt. Wyth- am (Walker) Triarthron markeli, Schmidt. Woodhay and Newbury (Harwood) SILFHINA Necrophorus germanicus, Linn. Banks of the Thames above Windsor (Stephens) • — humator, Fabr. * — mortuorum, Fabr. — vestigator, Heer. Sulham ; Streatley — ruspator, Er. Wokingham ; Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood — interruptus, Steph. Burgh- field ; Bradfield (Joy); Streatley ; Bagley Wood * — vespillo, Linn. •Necrodes littoralis, Linn. "Silpha quadripunctata, Linn. Common among oaks — opaca, Linn. South Hinksty — thoracica, Linn. — rugosa, Linn. — sinuata, Fabr. — laevigata, Fabr. — atrata, Linn. CHOLEVINA Choleva angustata, Fabr. Read- ing ; Brad field (joy) ; Tub- ney — cisteloides, Frohl. Fy field (Butler); Bradfield (Joy) ; Henwood - intermedia, Kr. Reading; Tubney — spadicea, Sturm. Fyfield (Butler) ; Bagley (Walker) - agilis, 111. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — velox, Spence. Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Har- wood) — wilkini, Spence. Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Har- wood) ; Bagley (Walker) — anisotomoides, Spence. Brad- field (Joy) ; Tubney — fusca, Panz. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) — nigricans, Spence. Fyfield (Butler),- Reading ; Tubney — morio, Fabr. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — grandicollis, Er. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney ; Boar's Hill tCholeva nigrita, Er. t — tristis, Panz. 88 CHOLEVINA (continued} tCholeva kirbyi, Spence. t — chrysomeloides, Panz. — fumata, Spence. t — watsoni, Spence. — colonoides, Kr. Bradfield Coy) 'Ptomaphagus sericeus, Fabr. Colon dentipes, Sahl. Bradfield (J°y) — brunneum, Latr. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytham and Bag- ley (Walker) HISTERID^E Hister unicolor, Linn. Reading — merdarius, Hoff. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — cadaverinus, Hoff. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — succicola, Thorns. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney Wood t — purpurascens, Herbst. - neglectus, Germ. Reading t — - carbonarius, 111. — I2-striatus, Schr. Reading; Aldworth (Joy) — bimaculatus, Linn. Brad- field (Joy) ; Streatley ; Wantage ; Tubney Carcinops minima, Aube. Read- ing; near Godstow (Wai- ker) — 14-striata. Steph. Bradfield (J°y) Paromalus flavicornis, Herbst. Windsor (Fowler) ; Wind- sor Park (Walker) Dendrophilus punctatus, Herbst Bradfield (Joy) — pygmzus, Linn. Windsor Park (Blatch) Myrmetes piceus, Payk. Morti- mer (Joy) Gnathoncus nannetensis, Mars. Bradfield (Joy) ; Cumnor — punctulatus, Thorns. Brad- field (Joy) •Saprinus nitidulus, Payk. — xneus, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — virescens, Payk. Reading; Bradfield (Joy); Tubney (Champion) Plegaderus dissectus, Er. Wind- sor Park (Blatch) Abraeus globosus, Hoff. Brad- field (Joy) ; Ferry Hink- ity ; Wytham (Walker) Acritus minutus, Herbst. Brad- field (Joy) Onthophilus striatus, Fabr. Burghfield ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Boxford (Harwood) — sulcatus, Fabr. Tubney INSECTS SCAPHIDIID^E Scaphidium quadrimaculatum> Ol. Padworth ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Aldworth (Walker) Scaphisoma agaricinum, Linn. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney ; Wytham (Walker) — boleti, Panz. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney (Collins) ; Wytham (Walker) TRICHOPTERYGID^E Pteryx suturalis, Heer. Brad- field (Joy) Ptinella denticollis, Fairm. Bradfield (Joy) — angustula, Gill. Aldworth 0°y) Trichopteryx atomaria, De G. Bradfield and Aldwortb (J°y) — grandicollis, Mann. Brad- field (Joy) — lata, Mots. Reading ; Brad- field (Joy) ; Wallingford — fascicularis, Herbst. Brad- field (Joy) — seminitens, Matth. Thatch- am (Joy) — dispar, Matth. Bradfield and Aldwortb (Joy) Ptilium kunzei, Heer. Brad- field (Joy) — spencei, All. Bradfield (Joy) — exaratum, All. Bradfield (J°y) — myrmecophilum, All. Wind- sor Park (Blatch) Nossidium pilosellum, Marsh. Padworth and Aldworth (J°y) Ptenidium nitidum, Heer. T batch am (Joy) — evanescens, Marsh. Brad- field Goy) — turgidum, Thorns. Brad- field (Joy) CORYLOPHID^E Orthoperus atomus, Gyll. Ald- wortb (Joy) — mundus, Matth. Bradfield (J°y) Corylophus cassidioides, Marsh Tbatcham (Joy) Sericoderus lateralis, Gyll. Bradfield (Joy) ; South Hinksey COCCINELLID^E tSubcoccinella 24 - punctata, Linn. Hippodamia variegata, Goeze. Well. Coll. (Elton) ; Fy field (Butler) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Boar's Hill (Walker) COCCINELLID.S: (continued) Anisosticta ig-punctata, Linn. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) *Adalia obliterata, Linn. Com- mon on firs. * — bipunctata, Linn. tMysia oblongoguttata, Linn. *Anatis ocellata, Linn. Common on firs *Coccinella lo-punctata, Linn. t — hieroglyphica, Linn. * — 1 1 -punctata, Linn. * — 7-punctata, Linn. tHalyzia i6-guttata, Linn. t — I4-guttata, Linn. t — i8-guttata, Linn. — conglobata, Linn. Reading ; Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) ; Bagley Wood * — zz-punctata, Linn. 'Micraspis i6-punctata, Linn. Hyperaspis reppensis, Herbst. Windsor Forest (Fowler) ; Newbury (Harwood) Scymnus nigrinus, Kug. Bagley Wood — frontalis, Fabr. Fyfield (Butler) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — suturalis, Thunb. Bradfield (Joy); Boxford (Harwood); Wytham (Walker) — testaceus, Mots. Thatcham (Joy) ; Tubney — haemorrhoidalis, Herbst. Fyfield (Butler) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood — capitatus, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood — ater, Kug. Chilwell Hills — minimus, Rossi. Fyfield (Butler) ; Bradfield (Joy) tChilocorus similis, Rossi. t — bipustulatus, 111. tExochomus quadripustulatus, Linn. *Rhizobius litura, Fabr. *Coccidula rufa, Herbst. — scutellata, Herbst. Berks (Collins) ENDOMYCHIDjE Symbiotes latus, Redt. Brad- field (Joy) Mycetasa hirta, Marsh. Read- ing ; Pangbourne ; Brad- field (Joy) Alexia pilifera, Mull. Aldworth (Joy) ; Boxford (Har- wood) Lycoperdina bovistae, Fabr. Basildon ; Aldwortb (Joy) Endomychus coccineus, Linn. Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) ; Wytham (Walker) 89 EROTYLIDjE Dacne humeralis, Fabr. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Aldworth and Tubney (Walker) — rufifrons, Fabr. Burghfield ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Henwood, Tubney, and Wytham (Walker) Triplax lacordairei, Crotch. Windsor (Stephens) PHALACRID.E 'Phalacrus corruscus, Payk. — substriatus, Gyll. Bagley Wood - caricis, Sturm. Reading tOlibrus corticalis, Panz. t — aeneus, Fabr. — liquidus Er. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Boar's Hill — affinis, Sturm. Tubney ; Bagley ; Henwood — millefolii, Payk. Ferry Hinksey; Boar's Hill (Walker) — pygmzus, Tubney tEustilbus testaceus, Panz. — atomarius, Linn. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney ; Boar's Hill MICROPEPLID^E Micropeplus staphylinoides, Marsh. Bradfield (Joy) — margaritae, Duv. Bradfield 0°y) Brachypterus gravidus, 111. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney (Walker) * — pubescens, Er. * — urtics, Fabr. Cercus pedicularius, Linn. Read- ing — bipustulatus, Payk. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) t — rufilabris, Latr. Carpophilus hemipterus, Linn. Bagley (Shipp) Epurea decemguttata, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) — diffusa, Bris. Bradfield (Joy) * — a;stiva, Linn. — melina, Er. Reading ; Ald- wortb (Joy) — longula, Er. Berks (Collins) — florea, Er. Reading ; Brad- field (Joy) ; Bagley Wood — deleta, Er. Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) — obsoleta, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) ; Boar's Hill (Lam- bert) 12 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE NITIDULID.S (continued) Epurea angustula, Er. Alder- maston (Joy) — pusilla, Er. Reading Omosiphora limbata, Fabr. Thatcham (Joy) Micrurula melanocephala, Marsh. Bagley Wood •Nitidula bipustulata, Linn. — rufipes, Linn. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney Soroniapunctatissima, 111. Brad- field (Joy) t — grisea, Linn. Amphotis marginata, Er. Well. Coll. (Joy) Omosita depressa, Linn. Alder- maston and Bradfield (Joy) . * — colon, Linn. * — discoidea, Fabr. Thalycra sericez,StuTm.Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytham (Walker) Pocadius ferrugineus, Fabr. Fyfield (Butler); Aldworth and Bradfield (Joy) ; Bot- ley ; Tubney (Walker) Pria dulcamaras, Scop. Fyfield (Butler) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Botley •Meligethes rufipes, Gyll. — lumbaris, Sturm. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Cumnor; Tubney * — aeneus, Fabr. - viridescens, Fabr. - difficilis, Heer. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) ; Boar's Hill — ochropus, Sturm. Bradfield (J°y) — brunnicornis, Sturm. King's Weir — pedicularius, Gyll. Aid- worth (Joy) - bidens, Bris. Bradfield (Joy) — umbrosus, Sturm. Bradfield — ovatus, Sturm. Aldermaston (Joy); Wytham (Walker) — flavipes, Sturm. Bradfield (Joy) * — picipes, Sturm. — serripes, Gyll. Aldworth (J°y) — murinus, Er. Aldworth (Joy) Tubney — lugubris, Sturm. Aldworth (Joy) — obscurus, Er. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — erythropus, Gyll. Aldworth (J°y) •Cychramus luteus, Fabr. Cryptarcha strigata, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) NITIDULIDJE (continued) Cryptarcha imperialis, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) Ips quadriguttata, Fabr. Wind- sor Park (Walker) — quadripunctata, Herbst. Reading Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood — quadripustulata, Linn. Windsor (Stephens) Pityophagus ferrugineus, Fabr. Reading (Andrewes) TROGOSITID^E Tenebrioides mauritanicus, Linn. Reading ; Pang- bourne Oxylaemus variolosus, Duft. Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley (Walker) Orthocerus muticus, Linn. Tubney Ditoma crenata, Fabr. Windsor Park (Blatch) ; Well. Coll. (Joy) Cicones variegatus, Hellw. Windsor Park (Blatch); Aldworth (Joy) 'Cerylon histeroides, Fabr. — fagi, Bris. Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) — ferrugineum, Steph. Wind- sor Park (Walker) ; Ferry Hinksey CUCUJID^E Rhizophagus cribratus, Gyll. Bradfield (Joy) ; Walling- ford (Lambert) — depressus, Fabr. Wokingham — perforatus, Er. Windsor Park (Blatch) — parallelocollis, Er. Well Coll. — ferrugineus, Payk. Brad- field (Joy) * — bipustulatus, Fabr. Pediacus dermestoides, Linn. Windsor Park (Blatch); Bradfield (Joy) Laemophlceus ferrugineus, Steph. Windsor Park (Blatch); Reading; Aid- worth (Joy) — duplicatus, Wad. Windsor Park (Blatch) Psammoechus bipunctatus, Fabr. Reading ; Burgh- field ; Bradfield (Joy); Newbury (Harwood) ; Wytham (Walker) Silvanus unidentatus, Fabr. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Well. Coll.; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney MONOTOMID^E Monotoma conicicollis, Aube. Windsor Park (Blatch) — formicetorum, Thorns. Mor- timer (Joy) — spinicollis, Aube. Bradfield (Joy) _ — brevicollis, Aube. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) — picipes, Herbst. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wallingford (Lam- bert) — quadricollis, Aube. Brad- field (Joy) — rufa, Redt. Bradfield (Joy) — longicollis, Gyll. Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) LATHRIDIIDJ5 Anommatus 12-striatus, Mull. Aldworth (Joy) •Lathridius lardarius, De Geer. — angulatus, Humm. Brad- field (Joy) — bergrothi, Reit. Reading .(Joy) *Coninomus nodifer, Westw. •Enicmus minutus, Linn. * — transversus, Ol. — testaceus, Steph. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney ; Wytham (Walker) — brevicornis, Mann. Aid- worth (Joy) Cartodere ruficollis, Marsh. Bradfield (Joy) — elongata, Curt. Bradfield (Joy) Corticaria pubescens, Gyll. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) — crenulata, Gyll. Reading; Pangbourne ; Bradfield (Joy) — denticulata, Gyll. Reading (Andrewes) — serrata, Payk. Bradfield (J°y) — umbilicata, Beck. Bradfield (J°y) — fulva, Com. Bradfield (Joy) — elongata, Humm. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (Joy) tMelanophthalma gibbosa, Herbst. — fuscula, Humm. Readings Bradfield (Joy) CRYPTOPHAGID^E Diphyllus lunatus, Fabr. Aid- worth (Joy) ; Cumnor ; Wytham (Walker) Diplocoelus fagi, Guer. Aid- worth (Joy) INSECTS CRYPTOPHAGID^; (continued) Telmatophilus caricis, Ol. Brad- field (Joy) — typhse, Fall. Bradfield (Joy) Antherophagus nigricornis, Fabr. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood ; Wytbam (Walker) — pallens, GyU. Well. Coll. (Tomlin) — silaceus, Herbst. Aldwortb (Joy) *Cryptophagus lycoperdi, Herbst. — setulosus, Sturm. Bradfield (J°y) — pilosus, Gyll. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — punctipennis, Bris. Brad- field (Joy) — populi, Payk. Bradfield Qoy) ; Tubney (Walker) — saginatus, Sturm. Bradfield (J°y) — umbratus, Er. Reading ; Aldworth (Joy) ; Tubney — scanicus, Linn. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytbam (Walker) — badius, Sturm. Bradfield (Joy) — dentatus, Herbst. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — distinguendu, Sturm. Read- ing ; Wallingford ; Brad- field (Joy) — acutangulus, Gyll. Brad- field (J°y) — cellaris, Scop. Reading ; Pangbourne ; Bradfield (Joy) — affinis, Sturm. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — pubescens, Sturm. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytbam (Walker) — bicolor, Sturm. Bradfield (Joy) ; Box ford (Harwood) tMicrambe vini, Fanz. — abietis, Payk. Bradfield U°y) Atomaria nigriventris, Steph. Bradfield (Joy) — umbrina, Er. Bagley (Wal- ker) t — linearis, Steph. - elongatula, Er. Bradfield (Joy) - fuscipes, Gyll. Bradfield . (J°y) • — nigripennis, Payk. Bradfield (J°y) — fuscata, Schon. Bradfield Qoy) — pusilla, Payk. Bradfield (Joy) t" — atricapilla, Steph. — berolinensis, Kr. Bradfield (Joy) CRYPTOPHAGIDJE (continued) Atomaria mesomelas, Herbst. Thatcham (Joy) ; Cookbam (Harwood) ; King's Weir (Walker) — gutta, Steph. Reading (An- drewes) ; Pangbourne — apicalis, Er. Bradfield (Joy) — analis, Er. Reading (An- drewes) - ruficornis, Marsh. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) tEphistemus gyrinoides, Marsh. MYCETOPHAGID.E Typhaea fumata, Linn. Gener- ally common Triphyllus suturalis, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney (Walker) — punctatus, Fabr. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney Litargus bifasciatus, Fabr. Aldworth (Joy) ; Nezvbury (Harwood) ; Wytbam (Walker) *Mycetophagus quadripustula- tus. Linn. — atomarius, Fabr. Windsor Park (Blatch) ; Bradfield, Aldworth, and Streatley (J°y) — quadriguttatus, Mull. Brad- field (Joy) — multipunctatus, Hellw. Bradfield and Aldwortb (Joy) Byturus sambuci, Scop. Read- ing ; Pangbourne ; Brad- field (Joy) * — tomentosus, Fabr. DERMESTID.& Dermestes vulpinus, Fabr. Reading ; Crookbam Com- mon (Morley) * — murinus, Linn. * — lardarius, Linn. 'Attagenus pellio, Linn. Megatoma undata, Er. Brad- field (Joy) ; Berks (Collins) Tiresias serra, Fabr. Windsor Park and Tujney (Walker) Anthrenus varius, Fabr. Cumnor — musaeorum, Linn. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — claviger, Er. Reading (An- drewes) Trinodes hirtus, Fabr. Wind- sor (Stephens) BYRRHID.E Syncalypta hirsuta, Sharp. Reading (Collins) ; Aid- worth (Joy) ; Tubney — spinosa,Rosse. Aldwortb(]oy) 91 BYRRHID^E (continued) 'Byrrhus pilula, Linn. — fasciatus, Fabr. Well. Coll. (Elton) ; Tubney t — dorsalis, Fabr. — murinus, Fabr. Tubney tCytilus varius, Fabr. tSimplocaria semistriata, Fabr. Aspidiphorus orbiculatus, Gyll. Windsor Park (Blatch); Bradfield (Joy) PARNID^E Elmis aeneus, Mull. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Harwood) ; Tubney (Wal- ker) — volkmari, Panz. Bradfield (Joy) Limnius tuberculatus, Mull. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Harwood) Potaminus substriatus, Mull. Reading (Andrewes) tParnus prolifericornis, Fabr. t — auriculatus, Panz. HETEROCERID^E Heterocerus marginatus, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney (Walker) — laevigatus, Panz. Reading LUCANID.E tLucanus cervus, Linn. *Dorcus parallelopipedus, Linn. Sinodendron cylindricum, Linn. Bradfield (Joy) SCARAB^EID^E COPRINA 'Onthophagus ovatus, Linn. * — coenobita, Herbst. — fracticornis, Payk. Reading ; Bagley Wood — nuchicornis, Linn. Well. Coll. (Elton) ; Reading Aphodius erraticus, Linn. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Boar's Hill t — subterraneus, Linn. * — fossor, Linn. t — haemorrhoidalis, Linn. t — fcetens, Fabr. * — fimetarius, Linn. — scybalarius, Fabr. Reading ; Boar's Hill *— ater, De G. t — granarius, Linn. — nitidulus, Fabr. Fy field (Butler) t — rufescens, Fabr. — putridus, Sturm Reading ; Bagley Wood A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE COPRINA (continued) Aphodius porcus, Fabr. Brad- field (Joy) — tristis, Panz. Bucklebury (Joy) t — pusillus, Herbst. — quadrimaculatus, Linn. Windsor (Fowler) t — merdarius, Fabr. — inquinatus, Fabr. Reading ; Tubney ; Boar's Hill t — sticticus, Panz. * — punctato-sulcatus, Sturm. * — prodromus, Brahm. * — contaminatus, Herbst. — obliterates, Panz. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — zenkeri, Germ. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wallingford (Lam- bert) — luridus, Fabr. Reading ; Streatley * — rufipes, Linn. — depressus, Kug. Reading ; Basildon Plagiogonus arenarius, Ol. Read- ing (Andrewes) ; Aldwortb (J°y) Heptaulacus villosus, Gyll. Aldworth (Harwood) ; Fril- ford (Walker) Odontaeus mobilicornis, Fabr. Well. Coll. (Elton) Geotrupes typhoeus, Linn. Well. Coll. ; Bucklebury (Joy) ; Tubney * — spiniger, Marsh * — stercorarius, Linn. — mutator, Marsh. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy); King's Weir f — sylvaticus, Panz. Trox sabulosus, Linn. Ascot (Harwood) ; Tubney — scaber, Linn. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney MELOLONTHINA tHoplia philanthus, Fuss. tSerica brunnea, Linn. Rhizotrogus solstitialis, Linn. Common everywhere — ochraceus, Knoch. Aid- worth (Joy) •Melolontha vulgaris, Fabr. RUTELINA tPhyllopertha horticola, Linn. Anomala frischii, Fabr. Well. Coll. and Wokingham CETONIINA Cetonia aurata, Linn. Well. Coll. (Elton) ; Reading ; Pangbourne ; Bradfield 0°y) CETONIINA (continued) Gnorimus variabilis, Linn. Windsor Forest (Bowring) BUPRESTID^E Agrilus sinuatus, Ol. Near Windsor (Stephens) — laticornis, 111. Bagley Wood — angustulus, 111. Bradfield Aphanisticus emarginatus, Fabr. Bagley (Shipp) — pusillus, Ol. Aldermaston (Joy) ; Bagley (Shipp) Trachys minuta, Linn. Bagley (Walker) — pumila, 111. Tubney ; Berks (Collins) — troglodytes, Gyll. Green- ham (Harwood) THROSCID^E Throscus dermestoides, Linn. Reading ; Aldermaston (Joy) ; Bagley Wood — carinifrons, Bouv. Brad- field (Joy) ; Bagley (Walk- er) EUCNEMID^ Melasis buprestoides, Linn. Windsor Forest (Fowler) ; Bagley (Walker) ELATERID^E *Lacon murinus, Linn. Cardiophorus asellus, Er. Ascot (Harwood) ; Read- ing ; Tubney tCryptohypnus riparius, Fabr. — quadripustulatus, Fabr. Burgh field; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney (Walker) ; Ferry Hinksey Elater sanguineus, Linn. Bagley Wood (Stephens) — lythropterus, Germ. Wind- sor (Fowler) — praeustus, Fabr. var. cocci- natus, Rye. Windsor Forest (Rye) — sanguinolentus, Schr. Ascot (Harwood); Well. Coll. (Elton) — elongatulus, Ol. Mortimer (J°y) t — balteatus, Linn. — nigrinus, Payk. Well. Coll. (Elton) — aethiops, Lac. Windsor For- est (Desvignes and Turner); Aldermaston Park Ischnodes sanguinicollis, Panz. Windsor Forest (Stephens); Well. Coll. (Elton) Megapenthes tibialis, Lac. Windsor (Griesbach) 92 ELATERID.TE (continued) Ludius ferrugineus, Linn. Wind- sor (Fowler) Melanotus punctolineatus, Pel. Reading — rufipes, Herbst. Well. Coll. (Elton) ; Reading ; Brad- field (Joy) ; Bagley Wood *Athous niger, Linn. t — longicollis, Ol. * — haemorrhoidalis, Fabr. * — vittatus, Fabr. tLimonius cylindricus, Payk. t — minutus, Linn. tSericosomus brunneus, Linn. Adrastus limbatus, Fabr. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) 'Agriotes sputator, Linn. * — obscurus, Linn. * — lineatus, Linn. t — sobrinus, Kies. t— pallidulus, 111. tDolopius marginatus, Linn. Corymbites pectinicornis, Linn Bagley (Shipp) ; Berks (Collins) — cupreus, Fabr. Streatley, one specimen only var. aeruginosus, Fab. Berks (Collins) — tessellatus, Fabr. Well. Coll. (Elton) ; Burgbfield ; Tub- ney t — quercus, Gyll. t — holosericeus, Fabr. — metallicus, Payk. Reading ; Padworth — bipustulatus, Linn. Tubney Campylus linearis, Linn. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood DASCILLID^ Dascillus cervinus, Linn. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Streatley tHelodes minuta, Linn. t — marginata, Fabr. 'Microcara livida, Fabr. *Cyphon coarctatus, Payk. Generally distributed t — nitidulus, Thorns. t — variabilis, Thunb. — pallidulus, Boh. Reading — padi, Linn. Bradfield (Joy) Prionocyphon serricornis, Mull Reading tScirtes hemisphaericus, Linn. Eubria palustris, Gyll. Berks (Collins) MALACODERMID^E LAMPYRINA •Lampyris noctiluca, Linn. INSECTS TELEPHORINA *Podabrus alpinus, Payk. Telephorus fuscus, Linn. Read- ing (Andrewes) * — rusticus, Fall. * — lividus, Linn, t — pellucidus, Fab. t — nigricans, Mull. t — lituratus, Fab. — figuratus, Mann. Sonning ; Reading * — bicolor, Fabr. t — haemorrhoidalis, Fabr. — oralis, Germ. Burgh field ; Cbilswell Hills t — flavilabris, Fall. — thoracicus, Ol. Reading tRhagonycha fuscicornis, Ol. — unicolor, Curt. Bradfield (J°y) * — fulva, Scop. — testacea, Linn. Burghfield ; Bradfield (Joy) * — limbata, Thorns, t — pallida, Fabr. tMalthinus punctatus, Fourc. — fasciatus, Ol. Tilehurst ; Bradfield (Joy) — balteatus, Suff. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — frontalis, Marsh. Well. Coll. (Elton) ; Bradfield (Joy) Malthodes marginatus, Latr. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood — flavoguttatus, Kies. Brad- field (Joy) ; Newbury (Har- wood) — guttifer, Kies. Reading — dispar, Germ. Bradfield (Joy) — pellucidus, Kies. Well. Coll. (Joy) ; Newbury (Har- wood) ; Botley (Lam- bert) — minimus, Linn. Tilehurst; Bradfield (Joy) — atomus, Thorns. Bradfield (Joy) MELYRINA tMalachius aeneus, Linn. * — bipustulatus, Linn, t — viridis, Fabr. Axinotars us ruficollis, Ol. Well. Coll. (Elton) ; Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) tAnthocomus fasciatus, Linn. Dasytes flavipes, Fabr. Read- ing ; Bradfield, (Joy) — aerosus, Kies. Common everywhere Psilothrix nobilis, 111. Reading (Hamm) ; Aldwortb and Streatley (Joy) MELYRINA (continued) Haplocnemus impressus, Marsh Streatley ; Bagley (Walk- er) CLERIDJE Tillus elongatus, Linn. Windsor (Fowler) ; Burghfield ; Aldwortb (Joy) — unifasciatus, Fabr. Windsor (Stephens) Opilo mollis, Linn. Windsor (Fowler) Thanasimus formicarius, Linn. Well. Coll. ; Wokingham ; Aldwortb and Bucklebury (Joy) tNecrobia ruficollis, Fabr. * — • violacea, Linn. t— rufipes, De G. tCorynetes coeruleus, De G. LYMEXYLONID^ Lymexylon navale, Linn. Wind- sor Forest (Bowring) PTINID.E PTININA Panz. Ptinus sexpunctatus, Reading — lichenum, Marsh. Well. Coll. (Elton) ; Burghfield * — fur, Linn. — subpilosus, Mull. Bradfield G°y) *Niptus hololeucus, Fald. Hedobia imperialis, Linn. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley (Walker) Mezium affine, Boield. Reading ANOBIINA Dryophilus pusillus, Gyll. Bradfield (Joy) Priobium castaneum, Fabr. Reading; Burghfield (Joy); Bagley Wood *Anobium domesticum, Fourc. — fulvicorne, Sturm. Reading ; Wallingford — paniceum, Linn. Woking- ham ; Reading ; Walling- ford Xestobium tessellatum, Fabr. Windsor (Fowler) ; Brad- field (Joy); Wallingford (Harwood) ; King's Weir Ernobius mollis, Linn. Brad- field (Jay) *Ptilinus pectinicornis, Linn. tOchina hederae, Mull Xyletinus ater, Panz. Ascot Heath (Fowler) Ccenocara bovistse, Hoff. Wind- sor (Fowler) 93 LYCTID^I Lyctus canaliculatus, Fabr. Windsor (Fowler) ; Brad- field (Joy) ; Bagley SPHINDID.E Sphindus dubius, Gyll. Aid- worth (Joy) *Cis boleti, Scop. — villosulus, Marsh. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Brad- field (Joy) ; Lambourn (Harwood) — micans, Fabr. Crowtborne — hispidus, Payk. Windsor (Fowler) ; Bradfield (Joy) t — bidentatus, Ol. — alni, Gyll. Bradfield, and Aldwortb (Joy) ; Lam- bourn (Harwood) ; Bagley (Walker) — nitidus, Herbst. Windsor (Fowler); Bradfield (Joy) — pygmsus, Marsh. Windsor Park (Blatch) ; Reading ; Calcot — festivus, Panz. Bradfield G°y) Rhopalodontus fronticornis, Panz. Bradfield (Joy) Ennearthron affine, Gyll. Bradfield and Aldwortb Wytham (Walker) Melandrya caraboides, Linn. Aldworth and Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Har- wood) ; Bagley Wood Abdera bifasciata, Marsh. Bradfield (Joy) Phloeotrya rufipes, Gyll. Wind- sor Forest (Fowler) Osphya bipunctata, Fabr. Wind- sor (Fowler) PYTHID.E Salpingus castaneus, Panz. Well. Coll. (Elton) ; Read- ing ; Boxford (Harwood) ; Wytham (Walker) Lissodema quadripustulata, Marsh. Aldworth (Joy) ; Bagley (Walker) tRhinosimus ruficollis, Linn, t — viridipennis, Steph. * — planirostris, Fabr. Gener- ally distributed OEDEMERIDjE Oedemera nobilis, Scop. Read- ing ; Streatley * — lurida, Marsh. Oncomera femorata, Fabr. Reading ; Streatley 96 OEDEMERID.S (continued) Nacerdes melanura, Schmidt. Reading (Andrewes) Ischnomera coerulea, Linn. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood — sanguinicollis, Fabr. Wind- sor Forest (Fowler) PYROCHROID^E 'Pyrochroa serraticornis, Scop. SCRAPTIID^; Scraptia dubia, Ol. Near Wind- sor (Stephens) MORDELLIOE Mordella fasciata, Fabr. Read- ing ; Aldworth (Joy) ; Bagley Wood; Wytham (Walker) Mordellistena abdominalis, Fabr. Reading (Collins) ; Bagley (Walker) — humeralis, Linn. Reading (Collins) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Aldworth (Walker) — brunnea, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) — pumila, Gyll. Reading (Col- lins) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Abingdon (Walker) — brevicauda, Boh. Reading (Andrewes) — parvula, Gyll. Bradfield (J°y) *Anapsis frontalis, Linn. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — garneysi, Fowler. Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood t — pulicaria, Costa. - rufilabris, Gyll. Well. Coll. (Barnes) t — geoffroyi, Mull. *— ruficollis, Fabr. t — flava, Linn. * — subtesacea, Steph. * — maculata, Fourc. RHIPIDOPHORID^E Metcecus paradoxus, Linn. Wal- lingford ; Bradfield (Joy) ANTHICID.E Notoxus monoceros, Linn. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney ; Boar's Hill 'Anthicus floralis, Linn. t — antherinus, Linn. XYLOPHILID^E Xylophilus populneus, Fabr. Fy field (Butler); Brad- (Joy) INSECTS XYLOPHILID.S: (continued) Xylophilus oculatus, Gyll. Brad- field (Joy) MELOID.E *Meloe proscarabasus, Linn. — violaceus, Marsh. Reading ; Boar's Hill ; Radley (Col- lins) — brevicollis, Panz. Windsor (Stephens) Sitaris muralis, Forst. W ailing- ford; Boar's Hill (Smith) Lytta vesicatoria, Linn. Brad- field (Joy); East Ilsley (Taplin) ANTHRIBID^E Brachytarsus varius, Fabr. Read- ing ; Bagley Wood ; Tub- ney (Walker) CURCULIONID^E ATTELABINA tApoderus coryli, Linn. tAttelabus curculionoides, Linn. RHINOMACERINA Rhinomacer attelaboides, Fabr. Boxford (Harwood) RHYNCHITINA Byctiscus betuleti, Fabr. Read- ing ; Bagley Wood *Rhynchites aequatus, Linn, t — aeneovirens, Marsh. — coeruleus, De G. Reading ; Aldermaston Park t — minutus, Herbst. — interpunctatus, Steph. Bag- ley ; Henwood (Walker) — pauxillus, Germ. Alder- maston Park — nanus,Payk. Reading ; Burgh- field ; Brad field (Joy) t — uncinatus, Thorns. — sericeus, Herbst. Aldwortb (J°y) t — pubescens, Fabr. Deporaiis megacephalus, Germ. Virginia Water (Butler) * — betulae, Linn. APIONINA •Apion pomonas, Fabr. — craccae, Linn. Bradfield 0°y) * — ulicis, Forst. Common on furze — urticarium, Herbst. Maid- enhead Thicket (Butler); Reading (Andrewes) t — miniatum, Germ. — cruentatum, Walt. Reading; Bagley (Walker) t — hsematodes, Kirby. APIONINA (continued) tApion rubens, Steph. — sanguineum, De G. Tubney (Walker) — pallipes, Kirby. Aldworth and Tubney (Walker) — rufirostre, Fabr. Bradfield (Joy) ; Streatley (Walker) — difforme, Germ. Fyfield (Butler); Sulham ; Brad- field (Joy) ; Tubney (Wal- ker) — varipes, Germ. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bucklebury (Joy) ; Wantage — laevicolle, Kirby. Windsor (Fowler) — schonherri, Boh. Tubney * — apricans, Herbst. — bohemani, Thorns. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) — assimile, Kirby. Tubney * — trifolii, Linn. t — dichroum, Bedel. * — nigritarse, Kirby. — confluens, Kirby. Boar's Hill (Walker) — stolidum, Germ. Fyfield (Butler) ; Reading (Col- lins) — hookeri, Kirby. Streatley ; Aldworth (Joy) * — seneum, Fabr. * — radiolus, Kirby. * — onopordi, Kirby. * — carduorum, Kirby. — laevigatum, Kirby. Tubney — flavimanum, Gyll. Aldworth (Walker) — vicinum, Kirby. Windsor (Fowler) ; Tubney — atomarium, Kirby. Brad- field (Joy) ; Aldwortb * — virens, Herbst. * — pisi, Fabr. * — zthiops, Herbst. t — ebeninum, Kirby. — filirostre, Kirby. Aldworth (Joy) ; Wytham (Walker) * — striatum, Kirby. t — ononis, Kirby. — ervi, Kirby. Fyfield (But- ler) ; Reading ; Bradfield (J°y) t — vorax, Herbst. — gyllenhali, Kirby. Bradfield (J°y) — unicolor, Kirby. Wytham (Walker) — meliloti, Kirby. Windsor (Fowler) — livescerum, Gyll. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wantage ; Tubney (Walker) — waltoni, Steph. Unhill ; Reading (Barnes) 97 APIONINA (continued) Apion spencei, Kirby. Tubney (Walker) — seniculum, Kirby. — tenue, Kirby. Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney ; Wytham (Walker) — pubescens, Kirby. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney — marchicum, Herbst. Com- mon and general — affine, Kirby. Bradfield (Joy) ; Boar's Hill (Walk- er) * — violaceum, Kirby. — hydrolapathi, Kirby. Read- ing ; Pangbourne ; Wan- tage ; Wallingford ; Hen- wood * — humile, Germ. OTIORRHYNCHINA tOtiorrhynchus tenebricosus, Herbst. — fuscipes, Walt. Basildon ; Aldworth (Joy) ; Streatley — scabrosus, Marsh. Reading (Andrewes) ; Bradfield (J°y) — ligneus, Ol. Reading ; Wal- lingford ; Tubney * — picipes, Fabr. * — sulcatus, Fabr. * — ovatus, Linn. Trachyphloeus squamulatus, Ol. Aldworth (Joy) — scaber, Linn. Cold Ash (Harwood) ; Tubney — scabriculus, Linn, Tubney — alternans, Gyll. Bradfield (Joy) ; Wytham (Walker) Casnopsis waltoni, Schon. Bradfield (Joy) 'Strophosomus coryli, Fabr. * — capitatus, De G. — fulvicornis, Walt. Tubney t — retusus, Marsh. * — faber, Herbst. t — lateralis, Payk. tExomias araneiformis, Schr. Brachysomus echinatus, Bonsd. Bradfield (Joy) ; Hunger- ford (Harwood) fSciaphilus muricatus, Fabr. Barypeithes sulcifrons, Boh. Reading (Collins) tLiophloeus nubilus, Fabr. Metallites marginatus, Steph. Reading ; Aldworth (Joy). Very local, but very com- mon where found Polydrusus micans, Fabr. Read- ing ; Padworth ; Brad- field (Joy) * — tereticollis, De G. *— pterygomalis, Boh. 13 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE OTIORRHYNCHINA (continued) Polydrusus flavipes, De G. Windsor Forest (Fowler) * — cervinus, Linn. *Phyllobius oblongus, Linn. — calcaratus, Fabr. Reading ; Aldermaston ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Bagley Wood * — urticae, De G. * — pyi> Linn. * — argentatus, Linn. t — maculicornis, Germ. t — pomonae, Ol. * — viridiaeris, Laich. — viridicollis, Fabr. Aldworth (J°y) •Barynotus obscurus, Fabr. t — elevatus, Marsh. *Alophus triguttatus, Fabr. CURCULIONINA Sitones griseus, Fabr. Reading (Collins) ; Tubney — cambricus, Steph. Bagley (Chitty) — regensteinensis, Herbst. Very common on broom — crinitus, Herbst. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) * — tibialis, Herbst. * — hispidulus, Fabr. t— humeralis, Steph. — meliloti, Walt. Reading (Andrewes) t — flavescens, Marsh. *— puncticollis, Steph. — suturalis, Steph. Boar's Hill (Collins) * — lineatus, Linn. t — sulcifrons, Thunb. Gronops lunatus, Linn. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney ; Bagley Limobius dissimilis, Herbst. Aldworth (Joy) ; Hunger- ford (Harwood) *Hypera punctata, Fabr. t — rumicis, Linn. * — polygoni, Linn. * — variabilis, Herbst. — murina, Fabr. Reading ; Burghfield ; Pangbourne ; Bradfield (Joy) — plantaginis, De G. Brad- field (Joy) t — trilineata, Marsh. * — nigrirostris, Fabr. Cleonua sulcirostris, Linn. Tubney ; Boar's Hill Liosoma ovatulum, Clairv. Reading; Bradfield (Joy) Bagley (Walker). Var. colla- ris, Rye. Bagley (Walker) Hylobius abietis, Linn. Well. Coll. ; Wokingham ; Brad- field (Joy) CURCULIONINA (continued} Pissodes pini, Linn. Well. Coll. (Bucknill) "Orchestes quercus, Linn. * — alni, Linn. t — ilicis, Fabr. — avellanae, Don. Bradfield (Joy) * — fagi, Linn. t — rusci, Herbst. — iota, Fabr. Burghfield — stigma, Germ. Reading (Barnes) ; Well. Coll. (Joy) t — salicis, Linn. Rhamphus flavicornis, Clairv. Bradfield (Joy) Orthocaetes setiger, Beck. Tub- ney (Walker) Grypidius equiseti, Fabr. Read- ing Erirrhinus bimaculatus, Fabr. Reading * — acridulus, Linn. Thryogenes festucas, Herbst. Bradfield and Pangbourne (Joy) — nereis, Payk. Reading; Pang- bourne ; Bradfield (Joy) Dorytomus vorax, Fabr. Reading; Bagley Wood t — tortrix, Linn. — hirtipennis, Bedel. Reading (Andrewes) * — maculatus, Marsh. t — pectoralis, Gyll. Smicronyx reichei, Gyll. Brad- field (Joy) — jungermanniae, Reich. New- bury (Harwood) Tanysphyrus lemnae, Fabr. River Rennet and Brad- field (Joy) ; Wytham (Walker) Bagous alismatis, Marsh. Fyfield (Butler) — frit. Brit. Coll. River Kennet (Joy) Anoplus plantaris, Naez. Bucklebury (Joy) ; Berks (Collins) Elleschus bipunctatus, Linn. Wokingham ; Henwood (Walker) Tychius polylineatus. Aldworth (J°y) — lineatulus, Steph. Aldworth (J°y) — junceus, Reich. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — tomentosus, Herbst. Streatley — tibialis, Boh. Reading (Andrewes) tMiccotrogus picirostris, Fabr. Sibinia potentillae, Germ. Ascot (Harwood) ; Brad- field CURCULIONINA (continued) Sibinia primita, Herbst. Read- ing ; Burghfield ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney Miarus campanulae, Linn. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Boar's Hill — graminis, Gyll. Aldworth (Walker) — plantarum, Germ. Tubney Gymnetron villosulus, Gyll. Reading ; Bradfield (Joy) — beccabungae, Linn. Brad- field (Joy) — melanarius, Germ. Aid- worth (Harwood) — rostellum, Herbst. Windsor Forest (Fowler) ; Streatley (Walker) — antirrhini, Payk. Fyfield (Butler) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Tubney (Walker) •Mecinus pyraster, Herbst. Anthonomus ulmi, De G. Read- ing ; Bradfield (Joy) — rosinae, Des Gozis. Read- ing ; Calcot — pedicularius, Linn. Com- mon and general * — rubi, Herbst. Nanophyes lythri.Fabr. Theale; Bradfield Qoy) *Cionus scrophulariae, Linn. — thapsus, Fabr. Reading t — hortulanus, Marsh. t — blattariae, Fabr. t— pulchellus, Herbst. Orobitis cyaneus, Linn. Alder- maston and Bradfield (Joy); Bagley (Chitty) ; Tubney (Walker) fCryptorrhynchus lapathi, Linn. Acalles ptinoides, Marsh. Well. Coll. (Joy) ; Reading ; Bradfield and Aldworth (Joy) ; Bagley (Walker) — turbatus,Boh..Bri3 and I9°I * — urticae, Linn. * — io, Linn. — antiopa, Linn. Taken in Berks (Steph.) ; White- knights' Park, Reading, in August 1872 (Wilkins) ; Burghfield, two specimens seen in 1892 (Wallis) ; Ardington, two specimens taken in September 1880 (C. L. Lindsay) * — atalanta, Linn t — cardui, Linn. Limenitis sibylla, Linn. Local, but sometimes tolerably common. Mortimer; Burghfield; Ufton; Pad- worth; Aldermaston Park; Bradfield (Joy) ; Enborne Copse (Steph.) ; one near Bagley Wood, July 15, 1897, by W. R. Strick- land APATURID.E Apatura iris, Linn. Mortimer ; Burghfield ,- Ufton (W. Barnes) ; Padworth ; Al- dermaston Park ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Enborne Copse (Steph.) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Bagley Wood (W. J. Lucas) IOO SATYRIDJE Melanargia galatea, Linn. Very local, but plentiful where it occurs. Mortimer ; Burghfield, by G. W. Rail- way bank ; Streatley Hill ; The Downs ; Tubney ; Henwood ; Lamboum (Blair) *Pararge egeria, Linn. * — megaera, Linn. Satyrus semele, Linn. Local, but generally common where it occurs. Sand- hurst (Mochler-Ferry- man) ; Wokingham, on the heath ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; on the downs, but not commonly *Epinephele janira, Linn. * — tithonus, Linn. * — hyperanthus, Linn. "Ccenonympha pamphilus, Linn. Thecla betulae, Linn. Burgh- field (Bird) ; Bradfield (Joy) ; Wallingford (Cole- man) ; at Bagley it is not uncommon in open places, and round the edges of the wood. — W-album, Knoch. Local and irregular in numbers. Maidenhead (A.H.Clarke); Sonning ; Burghfield (Bird); Ufton (W. Barnes) ; Bradfield (Young) ; Streat- ley ; Lambourn (Blair) ; Tubney — quercus, Linn. Common generally in oak woods. At flowers of the lime in Aldermaston Park it is particularly easy to catch — rubi, Linn. Widely distri- buted and sometimes common •Polyommatus phloeas, Linn. Var. schmidtii, Gerh. at Streat- ley and Henwood 'Lycsena aegon, Schiff. On most of the heaths in abundance * — astrarche, Bgstr. INSECTS LYCJENID.S: (continued) 'Lycaena icarus, Rott. — bellargus, Rott. Sulham ; Pangbourne ; Streatley ; and The Downs ; a recent arrival, not known in this district until about 1894 or 1895 — corydon, Fabr. Common and general on the chalk, frequently in great abun- dance t — argiolus, Linn. — minima, Fues. Streatley Hill and The Downs; very plentiful in places ERYCINID./E Nemeobius lucina, Linn. Mor- timer ; Burghfield (Bird) ; Sulham, • Newbury (Mrs. Chorley). Common at Tubney and Bagley Woods HESPERIID^E tSyrichthus malvae, Linn. var. taras, Meig. once near Wokingham, 1896 Nisoniades tages, Linn. Well distributed in grassy places and at edges of woods. Sometimes very common. In 1888 in extreme abun- dance Hesperia thaumas, Hufn. Local, but in many damp places near woods through- out the county * — sylvanus, Esp. t — comma, Linn. HETEROCERA SPHINGES SPHINGIDJE Acherontia atropos, Linn. Generally distributed, but uncertain in num- bers Sphinx convolvuli, Linn. Oc- curs everywhere, but irre- gular in numbers and only occasionally fairly com- mon * — ligustri, Linn. Deilephila galii, Schiff. Several specimens bred from larvae found 10 September,l888, feeding on Clarkia in a garden at Reading (W. Barnes) — livornica, Esp. Reading (Prof. Poulton) ; Abing- don, one taken 15 July, 1883, by F. Walker SPHINCIDJE (continued) Chcerocampa celerio, Linn. A specimen taken flying to flowers in his garden at Reading by Mr. G. Phil- brick on 3 August, 1888. This specimen is in the Reading Museum. One found by a lady in a green- house I October, 1884, at West Hanney, near Wan- tage (Slade) — porcellus, Linn. Widely distributed and common, particularly plentiful on the chalk * — elpenor, Linn. *Smerinthus ocellatus, Linn. ' — populi, Linn. * — tiliae, Linn. Particularly plentiful in the Thames and Kennet valleys, where the larvae feed principally on the elm. Macroglossa stellatarum, Linn. Generally distributed, but only occasionally com- mon t — fuciformis, Linn. Local in wooded places, but generally common where it occurs — bombyliformis, Och. Local. Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke) ; Well. Coll. ; Sul- ham ; Bagley Wood SZSIIDJC Trochilium apiformis, Clerck. Generally distributed among poplar — crabroniformis, Lewin. Rath- er local among willow and osier. Wokingham ; Bul- mershe Park and Battle Farm, Reading ; Burgh- field ; Aldermaston Park ; Englefield (Young) Sesia sphegiformis, Fabr. Not uncommon in the alder beds at Burghfield and Mortimer ; Ufton (]. Clarke) * — tipuliformis, Clerck. — asiliformis, Rott. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; garden of Greyfriars House, Reading (F. W. Andrewes) ; Burgh- field (Bird); Tubney Wood ; Bagley Wood — myopiformis, Bork. Gener- ally common in gardens and orchards among apple trees — culiciformis, Linn. Bul- mershe Park, Reading 101 SESIID.SE (continued) Sesia formiciformis, Esp. Com- mon in osier beds by the Thames near Reading Ino statices, Linn. Local. Sandhurst (Mochler- Ferryman); Well. Coll. (Wells) ; near Woking- ham ; Tilehurst ; Bradfield (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley); Bagley (Gel- dart) — geryon, Hubn. On the downs about Unwell Wood (W. Barnes) tZygsna trifolii, Esp. Local, but plentiful in many marshy spots * — filipendulae, Linn. BOMBYCES NYCTEOLID* Sarothripus undulanus, Hubn. General in woods Earias chlorana, Linn. Burgh- field, by G. W. Railway ; Midgham *Hylophila prasinana, Linn. Common everywhere in woods, particularly the beech woods t — bicolorana, Fues. Well dis- tributed in oak woods NOLIDJE *Nola cucullatella, Linn. — strigula, Schiff. Mortimer and Padtvorth (Mrs. Ba- zett) — confusalis, H.-S. Well dis- tributed in oak woods, but not common — albulalis, Hubn. Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) LITHOSIID.S: Nudaria senex, Hubn. Woking- ham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield ; Midgham ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — mundana, Linn. Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke). In lanes about Reading, sparingly tCalligenia miniata, Forst. tLithosia mesomella, Linn. — sororcula, Hufn. Generally distributed in woods. Par- ticularly common in the beech woods t — griseola, Hubn. var. flava, Haw. occasionally with this type. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE LITHOSIID/E (continued) •Lithosia lurideola, Zinck. — complana, Linn. General on heaths, but not com- mon Gnophria rubricollis, Linn. Well distributed, but ap- parently not common Emydia grammica, Linn. " Two . . . taken in the autumn of 1815 near Windsor, one of them is in the collection of the British Museum, the other in my own cabinet, respectively pre- sented by my valued friend Dr. Leach " (Steph. Illus. vol. 2, p. 92) EUCHELIIDJE •Euchelia jacobzae, Linn. Callimorpha dominula, Linn. Local. Kennet side near Reading ; Brad field ; Thatcham; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; larvae feeding here on Symphytum offi- cinale; Cotbill (Jackson) CHELONIID^; Nemeophila russula, Linn. Common on the heath land — plantaginis, Linn. Very local. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; West Woodhay (Beales); Tubney Wood and Common ; Boar's Hill •Arctia caia, Linn. — villica, Linn. Burghfield (Bird) tSpilosoma fuliginosa, Linn. t — mendica, Clerck. * — lubricipeda, Esp. * — menthastri, Esp. 'Hepialus humuli, Linn. * — sylvanus, Linn. t— velleda, Hubn. Well distri- buted, but scarce var. gallicus, Led. occasionally with the type * — lupulinus, Linn. t — hectus, Linn. COSSIDJE *Cossus ligniperda, Fabr. Zeuzera pyrina, Linn. Widely distributed, but not com- mon COCHLIOPODID.S: Heterogenea limacodes, Hufn. General in and near oak woods, but not common LIPARIDJE 'Porthesia similis, Fues. Leucoma salicis, Linn. Occa- sionally in Reading and neighbourhood. Com- mon at South Hinksey Ocneria dispar, Linn. One male taken at light near Maidenhead, about 1882, by Rev. E. de Ewer (Raynor) 'Psilura monacha, Linn. Dasychira fascelina, Linn. Sand- hurst (Bacon) ; Well. Coll. (Tarbat) (Wells) ; Burgh- field (Bird) ; Bagley Wood (Shepheard-Walwyn) * — pudibunda, Linn. Orgyia gonostigma, Fabr. Bag- ' ley Wood, Rev. W. T Bree and Rev. F. W. Hope (Steph.) ; Bagley Wood, 1895 (Shepheard-Wal- wyn), and 1 898 (Lambert) * — antiqua, Linn. BOMBYCID^ tTrichiura crataegi, Linn. tPoecilocampa populi, Linn. tEriogaster lanestris, Linn. *Bombyx neustria, Linn, t — rubi, Linn. * — quercus, Linn, var. callunae, Palmer, occasion- ally *Odonestis potatoria, Linn. tLasiocampa quercifolia, Linn. ENDROMIDJE Endromis versicolor, Linn. Burghfield SATURN IIDJE Saturnia pavonia, Linn. Com- mon on the heath land ; also in some of the willow beds by the Thames and Kennet DREPANULID^; tDrepana lacertinaria, Linn, t — falcataria, Linn, t — binaria, Hufn. — cultraria, Fabr. In all the beech woods, sometimes abundant *Cilix glaucata, Scop. DlCRANURIDJE tDicranura furcula, Linn. Gen- erally distributed, but not plentiful — bifida, Hubn. Well. Coll. (Wells) ; Reading ; Burgh- field ; Sulhamstead ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Bagley 102 DICRANURID^ (continued) 'Dicranura vinula, Linn. Stauropus fagi, Linn. Widely distributed in woods ; sometimes common in the beech woods NOTODONTID.S; Ptilophora plumigera, Esp. Rare. Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke) ; Reading at light ; Tilehurst tPterostoma palpina, Linn. tLophopteryx camelina, Linn. — cuculla, Esp. Not rare about the edges of the beech woods. Maiden- head (A. H. Clarke ; Har- wood) ; Tilehurst ; Sul- ham ; Streatley — carmelita, Esp. Rare. Well. Coll. ; Bulmershe Park, Reading; Burghfield Notodonta dictaea, Linn. Bul- mershe Park, Reading ; gardens, Reading (Hen- derson) ; Mortimer ; Al- dermaston Park — dictxoides, Esp. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; suburbs of Reading (Henderson) ; Burghfield ; Padworth ; Aldermaston Park / Bagley Wood t — dromedarius, Linn, t — ziczac, Linn. — trepida, Esp. Burghfield ; Padworth ; Aldermaston Park ; Tilehurst ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Henwood — chaonia, Hubn. Scarce. Burghfield (Bird); Pad- worth (Mrs. Bazett) ; Al- dermaston Park ; Sulham ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — trimacula, Esp. Well dis- tributed. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield ; Aldermaston Park ; Sul- ham ; Streatley ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) PYCJERID.S: •Phalera bucephala, Linn. Pygaera curtula, Linn. Finch- ampstead 1892 (L. An- drewes) ; Burghfield(EM); Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — pigra, Hufn. Rather local, but common where it occurs. Wokingham ; Burghfield ; Padworth ; Aldermaston Park; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) INSECTS CYMATOPHORIDJE tThyatira derasa, Linn. t — batis, Linn. Cymatophora or, Fabr. Well. Coll. (Wells) ; Finchamp- stead ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) t — duplaris, Linn. — fluctuosa, Hubn. Burgh- field (Bird) tAsphalia diluta, Fabr. t — flavicornis, Linn. Well distributed in the birch plantations, and some- times plentiful — ridens, Fabr. Rarely at all common. Sandhurst (Mochler-Ferryman) ; Whiteknights' Park, Read- ing ; Burghfield ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Bagley Wood NOCTILE BRYOPHILIDJE •Bryophila perla, Fabr. BOMBYCOID.K tDemas coryli, Linn. General in woods. Common in the beech woods Acronycta tridens, Schiff. Fre- quent in lanes about Read- ing; Boar's Hill (A. Sidg- wick) * — psi, Linn. — leporina, Linn. Not plenti- ful. Wokingham ; Bul- mtrshe Park, Reading ; Burghfield ; Padworth ; Aldermaston Park ; Cal- cot ; Newbury (Mrs. Chor- . ley) t — aceris, Linn. t — megacephala, Fabr. — alni, Linn. Widely distri- buted. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Padworth ; Al- dermaston Park ; Sulham ; Basildon ; Streatley ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) — ligustri, Fabr. Not common. Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke) ; lanes about Reading ; Burghfield ; Mortimer (J. Clarke) ; Grazeley; Tilehurst; Brad- field (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — rumicis, Linn. *Diloba coeruleocephala, Linn. LEUCANIID.SJ 'Leucania conigera, Fabr. LEUCANIID.S (continued) Leucania vitellina, Hubn. Hen- wood (A. Sidgwick) — turca, Linn. Not common. Burghfield (Bird); Pad- worth ; Aldermaston Park ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — lithargyria, Esp. — impudens, Hubn. Local. Finchampstead ; Woking- ham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield (Bird) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t — comma, Linn. * — impura, Hubn. * — pallens, Linn. Calamia phragmitidis, Hubn. Rare. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield (Bird) Coenobia rufa, Haw. Local. Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading Tapinostola fulva, Hubn. Rather local. Bulmershe Park, and Battle Farm, Reading ; Burghfield (Bird) ; Aldermaston Park ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) Nonagria arundinis, Fabr. Common and general in marshy places among Typha — geminipuncta, Hatch. Local. Coley lower Park, Reading; Kennet side, Burghfield — lutosa, Hubn. At street lamps, Reading ; Burgh- field (Bird) APAMEIDJE tGortyna ochracea, Hubn. •fHydroecia nictitans, Bork. — petasitis, Dbl. Rare. Burgh- field; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — micacea, Esp. tAxylia, putris, Linn. Xylophasia rurea, Fabr. Not very common. Kennet meadows, Reading; Burgh- field (Bird) ; Calcot (Robertson) ; Pangbourne ; Bradfield (Young) ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) * — lithoxylea, Fabr. * — sublustris, Esp. Common in all the beech woods * — monoglypha, Hufn. * — hepatica, Linn. — scolopacina, Esp. Bulmershe Park (Poulton) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) *Dipterygia scabriuscula, Linn. tNeuria reticulata, Vill. *Neuronia popularis, Fabr. 103 APAMEIDJE (continued) Charsas graminis, Linn. Not generally common. Burgh- field (Bird) ; Aldermaston Park ; Tilehurst (Hen- derson) ; Streatley Downs ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; West Woodhay (Beales) ; Lambourn (Blair) tCerigo matura, Hufn. Gener- ally distributed. Common on the chalk hills "Luperina testacea, Hubn. t — cespitis, Fabr. 'Mamestra sordida, Bork. Gen- erally distributed and common * — brassicae, Linn. ' — persicaria;, Linn. *Apamea basilinea, Fabr. — gemina, Hubn. Well dis- tributed but not gener- ally common. Plentiful on the chalk hills. — unanimis, Tr. In marshy places about Reading, but not common. Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — ophiogramma, Esp. Thames side, Reading ; Burghfield, by G. W. Railway * — didyma, Esp. *Miana strigilis, Clerck. t — fasciuncula, Haw. — literosa, Haw. Scarce and local. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Tilehurst * — bicoloria, Vill. — arcuosa, Haw. Maidenhead (A H. Clarke). Common in the Thames and Kennet meadows, at the flowers of grasses. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) CARADRINID.S *Grammesia trigrammica, Hufn. Var. bilinea, Hubn. occasionally Stilbia anomala, Haw. Rare. Once at light, Reading; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) *Caradrina morpheus, Hufn. t — alsines, Brahm. t — taraxaci, Hubn. t — quadripunctata, Fabr. tRusina tenebrosa, Hubn. Local but plentiful where it occurs. Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke) ; Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading; Burghfield ; Padworth ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) NOCTUID.S Agrotis vestigialis, Hufn. Hen- wood, plentiful in 1896 (A. Sidgwick) A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE NOCTUID* (continued) Agrotis puta, Hubn. Rather uncommon. Lanes about Reading ; Englefield (Young) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) * — suffusa, Hubn. t — saucia, Hubn. Generally distributed, but only oc- casionally common * — segetum, Schiff. * — exclamationis, Linn. — corticea, Hubn. Not com- mon, but well distributed. Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke) ; Sandhurst (Moch- ler-Ferryman) ; Well. Coll. (Wells) ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Pangbourne ; Neivbury (Mrs. Chorlejr) — cinerea, Hubn. Rare. Read- ing, at light occasionally ; Burghfield (Bird) ; N em- bury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Wytham (Walker) t — nigricans, Linn. Rather local and rarely common t — tritici, Linn. — aquilina, Hubn. Local. Lanes about Reading ; Burghfield (Bird) ; Calcot (Robertson) ; Tilehurst ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — agathina, Dup. On heaths. Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burgh- field ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill t — strigula, Thnb. Common on the heath land — obscura, Brahm. Rare. Burghfield ; Englefield (Young) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) Noctua glareosa, Esp. Scarce. Aldermaston Park ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — depuncta, Linn. Rare. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; West Woodhay (Beales) * — augur, Fabr. * — plecta, Linn. * — c-nigrum, Linn. — ditrapezium, Bork. Rare. Calcot (Robertson) ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) * — triangulum, Hufn. t — stigmatica, Hubn. t — brunnea, Fabr. t — festiva, Hubn. — dahlii, Hubn. Scarce. Al- dermaston Park; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — rubi, View, t — umbrosa, Hubn. t — baia, Fabr. NOCTUID.S: (continued) Noctua castanea, Esp. Scarce. Wett. Coll. (Wells) ; Bul- mershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield (J. Clarke) ; Mortimer, in several vari- eties * — xanthographa, Fabr. tTriphaena janthina, Esp. t — fimbria, Linn. t — interjecta, Hubn. — orbona, Hufn. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) * — comes, Hubn. * — pronuba, Linn. AMPHIPYRID.H: *Amphipyra pyramidea, Linn. * — tragopogonis, Linn. 'Mania typica, Linn. t — maura, Linn. ORTHOSIIDJE Panolis piniperda, Panz. Toler- ably plentiful in fir woods everywhere Pachnobia leucographa, Hubn. Not infrequent near Mai- denhead (A. H. Clarke); Burghfield (Bird) t — rubricosa, Fabr. •Tasniocampa gothica, Linn. Var. gothicina, H.S. at Reading, once * — incerta, Hufn. — opima, Hubn. Not common. Willow beds by the Ken- net (Mrs. Bazett) — populeti, Fabr. Rather local, but sometimes com- mon among poplar. Wok- ingham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield ; Cal- cot ; Tilehurst ; Bagley * — stabilis, View. t — gracilis, Fabr. — miniosa, Fabr. Not gener- ally common ; most fre- quent near large oak woods. Very plentiful in 1895. Wett. Coll. (Wells) ; Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Morti- mer ; Aldermaston Park ; Tilehurst ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Bagley Wood t — munda, Esp. * — pulverulenta, Esp. Orthosia suspecta, Hubn. Scarce usually. Waking • ham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Tilehurst * — upsilon, Bork. Generally distributed and common among willow *— lota, Clerck. 104 ORTHOSIID^ (continued) *Orthosia macilenta, Hubn. Anchocelis rufina, Linn. Gen- eral in oak woods. Plenti- ful at Bulmershe Park, Reading, and near Sulham oak wood * — pistacina, Fabr. t — lunosa, Haw. * — litura, Linn. *Cerastis vaccinii, Linn. t — spadicea, Hubn. — erythrocephala, Fabr. Near Maidenhead, October 21, one specimen (A.H.Clarke) 'Scopelosoma satellitia, Linn. Dasycampa rubiginea, Fabr. Local and rare generally, though sometimes occur- ring in fair numbers at several places on the Bag- shot Sands ; Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke); Sand- hurst (Mochler- Ferryman); Well. Coll. ; Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading Oporina croceago, Fabr. Rare. Burghfield (Bird); Bag- ley Wood (A. Sidgwick) (Merry) tXanthia citrago, Linn. Very abundant among lime- trees everywhere * — fulvago, Linn. Var. flavescens,Esp. Occasionally * — flavago, Fabr. t — aurago.Fabr. Often abundant and beautifully variable in the Reading district — gilvago, Esp. Often com- mon among the elms in the Kennet and Thames valleys. Also frequent at the street lamps, Reading. • — circellaris, Hufn. Cirrhredia xerampelina, Hubn. Scarce. Reading at light ; Tilehurst ; Calcot (Robert- son) ; Englefield (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (Pogson- Smith). COSMIIDJR Tethea subtusa, Fabr. Not common. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield ; Sulhamstead ; Tilehurst ; Englefield (Young) ; Bag- ley Wood — retusa, Linn. Not common. Burghfield ; Aldermaston Park ; Tilehurst ; Calcot ; Englefield (Young) ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) INSECTS COSMIIDJE (continued) Dicycla oo, Linn. Local and scarce generally, but oc- casionally more plentiful. Well. Coll.; Finchamp- stead ; Wokingham ; Read- ing (Hawkins) ; Burgh- field "Calymnia trapezina, Linn. — pyralina, View. Rather scarce among elm. Sand- hurst (Mochler-Ferryman); Wokingham ; Lanes about Reading ; Burghfield (Bird) ; Tilehurst t — diffinis, Linn. * — affinis, Linn. HADENID.S: Eremobia ochroleuca, Esp- Maidenhead, always asleep in flower heads of knap- weed in the daytime (A. H.Clarke); Streatley Dianthoecia nana, Rott. Appar- ently uncommon. Lower Basildon ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — capsincola, Hubn. f — cucubali, Fues. — carpophaga, Bork. Rather common on the chalk hills tHecatera chrysozona, Bork. t — serena, Fabr. Common on the chalk hills. Often on flowers in the daytime Polia chi, Linn. In the northern part of the county only. Rather scarce. Boar's Hill, and roads near * — flavicincta, Fabr. tAporophyla lutulenta, Bork. — nigra, Haw. Rare. Sand- hurst (Mochler - Ferry- man) Cleoceris viminalis, Fabr. Ir- regular. Not common usually, but only in certain seasons. Well. Coll. (Wells) ; Wokingham ; Bul- mershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield (Bird); Mor- timer (J. Clarke) ; Midg- ham ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) •Miselia oxyacanthae, Linn. Var. capucina, Mill. Not un- common •Agriopis aprilina, Linn. Very common in oak woods tEuplexia lucipara, Linn. *Phlogophora meticulosa, Linn. tAplecta prasina, Fabr. — occulta, Linn. Rare. Well. Coll. (Wells); Bulmershe Park, Reading HADENID^E (continued) 'Aplecta nebulosa, Hufn. Com- mon on the heath lands everywhere — tincta, Brahm. In the birch plantations chiefly, occa- sionally abundant. Wok- ingham; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield ; Pad- worth ; Aldermaston Park — advena, Fabr. Not common. Maidenhead (A. H.Clarke); Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield ; Padworth ; Aldermaston Park ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) Hadena porphyrea, Esp. Once near Reading ; Burghfield (received from the Rev. C. S. Bird by the late Mr. S. Stevens) — adusta, Esp. Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke) ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burgh- field ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — protea, Bork. — glauca, Hubn. Englefield (Young) * — dentina, Esp. t— trifolii, Rott. — dissimilis, Knoch. Not com- mon. Bulmershe Park, and lanes about Reading ; Burghfield ; Tilehurst ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) * — • oleracea, Linn. t — pisi, Linn. t — thalassina, Rott. — contigua, Vill. Rare. Wok- ingham ; Burghfield (Bird) t — genistae, Bork. XYLINIDJE 'Xylocampa areola, Esp. Calocampa vetusta, Hubn. Scarce. Wokingham ; Burghfield (J. Clarke) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t — exoleta, Linn. tXylina ornithopus, Rott. t — semibrunnea, Haw. — socia, Rott. Frequent near Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke) ; Henwood fAsteroscopus sphinx, Hufn. tCucullia verbasci, Linn. — lychnitis, Rbr. Near Maid- enhead (Harwood) — asteris, Schiff. Bradfield (Bird) t — chamomillae, Schiff. * — umbratica, Linn. GONOPTERID^ *Gonoptera libatrix, Linn. 105 PLUSIID.S tHabrostola tripartita, Hufn. t — triplasia, Linn. Plusia moneta, Fabr. Near Bulmershe Park, Reading, 2 July, 1890, E.M.M. v. 26, p. 255 ; at light, Read- ing; Ascot (M. J. Mans- field, Entont. v. 28, p. 18) ; fairly common now at Ascot (E. A. Bowles, Ent. Rec. v. 8, p. 185) ; toler- ably common now at Sandhurst (Mochler-Ferry- man) ; Well. Coll. (Wells) — chryson, Esp. Near New- bury, ... in plenty by Mr. Dale (Steph.); Bradfield (Bird) * — chrysitis, Linn. — festucae, Linn. Rare. G.W. Railway bank, Reading ; Burghfield (Bird) ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Hungerford (Beales) t— iota, Linn. t — • pulchrina, Haw. * — gamma, Linn. HELIOTHID^ tAnarta myrtilli, Linn. tHeliaca tenebrata, Scop. Heliothis dipsacea, Linn. Well. Coll., flying in the sun- shine (Wells) ; Burghfield (Bird) — peltigera, Schiff. Rare. Maidenhead (Raynor) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — armigera, Hubn. Rare. Reading at light Chariclea umbra, Hufn. Some- times common on the chalk hills — delphinii, Linn. " In that of the British Museum, and in my own collection, are specimens from the neighbourhood of Wind- sor, caught about 15 years since, in June " (Steph. Illus. v. 3, p. 92) ACONTIID.K Acontia luctuosa, Esp. New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) ERASTRIID.S Erastria fasciana, Linn. Fre- quent on the heath land Hydrelia uncula, Clerck. Well. Coll, fairly plentiful (Wells) ; Boar's Hill (Pogson- Smith) POAPHILID* •Phytometra viridaria, Clerck. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE EUCLIDIIDJE "Euclidia mi, Clerck. * — gtyphica, Linn. CATOCALID.E: •Catocala nupta, Linn. — promissa, Esp. Padworth ; Aldermaston Park some- times common ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) Aventia flexula, Schiff. Gener- ally distributed but rare TOXOCAMPID.K Toxocampa pastinum, Tr. Local, but plentiful in willow beds where it oc- curs. Burghfield ; Midg- ham ; Thatcham ; near Henwood HERMINIID.S tRivula sericealis, Scop. 'Zanclognatha grisealis, Hubn. * — tarsipennalis, Tr. Pechypogon barbalis, Clerck. Local, but common where it occurs HYPENID/E Bomolocha fontis, Thnb. Rare. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Aldermaston Park *Hypena rostralis, Linn. * — proboscidalis, Linn. Hypenodes albistrigalis, Haw. Not common. Maiden- head (A. H. Clarke) ; Mor- timer; Aldermaston Park — costaestrigalis, St. Local, but not uncommon. Wok- ingbam ; Bulmershe Park, Reading; Burghfield (Bird); Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) Tholomiges turfosalis, Wk. Local, but plentiful. Wok- ingham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) BREPHID.TE tBrephos parthenias, Linn. Common and general in birch woods and planta- tions — notha, Hubn. BagleyWood; Wytham Wood (Pogson- Smith) GEOMETRY UROPTERYGIDJE •Uropteryx sambucaria, Linn. ENNOMID.S: tEpione apiciaria, Schiff. Com- mon in sallow beds every- where — advenaria, Hubn. Newbury, (Mrs. Chorley) *Rumia luteolata, Linn. tVenilia macularia, Linn. Angerona prunaria, Linn. Rather scarce. Mortimer ; Burghfield ; Padworth ; Aldermaston Park ; Brad- field (Young) 'Metrocampa margaritaria, Linn. tEllopia prosapiaria, Linn. Gen- erally distributed in the fir woods, and fairly plen- tiful tEurymene dolobraria, Linn. tPericallia syringaria, Linn. 'Selenia bilunaria, Esp. — lunaria, Schiff. Well distri- buted, but not common — tetralunaria, Hufix. Widely distributed, but rather un- common 'Odontopera bidentata, Clerck. •Crocallis elinguaria, Linn. Eugonia autumnaria, Wernb. Reading at light, once, August 1901 (W. Barnes) * — alniaria, Linn. — fuscantaria, Haw. Rather scarce. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield ; Mortimer ; Aldermaston Park; Tilehurst — erosaria, Bork. Scarce. Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke) ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Mortimer ; New- bury (Mrs Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) * — quercinaria, Hufn. *Himera pennaria, Linn. AMPHIDASYDJE *Phigalia pedaria, Fabr. Nyssia hispidaria, Fabr. Com- mon occasionally. Well. Coll. ; Wokingham ; Burgh- field; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Bagley Wood ; Henwood Biston hirtaria, Clerck. Usually sparingly, but sometimes more plentifully. On street lamps and tree trunks in the suburbs of Reading; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) tAmphidasys strataria, Hufn. * — betularia, Linn. An immaculate black var. at Aldermaston Park and Bagley Wood 106 BOARMIIDJE tHemerophila abruptaria, Thnb. tCleora lichenaria, Hufn. 'Boarmia repandata, Linn. * — gemmaria, Brahm. — cinctaria, Schiff. Uncom- mon. Burghfield, on fir trees (J. Clarke) — abietaria, Hubn. On the Bagshot Sands near Read- ing (Henderson) — roboraria, Schiff. Not un- common. Burghfield ; Ufton ; Padworth ; Alder- maston Park ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley); Hen- wood (Sedgwick) ; Beau- mont (Gardner) t — consortaria, Fabr. Generally distributed in oak woods Tephrosia consonaria, Hubn. Often abundant in the beech woods — crepuscularia, Hubn. Very local. Well. Coll. ; Bul- mershe Park, Reading ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — biundularia, Bork., Esp. t — luridata, Bork. t — punctularia, Hubn. Abun- dant among birch Gnophos obscuraria, Hubn. Rare and uncertain. Bul- mershe Park, Reading ; Padworth GEOMETRIDJE tPseudoterpna pruinata, Hufn. Tolerably common among furze generally fGeometra papilionaria, Linn. Generally distributed among birch and alder, and tolerably common t — vernaria, Hubn. General on the chalk, but not com- mon tPhorodesma pustulata, Hufn. Not uncommon in oak woods everywhere Nemoria viridata, Linn. Burgh- field (Bird) *Iodis lactearia, Linn. •Hemithea strigata, Mull. EPHYRIDJE tZonosoma porata, Fabr. t — punctaria, Linn. General and common in the oak woods t — linearia, Hubn. Abundant in all the beech woods t — annulata, Schulz. Not un- common among maple, particularly in the beech woods INSECTS EPHYRIDJE (continued) •Zonosoma pendularia, Clerck. Common among birch everywhere ACIDALIID.K tAsthena luteata, SchiflE. * — candidata, Schiff. — sylvata, Hubn. Rare. Bulmershe Park, Reading; Burghfield — blomeri, Curt. Local among wych elm. Bulmershe Park, Reading; Burgh- field •Eupisteria obliterata, Hufn. Common among alder everywhere •Acidalia dimidiata, Hufn. * — bisetata, Hufn. — trigeminata, Haw. Rare usually. Bulmersbe Park, Reading; Newbury (Mey- rick) ; Boar's Hill (Lam- bert) — holosericata, Dup. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — dilutaria, Hubn. * — virgularia, Hubn. — ornata, Scop. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — straminata, Tr. Very local and not common. Wok- ingham ; near Calcot (Ro- bertson) — subsericeata, Haw. Local, but plentiful where it occurs. Wokingham ; Burghfield (Mrs. Bazett) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — immutata, Linn. Rather local, but common where it occurs. Bulmershe Park, and meadows by the Thames and Kennet,.foa^- ing ; Burghfield * — remutaria, Hubn. • — imitaria, Hubn. * — aversata, Linn. — inornata, Haw. In moist spots on all our heaths, but not common t — emarginata, Linn. tTimandra amataria, Linn. CABERID.S: •Cabera pusaria, Linn. — rotundaria, Haw. Occasion- ally bred from larva; found near Reading ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) • — exanthemaria, Scop. tBapta temerata, Hubn. Not uncommon near the beech woods CABERID.K (continued) tBapta bimaculata, Fabr. Well distributed, but not com- mon Aleucis pictaria, Curt. Rare. At street lamps, Reading ; Mortimer (Mrs. Bazett) MACARIIDJE Macaria alternata, Hubn. Wok- ingham to Sandhurst (Hen- derson) * — liturata, Clerck. *Halia vauaria, Linn. tStrenia clathrata, Linn. Gener- ally common in clover crops, and on the chalk downs. Abundant in the willow beds about Midg- ham. The black var. at Newbury (Beales) *Panagra petraria, Hubn. tNumeria pulveraria, Linn. Scodiona belgiaria, Hubn. Well. Coll. (Wells); Burgh- field (Bird) Selidosema ericetaria, Vill. Apparently rare. Finch- ampstead (W. Barnes) ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burghfield (Bird) *Ematurga atomaria, Linn. *Bupalus piniaria, Linn. tMinoa murinata, Scop. Very local among wood spurge, but common where it occurs. Burghfield (Bird) ; Pangbourne Wood.; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Bag- ley Wood, Rev. W. T. Bree (Steph.) tAspilates strigillaria, Hubn. ZERENIDJE "Abraxas grossulariata, Linn. .— sylvata, Scop. Bulmershe Park, Reading, occasion- ally ; frequent in the beech woods of Pangbourne, Basildon, and Streatley ; Newbury (Mrs. C'horley) Ligdia adustata, Scruff, Spar- ingly distributed every- where. Common at Sul- ham, Pangbourne, and Streatley ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) *Lomaspilis marginata, Linn. LICIID.S: Pachycnemia hippocastanaria, Hubn. Common on the heath land about Well. Coll. and Wokingham 107 •Hybernia rupicapraria, Hubn. * — leucophaearia, Schiff. t — aurantiaria, Esp. Abundant in the birch groves * — marginaria, Bork. *— defoliaria, Clerck. •Anisopteryx aescularia, Schiff. LARENTIIDJE •Cheimatobia brumata, Linn. t — boreata, Hubn. "Oporabia dilutata, Bork. "Larentia didymata, Linn. * — multistrigaria, Haw. t — olivata, Bork. * — viridaria, Fabr. Emmelesia affinitata, St. Burgh- field (Bird) ; Crookham Common (Morley) ; Brad- field (Young) ; Burgh- field (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley); Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) •f — alchemillata, Linn. — albulata, SchifF. In meadows among Rhinanthus crista- galli. Common where it occurs. Aldermaston ; Tilehurst ; Sulham ; Midg- ham ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Thames mea- dows above Goditow * — decolorata, Hubn. — unifasciata, Haw. Burgh- field (Bird) tEupithecia venosata, Fabr. — consignata, Bork. Rare. Reading at street lamps — linariata, Fabr. Maidenhead (A. H. Clarke); Reading at street lamps ; at Burgh- field and Aldermaston the larvae are common on Linaria ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t— pulchellata, St. Well distri- buted and common among Digitalis * — oblongata, Thunb. — succenturiata, Linn. Maid- enhead (A. H. Clarke); Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Burgh- field; Tilehurst; Calcot (Robertson) — subfulvata, Haw. Bulmershe Park, Reading; Burgh- field (Bird) ; Calcot (Ro- bertson) ; Pangbourne ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — scabiosata, Bork. Mortimer — plumbeolata, Haw. In woods ; Mortimer ; Sul- ham ; Bradfield (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE LARENTIID.S (continued) Eupithecia isogrammata, H.-S. Bred commonly from Cle- matis flowers. Pangbourne; Basildon, Streatley and the downs — satyrata, Hubn. Tilehurst (Henderson) ; Calcot (Ro- bertson) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — castigata, Hubn. - virgaureata, Dbl. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) - fraxinata, Crewe. Midgham (Mrs. Bazett) - pimpinellata, Hubn. Read- ing at light ; Streatley Downs ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) - pusillata, Fabr. Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) - irriguata, Hubn. Burghfield; Padworth ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) - campanulata, H.-S. Sulham and Streatley Woods - indigata, Hubn. Rare. Wo- kingham — constricata, Gn. Rare. Read- ing — nanata, Hubn. Common on all the heaths — subnotata, Hubn. Well. Coll. (Wells); Bulmershe Park, and at street lamps, Reading ; Pang- bourne ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — vulgata, Haw. — albipunctata, Haw. Read- ing, at street lamps * — absinthiata, Clerck. t — minutata, Gn. * — assimilata, Gn. — tenuiata, Hubn. Woking- ham (Mrs. Bazett) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — subsciliata,Gn. Rzie.Reading — lariciata, Frr. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Tilehurst ; Sulham; Bradfield(Young); Lambourn (Blair) ; Hen- wood * — abbreviata, St. - dodoneata, Gn. Scarce. Padworth Wood — exiguata, Hubn. — sobrinata, Hubn. Very common among juniper — pumilata, Hubn. - coronata, Hubn. — rectangulata, Linn. Collix sparsata, Hubn. Near Wytham (Carpenter) tLobophora sexalisata, Hubn. t — halterata, Hufn. LARENTIID.S (continued) Lobophora viretata, Hubn. Scarce. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Sulham, beech woods ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) t — carpinata, Bork. — polycommata, Hubn. Bag- ley Wood (Pogson-Smith) Thera juniperata, Linn. Streat- ley Hill, among juniper * — variata, Schiff. t — firmata, Hubn. tHysipetes trifasciata, Bork. * — sordidata, Fabr. Melanthia bicolorata, Hufn. Among alder ; Well. Coll. (Wells) ; Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park, Read- ing ; Mortimer ; Bradfield (Young) *— ocellata, Linn. t — albicillata, Linn. t — procellata, Fabr. t — Melanippe unangulata, Haw. I" — • rivata, Hubn. * — sociata, Bork. * — montanata, Bork. — galiata, Hubn. Rather plentiful at Pangbourne Hill; Bradfield (Young); Tubney * — fluctuata, Linn. Anticlea cucullata, Hufn. " In Berkshire " (Steph.) ; ^Id- worth (J. J. Walker) — rubidata, Fabr. Not un- common on the chalk. Pangbourne ; Basildon ; Streatley * — badiata, Hubn. t — nigrofasciaria, Goze. — berberata, Schiff. " It has been taken in Berkshire " (Steph.) •Coremia designata, Hufn. * — ferrugata, Clerck. * — unidentaria, Haw. t — quadrifasciaria, Clerck. "Camptogramma bilineata, Linn. — fluviata, Hubn. Reading at light, one specimen (Mrs. Bazett) Phibalapteryx tersata, Hubn. Common on the chalk in lanes near woods. Occa- sionally at Well. Coll., no wild Clematis to be found near (Wells) — vittata, Bork. Local in damp meadows by the Thames and Kennet ; Fobney ; Coley Lower Park, and Battle Farm, Reading 1 08 LARENTIID.K (continued) Phibalapteryx vitalbata, Hubn. Frequent in lanes and woody places on the chalk tTriphosa dubitata, Linn. Eucosmia certata, Hubn. Well. Coll. (Wells); Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t — undulata, Linn. tScotosia vetulata, Schiff. t — rhamnata, Schiff. tCidaria siterata, Hufn. " — miata, Linn. t — picata, Hubn. - corylata, Thnb. - truncata, Hufn. t — immanata, Haw. ' — suffumata, Hubn. t — silaceata, Hubn. Frequent in the beech woods — prunata, Linn. Wokingham (Butler) t — testata, Linn. Abundant in willow beds and boggy places near woods t — fulvata, Forst. - dotata, Linn. t — • associata, Bork. tPelurga comitata, Linn. EUBOLIIDJE tEubolia cervinata, Schiff. * — limitata, Scop. — plumbaria, Fabr. Common on all the heaths — bipunctaria, Schiff. Abun- dant on the chalk hills 'Anaitis plagiata, Linn. tChesias spartiata, Fues. Com- mon among broom — rufata, Fabr. Well. Coll. (Wells) ; once at a street lamp, Reading SIONID.S Tanagra atrata, Linn. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) PYRALIDES PYRALIDID.S Cledeobia angustalis, Schiff. Sonning (Digby) 'Aglossa pinguinalis, Linn. — cuprealis, Hubn. Near Wokingham ; Reading Pyralis costalis, Fabr. Sonning (Digby) ; Reading (Mrs. Bazett) * — glaucinalis, Linn. * — farinalis, Linn. *Scoparia ambigualis, Tr. — basistrigalis, Knaggs. Scarce. Reading, at street lamps t — cembras, Haw. * — dubitalis, Hubn. INSECTS PYRALIDID.E (continued) Scoparia lineolea, Curt. Maiden- bead (A. H. Clarke) ; Read- ing, at street lamps ; Calcot (Robertson) t — mercurella, Linn. — cratzgella, Hubn. Reading, at street lamps ; Engle- field (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t — truncicolella, Sta. — angustea. St. Calcot — pallida, St. Battle Farm, Reading ; Burghfield tNomophila noctuella, Schifi. tPyrausta aurata, Scop. * — purpuralis, Linn. — ostrinalis, Hubn. Appar- ently rare. Sulham slopes tHerbula cespitalis, Schiff. tEnnychia nigrata, Scop. tEndotricha flammealis, Schiff. BOTYD.S: *Eurrhypara urticata, Linn. Scopula lutealis, Hubn. Local. Sulham ; Calcot ; Tile- burst (Mrs. Bazett) ; AL- dermaston ; Bradfield (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — olivalis, Schiff. * — prunalis, Schiff. — ferrugalis, Hubn. Well dis- tributed on dry hillsides, but rather irregular ; comes frequently to light Botys hyalinalis, Hubn. Scarce. On the chalk hills * — ruralis, Scop. — fuscalis, Schiff. Common among Rhinanthus Ebulea crocealis, Hubn. Local, but common among Inula dysenterica and Conyza. Bulmersbe Park, Reading; Pangbourne ; Basildon ; Streatley ; Midgham; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) t — sambucalis, Schiff. Spilodes palealis, Schiff. Rare. G. W. Railway bank near Reading — verticalis, Linn. Generally distributed in clover crops and on the chalk hills *Pionea forficalis, Linn. Orobena extimalis, Scop. Berk- shire, in June (Steph.) ; Bradfield (Young) — straminalis, Hubn. Very local. Battle Farm, Read- ing ; Aldermaston ; Sul- bamstead Woods (Young) ; sometimes plentiful at Padworth Wood HYDROCAMPID.E *Cataclysta lemnata, Linn. *Paraponyx stratiotata, Linn. *Hydrocampa nymphaeata, Linn. * — stagnata, Don. At Maiden- head a pale form, almost devoid of markings, occurs on the river (Porritt) ACENTROPODID.S Acentropus niveus, Oliv. Read- ing, two males taken at light (Mrs. Bazett) PTEROPHORI CHRYSOCORIDIDJE Chrysocoris festaliella, Hubn. Sulham; Padworth Wood PTEROPHORIDJE Platyptilia ochrodactyla, Hubn. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — bertrami, Rossi. Sonning (Digby) ; Englefield (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — gonodactyla, Schiff. Bul- mershe Park, Reading ; on railway banks and in waste places about Read- ing; Bradfield (Young) tAmblyptilia acanthodactyla Hubn. — cosmodactyla, Hubn. Burgh- field (Bird) Oxyptilus teucrii, Greening. Reading (Mrs. Bazett) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) Mimasseoptilus phaeodactylus, Hubn. Basildon; Streat- ley ; Bradfield (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — bipunctidactyla, Haw. — plagiodactylus, Sta. Alder- maston Park * — pterodactylus, Linn. CEdematophorus lithodactylus, Tr. Bulmershe Park, Read- ing ; The Downs, Streat- ley; Boar's Hill (A. Sidg- wick) *Pterophorus monodactylus,Linn Leioptilus tephradactylus,Hubn. Near Reading (Mrs.Bazett) — microdactylus, Hubn. Midg- ham ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidg- wick) Aciptilia galactodactyla, Hubn. Well distributed and com- mon among Arctium lappa. Sonning (Digby) ; Sulham ; Basildon ; Streat- ley ; Bradfield (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) 109 PTEROPHORIDJE (continued) Aciptilia baliodactyla, Zell. Sul- ham; Streatley; The Downs — tetradactyla, Linn. Sulham slopes ; Streatley ; The Downs * — pentadactyla, Linn. ALUCITIDJE 'Alucita hexadactyla, Linn. CRAMBIITES CHILID.S: Chilo phragmitellus, Hubn. Bulmershe Park, Reading 'Schoenobius forficellus, Thnb. — mucronellus, Schiff. Bul- mershe Park and Battle Farm, Reading ; Kennet side, Burghfield CRAMBIDJE Crambus falsellus, Schiff. Burghfield (Bird) ; Engle- field (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) * — pratellus, Linn. — dumetellus, Hubn. New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) * — pascuellus, Linn. — pinellus, Linn. Well dis- tributed. Most frequent on the chalk at Streatley, and The Downs ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — perlellus, Scop. Var. warringtonellus, Zell. with type — selasellus, Hubn. Waking- ham (Mrs. Bazett) * — tristellus, Fabr. t — inquinatellus, Schiff. t — geniculeus, Haw. * — culmellus, Linn. * — hortuellus, Hubn. Eromene ocellea, Haw. New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) Myelophila cribrum, Schiff. Tubney (Walker) Homoeosoma nebulella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; Streat- ley, and The Downs ; En- glefield (Young) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — binasvella, Hubn. Streatley — senecionis, Vaughan. Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) •Ephestia elutella, Hubn. t— kuehniella, Zell. Euzophera pinguis, Haw. Streat- ley ; Englefield (Young) Cryptoblabes bistriga, Haw. Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE (continued) Plodia interpunctella, Hubn. Reading, in corn stores Phycis betulae, Goze. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — f usca, Haw. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Mortimer (Mrs. Bazett) ; Newbury (Mey- rick) — adornatella, Tr.,-=subornat- ella,Dup. Basildon ; Streat- ley ; Englefield (Young) — ornatella, SchiflF. Sulham slopes Dioryctria abietella, Zinck. Wokingham ; Mortimer (Mrs. Bazett) Nephopteryx spissicella, Fabr. Sonning (Digby) ; Bul- mershe Park, Reading; Mortimer (Mrs. Bazett) ; Englefield (Young) ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) (Mey- rick) •Pempelia palumbella, Fabr. Rhodophaea formosa, Haw. Englefield (Young) * — consociella, Hubn. — advenella, Zinck. Reading, at light (Mrs; Bazett); Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — suavella, Zinck. Bulmershe Park, Reading ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) * — tumidella, Zinck. Oncocera ahenella, Zinck. G. W. Railway banks, Reading; The Chalk Downs; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) GALLERID^E Galleria mellonella, Linn. Wbitley, Reading; Tile- hurst •Aphomia sociella, Linn. Achroea grisella, Fabr. Engle- field (Young) TORTRICES TORTRICID.S: Tortrix podana, Scop. Com- mon everywhere — piceana, Linn. Rare. Wok- ingham, Padworth, beaten from Scotch pine — cratzgana, Hubn. Not common. Padworth ; Al- dermaston Park ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Bagley Wood (S.) i 1 Species marked (S) were recorded by Messrs. A. and N. V. Sidgwick and W. G. Pogson-Smith. TORTRICIDJE (continued) 'Tortrix xylosteana, Linn. t — sorbiana, Hubn. * — rosana, Linn. — diversana, Hubn. Scarce. Coley Park, Reading (Mrs. Bazett); Aldermaston Park — cinnamomeana, Tr. Rare. Bulmershe Park; Streat- ley ; Boar's Hill (S.) * — heparana, Schiff. * — ribeana, Hubn. t — corylana, Fab. * — unifasciana, Dup. — costana, Fab. Common in damp meadows and marshes in Reading dis- trict — viburnana, Fab. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — palleana, Hubn. Rare. railway bank, Burghfield * — viridana, Linn. * — ministrana, Linn. * — fors.terana, Fab. Dichelia grotiana, Fab. Local and not common. Wok- ingham ; Bulmershe Park ; Sonning (Digby) ; Alder- maston Park ; Bagley Wood (S.) — gnomana, Linn. Burghfield (Bird) ; Wittenham (Dale) CEnectra pilleriana, Schiff. Burghfield (Bird) Leptogramma literana, Linn. Not common. Bulmershe Park; Burghfield; Pad- worth ; Bagley Wood (S.) •Peronea sponsana, Fab. — rufana, Schiff. Local, but not uncommon in willow beds along the Kennet — mixtana, Hubn. Not very common. Wokingham ; Mortimer ; Burghfield ; Padworth ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — schalleriana, Linn. Local and not common. Sul- ham, in oak wood — comparana, Hubn. Rather scarce. Pangbourne Marsh ; Padworth ; Penge Wood, near Reading (Mrs. Ba- zett) * — variegana, Schiff. — cristana, Fab. Burghfield (Bird) ; Padworth ; Alder- maston Park t — hastiana, Linn. — umbrana, Hubn. Rare. Reading, at light * — ferrugana, Tr. — logiana, Schiff. Burghfield (Bird) 110 TORTRICIDJE (continued) •Peronea aspersana, Hubn. — shepherdana, St. Rare. Reading, at light (Bazett) 'Rhacodia caudana, Fab. *Teras contaminana, Hubn. Dictyopteryx lorquiniana, Dup. Newbury (Chorley) * — loeflingiana, Linn. * — holmiana, Linn. - bergmanniana, Linn. t — forskaleana, Linn. "Argyrotoxa conwayana, Fab. 'Ptycholoma lecheana, Linn. PENTHINID^ Ditula semifasciana, Haw. Bagley Wood (Pogson- Smith) Penthina corticana, Hubn. Local and uncommon. Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park; Burghfield; Bag- ley Wood (S.) t — betulaetana, Haw. — capraeana, Hubn. Not com- mon. Mortimer ; Padworth (Mrs. Bazett) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — sororculana, Zett. Rare. Sulham * — pruniana, Hubn. * — ochroleucana, Hubn. * — variegana, Hubn. — gentiana, Hubn. Not rare among teazle ; Tilehurst ; Sulham ; Bagley Wood (S.); Barcote (Durrani) — sellana, Hubn. Rare. Son- ning (Digby) t — marginana, Haw. — fuligana, Hubn. Rare. Wo- kingham ; Sonning (Dig- by) tAntithesia salicella, Linn. SPILONOTID^E *Hedya ocellana, Fab. — lariciana, Zell. Not com- mon. Bulmershe Park ; Sonning (Digby) ; Bagley Wood (S.) — aceriana, Dup. Barcote, near Faringdon (Durrant) * — dealbana, Frol. — servillana, Dup. Rare. Sonning (Digby) ; Read- ing (Mrs. Bazett) ; Bagley Wood (S.) 'Spilonota trimaculana, Haw. — rosaecolana, Dbl. Fairly com- mon in lanes and gardens about Reading; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t — roborana, Tr. •Pardia tripunctana, Fab. SERICORIDJE Aspis udmanniana, Linn. Sideria achatana, Fab. Not common. Sonning (Dig- by) ; Bulmershe and Pros- feet Parks, Reading ; Tile- hurst; Boar's Hill (Pogson- Smith) Sericoris fuligana, Haw. Boar's Hill (S.) — rivulana, Scop. Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) * — urticana, Hubn, * — lacunana, Dup. — micana, Frol. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) Roxana arcuana, Clerck. Local in woods. Tilehurst ; Sulham ; Padworth (Mrs. Bazett) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (S.) Euchromia purpurana, Haw. Local, but tolerably com- mon where it occurs. Sulham ; Streatley ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) Orthotaenia antiquana, Hubn. Rare. Aldermaston Park — striana, Schiff. Common on the chalk hills and in dry meadows. Sonning (Dig- by) ; Sulham ; Pang- bourne ; Streatley ; Boar's Hill(S.); Tubnty — branderiana, Linn. Bagley Wood (S.) — ericetana, Westw. Not common. Sonning (Dig- by) ; Basildon SdAPHII.ID.ffi Eriopsela fractifasciana, Haw. Rare. Reading Phtheochroa rugosana, Hubn. Local among Bryonia. Lanes about Reading ; Newbury '(Meyrick)/ Boar's Cnephasia politana, Haw. New- bury (Meyrick) * — musculana, Hubn. 'Scaphila nubilana, Hubn. — conspersana, Dougl. Not common. Sulham The pale form at Bulmershe Park, Reading ' — subjectana, Gn. * — virgaureana, Tr. — pascuana, Hubn. Bulmershe Park; Tilehurst; Burgh- field — chrysantheana, Dup. Gen- erally distributed — sinuana, St. Rare. Reading * — hybridana, Hubn. INSECTS SCIAPHILID.S: (continued) Sphaleroptera ictericana, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Reading at street lamps Capua favillaceana, Hubn. Scarce. Padworth ; Alder- maston Park; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hitt (S.) Clepsis rusticana, Tr. Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) GRAPHOLITHIDS •Bactra lanceolana, Hubn. Phoxopteryx siculana, Hubn. Local and not common. Reading (Mrs. Bazett) — unguicella, Linn. Rare. Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — uncana, Hubn. Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park ; Burgh- field ; Mortimer (Mrs. Bazett) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) — inornatana, H.-S. Rare. Burghfield — comptana, Frol. Abundant on the downs around Streatley — myrtillana, Tr. Near Alder- maston Park ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — lundana, Fab. — derasana, Hubn. Not com- mon. Wokingham (Mrs. Bazett) ; railway banks near Reading — diminutana, Haw. Marshy ground near Battle Farm, Reading (Mrs. Bazett) ; Midgham — mitterpacheriana, Schiff. Not uncommon. Bul- mershe Park ; Pangbourne ; Aldermaston ; Boar's Hill (S.) — lactana, Fzb. Boar's Hill (S.) tGrapholitha ramella, Linn. t — nisella, Clerck. — cinerana, Haw. Reading once (Mrs. Bazett) t — nigromaculana, Haw. * — subocellana, Don. — minutana, Hubn. Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) * — trimaculana, Don. * — penkleriana, Fisch. — obtusana, Haw. Rare. Reading (Mrs. Bazett) ; Mortimer t — naevana, Hubn. "Phlceodes tetraquetrana, Haw. t — immundana, Fisch. Ill GRAPHOLITHIDJE (continued) 'Hypermecia cruciana, Linn. * — angustana, Hubn. 'Batodes angustiorana, Haw. tPaedisca bilunana, Haw. — oppressana, Tr. Sonning (Digby) — ratzeburghiana, Rtz. Scarce. Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park ' — corticana, Hubn. — profundana, Fab. Not com- mon. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham ; Tilehurst ; Sulham ; Padworth ; Bag- ley Wood (S.) — ophthalmicana, Hubn. Not uncommon among aspen, Reading; Bagley Wood (S.) — occultana, Dougl. Rare. Burghfield; Boar's Hill (S.) t — solandriana, Linn. — semifuscana, St. Burghfield, bred from willow t — sordidana, Hubn. Ephippiphora similana, Hubn. — cirsiana, Zell. Not common. Bulmershe Park ; Streat- ley; Boar's Hill — pflugiana, Haw. Near Wok- ingham; Sulham; Boar's Hill (S.) * — brunnichiana, Frol. — inopiana, Haw. Burghfield; Aldermaston ; Midgham ; Boar's Hill (S.) t — foenella, Linn. — nigricostana, Haw. Rather scarce. Wokingham; Son- ning (Digby) ; railway banks, Reading ; East Ils- //?y,among Stachys ; Boar's Hill — signatana, Dougl. Tilehurst 1 — trigeminana, St. — populana, Fab. Rare. Al- dermaston Park ; Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) — obscurana, St. Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) Olindia ulmana, Hubn. Local among wych elm, Pang- bourne Wood Semasia spiniana, Fisch. Not common. Wokingham ; Newbury (Meyrick) t — ianthinana, Dup. t— rufillana, Wilk. * — woeberiana, Schiff. Coccyx splendidulana, Gn. Al- dermaston Park; Boar's Hill (S.) * — argyrana, Hubn. *— t*della, Clerck. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE GRAPHOLITHIDJE (continued) Coccyx nanana,Tr. Wokingham; Bulmershe Park ; Burgh- field; Barcote (Durrani) Heusimene fimbriana, Haw. Rare. Bulmershe Park ; Burghfield Retinia buoliana, Schiff. Mor- timer ; Padworth ; Boar's Hill (S.) - pinicolana, Dbl. Scarce. Wo- kingham ; Bulmershe Park — turionana, Hubn. Burgh- field (Bird) - pinivorana, Zell. Woking- ham ; Bulmershe Park "Carpocapsa splendidana, Hubn. * — grossana, Haw. * — pomonella, Linn. tEndopisa nigricana, St. Stigmonota coniferana, Ratzb. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t — perlepidana, Haw. - internana, Gn. Burghfield; Padworth t — compositella, Fabr. t — nitidana, Fab. - flexana, Zell. Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) t — regiana, Zell. — roseticolana, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; Streatley, on Aldworth-road - germarana, Hubn. Tile- hurst; Sulham tDicrorampha alpinana, Tr. t — • politana, Hubn. ' — • sequana, Hubn. - petiverella, Linn. * — plumbana, Scop. — saturnana, Gn. Woking- ham ; Pangbourne "— plumbagana, Tr. — acuminatana, Zell. Near Weirmills, Burghfield t — simpliciana, Haw. — consortana, St. Reading, at light (Mrs. Bazett) ; Al- dermaston Pyrodes rheediella, Clerck. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boat's Hill (S.) 'Catoptria albersana, Hubn. * — ulicetana, Haw. — Juliana, Curt. Sonning, bred from acorns (Digby) ; Boar's Hill (S.) — hypericana, Hubn. Com- mon generally among hy- pericum t — cana, Haw. t — fulvana, St. — scopoliana, Haw. — expallidana, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) GRAPHOLITHIDJE (continued) tTrycheris aurana, Fab. PYRALOIDID.S: Choreutes myllerana, Fab. Not common. Sonning (Digby) ; near Tyle's Mill, Oxford *Syma;this oxyacanthella, Linn. CONCHYLIDJE Eupoecilia nana, Haw. Reading — dubitana, Hubn. Finchamp- stead (Digby) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t — maculosana, Haw. — ambiguella, Hubn. Read- ing ; Newbury (Mrs. Chor- ley) - angustana, Hubn. - — udana, Gn. Sonning (Digby) — notulana, Zell. Sonning (Dig- by) ; Aldermaston (Mrs. Bazett) — manniana, Fisch. Newbury (Meyrick) — roseana, Haw. Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) ; Barcote (Durrant) — heydeniana, Wlsm. Sonning (Digby) — implicitana, H.-S. Reading (Mrs. Bazett) ; Aldermas- ton Park — ciliella, Hubn. Tilehurst ; Tidmarsh — anthemidana, Curt. Read- ing (Mrs. Bazett) tXanthosetia zoegana, Linn. * — hamana, Linn. tChrosis alcella, Schulz. Lobesia reliquana, Hubn. Rare. Wokingham ; Mortimer ; Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidg- wick) tArgyrolepia hartmanniana, Clerck. — subbaumanniana, Wilk. Sulham; common on the downs near Streatley ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — zephyrana, Tr. Chalky hillside at Sulham — badiana, Hubn. Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — cnicana, Dbl. Padworth; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidg- wick) Conchylis dipoltella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) t — francillana, Fab. t— dilucidana, St. — smeathmaniana, Fab. Son- ning (Digby) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) 113 AFHELIIDJE Aphelia osseana, Scop. Streat- ley, abundant on the downs •Tortricodes hyemana, Hubn. TINE^E EPICRAPHIID.S: "Lemnatophila phryganella, Hubn. Exapate congelatella, Clerck. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) 'Diurnea fagella, Fab. *Semioscopus avellanella, Hubn. Epigraphia steinkellneriana, Schiff. Wokingham; Bul- mershe Park ; Newbury (Meyrick) PSYCHID;E *Taljeporia pseudo-bombycella> Hubn. Psyche opacella, H.-S. Crow- thorne; Well. Coll. (Barnes) ; Padworth tFumea intermediella, Brd. Solenobia inconspicuella, Sta. Sulham — lichenella, Linn. Well. Coll. ; Wokingham TINEIDJE Diplodoma marginepunctella, St. Sonning (Digby) ; Tile- burst tXysmatodoma melanella, Haw. Ochsenheimeria birdella, Curt. Sonning (Digby) Scardia corticella, Curt. Tile- burst ; Sulham — parasitella, Hubn. Woking- ham ; Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) * — granella, Linn. * — cloacella, Haw. — ruricolella, Sta. Reading — arcella, Fab. Sonning (Dig- by) ; Wokingham ; Sul- bamstead ; Boar's Hill (S.) Blabophanes ferruginella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; Wok- ingham ; Aldermaston Park t — rusticella, Hubn. Tinea fulvimitrella, Sodof. New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) * — tapetzella, Linn. — albipunctella, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Streatley — caprimulgella, H.-S. Son- ning (Digby) — misella, Zell. Reading (Mrs. Bazett) ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) • — pellionella, Linn. INSECTS TINEIDJE (continued) , Tinea fuscipunctella, Haw. Son- ning (Digby); Wokingham; Tilehurst ; Barcote (Dur- rant) — argentimaculella, Sta. Son- ning (Digby) — pallescentella, Sta. Reading t — lapella, Hubn. — merdella, Zell. Bulmershe Park — nigripunctella, Haw. Read- ing, at street lamps t — semifulvella, Haw. Tineola biselliella, Hml. Abun- dant everywhere Lampronia quadripunctella, Fab. Sonning (Digby) ; railway banks near Read- ing — praelatella, Schiff. Reading — rubiella, Bjerk. Sonning (Digby) ; Reading 'Incurvaria muscalella, Fab. * — pectinea. Haw. — capitella, Clerck. Sonning (Digby) ; Reading ; New- bury 'Micropteryx calthella, Linn, t — aruncella, Scop. — seppella, Fab. — aureatella, Scop. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t — thunbergella, Fab. t — purpurella, Haw. t — semipurpurella, St. — unimaculella, Zett. Local among birch. Well. Coll. ; Burghfield ; Mortimer ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) — salopiella, Sta. Local and not common. Well. Coll. among birch — sparmannella, Bosc. Among birch. Well. Coll. ; Wok- ingham ; Bulmershe Park ; Sulham — fimbriata, Wlsm. Well. Coll. * — subpurpurella, Haw. •Nemophora swammerdammella, Linn. t — schwarziella, Zell. t — metaxella, Hubn. ADEi.iD.flE tAdela fibulella, Fab. — rufimitrella, Scop. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham ; Newbury — crcesella, Scop. Burghfield (Bird) ; East Ilsley ; Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) * — degeerella, Linn. * — viridella, Linn. tNematois scabiosellus, Scop. I ADELID.SE (continued) Nematois cupriacellus, Hubn. Sulham ; Aldermaston Park; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — minimellus, Zell. Streatley (Mrs. Bazett) HYPONOMEUTIDJE Swammerdammia combinella, Hubn. t — csesiella, Hubn. t — griseocapitella, Sta. t — lutarea, Haw. f_ pyrella, Vill. * — spiniella, Hubn. tScythropia crataegella, Linn. *Hyponomeuta plumbellus, Schiff. * — padellus, Linn. * — cagnagellus, Hubn. — evonymellus, Linn. Sulham ; Streatley, among black- thorn ; Boar's Hill (S.) Anesychia decemguttella, Hubn. Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) tPrays curtisellus, Don. — var. rustica, Haw. Sonning (Digby) PLUTELLID.E: 'Plutella cruciferarum, Zell. Cerostoma sequella, Clerck. Aldermaston Park ; New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Bagley Wood (S.) t — vittella, Linn. * — radiatella, Don. •— costella, Fab. t — sylvella, Linn. t— alpella, Schiff. t— lucella, Fab. — horridella, Tr. Boar's Hill (S.) Harpipteryx scabrella, Linn. Reading, in gardens ; Tile- hurst ; Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) — nemorella, Linn. Tilehurst ; Sulham; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) * — xylostella, Linn. tTheristis mucronella, Scop. GELECHIIDJE Orthotelia sparganella, Thnb. Bulmershe Park ; Battle Farm, Reading Henicostoma lobelia, Schiff. Sonning (Digby) ; Sulham *Phibalocera quercana, Fab. *Depressaria costosa, Haw. t— flavella, Hubn t — umbellana, St. * — assimilella, Tr. * — arenella, Schiff. "3 GELECHIID.S: (continued) Depressaria propinquella Tr. Sonning (Digby) ; Sulham ; Englefield; Barcote (Dur- rant) — subpropinquella, Sta. Bul- mershe Park; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Barcote (Durrant) — alstrcemeriana, Clerck. Tile- hurst ; Calcot Park ; Bar- cote (Durrant) t — purpurea, Haw. — liturella, Hubn. Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t — conterminella, Zell. — hypericella, Hubn. Boar's Hill (S.) * — angelicella, Hubn. — ocellana, Fab. Sonning (Dig- by) ; BulmershePark ; Sul- ham ; Midgham — yeatiana, Fab. In willow beds by the Kennet near Reading * — applana, Fab. — ciliella, Sta. In willow beds by the Kennet at Reading, Burghfield and Midgham ; Barcote (Durrant) — zephyrella, Hubn. Bul- mershe Park — albipunctella, Hubn. New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) — choerophylli, Zell. Near the Kennet, Burghfield ; Bar- cote (Durrant) * — heracleana, De Geer. Psoricoptera gibbosella, Zell. Bulmershe Park, at sugar ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) Gelechia pinguinella, Tr. New- bury (Mrs. Chorley) — muscosella, Zell. Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) * — ericetella, Hubn. — mulinella, Zell. Padworth, among furze ; Newbury (Meyrick) — sororculella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham ; Bulmershe Park — cuneatella, Zell. Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) — diffinis, Haw. Reading; Newbury (Meyrick) — rhombella, Schiff. Sonning (Digby) — scalella, Scop. Reading; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) Brachmia mouffetella, Schiff. Boar's Hill (Pogson- Smith) •Bryotropha terrella, Hubn. — politella, Dougl. Woking- ham ; Sulham ; Streatley 15 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE GELECHIIDJE (continued) Bryotropha senectella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; Reading — similis, Dougl. Tilehurst — affinis, Dougl. Sonning (Digby) ; Basildon — domestica, Haw. Sonning C^igby) ; Wokingham ; Pangbourne Lita acuminatella, Sircom. Pangbourne — aethiops, Westw. Near Crowthorne ; Wokingham ; Burghfield, among heather — maculea, Haw. Sonning (Digby); Tilehurst; Sul- ham — tricolorella, Haw. Sonning (Digby) — fraternella, Dougl. Sonning (Digby) — maculiferella, Dougl. Read- ing (Mrs. Bazett) — semidecandrella, Sta. Near Reading — knaggsiella, Sta. Woking- ham, once, on tree trunk Teleia proximella, Hubn. Wok- ingham; Bulmershe Park ; Burghfield; Boar's Hill (W. M. Geldart) — notatella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; Boar's Hill (Pogson-Smith) t — humeralis, Zell. — vulgella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) t — luculella, Hubn. — scriptella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby); Christ Church Gardens, Reading, among maple — fugitivella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; Southcot-lane, Reading, on elm trunks ; Barcote (Durrant) — sequax, Haw. Streatley — dodecella, Linn. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham ; Padwortb — triparella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; near Reading (Mrs. Bazett) Recurvaria leucatella, Clerck. Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidg- wick) — nanella, Hubn. Reading, in gardens Pcecilia nivea, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Sulham ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — albiceps, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; near Reading Nannodia hermannella, Fab. Sonning (Digby) GELECHIID.S (continued) Apodia bifractella, Mann. Read- ing (Mrs. Bazett) ; Boar's Hill (S.) Sitotroga cerealella, Oliver. Padworth 'Ergatis ericinella, Dup. Doryphora arundinetella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; Woking- ham Monochroa tenebrella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) Lamprotes atrella, Haw. Near Reading Anacampsis tzniolella, Tr. Sulham — anthyllidella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; Streatley and the downs near ; Barcote (Durrant) Acanthophila alacella, Dup. Whitley; Reading tTachyptilia populella, Clerck. Brachycrossata cinerella, Clerck Sonning (Digby) ; Sulham. Padworth ; Boar's Hill (S.) ; Barcote (Durrant) tCeratophora rufescens, Haw. Cladodes gerronella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; near Reading Parasia carlinella, Dougl. Streat- ley, on the downs (Mrs. Bazett) Chelaria hiibnerella, Don. Bul- mershe Park ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) Anarsia spartiella, Schr. New- bury (Meyrick) Hypsilophus schmidiellus, Heyd. Sulham — marginellus, Fab. Bulmer- she Park, plentiful among juniper Sophronia parenthesella, Linn. Basildon ; Boar's Hill (S.) — humerella, Schiff. Padworth 'Pleurota bicostella, Clerck. •Harpella geoffrella, Linn. *Dasycera sulphurella, Fab. t — olivierella, Fab. CEcophora minutella, Linn. Sonning (Digby) — fulviguttella, Zell. Woking- — lunaris, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — tinctella, Hubn. Tilehurst ; Boar's Hill (S.) — unitella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; Boar's Hill (S.) — flavifrontella, Hubn. Bul- mershe Park ; Pangbourne, beaten from yew trees 114 GELECHIIDJE (continued) CEcophora fuscescens, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Read- ing (Mrs. Bazett) * — pseudospretella, Sta. "Endrosis fenestrella, Scop. Bu tails grandipennis, Haw. Padwortb, among furze ; Newbury (Meyrick) Amphisbatis incongruella, Sta. Wokingham tPancalia leuwenhoekella, Linn. GLYPHIPTERYGID.S: Roslerstammia erxlebenella, Fab. Padworth ; Alder- maston Park, plentiful round the lime trees in sunshine ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) *Glyphipteryx fuscoviridella, Haw. * — thrasonella, Scop. — equitella, Scop. Sonning (Digby) ; gardens in and near Reading — forsterella, Fab. Reading — fischeriella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham ; Newbury (Mrs. Chorley) ; Boar's Hill (S.) ^Echmia dentella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) Perittia obscurepunctella, Sta. Sonning (Digby) ; near Reading tHeliozela sericiella, Haw. — resplendella, Dougl. Sonning (Digby) ; Newbury (Mey- rick) ARGYRESTHIIDJE Argyresthia ephippella, Fab. Sonning (Digby) ; in gar- dens about Reading ; Sul- ham ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidg- wick) *— nitidella, Fab. * — semitestacella, Curt. — spiniella, Zell. Barcote (Dur- rant) * — albistria, Haw. — conjugella, Zell. In gardens about Reading, among mountain ash — semifusca, Haw. Sonning (Digby) — mendica, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Newbury (Mey- rick) — glaucinella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) — retinella, Zell. Bulmershe Park ; Boar's Hill (S.) — andereggiella, Dup. Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) INSECTS ARGYRESTHIIDJE (continued} Argyresthia dilectella, Zell. Streatley t — curvella, Linn. — sorbiella, Tr. Bulmershe Park ; gardens near Read- ing — pygmaeella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; Sulham ; Streat- ley * — goedartella, Linn. * — brochella, Hubn. — arceuthina, Zell. Sulham, among juniper Cedestis farinatella, Dup. Bul- mershe Park, among fir ; Barcote (Durrant) Ocnerostoma piniariella, Zell. Well. Coll.; Bulmershe Park, among fir ; in gar- dens about Reading GRACILARHDJE •Gracilaria alchimiella, Scop. — stigmatella, Fab. * — elongella, Linn. — tringipennella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; Tilehurst ; New- bury (Meyrick) ; Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick); Barcote (Durrant) * — syringella, Fab. — omissella, Dougl. Sonning (Digby) — phasianipennella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) — auroguttella St. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham ; Pangbourne Coriscium brongniartellum, Fab. Sonning (Digby) ; near Reading ; Newbury (Meyrick) — sulphurellum, Haw. Streat- ley (Meyrick) Ornix avellanella, Sta. Sonning (Digby) ; Sulham, among oak ; Newbury (Meyrick) ; Barcote (Durrant) * — anglicella, Sta. t — betulae, Sta. — fagivora, Sta. Sonning (Digby) — torquillella, Sta. Sonning (Digby) ; Reading ; New- bury (Meyrick) — guttea, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; near Reading (Mrs. Bazett) ; Boar's Hill (S.) COLEOPHORID.S: tColeophora fabriciella, Vill. — deauratella, Lien. Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) COLEOPHORIDJE (continued) Coleophora fuscocuprella, H.-S. Aldermaston Park (Mrs. Bazett) — alcyonipennella, Kol. Son- ning (Digby) ; Barcote (Durrant) — paripennella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) — potentillae, Sta. Near Read- ing (Mrs. Bazett) — lixella, Zell. Sulham — pyrrhulipennella, Tisch. Newbury (Meyrick) — albicosta, Haw. Bulmershe Park ; Padworth, among furze ; Boar's Hill (S.) — anatipennella, Hubn. Son- ning (Digby) var. albidella, Sonning (Dig- by) t — palliatella, Zinck. — ibipennella, Heyd. Sonning (Digby) — ardeaepennella, Scott. Son- ning (Digby) — discordella, Zell. The chalk downs near Streatley — therinella, Tgstr. Basildon Park — graminicolella, Wk. Near Reading (Mrs. Bazett) — troglodytella, Dup. Pad- worth — lineolea, Haw. Sonning (Digby) — murinipennella, Fisch. Finchampstead (Digby) ; Bulmershe Park * — caespititiella, Zell. — laripennella, Zett. Sulham- stead ; Streatley ; New- bury (Meyrick) — apicella, Sta. Finchamp- stead (Digby) ; Newbury (Meyrick) — argentula, Zell. Sonning (Digby) — juncicolella, Sta. Newbury (Meyrick) •— laricella, Hubn. — albitarsella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; Newbury (Mey- rick) * — nigricella, St. t — fuscedinella, Zell. — orbitella, Zell. Finchamp- stead (Digby) — gryphipennella, Bouche. Sonning (Digby) — siccifolia, Sta. Sonning (Dig- by); Burghfield, among birch — bicolorella, Scott. Near Reading — viminetella, Heyd. Sonning (Digby) COLEOPHORID.S (continued) Coleophora olivaceella, Sta. Near Reading — solitariella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; Newbury (Mey- rick) t — lutipennella, Zell. — badiipennella, Fisch. Twy- ford; Sonning (Digby) t — limosipennella, Fisch. — wilkinsoni, Scott. Alder- maston Park (Mrs. Bazett) ELACHISTID/E Batrachedra praeangusta, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Reading (Mrs. Bazett) ; Midgham — pinicolella, Dup. Sonning (Digby) ; Bulmershe Park Chauliodus illigerellus, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; in wil- low beds near Pangbourne and Midgham, common — chaerophyllellus,G6ze. Burgh- field ; Newbury (Meyrick) Laverna propinquella, Sta. Sonning (Digby) ; by the Thames near Reading — lacteella, St. Sonning (Dig- by) * — epilobiella, Schr. - — ochraceella, Curt, Sonning (Digby) ; Streatley and Midgham (Mrs. Bazett) — subbristrigella, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) - vinolentella, H.-S. Near Reading — hellerella, Dup. Sonning (Digby) — atra, Haw. Near Reading - rhamniella, Zell. Near Reading (Mrs. Bazett) Chrysoclysta linneella, Clerck. Near the gaol, Reading, on lime trunks (F. Barnes) — schrankella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) t — aurifrontella, Hubn. Anybia langiella, Hubn. Son- ning (Digby) Asychna modestella, Dup. Son- ning (Digby) ; Newbury (Meyrick) — terminella, Dale. Sonning (Digby) Antispila pfeifferella, Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; Basildon — treitschkiella, Fisch. Son- ning (Digby) Stephensia brunnichella, Linn. Streatley, East Isley •Elachista albifrontella, Hubn. — atricomella, Sta. Sonning (Digby) ; Tilehunt A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE ELACHISTID./E (continued) Elachista luticomella, Zell. Son- ning (Digby) — poae, Dougl. Sonning (Digby) * — nigrella, Hubn. — subnigrella, Dougl. Sulham — perplexella, Sta. Streatley (Digby) — bedellella, Sircom. Streatley — obscurella, Sta. Sonning (Digby) ; near Reading — gangabella, Fisch. Woking- ham — taeniatella, Sta. Tilehurst — obliquella, Edl. Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) — megerlella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; Newbury (Mey- rick) — adscitella, Sta. Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) ; Barcote (Durrani) t — cerussella, Hubn. — rhynchosporella, Sta. New- bury (Meyrick) - triatomea, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham - pollinariella, Zell. Near Reading (Mrs. Bazett) * — rufocinerea, Haw. — subalbidella, Schl. Sulham * — argentella, Clerck. "Tischeria complanella, Hubn. — dodonaea, Heyd. Sonning (Digby) — marginea, Haw. Tilehurst; Burghfield ; Newbury (Meyrick) LlTHOCOLLETID^; Lithocolletis hortella, Fab- Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidg- wick) — concomitella, Bankes. Bar- cote (Durrant) — oxyacanthae, Frey. Barcote (Durrant) *— pomifoliella, Zell. — spinicolella, Kol. Sonning (Digby) ; Newbury (Mey- rick) ; Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) * — faginella, Mann. — salicicolella, Sircom. Sonning (Digby) 1 — ulmifoliella, Hubn. — spinolella, Dup. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham ; Boar's Hill (S.) * — quercifoliella, Fisch. LITHOCOLLETIDJE (continued) Lithocolletis messaniella, Zell. Newbury (Meyrick) ; Bar- cote (Durrant) t — corylifoliella, Haw. — viminiella, Sircom. Mor- timer — ulicicolella, Vaughan. New- bury (Meyrick) — alnifoliella, Hubn. Woking- ham ; Newbury (Meyrick) * — cramerella, Fab. — sylvella, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Newbury (Mey- rick) ; Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) — frolichiella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) — nicellii, Zell. Newbury(M.ey- rick) — stettinensis, Nicelli. Sonning (Digby) — kleemannella, Fab. Sonning (Digby) ; Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — schreberella, Fab. Sonning (Digby) ; Newbury (Mey- rick) ; Barcote (Durrant) — tristrigella, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham — trifasciella, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Wokingham ; Burghfield., among birch ; Newbury (Meyrick); Boar's Hill (A. Sidgwick) — comparella, Fisch. Calcot; Sulham, among poplar LYONETIID.S: Lyonetia clerckella, Linn. Son- ning (Digby) ; Barcote (Durrant) tPhyllocnistis suffusella, Zell. — saligna, Zell. Sonning (Dig- by) Cemiostoma spartifoliella,Hubn. Sonning (Digby) ; Woking- ham, among broom * — laburnella, Heyd. — scitella, Zell. Sonning (Dig- by) ; Boar's Hill (Pogson- Smith) ; Barcote (Durrant) — lotella, Sta. Finchamfstead, from Latus major (Digby) Opostega salaciella, Tr. Sonning (Digby) — crepusculella, Fisch. Sonning (Digby) Bucculatrix nigricomella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; com- LYONETHD.S (continued) mon on railway banks near Reading Bucculatrix cidarella, Tisch. Sonning (Digby) — ulmella, Mann. Sonning (Digby) ; near Reading ; Newbury (Meyrick) — crataegi, Zell. Sonning (Dig- by) ; Newbury (Meyrick) — boyerella,Dup. Sonning (Dig- by) ; Newbury (Meyrick) — cristatella, Fisch. Sonning (Digby) NEPTICULID.S: Nepticula atricapitella, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; New- bury (Meyrick) — ruficapitella, Haw. Sonning (Digby) ; Reading ; New- bury (Meyrick) — anomalella, Goze. Sonning (Digby) ; Barcote (Dur- rant) — pygmaeella, Haw. Newbury (Meyrick) — oxyacanthella, Sta. Near Reading • — viscerella, Dougl. Sonning (Digby) ; Barcote (Dur- rant) — catharticella, Sta. Sonning (Digby) — septembrella, Sta. Sonning (Digby) — intimella, Zell. Sonning (Digby) ; near Reading t — subbimaculella, Haw. t— floslactella, Haw. — salicis, Sta. Sonning (Digby) — argentipedella, Zell. Boar's Hill (N. V. Sidgwick) — plagicolella, Sta. Sonning (Digby) — tityrella, Dougl. Newbury (Meyrick) — turicella, H.-S. Barcote (Durrant) — basalella, H.-S. Barcote (Durrant) — marginicolella, Sta. Sonning (Digby) ; Barcote (Dur- rant) * — aurella, Fab. Bohemannia quadrimaculella, Boheman. Sonning, among alder (Digby) Trifurcula pulverosella, Sta. Streatley 116 INSECTS HETEROPTERA GYMNOCERATA PENTATOMIDJE tCorimelsna scarabaeoides, Linn. tPodops inuncta, Fabr. Sehirus bicolor, Linn. Tile- hurst ; Tubney — dubius, Scop. Pangbourne (Saunders, Syn.) — biguttatus, Linn. Basildon t — morio, Linn. Gnathoconus albomarginatus, Fabr. Tubney Sandpits — picipes, Fall. King's Weir Jilia acuminata, Linn. Sulham chalk slopes Neottiglossa inflexa, Wolff. Maidenhead Thicket (But- ler) ; Sulham Eysarcoris melanocephalus, Fabr. Reading (Barnes) ; Burghfield Fentatoma baccarum, Linn. Bagley ; Soar's Hill — prasina, Linn. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Basil- don ; Streatley *Piezodorus lituratus, Fabr. 'Tropicoris rufipes, Linn. Picromerus bidens, Linn. Near Maidenhead (Harwood) ; Sulham ; Streatley Podisus luridus, Fabr. Sulham ; Streatley ; Bagley ; Boar's Hill Zicrona coerulea, Linn. Alder- maston ; Tubney ; Aid- worth (Walker) 'Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale, Linn. t — dentatum, De G. t — interstinctum, Linn. — tristriatum, Linn. Streatley, plentiful in juniper COREID.S: Syromastes marginatus, Linn. Near Maidenhead (Har- wood) ; Bagley ; Boar's Hill Verlusia rhombea, Linn. Well. Coll.; Padworth; Boar'sHill Coreus denticulatus, Scop. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Aldermaston Park Alydus calcaratus, Linn. Well. Coll. Stenocephalus agilis, Scop. Maidenhead Thicket (But- HEMIPTERA* COREIDJE (continued) ler) ; Bulmershe Park, Reading Corizus maculatus, Fieb. Ascot (Butler) ; Crowthorne, among heather in April - capitatus, Fabr. Unhill *Myrmus miriformis, Fall. BERYTIDJE Berytus minor, H.-S. Burgh- field ; Aldermaston — montivagus, Fieb. Maiden- head Thicket (Butler) Metatropis rufescens, H.-S. Pangbourne (Saunders, Syn.) LYGJEID.7E Nysius thymi, Wolff. Tubney Cymus glandicolor, Hahn. Fyfield and Ascot (Butler) — claviculus, Fall. Streatley ; Wantage Ischnorhynchus geminatus, Fieb. Ascot (Harwood) ; Fyfield (Butler); Pad- worth ; Tubney Heterogaster urticae, Fabr. Maidenhead (Harwood) ; Tubney Rhyparochromus dilatatus, H. S. Wokingham ; Burgh- field ; Aldermaston — chiragra, Fabr. Burghfield ; Padworth ; Tubney ; Boar's Hill Tropistethus holosericeus, Schltz. Streatley ; Wan- tage Ischnocoris angustulus, Boh. Well. Coll. ; Aldermaston Plinthisus brevipennis, Latr. Broadmoor Acompus rufipes, Wolff. Ken- net side, near Reading tStygnus rusticus, Fall. t — pedestris, Fall. t — arenarius, Hahn. Peritrechus luniger, Schill. Maidenhead Thicket (But- ler) ; Tubney — geniculatus, Hahn. Maiden- head Thicket (Butler) ; Padworth ; Tubney fTrapezonotus agrestis, Fall. Aphanus lynceus, Fabr. Burgh- field ; Tubney — pini, Linn. Well. Coll. (Barnes) ; Padworth (continued) tScolopostethus affinis, Schill. — puberulus, Horv. Tubney — neglectus, Edw. Fyfield (Butler) ; Streatley ; Boar's Hill — decoratus, Hahn. Well. Coll. (Barnes) ; Burghfield ; Padworth Notochilus contractus, H.-S. Maidenhead Thicket (But- ler) ; Burghfield tDrymus sylvaticus, Fabr. t — brunneus, Sahib. — pilipes, Fieb. Bagley - pilicornis, Muls. Pangbourne tGastrodes ferrugineus, Linn. TINCIDID.S: Piesma capitata, Wolff. Fyfield (Butler) ; Theale Serenthia laeta, Fall. Reading (Barnes) ; Tubney (Walk- er) Orthostira parvula, Fall. Tubney — macrophthalma, Fieb. Boar's Hill tDictyonota crassicornis, Fall. — strichnocera, Fieb. Fyfield (Butler) Derephysia foliacea, Fall. Fy- field (Butler) ; Tubney (Walker) Monanthia ampliata, Fieb. Maidenhead Thicket (But- ler) ; Abingdon — cardui, Linn. Fyfield (But- ler) ; Reading; Theale; Basildon — costata, Fieb. Tubney ; Boar's Hill — dumetorum, H.-S. Tubney — humuli, Fabr. Fyfield (But- ler) ARADIDJE tAradus depressus, Fabr. HYDROMETRID./E Mesovelia furcata, M. and R. Fyfield (Butler) "Hydrometra stagnorum, Linn. *Velia currens, Fabr. Microvelia pygmaea, Duf. Fyfield (Butler) Gerris paludum, Fabr. Fyfield (Butler) ; Kennet near Reading — najas, De G. Aldermaston, in river Kennet 1 Mr. Holland has been assisted in this list by Mr. E. A. Butler (who has drawn up a list of species found between Ascot and Maidenhead), Mr. R. Harwood, Mr. J. J. Walker, Mr. W. Barnes, Mr. Claude Morley, and the late Mr. F. W. Lambert of Oxford ; Mr. E. A. Butler has also given considerable help in the list of Homoptera. 117 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE HYDROMETRIDJE (continued) Gerris thoracica, Schum. Near Theale, in Kennet — gibbifera, Schum. Broad- moor — lacustris, Linn. Reading, in Kennet — odontogaster, Zett. Fy field (Butler) ; Broadmoor — argentata, Schum. Fyfield (Butler) REDUVIID/E Ploiaria vagabunda, Linn. Fyfield (Butler) Reduvius personatus, Linn. Reading ; Burgh field (Bird) Coranus subapterus, De G. Well. Coll.; Burghfield; Boar's Hill Nabis brevipennis, Hahn. Tilehurst t — lativentris, Boh. t — major, Cost. — boops, Schiodte. Maiden- head Thicket (Butler) t — flavomarginatus, Scholtz. — limbatus, Dahlb. Fyfield and Maidenhead Thicket (Butler) — lineatus, Dahlb. Ascot (But- ler) t — ferus, Linn. t— rugosus, Linn. t — ericetorum, Schltz. SALDIDJE Salda orthochila, Fieb. Well Coll. — saltatoria, Linn. Fyfield (Butler) — cincta, H.-S. Fyfield (But- ler) ClMICIDJE Cimex lectularius, Linn. Read- ing, in old houses Lyctocoris campestris, Fabr. Burghfield ; Calcot Piezostethus galactinus, Fieb. Quarry Woods (Harwood) ; Reading — cursitans, Fall. Crowthorne, under fir bark Temnostethus pusillus, H.-S. Fyfield (Butler) Anthocoris confusus, Reut. Fi- field (Butler) ; Wantage t — nemoralis, Fabr. * — sylvestris, Linn. Tetraphleps vittata, Fieb. Bray (Butler) ; Padworth ; Al- dermaston Acompocoris pygmaeus, Fall. Bray (Butler) ; Well. Coll.; Burghfield CIMICIDJE (continued) Acompocoris alpinus,Reut. Tub- ney Triphleps niger, Wolff. Ascot (Butler) — majusculus, Reut. Fyfield (Butler) — minutus, Linn. Well. Coll. ; Burghfield; Tubney CAPSIDJE Pithanus mserkeli, H.-S. Fyfield (Butler) Acetropis gimmerthalii, Flor. Padworth tMiris holsatus, Fabr. * — bevigatus, Linn. t — calcaratus, Fall. tMegaloceraea erratica, Lmn. — longicornis, Fall, Maiden- head Thicket (Butler) ; King's Weir — ruficornis, Fall. Theale ; Wallingford Leptopterna ferrugata, Fall. Wokingham; Reading; Theale t — dolobrata, Linn. •Monalocoris filicis, Linn. Pantilius tunicatus,Fabr. ^treat- ley ; Henwood ; Bagley 'Phytocoris tiliae, Fabr. t — longipennis, Flor. — reuteri, Saund. Fyfield (Butler) ; Wokingham * — ulmi, Linn, t — varipes, Boh. tCalocoris striatellus, Fabr. — fulvomaculatus, De G. Basil- don ; Moulsford ; Bagley — sexguttatus, Fabr. Brad- field ; Crookham Common (Morley) t — roseomaculatus, De G. t — chenopodii, Fall. * — bipunctatus, Fabr. t — infusus, H.-S. t — striatus, Linn. 'Oncognathus binotatus, Fabr. *Lygus pabulinus, Linn, t — contaminatus, Fall. — lucorum, Mey. Reading ; Midgham — spinolae, Mey. Fyfield (But- ler); Wallingford; Tubney " — pratensis, Fabr. t — pastinacse, Fall, t — kalmii, Linn. t — rubricatus, Fall. tZygimus pinastri, Fall. Poeciloscytus unifasciatus, Fieb. Tilehurst ; Sulham tCamptobrochis lutescens, Schill. •Liocoris tripustulatus, Fabr. "Capsus laniarius, Linn. tRhopalotomus ater, Linn. CAPSIDJE (continued) Pilophorus clavatus, Linn. South Hinksey Allodapus rufescens, H.-S. Fy- field (Butler) ; Burghfield Halticus apterus, Linn. Pang- bourne ; Tubney tOrthocephalus saltator, Hahn. t — mutabilis, Fall. Dicyphus epilobii, Reut. Fy- field (Butler) ; Sonning ; Theale — errans, Wolff. Wallingford (Lambert) — stachydis, Reut. King's Weir — pallidicornis, Fieb. South Hinksey — globulifer, Fall, Reading; Netobury tCampyloneura virgula, H.-S. tCyllocoris histrionicus, Linn. t — flavonotatus, Boh. *^Etorhinus angulatus, Fall. Cyrtorrhinus caricis, Fall. Wok- ingham — pygmaeus, Zett. Fyfield (Butler) ; Wokingham ; Burghfield Orthotylus nassatus, Fabr. Burghfield ; Padworth ; Aldermaston — diaphanus, Kb. Fyfield (But- ler) ; Burghfield ; Midg- ham — scotti, Reut. Reading; Tile- hurst — ochrotrichus, D. and S. Fyfield (Butler) — chloropterus, Kbm. Fyfield (Butler) ; Sulham — flavosparsus, Sahib. Fyfield (Butler) — rubidus, Put. Maidenhead Thicket (Butler) t — ericetorum, Fall. Hypsitylus bicolor, D. and S. Padworth ; Henwood * Heterotoma merioptera, Scop. Macrotylus paykullii, Fall. Streatley (Lambert) Macrocoleus molliculus, Fall. Fyfield (Butler) ; Alder- maston tHarpocera thoracica, Fall. Phylus palliceps, Fieb. Pad- worth ; Bagley; Henwood — melanocephalus, Linn. Boar's Hill (Lambert) t — coryli, Linn. tPsallus betuleti, Fall. — ambiguus, Fall. Reading, in gardens t — variabilis, Fall, t — lepidus, Fieb. t — varians, H.-S. t — sanguineus, Fabr. INSECTS CAPSIDJE (continued) tPlagiognathus arbustorum, Fabr. • — viridulus, Fall. CRYPTOCERATA NAUCORID./E Naucoris cimicoides, Linn- Fyfield (Butler); North Lake, Bulmershe Park, Reading Aphelochirus sestivalis, Fabr. Near Bagley Wood (Saun- ders) NEPIDJE •Nepa cinerea, Linn. Ranatra linearis, Linn. Sonning meadows, on water plants (W. Barnes); Burghfield (Bird); Tubney (Walker) NOTONECTIDJE •Notonecta glauca, Linn, var. maculata. Burghfield (Bird) CORIXID.K •Corixa geoffroyi, Leach. — sahlbergi Fieb. Fyfield (Butler) ; Wokingham ; Tubney — linnzei, Fieb. Fyfield (Butler) — striata, Fieb. Fyfield (But- ler) ; Bulmershe Park, Reading — distincta,Fieb. Fyfield (But- ler) — maesta, Fieb. Tubney — limitata, Fieb. Near Read- ing (Barnes) HOMOPTERA CICADINA ClCADID/E Centrotus cornutus, Linn. Reading; Burghfield Issus coleoptratus, Geoffr. Burghfield ; Aldermaston Cixius pilosus, Ol. Reading; Bagley Wood — nervosus, Linn. Reading; Tubney ; South Hinksey DELPHACID* Liburnia lineola, Linn. Fyfield and Maidenhead Thicket (Butler) ; Bagley Wood — vittipennis, J. Sahl. Fyfield (Butler) — perspicillata, Boh. Fyfield (Butler) — pellucida, Fabr. Fyfield (Butler) ; Ferry Hinksey DELPHACIDJE (continued) Liburnia difficilis, Edw. South Hinksey — limbata, Fabr. Tubney Triecphora vulnerata, Illig. Reading ; Bagley Wood Aprophora alni, Fall. Bray and Fyfield (Butler) ; Reading; Burghfield — salicis, De G. Ferry Hink- sey CERCOPIDJE •Philaenus spumarius, Linn. — campestris, Fall. Reading; Theale — exclamationis, Thunb. Read- ing; Wantage — lineatus, Linn. Ascot (Butler); Reading; Wan- tage LEDRIDJE Ledra aurita, Linn. Reading; Burghfield; Tubney ULOPID.S: Ulopa reticulata, Fabr. Read- ing PAROPID.K Megophthalmus scanicus, Fall. Fyfield (Butler) ; Tubney BYTHOSCOPIDJE Macropis lanio, Linn. Read- ing ; Sulham Bythoscopus rufusculus, Fieb. Reading — flavicollis, Linn. Reading; Boar's Hill Pediopsis tibialis, Scott. Fyfield (Butler) ; Reading — scutellatus, Boh. Burgh- field — cereus, Germ. Padworth Idiocerus distinguendus, Kbm. Bray (Butler) — vitreus, Fabr. Bray (Butler) — fulgidus, Fabr. Reading — populi, Linn. Fyfield (But- ler) — confusus, Flor. Sulham — albicans, Kbm. Bray (But- ler) Agallia puncticeps, Germ. Fyfield (Butler) TETTIGONID.K Evacanthus interruptus, Linn. Reading — acuminatus, Linn. Reading ; Ferry Hinksey Tettigonia viridis, Liv. Fyfield (Butler); Burghfield; Aldermaston 119 ACOCEPHALID.B Acocephalus nervosus, Schrk. Fyfield (Butler) ; Reading ; Tilehurst — albifrons, Linn. Bessels- Leigh Eupelix cuspidata, Fabr. Read- ing JASSID.E Athysanus brevipennis, Kbm. Fyfield (Butler) — sordidus, Zett. Ascot (But- ler) ; Burghfield ; Botley — obscurellus, Kbm. Well. Coll. Deltocephalus pascuellus, Fall. Ascot and Fyfield (Butler) — ocellaris, Fall. Fyfield (Butler) — coronifer, Marsh. Maiden- head Thicket (Butler) — argus, Marsh. Reading — pulicaris, Fall. Fyfield (But- ler) ; Ferry Hinksey Allygus mixtus, Fabr. Read- ing Thamnotettix subfuscula, Fall. Tubney — splendidula, Fabr. Read- ing Limotettix 4-notata, Fabr. As- cot (Butler) ; Wantage — sulphurella, Zett. Fyfield (Butler) ; Wantage Cicadula metria, Flor. Maid- enhead and Fyfield (But- ler) — sexnotata, Fall. Ascot (But- ler) ; Ferry Hinksey — cyane, Boh. Fyfield (Butler) TYPHLOCYBID.SE Alebra albostriella, Fall. Fyfield (Butler) Dicraneura flavipennis, Zett. Ascot and Fyfield (Butler) Eupteryx atropunctata, Goeze. Fyfield (Butler) ; Walling- ford ; Tubney — germari, Zett. Burghfield — concinna, Germ. Alder- maston Typhlocyba ulmi, Linn. Pang- bourne — cratajgi, Dougl. Padworth — rosae, Linn. Reading PSYLLINA PSYLLIDJE Psylla cratzgi, Schr. Wantage Trichopsylla walkeri, Forst. Fyfield (Butler) Trioza albiventris, Forst Reading A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE ARACHNIDA Very few collections have been made of members of this order in the county of Berkshire. The following list, including 61 species, were taken for the most part by the late Lieut. -Colonel Arthur Pickard, V.C., R.A., in the neighbourhood of Windsor Castle, and the late Rev. C. W. Penny of Wellington College, Wokingham : — ARANE^ ARACHNOMORPH& DYSDERID^E Spiders with six eyes and two pairs of stigmatic openings, situated close together on the genital rima ; the anterior pair communicating with lung books, the posterior with tracheal tubes. Tarsal claws, two in Dysdera, three in Harpactes and Segestria. 1. Harpactes bomber gn (Scopoli). 3. Segestria bavarica, C. L. Koch. Windsor (A.P.) (O.P.-C.) Common ; April to July. OONOPID/E 2. Segestria senoculata (Linnaeus). 4. Oonops pulchert Templeton. Windsor (A.P.) (O.P.-C.) Common ; July. Rare ; adult in July. Spiders with eight eyes, situated in two transverse rows, two tarsal claws and anterior spinners close together at their base. Maxillae not impressed. The crab-like shape and side- long movements of these spiders are their chief characteristics, enabling them to be easily distinguished from the more elongate Drassidts and Clubionldee, 5. Thomisus onustus (Walckenaer). 7. Philodromus elegans, Blackwall. Wokingham (C.W.P.) Wokingham (C.W.P.) 6. Philodromus aureolus (Clerck). Windsor (A.P.) SALTICIDjE The spiders of this family may be recognized in a general way by their mode of pro- gression, consisting of a series of leaps. More particularly they may be known by the square shape of the cephalic region and the fact that the eyes are arranged in three rows of 4, 2, 2, the centrals of the anterior row being much the largest. Otherwise the spiders are simply specialized Clubionids with two tarsal claws and other minor characters possessed in common with other members of this family. 8. Salticus scenicus (Clerck). IO. Attus pubescens (Fabr.) Windsor (A.P.) Windsor (A.P.) 9. Hasarius arcuatus (Clerck). Wokingham (C.W.P.) PISAURID^: Spiders with eight eyes in three rows of 4, 2, 2 ; the small anterior eyes being some- times in a straight line, sometimes recurved and sometimes procurved. Those of the other two rows are situated in the form of a rectangle of various proportions and are much larger than the eyes of the anterior row. The tarsal claws are three in number. Pisaura runs freely over the herbage, carrying its egg-sac beneath the sternum ; while Dolomedes is a dweller in marshes and swamps. II. Pisaura mirabilis (Clerck). 12. Dolomedes fimbriatus (Walckenaer). Wokingham (C.W.P.) Wokingham (C.W.P.) Known also as Dolomedes, or Ocya/e, mirabilis. 120 SPIDERS LYCOSID^ The members of this family are to be found running freely over the ground, and carry- ing the egg-sac attached to the spinners. Many of the larger species make a short burrow in the soil and there keep guard over the egg-sac. Eyes and tarsal claws as in the Pisaurida, with slight differences. 13. Lycosa cuneata (Clerck). 14. Lycosa perita, Latreille. Wolcingham (C.W.P.) Wokingham (C.W.P.) AGELENID^ Spiders with eight eyes, situated in two straight or more or less curved transverse rows. Tarsal claws, three. The species of this family spin a large sheet-like web, and construct a tubular retreat at the back of it, which leads to some crevice amongst the rocks or in the herbage, or in the chinks in the walls of outhouses and barns, wherever the various species may happen to be found. The habits of Argyroneta, the water spider, are however quite different. The posterior pair of spinners is much longer than the others in the more typical genera of this family. I"]. Tegenaria derkami (Scopoli). Windsor (A.P.) A very common species everywhere. 1 8. Agelena labyrinthica (Clerck). Windsor (A.P.) Abundant, forming large sheet-like webs 15. Tegenaria atrica, C. L. Koch. Windsor (A.P.) 1 6. Tegenaria parietina (Fourcroy). Windsor (A.P.) Abundant in the London district generally. Known also as T. guyonii and T. domestica. on the herbage, with a funnel-shaped tubular retreat. The spiders included in this family have eight eyes, situated in two rows, the lateral eyes of both rows being usually adjacent, if not in actual contact, while the central eyes form a quadrangle. The tarsal claws are three, often with other supernumerary claws. The web is either an orbicular snare, as in the case of the ' common garden spider,' or consists of a sheet of webbing, beneath which the spider hangs and captures its prey as it falls upon the sheet. This immense family includes those usually separated under the names Epeiridts and Linyphiidts. Meta segmentata (Clerck). 26. Araneus umbraticus, Clerck. Windsor (A.P.) Windsor (A.P.) Very abundant. Known also as Efeira 2?- Araneus sclopetarius, Clerck. 19 inclinata, Blackwall. 20. Meta meriana (Scopoli). Windsor (A.P.) Not uncommon. Known also as Epeira antriada, Blackwall, and a striking variety as E. ce/ata, Blackwall. 21. Tetragnatha extensa (Linnaeus). Windsor (A.P.) Most abundant and generally distributed. 22. Cyclosa conica (Pallas). Windsor (A.P.) 23. Zilla x - notata (Clerck). Windsor (A.P.) 24. Araneus cucurbitinus, Clerck. Windsor (A.P.) 25. Araneus diadematus, Clerck. V/indsor (A.P.) Windsor (A.P.) 28. Singa sanguinea, C. L. Koch. Windsor (A.P.) 29. Linyphia triangularis (Clerck). Windsor (A.P.) 30. Linyphia montana (Clerck). Windsor (A.P.) 31. Linyphia clathrata, Sundevall. Windsor (A.P.) 32. Lepthyphantes minutus (Blackwall). Windsor (A.P.) 33. Lepthyphantes tenuis (Blackwall). Windsor (A.P.) 34. Lepthyphantes leprosus (Ohlert). Windsor (A.P.) 35. Bathyphantes dorsalis (Wider). Windsor (A.P.) 121, 16 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 36. Batbyphantes concolor (Wider). Windsor (A.P.) Known also as Theridion filipe;, Blackball. 37. Batbyphantes arcumspectus (Blackwall). Windsor (A.P.) 38. Labulla thoracica (Wider). Windsor (A.P.) 39. Erigone atra (Blackwall). Windsor (A.P.) 40. Kulczynskiellum retusum (Westring). Windsor (A.P.) D; phus cgrnutus (Blackwam 42- Wahkenaerla crtstata, Blackwall. Windsor (A.P.) 43. Entelecara erythropus (Westring). Windsor (A.P.) MIMETID-ffi Spiders of this family are similar in general respects to the Tberidiid T ir i. 50. Theridion vittatum, C. L. Koch. w j /A DN Windsor (A.P.) Known also as T. pulcbellum (Walckenaer). 51 52 Theridion pa/lens, Blackwall. Windsor (A.P.) Theridion ovatum (Clerck). Windsor (A.P.) Known also under the name Phyllonetbis lineata. 53- Theridion tinctum, Walckenaer. Windsor (A.P.) Theridion bimaculatum (Linnzus). Windsor (A'P'> Steatoda bipunctata (Linnaeus). v 54 55 JJ n Known also as Theridion quadnpunctatum. „. , „ r Blackwall. The spiders belonging to this family possess three tarsal claws, and the eyes, eight in number, situated in two transverse rows, the laterals being in contact. The cribellum (or extra pair of spinning organs) and the calamistrum (a row of curving bristles on the protarsi of the fourth pair of legs) are present in all members of the family. They construct a tubular retreat with an outer sheet of webbing, which is covered with a flocculent silk made with the calamistrum from threads furnished by the cribellum. 56. Amaurobius similis (Blackwall). 58. Dictyna arundinacea (Linnaeus). Windsor (A.P.) Wokingham (C.W.P.) Common. Known also under the name Abundant. Known also as Ergatis benigna, Ciniflo. 57. Amaurobius ferox (Walckenaer). Windsor (A.P.) Common. Known also under the name Ciniflo. Blackwall. 59. Dictyna uncinata. Thorell. Windsor (A.P.) 6o Dictyna varlabUlt, C. L. Koch. (O.P.-C.) 6 1. Uloborus walckenaerius, Latreille. Wokingham (C.W.P.) CRUSTACEANS The naturalists of the county have not been hitherto attracted to lavish any exaggerated amount of industry on this branch of its fauna. Such an inference at least may be drawn from some of their published annals. In three volumes containing the Transactions of the Newbury District Field Club from 1870 to 1886 no allusion to Crustacea was trace- able, although, as will later appear, the class is not unrepresented in that district. The Reports and Transactions of the Reading Literary and Scienti- fic Society are scarcely more fruitful in regard to this department of know- ledge. They do, however, allow it recognition. In the Report and Proceedings for 1893, pp. 14, 15, an abstract is given of a lecture by Miss K. Green on ' Wonders of Pond Life,' and therein mention is made of * Cyclops, Cypris, Daphnia (Crustacea)' These are very properly introduced as examples of arthropods to be found in ponds, but there is nothing to show whether actual specimens of any species had been observed within the county. In the Report and Proceedings for 1894, p. 23, the abstract of a lecture by Miss E. C. Pollard on ' Some Animal Parasites ' offers ' a comparison of a lobster with its parasitic relation, the extremely degenerate sacculina.' That these are not indigenous to the inland waters of England needs no saying, but to prevent confusion the remark may be volunteered that species of the degenerate cirripede genus Sacculina have not been found infesting the ordinary lobster of our seas. The antithesis therefore might well have been more strongly pointed by contrasting the parasite with the common shore crab, an animal higher in the scale of organization than the lobster, though less able to protect itself from the attacks of this especial intruder. That Berkshire has very many species of aquatic crustaceans and at least a few that are terrestrial may be safely inferred from the circum- stance that it offers these groups the same conditions of existence as they enjoy in the neighbouring counties. Nor are there any intervening obstacles of an insuperable character. Reliance on this line of argument is encouraged by some definite notices. Few and scanty as these are, they prove that both Malacostraca and Entomostraca are here represented. The former division embraces the Decapoda or ten-footed species, such as crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimps, which often in popular ideas are supposed to monopolize the whole crustacean class. According to this view our inland counties would have to content themselves with a solitary species. This in fact is the one to which our attention should first be directed, and as to this one it is fair to admit that both early and late in the nineteenth century clear intimations exist of its occurrence in this 123 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE county. To credit the earlier of these to carcinology might not be quite so fair. It sprang rather from an unnatural union in the circle of the sciences, being got as a breeder might say by ichthyology out of etymology. The story works out in this way. In the first place we find the Messrs. Lysons stating in their well known work upon Great Britain that ' the principal rivers of Berkshire are the Thames, the Kennet, the Loddon, the Ock, the Lambourn, and the Auborn.' 1 Secondly, they declare that ' the fish of the Ock are pike, perch, gudgeon, roach, dace, and crayfish.' 2 Thirdly, through other sources we know that from the old German krebiz, which answers to the new German krebs, came either independently or through the French ecrevisse our old English crevisse. All in good time with our well known linguistic skill we modified this into crayfish, and finally by this trick of language writers, more bent on the pleasures of angling than on the technicalities of systematic zoology, have been led to include a long- tailed decapodous arthropod among vertebrate fishes. A more recent authority, better acquainted with the proper classification of the cray- fish, also guarantees its presence within these borders. But his warrant too may be regarded as to some extent accidental, since it depends on his mentioning the Kennet as one out of the many rivers of England in which this species is found. Speaking of the sides of rivers in general, Dr. Hamilton says : — Of the Crustacea two will occasionally come under notice : — 1. The crayfish (Astacus fluviatilis) or the river lobster (Aitakos being the name by which the Greeks called the lobster) is found in many of our rivers. Then after noticing its colour and the miscellaneous character of its food he continues : — Owing to some unknown cause, the crayfish has entirely died out from the upper part of the river Kennet, and consequently the trout have lost a most important food-supply ; and it is possible that the redness of the flesh for which the trout in this river were noted, and which is not now so universal, was due in a great measure to this crustacean, to the young of which trout are extremely partial. May not the cause arise from the absence in the water of ingredients which were necessary for the formation of the shell ? 2. The freshwater shrimp (Gammarus pulex) is extremely common in all springs and rivers, particularly where decaying vegetable matter has accumulated. It generally keeps near the bottom and swims on its side with a kind of jerking motion, and feeds on dead fishes or any other decaying matter. In some parts of the Kennet this crustacean is to be found in great numbers.8 The second species of this reference will be discussed hereafter. The first is more properly called Potamobius pallipes (Lereboullet). Not every reader can be expected to care about the technical names of all the animals which perhaps he captures with zeal, eats with satisfaction, 1 Magna Britannia : being a precise Topographical Account of the several Counties of Great Britain, by the Rev. Daniel Lysons, A.M., F.R.S., F.A. and L.S., and Samuel Lysons, Esq., F.R.S. and F.A.S. Volume the First, containing Bedfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire (1805), p. 193. Auborn is elsewhere spelt Aubourn. * Loc. cit. p. 196. 3 The River-side Naturalist: Notes on the various forms of Life met with either in, on, or by the Water, ot in its immediate vicinity, by Edward Hamilton, M.D., F.L.S., F.Z.S. (1890), pp. 296, 297. I24 CRUSTACEANS or observes with interest and pleasure. Some even in the scientific world think that such names are of no importance. Some discuss them with an almost passionate eagerness. In truth one name may do as well as another so long as the meaning is really known. But there a diffi- culty comes in. Just as the Syrian captain thought that the rivers of his own Damascus must be of more virtue than all the waters of Palestine, we are apt to think that expressions like ' river crayfish,' drawn from the ' well of English undefiled,' must be superior to any terminology of uncouth and sometimes barbarous Latin. Unfortunately the term 'river crayfish ' is indifferently applicable to any one of several scores of species distributed over Europe, Asia, America and Australia. Out of the whole number only one species of one genus is known to occur in England, and that one is not Astacus fluviatilis. The generic name Astacus, formerly applied with great vagueness to many very distinct creatures, is now properly confined to lobsters which live in the sea. In Potamobius, a word meaning ' life in a river,' our freshwater crayfishes enjoy an ap- propriate designation. It is the only genus of them found in Europe, and its three or four European species are all closely connected. Between two of these Huxley institutes a very interesting comparison, to illustrate the difficulty of deciding whether differing forms should in certain cases be regarded as distinct species or as mere varieties. He says : — If large series of specimens of both stone crayfishes and noble crayfishes from different localities are carefully examined, they will be found to present great variations in size and colour, in the tuberculation of the carapace and limbs, and in the absolute and relative sizes of the forceps. The most constant characters of the stone crayfish are : — 1. The tapering form of the rostrum and the approximation of the lateral spines to its point ; the distance between these spines being about equal to their distance from the apex of the rostrum (fig. 61, A). 2. The development of one or two spines from the ventral margin of the rostrum. 3. The gradual subsidence of the posterior part of the post-orbital ridge, and the absence of spines on its surface. 4. The large relative size of the posterior division of the telson (G). On the contrary, in the noble crayfish : — 1. The sides of the posterior two-thirds of the rostrum are nearly parallel, and the lateral spines are fully a third of the length of the rostrum from its point ; the distance between them being much less than their distance from the apex of the rostrum (B). 2. No spine is developed from the ventral margin of the rostrum. 3. The posterior part of the post-orbital ridge is a more or less distinct, some- times spinous elevation. 4. The posterior division of the telson is smaller relatively to the anterior division (A). I may add that I have found three rudimentary pleurobranchiae in the noble cray- fish, and never more than two in the stone crayfish.1 With these contrasted details a student would find it a useful exer- cise to determine for himself whether our English species is the stone crayfish or the noble crayfish. Most of the technical terms are not difficult to understand. The rostrum is the median projection from the 1 Huxley, The Crayfish, ed. 3 (1881), pp. 294, 295, fig. 61, A, G, B, H, on p. 233. 125 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE front of the carapace. The carapace is the great cephalothoracic shield which covers the bases of the eye-stalks, antennae, mouth-organs and legs. The orbits are excavated on either side of the rostrum. The transversely sutured telson is at the opposite extremity to the rostrum, being the last of the twenty-one segments which may be assumed as constituents of the head, thorax and abdomen (or cephalon, perason and pleon) of a stalk-eyed malacostracan. The gills or branchiae are limited to the head and thorax, and are concealed under the carapace. They are called podobranchias when attached to the basal joint of an appendage, arthrobranchiae when attached to the membrane connecting this joint with the supporting segment, and pleurobranchia? when attached to the side of the segment itself. In Potamobius there are six pairs of the first sort, eleven of the second, and of the third one pair well developed and either two or three pairs that are rudimentary. The reckoning of twenty-one segments is spoken of as an assumption, because out of the first fourteen, which belong to the cephalothoracic division, all but the last are here so firmly soldered together that their original individuality, though not a matter of any reasonable doubt, is a matter of inference. In regard to the distinctive characters above arrayed, a beginner will very likely not find it especially easy to determine whether his specimen has three pairs of rudimentary pleurobranchias or only two, but the other differences are not difficult to observe. In the case of fresh specimens assistance may be derived from the colouring of the limbs, these being so much redder in one form than in the other that the noble crayfish has been distinguished as the ' red-clawed ' from the ' white-clawed ' stone crayfish. The value of this distinction is much enhanced by the evidence adduced that, notwithstanding the provision of ample oppor- tunity, the two forms do not interbreed.1 That our English species is the stone crayfish seems to be placed beyond doubt, but in distinguishing that species as Astacus torrentium from the other and larger form which he calls A. nobilis, Huxley has chanced to be unlucky in all his names. From the more extended researches of Dr. Walter Faxon it appears that the German name Steinkrebs, with its Latin equivalent A. saxatilis, has covered two varieties or very nearly related species. Out of much confusion the scientific names torrentium (Schrank, 1803) and pallipes (Lereboullet, 1858) emerge as the earliest available names for the forms in question, pallipes belonging to the one found in England. On the other hand, the ancient name Jluviatilis, though under accepted rules its date is restricted to its use by Fabricius in 1775, has still a long precedence over nobilis (Schrank, iSoj).2 For all three forms, as already stated, the correct -generic name is Potamobius. As in other inland counties, the remaining crustaceans are all of small size and of no commercial importance, though undoubtedly valuable as consumers of waste products and as a food supply to animals higher in general esteem. Conspicuous among the minor species is the 1 Huxley, The Crayfish, ed. 3 (1881) p. 297. » Faxon, Proceedings of the American Academy of Am and Sciences (1884), xx. 153-6. 126 CRUSTACEANS Gammarus pulex (Linn.), to which Dr. Hamilton calls attention in a passage already quoted. Less economically useful but scientifically of more interest are the * well-shrimps.' These may be regarded as the one redeeming feature in the niggardly annals of Berkshire carcinology, for though the earliest discovery of them was made in another part of England, it was through Berkshire specimens that they were first recog- nized as a determinate part of our English fauna. Bate and Westwood, in their History of the British Sessile-eyed Crustacea^ when discussing the genus Niphargus^ Schiodte, write as follows : — Between the years 1835 and 1842, Koch, in the continuation of Panzer's great work on the Insects of Germany, published descriptions and figures of two species which he procured from the draw-wells of Ratisbonne and ZweibrUcken, under the single name of Gammarus puteanus. In 1851 Schiodte obtained other specimens from the caves of Carniola ; and to him is due the credit of establishing this interesting genus among the Amphipod Crustacea. In the year 1852 Prof. Westwood was so fortunate as to obtain from a pump with a substratum of clay, near Maidenhead, a quantity of these animals.1 The specimens forwarded to Prof. Westwood from Maidenhead proved to belong to the species Niphargus agui/ex, Schiodte, and this, which is possibly but by no means certainly identical with Gammarus subterraneus, Leach, 1813, was soon afterwards found to occur in the wells of several counties.8 That all the Malacostraca are tied and bound together in singularly close relationship is not readily apparent to those ' that choose by show, not learning more than the fond eye doth teach.' The eye must be not ' fond ' in the old sense of simple and foolish, but well informed, before it can perceive the resemblances that connect the groups together, or even duly appreciate the features that keep them distinct. The Amphipoda to which Gammarus and Niphargus alike belong have as a rule all the same parts and appendages as the shrimp of commerce, with one excep- tion. The eatable shrimp, like the crayfish and the crab, has pedunculate eyes. According to the length of the stalk, the depth of the orbit, and other arrangements, movable organs of vision are capable of playing a great part in the activities and appearance of species which possess them. But this does not affect the Amphipoda, all of which have the eyes sessile. They cannot, like a poet in a fine frenzy, roll them to and fro, nor like a decapod abruptly lift or lower them. These unjointed eyes cannot take rank in the series of appendages, and accordingly they cannot be supposed to imply a supporting body-segment. In the head and thorax of an amphipod therefore there is no proof of more than thirteen segments, and the last seven of these are not covered by a carapace or immovably consolidated. By the intervention of a flexible membrane they are after a fashion articulated one to the other, with the same freedom of movement as that which pertains to the segments of the abdomen both here and in the lobsters and true shrimps. Of the limbs corresponding to the seven segments of the thorax or perason, the first two 1 Brit. Sess. Crust, pt. 7 (1862), i. 312. * Loc. cit. p. 317. 127 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE pairs are generally subchelate, that is to say they terminate in a sort of incomplete though sufficiently effective pincers. These appendages are equivalents of the last two pairs of mouth-organs in the crayfish and other decapods, while the remaining five pairs of legs tally with the ten feet from which the decapods derive their designation. Another important characteristic of the Amphipoda is found in the branchiae, which, instead of being greatly subdivided and concealed in branchial chambers on either side of the carapace, are commonly of simple structure and unenclosed. They are attached to the bases of some or all of the last six pairs of the thoracic limbs. Between the two species that have been already mentioned, Gammarus pulex and Niphargus aquilex^ the dis- tinction is fairly easy. The former is of a yellowish or greenish brown colour, with dark eyes, and the two branches of the terminal appendages only a little unequal in length ; the latter is white and pellucid, with the eyes imperceptible, and the terminal appendages distinguished by the great length of the outer branch and the rudimentary condition of the inner. The late Mr. Spence Bate described three other species of English 'well-shrimps,' two of them being additions to the genus Niphargus. One of these is found near Maidenhead. Specimens of it were procured for me from that locality by one of my former pupils, Mr. H. F. Cowper-Smith. Between this species, N. kochianus, and the nearly allied N. aquilex some points of distinction are very apparent from the figures given in the well known volumes by Bate and Westwood. If attention be directed to the pleon, that is, the part of the animal behind the legs, it will be seen that the large second and third segments have the postero-lateral margins broadly rounded in N. aquilex but acute- angled in N. kocbianus. The two front pairs of limbs, known as gnathopods, are shown with ' hands ' longer than broad in the latter species, but as broad as they are long in the former. Also the adjustment of the ' hand ' to the ' wrist ' differs in the two forms.1 The figures referred to cannot perhaps be trusted for very minute accuracy, since the equality of size between the first and second gnathopods attributed to both species does not really belong to either. The first gnathopods certainly as a rule are in both species decidedly smaller than the second. Not improbably in the case of N. kocbianus, instead of the first and second, the second have been figured in duplicate. A more exact study of the species however has recently been made by Dr. Charles Chilton, M.D., D.Sc., and his paper in the Journal of the Linnean Society* on ' The Subterranean Amphipoda of the British Isles,' cannot be dispensed with by those who take an interest in this subject. He points out two additional distinctions which are important, although the student will scarcely be in a position to verify them without carefully dissecting his specimens. When the fourth pair of mouth-organs, known as the maxillipeds, are flattened out under the microscope, it will be perceived that the large spine-bordered plate of the third joint in N. kocbianus 1 Brit. Sess. Crust, pt. 7 (1862), i. 315, 323. * Vol. xxviii. (1900), 140-61, pis. 16-18. 128 CRUSTACEANS reaches to the far end of the fifth or antepenultimate joint, whereas in N. aquilex it reaches not nearly so far. In like manner, if the terminal segment of the body, the segment which has no appendages and is known as the telson, be detached and flattened out, it will be seen that the median slit runs much further up in N. kocbianus than in N. aquilex. It is perhaps worth suggesting that dissections should not be practised upon rare specimens until some skill has been acquired by dealing with examples that are common and plentiful, such as those of Gammarus pulex. It is rather singular that Dr. Hamilton should have mentioned the universally prevalent freshwater amphipod, without making any allusion to its almost equally common and very frequent companion, our fresh- water isopod, Asellus aquaticus (Linn.). The genuine Isopoda are sessile-eyed like the Amphipoda, with which they further agree in having the seven segments of the thorax or middle body articulated and not covered by a carapace. But they differ from the amphipods and from almost all the other Malacostraca in one highly important particular. They have the appendages of the abdomen or pleon modified for branchial purposes, in this respect agreeing only with the small group of the Stomatopoda or Squillidas. But whereas the latter have the abdomen enormously developed, this portion in the Isopoda is comparatively reduced, often with the seven segments all consolidated, and uniformly with the sixth and seventh segments united into one piece so that there is no separate telson. The presence of A. aquaticus in the streams of Berkshire may be taken for granted. The presence of all our commonest English woodlice in its roads and gardens, woods and hedge- rows, may with equal confidence be presumed. There cannot be any reasonable doubt that the county harbours Philoscia muscorum (Scopoli) ; Trichoniscus pusillus, Brandt ; Oniscus asellus, Linn. ; Platyarthrus hoff- mannseggii, Brandt ; Porcellio sca&er, Latreille ; and Armadillidium -vulgare (Latreille). These form rather more than a fourth part of the whole number of species which England can at present claim among the terrestrial isopods, but even of these few the existing records only point the finger at Berkshire without definitely naming it. The six species mentioned, being generally distributed in neighbouring and surrounding counties, could have no motive for omitting this one from the pertinacity of their colonizing instincts. The little opaque-white Platyarthrus^ which lives in ants' nests, has been observed not many miles from the county boundary, and a seventh species, Metoponortbus pruinosus (Brandt), is re- corded as ' plentiful in the vicinity of Oxford,' 1 an expression capable of including both the shires whose borders are illumined by that learned city. Of Oniscus asellus and Porcellio scaber Miss Slocock has kindly sent me specimens collected in the wood at her father's residence, Goldwell, Newbury. Like the Malacostraca at large, the air-breathing isopods have two pairs of antennas, but the first pair are small and obscure in those terrestrial crustaceans commonly called woodlice, whereas the second 1 Brit, Sets. Crust, pt. 21 (1868), ii. 488. I 129 17 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE pair frequently offer very serviceable marks of distinction. These appendages consist generally of a five-jointed peduncle and a terminal part called the flagellum. Of the seven species above mentioned the first three have this flagellum at least triarticulate, but in the remaining four it is only biarticulate. In Trichoniscus pusillus the antennae are dis- tinguished by being more spiny and more strongly geniculate than those of other species. In Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii the antennas are broad and flattened, and the first joint of the flagellum is scarcely visible. Where the antenna? fail, other parts supply distinctive characters. Thus in Philoscia muscorum the pleon is more abruptly contracted than in Oniscus asellus. The smooth Metoponorthus pruinosus, as its generic name implies, has a straight forehead, whereas the roughly tuberculate Porcellio scaber has a very prominent rounded lobe on each side of its front. Armadillldium vu/gare is easily known from the others because on slight provocation it rolls itself up into a ball. Should other species be found in the county, as will doubtless be the case, more details will be required for even a rough discrimination of the extended series. Sometimes the eye may be beguiled into expecting a new species when exact examina- tion shows that there is nothing more than variety of colouring. This happens especially in the genera Armadillidium and Porcellio. The prevalent colour of P. scaber is a gloomy black, but there are brightly margined and marbled varieties, which the student must beware of con- fusing with the closely related species P. pictus. The Entomostraca of the county appear to have suffered a neglect which is almost absolute. Dr. Hamilton allows the riverside naturalist to remain serenely unconscious of their existence. Miss Pollard, in lecturing at Reading on ' Animal Parasites,' takes her illustrations from marine species in preference to relying on the remarkable Copepoda which infest our freshwater fishes, or on Argulus fo/iaceus, the widely distributed representative of the Branchiura, which assails carp and sticklebacks, salmon and tadpoles. Miss Green tantalizes expectation by mentioning Cyclops, a genus of the Copepoda, the ostracode genus Cypris, and Daphnia, which may be regarded as the best known genus of all the Cladocera. But, so far as the reports of these lectures inform us, no single species is identified as living in river or rivulet, pond or pool, within the borders of Berkshire. The only actual record that can be relied on is a new one, kindly supplied me by Mr. D. J. Scourfield, editor of the Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club. He informs me that he took Simocephalus vetulus at Maidenhead on May 20, 1899, and adds, ' I only happened to record this because I found some specimens of the rare males.' In the family Daphniidas, Simocephalus was separated by Schcedler in 1858 from O. F. Muller's genus Dapbnia, a leading distinc- tion between them being that in the elder genus the head is carinate above, while in the newer one, as implied by the generic name signifying ' blunt-head,' it is convex and not carinate. Some divergence of opinion has arisen as to the true name of the species with which we are here concerned. Miiller named a form Daphne vefu/a in 1776. Then in 130 CRUSTACEANS 1785 he described and figured apparently the same form as Daphnia sima. Other closely allied species have since been discovered. Now therefore it is uncertain which of them all was the one originally observed by Miiller. Since Schoedler has incorporated the word sima into the name of the genus, it has been by pretty general consent thought best to follow him in accepting the name vefu/us for the species to which he has given a fairly satisfactory definition under that title. The study of these little ' water-fleas ' is to some extent complicated not only by the difference in shape between male and female, but by the fact that the ' vernal ' female is not quite like the * autumnal ' or ' ephippial ' female. This difference is connected with the phenomena of reproduction. In the earlier stage the female bears numerous eggs which are independent of fertilization, and from which the young ones leave their mother ready for lively existence in their aquatic birthplace. At the later season the mother produces a single egg, which requires to be fertilized, and which is enclosed in a portion of her carapace known as the ephippium. In due course this envelope with the egg inside it is cast off. One could imagine the package labelled in bold handwriting, ' Not to be opened until the recurrence of a season and circumstances favourable to Daphnid life.' At any rate, we find in practice that when the basin of a dried-up pond is again filled with water, the ' resting ' eggs of Daphnia or Simocephalus or any kindred genus are speedily responsive to the voice of nature. They abstain from developing while the surroundings would be fatal, but with the least possible delay emerge into a friendly environ- ment. Lilljeborg, in his great work on the Cladocera of Sweden, says that S. vetulus is one of the most frequent Swedish Cladocera, occurring not only in pools but in marshes and at the sides of greater waters such as rivers and lakes, though always among plants. He notes that the male is found sometimes as early as in July, but most often in September and October. As might be expected, it is during the same months that the ephippial females are usually met with.1 That Mr. Scourfield at Maidenhead met with the males in May is worth noting as a sign that the seasonal habits of this widely distributed species will not necessarily be the same in all parts of its range. A prophetic eye may discern that the carcinology of Berkshire, which is for the moment in its resting stage, will in the future find a favourable epoch for a full and vivacious development. 1 Cladocera Suecitt (1901), p. 173. 13* FISHES From the Bells of Ouseley to Lower Inglesham, the Thames, if we omit one small portion, borders the county of Berkshire, a distance of over a hundred miles. Into it flow many tributaries, and thus, so far as river fish are concerned, the county is abundantly supplied. The anadromous fish, namely those which ascend the river from the sea for spawning purposes, are not present owing, it is believed, to the obstructions caused by the weirs and locks, and to the pollution of the estuary. But of the catadromous fish, the eel descends from the river to spawn in the sea, the resulting young returning to the river recently vacated and never revisited by their parents, pollutions and obstructions notwithstanding. An elver can climb over nearly anything which is moist, and makes nothing of a waterfall which would be fatal to the ascent of salmon and sea trout. In the early years of the century Berkshire possessed in the Thames a salmon river. In the second edition of Salter's Angler 's Guide, published in 1 8 1 5, is the remark that the salmon is a fish which is seldom taken by the angler in south Britain, although ' some are found in the Thames,' which the writer believed were justly considered to be superior to any bred in other rivers. He speaks of them being caught in the Thames and Medway with such baits as a raw mussle or cockle taken clear from the shell, and adds that in 1789, which would of course be within his recollection, a salmon was taken from the river Thames that weighed 70 Ib. and was sold ' at Mr. Howell's, the fishmonger opposite America Square in the Minories, at one shilling per pound.' There is no doubt that salmon were getting scarce in Salter's day. In May, 1901, the Thames Salmon Association, of which Mr. W. H. Grenfell, M.P., is the president, turned into the Thames at Tedding- ton 600 salmon smolts. Since that date smolts have been turned in to the number of about 1,500 to 2,000 a year. Some years ago a large number of salmon fry were turned in by Buckland and others, but these small delicate fish were not of a size to insure or even render success probable. The Thames Salmon Association intends to continue turning in fish for five or six years, and if they find that any return from the sea, salmon stocking will in all probability be carried out on an adequate scale. It is just possible therefore that before long we may find Berkshire possessing a salmon river of its own. The writer has seen an old manuscript book kept by Mr. Alnutt, who lived towards the close of the eighteenth century, and was a former clerk of the old Thames Commissioners, in which were instructions how to fish for ' skeggers,' namely with light float tackle baited with a gentle. ' Skegger' was a 132 FISHES Thames name for the samlets, which must have been at that time fairly plentiful. Owing to the increase of population, dredging, drainage, the use of chemical manures, and obstructions on tributaries which the salmon would otherwise ascend for spawning purposes, it does not appear probable that salmon if reintroduced will breed naturally to any extent, but the river might be kept stocked by artificial means if funds were available. In that case samlets would have to be turned in by the million, judging by similar work which has been carried on in the United States of America. It is an interesting fact that in October 1901 an ill-conditioned salmon or grilse was caught at Leigh-on-Sea. Whether this was the result of one of the smolts bred by Mr. Gilbey at Denham for the Thames Salmon Association, or was simply one of those stray salmon which from time to time are caught in the estuary of the Thames is a point which cannot possibly be decided. Sea trout are frequently being caught at Leigh and in other parts of the Thames estuary, and now and again salmon are captured. It would appear therefore that salmon are desirous of coming up the Thames, but do not find the condition of the water in the estuary to their liking. Among the new arrivals in Berkshire must be mentioned the rain- bow trout, Salmo irideus^ a most beautiful species of the salmon family which has been imported from America by way of Germany. It is difficult to speak too highly of this fish, but it has yet to be seen if it will remain in the Thames, for it certainly appears to have, if not migratory instincts, habits of wandering which carries it far afield and often to the sea. It has been known to grow to as much as 13 Ib. in weight in the course of four years, but this was in an estuary and is therefore not very remarkable having regard to the growth rate in the sea of such fish as salmon and cod. Another fish which is a newcomer so far as several waters in Berkshire are concerned is the grayling. This fish, though an old county inhabitant, is now found in the Lambourn, a tributary of the Kennet, in the Pang, and in certain portions of the Kennet where within living memory it was not known. A curious fact about this fish is that it does not seem disposed to thrive in the Thames, and though a good many hundreds have been netted out of the Kennet at Hungerford and placed in the main river, there is at present no reason to believe they are breeding there. A few fall back from the Pang into the Thames at Pangbourne and are caught by roach fishers ; but even there, with such a capital source of supply, grayling do not appear to become more numerous than they were ten or fifteen years ago. The fish of the county is undoubtedly the Thames trout. It may be said without exaggeration that the Thames grows grander trout than any river of the British Islands. The lakes of both England, Scotland and Ireland can show finer specimens, but not the rivers. The trout of the Kennet are also noted for their excellence, and below Hungerford they more closely resemble Thames trout than above that ancient town, owing to the presence of coarse fish on which they largely feed. Above 133 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE the town, where coarse fish are persistently netted out for many miles, though not entirely exterminated, the trout run smaller, are much more numerous and rise rreely to the artificial fly. Trout are also found in the upper portions of the Loddon, the Pang, the Cole, the Embourn and in the Lambourn, a choice little trout stream which rises near the racing town of that name and flows into the Kennet below Newbury. Of the so-called coarse fish there is little to be said, except that the Thames still pro- duces them in fairly large numbers, though there has been a very marked decrease during the past fifteen years. In the Kennet, if we except jack or pike and trout, the fish, owing doubtless to superior feeding, are more portly in build and grow to a better average size than in the main river. TELEOSTEANS ACANTHOPTERYGII 1. Perch. Perca fluviatilhy Linn. This is a common form in the Thames, the lower Loddon, and in most of the ponds or lakes, artificial or otherwise, in the county. It used to be far more numerous in the Thames than it is at present, and its decrease is owing to the large number of swans, which, when the perch deposit their eggs among the waterweeds or on the roots of trees, feed on them, destroying millions. Tame ducks, which are allowed to go down to the river in the spring, are almost equally destructive. The perch of the Thames and tributaries are ex- cellent fish as food when in their best season. They do not appear to grow to such a large size as was the case a quarter of a century ago, when fish of 3 Ib. were frequently recorded. Now it is not a common occurrence to catch one of more than 2 Ib. in weight. The Ken- net in particular used to be noted for very large perch. One reason doubtless for the decrease in size of these fish is the fact that much sewage which formerly went into the river is otherwise dealt with. 2. Ruffe (Pope). Acerina cernua, Linn. A somewhat common fish in the upper Thames and the lower portions of its tribu- taries. 3. Miller's Thumb (Bullhead). Cottus gobioy Linn. Are found under stones in the brooks throughout the county and in all parts of the Thames and tributary streams. HEMIBRANCHII 4. Three-spined Stickleback. Gastrosteus aculeatusy Linn. This fish is very widely distributed in the more stagnant portions of the streams and brooks of the county. It is destructive to the fry of other fish. HAPLOMI 5. Pike (Jack). Esox Indus, Linn. There are several private sheets of water in the county containing quantities of these fish which grow to a large size, while the Thames every year yields specimens running up to, and sometimes over, 20 Ib. Since a destruc- tive method of angling known as ' trailing ' has been abolished from the Thames, pike, which were decreasing, appear to have be- come more numerous, but they now run somewhat small in size. The portion of the Thames bordering this county probably con- tains a larger number of fair sized pike than any part of the river. OSTARIOPHYSI 6. Carp. Cyprinus carpio, Linn. These fish are occasionally caught in the Thames, which they probably reach in times of flood from private ponds and lakes. They have occasionally been found fairly numerous in the neighbourhood of Shellingford. Carp are too scarce in the river to be regularly fished for ; their capture is invariably acci- dental when anglers are seeking tench, chub or roach. In private lakes, such as those in Highclere Park, numbers of large carp are to be found. 7. Gudgeon. Gobio fluviatilis, Flem. These delicate little fish are found in large quantities in the Thames, Kennet and Loddon, and in not a few of the tributary brooks. It used to be quite a common thing for anglers in the upper Thames to catch as many as twenty-two dozen in the day, but half that bag is now considered satisfactory, and there is no doubt that there are not half as many of 134 FISHES these fish as there used to be. It appears that the steam traffic, which causes a wave as the vessels pass along, disturbs the eggs or these fish and in this way injures the fishery. 8. Roach. Leuciscus ruti/us, Linn. Are a very common fish in the Thames, though they do not grow to so great an aver- age weight as in the Kennet. The roach is, as a matter of fact, the piece de resistance of the London mechanic angler who spends his holi- days on the banks of the river. The fish are also found in most of the ponds and private lakes scattered throughout the county. The capture of a roach of over 2 Ib. in the Thames is of rare occurrence. 9. Rudd. Leuciscus erythrophthalmus, Linn. Is by no means a common fish in the county. It used to be fairly plentiful in the Thames, but being easily caught has become almost if not quite exterminated. A case of these fish which were caught in the river may be seen at the George and Dragon at Wargrave. 10. Dace. Leuciscus dobula, Linn. (L. vul- garist Day). Is a somewhat scarce fish in the portion of the Thames bordering this county, but it is plentiful in the Kennet, where it grows to a remarkable size. Now however that the sewage of Newbury and other towns is diverted from the river, it is doubtful whether the coarse fish of the Kennet will maintain their fine proportions. 11. Chub. Leuciscus cepka/us, Linn. Are found only in rivers and are fairly common in the Thames, Kennet and Loddon, but not in the upper reaches of the two tributaries. In the Thames these fish have largely decreased of late years. There is pro- bably not one now where twenty years ago were five or six. They rarely attain a weight exceeding 5 Ib. 12. Minnow. Leuciscus phoxinus, Linn. This fish is exceedingly plentiful in nearly all the running waters of the county, but its extraordinary decrease in the Thames of late years is one of the mysteries of fishery pre- servation. Immense shoals used to cover the shallows below the weir pools. For instance, at Pangbourne it was possible to take with a little hand net a pint of these fish at a time and use them as white bait ; now they are literally decimated, and the only possible ex- planation seems to be the injury done to their eggs by the wash of the steam traffic. The minnows of the Kennet are much finer than those of the Thames. 13- Tench. Tinea vulgaris, Cuv. Berkshire produces in the Thames, Kennet and Loddon some of the finest tench, both for size and excellence for table purposes. The fish are also present in many of the ponds in the county, but these are not so good for the table. It is a common thing for the angler to catch them weighing from 2 to 3-^ Ib., and some extraordinary takes have been made in the Loddon from time to time. The tench however is not easily captured, and it is only those who understand tench fishing thoroughly who as a rule succeed. The result is that few are captured from the rivers mentioned, though we believe they should be regarded as fairly common fish. 14. Bream. Abramis brama. Linn. Bream are occasionally taken in the upper Thames, where they have been introduced from Norfolk by various fishery associations, but their numbers are hardly sufficient to enable them to hold their own and stock the river to an appreciable extent. They are quite as rare in the Berkshire portions of the river as are carp. 15. Bleak. Alburnus /ucidus, Heck, and Kner. Are extremely common in the Thames and the lower portions of its tributaries. Immense quantities of these fish used to be captured for the sake of utilizing the silvery matter in their scales for making artificial pearls. Other and cheaper methods have been discovered, and the practice is now dis- continued. The bleak is chiefly used as a bait for other fish. 1 6. Loach. Nemachilus barbatulusy Linn. These fish are somewhat widely distributed over the county in the running waters, but they can hardly be called common. Owing to their habit of feeding at night and hiding under stones in the daytime they are not often seen. MALACOPTERYGII 17. Trout (Brown Trout). Salmo fario, Linn. Berkshire is noted for its trout, for while it is not visited by the silvery Salmo trutta it grows in its fresh waters salmonoids of re- markable dimensions. Probably the finest recorded specimen is one which was caught at the mouth of the Kennet almost in the town of Reading. It weighed 17 Ib. and 135 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE was presented to Queen Victoria. A cast of it is to be seen in the Great Western Hotel at Reading. It is owing doubtless to a very plentiful fish diet, consisting largely of bleak, that the Thames trout attains such a large size. Every year fish of from 8 to 12 Ib. are caught, and now and again some such monster as that already mentioned. In the Kennet it is interesting to notice how, as we pass up stream, we find the coarse fish gradually decreasing in numbers, while the trout become the more numerous but fall off in size. It is a reasonable inference that to obtain large trout it is desirable to have coarse fish in the river. Unfortunately when these big trout once become cannibals they are not often taken with the fly, except perhaps in the May-fly season, and where the fly is abun- dant. They are therefore of no great value to the fly-fisher. Many strains of trout have been placed in the Thames : fish for instance which had the trout of Loch Leven for ancestors, the excellent trout from the Wick, and many from the Surrey trout farm and other fish culture establishments. This intermixture of strains has been regretted by some, as it was feared that the quality of the Thames trout might be lowered by the intro- duction of this fresh but inferior blood. As a matter of fact however, ichthyologists and fish culturists now know that the size and condition of the trout depend more largely on the abundance of its food, and the extent and temperature of the water in which it dwells, than on ancestry. There is no doubt that, thanks to the restocking operations of the various fishery associations, trout are generally increasing in the Berkshire reaches of the Thames. The fish are not likely to increase naturally to any extent owing to the scarcity of suitable breeding grounds. 1 8. Rainbow Trout. Salmo irideus. Gib- bons. This is a comparatively new introduction to the Thames, and is still on its trial. It has however proved a great success in several ponds and larger enclosed pieces of water. In such places however it cannot breed, and therefore the stock has to be renewed from time to time. 19. Grayling. Thymallus vu/garis, Nilss. The grayling, as already stated in our intro- ductory remarks, does not appear to breed in the Thames, and only an occasional example is found which has strayed into it from the Pang or Kennet, or has been turned in by one of the fishery associations. Of late years the fish has been introduced into the Pang and has thriven wonderfully in this little trout stream. In the Kennet it thrives and increases still better, and at Hungerford a great many of these fish have been netted out from time to time to reduce their numbers. Within the last ten years grayling have been found in the lower reaches of the Lambourn, where pre- sumably they have been turned in. The finest in the county are found in the Kennet. APODES 20. Eel. Anguilla vu/garis, Turt. This is a catadromous fish, i.e. one which descends the river to breed in the sea. The common eel is one of the most numerous of Berkshire fishes, and when we say common eel it should be understood that there is only one British freshwater eel known to ichthyolo- gists. The various specimens which slightly differ in colour or in the shape of the nose are all or the same species, the differences being owing to sex, age and so forth. Those with pointed noses, commonly called silver eels, are the males, those with broad flat noses are the females. Eels are found descending the river from spring to winter, but their descent is greatest during the autumn floods. They are not found in the Thames and its tribu- taries in the same numbers as in former years, owing possibly to the pollution of the estuary. If the modern belief that they breed at great depths in the sea is correct, it is not obvious how the pollution of the estuary would inter- fere with them, unless it destroys the elvers on their ascent in the spring. Numbers of eels are caught in the Thames, Kennet and the Loddon by means of traps and baskets, and few on eel lines. The eels of the Kennet are justly celebrated and have been for cen- turies, in fact the fish of this remarkable stream are very much superior to those of the Thames and Loddon so far as condition and edible qualities go. CYCLOSTOMES 21. Lampern. Petromyzon fluviatilis, Linn. Lamperns used to be very numerous in the river, but have now become scarce above Teddington. Of late years very few lamperns have been recorded in the Thames on the borders of Berkshire, but Day mentions the capture of several in an eel basket near Surley Hall. Enormous quantities used to be cap- tured in the Thames between Battersea and Taplow, over a million having been caught 136 FISHES in one year. They were of considerable value as bait for cod and turbot, and were bought for that purpose principally by the Dutch fishermen. A small quantity are still caught annually at Teddington, where a commercial fishery is carried on. Lamperns may certainly be considered rare in Berkshire. The writer saw about a dozen fish of this species collected in a small hole in the gravel in the Lambourn one spring. They were acting in the same manner as lamperns are said to act when breeding, but they were about the size of the next fish mentioned, namely the pride or mud lamprey. 22. Mud Lamprey (Pride, Blind Lamprey, Fringe-lipped Lamprey). Petromyzon brancbialiS) Linn. This little fish is found in the Thames and its tributaries, but cannot generally speaking be called common. In Plot's History of Ox- fordshire it is termed the ' Pride of the Isis.' 137 18 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS The county is not among the districts most favoured by Reptiles or Batrachians. It was ascertained by Captain Stanley Flower, now head of the Zoological Gardens at Cairo, that the scarce sand lizard is still to be found near Wellington College. But neither this, nor any of the heath-haunting reptiles are common in the county. There are singularly few lakes or still ponds in Berkshire, and the Thames, rather to its credit, is not a river prolific of frogs, newts, or toads. Snakes are scarce also, especially the viper. LACERTILIA 1. Common Lizard. Lacerta vivipara, Jacq. This species is abundant on the Berkshire heaths, and equally rare elsewhere. In all the heather and pine country near Wellington College and Wokingham, and on the heaths and commons near Highclere it is very com- mon. It is also found on Cobham Heath and Ascot Heath, and on some of the large com- mons near the Didcot and Newbury railway. On the downs it is equally scarce. I never saw one in the Vale of White Horse or on the Wantage downs, though a few are found near Frilford and Bessels Leigh, and it is common at Buckland. 2. Sand Lizard. Lacerta agilis, Linn. This beautiful and interesting lizard has been found on the heaths near Wellington College. 3. Slow-worm. Anguis fragilis, Linn. The slow-worm, which is among the favour- ite prey of the smooth snake (coronella), and also of the viper, is very common on all the heaths of Berkshire, and is not unfrequently found on rough parts of the chalk downs, as, for instance, in the juniper plantations and scrub above Moulsford, on the Farnham Downs near Moss Hill plantation, and also towards Lambourn woodlands. I have never seen it in the Vale of White Horse. It is very plentiful near Wellington College. OPHIDIA 4. Common or Ringed Snake. Iropidonotus natrix, Linn. Occurs over the whole county, and very common in many parts, especially in the Thames valley, in the Vale of White Horse by the old canal, and even on the sides of the downs, where I have frequently seen it found by setters when beating the second growth of sanfoin in September. Numbers live on the banks of the shallow cuttings through which the disused canal passes, by Shrivenham, Uffington, Challow and Wantage, where frogs, the principal food of the snakes, abound. They swim in the canal as deftly as eels. Some have their summer holes in the brick- work of the old swing bridges, and I have often seen them hunting for food, and on several occasions witnessed the capture of a frog. The screams of the frog when caught soon give warning of what is going on, for this sound is heard at no other time. Where these canal snakes hibernate is not known, for there are neither rubbish piles nor manure heaps near. They are also found in old chalk quar- ries, where there are neither frogs nor water. 5. Common Viper or Adder. Viper a berus, Linn. Adders are decidedly rare in the county except in the heath districts, where generally a few will be found. Wherever the slow- worm is common, adders occur, the former 138 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS being their favourite food, but the poisonous snake is nowhere abundant. In some fifteen years of shooting and birds-nesting in North Berkshire I have never seen an adder. More are probably found near Highclere and round Windsor Forest than in any other parts of the county. Above Lambourn, on the north side, are two wild stretches of upland called 'Crow Down' and 'Worm Hill,' where I have seen slow-worms, and even a crow carrying one, but I have never seen an adder, or heard of any person or animal being bitten by one. 6. Smooth Snake. Coronella ld a fine male shot in a wood near Sunninghill in 1866. In the Zoologist, 1876, p. 4829, Mr. A. H. Cocks mentions one caught near Wantage in June, 1853, which was kept alive for some time. Mr. Herbert mentions one in his collection killed near Newbury, 1 866 (Newbury District Field Club, 1870-1, p. 95) ; another was shot at Buckle- bury in 1880, which was seen in the flesh by Mr. H. M. Wallis ; and Lord Abingdon tells me (in lit.) one was trapped at Wytham Abbey last year, 1901. 103. Rough-legged Buzzard. Buteo lagopus (Gmelin). A rare winter visitor. C. E. Stubbs saw one that had been killed at Culham Court many years ago ; another was shot at Ham Spray on December 7, 1876, now in the possession of Mr. Couling of that village. Mr. Wallis tells me that on October 25, 1895, at 9 a.m., a very white undersided bird passed over Reading low down going east, and I have seen one a very short distance over our boundary in Bucks. [Golden Eagle. Aquila cbrysaftus (Linn.). Dr. Bowdler Sharpe was told by Mr. Briggs of a golden eagle trapped at Billingbear ; it was seen previously by that keen observer (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 155). Another is said to have been killed at Shottesbrook in 1794 ('Ornith. Bercheria') ; but a specimen, often cited as a ' golden ' eagle, from Littlecote near Hungerford, was really an immature white-tailed eagle in the tawny-brown plum- age which has led to so many erroneous identifi- cations. Nearly all the so-called 'golden' eagles taken in the south or centre of England have turned out to be simply young white- tails, and at this distance of time it is not possible to prove the identity of the specimens quoted.] 104. White-tailed Eagle. Haliaftus albicilla (Linn.). This migratory eagle has been obtained on several occasions. The first specimen of which we have record was shot on Wan- tage Downs in 1793 ('Ornith. Bercheria'). A fine specimen is preserved in the Eton Museum which was killed near Windsor on February 3, 1851, and presented by H.R.H. the Prince Consort on December 12, 1856. Another was shot in Windsor Park, and is mentioned by Buckland (Curi- osities of Nat. Hist. i. 99) ; a fourth, in immature plumage, was shot by one of the royal keepers in Windsor Great Park during the summer of 1865; and about the same time another was wounded in the park and kept alive by Mr. Cole at Sandpit Gate (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 155-8). In 1887 another was shot at Rapley Lake, Bagshot, by one of the keepers, and is or was in the collection of Mr. Hart of Christchurch, Hants (Long in lit. to Bucknill). [Goshawk. Astur palumbarius (Linn.). One was shot at Highclere by Mr. Maskell, a few years prior to 1886 (Palmer, ' Birds of Newbury and District"). Highclere is just over our boundary.] 105. Sparrow-Hawk. Accipiter nisus (Linn.). Fairly common and resident, breeding in the wooded districts, where it shows distinct par- tiality for larch trees. Although these birds hold the worst of records from a game-pre- server's point of view, yet they are not all bad. A pair nested and reared their young within 300 yards of our pheasant field, flying over it daily, and often taking young sparrows and other small birds, but never once did they touch a pheasant, consequently they were not destroyed. 153 20 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 1 06. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny. We can only write of this species as a bird of the past, so far as Berks is concerned, though no doubt it was once resident and bred regu- larly in our woodlands. Even during the first quarter of the last century it was fast becoming rare, as Dr. Lamb says : ' Between thirty and forty years ago (that is, between 1774-84) very frequent about Reading, now (about 1814) very rare ' (' Ornith. Bercheria '). Mr. Hewett, in his book on the ' Hundred of Compton,' says the kite was ' often seen on the Ilsley Down.' One was shot about 1855 at Abingdon and passed into the collection of the Rev. Murray A. Matthew, who was told by the old bird- stuffer, Osman of Oxford, that when he was a young man the kite was quite common in Berks. The late Rev. H. A. Macpherson informed me (in lit.) that about 1875 the head keeper at Radley shot a fine example, which he sold to a member of Brasenose College for half a sovereign. 107. Honey-Buzzard. Pernis apivorus (Linn.). A summer visitor, and now rare, though probably it once bred in our beech woods, as it certainly did just over the boundary at Bix in Oxon (Zeal. 1844). A female was killed near Reading in June, 1 793, and another in Windsor Forest, 1860. Clark Kennedy (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 165) mentions one in Montagu's collection, since placed in the British Museum ; but I have failed to find it there. [Iceland Falcon. Falco islandus, Gmelin. One was reported in the Reading Mercury, but it proved to be an escaped bird.] 108. Peregrine Falcon. Falcoperegrinus,T\in- stall. This is a not uncommon visitor, generally in spring or autumn, and hardly a year passes that one or more are not noticed. A few well-identified examples are as follows : April, 1866, a male killed near Hungerford ; another near Newbury, January 24, 1867 — a young bird ; one killed at Wyfield farm, December 14, 1867, and another seen October 28, 1870 (Herbert, Newbury Field Club, 1870-1, p. 95); a mature male shot at Park Place, 1875, and in my possession ; one shot at Burghclere in 1880 (Palmer, < Birds of Newbury and Dis- trict'); another killed at Pangbourne in 1882 passed through the hands of Mr. Hambling, taxidermist, of Reading ; one killed at Bil- lingbear in the winter of 1889-90 (Phillips in lit.); an adult male from Bagley Wood in December, 1890 (Fauna and Flora of Radley and District, p. n) ; one on Decem- ber 21, 1896, at Compton Downs, and an- other on April 6, 1 897 (A. Topp in lit.). Mr. Cornish of Lockinge informs me in a letter that it is occasionally seen on the downs on migration, and that one was killed at Lockinge a few years back. Mr. Newton of Crowmarsh informs me it is fairly common near Wallingford, and he has often seen it in autumn and winter. An adult female was shot on November 2, 1901, at Aston Upthorpe (Bradshaw in lit.), and another bird seen at the same time. 109. Hobby. Falco sutbuteo, Linn. Locally, Rip-hook. This very long-winged and perfectly harm- less falcon is a summer migrant, and in such numbers that I feel sure it only requires pro- tection to become almost numerous. This unfortunately it does not obtain, and year after year hobbies are destroyed, either through ig- norance of their harmless nature or in mistake for sparrow-hawks. I well remember the late J. Gould discovering a bird of the year nailed to the ' keeper's tree ' at Park Place in the ' seventies ' ; he also mentioned a nest taken at Billingbear. There is strong evidence that it has bred near Reading, and a pair shot at Aldermaston, July 23, 1897, are in the posses- sion of Mr. Keyser. Mr. Wallis tells me he has seen it at Finchampstead and also near Wokingham. A pair were shot near Cumnor and their nest taken (Zaol. 1883, p. 32). Mr. Dewe writes to inform me that one was trapped nearFaringdon in May, 1901, and another seen. A pair nested at Pusey in 1901 ; both birds were shot and preserved by Mr. Darby of Oxford, together with one of the young. Mr. Proger kindly tells me of another nest this year (1902) which was successfully protected and the eggs hatched off, but it is not advisable to mention the exact locality. Mr. Topp, taxi- dermist, of Reading, informs me that one was killed at Goring Heath, September 21, 1901. Mr. Newton says he sees them most years near Wallingford. Dr. Palmer mentions that the eggs were taken by Mr. E. Plenty at Burgh- clere in 1883 ('Birds of Newbury and Dis- trict '). The fact that a local name is given to this bird proves that it is well known to the natives. Mr. H. M. Wallis informs me that it is a contraction of the word ' reap ' hook, and the origin of it (as given him by the user) is that the peculiar curve of the reap- hook blade is like the curve of the hobby's wings in flight. no. Merlin. Falco tssalon, Tunstall. This smallest of European falcons is a some- what scarce visitor. One was killed in Wind- sor Great Park in March, 1867 (Birds of Berks 154 BIRDS and Bucks, p. 103), and several others are mentioned by the same author. Dr. Lamb mentions one shot near Reading, January 25, 1 794 (' Ornith. Bercheria ') ; another was seen near Radley in September, 1895. A male was killed at Thatcham, February 25, 1871, and others have been seen (Newbury District Field Club, p. 95) ; another was shot at Pangbourne in 1884, and one on Compton Downs, April 6, 1897 (G. A. Topp in lit.}. Two have been shot at Haines Hill within the last few years — about 1886 and on November 17, 1900. One killed itself by flying against the rectory windows at Wokingham, and Mr. Phillips, who gives me this information, has its skin. III. Kestrel. Falco tinnunculus, Linn. Resident and fairly common, in spite of the unnecessary persecution to which it is sub- jected. I have often found its eggs laid in holes in hollow trees as well as in chalk cliffs near the river, and once in an old squirrel's nest. H2. Osprey. Pandion halia'e'tus (Linn.). An occasional visitor on migration. One was shot on the Thames at Pangbourne, and one at Donnington in 1 8 1 o (' Ornith. Bercheria ') ; another taken in Windsor Great Park in 1864; one killed at Cookham 1864 (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 161). Mr. Newton tells me a neighbour has a specimen killed on the river some three miles from Wallingford ; and Mr. C. Barnett of Hambledon Mills mentions another killed on the river near Aston some years ago. 113. Cormorant. Phalacrocorax carbo (Linn.). A very rare wanderer. Dr. Lamb (' Ornith. Bercheria') mentions one killed at Fulsham near Newbury in November, 1803, and Mr. W. D. Mackenzie tells me of another shot by Mr. H. E. Rhodes at Hennerton on April 14, 1871. 114. Shag. Phalac rocorax graculus (Linn.). Dr. Lamb has recorded a shag killed near Pangbourne in September, 1794. A second example in immature plumage was taken on the Thames at Blackfriars Road, and is pre- served in the Oxford Museum. 115. Gannet. Sula bassana (Linn.). On October 14, 1838, two of these birds were seen near Wytham, and one, a male in immature plumage, was killed and passed into the collection of the Revs. A. and H.Matthews (Zool. 1849, p. 2624). Another was shot at Sandleford by Mr. McGregor in 1875 (Palmer, 'Birds of Newbury and District'). A third was taken in an exhausted state near Newbury in 1865 and passed into the possession of Mr. Herbert, and a very fine specimen was cap- tured near Reading on March 25, 1876, and another near Hungerford, April 14, 1876 (W. H. Herbert, Trans. Newbury Field Club, p. 250). 1 1 6. Common Heron. Ardea cinerea, Linn. Locally, Hern, Moll Hern. Common and resident. Mr. Walter Camp- bell tells me (in lit.) there is now only one heronry on the royal ground at Windsor ; it is at Virginia Water, and consists of about ten nests. Another heronry, consisting of some twenty nests, is to be seen at Wytham Abbey, the seat of the Earl of Abingdon, who in- forms me they are slightly on the increase. There is also one at Coley Park of about ten nests, and another at Buscot of some twenty nests. Just over our boundary at Fawley Court is a recent heronry of thirteen nests on the average. 117. Purple Heron. Ardea purpurea, Linn. An immature female was killed near White Waltham early in September, 1861 (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 185). ' Some twenty-five or thirty years ago an adult purple heron, handled whilst in the flesh by Mr. G. Arnatt, was shot on the Isis between Eynsham Bridge and Bablock Hithe. It was preserved, but afterwards was destroyed by moth ' (Birds of Oxon, p. 185). Another was shot at on the Thames in or about 1880, which fell dead on Clapper's eyot on the Oxon side (H. M. Wallis in lit.}. [Great White Heron. Ardea alba, Linn. One was killed on the Isis in September, 1833, of which we certainly have the right to a share, the river being our boundary (Yarrell, p. 179, ed. 4).] 1 1 8. Night-Heron. Nycticorax griseus (Linn.). Has been seen near Maidenhead, and was recorded in the Field by Sir H. Rae Reid ; but as several had been known to have escaped from confinement not far up the river, the bird referred to was probably one of these. 119. Little Bittern. Ardetta minuta (Linn.). Clark Kennedy (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 186-7) mentions several little bitterns said to have been taken in the county ; many of these records are unsubstantiated by locality or date, but the following can be traced : Wolley mentioned one shot on Queen's Eyot near Windsor in the summer of 1860. In the summer of 1826 a young specimen was shot on the banks of the Thames near Windsor, and it is believed to have been bred there from the situation being favourable and the 155 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE fact that a second bird in the same state of plumage was seen about the spot for some days at that time (Yarrel, iv. 202, ed. 4). In the Field of September 29, 1865, mention is made of a little bittern shot at Maidenhead in August of that year. On May 4, 1 869, a female was killed on the banks of a pond belonging to Mr. Holmes near Wargrave (Zool. July, 1867, p. 829). Another was obtained on the Thames one and a half miles from Wallingford in winter, and is in the collection of Mr. Newton. 1 2O. Bittern. Botaurus stellaris (Linn.). The bittern at no very distant date was probably resident in the marshes of Berks, and even now so often is it shot in the early spring that it seems likely it would breed if only pro- tection were afforded. The most recent cap- tures that have come under my notice are a male and female shot at Hennerton on January 2 and 9, 1892. In January, 1895, Mr. T. Dewe killed one at Duxford near Farringdon whilst shooting duck by moonlight, which is now in the museum at Oxford (in lit.). Another was obtained at Kintbury in November, 1883, under rather curious circumstances : it flew in the face of one of the beaters, who knocked it down with his stick (Zool. 1884, p. 469). In 1885 one was killed at Rapley Lake, Bag- shot (Long in lit. to Bucknill). 121. Glossy Ibis. Pbgadis falcirutltu (Linn.). Dr. Lamb writes ('Ornith. Bercheria') : ' A male of this very rare bird was shot a few miles from Reading in September, 1793, whilst flying over the Thames in company with another.' 122. Grey Lag Goose. Anser cinereusy Meyer. A rare winter visitor. Clark Kennedy states on the authority of Dr. Bowder Sharpe that this bird has been taken near Cookham, and seven were seen, one of which was killed, near Boveney Lock (Birds of Berks and Bucks, p. 1 99). Mr. Barnett has found a record of two of these geese killed near Remenham in February,! 854, by relations of his. 123. White-fronted Goose. Anser albifrons (Scopoli). A rare winter visitor ; one, a mature male, is recorded in the Zoologist for 1884 (p. 469) as having been shot by Sir R. F. Sutton on December 24, 1879, near Kintbury. [Lesser White-fronted Goose. Anser ery- thropus (Linn.). Under the name of Anser erythropus Dr. Lamb (' Ornith. Bercheria ') mentions a bird shot near Reading, January 24, 1795, which must refer to the previous species, as the lesser white-fronted goose was not described at the time in which he wrote.] 124. Bean-Goose. Anser segetum (J. F. Gmelin). One was shot on the Thames by Mr. G. Jackson, January 24, 1850, when living at Greenlands (Birds of Oxon, p. 1 90). 125. Pink-footed Goose. A nser brae hyrhync bus (Baillon). Very rare wanderer. Mr. Cornish tells me that one was shot about 1890 at Cat- more, and is preserved at the ' Fox and Cubs ' at Lilly. [Bernacle-Goose. Bernicla leucopsis (Bech- stein). Writing about 1814 Dr. Lamb says, ' fre- quently seen about Newbury in severe wea- ther.' Times have changed since then, and I can find no recent record of its capture, though Captain C. E. Ruck-Keen of Swyn- combe House has a specimen which was shot at Henley, probably on the river (Birds of Oxon, p. 191).] 126. Brent Goose. Bernicla brenta (Pallas). Three of these birds were killed on the Thames near Henley at one shot by Mr. George Jackson, who has one preserved (Birds of Oxan, p. 191). There is one in the Oxford Museum labelled ' Kennington, 1830,' and another, in the collection of Mr. Newton, was obtained on the Thames one mile from Wallingford. Mr. C. Barnett of Mill End tells me he killed one on the Thames at Aston Ferry in the winter of 1880. The following note from the manuscript of the late C. E. Stubbs, written in or about 1867, is of interest : ' Of wild geese, grey lags have been shot a few times, so have bean-geese much more often, and also white-fronted ; in fact scarcely a winter passes without one or other of the geese visiting us in greater or lesser numbers. Brent geese have been ob- tained a few times ; I saw a pair that were shot down below Greenlands some years ago, and have often heard the country people call them black geese.' [Canada Goose. Branta canadensis (Linn.). Egyptian Goose. Chenalopex C Miscellaneous Finds, Coint, etc. X Bronze Implements Rldgway, part of Iknleld Way -_ Ancient Dykes. .1 (i- J!'iilln>l"iiif«. HE COUNTI ES OF ENGLAND 1 EARLY MAN part of the history of man which is antecedent to the era of written records, and which therefore may be called in the broadest sense prehistoric, is well represented in Berkshire both by objects which have been found on or in superficial deposits, and by certain other remains which will be fully described hereafter. The prehistoric period falls into certain well-recognized divisions, characterized either by the material out of which Early Man's cutting tools and weapons were fabricated, or by his mode of shaping such tools, these differences indicating progressive stages of culture. Pursuing the general plan adopted in this series, an account will be given of the various discoveries, arranged under the respective periods to which they belong, followed by a topographical list showing in concise form the precise locality and nature of each discovery. THE PALEOLITHIC AGE The earliest clear and unequivocal traces of man in Berkshire consist chiefly of stone implements or weapons which are found in the old gravel-deposits of Pleistocene age which lie on the slopes of the valleys at some considerable elevation — roughly 50 to 120 feet above the present level of the rivers. The absolute ignorance of metals which these remains indicate accords well with the geological age of the deposits in which they are found. At the same time the extraordinary skill shown in working these tools, and the persistence of well-recognized types over wide areas, indicate that man had made considerable progress even in these early times. Attention was first drawn to the existence of palaeolithic imple- ments in Berkshire by Dr. Joseph Stevens,1 who described certain specimens found by him in a gravel-pit in Tilehurst Road, Reading, near Grovelands Farm, and referred to as the Grovelands pit. He also found implements at Caversham on the other side of the Thames, some fine specimens of which are in the Reading Museum. At an earlier date the writer had found an implement in gravel from a pit on the Redlands estate, Reading.2 Since then a very considerable number of implements of various kinds, as well as flakes or chips struck off in the process of manufacture, have been found at various places in the valley-systems of Berkshire, but especially in the main valley 1 Journ. Brit. Arch, Asm. 1881, xxxvii. « Journ. Anthrop. Inst., 1884, riv. 192. 173 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE of the Thames, where the old gravels have been worked for road-metal. Implements had previously been found in other parts of the Thames valley. The Palaeolithic Age in Berkshire must have lasted a very long time, as is evident from the fact that during its continuance the river- channel was cut down some 70 feet deeper. A considerable lapse of time is also indicated by the differences in the condition and form of the implements. Some are of ruder type, and are very much rolled by water-action ; others are comparatively unabraded. Occasionally it is found that an old broken implement has been re-chipped at a later date. A specimen of the kind is in the Reading Museum. Owing however to the mixed condition of fluviatile deposits, it is not quite practicable to draw up a chronological order of sequence of the various forms ; for implements of a rude form are found at all levels ; and at one of the highest and presumably oldest levels, namely at St. Peter's Hill (Toots farm), Caversham, various types have been found, although the lanceo- late form is most in evidence, and the workmanship varies, showing every transition from highly finished forms to slightly trimmed nodules.1 The gravel-deposit in which these Caversham implements have been found is 114 feet above the level of the Thames. Of the large number of specimens found here many have been but little rolled. Flakes were also abundant. It is curious that a considerable number of small instruments of the hatchet type have been found here, some being even less than 2 inches long. From all the indications it is probable that most of the implements were made near the spot. Implements have also been found at Caversham, in Henley Road, only about 50 feet above the river-level. They were associated with the remains of mammoth, and are of different type from the above, approximating in general form to those found at Grovelands and at other places on the Berkshire side of the river. The gravel of the Grovelands pit near Reading is about 75 feet above the river-level, and the implements found here are not particularly well made. They are mostly irregularly ovate, have usually a clumsy look, and many of them are water-worn. The type, as suggested by Prof. Rupert Jones," has a certain amount of affinity to the Moustierian of the French caves.3 At this pit flakes of flint, large and small, were numerous ; yet the unabraded tools were few and rarely of good type. Large and rude tools such as choppers or ' diggers,' also scrapers, par- ticularly of the hollow type, were relatively abundant. An interesting form combining a knife, saw, and hollow scraper is consistent with a comparatively late date. A hatchet of quartzite was found here by Dr. J. Stevens,2 and scrapers of the same material have been found. Quartzite was rarely used by Early Man for cutting tools if flint could be obtained. The implements found in this pit were more abundant near the base of the gravel. 1 In general facies they are not unlike the St. Acheul implements. J See Dr. J. Stevens (op. cit.). 3 See Reliquce Aquitanicte. 174 PALEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS. 1. Knife made from a flint flake from Reading (f). 2. Implement from Woodley, Reading (5). 3. Implement from Grovelands, Reading (f). Abraded and deeply stained. 4. Implement from Englefield (£). 5. Implement from Grovelands, Reading (J). 6. Borer from Caversham ([). PALEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS. 1. Flat Scraper of flint, with hooked point, from Reading (f). 2. Scraper of flint from Reading (f). 3. Scraper or Polisher of veined grit from Reading (|). 4. Hollowed Flint Scraper from Reading (§). 5. Hollowed Flint Scraper, wrought all over, from Maidenhead (J). 6. Knife, Scraper and Saw combined (flint) from Reading (f). 7. Part of radius of Bos, notched and cut by flint tool, fro.n Reading EARLY MAN Implements of a mixed type were found in a gravel-pit, now built upon, on the Redlands estate at Reading. They were not abundant, and were usually abraded. Although only about 40 feet above the river-level, a fine specimen1 of the pointed type, very ochreous but in good condition, was found. Only a few flakes were noticed. This must be regarded as a drift-accumulation. In the same neighbourhood, at Southern Hill, at the higher level of more than 100 feet above the river Thames, an implement of good form with cutting edge all round was obtained. On the east side of the town of Reading, in a gravel-pit at Sonning Hill, about 80 feet above the river-level, implements have been found from time to time. They are usually much abraded, but good forms have been found, and the predominant type appears to be the ovate- lanceolate. Very few flakes occur. From the spoil-bank formed of the material taken from the cutting at this spot when the Great Western Railway was constructed, was obtained a fine and large ovoid imple- ment, now in the Reading Museum. At Charvil Hill, near Twyford, still further east, implements have been found by Mr. L. Treacher, who obtained others during the widening of the Great Western Railway near this spot. That gentleman has also found many implements at Ruscombe near Twyford in a thin spread of gravel overlying brick-earth at about 60 feet above the river-level. These implements are various in character, but pointed tools are well represented. A large implement of elongated form and rounded at the smaller end has been presented by Mr. Treacher to the Reading Museum, which possesses numerous examples of the flint implements discovered in this county. Many implements have been found in the Maidenhead district in the sheets or terraces of gravel which extend from that town to Cookham. At the higher levels the implements are usually rolled and abraded. Some are quite rude in shape ; others have a very sharp cutting edge. At the lower level of about 75 feet above the river, near the hamlet of Furze Platt, implements were very abundant, with much individualization of type. Most of the tools are little stained or water-worn ; and, although the chipping is frequently done with skill, there is evidence of remarkable thrift in the use of material, and also, one might say, an absence of natural pride in the appearance of the work ; the original shape of the rough nodules having been very much utilized, so that sometimes only half of the nodule has been worked. The types here include a peculiar form of hatchet in which the cutting end is neither pointed nor round, but chisel-shaped — to some extent an anticipation of neolithic form. The implements were mostly found near the base of the gravel, and flakes were abundant. There was doubtless a settlement at or near this spot.* It will thus be seen that the population of Berkshire in the Palaso- 1 Now in the Reading Museum. 2 Implements of a mixed type, usually water-worn, have also been found at Cookham at a somewhat higher level. A very fine specimen from this locality is in the Reading Museum. 175 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE lithic Age was very much concentrated in the neighbourhood of the great rivers, as indeed is the case with civilized man to-day ; and here, besides other conveniences, Early Man found an abundance of material for his tools. A few well-shaped implements have, however, been found at some distance from, and at a considerable height above, the great water-ways. Mr. H. W. Monckton, F.G.S., found a well-worked pointed-oval specimen, with a cutting edge all round, in a gravel-pit at Englefield, about 150 feet above the Thames-level, and near the little stream of the Bourne. Two implements of the same general type were found at Bradfield, in the same neighbourhood. Mr. J. W. Colyer found a well-worked implement of flat ovoid type, also with a cutting edge all round, at Sulhamstead Abbots, about 1 1 miles from the river Kennet, and about 150 feet above it. These specimens are all in the Reading Museum, and the excellence of their type at so high a level is note- worthy. So numerous have been the ' finds ' of palaeolithic implements in Berkshire, that we need not further particularize localities. It may be mentioned, however, that implements have been found at Newbury, and that one specimen, a good example of the pointed type, was found at Wokingham in the old gravel of an affluent of the Loddon. We may say, then, that the remains of man at this period are for the most part found in a definite zone in the old gravels which fringe our rivers. They appear to be absent from the older ' Plateau ' gravels, and also from the newer, or lower, valley-gravels. Perhaps this apparent absence of man may be attributed to climate. To a certain extent, also, there appears to have been a segregation of population in particular localities, so far as was consistent with the habits of Early Man at this period.1 THE NEOLITHIC AGE As we have seen, man appears to have left this district before the Thames valley had been cut down to its present depth. When he reappeared considerable physical changes had taken place ; and we now find his remains in more recent deposits, such as surface-soil, peat, and the beds of lakes and rivers. We find also a considerable change in the form of the tools. In the case of the hatchet or ' celt ' the change is not at first strongly accentuated beyond the elongation of the tool, which, like some of the palaeolithic forms, has a cutting edge all round. A fine example of this type, dug up in gravel and having probably been buried there, is in the Reading Museum. Very soon, however, the practice of grinding the edge at one end was resorted to. A fine specimen of flint chisel was found on an island in the lake in Englefield Park, and is also in the Museum. It was found also that, 1 See, in addition to the works quoted, O. A. Shrubsole, F.G.S., on ' The Valley-Gravels about Reading' (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1890, p. 582), L. Treacher, 'Palaeolithic Man in East Berks ,' Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. 1896, p. 16 ; and ' On Stone Implements in the Thames Valley,' etc., Man, 1904, p. 17. 176 TtrC Repro Co. PALEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS. 1. Palzolithic Implement, with sharp edge all round, from Caversham (}). 2. Late Palzolithic Implement, chisel type, from Caversham (J). 3. Neolithic Implement from Reading (J). 4. Neolithic Flint Implement, ground and pointed, from the Kennet at Reading (J). 5. Neolithic Quartzite Implement, ground, from the Thames at Reading (i). 6. Rude Bronze Celt from Wallingford ({). EARLY MAN by the method of grinding, stone other than flint could be utilized. We therefore find basalt, quartzite, and other rocks now used in the manufacture of implements, and the instrument is usually polished all The cutting edge is sharp at one end and the other end is over. obtusely pointed or left somewhat rough for insertion into a handle. Examples of the celt or axe of this period have been found in the beds of the Thames and Kennet. Two large specimens, one of polished quartzite or grit and the other of chipped flint, found with charred wood and bones on an island in the Thames at Reading, are preserved in the Reading Museum. Examples have also been found at Abingdon, Bray, Pusey (Cherbury Camp), Pamber Forest, Stratfield Saye, Thatcham, and other places in or near the county. A perforated stone axe was found in a barrow at Stancombe, and a perforated hammer-head of basalt was obtained from the Thames near Reading. Other examples of holed hammers have been found, but they are not properly referable to the Stone Age. Very characteristic of this period are the ' scrapers.' They are smaller than the palaeolithic scrapers, and have been found in considerable numbers on the surface of fields in certain localities — at Wallingford, Caversham, Cockmarsh, Great Sheffbrd, Lambourn and other places. They resemble the instrument used by the Eskimo for cleaning skins, but may have been used for other purposes also. Associated with these are often found arrow-heads of flint, some rudely made, some leaf- shaped, and others exquisitely finished with a 'tang' and a barb on each side. With regard to these and many other objects of flint or other stone, it is right to say that the manufacture of them, if it existed already in this county, doubtless did not cease upon the introduction of bronze. Arrow-heads have been found in the neighbourhood of Wallingford * and at some other places, and a very perfect tanged and barbed specimen was found at Reading ; but they are by no means abundant in this county. The flint knife of this period, thin and beauti- fully made, is very different from its prototype of the Palaeolithic Age. A good example has lately been dredged from the Thames at Stonehouse, Cookham Dean. Its form is lanceolate, and its length is slightly over 3! inches, but it has obvi- ously lost a portion of its base or stem, possibly as much as 1 1 inches. It is of dark flint, and has been shaped by chipping with great skill. Mr. R. E. Goolden, F.S.A., has called attention to this ' find.' Another example was found in the Thames at Long Wittenham. A dagger of oval shape was found in a barrow at Lambourn. A gouge or hollow chisel of chipped flint, ochreous in colour, 1 See Davies collection, Reading Museum. I 177 23 FLINT DAGGER FROM A BARROW AT LAMBOURN. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE was found at Woodley near Reading. This is a form which is unusual in this country. A fine saw, lanceolate in shape, and probably intended to be fixed in a handle, was obtained at Caversham. The last three specimens are in the Reading Museum. The process of working flint reached a high degree of perfection during the Neolithic Age, and was doubtless carried over into the next stage, under which head will be noted some fine examples of flint-work occurring in the burial-mounds.1 The presence of Neolithic man in the valley of the Kennet appears to be indicated by the finding of a human skull in the peat near Newbury associated with stone-implements.3 A fine specimen of the skull of the great ox (Bos primigenius) , found on Speen Moor with, it is said, a flint arrow-head fixed in its skull, is in the Newbury Museum. Two fine celts were found near Crookham, 4 feet from the surface in peat, with a large quantity of bones.3 A chipped instrument, somewhat gouge-like in form, was found at Newbury, with flakes, etc., during the operations for the sewerage.4 Celts have been found at Thatcham, Shaw, and Eling farm.5 Various bone instruments have been found at Newbury (Market Place) 6 and at Reading (Gas works).7 Other discoveries of neolithic objects in Berkshire will be found noted in the list given at the end of this article. In and near Ashdown Park are a vast number of Sarsen stones lying in a valley on the Berkshire Downs more than 500 feet above the sea-level. Mr. A. L. Lewis,8 who, in an account of them published in 1869, considered them to be ' Druidic monuments,' speaks of these stones as being arranged in long and somewhat irregular lines. Owing to their ruinous condition he doubts whether any one line can be traced as running throughout from end to end. The sketch-plan which accompanies his account, however, shows upwards of thirty tolerably distinct lines of stones running with considerable regularity in an east- and-west direction. These lines are shown within the walls of Ashdown Park. Outside the arrangement is less clear, but he marks one very decided series of stones in a line partly north and south with a distinct tendency towards the east at the northern end. All the stones which comprise this collection are what is known as Sarsen stones, or grey- wethers, from their likeness when seen from a distance to sheep grazing on the downs. They are considered by some to be of geological origin and the remains of local beds of Tertiary age. These occupy a space of about 1,600 feet north and south, and about 800 feet east and west. The Hon. Daines Barrington," writing of the Sarsen stones in 1785, says they are not ' dropt in any kind of order or figure. None of 1 A list of tumuli and barrows in Berkshire will be found in the article on Ancient Earthworks. 2 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. (ser. 2), ii. 128. 3 Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i. 205. * Ibid. iv. 207. " Ibid. iv. 184. 6 Trans. Brit. Arch. Assoc. (1870). t Trans. Berks Arch. Soc. 1881. 8 Int. Cong, of Prehistoric Arch. Norw. (1869), 37-46. The sketch plan has been reproduced in Fergusson, Rude Stone Monuments. » Arch. (1787), viii. 442. 178 EARLY MAN them, moreover, are more than 2 or 3 inches above the surface, whilst some are buried as deep under it.' He notes their occurrence also in a bye-road through fields between the villages of Shrivenham and Compton. Although Barrington failed to notice it, there might be some regular arrangement of these stones, corresponding to the align- ments at Carnac and other places ; but, as Mr. Lewis was not very confident of tracing such an arrangement, perhaps the question might for the present be left open.1 Berkshire contains an extremely interesting specimen of a chambered long-barrow which, under the name of Wayland Smith's Cave, or Wayland's Smithy, has been popularized in the pages of Sir Walter Scott's Kenilwortb. The remains, still known locally by these names, are situated in a wild and lonely place away from any dwelling and within a few yards of the remarkable ancient road known as the Ridgeway, a broad, grassy road which leads up over the hill to Uffing- ton Castle, and forms indeed an important feature in the primitive road-system of Berkshire. Wayland's Cave is situated under a group of lofty beeches which throw a gloomy and romantic shade over a spot of great archaeological interest. The continual breeze passing through the trees produces a low mournful murmur which greatly adds to the impressiveness and solemnity of the place. Upon entering the group of shady trees, one descends into a slight trench or fosse. The actual stones of which the ' cave ' is composed are in a somewhat confused condition, but it is still possible to make out an arrangement which will be best understood from the accompanying illustration. Mr. Wise, in a pamphlet published in 1738,' gives the following note about Wayland Smith's Cave, which is interesting as showing the views of the country people in the first half of the eighteenth century as to the meaning of the remains : ' Whether this remarkable piece of antiquity ever bore the name of the person here buried, is not now to be learned ; the true meaning of it being long since lost in ignorance and fable. All the account which the country people are able to give of it is. At this place lived formerly an invisible Smith ; and if a traveller's Horse had lost a Shoe upon the road he had no more to do than to bring the Horse to this place, with a piece of money, and leaving both there for some little time, he might come again and find the money gone, but the Horse new shod. The stones standing upon the Rudee-way, as it is called (which WAYLAND'S SMITHY : GROUND , ° , J r . . . ^ PLAN OF PROBABLE ORIGINAL was the situation they chose tor burial monu- ARRANGEMENT. ments), I suppose, gave occasion to the whole being called Wayland Smith, which is the name it was always known by to the country people. . . . Leaving therefore the story of the in- 1 Fergusson conjectures that they may be the memorial of the battle of Ashdown fought between the Saxons and the Danes in 871. Barrington suggests an earthquake. It is not made dear that any one of these stones is standing upright. 2 ' A letter to Dr. Mead concerning some antiquities in Berkshire.' «79 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE visible Smith to be discussed by those who have more leisure, I only remark that these stones are, according to the best Danish antiquaries, a Burial Altar ; that their being raised in the midst of a plain field, near the great road, seems to indicate some person there slain, and buried ; and that this person was probably a Chief or King, there being no monument of this sort near that place, perhaps not in England beside.' This monument, however, clearly belongs to a group of sepulchral structures of which, although there are no others in Berkshire, examples are found in Wiltshire and other neighbouring counties. It is a gallery- dolmen or chambered tumulus ; that is, a sepulchral chamber or chambers approached by a passage or gallery, and originally covered by earth, constructed probably on the plan of the house of the period. As these structures are few in number they must be supposed to have contained the bones of a chief- tain or person of high rank. This interesting relic of the past is figured by Lysons1 as being already in a ruinous state, although he describes it as a ' considerable tumulus.' It was also described by Ackerman in 1847.* This ancient tomb was no doubt rifled long ago, as no remains connected with it have hitherto been found. It has lost its earthen covering, and many of the stones of which it was composed have been scattered or disarranged ; but the eastern arm of the chamber still retains its covering slab of stone in its original position.3 THE BRONZE AGE The introduction of metal, instead of flint and other kinds of stone, as a material for the manu- facture of implements marks a very great advance. The first metal thus used in this country was bronze, which is a mixture of copper with about 12 per cent, of tin, the mixed metal being much harder than pure copper. The circumstances that led to the introduction of bronze need not be dis- cussed here, as it was probably at first imported into BRONZE SPEAR-HEAD FROM t^[s country. Its uses were many and various. SPEEN. » i i 1 i r i Although the pattern or the stone axe was to a cer- tain extent followed, there was ultimately considerable change of form through the flanged palstave to the socketed axe. The spear-heads are of various patterns, and vary greatly in size. A fine leaf-shaped specimen about 16 inches long from the Thames 1 Lysons, Mag. Brit. (1806). » Arch, xxxii. 312. See also the article by Mr. Thomas Wright, ' The Legendary History of Way- land Smith,' Journ. Arch. Ass. 1860, xvi. 50. 3 See illustration facing p. 192. 180 -"--; '•' 10. NEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS. 1. Neolithic Flint Chisel from Englefield (J). 2. Neolithic Flint Chisel from Boyn Hill, Maidenhead (£). 3. Neolithic Flint Celt from Boyn Hill, Maidenhead (£). 4. Neolithic Gouge from Reading (J). 5. Neolithic Scraper from Wallingford (J). 6. Neolithic Spoke-shave from Reading (if). 7. Holed Pebble of quartzite from Enborne, Newbury. 8. Holed Hammer-head of basalt from the Thames at Reading (|). 9. Flint Knife from the Kennet near Reading (f). 10. Flint Knife from the Thames near Cookham (J). EARLY MAN at Windsor is in the British Museum.1 Another elegant form, in the Reading Museum, from Mortimer West End, is here shown. The edges of this are still very sharp.3 A formidable weapon of large size (i 2 inches long), from Moulsford, is in the same Museum and somewhat resembles the barbed spear-head from Speen figured by Sir John Evans3 (see plate). Pointed knives or knife-daggers have been found at Blewbury and Rowcroft, Yattendon, the latter being j\ inches in length. The former is in the Ashmolean Museum. At Sutton Courtenay was found a tanged knife or dagger 10 inches long, and at Newbury was found a tanged dagger of Arreton Down type, j\ inches long, now preserved in the collection of Canon Greenwell. * A bronze dagger 7 inches in length with ogival outline was found in the bed of the river Thames near Maiden- head. An interesting little rapier-shaped blade about 6| inches long was found in the Kennet and Avon Canal between Theale and Thatcham, and is now in Sir John Evans's collection. It has two peculiar small notches just above the rivet-holes. Bronze knife-blades are occasionally found in interments, as in a barrow at Stancombe, and in one of the ' Seven barrows,' Lambourn. A good example of a rapier-blade 1 1^ inches long, with one of the rivets attached, was obtained from the Kennet, near Reading, and was presented to the Museum by Mr. F. W. Albury. It re- sembles in type the example from Coveney.5 A leaf-shaped sword from the Kennet is also BRONZE*BI.ADE in the Reading Museum. It is somewhat like Sir FROM John Evans's fig. 343 of a sword from Barrow. Another, from the Thames near Reading, is in Canon Green- well's collection. The long bronze sword is a formidable and at the same time an elegant weapon. It is equally effective for cutting or thrusting, and may be considered one of the latest products of the Bronze Age. A fine example found near the Thames opposite Henley is in the Reading Museum. It is of the same type as the sword from Newcastle figured by Sir John BRONZE SWORD FROM THE Evans,6 and has been described by Dr. Stevens.7 THAMES OPPO- The celt or axe is well distributed over the county, SITE HENLEY. aithough tne flat and probably early type is not very abundant. 1 A similar example is in the Reading Museum, also from the Thames (14^ inches long). 5 A somewhat larger specimen was obtained from the Thames near Reading. a See Evans, Bronze Imp. 337. Also Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. (1860), 322. * See Evans, Bronze Imp. 259. Also Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. (1860), 322. • Evans, Bronze Imp. fig. 313. • Ibid. fig. 344. 1 Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. (1882), p. 275. 181 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE BRONZE KNIFE OR RAZOR FROM COTHILL. Examples of this type are in the Reading Museum from Cholsey and Wallingford ; and a flat palstave from Pamber forest is also in this Museum. Socketed celts have been found at Wallingford. Palstaves are recorded from Newbury, Sun- ningwell, Want- age, Beenham, and Reading (Kennet). Sock- eted spear- heads have been found at Ashdown, Fyfield, Hagbourne Hill, Speen, Mouls- ford, Windsor, Mortimer, Reading (2), and Cookham. Among objects of peculiar form and rare occurrence may be mentioned a loop of jet, probably intended as a slider for a belt or for fastening some part of the dress, found at Newbury, the knife or razor with elongated perforation found at Cothill, near Abingdon, and the bronze sickles found in the Thames at Reading, Windsor and Bray. The last-named objects belong to a rare type of implement ; the Bray example, moreover, is somewhat peculiar in form, the socket dying into the blade. Many isolated examples of the Bronze Age have been recovered from the bed of the Thames in the process of dredging ; and a few years ago a considerable number of objects were found together in or near the Thames at Cookham. Among them were twenty spear- heads of the same general type, a sword and part of another, a bronze fillet or armlet, parts of a bracelet, and the ferrule or butt-end of a spear. Some of the above are in the possession of Mr. L. Treacher of Twyford, who has presented two spear-heads to the Reading Museum. Among the bronze antiquities of this county there are two hoards the contents of which have been described by Sir John Evans. That at Yattendon,2 a village some 8 or 9 miles to the north-east of Newbury, was discovered in the spring of 1878 in digging for the foundation of a new house. The objects were found lying about 1 8 inches below the surface of the ground, in a mass of gravel that had been turned red, purple and black by the action of fire. The bronze ob- jects were not en- closed in any kind of vessel, but lay in con- tact with the earth, to which they had imparted a greenish colour. Close by were found two balks of oak, which were probably connected with a beacon formerly 1 Evans, Bronze Imp. (1881), 167, 169. a Pnc. Sac. 4ntiq. (ser. 2), vii. 480-1. 182 BRONZE SICKLE FROM THE THAMES AT WINDSOR. BRONZE IMPLEMENTS. 1. Bronze Celt, with broad edge, from Cholsey (}). 2. Bronze Palstave, with flanges and stop ridge, from Wallingford Q). 3. Bronze Flanged Celt from the Kennet at Reading (}). 4. Bronze Palstave, with flanges hammered over, from Wallingford (j). 5. Socketed Celt, with loop, from Reading (}). 6. Socketed Celt, with loop and ribbed ornament, from Reading (j). EARLY MAN erected on the top of this hill, a natural eminence about 450 feet above the level of the sea. The hoard contained no less than 58 pieces of bronze, which may thus be classified : — Flat celt i Fragments of palstaves .... 3 Socketed celt and fragment ... 2 Socketed gouges 6 Socketed knives 2 Tanged knives and fragment . . 3 Tanged chisels 3 Fragments of swords 4 Scabbard-end I Spear-heads and fragments . . 28 Flat pieces of bronze .... 3 Conical piece i Perforated disc I Total It may be noted that the flat celt which heads the above list, and which belongs to quite the beginning of the Bronze Age, had been considerably used, and the edge had been frequently flattened out by hammering. One of the palstaves again was remarkable for its very small size, and Sir John Evans suggests that it was intended to be used as a chisel rather than as a hatchet. Of the socketed celts, six in number, four were of the same pattern. Four fragments of swords were found, but they probably belonged only to two swords. The spear-heads and fragments of spear-heads, of which there were found no less than twenty-eight pieces, represented probably twenty-four complete weapons. Of these eighteen were of the plain leaf-shape type, without ornament, and varying in length from 5 to 7 inches. Nearly every one of these spear-heads had been injured before being buried in the earth. Several of the other articles are of much interest, and some, such as the three flat pieces of bronze and the conical piece, are of unknown use. This Yattendon hoard, like many others found at vari- ous times in different parts of England, represents apparently the stock-in-trade of some ancient bronze-founder. The fact that so many of the articles had been injured by long-continued use or accident, points to this being a deposit of old metal intended to be melted down for fresh castings. The large proportion of spear-heads, gouges and tanged chisels indicates that the hoard belongs to a late period in the Bronze Age. Indeed, there is some reason to believe, as Sir John Evans points out, that the hoard may really belong to the Early Iron Age, ' when arms and tools of iron were superseding those of bronze, while the latter metal for some ornamental and useful purposes still retained its pre-eminence.' The other Berkshire hoard, that at Wallingford, contained a looped and socketed celt, a socketed gouge, a socketed knife, and a cutting tool, possibly a razor. All these objects are now in the possession of Sir John Evans, K.C.B., who suggests that the hoard is a good example of a private deposit. 183 BRONZE CHISEL FROM YATTENDON. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE It may be added that antiquaries have been able to identify three distinct kinds of hoards, viz. : (i) those which appear to consist of the treasured property of some individual, who having buried his treasures in the earth for safety, failed for some reason to regain possession of them ; (2) those which comprised the property of a trader, and included new implements in considerable numbers fit for use ; and (3) those which represented the stock-in-trade of a bronze-founder, containing often fragments of implements, worn-out implements and lumps of rough metal. To the last class belongs the important hoard found at Yattendon. The following are brief particulars of some of the other more important Bronze Age discoveries in Berkshire. A circular buckler or shield of great interest was found in the bed of the river Isis in 1836, and is now in the British Museum. An account1 of the discovery written by Mr. John Gage, F.R.S., Director of the Society of Antiquaries, gives the following precise details as to the place where the discovery was made. The buckler was found * on the lower margin of the pool of the Little Wittenham or Day's lock upon the river Isis, about half a mile above the junction of that river with the Thame stream, midway between Little Wittenham bridge and the weir connected with the lock, about one mile to the westward of Dorchester, in Oxfordshire, a hundred and fifty or two hundred yards from the western end of an earthwork called Dyke hills, and three- quarters of a mile from the intrenchment upon Sinodun or Little Wittenham hill.' The chief point about this is that the buckler was found on the ancient bed of the river Isis, very near if not absolutely upon a spot where it was fordable. The buckler is about 1 3 inches in diameter, and nearly, but not quite, circular in form. In the centre is a large hemispherical boss or umbo giving room for the hand to grasp the handle at the back. This boss is surrounded by twin projecting rings. A circular series of fourteen convex bosses, and an outer series of twenty-three bosses fill up the surface, the two series of bosses being separated by a raised ring. The age of this shield is uncertain, but it may belong to the later part of this period. Sir John Evans3 writes : ' The raised bosses have all been wrought in the metal with the exception of four, two of which form the rivets for the handle across the umbo, and two others serve as the rivets or pivots for two small straps or buttons of bronze on the inner side of the buckler. Such buttons occur on several other examples, but it is difficult to determine the exact purpose which they served. From the pains taken in this instance to conceal the heads of these pivots on the outside, by making them take the form and place of bosses, it would appear that they were necessary adjuncts of the shield, and possibly in some way connected with a lining for it. Such a lining can hardly have been of wood, or many rivet or pin-holes would have been * Arch, xxvii. 298. » Evans, op. cit. 344. 184 6. JtrtRtproCo- BRONZE SPEAR-HEADS. 1. Bronze Spear-head from the Thames at Reading (J). 2, 3, 5. Bronze Spear-heads from Cookham (£). Fig. 2 has part of the shaft attached. 4. Bronze Spear-head from Mortimer (J). 6. Bronze Spear-head from the Thames at Reading (£). EARLY MAN necessary for securing the metal to it. It may be that a lining of hide was moulded while wet to the form of the shield, and that these buttons served to keep it in place when dry. In one case it is said that some fibrous particles resembling leather still remain attached to the inside of the shield. In general the metal is so thin that without some lining these bucklers would have afforded but a poor defence against the stroke of a sword, spear or arrow. In this Little Wittenham example, and possibly in some others, it is probable that the shield itself was larger than the bronze plate. Another view is that these buttons fastened a strap for carrying the shield either in or out of use.' The bed of the river Thames near Taplow, which, although close to the boundary of Buckinghamshire, is actually in Berkshire, has fur- nished a remarkable group of Bronze Age objects. These include a collection of fine socketed spear-heads and two broken swords, presented in 1898 by Mrs. Ada Benson to the British Museum. One of the spear-heads is noteworthy on account of the excellence of its workman- ship and its ornamentation, produced by a series of punctured dots. Another spear-head of fine proportions and workmanship, and exhibiting the same species of punctured ornament, was discovered in the river at Taplow in March 1903, and is now in the British Museum. It bears on each face of the wings two gold studs, and in its present condition, in spite of the fact that a portion of the socket has been broken off and lost, the length is \j\ inches. There are further points of interest about this weapon which have been described by Mr. Charles H. Read, F.S.A.,1 from which the following account has, by permission of the author, been taken : — ' The bronze spear-head now before the Society is one of unusual character in all respects. As a type of spear-head it is up to the present unique in this country, and even in Ireland the only example figured by Sir John Evans (fig. 400) 3 makes no pretensions to the same artistic qualities. This specimen was recently found in a creek near Taplow, at the same spot where some ordinary leaf-shaped spear-heads were dis- covered some years ago, and presented to the British Museum by Mrs. Benson. The socket of the spear, which is filled with the remains of the wood-shaft, has unfortunately been damaged, so that it is impossible to ascertain the original length, but the present length is \j\ inches, the blade alone measuring 15! inches in length. It has been cast with considerable skill, and the edge of the upper curve has apparently been hammered, as is customary, which both hardens the metal and produces at the same time a keen edge. The lower part of the wings has also been hammered so as to produce a furrow or channel near the edge, and the edge itself is not only beaten up to produce a flange, but is also ornamented with a herringbone design. On each side of the broad mid-rib is a row of dots which continues on the inner side of the channel on the wings. On each face of the wings are two gold studs, conical in form, and apparently of nearly pure metal. How these are 1 Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) xix. 287-9. * Evans, op. cit. I 185 24 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE made fast is not quite easy to see, as the studs do not come exactly opposite one another on the two faces, and it would seem as if the hole through which the rivet joining them passes is in a diagonal direction. This feature, i.e. the presence of the gold studs, has not hitherto been found on any spear-head of the Bronze Age ; similar studs, however, occur upon a stone bracer in the British Museum, which was found at DrifKeld, East Riding, Yorkshire. Below the wings have been originally two loops of triangular section, only one of which now remains. ' Apart from the special interest of this spear-head as an unusual and artistic production of the Bronze Age, it has the additional interest of showing how the socketed spear-head was evolved from the sword- like weapon which has been called, not very happily, a rapier. This weapon has the same form as the blade of the spear-head before us, although usually with a different form of mid-rib ; but if the socket be taken away it will be found that in outline it exactly resembles some of the many rapiers figured in Sir John Evans's and other works, and that the two gold studs on either face are the survival of the rivet-heads which fixed the handle to the weapon.' * For tumuli and barrows and the interesting remains associated with them, we must refer the reader to the article on Ancient Earth- works. A canoe or ' dug-out ' of oak, made from a single tree-trunk, was found in Bagnor Marsh, near Newbury, some years ago. It was about 9 feet long and 4 to 5 feet wide.2 Such canoes are associated with the Swiss lake-dwellings of the Stone Age ; but in this case there is nothing by which the age can be precisely determined. Other discoveries of objects not specially referred to here will be noticed in the topographical list at the end of this article. THE PREHISTORIC IRON AGE The Age of Iron followed the Age of Bronze just as the latter succeeded the Age of Stone ; but for several reasons it is impossible to say precisely when the Iron Age commenced in Britain. The discovery of iron, however, seems to have been brought to our shores by the Brythons, a branch of the Celtic people from whom is derived the name of Britain for this island. Probably manufactured articles of the new metal were first introduced in the ordinary course of trade, but there is good reason to believe that iron was produced and worked in Britain long before the period of the Roman occupation.' By far the most important discovery of antiquities of the Early Iron Age made in the county is the Hagbourne Hill ' find,' which has been briefly described in Archceologia! Mr. Ebenezer King, F.S.A., who i Mr. R. E. Goolden, F.S.A., into whose possession this fine spear-head came, has arranged for it to be transferred to the British Museum. 1 Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, iv. 205. » B.M. Guide to Antiq. of the Early Iron Age, p. 4. 4 Arch. xvi. 348-9. 186 Food Vessel from Drayton (J). Urn from Sunningdale Drinking Cup from Lambourn (|). Bron/e Knives from Lambourn (i). Drinking Vessel from Lambourn Q-). Bronze Sword from the Thames near Reading. Bronze Knife from Sutton Courtenay (f). BRONZE ACE ANTIQUITIES FOUND IN BERKSHIRE. EARLY MAN brought the objects to the notice of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1808, writes : ' In the spring of the year 1803, in a common field on Hagbourne Hill, between that village and Chilton, in the county of Berks, adjoining the Ickleton way, on the south side of it, several oblong pits were discovered at the depth of about four feet from the surface of the ground, being in length seven feet, and three in breadth. One of these pits had a circular excavation at the bottom, of about one foot and a half in diameter, in which were deposited the articles I have sent, together with others that I have not been able to procure a sight of. Amongst the latter were several large rings of brass, resembling dog-collars, and some coins, of which I could obtain no other information than that one of them was silver, and the other gold, the latter of which was large and flat, and perhaps of the lower empire. The chain now produced, which appears to me the most interesting part of the collection, had, when discovered, a centre ring, and another at one end of it, similar to that which is now attached to it, but both of these were broken by the workmen in digging it up. The centre ring had four studs or checks upon it, to keep it from turning quite round ; the outside ones only two. As no more rings or links were found in or near the hole, it is likely that the chain, as now described, was in its original form ; and from its shape and execution, which is certainly of a superior kind, was probably destined to no very common use.' The plate which accompanies this description gives information of a more precise and intelligible character. It shows portions of two horse-bits of similar make to that found at Arras ' in the East Riding of Yorkshire ; two pins, one straight with seal-like head, the other with a well-developed and perforated head, the pin itself being bent into a kind of shoulder a little below the head ; two rings of bronze and iron, the chief parts being of bronze with elaborate decoration in the form of fairly large knobs or beads, and the larger ring having seven of these knobs and the smaller six 2 ; a socketed celt in bronze furnished with one loop, and three socketed lance-heads or arrow-heads with two loops. The last-named are of small size, and two of them are imperfect. Another socketed celt was found at Hagbourne Hill in 1893, and was exhibited at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries by Mr. W. H. Richardson, F.S.A., who described it as a small but very perfect specimen, 3^ inches long by 2^ inches wide, measured across at the points of the cutting edge. It weighs io| ounces, and the mouth has a distinctly square form with rounded angles. The collar is relieved by twin headings with a larger one between, and below is the usual loop. Mr. Richardson is no doubt right in his suggestion that it exhibits features which are found in a common Irish type of celt, and 1 Davis & Thurnam, Crania Britannica, ii. 2 This particular kind of Late Celtic ornament is evidently derived from a string of concave and convex beads arranged alternately. About one-third part of the ring is formed of iron. They present a curious similarity to the ' beaded ' torques found elsewhere. See J. Romilly Allen, Celtic Art in Pagan and Christian Times, 112. I87 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE it may be added that it shows a considerable resemblance to the example figured in the plate in Archceologia just referred to. It is a curious fact that although the rest of the objects figured passed into the British Museum, the celt shown did not find its way there. The bits already referred to and here figured consisted in their originally perfect condition of two somewhat oval rings about 3 inches in diameter (outside measurement), and three connecting links skilfully wrought. The space between the large rings is 5 inches. Unfortu- nately both the bits have been broken, but enough remains to show the definitely Late Celtic characteristics, especially in the terminations of the connecting links. It thus appears that with the Early Iron Age antiquities found at Hagbourne Hill, representing probably the remains of the burial of a horse and horseman, if not indeed of a chariot also, there were found in association at least three typical Bronze Age objects. Mr. Reginald A. Smith l regards this as a ' survival into the Iron period of imple- ments characteristic of the Bronze Age,' a supposition which is per- fectly natural. The precise circumstances of this discovery have not, as far as is known to the writer, ever been recorded, and it is possible that the bronze celt found in 1893 may have no intimate relation to the antiquities unearthed in 1803. Sepulchral deposits of this kind in which the horse and even the chariot, or part of it, have been cremated with the body of the dead warrior indicate undoubtedly the resting-places of persons of distinction, and are in harmony with the customs prevailing at earlier periods. All the Late Celtic relics rescued from the Hagbourne Hill site are now preserved in the British Museum. Mr. R. E. Goolden, F.S.A., procured, and in 1906 presented to the British Museum, a rather interesting form of socketed iron spear-head or lance-head, from a site near Stonehouse at Cookham Dean. In its original condition it probably measured somewhat over 7 inches in length but the socket-end and the extreme point of the sharp end are both missing, and the existing spear-head has unfortunately been broken into two pieces. Still, it clearly shows, as will be seen from the accompanying photograph, the hollow groove down the centre which seems to be characteristic of weapons of this class and period. Other characteristic objects2 of this period found in Berkshire include a bronze dagger-sheath found at Cookham, pottery found at Abingdon, and a bronze button from an unknown locality in the county. The last-mentioned article resembled the example found at Kingsholm, Gloucestershire. THE WHITE HORSE AT UFFINGTON The gigantic figure of a horse cut out on the side of the hill upon which Uffington ' Castle ' is situated is of sufficient antiquity and importance to have given its name to the great valley or vale which it 1 B. M. Guide to Antiq. of the Early Iron Age, 83, 103. » Arch. Cambr. (ser. 5) xiii. 329-30. 1 88 Ring from Hagbourne Hill. Iron Spear-head from Cookham Dean. (Total original length, about 7 in.) Horse-bit from Hagbourne Hill. Ring from Hagbourne Hill. Horse-bit from Hagbourne Hill. Pins from Hagbourne Hill. LATE CELTIC ANTIQUITIES FOUND IN BERKSHIRE. UJ OQ I. £ it D O LU uu A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE overlooks. This White Horse belongs to an extremely interesting class of gigantic hill-side figures, formed by cutting away the green turf so as to expose the white chalk beneath. Examples in the shape of horses, and others in the forms of human giants, and crosses, occur in Sussex, Dorset, Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Yorkshire. In the year 1738 the Rev. Francis Wise, B.D., published A letter to Dr. Mead concerning some antiquities in Berkshire, particularly showing that the White Horse, which gives name to the great Vale or Valley which it overlooks is a monument of the West Saxons, made in memory of a great Victory obtained over the Danes A.D. 871. The particular event to which this monument is referred by the writer is the Battle of Ashdown, but the evidence upon whi:h his opinion is founded is of a character which most antiquaries of the present day would regard as inconclusive and quite inadequate to prove the Anglo-Saxon origin of the White Horse. Wayland Smith's Cave, to which reference has been made in another part of this article, is considered by Mr. Wise to be of Danish origin. Mr. Wise's opinions did not by any means meet with the approval of his contemporaries, and he was attacked by a writer under the pseudonym ' Philalethes Rusticus ' in 1740, in a tract entitled The impertinence and imposture of modern antiquaries displayed; or a refutation of the Reverend Mr. Wise's letter to Dr. Mead concerning the White Horse, and other antiquities in Berkshire. An anonymous defence said to be from the pen of the Rev. George North was issued in 1741, and in the following year Mr. Wise published Further observations upon the White Horse and other antiquities in Berkshire, etc. The subject of this extremely interesting class of ancient monu- ments of which the Uffington White Horse is the best-known example in the kingdom has, therefore, exercised the minds of antiquaries for a good many years. The fashion among antiquaries of the eighteenth century was to assign them to the Anglo-Saxon period, although the evidence upon which such an assumption was based does not at the present time seem at all clear. The Uffington White Horse itself perhaps furnishes the strongest clue as to the period to which the turf- monuments of England should be assigned. Of the six or seven monuments of this kind representing horses, that at Uffington is probably nearest to the original form ; most, if not all, of the others having been much modified in recent times; whilst some of them are possibly of entirely recent date. The Uffington White Horse, therefore, has a special value of its own. Upon compar- ing its attenuated and disjointed form with those represented on ancient British coins one cannot fail to be struck by the resemblance. Indeed, the similarity of general form is so marked as to form a strong reason for assigning the group of turf or hill-side monuments to which the White Horse at Uffington belongs to the period when the ancient British coins were in vogue. The form of the figure will best be appreciated from the accompanying diagram which is the result of an actual survey. 190 EARLY MAN The form of the horse's figure as represented on the ancient British coins is known to be a debased copy of the elegantly depicted animals represented on the beautiful pieces struck by Philip II of Macedon, but it shows, like the Uffington White Horse, a certain artistic power on the part of the ancient British artificers to whom both works may reason- ably be attributed. It is very difficult to explain the purpose of these gigantic hill-side figures. In Buckinghamshire they take the form of crosses. At Cerne Abbas (Dorset), and at Wilmington (Sussex) there are very large human figures represented in the same way on the hill-sides. They seem always to have been so placed as to be visible over a considerable district, and although there are certain slight variations perhaps, the rule seems to have been for them to occupy the side of a hill which faces in more or less of a northern direction. Usually a prominent spur of a range of hills has been selected for the purpose, and it is quite clear that it was part of the purpose, whatever that purpose may have been, for the figures to be clearly seen from great distances. The selection of chalk hills, again, and the removal of the turf so as to leave the chalk bare, are indications which point to the conclusion that these figures had some close connexion with the people of the districts in which we find them. It is almost impossible to doubt that they were more or less intimately related to the religion of the ancient Britons. The periodical scourings or weedings to which the White Horses were subjected at a somewhat later date, and the cudgel-playing and other rural sports and festivities which always followed, may very well be the modern survivals of periodical religious gatherings when the inhabitants of the Vale of the White Horse met for religious rites or ceremonies. The explanation suggested by the Rev. Francis Wise, and offered in a well-known book' on the subject, that the White Horse at Uffington is a memorial of the great battle in which Ethelred and Alfred defeated the Danes in 871, is not now generally accepted. ANCIENT BRITISH COINS The ancient British coins found at various times in Berkshire can hardly be described as numerous, but they are of great variety and interest. At Weycock, associated with Roman remains was found a small coin of tin, without inscription, but bearing on the obverse a very rude representation of the human head, possibly meant to appear helmeted, and on the reverse a long-bodied animal probably intended for a horse. The attenuated body and neck of this animal are almost suggestive of that ancient White Horse on the hill-side at Uffington which gives its name to the valley already mentioned which it overlooks. Another coin of unusual beauty is that inscribed (obv.) CUIMOB, and (rev.) TASCIIOVANTIS, of which specimens have been found at Sandy 1 T. Hughes, The Scouring of the White Horse. 191 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE (Beds.), near Dorchester (Oxon.),and near Abingdon. The last-named specimen is now in the cabinet of Sir John Evans, K.C.B., who writes of it : — ' The horseman on the obverse appears to be intended for a British warrior, who is armed in the same manner as the horseman on the coins of Tasciovanus, Plate VIII, Nos. 6, 7 and 8, though not wearing a cuirass. The shield is disproportionately large, even larger than on the silver coin, Plate VI, No. 2. The military figure on the reverse must, I think, be regarded as a British foot-soldier, accoutred to a great extent in the Roman fashion, and not, as Ruding suggests, a Roman soldier.1 A gold coin, inscribed (obv.) CAM[V], and (rev.) CVN, one of the commonest types of the small gold coins of Cunobeline, was found in the neighbourhood of Newbury. It has on the obverse an ear of corn, and on the reverse the figure of a horse. At Wallingford several inscribed coins have been found, including a gold coin inscribed BODVOC. another gold coin inscribed TED ( = ANTEDRIUGS), another inscribed EPPI COM, and yet another inscribed TASCIO. At Brightwell was found a gold coin inscribed CA-M on the obverse and CV on the reverse, indicating that the coin was struck at Colchester, by Cunobelinus. In these inscribed coins, which are later than the invasion by Julius Caesar, we are treading on the skirts of history. Gold coins bearing no inscription, and presumably older than the above, have been discovered at various places, including Hagbourne (West), Hampstead Norris,' Maidenhead, Ruscombe, Waltham St. Lawrence and Wantage.3 A silver coin was obtained from Letcombe Regis. A copper coin, having on the obv. a cruciform ornament, and on the rev. a boar running, was found at Reading, and is in the Read- ing Museum.* ANCIENT ROADS The ancient road known as Icknield or Ickleton Street, and also as the Ridgeway, which runs through a considerable tract of Berkshire, presents features in its construction and laying out which closely belong to pre-Roman times.6 The course of the road is some- what irregular, but generally follows the high ground of the chalk-hills. It is well seen between Wayland Smith's Cave and Uffington Castle, where it has a considerable breadth, the surface being slightly convex and grass-covered, and each side is flanked by a continuous mound of earth some 3 feet or more in height. This ancient roadway seems to run also on the Oxfordshire side ot the Thames in a north-easterly > Evans, Coins, 329-30. * This coin is in the Reading Museum. The reverse represents a horse with a tripartite tail, beneath which is an oval object. Under the horse is a wheel. It resembles the Ruscombe and Maidenhead type figured by Evans (PL B, No. 9). Above the horse is a bird-like object or an ornament. Owing to the metal being smaller than the die, these examples show different details of the design. 3 See Evans, Coins, 65, 67. « The type is figured in Evans, Coins, PI. VIII, 5. • Codrington, Roman Roads in Britain (and ed. 1905), 230. 192 BRONZE SICKLE FROM THE THAMES AT BRAY. WAYLAND SMITH'S CAVE, NEAR UFFINGTON. General view of Cist. EARLY MAN direction for many miles. The name Icknield Street may indicate that it was the main road to the country of the Iceni. PILE DWELLINGS Remains of ancient pile-dwellings, probably belonging to pre- historic times, have been found in the county, principally in the neighbourhood of Newbury. As Newbury was the centre of a lake- district, as is evident from its peat-deposits, such a mode of building is natural. Further evidence suggestive of ancient dwellings was found in 1870,' when, in digging in Fence Wood, near Hermitage, a kind of pyramidal dwelling beneath the ground was discovered. The roof was covered with clay about i foot in thickness, and was supported by a large piece of timber about 26 feet long. The dwelling appears to have been constructed in what had originally been a lake or morass, and which had in time become covered by a deposit of peat, and at a depth of from 15 to 1 6 feet were found three causeways by which the dwelling had formerly been approached. Unfortunately the remains were too much damaged by the inrush of water for any careful examination of the site to be made. In Newbury a a good many traces of pile-dwellings were discovered during the drainage operations in 1894. In Bartholomew Street, Market Place, and Cheap Street were found underground pile-structures, consisting for the most part of solid balks of unbarked oak, roughly hewn, with massive beams crossing from side to side and resting on vertical piles. The piles were placed sometimes close together, some- times in pairs, and sometimes tolerably far apart. In most instances their tops were brought to a level, so as to support the beams of the platform laid upon them. The vertical piles were roughly morticed in order to receive the tenons of the cross-beams, a feature which may point to the use of metallic tools in the work of constructing the dwellings. Generally speaking, the Newbury pile-dwellings were more numerous on the southern side of the river than on the northern, and their situation was found to vary considerably in relation to the present course of the Kennet. In prehistoric times, however, the site of New- bury was occupied by a lake or morass. In the peat at about 7 feet from the surface in Bartholomew Street, opposite the Coopers' Arms, a platform of fir poles, about 5 inches in diameter and about 1 8 inches apart, was met with. The stakes, which were rudely pointed, had been firmly driven into the peat. The antiquities found in the peat comprise numerous flint implements of characteristic neolithic types, as well as bones of the horse, pig, goat, red-deer, dog, wolf, marten, short-horned ox (bos taurus, var. longi- frons), bear, boar, beaver, etc. 1 Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i. 123. 2 Ibid. iv. 206-8. I 193 25 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE TOPOGRAPHICAL LIST OF PREHISTORIC ANTIQUITIES DISCOVERED IN BERKSHIRE The following list shows the various prehistoric remains found in Berkshire, and gives references to books where records of the same may be found. ABINGDON. — Bronze dagger found in the Thames. Late Celtic pottery in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford [Arch. lii. 354]. Coin of Cunobelinus [Evans, Coins, 329], APPLEFORD. — Drinking cup (British Museum). ASHBURY (near Uffington). — Dolmen called ' Wayland Smith's cave.' ASHDOWN. — Bronze spear-head [Evans, Bronze Imp. 322]. BEEDON. — In barrow, incense cup (British Museum) [Arch. Journ. vii. 65]. BEENHAM. — Bronze palstave, in Reading Museum. BISHAM. — Bronze axe, now in the British Museum. BLEWBURY. — Bronze knife-blade with two rivet-holes in the Ashmolean Museum [Arch. Journ. 282]. BOURNE END. — Hilt of bronze dagger dredged from the Thames. BRADFIELD. — Two palaeolithic implements (Reading Museum). BRAY. — Two neolithic celts of basalt and one of flint from the Thames (Canon Greenwell's Coll.). Bronze sickle found in the Thames [Evans, Bronze Imp. 199]. BRIGHTWELL. — Ancient British coin of Cunobelinus [Evans, Coins, 560]. BURGHFIELD. — Neolithic flint implement, adze form (Reading Museum). CHILDREY. — Triangular chipped flint arrow-head ij inch long, and urn found in barrow [Arch. lii. 63 ; Evans, Stone Imp. 391]. CHILTON, HAGBOURNE HILL. — Important hoard of Bronze Age and Late Celtic objects [Arch. xvi. 384-9]. CHOLSEY. — River-drift implement [Evans, Stone Imp. 593]. Two bronze celts, now in Reading Museum. Early Bronze Age drinking cup of pale brown ware, 6 in. high, with spreading lip : ornamented with quadruple bands of impressed dots and one band of lattice pattern on the neck, and short dotted horizontal lines on the body (British Museum, 1893). CHURN. — In barrows, urn, small vessels of pottery, arrow-head [Arch. Journ. v. 279]. COOKHAM. — Late Celtic bronze dagger-sheath and spear-head. Twenty bronze spear-heads, bronze sword, etc. [Mr. L. Treacher and Reading Museum]. Palaeolithic flint implements. Two neolithic flint knives in Reading Museum. COOKHAM DEAN. — Neolithic flint knife. Iron spear-head. COTHILL. — See MARCHAM. CROOKHAM. — Two neolithic celts [Trans. Nezvbury Dist. Field Club, i. 205]. DRAYTON. — A food vessel. ENGLEFIELD. — Palaeolithic implement. Neolithic flint chisel (Reading Museum). FYFIELD. — Bronze spear-head, 6J inches long [Evans, Bronze Imp. 322]. HAMPSTEAD NORRIS. — Flint celt at Eling Farm. Bronze knife [Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, iv. 184]. Uninscribed gold British coin in Reading Museum [Evans, Coins, 66]. HENLEY. — Bronze sword (see p. 181). Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. (1882), 275. LAMBOURN. — Perforated axe-head, hammer-head of deer's horn, incense cup, small vessel, bone pin, and a bronze knife [Arch. lii. 60]. Arrow-heads, scrapers, celt and dagger of STONE AXE FROM LAMBOURN. f HAMMER-HEAD OF DEER'S HORN FROM LAMBOURN. f flint, a bracer, a button, found in sepulchral barrows [Evans, Stone Imp. 186, 318, 349, 384, 399, 434, 455]. Three urns, two elaborately ornamented drinking cups, incense 194 O PH EARLY MAN cup, two bronze knives, iron pyrites, flint flakes, in British Museum. Numerous urns found in one barrow. LETCOMBE BASSETT. Barrows of the Bronze Age ; arrow-head of flint. LETCOMBE REGIS. — Ancient British coin of silver, uninscribed [Evans, Coins, 104]. MAIDENHEAD. — River-drift implements, and neolithic stone pick JDvans, Stone Imp. 591, 174]. Rapier dagger-blade of bronze found in the Thames [Evans, Bronze Imp. 245]. Bronze palstave and dagger dredged from the Thames. Bronze Age urn, now in the Reading Museum. Uninscribed British gold coins [Evans, Coins, 65, 67]. MARHCAM. — Bronze knife, or razor, found at Cothill in this parish [Evans, Bronze Imp. 215]. MORTIMER. — Bronze spear-head and urn, also neolithic flint implement of unusual type, in Reading Museum. MOULSFORD. — Bronze spear-head, in Reading Museum (barbed type). NEWBURY. — Palaeolithic and neolithic implements. Two bronze palstaves of early form, one 6f inches long [Evans, Bronze Imp. 77, 81]. Bronze tanged dagger of interesting form \jfourn. Brit. Arch. Ass. xvi. 322. In Canon Greenwell's collection]. Slider or belt- fastener of jet [Ibid., also Evans, Bronze, Imp. 308]. Two bronze axe-heads, now in Newbury Museum. Coin of Cunobelinus [Evans, Coins, 304]. PADWORTH. — Drinking cup of the Bronze Age, now in Reading Museum. PAMBER FOREST. — Palstave, neolithic celt (Reading Museum).^ PLTSEY. — Ground neolithic celt, sJ inches long, with faceted edge, found at Cherbury Camp [Evans, Stone Imp. in]. READING. — Palaeolithic implements found at Grovelands, Redlands, Sonning Hill, Southern Hill [Evans, Stone Imp. 591-2]. Various neolithic implements. Bronze sword, dagger, two spear-heads, sickle, and flanged celt. Two food-vessels. Iron spear-head. Un- inscribed bronze coin (all in Reading Museum). Palstave found in the Thames [British Museum]. Bronze sword from the Thames [Canon Greenwell's collection]. Socketed bronze dagger from the Thames. RUNNYMEDE (near). — Looped spear-head i6J inches long, without point \Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. (1860), 322]. RUSCOMBE. — River-drift implements [Evans, Stone Imp. 591]- Small urn of the Bronze Age, now in Reading Museum. Uninscribed gold coins [Evans, Coins, 65]. SHEFFORD, GREAT. — Bronze Age sepulchral barrow [Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Cl. i. 130-1]. An- cient British uninscribed coin [Evans, Coins, 65, 67]. Six flint arrow-heads, incense cup, food- INCENSE CUP FROM GREAT SHEFFORD. vessel, etc. (British Museum). SPEEN. — Bronze spear-head, 7 inches long ; spear-head, 9 inches long, with two holes at base of leaf ; heavy spear-head barbed at base, loj inches long [Evans, Bronze Imp. 330, 333, 337, and Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. xvi. 322]. Bronze celt, and a canoe of doubtful date found at Bagnor [Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, iv. 205]. STANCOMBE. — See Lambourn. STRATFIELD SAYE. — Polished flint celt (Reading Museum). STREATLEY. — Two urns of the Bronze Age found in the Thames. SULHAMSTEAD ABBOTS. — Palaeolithic implement. SUNNINGDALE. — Barrows of the Bronze Age containing numerous urns (Reading Museum, etc.). SUNNINGHILL. — Perforated hammer of quartzite [Evans, Stone Imp. 229]. SUNNINGWELL. — Bronze palstave [Evans, Bronze Imp. 80]. SUTTON COURTENAY. — Neolithic arrow-heads of flint [Evans, Stone Imp. 389]. Bronze knife- blade [Evans, Bronze Imp. 223]. TAPLOW. — Bronze spear-heads and swords, and bronze spear-head of special type, in British Museum. THATCHAM. — Roughly chipped neolithic celt found in peat [Evans, Stone Imp. 78]. Bronze rapier-shaped blade found in the river Kennet near Thatcham [Evans, Bronze Imp. 247]. Polished flint-celt. THEALE. — Drinking cup of the Bronze Age with dotted ornamentation (Reading Museum). TILEHURST. — Bronze dagger dredged from the river Thames. 195 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE TWYFORD. — Palaeolithic flint implements (Reading Museum and Mr. L. Treacher's col- lection). UFFINGTON. — Prehistoric hill-side sculpture, known as the White Horse. WALLINGFORD. — Palaeolithic implements [Evans, Stone Imp. 592]. Neolithic knife and arrow- heads [Ibid. 343, 390]. Holed hammer-head of stone (Reading Museum). Various Bronze Age antiquities, and a hoard of bronze objects [Evans, Bronze Imp. 87, 128, 167, 206, 219, 321, 457, 466]. Two bronze axes, also an urn, in Reading Museum. Ancient British coins of Bodvoc, Antedrigus, Eppillus, Tasciovanus, and one uninscribed coin of the Iceni [Evans, Coins, 487, 489, 521, 536, 587]. WALTHAM ST. LAWRENCE. — Stone celt with hole (for suspension?) [Reading Museum]. Ancient British coin of tin found at Weycock [Evans, Coins, 125 ; Arch. Journ. vi. 120]. Uninscribed gold coin. WANTAGE. — Four bronze palstaves [Evans, Bronze Imp. 79]. Ancient British coins of Tascio- vanus and Cunobelinus [Evans, Coins, 542, 569]. WEYCOCK. — See WALTHAM ST. LAWRENCE. WINDSOR. — Bronze palstave, socketed celt, leaf-shaped sword, spear-head, and pointed ferrule [Evans, Bronze Imp. 84, 113, 199, 282, 314, 340 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) v. 95]. Sickle [Proc. Soc. of Ant. (ser. 2) v. 95]. Neolithic flint celt (Canon Greenwell's coll.). Holed hammer-head [Reading Museum]. WITTENHAM, LITTLE. — Bronze buckler [Arch, xxvii. 298]. WITTENHAM, LONG. — Neolithic flint knife [Evans, Stone Imp. (1872), 302]. WOKINGHAM. — Palaeolithic implement [Evans, Stone Imp. 592]. YATTENDON. — Hoard of about fifty bronze objects consisting of fragments of swords, tanged chisels, knives, etc. [Evans, Bronze Imp. 169, 403, 466]. Rapier-shaped blade of bronze found in a barrow [Ibid. 242]. Bronze knife-dagger (Rowcroft) \Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. xvii. 334]. LOCALITY UNKNOWN. — Late Celtic bronze button with two rings, like the example found at Kingsholm, Gloucestershire [Arch. Cambr. (ser. 5) xiii. 330]. 196 ROMAr Hampstead- , -Marshall »^ • ErTOorne EMAINS REFERENCE A _ ^Villas and oLher Buildings • Miscellaneous finds "^ Roman Roads *•* _; Doubtful Roman Roads SCALE OF MILES I 0 I 2 3 4 5 r" *• ^» -^ .Fmchampstead • "^••^"*" >-•"*• Sandhurst / • " x' . s.x ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE IT must be stated at the outset of this article that the district now known as Berkshire had no separate existence at the time of the Roman occupation of Britain. It can only be stated with safety that the Atrebates, a Belgic tribe, occupied a greater part, possibly even the whole, of this district at the time of Caesar's invasion of Britain, and the subjugation of the country by Claudius commenced in A.D. 43. The chief town of the Atrebates, called Calleva, was situated in the parish of Silchester just over the county boundary in Hampshire and, while it flourished, strongly influenced much of the country around. So far as the archaeological evidence is concerned the Roman occupation of this district was, it would seem, quite peaceful, as it was throughout all the Midlands. There is much which points to a continuity of village life by the native British, who gradually became Romanized. This is shown by the evidence of pottery and other objects of the Celtic period found associated with those of the Romano-British, indicating the adoption by the natives of Roman civilization. Such evidence has been found at Theale where, as may be seen from the exhibits at the Reading Museum, the ruder pottery of the British period was associated with articles of the finer Roman ware. More important discoveries in this respect were made at Long Wittenham where a native British village composed of enclosures of mud or wattle and daub walls, circular, rectangular or rhomboidal in shape, was excavated. Mr. Haverfield, who visited and described these excavations, gives a list of other places in the Upper Thames Valley, including Appleford and Radley, where the growth of the crops shows similar lines, rectangles and circles to those explored at Long Wittenham. All these seem to represent small hamlets and homesteads of an early date, the circles being probably British settlements, whilst the rectangular en- closures may belong to the second and third centuries of our era. The inhabitants were probably engaged in pastoral and agricultural pursuits and there are no traces of wealth or advanced civilization. The native village discovered at Wickham Bushes in Easthampstead was of a like type, but shows slightly greater prosperity and more Roman influence. Probably similar settlements existed also at Compton, East Ilsley and Maidenhead. 197 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE The inhabitants of the pile dwellings at Cookham were perhaps some of the poorest of the land, but even they acquired something of the civilization and customs of the conquerors. Although there were no large towns of the Romano-British period in the county (for there is no sufficient evidence to support the claims that have been advanced on behalf of Wallingford and Speen), villas are fairly numerous throughout the county. These villas were the proper- ties of large landowners, sometimes Romans but more often probably Romanized Britons, who lived at the houses and cultivated the lands immediately around them by their slaves and let the rest to the half serf coloni. The houses were of types suitable to this climate and only to be found in Britain and Northern Gaul. The simpler, and generally the smaller, of these was the corridor house, which consisted of a row of rooms with a passage or corridor running along one side of them. The other type was the courtyard house, consisting of three rows of like rooms and passages running along three sides of a square, with an open courtyard in the middle. Both types were seldom, if ever, carried higher than the ground floor. Excavations on the Berkshire sites have not been thorough enough, in most cases, to decide which of these types was more usually adopted. The only foundations in the county which have been sufficiently explored to decide this point are those at Frilford, Letcombe Regis and Hampstead Norris, which are all of the corridor type. Besides these three, it is clear from the remains found at Basildon, Maidenhead, Bucklebury, Hampstead Norris (Well House), Lambourn, Letcombe Regis and Woolstone that Roman villas existed here although their plans have not been ascertained. It would seem from the cemeteries which have been found that there were villas also at Fawley, Pang- bourne and Waltham St. Lawrence, though their sites have not been discovered. Taking the distribution of the population geographically, the settlements range themselves into three groups. First come those along the valleys of the Thames, the Kennet, the Ock and the Lambourn, next the few settlements on the chalk downs running through the middle of the county and lastly those along the Antonine highways and to the north of Calleva, the Roman town at Silchester in Hampshire. The first group, which is by far the most numerous and therefore comprised the most populous districts, owed its origin to the waterway of the Thames and its tributaries, and the fertility of the lands rising from the Thames valley for the growth of corn. There are indications of Roman occupation all along the south side of that valley from the burial sites of Windsor and Pangbourne and the villa remains at Maidenhead and Basildon to the native settlement at Long Wittenham already referred to. It contains also a considerable number of sites, such as Abingdon in the valley of the Thames and Boxford in the Lambourn valley, whose claim to permanent occupation is less well substantiated, besides many noted for miscellaneous finds of coins and pottery. 198 ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE The second group lies in the high ground of central Berk- shire, where the bulk of the population must have been engaged in pastoral pursuits. Remains of Roman buildings have been found in the parishes of Lambourn, East Ilsley and Compton and there was a group of villas in the neighbourhood of Hampstead Norris. From the evidence which the remains of these villas afford the graziers here were persons of wealth. Other villa remains have been discovered at Wool- stone and Letcombe Regis and there are besides a few instances of miscellaneous finds. But the distinguishing feature of this district is its numerous camps. These, which were probably for the most part con- structed at a date before the Roman period, bear witness in the form of pottery, coins and other remains, to occupation during this time, whether as human dwellings or merely as cattle-shelters it is difficult to determine. It is probable that the supply of wool for the numerous dyeworks at Calleva in Silchester was drawn from the Berkshire Downs. The third group, which provided for the needs of travellers and the inhabitants of Silchester, is found in the neighbourhood of the two Roman highroads which entered the county at its north-western and south-western extremities and converged at Speen. Roman foundations have been uncovered near Membury fort, where the parish of Lambourn borders on Wiltshire, and finds of coins are recorded from one or two spots near Ermine Street on its course from Baydonto Newbury. Remains of more importance mark the line of the Antonine route from Pontes to Calleva. Excavations, at Oakfield Park, about 3! miles from Silchester, showed great quantities of coarse ware and calcined stone and seemed to mark the site of a Roman pottery. Many other finds of pottery have been made near the Roman highroad, and in some cases, as for example the specimens from Rapley's Farm, described by Mr. Handasyd in 1783, the quality of the ware was good. Foundations, however, and other indications of permanent occupation are not abundant here. THE ROADS Three of the routes of the ' Itinerarium Antonini ' pass through Berkshire. I. Route from Isca (Caerleon-on-Usk) by Durocornovium (Ciren- cester) to Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester). Durocornovium to Spins (Speen), 15 miles; Spins to Calleva Atrebatum, 15 miles. The real distance, however, from Cirencester to Speen, is not 1 5 but 34 miles. The discrepancy may be explained by comparing the total distance given in the Itinerary, 108 miles, with the sum of the separate distances which amounts to only 90 miles. Apparently a station had dropped out, and it has been suggested1 that this was on Wanborough Plain, 1 5 miles from Speen, where there are Roman remains. II. Route from Isca by Aquae Sulis (Bath) and Cunetio (Marl- borough) to Calleva. Cunetio to Spins 1 5 miles, Spins to Calleva 15 miles. 1 Codrington, Roman Roads in Britain, 328. 199 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE III. Route from Regnum (Chichester) through Venta Belgarum (Winchester), Calleva and Pontes (Staines) to Londinium. Calleva to Pontes 22 miles, Pontes to Londinium 22 miles. Besides these three, for which we have the evidence of the Antonine Itinerary, there are several other roads, Icknield Street, Old Street, and one or two more, for which a Roman origin has been claimed. We will first describe the course of the great military ways, with their branches and continuations, and then discuss those for which we have less certain authority. I. The route from Cirencester to Silchester , sometimes called Ermine Street, the most marked Roman road in the county, enters Berkshire from Baydon, passes through the south of Lambourn parish, crossing the turnpike road from Wantage to Hungerford between the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth milestones. Thence it continues in a straight course to Wickham without passing through any village. From Wickham it crosses Wickham Heath and falls into the modern high road from Bath to London about a mile from Speen.1 The Ordnance Maps mark its site in the parishes of Lambourn, East Garston, the ShefFords, and Welford. It coincides in parts with the present highway and is traced elsewhere as running in a straight line at its side. Roman remains have been found in its neighbourhood at Wyfield Farm, in the parish of Boxford," and at Wickham. There are hardly any traces of its course between Speen and Silchester. We have, however, the evidence of the Itinerary to prove the existence of a Roman road here and the distance which it gives, 15 Roman miles, agrees fairly with the distance between their modern representatives. Sections of a road supposed to be Roman have been found in digging the foundations of some houses in Shaw Crescent, Newbury,3 near Round Oak, Greenham, and at Pigeon's Farm in the same parish.* It probably started from the west gate at Silchester and went in the same direction as the present county boundary by the ' Imp Stone ' which is marked in the Ordnance Map as a ' Supposed Roman milestone,' B close to what is entered as the ' Supposed Course of Roman Road from Silchester to Speen.' II. The route from Marlborougb to Speen and Silchester by Froxfield and Charnham Street to Hungerford, was surveyed between Hungerford and Speen by the students of the Sandhurst Royal Military College in 1836 and reported on in the United Service Journal, September 1837. They found portions of the substratum of a road consisting of close pavement of large flints, near Hoe Benham and Elcot, and some few traces of it elsewhere. Mr. Money, writing in 1892, says that part of a 1 Walter Money, Hist, of Speen, 4, 5 ; Bishop of Cloyne. Lysons, Magna Brit. i. pt. 2, 200, 204. 2 Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, i. 207. 3 Hist, of Newbury (1839), 157. « W. Money, Hist, of Speen, 6. » This stone has lately been carefully examined and shows no evidence of having been a Roman milestone. Its name however, IMP (NIMP) Stone, is old and may well have been taken from the letters IMP or DNIMP with which a miliary inscription would naturally commence. Its shape also is not unlike that of a fragment of a Roman milestone [F. Haverfield]. 20O ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE Roman road was discovered at Wood-Speen some years previously, but it was not traced beyond the buildings that were then being erected.1 It seems however very doubtful if any of these fragments of roads had any connexion with the road here referred to. III. Route from Chicbester to London by Silchester and Staines. — The road from London commenced north of the Thames, crossed it probably at Staines (Pontes) and ran almost due west, entering Berkshire near Bagshot. Till the beginning of the last century some miles of cause- way were visible on the heath between Bagshot and Finchampstead. This was called ' The Devil's Highway,' a name which has since been applied to the whole road between Staines and Silchester. The road passes Rapley's Farm and Wickham Bushes where Roman remains were discovered by Mr. Handasyd in 1783," whilst Caesar's Camp, which though British in its origin was probably used during the Romano- British period,3 lies not half a mile to the north of it. On Easthamp- stead Plain it can still be seen much in its original condition. It can be traced again near Broadmoor and at Finchampstead where there are remains of a rectangular camp.* West Court House is said to have been built on it. Beyond the junction of the Blackwater and White- water at Little Ford it is found making directly for Riseley village. After crossing the Blackwater it enters Hampshire and runs in a straight line to the east gate of Silchester. Route from Silchester to Dorchester (Oxon). — Very few traces of this road have been found. It left Silchester by the north gate and can be traced from the city for nearly a mile, apparently through its extramural cemetery. The Sandhurst officers ! who surveyed the country between Silchester and Hungerford with the especial purpose of discovering re- mains of Icknield Street between Dorchester and Winchester, found indications of a Roman road in Aldermaston Park and near Ufton Church. They inferred that it ran northwards from Silchester through Ufton, crossed the Kennet at Theale, and followed the present road to Pangbourne. Towards the close of the eighteenth century a short piece of a Roman highway was supposed to have been discovered between the river and the east corner of Bray churchyard." An old Roman road, marked on the Ordnance Maps, can be traced from Braywick to a tumulus at Cockmarsh in the parish of Cookham,7 and may be an ex- tension or branch of the road from Speen to Bray. There are indica- tions of it at Wargrave on the line of its supposed course from Twyford to Bray, in the form of a raised road with a fosse on either side.8 Of other early roads in the county the Ridgway and Icknield Street or Ickleton Way are probably of a date before the Roman occupation, 1 Hist, of Speen, p. 6. » Arch. vii. 199-204. 3 Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Oct. 1901, 74. 4 Ibid. W. Lyon, Chron. of Finchampstead, 7. « United Service Journ. Sept. 1837, 7. « Gent. Mag. 1795, pt. ii. 629-630. 7 Kerry, Hist, and Antiq. of Bray, 150. 8 Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Jan. 1902, p. 120. 1 201 26 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE while the Portway is possibly of a later period. Many other roads have been identified by various writers as Roman, but the present evidence as to them must be considered insufficient to warrant this attribution. INDEX ABINGDON. — In June 1865, some workmen, digging the foundations of a house at the north end of Fore Street, St. Helen's, laid bare some massive foundations, consisting largely of herring-bone masonry. Mr. Akerman, who watched the excavations, sent an account with sketches of the remains disclosed, to the Society of Antiquaries [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2), iii. 145, 202], but the place was unfortunately not thoroughly explored. Some earthen vases of a very common description, possibly from the kilns at Sunningwell, a second brass of Trajan, a denarius of Philip, a small brass of Constantine, and very many animal bones were found. Earlier in the same year other Roman relics from this neighbour- hood had been exhibited to the Archaeological Institute [Arch. Journ. xxii. 82, 162]. They were found at Barton farm on the estate of Sir George Bowyer, a mile from Abing- don on the Oxford side, and consisted of Roman pottery, calcined bones and remains. On several occasions human skeletons had been disinterred near this spot during the process of digging for gravel. In a grave here opened by Professor Rolleston were found the unburnt bones of a dog and a horse, whilst fragments of Romano-British pottery occurred through the deposit. It may be noticed that a Romano-British urn and an interment, which were dug up in the Old Abbey grounds at Abingdon, are exhibited in the Reading Museum. The interment consists of a skull and an arm bone with a small pot and patera of fine red ware, with dotted diamonds in white slip, found to the right and left of the skull respectively. A few other finds, from Abingdon or its neighbourhood, are recorded. In 1849 a sketch of a bronze figure of the Gaulish Mercury which had been turned up by the plough near the town was laid before the Archaeological Institute [Arch. Journ. ii. 209]. Mention is made of perforated baked clay weights, from 3 to 4 inches in diameter, discovered in a field near Abingdon and exhibited to the British Archaeological Association in 1848 [Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. iv. 404 ; xvi. 34], and the discovery of an unpublished silver coin of Carausius, with R.S.R. in the exergue, found in the neighbourhood, was com- municated to the Numismatic Society [Num. Chron. (new ser.) i. 161] in 1861. There is also in the British Museum a bronze brooch of the early La Tene type from Abingdon. In conclusion a passing reference may perhaps be permitted to the mediaeval legend [Abingdon Chron. (Rolls ser.) i. 6, 7 ; ii. 278] telling of crosses and images belonging to an early British Christianity dug up here in later days, for though it has no historical value it is not without its interest as an old tradition connecting the town with the Emperor Constantine and his mother. ALDERMASTON. — Cinerary urns found in Box Meadow, one of black earth, another of coarse grey pottery, the others not described [Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. xvi. 324 ; Newbury Dili. Field Club Trans, ii. 126]. APPLEFORD. — Fragments of a light brown urn found beside two skeletons in Appleford fields [Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. i. 309 ; xvi. 33]. Circles and square enclosures resembling those at Long Wittenham but unexplored in a field south of the church [Berks Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. July 1898, p. 44]. APPLETON. — Grey Upchurch vase found below the bed of the Thames and now in the British Museum. ASHBURY. — From Ashdown Park bronze bracelets and brooches somewhat of a British type, now exhibited in the British Museum. An iron chain and a few much corroded coins found about a mile from Wayland Smith's cave, in digging stones for the road [Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. iv. 404]. A Roman steelyard said to have been found with Roman coins at Lambourn End near Ashbury about 1888 [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, iv. 204], Coins of Domitian, Marcus Aurelius, Claudius II, Constantine the Great, Constans and Valentinian I (A.D. 81-375), Samian and other pottery, mullers, horse-shoes, querns, rings, spindle-whorls and fibulae from the neighbourhood [Ibid.]. ASTON TIRROLD or ASTON UPTHORPE. — Third brass coins of the Tetrici (A.D. 267-74) an<^ Claudius Gothicus (A.D. 268-70). Hedges (Hist, of Wallingford i. 143) gives these coins as found ' near Aston.' 202 THUMB POT OF NEW FOREST WARE, CONTAINING HOARD OF COINS, FROM READING, IN THE READING MUSEUM (}). POTTERY FROM AEINCDON, IN THE READING MUSEUM (f). BRONZE FIGURE FROM WALLINCFORD, IN THE READING MUSEUM (j). ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE ASTON UPTHORPE. — Site of a Roman camp on Lowbury Hill [O.S. (25 in.) xxi. 12]. Traces of the foundations of walls enclosing a rectangular space, 56 yards long by 43 yards wide, are said to have been observed here before the middle of the last century, and a great quantity of fragments of Roman pottery, bricks and tiles, many Roman coins and a vast amount of oyster shells were found within or near this area [Gent. Mag. 1838, i. 47, 48 ; Hewett, Hist, and Antiq. of Hundred, of Camp ton, 113 ; Arch. Journ. v. 279]. BASILDON. — Early in 1839 some remains of a Roman villa {Arch, xxviii. 447, 448] were found on the line of the Great Western Railway at Basildon, a village on the Thames, two miles north of Pangbourne. The site was in a field called Church Field, lying between the village and the church and only 200 yards from the high road to Streatley, Moulsford and Wallingford [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, iv. 98-100]. Two tessellated pave- ments were first uncovered at a depth of only 12 or 14 inches below the surface. Both were destroyed by the workmen, not, however, before drawings had been made. One of these drawings was afterwards lost, but the other was preserved, and a chromo-lithograph of it appeared in Roach Smith's Collectanea Antiqua [i. 65] and shows a panel of mosaic which is set in a wide border of plain red tesserae with a narrow inner band of red and white triangles, and consists of a circle within two interlacing squares framed by an outer square, the space thus enclosed being made octagonal by bands set across the angles. The ground colour is white, and the bands forming the pattern are outlined in blue and ornamented with a guilloche in red, blue and white. In the angles of the outer square are red and white lotus flowers, and in the eight lozenge-shaped spaces enclosed between the octagon and the two inner squares are fylfots in red alternating with interlaced rings. The circle which forms the centre of the design has a red border with white rays surround- ing a band on which is a key pattern in red, white and blue. Within the band are two superimposed pentagons with concave sides outlined in blue, and containing a five-leaved flower similarly outlined with a large red centre. The second pavement was a parallelo- gram of red tesserae relieved by blue. There were no other remains with these pavements, but at a distance of about 50 yards the workmen found one perfect skeleton and the remains of another, a sword by the side of one of these, and a portion of a wall about 3 feet in length. Twenty of what are described as pavements from 6 to 8 feet long and made of large flints were uncovered at a depth of 18 inches and supposed by the workmen to be graves, though only a few small pieces of bone were found with them. Fragments of red pottery and tiles were turned up in great abundance, but apparently no coins except a large brass of Lucilla (A.D. 147-183). BEEDON. — Old Street, supposed to be a Roman road, passes through this parish [Hewett, Hist, and Antiq. of Hundred of Campion, 118]. Fragments of Samian and other ware, animal bones and coins (undescribed) have been found here [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans. ii. 93, 256]. BLEWBURY. — A single fragment of pale burnt Roman ware found about 1848 in a British barrow near Ilsley Downs [Arch. Journ. v. 279]. Roman buckles and a key from Blewbury Fields \Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. iii. 328]. ' Roman Amphitheatre ' at Curknell Pit [O.S. (2Sin.) xxi. 7]. BOROUGH HILL CAMP. — See Boxford. BOXFORD. — At Wyfield Farm some foundations of ' a very large villa ' are said to have been discovered in 1871, a part of a bronze armilla, a spindle-whorl of Kimmeridge coal, the bottom of a vessel of Durobrivian pottery and some flanged roofing-tiles were also found [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, i. 207]. Traces of an encampment on Borough Hill, a quarter of a mile from Wyfield Farm [Ibid. ii. 61]. At Boxford Rectory fragments of Roman pottery and numerous coins [Cooper-King, Hist, of Berks, 47]. BRADFIELD. — Roman terra-cotta lamp picked up in 1884 in a ploughed field not far from the workhouse. Some foundations pronounced ' too rough to be Roman ' were after- wards discovered near the same spot. Dr. Haverfield, who exhibited the lamp to the Society of Antiquaries, thought that the device between the central head and spout was just possibly the Chi-Rho, and that the two finds might indicate the existence of a Romano-British dwelling in the neighbourhood [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) xvi. 276]. BRAY AND MAIDENHEAD. — As the modern town of Maidenhead was formerly in the parish of Bray and is only a mile distant from the old village, it will be convenient to consider 203 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE together such traces of Roman occupation as have been found in both places. Chief of these is the villa on Castle Hill to which attention was first drawn by the number of flanged roof-tiles seen on the spot. Excavations were in consequence begun in October 1886 under the direction of Mr. Rutland, F.G.S., who communicated the results to the Maidenhead and Taplow Field Club in a paper read in October 1891 [Maidenhead and la-plow Field, Club, etc. Rep. (1890-1) 50-2]. Fragments of Romano-British pottery were first discovered. A furnace surrounded by walls, 2\ feet deep, if feet wide and 10 feet long, of the usual Roman brick, was laid bare, and masses of foundations of flints and chalk stones, embedded in a very hard mortar, composed of chalk lime, sand, and pounded brick. On each side of the furnace, which was not paved or plastered, was a row of rough conglomerate gravel boulders. Near its mouth two coins of Tetricus, the elder and the younger (A.D. 267-273) and two pieces of Samian ware were found. There was a bronze pin in the ashes near it and much ordinary pottery, black, brown, grey and stone-coloured. Other foundations were found in this part of the building, one of which was probably the foundation layer of concrete for floors of tesserae. As the work proceeded a hypocaust with its pilae was discovered, and a kitchen midden. There were more fragments of Samian, animal bones, pieces of about sixty common vessels, square flue-tiles, roofing tiles used as bonding-tiles, and bits of wall plaster with traces of mural decoration. Twenty-seven pilae were found in situ and supported the square tiles on which was laid the thick bed of concrete forming the foundation for the tessellated floor above. Perhaps the most interesting discovery was that of the bath with a lead pipe for emptying it. Its floor was of concrete and brick, and finished on the inside with fine tesserae. Unfortunately the plough had obliterated all traces of floors and doorways in the other rooms and the north-west angle of the building had been destroyed by excavations for gravel. It was supposed that the villa, which must have been of con- siderable size, had been explored before, as some of the pilae of the hypocaust and a large portion of the outer wall had been removed. A Roman quern was picked up on the site, and opposite the villa a coin of Constantine, a bead of Kimmeridge clay, two nails and an iron loop were found. In ' Maidenhead Thicket,' two miles west of the town, are some pits and a circular entrenchment supposed to be British. Not far off, on the opposite side of the so-called ' Thicket ' there are two other earthworks, both quadrangular, one of which, called ' Robin Hood's Arbour,' is 235 feet square with an entrance in the north side. It is supposed that both of these are Roman [Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Oct. 1901, p. 95]. Roman coins and fragments of armour and weapons are said to have been ploughed up at different times before the close of the eighteenth century, in the Easthay, a common field to the east of Bray [Gent. Mag. 1795, ii. 629, 630]. About the same time, too, a short piece of a Roman highway is also said to have been discovered between the river and the east corner of the churchyard [Ibid]. There are also said to be traces of a Roman road from Braywick to the tumulus at Cockmarsh in the parish of Cookham [Kerry, Hist, and Antiq. of Hundred of Bray, 150-3], and a few Roman coins, two of Antonine, have been found on its site. A broad ridge, 300 yards in length, to the south of Bray- wick, was supposed to show the line of this road in the opposite direction, a belief sup- ported by the discovery close by of a fine Roman urn containing charred bones and ashes. Numerous Roman coins, ranging from Vespasian to Arcadius (A.D. 70-408), have been found in Arbour Field and Down Place, Bray [Ibid.]. In 1837 two urns of rude workmanship were found about a mile east of Maidenhead Bridge on the Great Western Railway [Numismatic Journ. ii. 194]. They contained from four to five hundred coins of Roman emperors and empresses from Othotothe Antonines (A.D. 69-180). Camden and some other early antiquaries identified Bray with the Bibracte of the wholly untrust- worthy Richard of Cirencester. It may be noticed, however, in connexion with this question that the only Bibracte of which we have any certain knowledge was a town in Gaul which is described by Caesar. No mention of a Bibracte in Britain occurs in the Roman general's account of his invasion, and the solitary reference in Richard of Ciren- cester is our only authority for the existence of this place. BRIGHTWELL. — Samian and other Roman pottery found in a gravel pit about 500 yards north of Lower Hill Farm [Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. July 1898, p. 44]. Small brass coins from Tetricus to Allectus (A.D. 267-94) turned up in the garden of Slade End Farm [Ibid.]. A denarius of Geta (A.D. 209-12) from the village [Quart. Journ. Berks Arch. 204 ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE Soc. ii. 72]. Coin of Magnentius (A.D. 350-3), with the Christian monogram on the reverse, from the hamlet of Mackney {Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Jan. 1901]. BRIMPTON. — According to Godwin a hypocaust has been found here [Engl. Arch. Handbook, 59]. It is said that hypocaust tiles and Roman bricks are built into the church [Cooper- King, Hist, of Berks, 45]. BUCKLAND. — Romano-British bronze armlet, 4 inches in diameter, with its ends coiled round to form an elastic bracelet, found in the Thames [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) v. 474] and now in British Museum. BUCKLEBURY. — In 1860 some remains, supposed to be those of a Roman villa but only very imperfectly investigated, were discovered at Marlston in this parish, on the same estate as the Well House villa in the neighbouring parish of Hampstead Norris. They seem to have consisted of pottery, flue, pavement, and roofing-tiles, tesserae, and animal bones [Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. xvi. 290, 291]. A bronze object, some Castor ware and glass from this site are exhibited in the Reading Museum. BUSSOCK CAMP. — Supposed Roman camp on a plateau at the extreme end of Snelsmore com- mon [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, ii. 14]. It was described in 1872 as being nearly square and of large area with ramparts on the north-east and south-west boldly defined, and 12 to 20 feet high, those on the south being 5 feet high. CHADDLEWORTH. — An earthen vase with 100 coins discovered in a bye-road about 2 miles north of the ' Upper Baydon Road ' and 3 south of the ' Old Street.' Among the latter were some silver coins of Constantius, Valens, Valentinian and Gratian (A.D. 350-83) [Arch. Journ. vii. 87]. There is a reference in the Gentleman's Magazine of November 1827 [ii. 448] to some Roman pavement taken up on Poughley Farm which stands on the ground of the old monastery, but later writers who describe an old stone coffin lid found at the same time do not mention this discovery [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, ii. 58, 237]. CHARLTON DOWNS. — See Wantage. CHILTON. — A prehistoric hoard, found on Hagbourne Hill in 1803 contained, besides various articles of bronze and iron, a large number of coins. None of these were identified, but it was thought that a gold specimen amongst them might have belonged to the Lower Empire [Arch. xvi. 348 ; Guide to Antiq. of Early Iron Age, B.M. 102, 103]. In the maps of the Ordnance Survey a ' Roman burial ground ' is marked on this hill [O.S. (25 in.) xv. 14]. CHINHAM FARM. — See Stanford in the Vale. CHOLSEY. — Third brass coins of Victorinus, Tetricus and Claudius Gothicus (A.D. 265-74) have been found [Hedges, Hist, of Wallingford, i. 142, 143]. COMPTON. — North of this village there is a large tract of low arable land called ' The Slad,' which is held by popular tradition to be the site of an ancient town. The existence of some small settlement here in Romano-British times certainly seems probable. Bricks, tiles, fragments of pottery, a square floor of chalk, a quern, tesserae and other Roman remains are said to have been found [Hewett, Hist, and Antiq. of Hundred of Compton, 68-72]. It is, however, best known for the vast quantity of coins found from time to time in the course of ploughing, ditching and draining, and called by the villagers ' Slad farthings.' The majority of these seem to have been copper and small, but ' large brass ' and silver coins are also mentioned. One writer says that almost all the emperors are represented amongst them [Hist, of Newbury (1839), 223] ; another gives only those of the third and fourth centuries [Hewett, Hist, and Antiq. of Hundred of Compton, 68-72]. Sir Richard Colt Hoare, who visited ' The Slad ' before 1810 was told by the owner that several rubbish pits or ' wells ' (as he called them) had fallen in at different times in this field [Hist, of Wilts, ii. 52]. In the same parish but south of the village, on a hill known as the Cow Down, is a circular encampment called Perborough Castle, which though probably British in origin [Hewett, Hist, and Antiq. of Hundred of Compton, 68-72 ; Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, i. 128], was occupied during the Romano-British period, as fragments of Roman pottery have been found here and a quantity of Roman coins and oyster shells. In one earthenware jar there were as many as 500 copper coins. COOKHAM. — Two vases, one of grey ware, found in the Thames [Arch. Journ. xviii. 76], now in the British Museum. Two fragments of Romano-British pottery found in pile dwell- ings at the lock [Antiquary, xxvii. 137]. CRANHILL FARM. — See 'Letcombe Regis.' 205 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE DONNINGTON. — See ' Shaw cum Donnington.' DRAYTON. — Pale brown urn found in Drayton Field near a skeleton [Brit. Arch. Assoc. Journ. i. 310; xvi. 33]. BALING. — See 'Hampstead Norris.' EARLEY. — Marble urn with Roman inscription found in use as a flower-pot. Its origin un- known. In Reading Museum \Desc. Cat. Reading Mus. pt. i. p. 51]. EAST GARSTON. — Romano-British cinerary urn (PUpchurch ware) containing calcined bones, first brass of Albinus (A.D. 192-197), coin of Claudius II (A.D. 268-270), two iron arrow- heads and two Roman buckles [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, iv. 184, 204]. EASTHAMPSTEAD. — The great military road of the Antonine Itinerary which ran from Clausen- turn to Londinium, and of which the remains are still visible in this parish, lies about I mile to the south of the entrenchment popularly known as Caesar's Camp. The Ordnance Map (xlvii. 5) marks it as Romano-British, and although it would seem to be British in origin, it was probably occupied during the Romano-British period [Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Oct. 1901]. A plan of it as it existed in 1818, ac- companied by a full description, was laid before the Society of Antiquaries by Mr. Narrien of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst [Arch. xix. 96-98]. The Sandhurst students who surveyed the Imperial Way in 1836 described it as resembling an oak leaf in shape and fortified at the neck by a double parapet and ditch [United Service Journal, Sept. 1837]. Stukeley mentions that there had been a well in the camp and both Roman and British coins were found there [I tin. Curiosum (ed. 2), 177]. Other traces of Roman occupation have been found at a spot known as Wkkham Bushes, not half a mile south of Caesar's Camp, and at a farm called ' Rapley's Farm ' or ' The Roundabout," a few miles to the south-east. Both were explored by Mr. Handasyd in 1783 [Arch. vii. 199, 204]. Gough mentions this earthwork and its outlines can still be faintly traced [G. A. Kempthorne, The Devil's Highway, 6]. The farm itself once formed part of the heath but was enclosed early in the seventeenth century. In one corner of the farm Mr. Handasyd saw a small piece of ground enclosed by a vallum and deep fosse which the owner assured him had been ' deep enough to take in a road waggon, tilt and all ! ' Some years after this fosse had been filled in, the remains of a large number of earthenware vessels were ploughed up on the spot. Mr. Handasyd col- lected many of the fragments, some of which were of Samian ware, and sent drawings of the most remarkable to the Society of Antiquaries. No excavations seem to have been attempted on ' The Roundabout,' but at Wick- ham Bushes Mr. Handasyd and a labourer opened the ground in various parts. At that time the land was covered by a large number of thorn bushes from which it took its name. It seems also to have been known as ' The Town ' \Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xlix. 173]. A very large quantity of pottery, bricks and tiles was found and a coarse brick floor laid on layers of flints and sand, but the lateness of the season made more complete excavations impossible and nothing more seems to have been attempted for very many years. About 1878 the Natural Science Society of Wellington College obtained leave to dig at Wickham Bushes. Mr. Kempthorne in referring to their finds describes a village settlement and suggests that the inhabitants belonged to the poorer classes living for the most part in wattled sheds [Kempthorne, The Devil's Highway, 8]. That there were also timber-built dwellings is shown by the great number of nails found with occasional frag- ments of burnt wood. These better houses were roofed with tiles and at least one floor was paved with small squares of red brick. Iron binding, bolts and hinges show that the doors were solid, and more than one Roman key has been found. The coins discovered are from A.D. 1 17-383. We are told of various personal ornaments, a buckle, a safety pin brooch, a bangle, a snake-shaped ring, and a small cameo representing Hermes, with a cornucopia in one hand, and sheaves of corn in another. There were also household utensils of black Upchurch ware, amphorae, ampullae, fragments of mortaria, handmills, some Samian ware and fragments of glass. ENBORNE. — Romano-British pottery is said to have been found in this parish [W. Money, Early Hist, of the Parish of Enborne, i]. FAWLEY. — Four human skeletons in separate graves were found on the crest of the hill between North and South Fawley. With two of the interments were ' food-vessels ' an ampulla and a poculum, both probably from the kilns of the New Forest. Some flat-headed studs, supposed to be caliga nails, and portions of leather were found near the feet of two of 206 POTTERY FROM SOUTH FAWLEY, IN THE READING MUSEUM (j) POTTERY WITH DOTTED DIAMOND; IN WHITE SLIP FROM ABINGDON, IN THE READING MUSEUM (J). ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE the skeletons. The two vessels are preserved in the Reading Museum [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2), ix. 356 ; Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, iv. 187 ; Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. April 1896, p. 22 ; Desc. Cat. Reading Mus. pt. I, 49]. FINCHAMPSTEAD.— Roman milestone said to have been discovered in 1841 in a field called ' Six Acres ' on Webb's Farm [W. Lyon, Chronicles of Finchampstead, 5-7 ; Kempthorne, The Devil's Highway, 12]. Traces of a camp on the hill on which the church stands. In another field a quantity of Roman bricks and pottery [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. i) iv. 283]. The Reading Museum exhibits a Roman colander and vase from this parish. FRILFORD. — This is a hamlet of Marcham, a village 3 miles west of Abingdon. Roman remains had already been discovered here when, in 1884, Mr. Aldworth, a large landowner in the district, who had for some years been struck by the quantity of tiles and potsherds on the surface of a field bordering the road from Frilford to Kingston Bagpuize, requested Dr. A. J. Evans and Professor Moseley to examine the ground. Excavations were begun with the result that the whole ground plan of a small house of the corridor type and an adjacent building or bathhouse were laid bare [Arch. Journ. liv. 340-354]. The foundations GROUND PLAN OF ROMAN BUILDINGS EXCAVATED AT FRILFORD (BERKS). T : ...r of the first formed a small parallelogram, 69! feet by 40 feet, with a projecting hypocaust chamber in the south-east corner. There were twelve rooms varying in size — the largest (N) 29 feet by 9 feet, the smallest (K) 6J feet by 9 feet — the walls were 2 feet thick and of rubble masonry. Most of the rooms were paved with concrete. In the hypocaust chamber (O) were found traces of a tessellated pavement, unfortunately broken up by the plough, which consisted of small cubes of white stone and terra-cotta. Most of the mural painting, too, was discovered here and showed a considerable variety of colours. The pilae of the hypocaust were not, as is usually the case, of tiles, but of roughly-split slabs of the oolite of the country. The rooms E, F, G, probably had windows looking into the covered corridor A. The foundations of the second building were found at a distance of 88 feet from the north-east corner of this house. Only two chambers (P, Q) could be traced, one of which (P) seems to have been a hot-water reservoir ; the floor and walls were coated with brickdust cement over an inch in thickness. On moving the floor a rounded cavity like a well was discovered on its eastern side about 4^ feet deep and formed of large oolite 207 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE fragments, showing the action of fire. This was evidently for a furnace to heat the water in the chamber above, access being obtained probably from a praefurnium now destroyed to the east of the hot-water chamber. The other chamber (Q) was probably the actual bathing chamber, since from its south-west angle a drain composed of pipe tiles and flat stones carried off the waste water to a pond 80 feet distant. Near this pond was a fragment of a small stone column. A good deal of Samian pottery was found, some of the New Forest ware of the kind in which wavy or arborescent designs in white are laid on a dark ground and a few frag- ments of Castor ware, probably not from the ancient Durobrivae, but from the Roman kiln near Oxford. A Roman potter's punch, in Dr. Evans' possession, said to have been found near the ' Noah's Ark ' at Frilford, points to the existence of a Roman pottery in the more immediate vicinity, but at the time when his article was written no pottery stamped by it had been found. Amongst a great abundance of the commoner sort of pottery was a vase of the kind usually described as a baby's feeding bottle but which may perhaps have corresponded to the ancient guttus, a vessel which was used for libations in sacrifice, and also for any liquid which had to be dropped rather than poured. Other relics were three fragments of glass, one of a cinerary urn, another possibly of a window, and the third of a bowl, some nails and five coins. These were a first brass of Trajan, two third brasses of Constantine the Great, one of which was struck at Lyons, a third brass of Constans struck at Treves, a third brass of Valens struck at Aries. About a mile to the east of these foundations, at Frilford Field, midway between Frilford and Garford, some interesting excavations had previously been made. The spot was formerly known as Frilford Heath and had only been brought under cultivation about twenty years before the attention of antiquaries was drawn to it through the dis- covery, in 1865, of a few Anglo-Saxon remains, by labourers quarrying stones there. These were submitted to Mr. J. Y. Akerman, F.S.A., with the result that in the following year he obtained permission to explore the site \Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) iii. 136-139]. Trenches were opened and thirty-eight graves excavated, most of which, in Mr. Akerman's opinion, contained Anglo-Saxon remains. Two leaden coffins, however, bore witness to the use of this burial ground by a different race. In one, which the second entirely resembled in every other respect, was found a small brass coin of Constantine the Great, which, from a spot of eerugo on the jaw of the skeleton, had evidently been placed in the corpse's mouth as its viaticum. This led Mr. Akerman to infer that these two interments were Roman or Romano-British, a conclusion supported by the fact that several small brass coins of the Lower Empire were found during the process of excavation and that the ground was strewed with fragments of Romano-British Pottery. Later excavations, carried on in 1867 and 1868 under Professor Rolleston's directions [Arch. xlii. 417-485 ; xlv. 405-410], showed that the Frilford cemetery had been ex- tensively used by a Romano-British population at a period anterior to the Anglo-Saxon conquest, and that in some cases Anglo-Saxon burial urns, in others Anglo-Saxon corpses, verifiable by their insignia, had been buried in the graves in which Romano-British skeletons already lay. Two more leaden coffins were exhumed, both containing skeletons of men whom Professor Rolleston judged to have been soldiers of the upper class. With one five coins were found, one of Constantine the Younger, another of Valens, a third of Gratian. Large nails and traces of woody fibre showed that each leaden coffin had been surrounded by one of wood. The depth at which they were found, 5 feet from the surface, and their comparative costliness led to the inference that their tenants had been persons of some wealth and consideration. More than fifty other Romano-British inter- ments, without leaden coffins, but with traces of wooden ones, were discovered. Besides skeletons they contained some animal remains, charcoal, oyster-shells, nails, fragments of Roman pottery and a few coins. Subsequent excavations brought to light another leaden coffin and two more Romano-British skeletons lying beneath Anglo-Saxon skele- tons. From time to time other graves were discovered and examined by Professor Rolleston, and after his death by Professor Moseley. In three instances Professor Moseley found a coin in the skeleton's mouth, one of Valentinian I, another probably of Valens, and the third a barbarous imitation of a coin of Constantine the Great. Whilst the excavations were being carried on, Professor Rolleston had opened two pits which proved to be Roman rubbish pits, no doubt in the quarry whence material for the neighbouring villa already referred to had been dug. The remains found con- sisted of fragments of pottery, bones of domestic animals, knives and coins. 208 ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE It will be noticed that most of the coins found with the foundations and the graves belong to the fourth century of our era. The curious fact pointed out by Professor Rolleston, that by far the larger number of Romano-British skeletons were male, and more than half of these those of men in advanced life, helps to corroborate the theory that this little hamlet was the home of a Romano-British population in a time of com- parative peace and prosperity, such as for the most part prevailed in inland Britain during the closing years of Roman rule. Local tradition tells of an ancient path through a field bordering that in which the Roman foundations were excavated, and one from Fyfield which still exists runs in a straight line almost directly towards the villa. The road line from Bessels Leigh through Frilford to Wantage is certainly Roman, and the modern road from Faringdon through Kingston Bagpuize to Frilford may represent another ancient approach to the Romano- British settlement there. FRILSHAM. — In a footnote Dr. Stukeley mentions a Roman altar dedicated to Jupiter, dug up in 1730 on the site of a Roman villa in the earl of Abingdon's grounds [Itin. Cur. (ed. 2) 63]. Later writers who refer to this altar appear to have no authority beyond this passage \Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass. xxxvi. 28 ; Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, iv. 183 ; Godwin, Engl. Arch. Handbook, 43]. GREENHAM. — Fragments of glass and of Samian and Upchurch ware [Cooper-King, Hist, of Berks, 46 ; Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, ii. 256] ; coins of Probus (A.D. 276-282) and Diocletian (A.D. 284-305) [Kelly's Directory Berks, 76]. GRIMSBURY CASTLE. — See 'Hampstead Norris.' HAGBOURNE HILL. — See 'Chilton.' HAMPSTEAD MARSHALL. — Three Romano-British vessels, one described as small, plain, of grey ware and globular in form, were found in the Park, between 1864 and 1869 [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, iii. 105]. The Ordnance Map (25 in. xlii. 3) marks a site in this parish where Roman vessels were found in 1856. HAMPSTEAD NORRIS. — This is a large parish north-east of Newbury, including the hamlets of Well House and Baling, in both of which remains of Roman villas have been found. The first discovery was made some time between 1820 and 1830 in a field on Well House farm lying on the south side of a knoll in the valley below the high grounds of Cold Ash [Hist, and Antiq. of Newbury and its Environs, 218-222]. There was an elevated spot in the middle of this field where the plough was always prevented by loose stones from going its usual depth, and in consequence the owner had a small part explored. Some tessellated floors, two skeletons, and two or three Roman coins were discovered and then the excavations were discontinued. It is said too that tiles, bricks and coins were often turned up by the plough on Awbury Hill and in a field 'near Bantywick' in this neighbour- hood. No further excavations were made, however, till 1861, when the discovery of some important foundations at Marlston on a farm belonging to the same estate as the Well House villa seems to have led to the re-excavation of the latter \Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xvii. 336 ; xix. 60-63]. The result showed that there must have been a large mass of buildings, for the walls enclosed a considerable area. On the north was a wall of flint and rubble, 1 08 feet long and 3 feet thick, at the western end of which the work- men found the floor of a room 12 feet square with a perfect pavement of common red tesserae. A passage seems to have led hence to some steps which descended into a cir- cular chamber containing many fragments of pottery, animal remains and a flat stone of grit imbedded in mortar and resting on a layer of fine white clay. There were frag- ments of the horns of the bos longifrons and of the red deer, with bones of wolves, dogs and foxes and quantities of oyster and snail shells. Amongst the many fragments of pottery, some of which were Samian, was an almost perfect vessel of Durobrivian ware, of bluish-black hue and decorated with white scrolls and pellets in relief, and with it a bronze armilla. There were two bronze fibulae half- melted, pieces of many large urns and amphorae, lumps of melted glass, tesserae, tiles and nails of various sizes . Only two Roman coins were found — one a third brass of Tetricus the Elder (A.D. 267-274). The broken ware, the molten glass and the original position of the two skeletons a couple of feet below the surface with their faces downwards led Dr. Palmer, who reported on the excavations, to conclude that the villa had been sacked and burnt, and that the inmates had perished in its defence. Unfortunately the excava- tions were not carried out completely and no plans have been left. I 209 27 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Another villa, evidently of the corridor type, was uncovered in 1863 on Mr. George Palmer's estate at Ealing about a mile and a half from Well House and was, like the former, only partially explored \jfourn. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xix. 148 ; xxxvi. 27 ; Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, ix. 183, 184]. The walls remaining occupied an area of about 75 feet by 45 feet. A hypocaust was discovered, and also the remains, much mutilated by the steam plough, of the border of a mosaic pavement, which showed that its pattern was an ordinary guilloche in which red, white and blue were the prevailing colours, with an outer border of plain red tesserae. Roofing, paving and flue tiles were found in great abundance together with fragments of dark red wall plaster, pottery, animal bones, oyster and snail shells. At a distance of about 150 yards another Roman dwelling of an inferior description was discovered \Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xxxvi. 28]. It occupied three sides of a square, and was 80 feet long and 30 feet wide, with an opening on its south side which probably formed the entrance. There was no tessellated pavement, and the fragments of pottery found were chiefly of domestic vessels. Various iron articles, such as nails and hinges, were discovered and a third brass of Constantine. A third discovery was made on this site in 1879, by some workmen who were excavating for field drainage and came upon an arched vault, the inside measurements of which are given as 8 feet in length, 2 feet in width and 2 feet in height. The sides of this structure, which was undoubtedly a Romano-British tomb, were of rough flints with bonding courses of brick, and it was arched over with flanged roof tiles. On the floor, which was formed by a layer of clay over a natural gravel bed, were the remains of a small funeral pile consisting of wood ashes, a few animal bones and two or three nails. Part of a small cinerary urn of Upchurch ware and a first brass of Commodus (A.D. 180-192) were also found \Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xxxvi. 27]. There are a few relics from the Ealing villa in the Reading Museum, namely a small vase of Durobrivian ware, two broken lachrymatories, one glass, the other terra-cotta, and four small bronzes, one of which represents a dog [Descriptive Cat. Reading Mus. pt. i. 46]. At Grimsbury Castle is a circular camp, probably of British origin, which stands on high ground near Cold Ash Common, now almost entirely covered by a thick fir planta- tion. The Ordnance Map (25 in. scale, Sheet xxxv. 3) marks a spot in the wood where a Roman spear was found, and several spear-heads supposed to be Roman are said to have been discovered in the gravel round the entrenchment [Joum. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xvi. 229, 230]. Including the Marlston villa in the neighbouring parish of Bucklebury we have within the area of a few miles four Roman dwellings, three of them probably villas of considerable size, and one tomb. The very small number of coins found on the three sites makes it almost impossible to form any theory as to the date at which the villas flourished. Many Roman coins, however, are said to have been found in the neighbourhood of Hampstead Norris Manor House, and are preserved in Mr. Lousley's museum [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, i. 128]. HENDRED, EAST. — Reynolds gives this village in his list of towns where Roman Antiquities have been found [Iter Britanniarum, 444], mentioning a Roman road and Roman coins. His authority seems to be the Rev. G. Woodward, who wrote in 1759 that there was a road to Wantage here called the Portway and in connexion with it described the find of coins at Letcombe Regis [Bibl. Topog. Brit. iv. 29]. HUNGERFORD. — A Roman ring of gold set with a rough sapphire found in 1741 [Soc. Antiq. MSS. Minutes, iv. 109]. ILSLEY, EAST. — In March i86i,some labourers digging chalk on Stanmore Farm, East Ilsley, found fragments of pottery and a piece of wall 7 feet in length, built of large flint stones. At the south end of this wall were discovered wood ashes and among them a fragment of bronze, the pin of a fibula, small bits of iron, some short nails and a vessel with an open-work design on it, which was unfortunately broken. A level floor of beaten chalk could be distinctly traced, and on it were found an iron arrow-head and a great quantity of tiles. The excavations were not pursued further. It was noticed that the crops had always been more luxuriant on this spot and the colours of the soil different from those around it. A deep well, apparently of Roman construction, was close by, and in an adjoining copse there were said to be the remains of the walls of circular buildings \Journ. Brit. Arch, Assoc. xviii. 290, 291]. ILSLEY WEST. — Roman coins ploughed up in the fields, and hundreds of iron nails found with 210 ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE some skeletons exhumed on a hill near Parson's Copse. A deep pond paved with an- cient brickwork near the ' Old Street ' [Hewett, Hist, and Antiq. of Hundred, of Compton, 36]. LAMBOURN. — In an arable field on Stancombe Down, situated about z£ miles north of the town of Lambourn and 4^ south-west of Wantage, foundations of a building, probably a Romano-British villa, were uncovered in 1887, during the course of excavations to obtain flints [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) xi. 410-411]. The walls were about 3 feet wide 'in strong mortar.' Unfortunately most of the materials had been carried away before Mr. W. Money, who reported the discovery to the Society of Anti- quaries, visited the spot, so the extent of the buildings could not be ascertained. Roofing- tiles, tesserae and fragments of pottery were scattered about. Mr. Money was informed that almost the whole area within the walls was covered by a stratum of wood ashes with pieces of pottery and coins, but of these last he saw only a third brass of Constantine. There were also portions of stencilled wall plaster, and a perfect Roman mortarium orna- mented with a series of triangular lines was found on the same spot [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, iv. 190]. What was probably the cemetery attached to this villa was found about sixteen years earlier, when some labourers digging for chalk on the open down east of and close to the cross country road to Wantage came upon part of a human skeleton. Further excavations made in consequence of this discovery disclosed ten graves parallel to each other and at a distance of about 2 feet apart, in which were twelve male skeletons and a separate skull. It is stated that many iron studs of caligce were found at the feet of one whose decapitated head was placed between his knees. Four small pieces of pottery were found and later on fragments of iron weapons and some coins, but it is not said whether all or any of these were Roman [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, i. 207]. In Lambourn and its precincts coins have been found from Vespasian to Magnentius (A.D. 69-350) and a circular fibula [Nezvbury Dist. Field Club Trans, iv. 204]. Large quantities of dressed flints set in cement, the remains, it is supposed, of Roman buildings, have been found in Cheneys or Cheynes meadow, which lies in this parish about half a mile north-east of Membury Fort on the Wiltshire border and on the line of the Baydon road [Daily Express, 17 June, 1901]. LETCOMBE REGIS. — In October 1876 it came to the knowledge of Mr. Davey, F.G.S., that fragments of ancient pottery and the foundations of a considerable building had been discovered in a field on Cranhill farm in this parish [Arch. Journ. xxxiii. 381-392], The building was of the corridor type, 80 feet 8 inches from north to south and 36 feet 4 inches from east to west. It was divided into five rooms of varying size. In the southernmost was the hypocaust, the pibe of which varied from 8 inches square to 15 by 12 inches. All the walls were 3 feet thick but their depth varied. Many flanged flue tiles scored in the usual man- ner, pieces of wall plaster coloured a dull red, and numer- ous fragments of pottery, chiefly of common ware although a few were of Samian, were found, but not a single whole vessel. There were also iron nails, clamps and bolts, three fragments of a thick bluish iridescent glass, the usual animal remains, some snail and a great quantity of oyster shells. Only five coins were picked up at this time though many had previously been found on the site. They were a fine first brass of Trajan (A.D. 98-117), a Julia Domna (A.D. 175-217), an Allectus (A.D. 293-296), and two of Constan- tine (A.D. 306-337). An earlier discovery in this parish had been made in 1750. It was described by the rector of East Hendred as consisting of a number of small coins, a few gold but mostly silver, found within three or four brass vessels ' one L i i v rui tar. • * ' < J Jl n i) •» | •« j | | V HYPOCAU51 i n n n n n r '•» CRANHILL VILLA, LETCOMBE REGIS. within the other in the shape of a hat ' and ' full of holes like a cullendar ' [Bibl. Topog. Brit. iv. 29, 30]. Another local clergyman who had seen some of these coins reported that they were ' of modern date struck but a little before the Romans left this island ' [Ibid. iv. 57]. 211 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE MARLSTON. — See Bucklebury. MILTON. — A large circular fibula found in Milton North Field on the breast of a skeleton is preserved in the Ashmolean Museum. It seems to be uncertain whether it is Romano- British or Saxon [Arch. Journ. iv. 252, 253]. MOULSFORD. — Third brass and billon coins of Valerianus (A.D. 254-263) [Hedges, Hist, of Wallingford i. 142]. NEWBURY. — See Speen. OAKFIELD PARK. — See Sulhamstead-Bannister. PANGBOURNE. — On Shooter's Hill, in the course of excavations for the Great Western Railway, some human skeletons were disinterred [Gent. Mag. 1838, ii. 650]. Several small sepul- chral urns of rude workmanship were with them, more than forty Roman coins, gold, silver and brass, from Domitian to Gratian (A.D. 69-383) and spear-heads, battle-axes and spurs. A later reference [Arch. Journ. i. 163] mentions nearly 100 skeletons and also the foundations of a structure said to have resembled a lime kiln and to have con- tained a large quantity of charcoal and burnt human bones. A skull found on this spot contained two third brass coins, one of Constantius II (A.D. 323-350) struck at Lyons, the other unknown, but belonging to the same period [Hedges, Hist, of Wallingford, i. 137]. The Reading Museum contains some horse-shoes from Pangbourne which may be Roman. PERBOROUGH CASTLE. — See Compton. POUGHLEY FARM. — See Chaddleworth. RADLEY. — Two pots, said to be Roman, found about 1888 in a field called ' Radley Plains ' [Berks, Sucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. July 1898, 44]. Lines, circles and squares shown by the growth of the crops and probably marking the site of an early settlement [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) xviii. 15]. READING. — Though no Roman foundations have been discovered in Reading it seems pro- bable from the variety of relics found in different parts of the town that some small Romano-British settlement once existed here. Fragments of common pottery were found at the Gas Works in 1880 \Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc . xxxvii. 264]. An ancient cemetery near the King's Road, uncovered ten years later, was supposed by Dr. Stevens [Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. i. 102] to have been in use by British Christians and after- wards by pagan Saxons, as the skeletons at the lowest level were oriented. Fragments of Roman pottery were found here also and a piece of a foundation wall of coarse flint and mortar. Some coarse pottery, the remains of a large urn, hand-made, with much flint grit, two lower stones of querns almost perfect, a loom-weight and fragments of Upchurch and Samian ware, all exhibited in the Reading Museum, come from the Manor Farm. Two very interesting fibulae from Battle Farm have been pre- sented to the same collection. Both will be described in the note on Early Brooches forming an appendix to this article. Samian ware has been found in the Bath Road and at Coley. Various pieces of pottery have been dredged from the Thames and the Kennet and from the latter river also a knife and three bronze articles, a ladle, a spoon and a fibula, its foot originally set with pieces of coral, the spring strengthened with iron. All these are in the Reading Museum and also some Roman horse-shoes from the town. A large amphora is said to have been dug out at Katesgrove and afterwards removed to London [Desc . Cat. Reading Mus. pt. i. 43]. At Bob's Mount fragments of pottery have been found. Two hoards of coins were discovered in gravel pits in the Milman Road [Desc. Cat. Reading Mus. pt. i. 44]. The first consisted of about fifty silver coins in a small drinking- cup which, with eleven denarii dating from Julian to Arcadius (A.D. 355-408), is in the Reading Museum. There were 120 coins in the other vessel a glazed thumb-pot of New Forest ware. This and fifty specimens from the hoard, Constantius II to Arcadius (A.D. 323-361) are in the same collection. One of Valentinian II is of gold, the rest are denarii, amongst them two of Eugenius of a rare type with TR. PS in the exergue. Another rare coin, probably unique, found in Reading and sold at the Brumell sale for £37 ids. was an aureus of Allectus (A.D. 293-296) with M.L. in the exergue [Stevenson, Diet, of Roman Coins, 183]. Single coins have been found in various parts of the town, some of which are a first brass of Julia Mamaea (A.D. 222-235) *rom Whitley, a denarius of Vespasian (A.D. 70-79) from Grovelands, a denarius of Trajan (A.D. 98-117) from the Bath Road, and from Coley two denarii of Septimius Severus. Roman coins have also been found in the hamlet of Southcote. 212 ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE RUSCOMBE. — Fragments of Roman British pottery and an iron knife, now in Reading Museum [Desc. Cat. Reading Mus. pt. i. 47]. SANDHURST. — Two silver medals, one of Mark Antony the other a consular medal of the Papia family, found in digging behind the Royal Military College [Arch. xix. 98]. SHAW CUM DONNINGTON. — A large quantity of fragments of Roman pottery, chiefly domestic, were found on a hill at Donnington in the course of excavations to make a garden. Two circles of flint stones with nearly 6 inches of wood ash within them, were uncovered on the same site at a depth of 4 feet from the surface, and were supposed to have been the remains of watch fires or cooking-fires \Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xli. 227; Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, iv. 189]. It is said that there are Roman tiles in Shaw church [Cooper- King, Hist, of Berks, 48]. SINODUN HILL. — See Little Wittenham. SPEEN. — Archaeologists are almost unanimous in identifying the Spinae of the Itinerarium with the village of Speen. Besides the unequivocal evidence of the names, the situation of Speen approximately at the junction of the great Roman roads from Gloucester and Bath, and the close correspondence of its distance from Silchester, 13^ statute miles, with the 15 Roman miles of the Itinerarium between Calleva and Spinae, go far to fix this station within its boundaries. Camden was the first to express this opinion. Tracing the course of the Kennet he says, ' It comes next to Spinae, an old town, mentioned by Antoninus, which still retains its name and is called Spene ; but instead of a town is reduced to a very small village, scarce a mile from Newbury ' [Cough's Camden i. 149]. The majority of his successors have adopted the same view, though two later writers, Dr. Beke [Arch. xv. 179] and Mr. Hedges [Hist, of Wallingford i. 100], have declared themselves against it. In both cases, however, it may be observed that the identification of Spinas was subordinate to another purpose. Dr. Beke, writing to prove that the manor of Coley, Reading, was Calleva, placed Spinae at Thatcham ; whilst Mr. Hedges endeavoured to strengthen his arguments in support of his identification of Calleva with Wallingford by finding it at ' The Slad,' in the parish of Compton, where many undoubtedly Roman antiquities have been discovered. There seems however no good reason for rejecting the opinion that Spinas was at Speen, and though probably not a town, was a posting station. The question next arises to what part of this parish the Roman site may be assigned. A careful examination was made in 1813 by Mr. Leman, F.S.A., who gave his judgment in a MS. now deposited in the library of the Bath Institution, in favour of the house and grounds then occupied by the Rev. George Wyld, now called Speen House, a view which was supported, sixteen years later, by Mr. Rickman, F.C.S., and since then by Mr. Walter Money, F.S.A. The Ordnance Survey Department have accepted this identification and so marked it on the 25-in. ordnance map. The site is a fine one standing at the top of a hill nearly 400 feet high and commanding the valleys of the rivers Kennet and Lambourn, with further extensive views to the north-east and south. It is probably near to the junction of the Roman roads before referred to, but the exact spot where these roads joined has not been definitely settled It must, however, be confessed that beyond the record of the discovery of a coin of Faustina (A.D. c. 141) [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, ii. 258], a denarius of Trajan Decius (A.D. 249-251) [W. Money, Coll. for Hist, of Speen, 19], and a general statement unsubstantiated by details, that pottery and coins have been found, there seems little evidence of a nature which might be expected of the Roman occupation of the site. Rev. J. L. Gibbs, the present owner of Speen House, kindly permitted the examination of his grounds and said that so far as he was aware no Roman antiquities had been found there, and two gardeners who had worked in the grounds for many years, for some time before Mr. Gibbs purchased the property, said they had never seen there any potsherds, coins or other antiquities. It is true that the hill is scarped here on the south side of the garden and shrubbery for about 1,110 feet and on the east side for about 600 feet, but further than this there are no indications of defensive earthworks. The 25-in. Ordnance Map appears to show a ditch in the field on the north side of the high road parallel to the escarpment on the south of the house, but this is only a natural slope. It is not, indeed, necessary to seek for earthworks at a Roman posting station such as Spinae probably was, but the absence of potsherds, coins, bricks and objects of a like nature almost invariably found on the site of Roman settlements, gives cause for hesitation in assigning the identification of Spinae to the grounds of Speen House. Another suggested site for Spinae is on Speen Moor at a place called the Plot, where 213 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE a Roman urn was found in 1757 by Dr. John Collet buried in a tumulus [Phil. Trans, i. 109-114], but the ground here has been so much disturbed for procuring gravel that no indication of ancient earthworks can now be traced. Further discoveries will have to be made before the exact site of the Roman station of Spinae can be assigned. There is, however, undoubted evidence of a Roman settlement at Newbury within a mile of Speen House. Near the Goods Station here was discovered in 1856 a Romano- British cemetery. With about 100 skeletons was found a quantity of pottery, some perfect specimens of which are now preserved in the local museum [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, ii. 126]. Amongst these are fine bowls of Samian ware, an amphora, a black cinerary urn, an unguentarium with a figure of ^Esculapius and a serpent [cf. Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xvi. 34 for description and illustration]. The existence of this cemetery clearly points to a considerable settlement in the neighbourhood, and the use of so much Samian ware of a good quality suggests the afflu- ence of the persons interred. Other Roman antiquities discovered in Newbury are a vase containing ashes and two coins [Gent. Mag. 1827 i. 161, 162], a bronze steelyard found in 1839 [Money, Hist, of Newbury, 12], and in 1876 a bronze steelyard weight with frag- ments of pottery, antlers and animal remains found on the site of the New Municipal Buildings [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, ii. 260]. Stukeley also mentions a gold Carausius (A.D. 287-293) from Newbury [Surtees Soc. Family Memoirs of Rev. W . Stukeley, ii. 6]. The remains of Roman roads are said to have been found in Shaw Crescent and Northbrook Street [Hist, of Newbury (1839); Money, op. cit. 8]. STANCOMBE DOWNS. — See Lambourn. STANFORD IN THE VALE. — On Chinham Farm, in this parish, a hill known as ' Chinnon Town ' or ' The City ' is popularly believed to be the site of a Roman settlement called Julianum [Maine, A Berkshire Pillage, 5 ; Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Jan. 1904, p. 124]. There seems, however, to be no evidence that a place of this name ever existed in Britain under the Roman dominion. Coins in great numbers, chiefly brass, have been picked up here, and it is supposed that remains of pavements and foundations lie under the surface. Perhaps there was here a villa. STAN MORE FARM. — See East Ilsley. STOCKCROSS. — Vase containing copper coins. No details given \Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. xvi. 71]. STREATLEY. — The Ordnance Map (xxii. 14) marks the site of a Roman ford across the Thames in this parish, and more than one writer on Roman roads in Berkshire has taken Streatley as the point where the Icknield Street enters the county [Lysons, Magna Brit. i. pt. ii. 199; Hundred of Wanting, 51]. Hearne, in his 'Occasional Remarks' at the end of his edition of Roper's Life of More (p. 247), tells of two Roman milestones which he saw fixed ' a great many yards in the ground,' between Streatley and Aldworth, one of them a mile from Streatley. They are also mentioned in Rowe More's Collections for Berk- shire [Bibl. Topog. Brit. iv. 147], but according to Lysons no information as to their situation could be obtained in the neighbourhood. A later writer states that one of these stones was formerly in a field near Kiddington, about i mile west of Streatley, but that the occupier of the farm removed it with a team of eight horses to a spot a quarter of a mile off where it then remained [Hewett, Hist, and Antiq. of Hundred of Compton, 152]. In 1810 Sir Richard Colt-Hoare [Hist, of Wilts ii. 46-54] mentioned some remains on Streatley Farm near the village, which he considered proved that the ground was the site of a Roman station. They consisted of foundations of old buildings, earthen vessels, many Roman coins, chiefly of the Constantines, and some skeletons. Mr. Akerman however [Arch, xxxviii. 328], referring to Sir Richard Colt-Hoare's account of Streatley, says he mistook a Saxon for a Roman cemetery. Since this time hundreds of coins, gold, silver and brass, ranging from A.D. 276 to A.D. 383, are said to have been ploughed up in these fields and also some silver coins of the triumvirate of Antony, Lepidus and Octavius, B.C. 43 [Hundred of Compton, 105]. It is noteworthy besides that the Ordnance Map marks two other finds of Roman remains in this parish, one, in the river, of pottery, the other, not far from the river and south of the ford, of coins. SULHAMSTEAD BANNISTER. — Fragments of Roman pottery, both hand made and wheel turned, have been found lately in the kitchen garden at Oakfield Park. They were for the most part the remains of cooking-pots, and as the site is only 3! miles from Sil- 214 ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE Chester it seems possible that a pottery may have existed here for the purpose of supplying the city with coarse and common wares. Coins of late Roman date have also been found in the garden [Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Jan. 1905, p. 114]. SUNNINGWELL. — Fragments of ancient pottery on Sunningwell Plain [Arch. Journ. xxiii. 73]. Fragments of Roman pottery of the coarse grey ' smother-kiln ' ware on Foxcombe Hill [Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. July 1898, p. 44]. SUTTON COURTENAY. — Bronze dagger and fragments of an earthenware cup found with a skeleton, urns, fibulae and ring exhibited to the British Archaeological Association in 1845 \Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. i. 309, xvi. 33]. Strigil, bell, and fragments of a chain, all bronze, found in the same village about 1850 [Arch. Journ. viii. 190-191]. The strigil, which is of very thin metal and coated with a patina of fine colour, is good in workman- ship and design. It is supposed that the chain was one of those scourges called -plumbata tribulatee. The strigil and chain, a bow brooch of the aucissa type but uninscribed, some early Roman bronze brooches, a ring and a vase with engine-turned pattern are in the British Museum. THATCHAM. — Roman urns found in 1888 at the top of Hartshill [S. Barfield, Thatcham and its Manors, 13]. Steelyard, probably Roman, found in the peat [Hist, and Antiq. of Newbury (1839), 147] and amphora [Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, ii. 126]. THEALE. — The variety of relics found in this village seems to indicate that it was a site occu- pied successively by British, Romano-British and Saxon settlements. The early British urns are followed by a fine hand-made pottery, containing grains of flint and partly covered with strong black glaze, which probably belonged to a period of transition from the rude unglazed hand-made kind to the glazed wheel-turned pottery. Of later date are speci- mens of Upchurch, Castor, Samian and ordinary Romano-British red ware, besides a drinking cup and bottle from the New Forest. These are exhibited in the Reading Museum with tiles, loom weights, mealing stones and white tesserae from the same site, a hammer with an iron haft from the hamlet of Calcot, and a second brass of Septimus Severus (A.D. 193-211) from Sheffield Bridge. The discoveries made in this parish point to a village settlement of the Romano-British period. TILEHURST. — Roman bricks and tiles are said to have been found close to Pincent's Farm in this parish. A second brass of Domitian (A.D. 81-96) found here is in the Reading Museum. TUBNEY. — Two vases of late Roman manufacture found near the old church [Arch. Journ. iii. 69]. In the British Museum a grey vase which contained ashes found at Tubney, 1772. UFFINGTON. — Roman coins found in a conical mount called Dragon's Hill [Rev. H. Miller, Some Account of Ashbury, 14]. Skeletons disinterred from a barrow near Uffington Castle and supposed to be Roman as their teeth showed marks of verdigris [Blackwood, Sept. 1882, p. 319. ' The Berkshire Ridgeway.'] A vase in the British Museum, 4^ inches high, of red ware, from a barrow, possibly Saxon, on White Horse Hill. WALLINCFORD. — From Leland onwards [Commentarii in Cygneam Cantionem] most of the early antiquaries, including Camden and Gough [Brit. (ed. Gough) i. 148] ; and later Mr. J. K. Hedges were agreed in identifying Wallingford with Calleva, now with little doubt recognized to be at Silchester. The origin of this erroneous identification was the misreading of Gallena for Galleva or Caleva ; hence was suggested Gallenford or Wallingford. Pointer, an eighteenth century antiquary, even goes so far as to say that Gallienus the Emperor was here in person and gave his name to the town [Brit. Romana, Preface]. Gough states that the outer work of the castle of Wallingford is evidently Roman and that ' in a fragment of the wall at the entrance the stones are laid herring-bone fashion just as in the walls of Silchester.' An underground passage in the castle was also said by Dr. Blackstone in 1820 to be Roman. There seems, however, to be no evidence that any part of the masonry of the castle is earlier than the twelfth century. It is clear that there was a large rectangular camp at Wallingford about half a mile from north to south and about a third of a mile from east to west, bounded on the east by the Thames and on the other sides by a high rampart and deep ditch. On the eastern part of the north side these have been entirely obliterated by the earthen defences of the eleventh century castle, but indications of the rampart and ditch can be seen from the road to Shillingford westward to the north-west angle and so southward along the western em- bankment up to the road to Sotwell, but owing to the spreading of the town beyond the 215 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE ditch, the earthworks have been partially levelled by buildings and gardens. To the south of the road to Sotwell and for a part of the return eastward, where the rampart and ditch form the boundary to the Public Recreation Ground, they are in good preserva- tion. The rampart here stands up about 10 feet or 12 feet from the inside and must originally have been higher as it has been cut through in places on the western side and the earth spread over the ground. The ditch on the outside falls 5 feet to 10 feet below the inside level, giving a height from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the rampart of from 15 feet to 20 feet. The earthworks, though not so high, can be clearly traced for the remainder of the southern side almost to the Thames. Whether the ditch on the north and north-western sides was wet or dry it is now difficult to say. Mr. Hedges [Hist, of Wallingford, i. 139] states that at the point where the stream joins the ditch, the bottom of the ditch is 14 feet or 1 5 feet above the level of the Thames, and he was of opinion that the stream flowed both ways, making a wet ditch all round the camp. There are possible difficulties regarding this theory as the land rises slightly to the north which would necessitate heavier earthworks on this side, of which there is now no indication, and the entrances would have had to have been carried over bridges which though possible is not probable. The entrances are on the north, west and south sides, and roads from these intersect at the middle of the town. Whether the north and south entrances are original is doubtful, the probability seems to be that there existed at first only the western entrance, with a causeway of solid earth, and that the ditch to the south of it was wet while that to the north was dry. As to the date of the earthworks there is considerable diversity of opinion. They have been attributed to the Prehistoric, Roman, and Anglo-Saxon eras, but there can be no doubt from the large number of antiquities of the Bronze Age which have been found at Wallingford and its immediate neighbourhood that there was a settlement here before the Roman occupation [See antea ' Early Man ']. The important ford across the Thames would, even at this age, probably attract people for purposes both of trade and defence, who possibly erected the earthworks. But as far as our knowledge goes at present the earthworks themselves show nothing decisive as to their date. The late Prof. Freeman considered them to be post-Roman British imitations of Roman fortifications. It is clear that this site was occupied during the Romano-British period, though there is no reason to suppose, as Mr. Hedges implies, that the occupation was military. It was not, however, a town of any particular importance ; it was neither protected by masonry walls nor, so far as we know, did it contain any houses sufficiently substantial to have left vestiges of foundations. The inhabitants trusted to their earthen walls and were probably content to live in timber and mud houses. But of its class it was apparently a thriving town, judging from the antiquities which have been found. Vast quantities of coins ranging from the time of Augustus (B.C. 2O/-A.D. 14) to Honorius (A.D. 395-423) have come to light, the most numerous being those of the latter half of the third century. A Roman eagle and some spear-heads are said to have been found in the Thames [Hedges, op. cit. 147. Mr. Hedges could not however trace this find]. A Roman urn of rude workmanship encased in a small arched recess of thin red bricks and tiles, and containing charcoal, small bones, and the skull of a rabbit or hare is said to have been dug out whilst a road was being made in the Castle grounds in 1859, but unfortunately broken. The Reading Museum preserves a Romano-British amphora with burnt bones and ashes found at Wallingford, a bronze buckle, bell, pins, an armilla, a series of six keys and a poorly modelled figure of a man about 4^ inches in height. The name of the Roman settlement is unknown. It is needless to attempt to rebut in detail the arguments put forward by Mr. Hedges in his History of Wallingford and others in favour of Wallingford being Calleva Atrebatum ; the question has been fully dealt with in the article on the Romano-British Remains of Hampshire {F.C.H. Hants, i. 271]. WALTHAM ST. LAURENCE. — Near the south-west extremity of this parish, which lies 5 miles south-west of Maidenhead, is a field called Weycock, where for centuries past traces of Roman occupation have been found. It does not seem, however, that any serious attempt was made to examine the site before 1847 when excavations were begun under the directions of the Hon. Richard Neville [Arch. Journ. vi. 114-123]. The foundations of an octagonal building enclosing another smaller octagon were exposed to view and inspected by Mr. Buckler who furnished a plan and section. The walls, which were 8 feet in height and 3 feet 6 inches in thickness, were of rough 216 ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE flint rubble without bonding tiles, but at one corner there were two lines of thin slabs of stone. The outside diameter of the inner octagon was 35 feet n inches while the ex- treme diameter was 63 feet 7 inches. The distance between the walls was 10 feet 4. inches. Many fragments of Roman brick, some flanged, were dug up, three or four coins of Con- stantine and eight or ten fragments of pottery. This curious building does not seem to have stood isolated, for foundations, probably of the Roman period, have been discovered on land adjoining at various times during agricultural operations. Without more knowledge of the nature of the buildings surrounding it would be dangerous to hazard an opinion as to the use of these remains, but it may be suggested that the dimensions of this building correspond very closely with the sixteen- sided polygonal temple discovered at Silchester.1 If this conjecture is correct the outer wall would have been a sleeper wall to carry a colonnade or peristyle and the inner the wall of the cella or sanctuary. The dimensions of the temple at Silchester are, thickness F..I. PLAN AND SECTION OF OCTAGONAL BUILDING AT WEYCOCK FIELD. of outer wall 2 feet 5 inches ; of inner 2 feet 6 inches ; diameter of inner ring, 35 feet 7 inches; width between the walls, 9 feet 6 inches; total diameter 65 feet (Arch. liv). Attention was called to this similarity by Mr. C. R. Peers, M.A., F.S.A. The theory of Hon. Richard Neville and Mr. Parker that the building was a tower or fortress is very improbable ; the diameter of the building is too great, the walls would not be thick enough, and there does not appear to be any reason why there should have been an inner and outer wall. Mr. Neville and Mr. Parker describe some coins which had been found previously in Weycock Field. Amongst them were a silver denarius of Honorius, a denarius of the Antonia family, a third brass of Carausius and other coins of the Constantino family, 1 Many similar structures, best explained as temples, have been found elsewhere in western Europe. A good example from Lorraine is published by Huber in the Jabrbuch der Gesellschaft fur kthring- iscbe Gescbichu, xiv. Plate 3 [F. Haverfield]. I 217 28 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE SUPPOSED STEEL- YARD WEIGHT FOUND AT WEY- COCK FIELD. Claudius Gothicus, Tetricus, Domitian, Antoninus Verus, Aurelianus and Maxentius, also a silver Sceatta. A small bronze female head, supposed to be the weight of a steelyard, was ploughed up in Weycock Field. About ten years before, in the course of excavations for the Great Western Railway, an ancient burial-ground was discovered, close to the foundations just referred to. A large number of skeletons laid out in order and orientated, were found, the site being possibly the cemetery attached to a Romano-British settle- ment which must have existed here. A line of what are termed old wells, but which were more probably rubbish pits, was broken into a little further to the south. Three of these were cleared out in 1890 in the Waltham Cutting of the Great Western Railway close to Weycock Field and amongst their contents, which consisted chiefly of bones and fragments of pottery, were two pieces of Samian ware [Mr. Rut- land, Maidenhead and la-plow Field Club etc. Rep. (1890-1), 49]. In t^ie ear^'er excavations a leaden coffin was found near the pits and is sa'd to nave contained a coin, but this was not traced and the coffin was broken up and the metal sold. Weycock Field itself, as Mr. Neville points out in the account of his investigations, was rich in coins centuries ago. Camden writing in 1607 of Sonning says, ' Not far from hence is Laurence Waltham, where are to be seen foundations of an old castle, and Roman coins are frequently dug up ' [Brit, (ed. Gough), i. 149]. Hearne also refers to ' the Roman fort here ' and coins of the lower Emperors. In the same account he describes and illustrates a silver coin of Amyntas, grandfather of Alexander the Great, which had been found here. A gold chain is said to have been turned up by the plough and sold to a blacksmith of Reading [Bibl. Topog. Brit. iv. 135]. Castle Acre seems to be the name generally given to the site, whilst the field itself was sometimes called ' Weycock Highrood.' Dr. Stukeley refers to it under the name of ' Castle Field ' [Itin. Curiosum (ed. 2), 62]. WANTAGE. — Roman coins were frequently found here, especially in Limborough, in the first half of the eighteenth century [Dr. Wise, Letter to Dr. Mead concerning some Antiq. in Berks, 51, 52]. Many have been dug up more recently on the western limits of the town about Limborough and St. Mary's Home, the majority of the fourth century, A.D., but also some silver coins of Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Severus and Maximinus (A.D. 98-237), and specimens of Gallienus, Postumus, Claudius Gothicus, and Diocletian (A.D. 253-305) in brass [Arch. Journ. xxiii. 389-391 ; Agnes Gibbons and E. C. Davey, Wantage Past and Present, 12]. A silver ring of late Roman workmanship, possibly part of a hoard discovered in the neighbourhood, was exhibited to the Society of Anti- quaries in 1867 [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) ii. 173]. At Charlton Downs, about 2 miles south of the town, remains of a furnace or oven approached by a shallow flight of steps paved with coarse bricks, were found. Within it were two iron bars, part of a flue-tile, a denarius of Elagabalus (A.D. 218-222) a small brass of the younger Constantino (A.D. 317-340) with the letters of the London mint in the exergue, a fibula, fragments of pottery and a few bones [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) ii. 173]. The fibula, which is of open work and circular, is now in the British Museum. In Wantage itself no foundations have been discovered and there seems to be no warrant for the assumption of Dr. Wise and other early antiquaries [N. Salmon, New Surv. of Engl. 752; Gough, Add. to Camden, i. 157; Reynolds, Iter Brit. 469], that it was the site of a Roman station and camp. WARGRAVE. — Coins of the Lower Empire [Reid, Hist, of War- grave, app. p. i]. Traces of a Roman road from Church Green to the Loddon [Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Jan. 1902, p. 120]. WATCHFIELD. — An ancient well, 15 feet in depth, has lately been discovered at the Little Wellington Wood, near Watchfield. When it was cleared many fragments of Roman pottery were found and twenty-four coins chiefly of the reign of Allectus (A.D. 293-296), from which it seems probable that a small Romano-British house existed in this neighbourhood at the close of the third century [Evening Standard and St. James's 218 FIBULA FROM WANTAGE. ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE Gazette, 15 Sept. 1905]. It is said that tesserae were also found. Probably the dis- covery needs pursuing. WELFORD. — A Roman tomb made of rubble and flints, and containing two skeletons, pottery and a brass coin of the Lower Empire, was discovered in this parish about 1856 by a labourer who destroyed it at once. Other human bones, pottery and an iron nail were near. Two of the pieces of pottery found within the tomb were supposed to have each consisted of three little vessels upon a circular stand, and, perhaps containing por- tions of milk, wine and oil, to have been placed on either side of a corpse [Proc . Sac. Antiq. (ser. i) iii. 252]. A pot containing 800 coins of the fourth century Constantine to Gratian (A.D. 306-383), all in excellent preservation, was found February 1825, in a bank of the road leading from Boxford to Chaddleworth known as Hangmanstone Lane [Hist, and Antiq. of Newbury (1839), 268 ; Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, ii. 60, 62, where, however, the find is variously ascribed to the neighbouring parishes of Chaddleworth and Boxford, which are here divided by a part of Welford parish]. A first brass, its legends illegible but showing on the reverse the figure of a soldier with the letters S.C., found in Stony- croft, apparently between 1872 and 1875, close to the site of the earlier find of coins [Newbury Dist. Field Club. Trans, ii. 258]. WELL HOUSE. — See Hampstead Morris. WHITE WALTHAM. — Roman coins (undescribed) were found in this parish before the close of the seventeenth century, and also, in the Manor of Feens and near the church, some large stones, said to resemble those discovered at Weycock Field in the neighbouring parish of Waltham St. Lawrence (Leland, Itin. (ed. Hearne, 1710) vol. i. Pref. p. ix). WICKHAM. — Roman coins have been found in the village and many fragments of British and Roman pottery in making a pond near the Rectory [Journ Brit. Arch. Assoc. xvi. 88 ; Newbury Dist. Field Club Trans, ii. 80, 239]. WINDSOR. — Two Roman tombs found at Tyle-place Farm 1865, are described as being each composed of six quadrangular tiles on which were low circular bosses. In one were burnt bones and a bottle of greenish glass, in the other a large urn and a red earthen- ware bottle. The second tomb and the green vase, ' a praefericulum of yellowish green glass with a conical body, ornamented with fine diagonal lines in relief,' were presented by the Queen to the British Museum [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) iii. 243, 244]. A Roman brass lamp from St. Leonard's Hill was given to the Society of Antiquaries and adopted by them for their common seal [Petusta Monumenta, i. pi. i]. A copper trumpet [Soc. Antiq. MSS. Minutes, ii. 94], brass coins from Vespasian to Constantine (A.D. 69-A.D. 337) [Ibid. i. 37, 163], and urns ' of all sorts ' [Ibid.] have been dug up here. Lysons speaks of ' Roman bricks from Old Windsor ' [Magna Brit. i. pt. ii. 215]. Wn TEN HAM, LITTLE. — In the sixteenth century coins were sometimes turned up by the plough on Sinodun Hill [Leland, Itin. i. 14 ; Camden, Brit. (ed. Gough) i. 148], and others have been found at a more recent date on the western slopes of Wittenham Hills [Berks, Bucks, and Oxon Arch. Journ. Jan. 1901, p. 122], and in the Rectory garden [Ibid. July 1898, p. 44]. Amongst those from Wittenham Hills were a second brass of Domitian (A.D. 81-96), a small silver coin of Gratian (A.D. 375-383), and a third brass of Arcadius (A.D. 395-408). Large stones supposed to be Roman were found on the same site [Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Jan. 1901, p. 122], and two small Roman cups and an iron lamp stand now in the British Museum [Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. i. 309]. Another find from the neighbourhood was a small bronze Roman key [Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. Jan. 1901, p. 122]. A stone-paved way below Little Wittenham bridge has been supposed to be Roman [Berks, Bucks and Oxon. Arch. Journ. July 1898, p. 44]. WITTENHAM, LONG. — Traces of British and Roman occupation have been discovered from time to time in this parish, which lies on the right bank of the Thames about 4 miles south-west of Abingdon. It was not, however, till 1893 that any remains of human dwellings were found [Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) xxviii. 10-16]. Mr. Hewett, who was then tenant of Northfield Farm in this parish, noticed that in some fields the crops grew taller and richer along certain lines and on certain patches. He therefore began exca- vations and continued them for some years. It was found that the lines and patches where the crops grew richer corresponded with certain pits and trenches filled with clay and other soil that retains moisture. Some of the pits were wells, 7 or 8 feet deep, some rubbish holes, some burials. One of these pits was large and irregular and contained 100 bushels of lime. The trenches, 2 feet to 5 feet in depth and 2 feet to 3 feet wide at 219 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE the top and V-shaped, seemed to represent foundations of wattle and daub or mud walls surrounding enclosures. Some of these enclosures were circular, varying from 24 feet to 45 feet in diameter, some rectangular or rhomboidal and at least as large as the circular, possibly indicating the lines of roads or field walls and often intersecting each other. There were no remains of stone or brick walls, but some pieces of wattle and daub, a piece of wall lining with rude coloured marks, stone slates and broken tiles found showed the nature of the buildings. The pottery was Late Celtic and local Romano-British, with a few pieces of Samian, one the bottom of a large bowl stamped inside AVITVS. F. No coins were found here but six were picked up near Mr. Hewett's house, one of Allectus (293-296), one of Constantine II (317-340), the rest illegible. Human and animal bones were found, stone slates and pins, and pot-boilers. There was no trace of any but mud or wattle and daub walls and nothing to indicate even such a comparatively well-to-do population as that of Frilford. Dr. Haverfield describes the enclosures in detail, and it will be best to give the account in his own words. He begins with the discoveries in the field called Scabbs. ' This field is thickly covered with enclosures which intersect and cross in a very puzzling manner. Nine circles can be distinguished ; the diameters of the two smallest are 24 and 38 feet, of the four largest 73, 98, 109, and 145 feet. The smallest was dug out completely by Mr. Hewett. On the floor of it were an ichthyosaurus bone and a flint saw, neither probably to be reckoned Romano-British objects ; underneath the floor was a female skeleton and a flint knife. The next smallest was not excavated at all but traced by the crops above ; it was thought to intersect with another circle of nearly the same size. The largest circle, the only other one of which I have details, seems to have had in the centre a pit or trench running across it ; this was full of black vegetable mould on which gravel had been thrown. Three wells were found in this field. One (No. vii. on the plan) was steyned at the bottom with a hollow oak log and had rude steps, but contained no small objects. Another (No. vi.) was steyned with stone ; at the bottom was an arrow-head and bones, described to me as human, and above, a leather object which resembles a damaged cuirass, and some bits of Romano-British pottery and some pieces of wattle and daub work. A third well (No. v.) was steyned with wicker work. The rest of the field is occupied by more or less rectangular enclosures, floored with a gravel layer some 6 or 8 inches thick. What was taken to be a road, 12 to 14 feet wide, runs across some of these enclosures, and Mr. Hewett thought to detect marks of wheels on its gravel metalling. Wall plaster and stone roof-slates were found in some plenty in this field. I turn to Fox Furlong on the south side of Scabbs. Here only one circle was noted intersecting two rectangles ; it is 104 feet in diameter, and has not been dug out. There are also two apse-shaped trenches, one of which contains a pit with ashes, and above them a rude layer of local stone. The rectangular enclosures are more interesting. The largest is 100 by 175 feet ; under its west side is a hole containing the deposit of lime to which I have already referred, a hole 10 feet long by 6 feet wide, with the mud line of the wall running across it and the lime on each side. Within the enclosure is a well, which yielded broken pottery, and is steyned with wood. In a corner is a pit (whether the wall of the enclosure or not I do not know) which contained two burial urns and part of a third, with charred bones, 3^ feet below the surface. The entrance to this enclosure was apparently near the middle of the east side. Another smaller enclosure measures 90 by 118 feet, and has an entrance at the north-west corner. Just outside that in a rubbish pit were found human and animal bones, flint flakes, and pot-boilers, all in confusion. Inside was Well No. i, 8 feet deep, steyned with wood at the bottom and local stone above, and with what Mr. Hewett considered steps leading down to it. Out of it, and all of them at the bottom, came five nearly perfect Late-Celtic urns, the largest full of sand, and higher up a Samian fragment with a potter's mark, already noted, and fragments of other Romano-British pottery. This well is close to the outside of the circular enclosure just mentioned which intersects the rectangle, and the steps seem to lead down to the well from that and not from the rectangle. This circle also cuts another semi-rectangular enclosure which also has a steyned well (No. il) in it.' From time to time Mr. Hewett reported the results of his excavations in the Berks, Sucks and Oxon Archtsological Journal [Jan. 1895, Jan. 1899, April 1902]. Traces of buildings extended continuously on the Northfield Farm alone for more than 250 acres. Romano-British foundations were found also at his farm at Willington, Long Witten- ham, and fragments of Romano-British pottery, some of a rare kind, were picked up in 220 221 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE nearly all the fields there. In a field on the Down Farm in the same parish about two miles from Northfield, Roman or Romano-British skeletons were discovered, some with Samian vessels buried with them. One had a terra-cotta lamp near it, another a coin of Constantius between its teeth. More than thirty years before Mr. Hewett began his investigations a cemetery, probably used by the people of this village, was discovered in Long Wittenham in a field bounded by the road to Wallingford, about two miles south- west of Northfield Farm, and excavated under the direction of Mr. Akerman [Arch, xxxviii. 327-352 ; xxxix. 135-143 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. (ser. 2) ii. 37, 133]. The interments there brought to light, both then and in the following year, were all Anglo-Saxon, though there were a few relics of Roman origin, some coins pierced for suspension and an oval bronze fibula and bronze clasp, probably of Romano- British workmanship. But in May 1861 four interments of a different character were found in a gravel pit in the same parish and pronounced by Mr. Akerman on the descrip- tion of Mr. Clutterbuck the vicar, to belong to a period be- tween the reign of Constantine and the settlement of the Saxons. With one was found a light red Roman poculum slightly indented at the sides, and a few yards off were two OVAL BRONZE FIBULA FROM funereai urns. Similar funereal urns and interments had LONG WITTENHAM. beenj so Mr_ Clutterbuck reported, frequently discovered on the same spot. A few finds seem to have been made in this parish at an earlier date. One was a small Roman pot, perhaps of Upchurch ware, found in a railway cutting in 1844 [Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. July 1898 ; Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. iii. 329]. Other Roman pottery, some of which is said to have been Samian, was exhibited to the British Archzeolo- gical Association a few years later from ' Longwittenham Field.' WOKINGHAM. — Fine cinerary urn, now in Reading Museum, and some broken pottery found near the Palmer Schools in 1886 [Desc. Cat. Reading Mus. pt. i. 49]. Urn containing coins, some of Constantine (A.D. 306-337) dug up near the town [Arch. xix. 98]. WOOLSTONE. — Two Roman pavements said to have been uncovered here in 1884 were men- tioned in the contemporary newspapers [The Times, 23 May, 1884; Illust. Land. News, 5 July, 1884]. A later account added that fragments of tiles, tesserae and pottery were found in the neighbouring fields in large quantities and that foundations and portions of stone walls were turned up by the ploughshare. The site, however, which is situated in the Vale of the White Horse at the foot of the hill, was not thoroughly explored, excavations being soon discontinued [Antiq. x. 133]. The first pavement is described in Morgan's Romano-British Mosaics (p. 149). WOOTTON. — Roman pottery near Fox Inn [Arch. Journ. liv. 352]. WYTHAM. — Fragments of Romano-British pottery seen in a gravel-pit here, 1894 \Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. July 1898, pp. 45, 46]. NOTE ON VARIOUS BROOCHES A number of early brooches in the Reading Museum call for special remark, though their importance depends on the site of their discovery, which is for the most part not precisely recorded. Until quite recently, some of the specimens would have been regarded without ques- tion as recent purchases from dealers in antiquities, confused maybe with local products for want of proper labelling ; but evidence for the discovery of such types on British soil is now accumulating, and a few words of description may perhaps serve to draw attention to the subject of foreign relations long before the Roman Conquest. Though details as to their discovery are wanting in some cases, these brooches can be classed according to type ; and while any particular type may have been in use about the same date wherever found, some latitude must be allowed in assigning chronological limits to their manufacture. The earliest specimens here under discussion can hardly be of native British workmanship, but may have been imported before they had gone out of fashion on 222 ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE the Continent ; in any case, they take us back to a time when trade or intercourse with Italy must at present remain a mere matter of speculation. With the exception of three found at Reading (figs, i, 6, 8), the series here illustrated was bequeathed to the Museum by Mr. Davies of Wallingford, who for many years was known to be a collector of local antiquities, and often secured specimens from labourers and others in his neighbourhood. It is conceivable that some were obtained from the Continent ; but the absence of any note to that effect, combined with the discovery of still earlier specimens in the county, may be held to justify their inclusion in a his- tory of Berkshire. To an Italian type well represented in Central Europe belongs the boat- shaped brooch (fig. i) now without its pin, which was really a continuation of the bow in the form of wire, with one or two coils on one side of the head. The evolution of this type from the primitive form, which was most like a modern safety-pin, has been worked out,1 and about midway in the series comes the ' leech ' type, which had an arched but solid bow and a shorter FIG. i. EARLY ITALIAN BROOCH OF BRONZE, BATTLE FARM, READING (f). catch-plate than the specimen here figured. Subsequent developments included some ungainly specimens which were reduced in weight by hollowing the bow, much like a canoe. Speci- mens are plentiful from Hallstatt, and it is supposed that all are previous to the introduction of the Bolognese brooch known as the Certosa type in the fifth century B.C. The next specimen (fig. 2) has all the appearance of being a degenerate descendant of what is known as the ' serpentine ' brooch of the Hallstatt period. One almost identical in the British Museum comes from Italy ; and it is interesting to find that one of about the same stage of development, or rather decadence, has been excavated from Hampshire soil. It would require a long series of illustrations to show the stages connecting these with the earliest examples having double loops in the bow ; but from the typological point of view the series is complete, and has been illustrated by Prof. Montelius, though the latest stages are given in another work.2 It must suffice to mention here that the projections from the undulating bow represent horns which were added to the thickened bends that supplanted the two original loops of the bow. This explanation also accounts for the zig-zag form of the bow when seen from the side (fig. 2). The forked spring at the head is not an uncommon feature of early Italian brooches, though the single or double coil on one side of the head is characteristic ; and it should be observed that the pin is merely an extension of the bow, the whole brooch being in one piece. Fie. 2. EARLY ITALIAN BROOCH OF BRONZE. (Reading Museum) J. Somewhat firmer ground is reached with the specimens here illustrated of the type known as Early La T£ne (La T£ne I). The name is derived from the well-known site on the shore of Lake Neuchitel (Marin), where a population of Celtic origin was settled during the last 1 Montelius, Die typologische Metbode, pp. 43-51 ; a summary is given in Guide to Early Iron Age Antiquities (British Museum), pp. 31-33. » Spanntn frdn Sronsdldern, figs. 100 (Suessola, near Naples) and 88 (Bologna), in Antiquarisk Tid- skrift for Sverige, vi. pp. 77, 68. 223 FIG. 3. CELTIC BROOCH OF BRONZE. (Reading Museum) J. FIG. 4. CELTIC BROOCH OF BRONZE. (Reading Museum) \. Fic. 5. CELTIC BROOCH OF BRONZE. (Reading Museum) }. FIG. 6. CELTIC BROOCH OF BRONZE, FROM RIVER KENNET, READING. |. FIG. 7. BROOCH WITH OPEN FOOT. (Reading Museum) T. FIG. 8. BROOCH WITH OPEN-WORK FOOT, BATTLE FARM, READING, i. Flo. 9. BROOCH OF ROMAN PERIOD. (Reading Museum) }. FIG. IO. BROOCH OF ROMAN PERIOD. (Reading Museum) \. 224 ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE two or three centuries B.C. But the Celtic civilization can be traced back at least to the fourth century ; and La Tene, in a general sense, represents the Celtic culture of central and western Europe, after that of Hallstatt had disappeared. The principal characteristic of these brooches is a coiled spring on both sides of the head ; and in the early specimens the foot is turned back almost to meet the bow. The extremity of the foot is wanting in fig. 3, which is of exceptional size, but the type is well represented by figs. 4, 5, 6 ; No. 5 having the bow ornamented like the well-known series from Dux, Bohemia, and No. 6 having had a setting of amber or glass at the end of the foot, and an iron axis added to the spring. In the next stage (La Te'ne II) the end of the foot coalesces with the bow, but in the present series the next in order is a late specimen of La Te'ne III (fig. 7), where the space between the catch-plate and the returned foot has been reduced, and two mouldings represent the collars that at an earlier stage attached the foot to the bow. A knob is added to the end of the 'catch-plate, and the spiral spring at the head has also undergone a modification, being strengthened (originally) by a hook attached to the head. This innovation marks the close of the pure La Te'ne types, and may belong to the early part of the first century, though the late Dr. Tischler J assigned this type to the reign of Domitian (A.D. 81-96). The next in logical order, if not in date, is a specimen (fig. 8) with stout bow on which near the head are lines suggestive of Late-Celtic workmanship. Here the original spiral spring is wanting, and the existing arrangement is not in accordance with the type ; but the catch-plate is of special importance. The open triangular space at the foot of types La T£ne II and III was no doubt felt to be a source of weakness, and we have seen it partially filled in fig. 7 ; but a more pleasing method was here adopted, and an open-work key-pattern, that is sometimes executed with extreme delicacy and finish (as in Italy), added strength and distinction to this article of the toilet. Certain specimens are approximately dated by coins, and in this country can be assigned to the first century, as a more advanced type is found with coins of the second, A.D. There is at present insufficient evidence to determine the exact sequence of the types next to be considered (figs. 9, 10, n), but all must fall between about 150 and 300 A.D. Two (figs. 9 and 10) have several points of resemblance, both having knobs at the foot, and mouldings in the centre of the bow, the head and bow to- gether forming a T. In No. 9 the bow spreads at the head as in a common British form of the period, and the spring consists of a long spiral coil the ends of which are connected by a chord outside. The next stage is marked by the appearance of a semi-cylindrical cover for the long spiral spring, and this cover soon developed into a cylinder, containing not the spiral spring but only its axis, which now served as a hinge for the pin. Thus, fig. 10 has a perforated pin-head through which passes an axis, and is therefore a hinged brooch. Simi- larly, fig. n, which may be native work, has a hinge, and is further provided with a loop projecting from the head. This is a common feature on Romano-British specimens, and was sometimes utilized for connecting a pair by means of a chain. The next specimen illustrated (fig. 12) belongs to an earlier stage, before the spiral had disappeared, and the chord was caught by a hook to increase the tension. The pin is wanting, but a brooch precisely similar is published 2 from S. Sweden, and belongs to a provincial Roman type specially common in N. Germany. It has been assigned to the first century of our era, and is known in Germany as Augenfibel (eye-brooch), there being two engraved rings with central dots at the end of the head, just above the spiral spring. A new influence may be traced in the next group, an intermediate stage being perhaps 1 Meyer, Gurina, pi. vi. fig. 10, No. 45. « O. Almgren, Nordeurofdiscbe Fibelformen, pp. 25, 144, pi. iii. fig. 52. 1 225 29 FIG. ii. BROOCH OF ROMAN PERIOD. (Reading Museum) {. FIG. 12. BROOCH OF ROMAN PERIOD. (Reading Museum) \. FIG. 13. BROOCH OF ROMAN PERIOD. (Reading Museum) }. Fic. 14. BROOCH OF ROMAN PERIOD. (Reading Museum) f . Fic. 15. BROOCH OF ROMAN PERIOD. (Reading Museum) \- FIG. 16. ROMAN CROSS-BOW BROOCH. (Reading Museum) f. 226 Fic. 17 ROMAN CROSS-BOW BROOCH. (Reading Museum) \. ROMANO-BRITISH BERKSHIRE illustrated by No. 13, which appears to be of northern European origin. Here the bow assumes a stumpy form, and the catch-plate, which is solid, increases in depth, such excessive dimensions as those of figs. 14 and 15 being characteristic of north German examples. They have been called Pannonian, and referred to the third century by different authorities. As the apparent prototypes of a large number of bronze specimens found in Anglo-Saxon burials of the fifth century, they are of special importance in the evolution of the brooch in this country. The concluding members of the series are better dated than most known brooches and are certainly characteristic of the fourth century, a few belonging to the late third or the early fifth century. This is known as the cross-bow type, and gave rise to another series of Anglo-Saxon specimens found chiefly in the Anglian area. One side of the head is wanting in fig. 16, which has a rudimentary disc projecting from the lower part of the bow ; this disc attained considerable size on a type common in central Europe at a somewhat earlier date. Fig. 17 is a typical specimen ; the knobs are in this case ornamental, but sometimes they carry screws ; and that at the centre is frequently attached to the pin, which is quite separate from the bow. The broad foot is often inscribed, letters being sometimes inserted in silver or other distinctive metals ; and the lettering points clearly enough to the Constantine period, Christian mottoes and symbols being of frequent occurrence. 227 ANGLO-S HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 5**——' ; cfflFT SU'VCUk>lL..f '^Ml'l'ill UvuJXta """ //,,<-'%lmP,i* "" k\> ^"a^»»p F%** \ vJ*lv.1ittinv J ir.-/7 ,K|^_ > . ^^ ,^ ,,. .vr^,.,. ,,,n,,,,,,,!i.,m, / vi«.^ ^"Vx jat-fc^—Ts. I ^!f /,AA/jnOf7KiV- "••-,|V^ JBri^htft-KlbV ,.Af.inm»r.' I ltt>i-kliiintj't*n£0.^rt^ \ JTi«^3lriTO^U^f-_ /^^^ -/ \^fiT IfRoed&W I 'K ,*^ u.;,,. j-- LT i-,-' ' f OaOifmaaf.-. THE VI CTORIA HI STOR M REMAINS. REFERENCE • Interments A Miscellaneous Finds, Coins, AC OUNTI ES OF ENGLAND ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS IT will be admitted that Berkshire has been specially favoured in respect of Anglo-Saxon discoveries ; but without in any way disparag- ing the excellent work done in the county by eminent archaeologists, the question may be raised whether this exceptional position is not due more to the abundance of remains in the soil than to the accident of discovery and the advantages of skilfully conducted exploration. Discoveries made some years ago at Long Wittenham, almost on the banks of the Thames, have proved in many respects the most important in the county, and the objects unearthed are available for reference at the British Museum. The Rev. J. C. Clutterbuck, who was vicar of the parish, was the first to draw attention to the archaeological interest of the site, and furnished a brief report of a discovery there in 1 848 to the Arch- aeological Institute.1 The skeleton of a warrior was found lying with the head to the south about 3 feet below the surface, provided with sword, spear and shield, as well as a small vase at the left shoulder. Thirteen years later four skeletons were discovered at Dry Lease in the same parish, buried with the head towards the north-east in a trench about 3 feet deep.2 There was not much to indicate the date of burial, and in no in- stance had the body been laid at full length ; but in the jaw-bone of one was noticed a green stain produced by a small coin of Constantine, and at the head of another was a small red vase of rather fine quality. These circumstances may point to contact with Roman civilization, and find a close parallel in certain graves uncovered a few months previously. The cemetery excavated during 1859-60, under the direction of John Yonge Akerman, on behalf of the Society of Antiquaries, was situated to the south of the village, which itself lies on the right bank of the Thames or Isis, about midway between Abingdon and Wallingford. The interments did not extend beyond the limits of a plot of ground called the ' Free Acre,' and formerly known as ' Town Furlong.' It was bounded on one side by the road to Wallingford, usually known as the Cross Lane. Abundant traces both of burnt and unburnt burials were here discovered, and exhaustively described3 by one who took a special 1 Journal, v. 291, 253, where a sketch of one of the interments is given. * Pnc. Sac. Antiq. ser. 2, ii. 37. s Arch, xxxviii. 327 ; xxxix. 135 (5 plates). A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE interest in investigations of this kind. Men, women and children had here been laid to rest, and the burial ground had evidently been in use for a considerable time, as in all probability different rites were in obser- vance at different periods. Of the 188 unburnt burials, all but 1 1 were sufficiently preserved to indicate the direction in which the body had been laid in the grave. In 96 cases the head was placed to the west, while 54 pointed to the south-west and 27 in other directions. As the excavations proceeded towards the north end of the field, the orien- tation of the graves became more exact, .and an obviously Christian interment was found to be strictly east-and-west. Of the 27 irregular burials, 1 5 were with the head towards the south ; and it was observed throughout that the position of children's skeletons differed generally from that of the adults, being usually from north to south. Of the graves in which no relics were discovered, 29 were of chil- dren and 19 of adults ; and though it is possible that articles of perish- BRONZE PANELS OF STOUP, LONG WITTENHAM. able material were deposited with the dead, the absence of metallic objects such as weapons and brooches is in any case significant. As bearing on the religious beliefs of the persons so interred, it may be noted that 27 out of the total of 48 were laid with the head towards the west, and of the remainder 1 5 were children or young persons. The omission of grave furniture in the case of those who had not reached a mature age is not surprising, but the cemetery contained a notable exception, which also throws a good deal of light on the question of orientation. A grave less than 4 feet in length contained the body of a boy, whose head lay at the west end. At the feet was found a bronze cauldron1 resting on a slab of wood, by the side of which was a spearhead about 6 inches long, with the point downwards. A small iron knife lay on the breast, and to the right of the head stood a beaker or stoup (see 1 Arch, xxxviii. pi. xviii. fig. 2. 230 STOUP OR BEAKER, LONG WITTENHAM. ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS fig.) 6 inches high, formed of hoops and staves, and covered with thin bronze plates which were embossed with scenes from the Gospel history (see fig.). This remarkable relic, now in a very fragile condition, is preserved in the national collection, and was happily illustrated in full at the time of its discovery. It resembles in shape a modern glass tumbler of more than average size, and to judge from its elaborate orna- mentation was intended for ceremonial use. The four panels contain (i) the monogram of Christ between the letters Alpha and Omega, the whole enclosed in a nimbus ; (2) the Annunciation ; (3) the Baptism of our Lord, above which appears an attempt to form the word I&ANNHC (John) ; and (4) the marriage at Cana in Galilee. The presence of secular relics in what may perhaps be regarded as a Christian burial is not unusual in this and other cemeteries of the period ; and the thorough manner in which the exploration at Long Wittenham was carried out enables us to ascertain the comparative fre- quency of relics in graves of different directions. Though accident has rendered many of the interments unavailable for such calculations, it is clear that the custom of depositing weapons and ornaments with the dead was less uniformly observed where the graves were orientated than in other cases, the figures being : head west, without relics, 27 ; head south-west, ditto, 9 ; other directions, ditto, 12. Mr. Akerman rightly insisted on the exceptional character of the interment containing the stoup, and suggested that the reversed spear1 was intended to indicate that the child had been devoted to some religious office and thus re- nounced the martial attributes of his sex. Whatever the true explana- tion, it seems probable from this interment that a converted Saxon was so buried that he might rise and face the east ; and that the inclusion of a weapon and other objects in a Christian grave was not impossible. A bucket that presents a remarkable resemblance to that from Long Wittenham was found in a Merovingian cemetery at Miannay near Abbeville, Dept. Somme, France, and may well have come from the same workshop. On the bronze plating is embossed a representa- tion of our Lord seated and trampling on the dragon, while on one side stand Adam and Eve, and on the other Daniel between Habakkuk and a lion. On a second fragment the figure of Habakkuk, with an angel above, is repeated, while throughout the field are inscriptions naming the figures, but not altogether clear.2 It may be added that Daniel among the lions is the favourite subject for the decoration of bronze buckle-plates in Merovingian times, at least in the numerous cemeteries of Savoy and Switzerland ; and the bucket so ornamented from the north of France must be regarded as an isolated example. A similar piece of an embossed bronze-plated beaker was found in Rhenish Hesse, and has been published side by side with the Long Wittenham 1 According to Prof. Soc. AnAq. iii. 34, the spear was reversed in graves of the Ripuarian Franks, but among the Salians was placed as among the Saxons, except in graves where the ' francisca ' (battle- axe) occurs. An example of this last case is illustrated in C. Boulanger's MobiRer funeraire, pi. 36. 2 M. Le Slant in Revue de /'art ckrtfien, ser. 2, ii. (1875), 89 and plate, figs. I, 2 ; Bulletin de la Socttti des Antiquatres de Picardie, xi. 139 and plate ; xii. (1876), 279. 231 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE stoup.1 Halos of the same form are seen on some of the figures and one of the panels containing a cross with Alpha and Omega within a nimbus ; while the subjects are biblical and include representations of Adam and Eve, and a standing figure in the attitude of prayer. It has been supposed that buckets, bronze bowls, pottery vases, and above all the stoup found at Long Wittenham, were for the reception of holy water, while fragments of charcoal in many of the graves may point to the use of incense at interments/ Though several graves at Long Wittenham contained one or more vessels that may have served this pur- pose, no rule can here be formulated from their occurrence. Eight such graves were those of males, three of the other sex ; and there was no uniformity in the placing of the vessels nor in the direction of the graves containing them. More were found at the right shoulder than at the left, but some had been deposited at the feet even when the upper end BRONZE BROOCHES, LONG WITTENHAM. of the grave was not occupied by a second or even a third vessel. Nor, to judge from the orientation, were these supposed receptacles for holy water confined to purely Christian interments, though eight of the twelve in question were dug in accordance with the custom of the Church. On the whole, a review of the results achieved at Long Wittenham shows the futility of applying hard and fast rules to the remains of a population by no means homogeneous, and obviously in a state of transition between the old faith and the new. There are however some characteristics that may be noted as afford- ing a clue to the affinities of these early settlers in Berkshire. In a minority of the graves of women were discovered flat circular brooches (figs. 5 and 7), the front engraved with circles or other geometrical patterns. This is one of the commonest forms met with in this country, and occurs in most of the districts overrun by the pagan invaders. The 1 Lindenschmit, AlterthUmer unserer heidniscben Vofze'it, iii. pt. x. pi. iv. fig. I . 2 Arch, xxxix. 136; Invcntorium Sepuichrale, p. 68. 232 ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS same may be said of the small square-headed variety here illustrated (see fig.). Another type is much more concentrated, and is well represented at Long Wittenham, as in many parts of the southern midlands. The bronze-gilt ornament of dish or saucer form (figs. 4, 6, 9 and 12) was not confined to graves of any particular direction, though it is extremely rare with cremated burials ; and out of about fifty graves in which brooches of any kind occurred at Long Wittenham, eleven contained in all nineteen examples of the type in question, usually in position on either shoulder of the skeleton. Another pattern somewhat similar but with an embossed plate of bronze-gilt applied to the front was also represented on this site, associated in more than one instance with the saucer-brooch. There seems indeed to be a somewhat close connection between these two forms, and the important cemetery at Kempston, Beds, furnished a large number of both kinds. Brooches at Long Wittenham were as usual confined to the graves of women, and mention may be made of a Romano-British bronze speci- men1 of oval form originally set with a carbuncle belonging to a type that seems to have been popular among the Anglo-Saxon population. A rarity in England is a bronze buckle (fig. i) from this site ornamented with animal heads in imitation of a Roman original ; this with many similar found in Belgium may be assigned to the fifth century of our era,2 and specimens of late Roman date have been found in the north of France.3 In the case of men, the spear and shield are the principal items of grave furniture, and call for no further remark, except that the disposition of the studs found with some of the shield-bosses showed that the shields were oval, not circular as seems to have been the case in the Isle of Wight.* The occurrence of only two swords in so extensive a cemetery was duly remarked by the excavator, who was inclined to combat the widely accepted view that this weapon betokened the high rank of its possessor. The thane is commonly supposed to have wielded the sword on horseback, while the ceorl went into battle on foot, armed with spear and shield. The graves containing the swords, and indeed the interments as a whole, give no evidence of special wealth or distinction, and the common opinion as to swords is certainly not supported by a recent dis- covery in Hampshire,* where in what appears to have been a Jutish cemetery six swords were recovered with other relics that were anything but magnificent. Besides the small buckets already referred to, which were composed of staves with bronze hoops and handles, there are in the British Museum some iron hoops from a larger vessel found at Long Wittenham, such as occur in a few of the more important graves in England, for example at pl. xi Arch, xxxix. pl. xi. fig. I. Sven Soderberg, Antiquarisk Tidsk rift /Sr Sverigi, xi. pt. v. 17, and PrZhistorisde Blatter (1894), fig. 8. C. Boulanger, Mobi&er funiralre Gallo-nmain et Franc en Picardie et en Artois, pl. 7. Hillier, History of the Isle of Wight, p. 36. At Droxford (Society of Antiquaries, Proceedings, xix. 127). 233 3» A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Taplow, Bucks, and Broomfield, Essex. There were also found a large number of amber beads roughly facetted, a pair of bronze scales such as a goldsmith would use, and a stout iron knife sometimes called a ' scramasax,' with angular point and thickened back, along which runs a groove. Some of the glass beads found in this cemetery may well be of Romano-British manufacture. As more characteristic of Kentish or Jutish graves may be mentioned a pair of ear-rings with cubical pendants, and a pair of button-shaped brooches engraved with a human face. With regard to the physical characteristics of these earliest Teutonic occupants of Berkshire, Mr. Akerman remarked that the skeletons were evidently those of a large and robust race, the thigh bones of the men varying from ao| to 17! inches in length, while those of the women varied from 1 8 to 14 inches. On one occasion he found the skeleton of CINERARY URNS, LONG WITTENHAM. (About }.) a giantess with a thigh bone over 20 inches in length, but this was clearly exceptional. Several of the skulls were submitted to experts, and the ovoid type, specially characteristic of the Anglo-Saxons, was found to be fully represented.1 Exactly one-fifth of the total number of interments found at Long Wittenham were by way of cremation, and though the majority of ciner- ary urns (see fig.) could not be recovered entire, several specimens have been preserved and illustrated. All had been made by hand, without the wheel, and while some were quite plain, others showed a great variety of ornamentation. As is usually the case, the urns contained very little beyond calcined bones, but, as elsewhere, bronze tweezers and a bone (or ivory) comb were among the fragments, and a small knife 1 A female skull is figured and described in Thurnam and Davis' Crania Britannica, pt. ii. pi. 47. 234 ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS with blunt blade may also be mentioned.1 During the excavations it was noticed that the urns were placed too deep to be damaged by the plough- share, and it was surmised that they were disturbed from time to time in digging the ordinary graves. In one case an urn had apparently been replaced above an unburnt body which rested, according to the rule observed in this cemetery, on the drift-gravel two or three feet from the surface. And it may have been a feeling of respect that suffered the ashes of the dead to remain in the base of an urn even when the upper part had been shattered. These surmises however throw but little light on the connection between those who practised the different rites of burial. The urns do not appear to have been confined to any one part of the cemetery, though there were areas in which one or other method prevailed. It is highly probable that cremation was the earlier practice, but it has yet to be proved whether the change was due to the arrival of another tribe or to the growth of a new religion. Some important evidence on this point has been furnished by the excavation of another burial-ground in Berkshire at Frilford, only 7 miles from Long Wittenham. The importance of the discoveries made at Frilford by Mr. Akerman is mainly due to the able manner in which they were described by Professor Rolleston of Oxford, who, in a memoir published;by the Society of Antiquaries,2 furnished all necessary particulars as to the graves and the anatomical peculiarities of their occupants. The site may on this account be said to rank with Long Wittenham and Fairford as affording a valuable clue to conditions of life in the southern midlands during the post-Roman period. The cemetery, which was excavated between 1864 and 1868, was situated in the angle between the left bank of the river Ock and the road from Frilford to Wantage ; and there was ample evidence that Roman civilization had taken firm root in this locality. The inventory of the relics brought to light is unhappily not complete,3 but sundry details of special interest may be noted. Many skeletons lying with the head westward were found to be destitute of relics, a point in favour of the common interpretation of orientated graves. As at Long Wittenham, the saucer type of brooch was plentiful, and an oval specimen of Roman character set with a glass-paste or carbuncle once more appeared. Among the thirty-eight graves discovered, Professor Rolleston dis- tinguished five classes, and there can be no doubt that the first, comprising five interments in leaden coffins * cased with oak, belongs to the period of Roman domination. An indication of their date is afforded by the discovery, in one or other of the coffins, of coins of the Roman emperors Constantine the Great (died 337), Valens (died 378) and Gratian (died 1 Knives without a cutting edge have been found in graves of men at Kempston, Beds (Roach Smith, Collectanea Antiqua, vi. 1 71), and on the downs near Lewes (Castle Museum). 3 Arch. xlii. 417 ; xlv. 405. See also Cornell University Register, 1870-1, p. 50. 8 Pnc. Soc. Antlq. ser. z, iii. 136. 4 Part of one is preserved in Reading Museum. All were placed with the feet E.S.E. (Archceobgpa, zlii. 421). 235 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 383) ; while the practice, illustrated both here and at Long Wittenham, of placing a coin in the mouth of the deceased is presumptive evidence of Roman origin. The second class was considered Romano-British, inasmuch as three Anglo-Saxon cinerary urns and four Anglo-Saxon skeletons were found deposited above interments of this kind ; and though it is conceiv- able that the urns had been disturbed and replaced, this cannot have been the case with the skeletons, which were found with the bones in due anatomical order. On the lower level the interments had taken place apparently in parallel trenches, which ran for the most part from a point north of west to one south of east, and it has been suggested that the majority of deaths occurred in the winter months when the rising sun, which the dead were intended to face, would be seen to the south of east. These graves of Romans or Romanized natives frequently contained, in addition to the skeletons, bones and teeth of animals, oyster-shells and potsherds, all perhaps the refuse of funeral feasts ; and also charcoal,1 such as occurred in many of the Long Wittenham graves. Such remains would not of themselves prove a connection with Roman civilization ; but the arrangement of these ' grave-rows ' practically east and west, not to mention the remains of wooden coffins here and there, seems to point to a period before the Christian orientation had been superseded by the pagan rites of the barbarian invaders. Though these comparatively deep interments are generally of a less expensive character than those made in coffins of lead, there can be no great difference of date, and an examina- tion of the skeletons shows that the Romanized population, or at least the male portion of it, generally attained a considerable age. In this respect the contrast with the Anglo-Saxon settlers is very marked. The third class consists of cremated burials that may be safely referred to the invading Teuton. As at Long Wittenham, the cinerary urns were in some cases entirely plain, but the ornament on others is sufficient proof of a racial connection with the ' Anglians ' in other parts of the country. The fact that a certain number of urns were found above burials of the preceding class is fair evidence of later date, and it is in any case improbable that a population imbued to any extent with Christian teaching would bury their dead in ground already desecrated by the cremated remains of pagans. Of the burials at Frilford belonging to the Anglo-Saxon period about half were by way of cremation. The remainder were disposed in two different ways and formed two more distinct classes. In the fourth class the graves are shallow and without orientation, the body being laid at full length and provided with the usual grave furniture. These may be referred perhaps to half-converted proselytes who had indeed dis- continued the essentially pagan rite of burning, but were careless as to the direction of the graves and the decent interment of the dead. The other graves referred to the Anglo-Saxons constitute the fifth class at Frilford, and were more in accordance with those of the 1 Arch. xlii. 426. 236 ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS Romanized Britons already mentioned. They were comparatively deep and had the Christian orientation, but presented certain features dis- tinguishing them from graves of the first and second classes. In place of the Roman coffin of lead or timber, slabs of stone were set round these graves in a vertical position, and in some cases a pillow-stone was placed beneath the head, incidentally proving the absence of a coffin. On no occasion did Professor Rolleston find such slabs of stone round any grave that was not approximately orientated and did not contain characteristic Anglo-Saxon relics. A striking parallel to the conditions at Frilford is afforded by discoveries made at Reading in 1890, and described by the late Dr. Joseph Stevens.1 During excavations for the laying of foundations in a small meadow alongside the King's Road, about 450 yards south of the Kennet and immediately opposite the Jack-of-both-Sides Inn, only a superficial examination of the ground was possible, but interments of interest were disclosed, with some important relics and a series of skulls now preserved in the Reading Museum. In all, fifty-one skeletons were uncovered, and these were found at three different levels, viz. 2 feet 6 inches, 3—4 feet and 6 feet below the surface, the lowest being on a floor of gravel. It was noticed that the deepest graves were orientated, and as this agrees well with the observations at Frilford, it is permissible to speak of these as Romano-British, especially as about thirty stout iron nails were found at this level, though never more than three in each grave. These may have belonged to coffins or been used for fastening planks together to protect the body, and were recognized as being of Romano-British manufacture. In one of the lowest graves were also found charcoal ashes and fragments of Roman pottery, and it is conceiv- able that a cremated body had been buried here, adjoining another interment. At the 6 feet level practically no relics were found, and the uniformity of the graves is in complete accordance with Professor Rolleston's second class at Frilford ; the skeletons on this level were of good stature, with globular skulls, powerful jaws and high cheek- bones, all regarded as ' Celtic ' features. Nearer the surface bodies were found laid in various directions, and it was with these that most of the relics were associated. At a depth of 2 1 feet a body was found lying nearly east and west, with a leaden plate nearly 6 inches long, under the left shoulder. This was perhaps originally affixed to a board, though there seems to have been no coffin here. Inscribed on the metal were (originally) three simple crosses of the Greek form, and it is fair to conclude that they marked a Christian interment. Twelve feet to the north, on the same level, had been buried a very old woman with part of a small quern or mealing-stone,2 and near her, but a few inches deeper, was found a male skeleton of middle age, 1 Berks, Bucks and Oxon Archetological Journal, i. 100. 2 A quern was found in an Anglo-Saxon grave-mound at Winster, Derbyshire (illustrated in Journal of British Archttok&cal Association, xiii. 228) ; also at Hartington and Taddington in the same county, and at Holme Pierpoint, Notts. 237 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE at whose side was a pewter chalice (see fig.) 4 inches high, resting on his hand. As the head lay towards the west there is reason to believe that this was the body of a Christian priest,1 and it is remarkable that a similar chalice, from an Anglo-Saxon grave in Kent, is to be seen in the Royal Museum at Canterbury. Close by, at a depth of 3! feet, was found a rectangular cist of Roman roofing-tiles set edgewise like the stone slabs round the fifth class of interments at Frilford. Nothing was found within but some finger bones, and a bronze ring-brooch of a peculiar heavy type (as fig. p. 240), examples of which have been found at Audley End, Essex, in Kent, and in Berkshire on the Lambourn Downs. Another interesting discovery on this site, with a male skeleton rather deeper than the last, was a heavy brooch or pendant over 5 inches long, of lead or pewter much corroded. In form this resembles the bronze-gilt brooches of cruciform type which are common in graves throughout the Anglian district,2 but do not occur in the neighbourhood of Berkshire. Two feet distant a smaller pewter specimen was found with another male skeleton, but laid in a different direction. Pewter was in common use for household utensils among the Romans in Britain, and large hoards have been found at Icklingham, Suffolk, at Appleshaw, Hants, and elsewhere, but it is difficult to account for the discovery, almost on the Roman level of the cemetery, of a pewter copy of an Anglian pattern ; and the presence of a cross of this form, not to mention a crucifix, would be quite unprecedented in a grave of the early Anglo- Saxon period. The cemetery also contained a burial which may be of some interest as affording an example of early surgery ; at the 5 feet level was found a female skeleton with the right arm necrosed and placed in bronze splints, with a dressing of ivy leaves. In one part of the ground the bodies lay so close together that the exact level could not be determined of a skeleton with which had been buried two pieces of glass, 2 inches square, the central portion being of rich purple blue, with a square of gold glass on either side. The colours may to some extent be due to natural decay, but the gilded glasses 3 of the Roman catacombs, dating generally from the fourth century, are suggested by this discovery. On the whole, the cemetery is shown to have been a place of general interment for an entirely civil population, and the variety of relics points to its continued use from the period of the Roman occupation to the settlement of a Teutonic race, whose longer, broader and generally more capacious skulls are well represented on the upper levels. A smaller discovery in the county may mark a somewhat later stage in the conversion of the Saxon inhabitants. In 1862 a cemetery was discovered at Arne Hill near Lockinge and not far from Wantage, 1 The common custom of burying ecclesiastical dignitaries with their chalice and paten, jewels and vestments may be quoted in this connection. * See for example Akerman's Pagan Saxon Jam, pi. xx. fig. 2, pi. xl. fig. I, for specimens from Leicestershire and Norfolk respectively. 3 O. M. Dalton, Journ. Arch. Imt. Iviii. 225. 238 PEWTER CHALICE KOUNU AT READING. ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS and a report was furnished to the Society of Antiquaries1 by Mr. Akerman, who incorporated a letter from Rev. J. C. Clutterbuck. The top of a small hill was being prepared for a plantation about 80 yards in diameter, and the soil was disturbed to a depth of 2 or 3 feet, resulting in the discovery of about eighty skeletons, nearly all of which lay east and west, the head presumably to the west. Very few relics were found with the bodies, and only one spearhead is mentioned, though small knives were more numerous. Examination led to the belief that the interments had been made at leisure, and included individuals of all ages and of both sexes, and most of the bodies lay on or just below the surface of the chalk which was here covered with flint gravel. Mr. Akerman compared the Frilford interments with those at Arne Hill, where the majority were evidently devoid of relics, though the labourers doubtless overlooked some objects. ' Christianity seems here to have warred successfully against the practices of paganism, and the heath and hilltop would appear to have been eventually abandoned for the consecrated precincts of the churches, to the extinction of the grosser superstitious practices of our Saxon forefathers, although some of them are denounced by the canons enacted under King Eadgar.' ' Further remains of the Anglo-Saxon period, were discovered near Lockinge Park in 1892," but a complete examination of the site was not undertaken, and only a few relics were recovered from what was assumed to be the skeleton of a woman, buried in a crouching position. The grave was 7 feet deep on the bank of a stream near Betterton, and contained two flat circular brooches of bronze with five small circles incised on the front, a bronze finger-ring and a melon-shaped glass bead of a common Roman pattern. The brooches should be compared with some found at Reading to be noticed presently. In 1 890 a number of Anglo-Saxon antiquities from East Sheffbrd were exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries * by Mr. Walter Money, local secretary for the county, from whom the following account of the discovery is derived. A number of interments were exposed during the construction of the Lambourn Valley railway near the Manor farm, the site being on a high ridge of land on the left bank of the little river Lambourn and a short distance above the main road from Newbury, which runs parallel with the stream. Within the excavated space, some 1 20 yards long, many skeletons were met with of male and female adults and children at a depth of about 2 feet 9 inches from the surface. An iron sword 6 of the usual two-edged type was found beside one of the bodies, and part of the bronze mounting of the scabbard still adhered to the blade. A spearhead also came to light as well as two sword-knives, sometimes called scramasaxes. One of the women had been buried with a bronze gilt brooch (fig. 3) of a square-headed type on the left shoulder, 1 Proc. Soc. Antlq. ser. z, ii. 320. a Ibid. iii. 1 39. 3 Ibid. xiv. 103 ; W. H. Hallam, History of East Lockinge, p. 96. 4 Ibid. xiii. 107 ; Newbury District Field Club, Trans, iv. 196. * Now in the British Museum, with six vases of different sizes from the same locality. 239 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE and a few other trinkets, and another was found with two brooches, originally with applied plates, 2^ inches in diameter, on the breast. Two circular gilt brooches of unusual form should here be mentioned : from an almost flat disc, which is lightly engraved, rises a vertical border, and a yellow glass paste fills a perforation in the centre. Two or three gilt square-headed brooches of medium size were also found, and three quoit-shaped specimens which are occasionally found in various districts. Of four glass vessels two were of conical form, one of dark brown colour had the peculiar hollow lobes generally confined to Kentish graves, and the fourth was a very delicate bowl almost colourless. Several perforated Roman coins for use as pendants were recovered as well as the stem of a characteristic Roman spoon ; and a remarkable survival from Roman times is seen in a pair of circular brooches with bosses in the centre, one of them consisting of a glass intaglio (fig. n) representing a raven with its head turned back. In another part of the railway cutting a cinerary urn is said to have been found. The vessel was broken in pieces by the workmen, and a precise description is there- fore impossible ; but there is no doubt as to the Anglo-Saxon character of a woman's grave in the same locality, which had been cut east and west and contained a number of coloured glass beads as well as a brooch of the saucer type,1 such as that illustrated from Shefford (fig. 8). This is sufficient evidence that the Lambourn valley was occupied in early Anglo-Saxon times, and the ' Seven Barrows ' that once stood on the downs above, though richest in prehistoric relics, also contained many secondary interments that proved to be of Anglo-Saxon origin. A heavy bronze brooch (see fig.) like one already mentioned from Reading was found in one of these burials and presented to the British Museum by Canon Green well, who with the assist- ance of Mr. Walter Money undertook the exploration of the site in 1879. But most of the remains discovered in the county are from the neighbourhood of the Thames. An interesting series of Anglo-Saxon remains found near Read- ing is now in the municipal museum,* and the discovery was described by the late Dr. Joseph Stevens in i893«3 Two years previously a number of interments were exposed in a ballast-pit during the widening of the Great Western Railway, the site being little more than 200 yards south of the Thames and 50 feet above the river-level. A space of over 400 square yards between the railway bridge at the Rennet's mouth and the brick 1 Journ. of Brit. Arch. Asm. \. 155. These were discovered in 1893 and are now in the Reading Museum. 2 By the gift of Mr. G. W. Smith, to whom the discovery is due. * Journ. of Brit. Arch. Assoc. 1. 150 (2 plates). 240 BRONZE BROOCH, LAMBOURN DOWNS. ANGLO-SAXON ANTIQUITIES FOUND Hi BERKSHIRE ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS kiln at Earley contained thirteen or fourteen interments, more than half of which were by way of cremation, while the unburnt bodies lay east and west, the head no doubt to the west. The surface was irregular but without any indications of sepulchral mounds, though such probably existed at one time to mark the burials. Fragments of calcined bone still remained in the larger urns, and part of a bone comb was also found in one instance, suggesting an Anglian connection.1 Another imperfect specimen of more ornate character was found with an iron spearhead in the grave of a stalwart warrior. With one or two of the skeletons had been placed small pot- tery vases, no doubt of ceremonial significance, and among the smaller objects from the graves may be noticed a circular bronze brooch of common type, ornamented with seven engraved rings ; and larger speci- mens with an embossed gilt plate attached to the front, such as have been found in some quantity at Kempston, Beds. The close agreement be- tween the relics discovered at Reading and at Long Wittenham will not be overlooked, and a bronze saucer brooch (like fig. 6) found in the Thames not far from this cemetery may be further mentioned in this connection. It is not improbable that the type of brooch with an embossed plate mentioned above was an imitation of a sumptuous Kentish pattern, of which remarkable examples have been found in Berkshire. The two well-known jewelled brooches* from the neighbourhood of Abingdon are among the finest examples of the Anglo-Saxon goldsmith's craft. There is a striking similarity in their size, ornamentation and general appearance, and both have evidently come from the same manufacturing centre. Neither is quite complete, but that in the national collection here illus- trated (fig. 10) has only lost part of the rim and the central stud, which is intact on its fellow. It is conjectured that both jewels were brought to light during the opening of some graves at Milton North Field in 1832, where the Ashmolean specimen was certainly found on the breast of a skeleton lying due north and south, 2 feet below the surface. Both are constructed in the same manner ; to a silver disc, which bears the hinged pin and catch, is cemented a thicker bronze plate, above which is the ornamented face of the brooch resting on a cement founda- tion. The broad band, which is bounded by a double row of inlaid glass, contains four bosses and is intersected by four arms radiating from the inlaid setting of the centre ; the rope-pattern filagree work being applied to the gold plate by means of pressure. The bosses, which may be of ivory, are now much decayed but mostly retain a slab of ruby glass at the summit. There can be little doubt that these jewels came originally from Kent, where similar examples are numerous. Some spearheads from the same cemetery in Milton Field are in the British Museum, and several antiquities of iron from Cookham, lower 1 Bone combs are frequent in cinerary urns, as at Eye, Suffolk ; Brixworth, Northants. 2 That in the British Museum is figured in colours in Akerman's Pagan SaxonJom, pi. iii. ; the other is in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, and is figured in the Arch. Journ. iv. 253. I 241 3I A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE down the river, were exhibited to the Archaeological Institute1 in 1858, comprising a sword, two spearheads, the blade of a dagger or knife and parts of two shield-bosses of the usual form.2 They were found four years previously during the construction of a railway from Maidenhead to Wycombe at a place called Noah's Ark on the hill about half a mile north of the railway station, and about the same distance from the river. Other weapons of the same material were discovered at the same time but inaccurately described, though there is reason to think that a two- handled basin of bronze also came to light of the kind common in the graves of Kent. Six human skeletons were found near these relics, but they lay in a bed of gravel 9 feet below the surface, and were possi- bly not contemporary. There is a similar doubt as to the Anglo-Saxon origin of several iron spearheads found in raising ballast from the Thames at Cookham and exhibited to the Archaeological Institute in i86o.3 An isolated burial in the same locality may here be mentioned. Of four barrows opened in Cockmarsh by Mr. A. H. Cocks, three con- tained British burials by cremation and the fourth was erected over the unburnt body of an Anglo-Saxon man, who is described as platycephalous and was buried with his dog and various articles.4 From the accounts already cited, it is clear that the mixture of burnt and unburnt burials is by no means an unusual feature in Berk- shire ; and, though no classification can as yet be more than tentative, it may be suggested that a racial difference is here indicated. Discoveries have made it more than probable that cremation was the rite preferred by the tribes who settled in what are usually regarded as the Anglian districts ; while the peoples who were grouped together as Saxons buried their dead at full length in rectangular graves. Penda, the champion of paganism, died in 657 (655) after extending his Anglian kingdom to the Thames. Consequently there is some his- torical warrant for the view that the cinerary urns found in Berkshire contained the ashes of Anglians who had come south under the banner of Penda and continued his opposition to the Gospel. As pagans, they would have no scruples about interring their dead in the cemetery of any community they displaced or controlled. Thus cremation may have prevailed at the most important centres of population in Berkshire about the middle of the seventh century, for a Mercian see was not estab- lished at Dorchester till 673," when Theodore was re-organizing the English Church. The gradual extinction of what was then the essentially pagan rite of cremation would naturally ensue. The upper Thames valley was however soon recovered by Caedwalla after his accession in 686, and the West Saxon reinstated, though the 1 Journ. of Arch. Inst. xv. 287. 2 These relics are now in the Reading Museum. ' Journ. of Arch. Inst. xviii. 76. * Proc. Soc. Antiq. xii. 339. 8 Mr. Plummer thinks that Dorchester was really Mercian abo~.it 679, but there is no direct evi- dence that the town ceased to belong to Wessex till the battle of Bensington (777) permanently trans- ferred the district to Mercia (Bede, Ecclesiastical History, ii. 245-6). 242 ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS struggle with Mercia continued with varying success till the final pacifi- cation under Ecgberht. By that time documentary evidence is avail- able in plenty, and a change becomes noticeable in the character of the antiquities discovered, as Danish and subsequently Norman influences are felt among the Anglo-Saxon conquerors of Britain. A remarkable sword (see fig.) was discovered1 in 1831 from 2 to 3 feet below the surface in a railway ballast-pit at Reading. The blade, which was about a foot longer when found, was bent in a curve corresponding to the ribs of a horse which lay upon it. The skeletons both of horse and rider were com- plete, and one side of the sword- handle is much worn by chafing, as if the weapon had been long carried on its owner's side. The grip was small however, and can- not have been intended for use by a grown man : its elaborate though rude decoration indeed suggests that the weapon was rather a symbol of authority. On the horizontal pommel and guard, which are formed of metal resem- bling pale copper, are imperfectly executed figures of men and ani- mals ; and the blade is of the usual type, double-edged with a central and somewhat abrupt point. A sword of another type (see fig.) fairly common in the period of the Danish incursions was found about thirty years ago at or near Wallingford and is now in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. It has been described by Sir John Evans2 and attributed by him to the end of the tenth or the beginning of the eleventh century. The blade is incomplete, and the silver plates applied to the guards and pom- mel have been somewhat damaged, but enough remains intact to show the variety of the design. Figures and animals on a background of niello are associated with foliage seen on certain examples 3 of late Anglo-Saxon work ; while the beaded border and animal head in relief on the pommel occur on metalwork of Alfred's reign.4 It is more likely, therefore, to be English work of the early tenth century. A silver pommel of exquisite 1 Pne. Soc. Antiq. ser. 2, iii. 461. a Arch. 1. 534, pi. xxvii. ' On the back of EthelwulPs ring, and on a piece of silver in the Cuerdale hoard, about 910 (Arch. Journ. iv. 190, fig. 90). » Silver bands from St. Austell, Cornwall (Arch. ix. pi. viii. fig. 7). 243 HILT OF THE SWORD FOUND AT READING. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE workmanship found at Windsor is in the collection of Sir John Evans, and illustrated here by his permission (fig. 2). It is heavy enough to be of value as a counterpoise, and has a gold panel let into one face, to which is applied an intricate interlacing pattern in gold wire of two thicknesses. The beauty of the design is made apparent by the double-size drawing of the panel (fig. 2, D). SWQRD-HlLT FOUND AT WALLINCFORD (§). A seal of remarkable interest and rarity, now in the national col- lection, was also found at Wallingford some years ago, and described by the late Sir Wollaston Franks.1 The accompanying illustrations are full size, and show, besides the two impressions of the seal, the front of the bone matrix with an oval projection serving as a handle and carved in high relief, perhaps with a representation of the Trinity. The prostrate 1 Proc. Sue. Antiq. viii. 468. 244 ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS figure would, according to this interpretation, be intended for Satan, while there may have been originally a dove, to symbolize the Holy Spirit, where a fracture is now apparent at the top. The obverse matrix is presumably of the same date as the carving above, and presents a half-length male figure holding in front of him a sword point upwards. The attitude and clothing, the style of the lettering and the size of the BONE SEAL FROM WALLINGFORD, WITH IMPRESSIONS. seal all find a remarkably close parallel in the seal of ^Elfric found near Winchester and assigned to the alderman of Hampshire who was killed at Ashington in ioi6/ The legend is SIGILLVM GODWINI MINISTRI, a letter between the first and second words perhaps standing for BEATI, while at the back in inferior characters are the words SIGILLVM GODGYTHE MONACHE DODATE (the seal of Godgytha the nun, given to God). The female figure on the reverse is seated on a cushion and holds in her right hand a book. This may be taken to represent Godgytha, who was possibly related to Godwin and the abbess of a monastery founded by him. To identify either name seems a hopeless task, but the date of the obverse is probably about the year iooo,2 the seal of God- gytha having to all appearance been added at a later date. Mr. Kirby Hedges 3 is inclined to connect the seal with the great Earl Godwin ; and his wife, the niece of Canute, certainly bore the name Gytha which recalls that mentioned on the reverse. She is known to have been a benefactress of the Church after the death of her husband in 1053, and to have held lands in the county ; but the historian of Wallingford him- self acknowledges that the name of Earl Godwin is not a likely one to be 1 r.C.H. Hants, i. 398. 1 A Godwin ' minister ' (or king's thegn) witnessed charters of Eadgar in 967 and 972 ; and the same or another Godwin 'minister' witnessed several charters of ^Ethelred from 980 to 1016. » History of Wattingford, i. 183. 245 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE found in an ecclesiastical connection. The small bone comb and perfor- ated hone-stone, found with the seal 4 feet below the surface in association with bones and an iron chain, throw no light on the date of the deposit. In 1763 were exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries1 a number of Anglo-Saxon coins discovered in the preceding year under the head of a skeleton in the churchyard of Kintbury, about 5 miles from Newbury. The parcel included pieces of Edred, Edwin and Athelstan, and it has been suggested 2 that the site may be the ' holy place at Kintbury ' re- ferred to in his will, dated 931, by Wulfgar, a thane in the time of King Athelstan. From the character of their skulls, a number of bodies found here were referred by Dr. Rolleston to the Anglo-Saxon period. A few more isolated discoveries may here be mentioned as showing the presence of various peoples in the island. An iron spearhead, 18 inches long with crossbars below the blade, is now at Reading, and was found in the Thames at Henley ; it appears to belong to the Carlo- vingian period3 and to have been used in hunting. The type is very uncommon in this country, but one has been found at Nottingham,4 and in the national collection are two examples from London and one from Amiens, France. A francisca (or battle-axe of the Franks) in the Roach Smith collection was found with many Saxon spearheads, horse-shoes and other objects at Pangbourne,5 while other types of battle-axes in the Reading Museum come from the mouth of the Kennet, and an excep- tionally large one from a water-course at Ashbrook House, Blewbury. The same locality has yielded a bone comb with thickened handle that may be of Danish origin. Other examples have been found in the Thames, and a certain number are in the York Museum. During the widening of the Great Western railway in 1891 an isolated interment was disturbed at Purley, about 4 miles up the Thames from Reading and a quarter of a mile from the river ; but only a few beads of amber and glass were preserved, though pottery and a circular brooch are said to have been found at the same time.8 An east-and-west burial about a mile west from Reading on the Oxford road contained an iron spearhead, lying close to the skull, which was covered with an iron shield-boss. Further down the river at Aston, in Remenham parish, a gilt bronze brooch 7 was found that plainly belongs to the saucer type, but has a peculiar ornament resembling one already illustrated from East Shefford (fig. 8). Three small vases of pottery and some iron axe- heads from the same locality are now in the British Museum. In the same collection is another brooch 8 from Abingdon, of Scan- 1 Arch. viii. 430 ; Gough, Additions to Camden, i. 159. * Newbury District Field Club, Trans. 1872-5, p. 76. 3 Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien, xxix. (1899), p. 35 and pi. I. * Journ. of Arch. Inst. viii. 425 ; xi. 284. They have been compared with some figured in Csed- mon's ' Paraphrase ' (see Arch. xxiv. pi. 94). 8 Collectanea Antiqua, ii. 224. 6 This and other information as to finds near Reading has been kindly furnished by Mr. George W. Smith of that town. 7 Figured in Baron de Baye's Industrial Arts of the Anglo-Saxons, pi. viii. fig. 5. s Figured in Collectanea Antiqua, iii. pi. xxxvi. fig. 4. 246 ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS dinavian type (see fig.) ; one almost identical comes from an unknown site in Ireland, and others have been found in Anglesey, Derbyshire, and at Caerwent — all may be referred to the Viking period. There are also a few relics from Saxon graves on White Horse Hill, exca- vated by Mr. Martin Atkyns in 1857, but never fully reported on.1 Among these should be noticed a well preserved brooch of Roman manu- facture, the face filled with coloured enamels. The mound from which these objects were recovered was situated close to a Romano-British burial-place, to the east of the camp, having a slight elevation and irre- gular form. In it were found six carelessly buried skeletons and a confused heap of bones, three of the former being decapitated. The skull of a young person was found beneath the knees of one of these skeletons, and near its right shoulder was the enamelled brooch just men- pENANNULAR BROO™ FROM ABINGDON. tioned. The two other headless skeletons were of males, and near the hip of one were found the characteristic Saxon knife and remains of the shield. In the centre of the mound was a perfect male skeleton with that of a child by its left side, and at a little distance some isolated skulls, which were quite unlike those found in the Romano-British tumulus adjoining, where headless skeletons were also found. They were regarded as Anglo-Saxon, being mostly ovoid, highly arched at the vertex and of moderate size. This site is however more remarkable as a prehistoric centre, the earth- work called Uffington Castle overlooking the White Horse, and Weland's smithy lying about a quarter of a mile to the west. The rude represent- ation in the chalk of the down, which bears some analogy to the horse appearing on certain British coins of the pre-Roman period, is tradi- tionally associated with the victory of King Alfred at Ashdown, but is in all probability many centuries older. Though the site of the battle has been much disputed, it is interest- ing to note that a sword,2 presented to the British Museum by the Earl of Craven, was found on Ashdown, and belongs to the type that was no doubt in use during the ninth and earlier centuries ; and an iron axe- head, of a kind more usual in France, was found near Ashdown Park and exhibited to the Archaeological Institute in 1850.* Further discoveries* were made during 1884 in this neighbourhood, and are notable as being in connection with Roman remains, as was the 1 Journ. of Arch. Inst. vii. 386, 391 ; Thurnam and Davis, Crania Britannica, pt. ii. pi. 51. a Figured in Kemble and Franks' Hor V~«txl who is mentioned OB sercral doaments ranging from 1019 to 1043, It is interesting to note also that a member of the Cheping (Kypping) £muijr a nMnfiiiiii il in Domesday Book* as holding two of the Stntfidd manors in the reign of Edward the Confessor ; anil the name Toki may poaabhr be read on the sepolchral slab* fixmd in 1852, 20 feet deep, in St. PanTs chorcfayard and no w preserved in the at the GaildhalL fS 43 jflT&r 1*4-7 — 5^» PP* *•''•' J 4 }• ~ 'e Morrimrr, tee F.C.H. Hattt, L l, iL z^f ; Yrci. "Jimrn, z. ?z, z&L zf I. HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE EAF 40' 30' n^xambm^G THE VICTORIA HI STOR1 3RKS. E COUNTI ES OF ENGLAND , ANCIENT EARTHWORKS UNDER this heading are included all earthworks having, or appearing to have a defensive character, such as camps and moats ; ditches and dykes constructed as defences or boundaries ; barrows or tumuli, whether raised for sepulchral or other pur- poses ; and lastly, any other forms of earthworks, whether formed by excavation or by throwing up the soil, which seem to be of sufficient interest to be worth recording. In no case has any attempt been made to classify these earthworks according to periods or to the race by whom they were constructed. In the great majority of instances this would have been absolutely im- possible, and in the remainder such conjectures would be at the best uncertain, but any evidence which may lead to the determination of these points has been given. It is true that the defences of castles and the moats of manor houses are adjuncts of buildings erected at a date which can often be ascertained with accuracy, but it cannot be taken for granted that the ramparts or moats in question were constructed at the same time as the buildings they defended, for in many cases advan- tage may have been taken of pre-existing earthworks. With regard to defensive earthworks, by far the most important section here dealt with, the classification adopted is that recommended by the committee appointed for the purpose by the Congress of Archaeo- logical Societies in igoi.1 This is as follows: Class A, comprising fortresses partly naturally inaccessible but additionally defended. This class is not represented in the county. Class B, hill fortifications, are to be found in considerable numbers, many in an excellent state of preser- vation. Class C, rectangular camps, is fairly well represented, though only one fine example, Lowbury, is to be seen. Classes D and E, forti- fied mounts without or with a bailey, are scarce, and the few cases that occur are not typical in form. Homestead moats (Class F) are abundant, especially in the valleys. In the last section are placed a few earthworks which do not fall under any of the above headings. The defensive earthworks have been enumerated under the above headings in the alphabetical order of the parishes in which they occur. 1 See Scheme for recording ancient defensive earthworks and fortified enclosures (1903). 251 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE The ditches or dykes form a very obscure subject, and all that can be done in the present state of our knowledge of them is to give a list of them with a short description of each. In the case of tumuli the same arrangement has been followed, though in some instances it has been possible to ascertain, with very fair precision, the purpose for which they were thrown up. As, however, a very large number have not been explored, they have not been classi- fied except by their outward form, and have been set down in the alphabetical arrangement adopted in the case of the defensive earth- works. The distribution of the earthworks is interesting, and the same remarks apply to all forms except the homestead moats. Earthworks are found most abundantly upon the Downs, more particularly upon those portions which have never been subjected to the action of the plough. Many, too, are to be found, though in a less perfect state of preservation, in the area lying between the Berkshire and Hampshire Downs, and a few in the Vale of White Horse. In the eastern part of the county, however, they are very scarce, and nearly all those on that side of the county lie within a space of four miles, not far from the track of the Roman Road from London to Silchester, which probably follows approximately the line of an earlier route. This is all the more remarkable since this part of the county is to a great extent primeval forest, and the evidences of former civilizations can scarcely have been destroyed by cultivation. We can only suppose that the Bagshot Sands were then as now too barren to cultivate, and consequently remained uninhabited. HILL FORTS, ETC. [CLASS B] Under this heading are included, not only those camps which are situated on the highest points of the Downs or on elevated gravel plateaux, but some few which, though lying on lower ground, resemble those situated at higher levels. On the range of Down to the south of the county lies Walbury camp, which is one of a series, the remainder being in other counties ; on the ridge dividing the valleys of the Kennet and the Lambourn is an- other, while the long range of Down to the south of the Vale of White Horse contains the greatest number, though many are on its southern spurs. North of the Downs there are but few. Badbury stands on the only hill of great size in the north-west of the county, while Cherbury lies on low land in the middle of a large plain. Sinodun, on a chalk hill, seems to have been formed in a somewhat different manner, prob- ably at another period. Caesar's Camp, Easthampstead, is almost the only example east of Reading, and resembles Bussocks and Grimsbury. A large number of these camps lie quite near to one of those ancient tracks that are found along the tops of the Downs in the south of 252 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS England, of which the Ridgeway or Icknield Street is the best known example ; and most of them are connected by roads which are thought to date from the Roman period or earlier. Another curious fact is that the large majority of these camps lie near the boundary of the parish in which they are situated. In some cases the boundary actually skirts the rampart, sometimes making a con- siderable detour to do so ; in others the boundary runs through the camp, and in two cases the county boundary does likewise. No systematic investigations have been made which will enable us to fix the period at which these earthworks have been constructed, but certain evidences which have been forthcoming at Cherbury and Letcombe lead us to suspect that these, at any rate, date from the neolithic period. ASHBURY, ALFRED'S CASTLE. — The camp called c Alfred's Castle ' stands on an elevated part of Swinley Down, to the west of Ashdown Park, commanding the two passes across the Downs from the Vale of White Horse to the Lambourn Valley. Its shape is an irregular circle, and it is much smaller than the other camps of this type, being only 140 yards in diameter. It is surrounded by a vallum, and the fosse outside is visible for more than half the circuit, being much deeper on the south side than elsewhere. The principal gateway is on the south-east, and was defended by a double rampart, part of which still exists. There is another gateway to the north-west, and a third, apparently, to the north-east, though perhaps this is due to the destruc- tion of the vallum at this spot in later times. Lysons mentions that formerly there were traces of buildings here, and Aubrey says that in his time the earthworks were ' almost quite defaced by digging for sarsden stones to build my Lord Craven's house in the park.' ' An iron axe-head figured in the Arch. "Journal^ and other weapons of the same material have been found in the immediate neighbourhood. BLEWBURY, BLEWBURTON HILL. — Around this hill are two parallel steep escarpments, forming terraces, and on the north-western side are three more rows, while several fragments may be seen on the south. The space enclosed by these terraces is on the top of a hill commanding an extensive view of the Valley of the Thames and the Vale of White Horse. Owing to its commanding position and the conspicuous nature of the terraces, it has long been looked upon as a camp, and the elongated 1 Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 214 ; Arch. Journ. vii. 391-2. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i. 151. 253 **. ALFRED'S CASTLE, ASHBURY. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE BLEWBURTON HILL, BLEWBURY. oval shape of the space within has led antiquaries to ascribe its con- struction to the Danes. It seems, however, more probable that the steep escarpments have been formed by the continued ploughing of the hill-side, causing the parallel benches with the lynches between. This construction is very noticeable in many other parts of the county. There is no sign of a ditch around the hill, nor is there any tradi- tion of the former existence of any fosse.1 The hill lies half in the parish of Blewbury and half in that of As- ton Upthorpe. BOXFORD, BOROUGH HILL CAMP. — Very little of this camp is now left, so much earth having been removed at various times, and rabbit burrows having disturbed the original surface of the ground. The camp stands on the highest point of the ridge which divides the Lambourn Valley from that of the Winterbourne, and commands an extensive view in every direction. By its side ran an ancient road- way, presumably from Speen, which may be traced from Bagnor, past the camp in the direction of Leckhampstead, fol- lowing the ridge the whole way. In 1873 the camp measured 210 feet from north to south, and 180 feet from east to west, and at that time the ramparts could be traced, and the ditch seen in many places. Now it is difficult to make out anything with certainty.2 A Roman villa was discovered some years back to the south of the camp, and fragments of Roman tiles are ploughed up to the west of it. CHIEVELEY, BUSSOCK CAMP. — This is situated at the extreme north end of Snelsmore, near Totterdown Farm. It lies in the middle of a wood on the edge of a high plateau facing north and west. There are said to be signs of an ancient way leading to Grims- bury. The camp is of very irregular form, following the slope of the hill on the north and west sides. Here the earthworks have to a great BOROUGH HILL CAMP, BOXFORD. 1 Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, iv. 38-9. 254 Ibid. ii. 61. BUSSOCK CAMP, CHIEVELEY. ANCIENT EARTHWORKS extent disappeared, the inner vallum alone remaining. On the other sides two valla are distinctly to be seen, with a deep fosse between them, and to the east, for a short distance, a second fosse is found. It has been said that there are four entrances, but only three are clearly visible, all of which are to the east ; the other breaks in the vallum appear to be modern. The defences were, in all probability, originally much stronger on the south and east sides, as here the ground is on a level with the camp. Nothing of interest has been found in the camp except some ' half-calcined flints,' which, it has been suggested, might have been used as pot boilers.1 COMPTON, PERBOROUGH CASTLE. — On the top of the hill on Compton Cow Down, at the extreme south of the parish, lies the camp known by this name. It is nearly circular in form and was surrounded by a fosse between two valla, but the greater part of the outer vallum has been ploughed away, leaving only faint traces of the inner one and a steep escarpment. On the north, however, the defences remain in a very fair state of preservation, though the banks are not so steep as they must have been formerly. The original entrance is said to have been on the north-east, and was fortified with a double ditch, but there is no double ditch to be seen by the present entrance on the northern part of the east side. Throughout the area are several deep pits and ponds of varying dimen- sions, which have been thought to be the remains of primitive pit-dwellings. They have not, however, been explored recently. On either side of the north-eastern gateway were the foundations of two towers, built of sarson stones laid over a layer of flints. Stones are also said to have been discovered in the vallum, by testing with an iron bar. Several cellars are said to have been found, containing a quantity 1 Trans. Nnobury Dist. Field Club, ii. 14-17. 255 PERBOROUGH CASTLE, COMPTON. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE "*"«•.. of burnt corn, while a number of Roman coins have been dug up, and as many as 500 found in an earthenware jar. Some British pottery was also found, and a quan- tity of oyster shells. Black coal, like blacksmiths' clinkers, has been dug up round $S?^«A*; the entrenchments, and badgers have scratched out fragments of bricks and tiles, while some old copper coins were found on the BADBURY HILL CAMP, GREAT COXWELL. north side of the ditch.' GREAT COXWELL, BAD- BURY HILL CAMP. — This camp is in shape an irregular circle and lies on the top of Badbury Hill, overlooking the Vale of White Horse to the south, and a long stretch of low-lying ground to the Thames Valley on the north- west. The fortifications con- sisted originally of two valla with a fosse between them, but early in the nineteenth century the banks were levelled, so that now little remains but vestiges of the fosse on the south, and a faint escarpment on the other sides. Leland notices it as ' a great diche, wher a for- tresse or rather a campe of warre hath been, as some say, diked by the Danes as a sure camp.' * Aubrey calls it Binbury* while Gough, who cites the two last autho- rities, mentions that human bones and ' coals ' have been found in the north rampart/ CESAR'S CAMP, EASTHAMPSTEAD. » Hist, of Newbury and its Environs (1839), 223-4. Hewitt, Hist, of Comfton, 70, 71. Trans. New- bury Dist. Field Club, i. 128, 9; iii. 251-4. The local tradition is that here stood a castle which was blown down one night. » Leland, It. ii. 21. » Man. Brit. • Cough's Camden, i. 222. See also Lysons' Mag. Brit. i. 214. 256 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS A few hundred yards to the west is a deep trench running away from the camp down a steep hill, parallel to the road to Highworth. It has all the appearance of a packhorse track, and seems to indicate that Badbury, like so many other hill camps, stood near an ancient way. EASTHAMPSTEAD, CESAR'S CAMP. — This, the only camp of importance in the eastern part of the county, differs in many respects from the others described. It lies upon the edge of a high plateau, and its ramparts follow the contours of the ground, producing a camp shaped somewhat like an oak leaf. It is defended by a vallum and fosse, and in most places by an outside vallum, though this is sometimes absent when the ground falls away very steeply. Across the neck of the plateau, where the natural defences are weaker, there are two fosses. <3? £^£^»*<&Ni ta >$^a J^Slf'S* ^•^ 4 1 ^Ma, mK5L3S$?&v& r^^^M STJff Grimabvn/ o Hft-?£^*A ^SK^Ct^*»l|Sv? StCTIOMAT A.3. GRIMSBURY CASTLE, HAMPSTEAD NORRIS. The principal entrance is to the south, from the level ground, but there is another to the extreme north. The breaks in the defences to the east and west are probably modern. This seems to be the camp at which was found the silver coin of Cunobelin mentioned by Gough.1 The Roman road, known as the Devil's Highway, running from London to Silchester, passes at no great distance south of the camp, and a branch from this, said to be of Roman date, runs direct to the south entrance of the camp. HAMPSTEAD NORRIS, GRIMSBURY CASTLE. — This camp is situated on the top of a wooded hill about a mile east of Hermitage Station. Its form is an irregular triangle with rounded corners, following the con- » Cough's Camden, i. 237, 238. Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 214. i 257 33 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE tours of the hill. The two valla which surround it and the fosse between them are in an excellent state of preservation throughout the whole circuit. A further vallum lies to the north-west of the road to the north- eastern entrance, and an extra ditch some yards away protects the western side, curving round slightly at both ends. There are two entrances, one to the west and the other to the north-east ; the defences are not, however, strengthened at these points, except by the vallum and the extra ditch already mentioned. Towards the south-east corner of the camp is a small pool of water, which has never been known to fail. Several old roads have been traced, running from this camp to Speen, Bussock and Oareborough. In 1837, a spear-head was found to the north-east of the camp, which was considered to be Roman.1 OP. . \ far* Hoot/ \ PARKWOOD ENTRENCHMENT, HAMPSTEAD MORRIS. HAMPSTEAD NORRIS, PARKWOOD ENTRENCHMENTS. — In Parkwood, near Hampstead Norris, are some entrenchments, which have the appearance of being an unfinished camp of the same type as the preceding. There is a deep fosse running along the north side of the hill, with a vallum on the outside for part of the way. After a short interval it continues again up the hill to the south-west, then bends to the south, ending as if the work had been abandoned. On the east side it is diffi- cult to conjecture what form it took, as the ground has been much dis- turbed by later digging. There are no signs of entrenchments to the south. There is a very large tumulus on the eastern edge of the area, with a deep trench around it. » Hist, of Netvbury and its Environs, 218-220. Trans. Netebury Dist. Field Club, i. 121, etc, 258 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS An account of this camp published in 1839,' implies that the defences completely surrounded the area, but no vestiges of the southern or eastern portions are now to be seen. The same authority states that burnt earth and cinders are frequently scratched out by rabbits and badgers. HAMPSTEAD NORRIS, OAREBOROUGH. — The hill known by this name has always been considered to be the site of an encampment, and the spot is unquestionably suitable for this purpose, while the name is suggestive of the former existence of some such camp. WALBURY CAMP, INKPEN. Nevertheless no signs of earthworks appear to be visible now, nor have any been described in earlier works ; but it is strange that the parish boundary makes a very marked detour to include a square piece which is known by this name. INKPEN, WALBURY CAMP. — This stands on the highest point of the Downs which divide the western part of Berkshire from the neigh- * Hist, of Newbury and its Environs, 220. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i. 208. 259 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE bouring county of Hampshire, and is at one place 975 feet above the sea level, the greatest altitude in the south-eastern part of England. The boundary of the two counties runs through it from east to west, along an ancient trackway which traverses the camp, and is said to have been used * for centuries by drovers with their flocks travelling from the west of England.' l * It is irregularly bell-shaped, and its dimensions are about 550 yards from north to south, and 783 yards between the gates. It has two gateways which trend nearly east and west, and which open towards the ridges of the neighbouring downs, evidently with the object of com- manding the entire view of the surrounding country and every approach to the hills.'1 There are breaks in the northern rampart, which have been thought to be minor gates. The gates are on the eastern and western sides and here the ramparts are higher than elsewhere. On the north side of the eastern gate the defences appear double, and at the west gate the ramparts return so as to form a re-entering angle. There is a pond within the enclosure, and one without each gate at a little distance by the side of the road. The camp commands most of the approaches to the Downs from the south, while on the north an uninterrupted view extends for many miles on three sides. In July 1871 Dr. Stevens 'found flint implements scattered over the face of the soil for some distance round the flagstaff in this entrench- ment. They consist of well-wrought scrapers, some cores, flakes, arrow- tips and a neatly trimmed spear-head.'1 Gough alludes to this camp by the name of Wallborough or 6ury, and says it is called by Aubrey Corn hill." LAMBOURN, MEMBURY FORT. — The greater portion of this camp lies in the parish of Ramsbury in Wiltshire, but the north-eastern corner is in Lambourn parish. It is situ- ated on the high ground between the valleys of the Kennet and the Lambourn, about half a mile south- west of the Ridge-way Road running from Speen to Cirencester. It is defended by two well- preserved valla, with a deep fosse between them, but the whole camp is so thickly covered with trees and undergrowth that it is not easy to obtain a good view of the entrench- MEMBURY FORT, LAMBOURN. ments. There is an important gate on the north-east, the approach to which is defended by a rampart to the west. There is also an entrance about 1 50 yards south of the latter, through which the parish and county boundary passes. 1 Stevens, Parochial History of St. Mary Bourne, 42-44. * Gough, Camden's Britannia, i. 206. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, iii. 96. 260 wy^^Gt&u£ffi2si$ ANCIENT EARTHWORKS LETCOMBE REGIS, LETCOMBE CASTLE OR SEGSBURY CAMP. — This lies upon the top of the Downs overlooking the Vale of White Horse to the north, and on the south the valleys converging towards the Lam- bourn at Sheffbrd. Strangely enough it does not stand on the highest part of the ridge, as the ground on the east is sufficiently above it to command the camp completely. The Ridge-way Road runs 100 yards to the south of it. The defences consist of a vallum with a fosse outside, and at the north-west corner are traces of an outside vallum. The principal gate- way is to the east, but there are two others, though perhaps of more modern construc- tion, on the north and south-west. Hearne, who de- scribes the camp in one of his diaries, mentions that a great number of very large red flints were in the banks of the trench, where they formed a wall, but that many of them were being removed in his time for building pur- poses. * In the vallum to the south Dr. Phene found in 1871 a coni- cal sarson stone about 1 8 inches high, stand- ing upright upon a slab and five or six large flints. Beneath this was found a cist, the walls of which were formed of flints, and the floor of a flat slab of stone. In the cist were fragments of human bones, some flint scrapers, the remnants of what appeared to be an umbo of a shield, and a small fragment of an urn or drinking cup.2 LONGWORTH, CHERBURY CAMP. — This camp, unlike the others, lies on comparatively low ground, yet in the form of its construction it differs but little from others of the same type. It is oval or egg-shaped in form, and has been surrounded by three successive valla with fosses without each, but it is only to the north-west that the whole series is to be found complete, as all but the inner vallum LETCOMBE CASTLE, LETCOMBE REGIS. i Hearne's Diaries, vol. 74 (1717), p. 88. Cough's Camden, i. 225. Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 213, 313. ' Davey, Wantage Past and Present, 2-5. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i. 183 ; ii. 176. 26l A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE SECTION *TA.8. CHERBURV CAMP, LONGWORTH. have been ploughed away on the south, and much of the remainder has been similarly removed. The only entrance was on the east, and there does not appear to have been any special strengthening of the de- fences at this point. A polished flint celt with flattened sides and faceted edge was found here some years ago.1 UFFINGTON CASTLE. — Above Uffington the high ridge of Downs which runs &ill! from Streatley, comes to an abrupt termination, and con- tinues westward at a lower level ; the highest point be- fore the declivity begins has been utilised for an extensive camp. The natural advan- tages of the spot are further enhanced by the extreme steepness of the slope to the north into a deep gully known as ' The Manger.' The camp is surrounded by a vallum and fosse, and without this again are traces of a second vallum. There is but one gateway, to the west, where the rampart is re- turned. It stands about 900 feet above the sea level, and commands an extensive view in every direction, especially to- wards the north. The Ridge-way or Ick- nield-way runs close by the southern side of the entrench- ments, and the White Horse is cut on the northern slope of the hill. Gough mentions it by the name of Uffington or Woolston Castle.8 The ramparts were investi- gated some years ago by Mr. Atkins, who found some round holes, in which he supposed small tree trunks to have been inserted as a basis for wattle-work. i Cough's Camden, i. 224. Lysons Mag. Brit. i. 214, 315. Davey, Wantage Past and Present, 23. * Cough's Camden's Britannia, i. 221-2. Lysons' Magna Britannia, i. 213-4. Tram. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i. 149, 150, 181. 262 jeer/eft UFFINGTON CASTLE. SECTION THROUGH RAMPART. ANCIENT EARTHWORKS WINKFIELD. — There are the remains of a camp on a steep hill immediately to the east of the Ascot and Bagshot road, to the north of Tower Hill House. The camp is described by Gough as being irregular in shape,1 following the contour of the hill, which is very steep except to the north-north-east, where the entrance was. The fosse was about twelve feet wide. At the top could be seen a few years ago fragments of concrete and bricks, which appeared to be the remains of the tower marked as ' New Towre' on Norden's Map (1607), and it has been suggested that perhaps the ditch was excavated when the tower was erected. LITTLE WITTENHAM, SINODUN HILL CAMP. — This camp, which has a commanding position on the top of an almost isolated chalk hill, overlooks the Valley of the Thames a few miles north of Wallingford. Its construction dif- fers from the others that have been described. In this case a deep fosse has been excavated around the hill, half-way between the top and the bottom, and no true vallum has been thrown up. The accompanying plan and section will ex- plain the construction, from which it will be seen that the chalk taken from the fosse has been used to raise the level of the interior of the camp, while that removed from outside has been piled upon the vallum left between the fosse and the base of the hill. The entrance is on the south-west, but is not defended by any additional earthworks. Leland and Camden have mentioned that Roman coins were found there in great profusion." RECTANGULAR CAMPS, ETC. [CLASS C] Rectangular camps are not numerous in Berkshire, and several of those described are not very clearly marked. Some, indeed, such as that at Hampstead Norris, may be only a ditch enclosing a rectangular i Cough's Camden, i. 237. » Leland, It. ii. 13, 14. Cough's Camden, i. 214, 223. Lysons' Mag. Bnt. 214, 440. 263 ^ SCAUC or rter o IQO too SINODUN HILL CAMP. LOWBURV CAMP, ASTON UPTHORPE. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE paddock, but all those which have been noticed as possible camps have been set down, and future investigations will perhaps determine whether they should remain on the list or not. ASTON UPTHORPE, LOWBURY CAMP. — The most conspicuous camp of rectangular form is that on Lowbury Hill. The earthworks are not very prominent, but the vallum and fosse, though small, Nto>v6ury Hilt can be traced quite clearly, and form an accurate rect- angle. Fragments of Roman tiles, mortar, pottery, and coins have been found here in abundance, and quantities of oyster-shells can be picked out of a heap in one corner of the camp. The camp lies near the Icknield-way, a branch of which runs east for a mile or more in a perfectly straight line known as the Fair Mile.1 FINCHAMPSTEAD. — There is supposed to be a Roman camp around the church at Finchampstead, which stands near the road from London to Silchester. There is nothing left now but a rectangular plateau with a steep es- carpment on all sides except the eastern portion of the north side, where the road has somewhat disturbed the original shape of the surface.3 HAMPSTEAD NORRIS. — To the west of the church there are the remains of a ditch with a slight vallum within it, forming three sides of a rectangle. The churchyard has been enlarged within recent years so as to cross the ditch, which has been filled up through this part of its length. Nothing can be seen of the fourth side, which, if it existed, must have run to the east of the church near the present road. HINTON WALDRIST, ACHESTER. — This is a small and little known rectangular camp, consisting of a fosse with a vallum inside it, situated in a wood on low-lying ground between the village of Hinton Waldrist and the Faringdon and Oxford road. MAIDENHEAD. — There is a small rectangular camp with concave sides on Maidenhead Thicket, in the direction of Pinkney's Green. It consists of a fosse with a small vallum inside and another outside.3 TILEHURST. — There is a well preserved rectangular camp in a wood near Tilehurst station. WALLINGFORD. — The town of Wallingford was surrounded on three sides by a high vallum, a considerable part of which still remains, and without this by a moat filled with water by inversion of a stream which flowed from the west. The river formed the defence on the fourth 1 Hewitt, Hundred of Compton, 113-5. 2 Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journal, ii. 28. Lyon, Hist, of Finchampstead. 3 Berks Arch. Quart. Journ. ii. 74. Berks, Bucks and Oxon. Arch. Journ. vii. 95. 264 so uorn IT FINCHAMPSTEAD. ANCIENT EARTHWORKS side. Coins and other remains of the Roman period have been dug up from time to time.1 WANTAGE, LIMBOROUGH. — It has long been thought that there was a Roman camp in Wantage, the name of which, Limborough, still u td&gSSSS f? A. He 'At '/> fitted in h»re owing i^S r° modem ope rations. ! il WALLINGFORD. (from plan by Rev. E. A. Dotvnman!) survives. Dr. Francis Wise in 1738 considered that he had identified the site as a place called High Garden. Many Roman coins have been ' Cough's Camden, i. 215, 225. Lysons, Mag. Brit. 212, 214, 396-7. Berks Arch. Quart. Journ. iii. 18. i 265 34 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE dug up here during the last 150 years, but no signs of earthworks now remain.1 WINKFIELD. — At the extreme southern boundary of the parish and county, and south of the Easthampstead and Bagshot road is a field known as ' Roman Down,' where fragments of tiles and Romano- British pottery were ploughed up in 1783. At that time, 'in one corner of the farm was a small spot of ground enclosed with a vallum and a deep fosse without it, deep enough to take in a road waggon, tilt and all.' It has since been destroyed.* South SOUTH MORETON. CASTLE MOUNTS [CLASS D] Fortified mounds, — that is to say circular mounds surrounded by a fosse, and intended rather as a place of defence than for sepulchral purposes, — seem to be rare in this county. Perhaps some of those formerly in existence have afterwards developed a bailey and then a castle, or being small and not very conspicuous earthworks have totally disappeared. Three are here described under this heading, though these do not absolutely conform to the defini- tion ; and perhaps several more may be found which have been classed under the heading of tumuli. SOUTH MORETON. — To the west of South More- ton Churchyard is a curious unfinished earthwork consisting of an irregularly circular mound with a deep trench excavated nearly all round it. It lies close to the brook, and seems to have been intended for a small fortifica- tion, but was never completed. READING. — The mound in the Forbury Gardens at Reading should probably be classed under this head, though no ditch round it is now to be seen. As, however, there appear to have been further earthworks without it at some former time, its purpose seems to have been defensive rather than sepulchral. WALLTNGFORD. — St. Peter's Church seems to stand on an artificial mound close to and commanding the old ford. The houses round it now disguise its form, but it seems likely that this was once a fortified mound. » Cough's Camden, i. 225. Davey, Wantage Past and Present, 12. 2 Arch. vii. 266 FORBURY HILL, READING. ANCIENT EARTHWORKS HINTON WALDRIST. CASTLE MOUNTS WITH ATTACHED COURTS [CLASS E] Of fortified mounds with baileys attached only three occur in the county. Of these one, Hinton Waldrist, has the mound outside the fortified enclosure, while at the others, Wallingford and Windsor Castles, the mounds are situated almost in the middle of the moated area. HINTON WALDRIST. — The manor house at Hinton Waldrist stands within a moat, more than half of which is still in existence, and partly filled with water. To the north the ground slopes away, and here there was a vallum, forming the outer side of the moat, part of which remains. On the south-west, outside the moat is a high mound, evidently part of the construc- tion, with faint traces of a ditch around it. WALLINGFORD, WALLINGFORD CASTLE. — This is another example of the same form of construction, though here the earthworks have been elaborated, probably at a later date. The mound is in the centre of the southern side, and a deep trench runs round part of its circumference. Round it, stretching to the north to include the bailey, are three other moats, which are not, however, on the east, where we find traces of for- midable bastions and other defences which guarded the side exposed to the river. WINDSOR CASTLE. — We should perhaps consider the earthworks existing at Windsor Castle as a specimen of a fortified mount with a bailey attached, for there are traces of this formation still to be seen, though the buildings and alterations of later times have to some extent obscured the original form.1 The Round \''& <&%*. * '*<«wv^ .., 5-3 *S%'<, f*r S^* *^ SCALE or * 2 .E or rirr >0 «00 SOO I WINDSOR CASTLE. Tower still stands on the summit of a cir- cular mound, more than 270 feet in diameter at its base and about 50 feet in height, partially surrounded by a ditch or moat, which made the complete circuit in earlier days. 1 The accompanying plan is based upon information kindly supplied by Mr. W. H. St. John Hope, M.A. 267 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE To the east of this is a space, now occupied by the buildings surrounding the Upper Ward and the East Terrace garden, to the south of which a part of the old Castle Ditch is still to be seen. Around the eastern end there are signs where this earthwork continued, thus enclosing the Bailey. The plan of the Castle in Ashmole's Order of the Garter (1672) shows the ditch around the Lower Ward, and there remains evidence of a ditch on the west side of the mount. HOMESTEAD MOATS Moats of different forms and dimensions are to be met with in all parts of the county, though they are naturally more common in the valleys, where the supply of water is more plentiful. They are very frequently square or quadrangular in form, though cases are not uncommon in which they assume a circular or even irregular shape. In the majority of instances a manor house stands, or is known to have stood, within the enclosure, but this is not always the case ; nor can it be assumed that the moat was invariably made for the purpose of defending the house. There is usually no sign of a vallum either inside the moat or on the outside, though sometimes faint traces may be observed, due probably to the mud thrown out at some time when the moat has been cleaned. No attempt has been made here to classify them either by their form or construction, still less to assign dates to them ; they are enumerated according to the alphabetical order of the parishes in which they are situated, and but little is mentioned respecting them but their shape. APPLETON. — The manor house of Appleton, which dates from the twelfth century, was surrounded by a quadrangular moat, three sides of which are still to be seen.1 The manor house of Tinteynes, in the same parish, was formerly defended in a similar manner, but the moat was filled up some years ago.8 ARBORFIELD. — Two sides of a moat, which appears to have been quadrangular, are still existing at Moor Copse, near Kenny's farm. ASHBURY. — At the Chapel Manor house there are the remains of a moat which formerly surrounded the house. The moat is to a great extent natural, being formed by two deep converging gullies, the sides of which have been straightened ; but an artificial moat which connected them has been recently filled up. A small field at Chapel Wick, called ' Chapel Close,' is somewhat raised above the level of the surrounding country, and is enclosed by a deep moat. A chapel was built here about A.D. 1220, when the place was known as Estwick. 1 Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 212. ' Ibid. i. 234. 208 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS BARKHAM. — There is an irregularly shaped moat around the Church Farm, close to Barkham Church, the greater part of which is still in existence, though part of the north-west side has been filled in. Another moat surrounds what is known as Bigg's Farm ; three sides of a square still remain, and there are evidences of the former existence of the remaining side. BLEWBURY. — There are three sides remaining of a regularly planned rectangular moat surrounding Blewbury Farm, and outside this again is another moat of irregularly circular form, with some parts of a vallum still existing on the outside. The whole surface of the ground inside the outer moat has been raised above the level of the surrounding country.1 The inner moat was formerly crossed by a drawbridge, the remains of which have been obliterated within the last 1 20 years.2 BRIGHTWALTON. — There are faint vestiges of two sides of a moat which enclosed the Manor Farm at Brightwalton and the site of the old church. The moat must have been narrower than is usual in similar cases, but enclosed a much larger space of ground. The angle remaining is an accurate right-angle. There is no water in the moat, which was in all probability always dry. BRIGHTWELL. — Three sides of an irregularly quadrangular moat remain around the Manor House at Brightwell, the site of the old castle. The moat must formerly have enclosed also the site of the church and rectory. Within it at the south-west corner is a large mound.3 There is another moat of irregular form near Mackney Court Farm, at the end of which is a small rectangular island or withy bed. CHOLSEY. — There is a long moat with a branch leaving it at right- angles in the centre, near the G.W.R. station, at the site of the monastery. There is another of irregular shape, fed by a broad ditch, sur- rounding Lollingdon Farm. There are remains of moats, intersected by the railway to Walling- ford, near Cholsey Church, but it is not easy to make out their form or the object for which they were made. CLEWER. — There is a small quadrangular moat of irregular shape near Dedworth Green. COLESHILL. — Three sides of a moat still exist on the low ground to the north-east of the village, where the Pleydell manor house is believed to have stood. COMPTON BEAUCHAMP. — Compton House is surrounded by a very regular rectangular moat, the sides of which have been built up with brick-work. DENCHWORTH. — Three sides of a moat still exist round the manor house of Denchworth, and much of the remainder, though filled in, can be distinctly traced.* » Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, iv. 38. » Lewis, Top. Diet. 3 Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 250. ' Clarke, Hundred of Wanting (1824), p. 87. Cough's Camden, p. 225. 269 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE EAST HAGBOURNE. — Considerable remains of a moat surround the manor house at East Hagbourne ; rather more than three sides of a square still exist, and several additional ditches of the same or smaller dimensions. KINTBURY. — A fine circular moat surrounds the site of Balsdon manor house, and outside this again are the remains of a narrower ditch or moat, forming part of an irregular pentagon.1 Near Anvilles Farm is an irregularly shaped moat, within which stood formerly the house of Anvilles or Hamville. LETCOMBE REGIS. — A very complete rectangular moat surrounds the moat house at Letcombe Regis. SOUTH MORETON. — The remains of a very irregular, pear-shaped moat are to be seen near the old manor house of Saunderville. READING. — A very perfect moat, square in form and thirty feet wide, surrounds the manor house of Southcot in the parish of St. Mary's, Reading.8 RUSCOMBE. — There is a quadrilateral moat with straight and regular sides in Botany Bay copse by Stanlake Park. It is thought that the manor house formerly stood within it. EAST SHEFFORD. — One side of the moat which formerly surrounded the manor house is still existing. It is said that the moat once enclosed the house and garden.8 SHINFIELD. — The remains of a small rectangular moat are to be seen in a field opposite the vicarage. In Moorwood, near Daffodil Wood, is a great number of moats, the object of which it is not easy to discover. The wood is divided up into two rows of quadrangles by moats running at right-angles to one another, and within these quadrangles are two other quadrangular moats, one within the other. SHOTTESBROOK. — The greater part of a moat is still in existence around Smewins Farm, which is supposed to have been the residence of Prince Arthur, elder son of Henry VII.4 SOTWELL. — An irregularly rectangular moat still surrounds Sotwell Farm, though on the south-west it is little more than a ditch. There are a series of ditches, one eighteen feet wide, with others parallel and at right angles to it, in the orchard at Stonor Hayes. Some fragments of a pavement were found to the south-east, the remains of a former building. STANFORD IN THE VALE. — There is in this parish an irregularly square moat surrounding what is called Stanford Park Island. STEVENTON. — There is a moat or fish pond, about 1 5 feet wide and somewhat winding in shape, partially surrounding the site of the priory. It is still filled with water from a neighbouring stream. 1 Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 305. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i. 132. " Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. vii. 94. 3 History of Newbury and its Environs, 276. 4 Cough's Camden, 233. Ashmole, Antiq. Berks, ii. 505. 270 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS SULHAMPSTEAD. — There is a moat here round the Moat Farm. There are also some ditches between the railway and the river Kennet, which may perhaps be the Danish camp referred to by Gough and other writers.1 SWALLOWFIELD. — Near the river Loddon, and not far from White's Green, is a square moat, which is supposed to be the site of Beaumys Castle. Near Sheepbridge Mill, on the same river, is an oval moat, partly filled with water, surrounding the Court Farm, while there are traces of a small square moat to the immediate south. TUBNEY. — There are two sides still remaining of a moat which formerly surrounded the Manor Farm. UFFINGTON. — An irregularly shaped moat, in a very good state of preservation, still surrounds Hardwell Farm. Three sides are filled with water. WALLINGFORD. — An almost square moat, with rounded corners, surrounds the house and garden of the old farm house at Rush Court, in the liberty of Clapcot. WARFIELD. — There is a somewhat irregularly shaped rectangular moat near Hayley Green Farm, with very sloping banks. There are also the remains of a square or rectangular moat to the south-east of Winkfield lane, south-west of its junction with Bishop's lane. OLD WINDSOR. — Tile-place Farm stands within a quadrilateral moat, with unequal but fairly straight sides.2 NEW WINDSOR. — There are vestiges of a moat at Spital. WYTHAM. — Lysons speaks of a moat surrounding Wytham house.* YATTENDON. — There are traces of three sides of the moat which surrounded the castle at Yattendon, and part of one side is in a fair state of preservation. UNCLASSIFIED EARTHWORKS [CLASS X] There are not many camps which do not come under one or other of the former headings, but some few are here described which seem to a certain extent exceptional. Of those at Abingdon, Childrey and Hinton Waldrist little or nothing now remains, and Donnington shows nothing that can be considered with certainty older than the seventeenth century. Hardwell is, however, different. Here is an important and well-preserved camp, of a form and on a site differing much from any other earthwork in the county. ABINGDON. — There seems to have been formerly two camps here, though no vestiges of them have been noticed in recent years. Leland » Cough's Camden, i. 230. Robertson's Topograph. Survey of the Great Road, etc. (1792), i. 129. Brayley and Britton, Beauties, etc. (1801), i. 175. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, ii. 107. 1 Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 414. * Mag. Brit. i. 212-3. 271 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE •ISO DONNINGTON CASTLE, DoN- NINGTON. DONNINGTON.- says : ' There yet appear two camps by Abingdon, one called Serpen hill, a quarter of a mile east-north-east out of the town. Here it is said was a battle between the Danes and Saxons ; part of the trenches remains : the other is called Barrow, a little west from the town.'1 CHILDREY. — There are faint traces of earth- works on Hackpen Hill on the down above Chil- drey. They were first noted by the Rev. Francis Wise in 1738, who con- sidered them to date from post-Roman times.' HINTON WALDRIST. — There are slight traces of entrenchments in the village of Hinton Wald- HINTON WALDRIST. "St, to the WCSt of the by-road leading through the village. -There are remains of earthworks of very irregular form around Donnington Castle, which seem to be fragments of the ramparts thrown up temporarily during the civil war, and which are figured in Grose's Antiq. Eng- land and Wales, vol. i. These earthworks so cover the whole site that it is impossible to deter- mine whether an earlier camp stood here before the castle was erected.3 UFFINGTON, HARDWELL CAMP. — This is usually enumer- ated among the hill camps, but as it lies at the bottom of a steep slope, and its construction differs considerably from the others of the hill-top type, it has here been differently classed. As the camp has been planted thickly with spruce trees, it is not easy to obtain a clear view of its defences, and as, moreover, there are deep natural gullies on HARDWELL CAMP, UFFINCTON. the site, which have been USed tO » Leland, vii. 65. Cough's Camden, i. 224. » Wise, Antiq. of Berks. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, ii. 191. a Berks, Bucks and Oxon Arch. Journ. iv. 51. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, ii. 24. 272 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS assist the artificial construction, a simple description is made still more difficult. In the hill side above Hardwell Farm several springs break out of the chalk, which have carved deep gullies for their courses into the valley below. Five or six of these have joined together to form one gully, and about three hundred yards farther north have met another gully of a similar type. Between these remains a chalk plateau with steep escarpments on nearly every side, and very suitable as a place of temporary defence, though its position immediately beneath the steep hill must have rendered its position untenable for any considerable period. Around the upper and broader part of this plateau a vallum has been thrown up, following for the most part its very irregular outline, though it omits to include all the spurs between the minor gullies. Across the neck at the south, between the heads of the two main gullies, two extra valla have' been thrown up to defend this, the weakest part of the construction. Here was the entrance, further defended by another vallum on the east, at right-angles to the others.1 BOUNDARY DITCHES Like most of the southern counties of England, Berkshire contains many ditches or dykes, some of them running for miles along the Downs, while others are to be seen crossing the valleys from ridge to ridge. These have been considered to mark the boundaries of tribes at some former date, and have been attributed by some to the Belgic peoples and by others to the West-Saxons. No satisfactory evidence has, however, been produced which will enable us to fix their date with any certainty, nor need it be taken for granted that these lines were thrown up by one people at one date. The usual form of construction is a vallum with a fosse on one side, but sometimes there are traces of a ditch on both sides, as if the vallum alone were the important feature. Their height is such that in most cases they can have had but little value as works of defence, unless a stockade had been erected upon them, while their great length makes it unlikely that such an addition could have been made. That they were boundaries of kingdoms or tribal lands seems to be a more probable explanation, but when and by whom they were erected it would be hazardous to suggest. Three of these lines, running parallel from east to west, are known as Grim's ditch, a name found in association with similar banks in other parts of the country. There are two of these on the Downs, formerly known as Ashdown, lying about three or four miles apart, while the remains of the third are to be seen south of the Kennet, not far from the county boundary. i Cough's Camden, i. 222. Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 214. i 273 35 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE The most northerly ditch is first found on Aston Upthorpe Downs, half a mile north of Lowbury Hill Camp, and runs thence west in an undulating line. By Lower Chance Farm it has been ploughed up, and no sign of it can now be seen, though the Ordnance map has pre- served a record of its former course. It crosses the railway at Churn bottom, and here becomes clearly visible running direct to Foxbarrow. For a mile to the north-west its course is very plain, dividing the parishes of Blewbury from East Ilsley, then it takes a sharp turn to the south-west, and disappears for a while. Crossing the boundary of East Hendred parish it is again visible, and can be traced, with a few breaks in its course, across the Downs of East and West Ginge, when it is lost altogether. The fosse is to the south of the vallum, whence it has been argued that it must have been the work of a tribe dwelling to the north.1 The next Grim's ditch or dyke is thought to be the same as that traced by Dr. Plot as far as Grove barn on the Oxfordshire side of the Thames. It is still visible from Holeys near the Grotto at Basildon nearly all the way to Wood's Farm, and again farther west to the south of Gould's Farm, and so on with a break to Beche Farm, and for half a mile still to the west. It was formerly traceable still further by Cold-harbour Farm to Compton Cow Down, across Per- borough Castle, and on in the direction of Cheseridge Wood, but little can now be seen of the western portion. It consists of a vallum and fosse, and seems formerly to have been known also by the name of the Devil's Ditch.3 There is but little left of the third Grim's ditch or Grimmer's bank as it is more usually called, but traces of it may be seen for two or three miles extending from Aldermaston Park across Padworth Hatch and Ufton Wood, till it ends at Highland or Eyland Farm. It it said, however, that before the commons were enclosed, it extended still further to the east.3 On Moulsford Down, to the east of Unhill Wood, are fragments of a ditch known as the Devil's Ditch. Its course is irregular and in some places not clearly defined, but its general trend seems to be from south-east to north-west. It is possible that it is an eastern continuation of the first-mentioned Grim's ditch. Another interesting ditch of a different type is that known as ' East Ditch.' This is in reality a ditch, in some places as much as six feet deep, which starts from Hackpen Hill in Childrey parish, crosses the Ridge-way, and runs in the direction of Greendown Farm. For an interval it has been levelled, but is again visible at Crowdown, whence it runs near Hyde Farm towards Bockhampton. Here it is supposed to have crossed the Lambourn, and to have run to Thorn Hill, where it can be very clearly seen. Its further course is uncertain, but it is 1 Cooper King, Hist. Berks, 59. 8 Hist, of Newbury and Environs, 225, 233-4. Tram. Newbury Dist. Field Club, iv. 96. ' Berks Notes and Queries, 49. 274 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS thought to have run by Dance's Wood, Great Noakes Wood and Batten's Farm to Membury Fort.1 A very interesting ditch or dyke, known as Hug's ditch, consisting of a vallum with a fosse to the west, divides the parishes of East and West Sheffbrd, south of the river Lambourn. Though only a short length is now visible it is said to have run in former days to the old Rectory garden, at East Shefford, where it ended in a mound, since removed. In earlier days it must, however, have extended considerably in both directions, for we find in a document temp. Eliz. a reference to Ockendishein Chaddleworth parish, probably the modern Oakash.2 There is also a mention of the ditch, under the name of Howker Diche in 1573 in a survey of the manor of Eddington 8 in Hungerford parish, at a spot which has been identified as that where the Wantage road leaves the parish of Shefford. There is also a farm in Froxfield parish called Hug's Ditch. There is a legend that the dyke was constructed by one Hugo, King of the Mercians. It is also said that the hundred court, presumably of Kintbury Eagle, was held at the spot already mentioned, where the high road enters Hungerford parish, and that it was known as Hug's Ditch Court.4 A part of Wan's dyke is very clearly to be seen in Inkpen parish at the west side of old dyke lane. It is mentioned by its proper name in an enclosure award of 1735. There is an old entrenchment running across Snelsmore Common in the parish of Chieveley, known as Black Ditch.6 A somewhat similar dyke called Berry's Bank runs north and south over Greenham Common, and is alluded to by the Bishop of Cloyne. It is said, however, to be of comparatively modern date.' Another dyke runs obliquely across Hampstead Marshall Park,7 and yet another crosses the heath at Stratfield Mortimer,8 to the west of Groves corner. On Roden Down in Compton parish are a number of small dykes with a ditch on either side.9 Several are to be seen on the Downs in the parishes of Lambourn and Ashbury, in the latter of which parishes one of considerable dimensions runs along the southern boundary, while yet another can be traced on East Garston Down, running thence towards the north into the parish of Letcombe Bassett. On the unploughed Downs there are numerous traces of small dykes and ditches, which have not as yet been carefully examined. Some are quite modern, being the boundaries of the lands allotted under the common awards, but many appear to be much older, though their origin and use remain obscure. » Trans. Netvbury Dist. Field Club, ii. 191-2. « Chanc. Proc. iii. 77. 3 Hungerford Town Documents. • Hist, of Netvbury and Env. 276. » Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, ii. 186. e Hist, of Newbury and Env. 161. ' Trans. Netvbury Dist. Field Club, iii. 105. « Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 204. • Hewitt, Hundr. of Compton, 74. 275 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE TUMULI A very large number of tumuli or barrows are to be found distri- buted over the Berkshire Downs, and some few still exist in other parts of the county. Several are mentioned by earlier writers which can now no longer be seen, and many more have doubtless succumbed to the action of the plough and the exigencies of agricultural improvements. It is strikingly noticeable that the great majority still to be seen are upon the unbroken Downs, or upon those parts which have only been under plough for a short period ; though it must equally be noted that the large tracts of waste land on the Bagshot sands in the eastern part of the county yield very few. Of these barrows almost all are circular or nearly circular in form, and the true long barrow seems scarcely to have existed in this county, though there are two that may perhaps be considered under this head. These round barrows are, however, in some cases of very different dates, and have not always been erected for the same purpose. The great majority were no doubt thrown up to cover interments, but some have almost certainly been boundary marks, some look-out places near camps, and some, perhaps, survey stations upon Roman roads. Comparatively few of them have been opened, at least by scientific investigators who have left records of their work, and so it will be impossible at the present time to classify them properly. With the exception of the two long barrows already referred to, they will be enumerated, as in the case of the other earthworks, according to the alphabetical order of the parishes in which they are situated, while such information as can be gleaned as to their age and object will be given in each case. LONG BARROWS It is strange that long barrows, the burial places of the neolithic people, should be so scarce in Berkshire, for it is evident, from the implements that have been found, that this race settled here. It is probable that they occupied only the low-lying tracts, where the soil is more fertile and water abundant, and left the exposed Downs and the dreary wastes of the Bagshot sands uninhabited ; and in that case their tombs would have been set up in those parts which have been for the greatest length of time under cultivation, with the natural result that few if any have survived. The only true burial place of this period of which we have any evidence is not, strictly speaking, a tumulus, but what is known as a dolmen ; but as it is now generally believed that such dolmens were once covered with earth, or at least were erected with the intention of being so covered, it is perhaps not inconsistent to include among our tumuli the dolmen known as Wayland Smith's Cave, which is described in the article on Early Man. 276 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS The only other tumulus that can be called a long barrow is a low irregularly oval mound situated at Churn bottom, in the parish of Blew- bury, a little to the north of two round barrows. It has never been opened, so that nothing can be said definitely as to its age or purpose ; but from its irregular shape and low elevation it appears to be a rough, hurriedly formed grave of many men of a later date, rather than a long barrow of the neolithic type. ROUND BARROWS The round barrows, besides being much more numerous, are usually more regular and decided in their shape, though some have suffered severely from being ploughed over for many years. They have generally a ditch or trench around them, from which the earth has been taken to make the pile. They vary considerably in height, some measuring twelve feet or more from the bottom of the ditch, while others are scarcely raised above the level of the surrounding surface. This is by no means always due to the effects of the plough, since some of the lowest are to be found upon the virgin down. Several have been opened in recent years ; some of them have yielded many interesting relics both of primary and secondary inter- ments, while the absence of human remains in others tends to show that their purpose was not sepulchral. There are few which do not show evidences of having been dug into at some former time by treasure seekers. ASCOT. — There were four barrows near Ascot station, which have been described by Colonel Cooper-King1 as 64 feet in diameter, about 3 feet high, and with trenches 1 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep around them. They were mentioned by Gough,3 who gives a detailed descrip- tion of them. The ground on which they stood is now enclosed, and has been laid out as gardens, and the barrows seem to have been removed about twenty years since, one of them, in fact, at an earlier date.3 ASHBURY. — There are three barrows on Idstone Down, on the top of the hill near a square pond. They have been opened by treasure seekers, but not by recent investigators. North of these, at the bottom of the hill, is a small unfinished barrow, with the ditch only completed for about three-quarters of the circumference. There is a small irregular barrow on Swinley Down, north of Alfred's Castle, and another in Swinley copse. These were examined in 1850.* There is also a barrow in Botley Copse at the extreme south of the parish. 1 Cooper-King, History of Berks, 29. * Cough's Camden, i. 237. 3 Hughes, Hist, of Winds. For. 314. • Arch. Journ. vii. 391. 277 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE ASTON UPTHORPE. — There is a barrow standing in a clump of trees on the Down to the west of Hogtrough bottom. There is also a mound immediately to the east of Lowbury camp, which appears to have been thrown up as a post of observation, as it seems too near the camp to be a burial mound.1 BEARWOOD. — In Bearwood Park is a round hill known as Limmer's Bank, and traditionally supposed to be a barrow, but geologists pro- nounce it to be of natural formation. BEEDON. — A large barrow stands in Stanmore Field, which is known as Burrow Hill by the people of the village, who have a tradition that a man of that name was interred there in a gold or silver coffin. It was originally surrounded by a ditch and was much larger than at present, but repeated ploughing has much reduced its size. It was opened in April 1815, when a small interment of burnt bones, with some fragments of an urn, was found ten feet from the summit. The vessel was of the type known as an ' incense cup,' and was ornamented with zigzag patterns ; it was found on the south side of the barrow. Beneath the barrow were found seven perpendicular holes, about two inches in diameter, sunk about a foot in depth below the original level of the ground, containing a deposit of charred wood.' BLEWBURY. — There are many barrows on the Downs around Blew- bury, and more are known to have existed formerly. Ten can still be counted without reckoning the long barrow already described. There is one in the hollow on Ashbrook Farm, which has, however, been reduced in height by former ploughing. To the east on Churn Hill are three, the easternmost of which was explored in 1848, when it yielded a few burnt bones. On the lower ground to the east of the latter are two more, in a very good state of preservation. The most western of these was opened in 1 848. At Lower Chance or Chants Farm a barrow is still to be seen, but in 1 846 there were three which were then examined. They contained an unbaked urn, filled with animals' bones, and a bone pin. At Churn knob are two barrows ; one, the larger, is known by this name, while to the south is another, now nearly ploughed away, which was opened at the same time as that in Churn bottom, when all that was found was black earth, and the bones and teeth of horses and other animals, mixed with many small lumps of iron. It is said that formerly there were several others. The circular plantation to the east is said to have contained a barrow, of which, however, nothing can now be seen. Fox barrow, mentioned in the Abingdon Chronicle, is a small round barrow, by the side of Grim's ditch, where the boundaries of Blewbury, Compton and East Ilsley meet.3 1 Hewitt, Hundred of Compton, 115. 3 Ibid. 125-6. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, ii. 16, 93. Arch. Journ. vii. 65-7. 3 Arch. Journ. v. 279-291. Tram. Newbury Dist. Field Club. iv. 8, 36, 40. Hewitt, Hundr. of Compton, 124-5. 278 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS BOXFORD. — There is a barrow of nearly circular form in a field at the bottom of Rowbury Hill. It was opened about the year 1870, when only a quantity of charcoal ashes was found.1 BRIGHTWELL. — There is a circular barrow which forms a con- spicuous landmark on the top of Brightwell Hill. BRIMPTON. — There are six round barrows in Brimpton parish, five near to each other, the sixth being a quarter of a mile to the south. They vary in size, the largest being go feet in diameter, the others some- what smaller. They are all flat on the top and have a trench around the base. Two were exhaustively examined by Canon Greenwell in 1880, who failed to find any evidence of their sepulchral origin. Two are mentioned in the Abingdon Chronicle (i. 117-8) under the names of Imma beorge and heafod beorge. The five are near what is believed to be the course of the Roman road from Calleva to Aquae Solis.* CHADDLEWORTH. — Three round barrows lie in the extreme southern corner of Wooley Down, to the west of the road leading from Hunger- ford to Wantage, and extend in a line from north to south. Their diameters are 66, 48, and 36 feet, while their heights vary from five feet to one. There is a shallow trench around each, and there are depressions at the top, due, no doubt, to the work of treasure-seekers, who have been active here, even in recent years. They are popularly supposed to be soldiers' graves. There is a mound in the middle of Field Copse, but this is probably not a burial tumulus. CHILDREY. — There is a barrow about 50 yards north-east of the Ridge-way 97 feet in diameter, and still 5! feet high, though formerly much higher. It was opened in 1880 by Canon Greenwell who found a large sarson stone six feet from the centre, with a smaller one beneath it.3 There is another barrow on Hackpen Hill. CHILTON. — There is a large tumulus on Chilton Down near the southern boundary of the parish. COMPTON. — There were four barrows, known as the Cross Barrows, in Compton parish, about a mile east of Ilsley on a conspicuous emi- nence. These were examined by Mr. Hewitt in 1843. ^n one was found the skeleton of a large man, fixed into whose pelvis was an iron javelin-head. In another were six skeletons, with a small brass pin, some fragments of coarse pottery, several ochre beads and other objects. In the third was a single skeleton with weapons somewhat resembling that found in No. i. The fourth contained no interment whatever.' COOKHAM. — At Cockmarsh are four barrows. They were opened in 1874 by Mr. A. H. Cocks, when three were found to contain remains > Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, ii. 16. * Arch. lii. 65-6. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, iv. 1 86. » Arch. lii. 62-4. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, ii. 191. « Hewitt, Hundred of Compton, 153-5. Reading Mercury, Jan. 1843. 279 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE of burials by cremation, and the fourth the skeleton of an Anglo-Saxon man.1 There is also a barrow on Batlynge Mead, the traditional site of a battle between the Saxons and Danes. ENBORNE. — There are two barrows in Enborne parish on the site of the first Battle of Newbury. The largest, called ' Bumper's Hill,' is on the boundary of Enborne and Newbury.1 HAMPSTEAD MARSHALL. — There are three large circular barrows in Hampstead Park.8 HAMPSTEAD NORRIS. — There is a small barrow near Wailey Hill. It was opened about the year 1835 but nothing was found. There were two here formerly, but one has totally disappeared. There is a large, very high barrow in Park Wood, with a deep trench round it.4 EAST HENDRED. — In this parish is situated Cuckhamsley Barrow or Scutchamfly Knob, about which so much has been written. Excava- tions were made here some years ago which resulted in finding various articles, including an iron buckle, scattered through the mound, but no signs of an interment. In the centre was found a large oak stake, which had been charred.5 There is another barrow on East Hendred Down. EAST ILSLEY. — There are two small barrows on East Ilsley Down. WEST ILSLEY. — On an eminence south of Hodcott Hall there were several large barrows, gradually diminishing beneath the plough.' INKPEN. — On the top of the Downs, at the south-west corner of the parish, are four round barrows ; one is very conspicuous, while three others, much smaller, lie close together. LAMBOURN. — The most famous group of barrows is that known as Seven barrows, near the farm of that name upon the Lambourn Downs. There are in reality about twenty, and one of these is double, i.e. two conical barrows intersecting, while another, which appears oval, was probably the same originally.7 There is a small barrow on Park Down Farm, and two others on Stancombe Down, adjoining the parish of Letcombe Bassett. The latter were opened by Canon Greenwell. In one no interment was found, while in the other were the calcined bones of a man, covered by a per- forated ' incense cup,' by which were lying a hammer of stone and another made of deer horn. There is another barrow on Row Down, two more on Farncombe Down, and two on Eastbury Down. » Proc. Sac. Antiq. xii. 339. Times, Oct. 1874. Berks Quart. Journ. ii. 135. Berks, Bucks and Oxon. Arch. Journ. vii. 95. " Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, iv. 176. 3 Ibid. iii. 105. 4 Ibid. i. 208. Hist. Newbury and Env. 220. 6 Cough's Camden, i. 225. Hewitt, Hundred of Comfton, 99, 100. Coote, Romans in Britain, loo. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i. 167-9. 6 Hewitt, Hundred of Compton, 36. 7 See article on Anglo-Saxon Remains. 280 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS LETCOMBE BASSETT. — On Mere End Down, at the extreme south- east corner of Letcombe Bassett parish, are two low circular barrows, each surrounded by a trench, which have been opened by Canon Green well. The larger of the two, which measures 100 feet across, was found to contain burnt bones, which had been much disturbed by badgers, and a well-formed barbed arrow-head of flint. H. SEVEN BARROWS, LAMBOURN. The smaller barrow, which lies 50 feet to the east, had either been opened at some previous time, or the interment had been disturbed by the plough, as the bones were found very much disturbed. Some pieces of pottery were found among the materials of the mound. There is another barrow on Nutwood Down, only a few yards from two in Lambourn parish, about 93 feet in diameter and five feet high.1 » Arch. lii. 61-2. I 28l 36 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE EAST LOCKINGE. — There are two barrows at the south end of East Lockinge parish, close to the Ridge-way. MARCHAM. — There is a barrow at Garford in . this parish, on ' Barrow Hill ' between the two branches of the Ock.1 MOULSFORD. — There is a circular barrow on Moulsford Down to the east of Lingley Knob. It is doubtful whether this is ' the fine circular barrow surrounded by a fosse' mentioned by Hewitt as being at the corner of Unhill Wood, for there is no trench round it at the present time.* NEWBURY. — There are three barrows on Wash Common, south of Newbury, on the site of the first Battle of Newbury. EAST SHEFFORD. — There was formerly a mound or barrow in the garden of the old Rectory, which was removed some years ago, when nothing of interest was found. It is said that Hug's ditch terminated here. WEST SHEFFORD. — Near Coldridge Wood, to the south of the village, is a round barrow 95 feet in diameter. It was opened in the early part of the nineteenth century by a farmer, who found ashes, bones and some old sherds. Some years later it was carefully explored. Fragments of pottery and the bones of animals were found scattered through the mound. The base of a cinerary urn with some ashes attached to it was also discovered, beside some fragments of human bones, an ' incense cup,' a bone needle, and a number of flint implements.3 SPARSHOLT.; — There is a barrow on the top of the hill to the east of Uffington Castle, which was opened in 1852, when a number of skeletons were found, with marks of verdigris between their teeth. There are three more on Sparsholt Down, and one of these, it seems, was opened by Canon Greenwell, though he describes it as being in Childrey parish. The barrow had evidently been opened before, as fragments of a cinerary urn and the burnt bones it had contained were found scattered through the mound. A single round bead of lignite, one of a necklace, was also found. There are two more barrows on Pit Down.* SPEEN. — ;A round barrow formerly stood by the river Kennet on Speen Moor, surrounded by several concentric ridges. This was removed in the eighteenth century, when the workmen discovered an urn, which was broken by the peat spade." On the hill above Bagnor, by the side of an ancient trackway, is what appears to be the remains of a tumulus, known as the ' Mount.' STRATFIELD MORTIMER. — To the north of the road leading to Ufton, and not far from the entrenchment already described, are two 1 Cooper-King, Hist. Berks, 32. * Hewitt, Hundr. of Compton, 115. 3 Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i. 130-1. 4 Ibid. 176, 182. Arch. lii. 64, 65. 8 Phil. Trans. 1. pt. i. 109-115. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, ii. 123, 138. 282 ANCIENT EARTHWORKS barrows, each surrounded by a trench. A third was destroyed when the wood was planted after the enclosure award of 1802. SCTTON COURTENAY. — There is a barrow in Sutton Wick, not far from Barrow road, and another in the centre of the village. TUBNEY. — There is a barrow in Tubney wood. UFFINGTON. — There are two barrows in this parish on Woolston Down, known as Idlebush barrow. There is also another barrow on Woolston Down. The conical hill by the White Horse, known as Dragon Hill, was always supposed to be a tumulus, but when explored in 1852, it was found to be natural and the soil undisturbed.1 WANTAGE. — There is a barrow in the south of Wantage parish, near the Ridgeway. WELFORD. — A small barrow is shown on the tithe map in Hoe Benham, on the boundary of the parish adjoining Elcot Park. A barrow is also mentioned in the bounds given in a Saxon Charter in the Abingdon Chronicle. YATTENDON. — There is a barrow in Yattendon parish near Ever- ington. PITS In various parts of the county there are to be found circular pits, varying in depth and diameter, from some of which no substance could have been removed of the slightest value to the inhabitants of the neigh- bourhood. Others again may well be chalk pits. It has been suggested that these are the remains of subterranean dwellings similar to those now or till recently used by the inhabitants of Siberia or North-west America. LITTLE COXWELL. — In Little Coxwell parish were 273 pits, most of which are still existing, lying in 14 acres of land. Their depth varies from 7 to 22 feet, while the diameter of some is as much as 40 feet. They are called Cole's pits in a survey of 1687.* COMPTON. — Several pits are to be seen within the area of Per- borough camp, and have been described under this head.3 EARLEY. — There were a number of pits in Earley-field called Mase-holes, which were between 15 and 20 feet deep.4 MAIDENHEAD. — There are several pits on Maidenhead thicket, which have been thought to be the remains of pit dwellings. They may, however, be chalk pits. VARIOUS EARTHWORKS There are some few earthworks in Berkshire which cannot be classed among any of the preceding types, and which nevertheless should not be omitted from our catalogue. i Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 215. Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, i. 182. » Cough's Camden, i. 222. Arch. vii. 236. Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 215. » Hewitt, Hundr. of Camp ton, 70. « Lysons, Mag. Brit. i. 215. Coates, Hist. Reading, corr. and add. 283 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE BLEWBURY. — A strange circular pit, called Curnel or Cucknel pit, lies in a hollow on the Downs above Blewbury near Churn bottom. It has been surrounded by a vallum, the outside of which was carefully formed, and was very convex in form. Much of this vallum has now disappeared, and the rabbits have disfigured the greater part of the remainder, so that only a small portion shows the original section. It has been suggested that this was a Roman amphitheatre.1 BUCKLEBURY. — There is a group of long low mounds on Bucklebury Common which have sometimes been described as tumuli, and are tra- ditionally called ' the graves.' Several of these were opened in 1877 by Canon Greenwell, General Lane-Fox and others, when some small fragments of charcoal alone were found.1 LAMBOURN. — Among the tumuli, known as Seven barrows, are two which deserve special mention, as they are much lower than the others, and are surrounded by valla about 1 25 feet in diameter. Between the vallum and the central tumulus there is in each case a deep fosse. LETCOMBE BASSETT. — On Mere End Down at the extreme south end of the parish, and not far from some tumuli, the side of the down is shaped into a number of nearly level and almost square terraces, giving the hillside the appearance of a terraced chess board. These were obviously not formed for the sake of defence, nor could they have been caused by ploughing, as the length of each square is too small, and the only reasonable explanation seems to be that they are the result of spade cultivation, and that we have here the site of a prehistoric village. On the other side of the valley, in Lambourn parish, near Stancombe Farm, are further examples of the same type, but not so clearly marked. EASTHAMPSTEAD. — There are four small redoubts on the crest of Easthampstead plain, not far from Broadmoor, erected in 1792, when the first army manoeuvres were held in this neighbourhood. ' Tram. Newbury Dist. Field Club, iv. 40. ' Ibid. ii. 256; iii. 1 68. 284 DOMESDAY SURVEY The King's demesne, p. 285. — Assessment of the county, p. 286. — Church lands,p. 288. — Barons' lands,p. 288. — The Serjeants and the English thegns,p. 291. — Former landowners, p. 293. — The foreign knights, p. 296. — Spoliation of abbeys, p. 298. — Churches and priests,p. 299. — Parishes and manors, p. 301. — Agriculture and mills, p. 302. — Fisheries, p. 304. — Dairy farming and meadows, p. 305. — Swine and the woodlands, p. 308. — The towns, p. 310. — Legal antiquities and customs, p. 314. — The county borders, p. 318. I the interest and importance of the Berkshire portion of the Conqueror's great survey Mr. Freeman bore striking witness when he selected it for special treatment as typifying the effect of the Conquest on this country in practice.1 He analysed its evidence so fully that in dealing with the subject one is forced to traverse, to some extent, his footsteps. There was, however, an external reason for this choice of Berkshire, namely the existence of that chronicle of the local Abbey of Abingdon, which helps us to illustrate the Domesday text, and which is specially rich in that personal detail that Mr. Freeman valued most of all.3 But the interest of the survey is by no means confined to those features which to him proved the most attractive ; the long account of the borough of Wallingford and the very important entry on the local institutions of Berkshire would alone afford material for lengthy disquisition. The great extent of the Conqueror's own manors in the county and the fact that it contained at Windsor his new fortified residence already entitled it to claim the epithet of ' royal.' Six columns of Domesday Book are devoted to a survey of the lands which William held in his own hands, the royal demesne having evidently been, even before the Conquest, very extensive in the county. King Edward him- self was the predecessor in some eighteen instances of his Norman successor, and his relict, Queen Edith, in five others. The old Crown manors, moreover, were mostly large and important ; Cookham, Lam- bourn, and Old Windsor were each assessed at twenty hides ; Cholsey and Sutton Courtenay at more than twenty each ; Shrivenham at forty-six, and Reading at forty-three, in addition to which William held the borough of Reading in demesne. Nor was assessment always an indication of their value; Blewberry and Wantage, at the time of * Norman Conquest (1871), iv. 32-47, 728-736. 2 ' This district is one of those in which the Commissioners employed on William's Survey have been most bountiful in local and personal notices, while in some parts of England they give us little beyond dry lists of names. We are also able to draw a good deal of help from the detailed history ... of Saint Mary of Abingdon. By these means we are able to call up a personal image of several men in the days of Edward, Harold and William of some of whom we have heard already ' (Ibid. p. 32). 285 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Domesday, were each worth the large sum of £60 a year.1 On the manors which his rival, Harold, had held William, here as elsewhere, looked as his peculiar spoil. It was thus that Finchampstead, Great Faringdon, the Coxwells, Steventon, Littleworth, and Aldermaston came to swell his demesne. The assessment of these had slightly exceeded a hundred and thirty hides, but Harold had also held five-hide manors at Clewer and at Liver, ten hides at Brightwalton, and forty hides at Buscot ; and when we add the holdings of his tenants and grantees the total becomes a large one. Here, as elsewhere, we are led to wonder how these great possessions were acquired. Prof. Maitland has sug- gested that they may be accounted for by Harold holding them ex officio as earl of the shire, but it is not improbable that Harold (or his father) had obtained grants of some Crown manors, of which Faringdon may have been one.2 The King's demesne was not swollen by the lands of Harold's relatives, which in Berkshire were not considerable, and Tostig's manor, as in Oxfordshire and in Bucks, fell to the share of Walter Giffard. Before tracing further the devolution of estates, we must say some- thing of their assessment, which here was expressed in hides. In Berkshire, as in the counties lying to its north and south, the existence of the five-hide unit as the basis of all assessment needs no special demonstration ; assessments in multiples of that unit are found thick upon the ground.3 What is of more peculiar interest is that Berkshire is one of a block of four counties, including Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex, lying to its south, in which the archaic assessments based upon this unit have been largely and inexplicably reduced.4 It is tempting to connect this phenomenon with the possible ravages of William's host in the early days of the Conquest, but the Berkshire evidence does not, apparently, point in that direction. Indeed the reduction had begun before William's time. The monks of Abingdon claimed that King Edward had reduced the assessment of their manor ofBeedon.8 Again Harold is alleged to have obtained a reduced assessment of Brightwalton after he secured the manor." For Godric the sheriff also King Edward had reduced the assessment of half Fyfield from 10 hides to 5. Domesday shows us the reduction of assessment as most sweeping on the Church's manors. The Bishop of Winchester held three, on two of which it was reduced from 20 hides to 10, and on the third from 15 to 10. Abingdon Abbey also secured enormous reductions, Cumnor being brought down from 50 hides to 30, Barton from 60 to 40, 1 The Domesday map should be consulted for the King's manors. 3 There is some reason to believe that this had been done on a large scale in Hertfordshire and possibly in other counties. 3 Feudal England, p. 65. * Ibid. ; Domesday Studies, pp. 100, 1 1 1-2, 1 14-6. 5 ' Tune se defendebat pro x hidis, modo pro viii. Tamen fuit pro xv hidis, sed rex E. condonavit pro xi hidis ut dicunt.' Possibly xi. is an error for x. « ' Heraldus comes tenuit. Tune [se defendebat] pro x hidis. Quidam tainus qui ante eum tenuit geldabat pro xv hidis.' According to this, Harold had succeeded in getting the assessment reduced by a five-hide unit, i.e. from 15 to 10 hides. 286 DOMESDAY SURVEY Watchford from 20 to 10, Uffington from 40 to 14, and so on. Battle Abbey was specially favoured, for its manor of Brightwalton was relieved from all assessment, while that of its Reading estate was reduced from 8 hides to 3. On the fiefs of the lay tenants the reduc- tions are most erratic ; of Geoffrey de Mandeville's six estates, four were unchanged in their assessment, while that of the other two was reduced from 30 and 25 hides respectively to 10 apiece. On Richard Puingiant's two estates we have reductions from 10 hides to 2 and from 3 to nothing, and on those of Earl Hugh of Chester from 2 to nothing and from 40 to 6. The last mentioned of these remarkable reductions of assessment was at Buscot, and it ought to be carefully observed that on this estate were two sub-manors (if one may use that phrase) assessed at 8 and 4 hides respectively, which makes the reduced assessment the more puzzling. Its sequel deserves noting. In the Pipe Roll of 1130 we find two men (probably the predecessors in title of those who afterwards held in that place two knight's fees of the Earl) paying 100 marcs (£66 13^. 4 ' Sotesbroch aurifabrorum ' (Pipe Roll 13 Hen. II. [Pipe Roll Soc.], p. 10). ' Alwardus ' was prob- ably succeeded in his office (of goldsmith) and land by a son with the courtly name of William, for we read on the Pipe Roll of 1130 (p. 124) : ' Willelmus nlius Alwardi redd. comp. de. v marcis argenti pro terra et ministerio patris sui.' « Norman Conquest, iv. 43. 292 DOMESDAY SURVEY than this. In addition to this estate at Liver, he held four hides at Faringdon (from which he derived his name) and two more at Little- worth adjoining, both being portions of manors in which William had succeeded Harold. In Oxfordshire we find him as ' Alsi de ferend' ' ' farming ' for the King Langford and Shipton,1 both which manors had belonged to Harold, and he is thus proved to have acted as one of the King's reeves. Moreover, in the same county he occurs among the King's thegns, for he must be the Alsi who held two hides at Shipton,* formerly Harold's, and who also held at ' Rocote ' in that county.3 Lastly, as * Elsi de ferendone,' he heads the King's thegns in Gloucester- shire, holding 3^ hides at Windrush (some seven miles N.W. of Langford), and farming for the King, as Harold's successor, the adjoining manor of Great Harrington.4 Returning to Berkshire, we note that he had held even before the Conquest his Littleworth land, which implies that he had probably enjoyed Harold's favour. He must have been an elderly man in 1086, for Domesday names his son as holding a house at Wallingford, ' which he said the King had given him.' Turning now to the victims of the Conquest, the most interesting Englishman of whom we hear under Berkshire is Godric its former sheriff. That, according (apparently) to the Abingdon cartulary, he fell at the battle of Hastings would alone invest him with interest, but his dealing with the crown lands is of more real importance. The entries concerning him are found partly under the fief of Henry de Ferrers, who had clearly received a grant of his lands, and partly under the King's land, of which he is alleged to have filched portions, which were claimed by Henry as his successor. There is reason to believe that in other counties no less than in Berkshire there was apt to be confusion between the sheriffs land and that which he ' farmed ' for the Crown ; but the Berkshire evidence is instructive. At Woolhampton for instance Godric had been given certain land by King Edward, whose seal ' the men of the county ' had seen attached to the writ ; but he had also ' received ' further land ' de firma regis,' as to which they had seen no grant. At Bagshot, close to Shalbourn, Henry was holding two hides which were ' de firma regis ' and which were claimed as the King's. Turning to the ' terra regis' we read, under Shalbourn, that certain land5 belonging to that manor had been separated from it (forts missa) ' in the time of sheriff Godric ' and was now in the hands of Henry de Ferrers.8 Then there was a hide in Hendred, which was formerly ' de firma regis.' Godric had held it and ./Elfric of Thatcham asserted that he had seen King William's writ granting it to Godric's widow in con- 1 Langford lay some five miles N.W. of Farringdon. 2 Which, together with the eight retained by the King, account for a ten-hide manor of Harold's. 3 This was probably Radcot, on the border of Berkshire. 4 This manor had been held by one of Harold's house-carls. « The details do not quite agree, but the locality is clear. 6 Of the other two hides here in dispute, one is described as ' de Reve Land,' that is, probably, part of the official endowment of the Sheriff (Shire Reeve). 293 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE sideration of rearing his hounds. Henry, however, held it at the time of the survey, and, on turning to his fief, we duly find it there with a note that it had been ' de firma regis,' and that this was the hide of which JElfric spoke. At Sutton Courtenay, in the same Hundred, Henry was holding 1 20 acres, with their meadow, ' because Godric, his prede- cessor, when he was sheriff, ploughed that land with his own ploughs ; but, according to the Hundred, it rightly belongs to the King's manor (curiam regis) for Godric occupied it wrongfully.' At Kintbury again, according to the county, 43 acres which were formerly included ' in firma regis ' were held by Henry, because Godric had laid hands on them as a paddock for his horses. Henry de Ferrers was also holding a portion of the King's manor of Sparsholt, but this, said the county, was still in ' firma regis ' when Godric ' lost the shrievalty.' On the other hand we read, under Henry's land, that a portion of his own manor of Sparsholt .was claimed by him as having been held by Godric his pre- decessor; but the Hundred bore witness that Godric had laid hands on it after the battle of Hastings and had not held it in King Edward's days. This last is a difficult passage.1 Mr. Freeman, in addition to notices in his text/ devoted a whole appendix to ' the lands and family of Godric, "and there is practically nothing to add to his copious account. Another Berkshire thegn was specially named by Mr. Freeman as amongst the slain on the battlefield of Hastings. This was Thurkill, of whom it is recorded in the Abingdon Chronicle that by Earl Harold's advice he had done homage to abbot Ordric (1052-1066) for his estate at Kingston, and that, after his death in the great battle, his land was wrongfully seized by Henry de Ferrers. This would make the estate to be that Kingston (Bagpuize) which was part of Henry's fief ; but Domesday names ' Stanchil ' as his predecessor there. Mr. Freeman cut the knot by assuming, with Ellis, that ' Stanchil ' was an error for ' Turchil.' But one cannot treat Domesday so lightly as this, especially as a Turchil actually occurs as William Fitz Anscult's predecessor in another Kingston estate. It would seem possible, at least, that the monks made a mistake. The case of Azor, King Edward's steward (dispensator), is remark- able as an illustration of how an English tenant could suffer injury by the Conquest even though retaining his land. The men of the Hundred bore witness before the Domesday Commissioners that Azor ought to be holding his small estate of the King, as King William had ' restored ' it to him at Windsor, and given him his writ in proof thereof. At the time of the survey he was found holding it of Robert d'Ouilly, but, wrongfully, they said, for no one had seen the King's writ (giving Robert this right) or an officer of the King giving Robert seisin of the land. It should be observed that Azor had not com- mended his land to any lord (cum ea ire potuit quo •uo/uif). The fate of a 1 Because, if this Godric is the same, it contradicts the statement that he was slain in the battle. 2 Norman Conquest, vol. iii. (2nd ed.), pp. 428, 500, 743 ; iv. 33, 35-7. a Ibid., vol. iv. pp. 728-31. 294 DOMESDAY SURVEY few Englishwomen who had held land in the county is of interest. ' ./Eldeva,' a free woman, held of the King ' in almoin ' the estate in the Hendreds she had held before the Conquest, and so did Edith and 'Eldit,' whose estates were very small. The two first had held their lands uncommended to any lord, and there is something almost con- temptuous in their holding it now as of the King's alms. The entry relating to Shippon * is of interest in several ways. Like Drayton to the south of Abingdon, Shippon, to its north, had been held formerly by ' Ednod,' whom Domesday further distinguishes, under Shippon, as Eadnoth the Staller. At both places his lands had been obtained by Earl Hugh of Chester. Devoting to Eadnoth a special Appendix,8 Mr. Freeman endeavoured to trace him in Domes- day, but failed to detect the clue afforded by the bestowal of his lands on Earl Hugh, who was holding in 1086 lands which had belonged to Ednod, Alnod, or Elnod, in Wilts, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, and Devon, as well as in this county. We thus identify Eadnoth the Staller positively with the ' Ednod dapifer ' of Domesday in Wilts and the ' Eadnotus constabulus ' of the chronicle of Abingdon.8 According to Domesday, Earl Hugh, retaining Drayton for him- self, ' gave ' Shippon — which, it is added, ' non fuit in abbatia ' in Edward's time, to the abbot of Abingdon, who then mortgaged it. But the abbey's chronicle places a different complexion on the matter. When Earl Hugh, it tells us, had learnt that Shippon belonged rightly to the abbey, he offered it in the abbey church, placing with his hand, after the manner of the time, a knife on the altar, his nephews Engenulf (de Laigle) and William (Meschin) * being present. But he had pre- viously bargained that he was to receive £30 in cash and to obtain the benefits of confraternity for himself, his wife, and his parents ! Such was not unfrequently the real character of these ' gifts.' The special difficulty, however, is that the chronicle of the house assigns this trans- action to 31 March 1090, although Domesday refers to it as past in 1086 and even suggests that the land has been mortgaged in order that the abbot might raise the £30 for the earl. The difficulty of recon- ciling the dates is great. A subsidiary contradiction is found in Domesday's apparent denial of the fact that Shippon had belonged to the Abbey under Edward, but from what it tells us, under Dorset, about Eadnoth and Harold, we may suspect that Eadnoth had been assisted by the latter to encroach on the rights of the abbey. Of the other holders of lands under Edward in the county none calls for special mention, but Mr. Freeman, with some justice, observed that ' an incidental expression in the local history shows that for a man to have been a thegn of Berkshire implied almost as a matter of course, that he had died at Senlac.' 5 1 In St. Helen's, Abingdon. 2 Norman Conquest, vol. iv. 3 ' quidam ipsius \i.e. Eadvvardi regis] constabulus, nomine Eadnotus.' Op. cit. ii. 19. 4 His sisters' sons. 6 The reference is to the Abingdon Chronicle, which speaks of the Abbey's tenants ' quos Tahinos dicnnt, et in bello Hastingis occubuerant ' (ii. 3). 295 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE The allusion in question is found in what might almost be de- scribed as a classical passage on the system, introduced at the Conquest, of enfeoffing knights on the lands of religious houses to perform the military service exacted from them by William.1 The Abingdon chronicle expressly states that foreign knights were welcomed by the abbot and quartered on the manors of the house for this purpose, and its evidence enables us in many cases to determine the holdings in respect of which the knights owed the abbey their quota of service.2 For the topographical history of the county this evidence is of much value. One may mention, perhaps, in this place another and a very interesting piece of evidence that it affords. We learn from it that a certain Dane, who had held seven hides at (East) Hendred, had given to the Abbey the tithe of his demesne, that is four hides.3 In Domes- day we find Cola succeeding Sawin as a thegn holding there seven hides, reduced in 1086 to seven virgates. But within ten years of Domesday the thegn was replaced by a Norman, as was sometimes the case, for Robert Marmion, with his son Helto, renewed the gift at some date before 1097.' Helto bestowed the estate on ' the monks of Caen,' but Abingdon Abbey retained the tithe." On referring to the records of St. Stephen's, Caen, we duly find that seven hides had been given to that house at (East) Hendred,8 a notable instance of the Domesday reduction having been replaced by the pre-Domesday assess- ment.7 We further find that, at Caen, the ' Abbaye aux Dames ' received lands in Normandy from Hawys wife (i.e. widow) of Robert Marmion, on her becoming a nun there in 1 106, with the consent of her sons Roger, Helto and Manasses.8 The vast estates of Abingdon Abbey offered occasion for much dispute. According to the abbot it had been the practice for the monks to dispose of their patrimony as they would,' and Godric Cild, an inmate of the house, who held Sparsholt ' patrimoniali jure,' 10 had accordingly bestowed it on the abbey, for which he had King Edward's writ and seal and the attestation of all his brethren." But the men of the shire asserted that the monk had only held a life interest in the manor, and that they had never seen the King's writ and seal confirming it to the abbey. In this case the abbey retained the land, but it had to disgorge Whitchurch (Oxon) as to which a similar dispute had arisen,11 and which was secured by Wigod of Wallingford,13 whose successor Miles Crispin held it unquestioned at the survey." Sparsholt, though 1 Feudal England, p. 305. * The lists of their holdings in the Chronicle and in the Red Book of the Exchequer (Rolls Ser. 305-6) can be compared. 3 Vol. ii. p. 23. < Ibid. p. 33. « Ibid. p. 34. • Cat. of Docs. France, 156, 157, 162. » Cf. p. 287 above. 8 Cal. of Docs. France, p. 142. » Chron. Ab. i. 477. 10 Ibid. 11 ' Abbas vero testatur quod in T.R.E. misit ille manerium ad zcclesiam unde erat, et inde habet breve et sigillum R.E. attestantibus omnibus monachis suis ' (Dom. Bk., fo. 59). " Chron. Ab. i. 477. 13 There can be little doubt that Leofric the monk of Abingdon, who was alleged to have given Whitchurch to the abbey, was that Leofric the monk whose estate at Betterton, in Berkshire, Miles Crispin had also obtained. " Dom. Bk., fo. 159. 296 DOMESDAY SURVEY retained, was a source of anxiety, for on Anschil, its foreign tenant, falling into disgrace some years later, William Rufus seized the manor, and the abbey could get from it neither its quota of knight-service nor its share of the ' geld ' till Henry I restored its rights in 1 105.* The loss entailed on the abbey by enfeoffing foreign knights was bad enough, but when they did not contribute towards the knight service, the case was worse. Some of its knights, we read, were crossing to Normandy on the King's service, when they were captured by channel pirates, who mutilated some of them by cutting off their hands. Among these was Hermer, who had not yet secured from the abbey a knight's fee. As the abbot was not disposed to give him one after his misfortune, he appealed to the King, who directed the abbot to provide for him. He was consequently given an estate at Denchworth for his life, though unable to perform military service." He was clearly the Hermer whom Domesday shows us holding seven hides at Goosey ' in dominico victu monachorum,' for the chronicle describes the land as ' de victualio monachorum,' and though the latter places the land at Denchworth, Goosey adjoined that place.3 We may possibly see another of these un- fortunate knights in that Hubert to whom the abbot assigned five hides in Wytham, a dependency of Cumnor.4 To the Domesday entry of the abbey's two hides at (Hole) Benham there is appended the somewhat mysterious note : ' Haec terra non fuit in abbatia T.R.E. sed est quieta regi.' The former possessor is given as 'Eddid' (not commended to any lord), and Walter de Riparia was holding it of the abbey in 1086. Twenty-four years later, in 1 1 10, we have a charter of Henry I confirming to the abbey two hides there, ' quas Walterus filius Gotscelini de la Rivera tenuit de Unfrido de Bohun,' and which Humfrey had restored (reddidii)? Reading between the lines I think we may gather from this that Humfrey had grabbed the estate, and was prevailed upon to give it up. But the Norman did not lightly part with what he had once held, and we find the abbey asserting in 1166 that Humfrey de Bohun was robbing them of two hides.6 Later in this century it records that at Benham two hides are of the fee of Humfrey de Bohun and used to perform the service of half a fee, but do so no longer,7 and we find accordingly, Robert de la Harletre holding half a fee of the earl of Hereford under Henry III.8 But, this being so, how did the abbey come to hold four hides there ' in spite of it ? 1 Cbron. Ab. ii. 36-7, 125. 2 ' de militia: procinctu quoad vixit nil exercens ' (Ibid. ii. 6). 3 It is worth noting that the chronicle describes Denchworth as ' curiae Offentune subjectam,' and says that, in consequence of this grant, ' apud Offentunam dominium abbatias diminutum ' (ii. 7). Domesday in no way suggests that Denchworth was subject to Uffington. 4 Ibid. The chronicle describes his land as 'in Wichtham de terra villanorum curia; Cumenore obsequi solitorum.' This is in close accordance with Domesday, which enters it, under Cumnor, as ' in Winteham ... v hidas de terra villanorum.' • Chron. Ab. ii. 107-8. 8 ' quas Hunfridus de Boun aufert ' (Red Book of the Exchequer, i. 306). They were probably the half fee held of him at that date by Robert de Harletre (ib. i. 243). 7 Chron. Ab. ii. 304. 8 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), in, 122. " Chron. Ab. ii. 304. I 297 38 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Before passing from Benham we may note that it affords us one of those rare cases in which we can trace the son and successor of a Domesday tenant. ' Wigar ' appears among the thegns in the survey as holding there a small estate, and, a generation later, in 1109 we find Hugh the son of * Witgar de Bennaham ' bestowing his tithes on the abbey and arranging to be buried there with his wife when they died.1 Here is yet another instance of an English thegn giving his son a Norman name. We will now turn to another source of loss and trouble for the abbey. Domesday bears frequent witness to the disastrous effect for religious houses of their leasing their manors for lives with the result that, after the Conquest, the new comers who found themselves in the shoes of the lessees refused to admit the reversion. The Abingdon chronicler bitterly laments the losses thus incurred,' and the case of Leckhampstead shows how difficult it was for an abbey to regain possession of land which had been thus dealt with. According to the cartulary this manor had been given, as ten hides, by King Edmund to Eadric, one of his retainers in 943," and Eadric at his death left it to the abbey. In the time of King Cnut (1017-1035) a certain Brihtmund obtained a lease of it for three lives, of which his widow and his son Brihtnoth were the second and third. But on Brihtnoth's death his younger brother Brihtwine prevailed on abbot Siward (before 1043) to extend the lease for his own life.4 He subsequently claimed that Siward had given him the land in inheritance, nor was it till the eve of the Conquest that a later abbot, Ordric, compelled him, with the help of Earl Harold, to disgorge the ' landboc ' which formed the title deed to the estate.5 This Brihtwine is the ' Bricstuin ' of whom Domes- day records that he held of the abbot, * nee potuit recedere.' Another interesting example of the risk incurred by religious houses in leasing out their lands is afforded by the case of Blacheman the priest, who appears in Domesday as the former holder of three manors of Abingdon Abbey, Sandford on Thames in Oxfordshire, and Chilton and Leverton in Berkshire. A very wealthy man, he had built a handsome church in honour of St. Andrew on Andresey island close to the abbey, and the monks, influenced by his riches and his persuasive eloquence, were induced to grant him the above manors on lease6 (adfirmani). After the Conquest he left England with Harold's mother, Gytha, and his lands, forfeited by William, were only recovered with great difficulty by the abbot.7 It is significant that the survey 1 Chron. Ab. ii. 145. 3 ' mos illis diebus, futurum ad damnum non parvum, insoluerat ut, offerente quolibet auri vel argenti copiam, trium aut quinque terra; portionem hidarum, sive villam integram, diversis abbatix locis reciperet emptione, quodam subornatu id palliantes, quatinus trium vel duorum vita hominum inde possidendi protenderetur possessio ' (i. 481). * 3 i. 103-5. On p. 476 of that volume he is said to have been given it by Edwy in 958, but this may have been a confirmation. * i. 457-9. 5 i. 475. The short account of this proprietary action (as it may be termed) is of some interest legally. « Chron. Ab. i. 474, 484 ; ii. 283. ' Ibid. i. 484. 298 DOMESDAY SURVEY enters Leverton as having been held by Blacheman in fee and Chilton as held by him ' in alod ' of Harold ; in neither case is the abbey recognized as in previous possession. Another religious house appears to have lost a Berkshire manor ; this was the Old Minster of Winchester (i.e. the cathedral church). Domesday records that abbot ' Elsi ' had held Burghfield ' of the Old Minster ' in King Edward's time and afterwards until he was outlawed, according to the witness of the shire, though Ralf de Mortemer is found in possession at the time of the survey. Mr. Freeman devoted great attention to this remarkable abbot, whose ' whole life is wrapped in confusions and contradictions,' and whose ' real history is well nigh as marvellous as anything that legend could invent.' ' He duly mentioned the Burghfield entry, but missed the point of the abbot's tenure owing to his erroneous conclusion that the prelate's name was jfEthelsige. It was, on the contrary, ./Elfsige, and as such he appears in Domesday twice as abbot ' Elsi ' and once as abbot ' Alsi ' (Domesday equating these forms). We can thus discover him in that abbot 'Alsi' who in Hampshire had similarly held Barton in Bransbury of ' Stigand and the monks' of the Old Minster.2 Originally a monk of the New Minster, he had been chosen abbot of St. Augustine's and had consented to receive benediction from Stigand at Windsor, 26 May 1061. He would thus be on excellent terms with Stigand, who dealt as seemed to him good with the manors of his monastery. It was thus that ^Elfsige would obtain the manors of Barton and Burghfield. From Edward the Confessor he afterwards obtained the abbey of Ramsey, and, as its abbot (or former abbot) appears in Domesday as a witness for the Old Minster in its dispute about Hayling Island. Mr. Freeman assigned his ' outlawry ' to the year 1 070. That Ralf de Mortemer should secure Burghfield is in harmony with what we find in Hampshire where we read of him holding manors which his predecessor had only held under the Old Minster. The substantially endowed churches on the King's demesne manors are a well-marked feature of Domesday. In this county the village priest had a glebe of a hide and a half at Windsor, and the two clerks of Thatcham church had twice that amount. So rich were the endow- ments on the great manor of Cholsey, that two village priests were drawing £4 a year from the church and tithes, although the abbey of Mont St. Michel had been there given a church worth, with its glebe, £3 a year. Basildon had two churches and priests, who held a hide between them ; at Shrivenham the priest held no less than five hides worth £4 ; and the glebe of Lambourn was one hide, and those of Little Coxwell and Bucklebury half a hide each. The holders of these livings are sometimes named, and among them we find as elsewhere foreign favourites. In accordance with a later practice bishop Osmund (of Salisbury) held Faringdon church, of which the hide of glebe was worth £2, while at Wantage William the deacon — doubtless identical » See Norman Conquest, vols. ii., iii., iv. » Domesday, 41$. 299 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE with a tenant-in-chief of that name in Essex — held a third of the church (a noteworthy division) with a hide of glebe. The other two- thirds of the church, with four appurtenant hides, had been held by bishop Peter (of Lichfield) formerly a chaplain of the Conqueror. If, however, he was the Peter who had been chaplain to Edward (as I have suggested),1 his tenure may have dated from before the Conquest, as may that of the wealthy Reimbald, in favour with both sovereigns, who held the livings of Cookham and of Bray. It should be observed that he secured at Cookham the lion's share of the endowment, the church with a glebe worth fifty shillings a year, while the share of * two other clerks ' (possibly his deputies) was only five shillings between them. A clear case of an alien rector succeeding a native is found at Blewberry, where William (de) Belfou had secured a living valued at £5. He had been given another at Marlborough, and was probably at this time William's chaplain and chancellor. It is worth noting that he seems to have obtained the East Anglian see ju.st about the date of the survey, namely at Christmas 1085, and that in the other volume of Domesday he is styled, under Norfolk and Suffolk, William bishop of Thetford. Another alien was ' Ralf the priest,' to whose share had fallen the church and glebe of ' Nachededorne,' and who seems to have also secured livings in Sussex, Hampshire, and Wiltshire. An Englishman, however, continued to hold the living of Sparsholt, as he had done under Edward, possibly because it was not rich enough to tempt the foreign clergy. The nuns of Amesbury also remained patrons of Letcombe, where the glebe was but small. The King's manor of Sutton Courtenay had still an English priest, whose case is of peculiar interest. Of him there is no mention under the King's land ; but under that of Abingdon Abbey we read that jElfwi the priest held of it a hide at Sutton as his father had done before him. The chronicle of the house explains that, in the days before the Conquest, the abbey held two- thirds of the tithes of Sutton — the same division as at Wantage — with a hide of land, which was held of the abbot by the priest of Sutton, and that it further received from William Rufus Sutton church (i.e. the advowson) with a recommendation that ./Elfwi should continue to hold it for life, as he was learned in the law. Subsequently ./Elfwi petitioned the abbot that his son might hold it for life after him, a favour which he obtained on paying £5 and releasing to the abbey the chapel of Milton, one of the abbey's manors.3 Here, it would seem we have an English clerical family holding the same living for three generations. In Berkshire the survey, it is said, mentions some fifty churches, of which seventeen were on royal manors, and sixteen on those of ecclesiastical holders.3 A chapel occurs at Harwell and a small church (ecclesiola) at White Waltham. It is well recognized, however, that the mention of churches in the survey is only incidental and is generally due to the existence of taxable glebe ; at Wallingford, although so lengthily described, not a church is spoken of, although we learn inci- » Feudal England, p. 320. a Vol. ii. pp. 26-9. 3 Domesday Studies, pp. 435~6. 300 DOMESDAY SURVEY dentally, under Sonning, that Roger the priest had there a church which should have belonged to this manor. When studying the great survey we have always to remember that we have to consider at least three distinct local divisions, which we may term for convenience sake, the administrative, the seigneurial, and the ecclesiastical. The first of these was the vill, the second the manor, the third the parish or chapelry. In the actual survey the units were the vills grouped under their hundreds ; in Domesday Book, which forms its record, the units are the manors grouped under their tenants-in- chief ; in neither do we find the modern unit, that of the 'parish.' In some regions vills and parishes might be normally coterminous ; in others the vill may be represented by two or more parishes, or the parish may include within its borders two or more vills. Again, the vill — as was more usual — might contain two or more manors, or a great royal or ecclesiastical manor might contain several distinct vills. Berk- shire is one of the counties in which, as the result of this complex system, there is a great apparent discrepancy between the local nomen- clature as shown on the Domesday map and that which meets us on a modern one. On the one hand we find in the former names now forgotten or obscure; on the other we miss in it those of many well-known parishes, and even such places as Hungerford, Newbury, Abingdon, Wokingham, and Twyford. Of the places here named Hungerford and Newbury are cases of towns which, as sometimes happened, outgrew and supplanted the names of the manors to which they belonged ; but the cases of Woking- ham and Twyford are of another kind. Wokingham was a part of that ancient lordship belonging to the bishop of Salisbury — then the diocesan of the county — of which Sonning was the head. In Domesday, there- fore, this great lordship, formerly assessed at sixty hides, is entered merely as ' Soninges ' although it included, as we elsewhere learn,1 not only Ruscombe to the east, Wokingham and even Sandhurst to the south- east, but also Arborfield to the south, which accounts for none of these places being named in Domesday and also probably explains its assigna- tion to Sonning of such extensive woodland as is implied by the number of 300 swine. The record also somewhat mysteriously alleges that twenty hides in Ilsley (' Hildeslei ') belonged to the bishop's * manor ' of Sonning. Domesday seems to account under Ilsley for 2 1 hides in all, but we cannot connect any of these entries with the bishop of Salisbury's tenure.2 A further puzzle is afforded by the name of * Albericus de Coci ' in this passage. He was a Yorkshire tenant-in- chief, and if, as has been suggested, he was identical with that * Earl Aubrey' of the North, whose fief had escheated to the King before Domesday, we should expect to find his holding, if the bishop had lost 1 Feudal Aids, i. 47 ; Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 124, 126. So well recognized was this that Henry III granted to the bishop (23 March, 1227) a weekly market 'in manerio suo de Sunninge apud Wokingham ' (Sarum Charters, p. 181). See also Register of S. Osmund (Rolls Series), I. 304-311. 2 It is, however, remarkable that by bull of 26 Nov. 1146 Pope Eugenius III confirmed to the abbey inter alia ' Hildeslega ' (Sarum Charters, p. 13). 301 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE it, under the ' Terra Regis.' Twyford, mentioned above as another Domesday omission, appears in local history as a chapelry of Hurst, but even Hurst itself is not entered in the Survey. Of this the explanation is that it appears under Whistley (Hurst), one of Abingdon Abbey's manors. The present map of Berkshire preserves but trifling traces of men of the Domesday age. Although by no means holding an extensive fief in the county, Ralf de Mortemer has set his stamp more surely than any other of its barons on the Berkshire of to-day. Pinkneys Green commemorates, it is true, that Picard house of Picquigny which had Ghilo for its ancestor, but in ' Mortimer ' Ralf s surname has actually supplanted the Stratfield of which Domesday found him in possession, through the transition stage of Stratfield Mortimer. One of his pre- decessors there was a Hampshire thegn, Cheping, whom he had succeeded, in that county, at many places, his estates in the Hampshire Stratfields touching his Berkshire property. It is interesting to find that Oidelard, his tenant at Peasemore and Hodcott, held under him in no fewer than five other counties including Hampshire. Kingston Bagpuize preserves the name of a Domesday under-tenant, but in all the county there is no such striking survival as at East Garston, where in its present form, an almost inevitable corruption, we may still dis- tinguish the ton held before the Conquest by Esegar, staller and sheriff of Middlesex, Geoffrey de Mandeville's predecessor.1 It has, indeed, been alleged that ' Ulvritone ' (now represented by Newbury) was a name similarly formed from ' Ulward,' which was that of its previous lord. But the only name from which it could be formed is Wulfric, not Wulfward. Like the rest of England at the time of the Survey, Berkshire had very few sources of wealth, and these were almost exclusively found in land and stream. Traffic there was upon the Thames and along the ancient ways, but trade, which scarcely lay within the province of the Survey, was as yet in its infancy. With monotonous iteration the ploughlands and the ploughs are recorded in entry after entry, nor is there anything special in the features they present to detain us. The character of soils does not change, and probably a great sweep of cornfields extended from Wallingford to the Hanneys, and from Abingdon to the Ilsley downs, where the vast open fields distinctive of the Middle Ages are kept in memory by the names of Milton Field, Harwell Field, Hagbourne Field and the rest. The great plough with its eight oxen toiled across these broad spaces guided, at least on the lord's demesne, by the serfs of whom we read. I have argued that these serfs are normally found in the proportion of two to each demesne plough-team,2 and to take but one instance, we find that on the lordship of Sonning, although it consisted of scattered manors, there 1 A recent attempt to restore the original name has failed, but its form is well established. It was ' Esegarestone ' in 1 185, and in the thirteenth century (Testa), and ' Esgarton ' so late as 1351. , Worcestershire, vol. i. 275. 302 DOMESDAY SURVEY were five demesne ploughs and exactly ten * serfs.' For these ploughs the lord must have provided forty oxen, and it is noteworthy that the stock of oxen which the bishops had to keep up there is recorded two centuries later as forty-three.1 The peasantry were of the usual classes. Putting aside the * serfs,' Domesday reckons about half of them as villeins ; below these came the bordars, and then the cottars, the last of whom were unconnected with the ploughing organization. One must not forget that wine was then among the products of Berkshire. At Bisham, a demesne manor of Henry de Ferrers, Domes- day mentions one of these vineyards in which Norman lords endeavoured to produce the beverage which had been theirs at home. ' The small but interesting class of buri^ burs or colibertij as Pro- fessor Maitland terms them,1 are represented by 18 ' burs ' (at Letcombe Regis) and 24 coliberts ar Abingdon (' Bertune').3 A single ' rachen- este,' with a plough of his own, is mentioned at Goosey ; it is unusual to find one of this class so far east. The Berkshire streams, those English ' bournes ' which gave their names to Lambourn and Shalbourne, to Pangbourne and Hagbourne, and — where, in the down region, they ran dry in the summer — to Winterbourne, fed those manorial mills which figure so largely in the Survey. The value of the ' multure ' is carefully recorded, for the corn of the peasants had to be ground there, which brought profit to the lord. At times the right to a mill was in dispute ; Charlton and the Hanneys faced one another across what has now become the Wilts and Berks canal ; under both it is recorded that, according to the Hundred (Court) Walter Giffard on the Hanney side was in wrongful possession of a mill belonging to the King's manor of Charlton. At Ardington, not far off, the powerful Robert d'Ouilly held three mills, one of which was claimed by ' Cola the Englishman ' who held land just below it on the stream. But three English witnesses testified that it had always belonged to Ardington. These Domesday watermills can often still be identified. A valuable early charter records the grant of a Berkshire one and helps us to realize their importance.4 Sheffield in Theale, lying on the Kennet between Burghfield and Englefield, is entered in Domesday as a manor of the Count of Evreux, worth forty shillings a year, the mill alone being worth ten. In 1197-8 Alan de Whitchurch, who held it6 under the Count's successors, the monks of Noyon, at a rent of forty shillings (the actual Domesday 'valet'), granted the manorial mill8 to William de Englefield with the ' suit ' and ' multure ' of his men of Sheffield, and several appurtenances, namely the mill-acre (' Mulaker ') of land in front of it and the mill-acre (' Mulnaker ') of meadow at ' Husseie- 1 Sarum Charters, p. 364; 2 Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 36. 3 Their exact position is somewhat uncertain (Ibid. 36-8). 4 See my Ancient Charters (Pipe Roll Soc.), pp. 105-8. 5 It appears as his father's — ' Scheaffelda Rogeri de Witchercha '-in 1 167 (Pipe Roll 13 Hen. II, p. 9). 8 It was burnt down in recent times, having been eventually used as a paper mill. 303 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE brigge ' and one eyot called Bridge-eyot,1 and inter alia a half virgate of land which had been held by Bernard the miller of Sheffield, with two * gorz ' and fisheries and waters hereto belonging. Of these appur- tenant fisheries I shall speak below. Without discussing further this interesting charter, one may mention that it also grants pannage for eighteen swine in the lord's wood. Domesday assigns to Sheffield ' silva de x porcis,' so that we have here useful evidence that this formula did not (as is sometimes supposed) record the number of swine for which the wood afforded pannage, but of these received in respect of it by the lord. Burghfield mill, which stood on the Kennet below that of Sheffield, affords a useful hint for Domesday's interpretation. Burgh- field was one of the Berkshire manors that were divided into equal parts, each of its halves being entered as one and a half hides, and six plough lands, with woodland affording fifteen swine, and a ' fishery ' worth 55. 8d. Their values also, past and present, were identical. To each of these moieties Domesday assigns a mill, valued at 5/. lod. But in Ralf de Mortemer's moiety the word ' dimid ' is interlined above it, showing that the (profits of the) mill had also been equally divided, and that when Domesday enters a mill as appurtenant to the manor it may only mean a share of a mill. But in the case of Coleshill where the manor was divided into three parts, Domesday enters care- fully under each ' the third part of a mill,' i.e. of its profits. The so called c fisheries ' (piscarie) of Domesday are, in Berkshire, of exceptional importance, not only from its geographical position with its long frontage to the Thames and the Isis, but also from the Domes- day entries of their value in pounds, shillings and pence. Eels, apparently, were the chief produce sought from a ' fishery ' at this time, for when Domesday enters their render, it is normally in terms of eels, either caught by weirs composed of eelpots in the rivers or contributed by the mill from its pool, as a portion of its rent. Thus the three 'fisheries ' at Wargrave produced 3,000 eels a year, while Whistley (in Hurst) was good for 3,000 from the 'fishery' and 250 from the mill (pool), and Shinfield, above it on the Loddon stream, for 550 from five 'fisheries' and 150 from the mill (pool). Remenham, again, below Henley, contributed 1,000 eels as part of the render from its mill. So well recognized, indeed, was the eel as the fisherman's prey that eels, under Henry II, were what the fishermen of Abingdon Abbey brought to it for Lent.' Thirty years after the survey we find the abbey care- fully recording the cheese and the eels due to it, the latter being num- bered by sticks (sticce) of 25 each.3 Of these it appears there were nearly a hundred, which would represent 2,500 eels. When we turn to the estimated values in money, not in eels, we see how greatly a fishery could increase the wealth of a manor. Domes- » ' una insula que appellatur Briggheit.' 1 ' xiii piscatores quando portabant anguillas in Capite Jejunii ' (Cbron. Ab. ii. 243). » Ibid. ii. 149. 3<>4 DOMESDAY SURVEY day enters in all some seventy fisheries in the county, and the money values recorded amount to no less a total than £2 1 I %s. %d. The proceeds, however, vary greatly, several being valued at only five shillings or less, while the most valuable were at Appleton (£i i^.s. zd.), and (three) at Eaton in Appleton (£1 %s. od.}. That of Duxford also was worth £i 5-r. 2d. These sums were as much as substantial estates were some- times valued at in Domesday. It is very interesting to trace the fisheries up the rivers of the county. Starting from the Surrey border we find them on the right bank of the Thames at Windsor, Cookham, Hurley, Wargrave, Sonning, Earley,1 Reading,2 Streatley, Appleford, Abingdon (' Bertune '), Cumnor, Eaton, Appleton, Longworth, Draycott Moor, Hinton Waldrist, Duxford, Buckland, Carswell, Littleworth, Eaton Hastings, and Buscot. It will be observed that they lie more thickly on the upper part of the river.3 Up the Kennet we have ' fisheries ' at Whitley, Southcot, Burghfield,4 and Aldermaston ; on the Loddon at Whistley, Shinfield, and Swallowfield. Fisheries are also mentioned at Faringdon, Kingston Bagpuize (on the Ock ?), and ' Burlei.' From the fishery to the dairy, from the eel to the cheese, may seem an abrupt transition ; and yet it is not so here. It was mentioned above that the monks of Abingdon entered together their dues of cheese and of fish, for which there was a reason. ^Ethelwold, their great reforming abbot in the middle of the loth century, had provided for their portions of cheese, but arranged that these, in Lent, should be replaced by fat eels.5 Before tracing the portions of cheese, let us see what the Domesday Survey has to say of their production. At Sparsholt Henry de Ferrers has deprived the Crown of a dairy (vaccaria) producing six weys of cheese ; at Shellingford the dues of cheese (consuetudines caseorum) are worth to Abingdon Abbey no less than £4 i6s. %d. ; at Buckland bishop Osbern has a dairy farm (wica) producing ten weys of cheese, which are worth £1 izs. \d? A glance at the map shows that these three manors lie, as it were, in a crescent across the vale of White Horse, the famous dairy district of Berkshire, the home of the ' Little Gloucesters.' Returning now to the Abingdon evidence, we find that a fortunate dispute, some thirty years after the Survey, enables us to trace further the local production of cheese. Moved, we read, by the devil, some of the monks attacked the abbot in chapter on the ground that the portions of cheese assigned them by the sainted ./Ethelwold had been diminished. On this coming to the ears of the King, he sent down the primate, the 1 Two fisheries occur in each of the two Earley entries ; they may have been on the Thames or the Loddon. 3 Each of the Reading entries mentions fisheries. These may have been on the Thames or the Kennet. 3 They were also very productive there, those of the adjoining Buckland, Hinton Waldrist, and Duxford being worth £l y. 6d., £i, £l 5*. 2d. respectively. 4 Just below the Sheffield ' fisheries ' spoken of above. 6 ' In quadragesimali vero tempore, loco casei constituit unicuique fratrum unam anguillam grossam quotidie cum generale ' (Chron. Abing. i. 346). • ' Wica de x pensis caseorum valentes xxxii sol. et iiii d.' I 305 39 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE bishop of Salisbury, and one of his own officers to investigate the matter. Called upon to explain the trouble, the abbot replied that the great increase of the brethren under his rule had made ^thelwold's allowance of a wey of cheese every ten days insufficient. He offered to increase it to a wey every five days, and the prelates, accepting this, solemnly excommunicated, with candles lighted, all who should challenge this settlement.1 At the same time a record was made of the abbey's ' wicks ' and of the weys due from each.2 At their head is that of Shellingford pro- ducing thirty weys. Now we saw that Domesday valued ' the dues of cheese ' from Shellingford at £4 i6j. 8*/., which practically represented just thirty weys.3 Then we have East Lockinge, producing ten weys ; and after it three names of peculiar interest,4 for they are still represented by Thrupp Wick (adjoining Abingdon) and by Goosey Wick and Charney Wick, adjoining one another in the heart of the White Horse Vale. When towards the close of Henry II's reign, Thomas de Husseburne had charge of the abbey's revenues, he declared at the Exchequer that ' all Berkshire was insufficient to provide milk and cheese for the monks ' ; but the brethren replied that ' wicks ' (ivikae) were provided from the time of St. ^Ethelwold to supply the said milk and cheese.6 This would seem to carry back the dairy farms of the Vale to the middle of the tenth century at least. Other wicks surviving in the Vale, such as Fyfield Wick and Ardington Wick, have the same origin for their name, and the Abingdon evidence supplies us with a private ' wick ' at Wantage, where Gilbert Basset gave the abbey a wey a year from his ' wick ' with the tithe of fleeces and lambs.' This raises the interesting question whether some at least of the cheese produced in the Vale in the Norman period was not made from ewes' milk. Another entry relating to this gift suggests that it was so,7 and I have shown that on the Essex coast it was so not only at the time of Domesday but even as late as the days of Elizabeth, when Norden speaks of its ' wickes or dayries.'8 At Sparsholt, however, as we have seen, Domesday enables us to say that the dairy contained cows. Bread and cheese, pulse and pork, probably formed in the Norman 1 They asked him what provision he had made for the abbot's table, and he replied that he had assigned to it 46 weys a year, that is, probably, a wey a week except for the six weeks of Lent. 2 ' Istas sunt wikse quae tot pisas invenire debent.' 3 For the ten from Buckland were valued at £i I2s. ^d. * ' De Lakinges, decem pondera. De Tropa iiii pondera. De duabus wikis de Goseie, xxviii. pondera. De wika de Cerneia, xvi pondera' (Cbron. Ab. ii. 149). And see similar list, ii. 287 : ' Hae sunt wikas quae invenerunt caseum in refectorio.' 5 Ibid. ii. 243~4- * ' unum pensum casei de sua wicha, et decimam vellerum et agnorum ' (ii. 145-6). * ' de wica Theosi quae respicit ad ipsum dominium [Gilleberti Basset], id est pondera casei in festo Sancti Michaelis [29 Sept.] et xii agnos, et xii vellera, quum tonduntur oves. Et si forte, morbo ingruente, minores fuerint agni et oves, supplebit wicarius ... Si autem in die sancti Michaelis de caseo pretendit inopiam, satisfaciet predictus wikarius in denariis . . . non minus quam v solidis ' (ii. 333). So also an early grant of tithe by Sewal of Ilsley is defined as ' caseorum scilicet, et vellerum suarum ovium ' (ii. 32). 8 V.C.H. Essex, i. 371-3. 306 DOMESDAY SURVEY period the bulk of the people's diet. This we know from the supplies provided for garrisons and for armies. Eighty-five years after the great survey, when Henry II and his host were about to invade Ireland, wheat and cheese were sent from Berks to feed them in that savage land. A hundred loads of wheat at one and twopence a load, and twenty weys of cheese, at five shillings each,1 were conveyed in thirty carts from Abingdon and from Newbury to Bristol to be despatched thence to Ireland." In the fertile Vale of White Horse the evidence of the ' wicks ' still remaining that dairy-farming, then as now, was pursued in its western portions, is confirmed by the entries of meadow in the great survey. The value of the river meadows, and the rich cattle pastures is shown by its exact reckoning of the acres of ' pratum ' as compared with its loose estimates in some other departments. There are several entries of four acres, and even a single acre is duly recorded. One is struck, therefore, by the figures given towards the Wiltshire border in the Vale of White Horse. The acreage runs thus : Ashbury (200), Odstone (200), Compton Beauchamp (60), Woolstone (150), Becket (93), Shrivenham (24o),3 Watchfield (150), Coleshill (207), the Coxwells (280), Shellingford (104),* Hatford (100), Stanford in the Vale (318), Goosey (135), Dench worth (81), Challow (40), Uffington (85), Spars- holt (350)," and the Letcombes (261). Similar large figures distinguish the rich belt of river meadows between the hills and the Thames from Inglesham to Longworth. Here we have Buscot (300), Eaton Hastings (148), Faringdon (135)," Littleworth (285),' Carswell (59), Buckland (220), Hinton Waldrist (40), Duxford (16), Longworth (100). Lower down the river, as we might expect, we again find considerable figures : 200 at Abingdon ('Bertone'), 300 at Sutton Courtenay and up the stream that flows in there, 344 8 at Milton, and 268 at Steventon. Appleford had 60, the two Wittenhams 217, Cholsey 100, Reading 162. Up the valley of the Kennet also there were 83 at Burghfield, 80 at Ufton, 64 at Pad- worth, 124 at Aldermaston, and 147 at Thatcham. Enough has been said to show that the acreage of meadow has a meaning and not only affords a general indication of the condition of the valleys at the time, but also contains useful guidance as to the situation of the manors named in Domesday. But the actual acreage of the meadows does not exhaust the information. Only 104 acres are assigned to Shellingford, but Domesday adds that 1 2s. 6d. is received from ' other meadows,' the surplus apparently being let. There was also received ' for pasture ' (de pasture?) 2J. %d. at Stanford in the Vale, 1 The Domesday price, we saw, was about three shillings and threepence. But the wey probably varied in those days of local measures. Indeed, the monks of Abingdon complained that twenty-two stone went to the wey in ^Ethelwold's day as against eighteen under Henry I. ^ Pipe Roll 17 Hen. II. (Pipe Roll Soc.), 88. 3 Stainswick and Chapelwick are in this district. * See below. 5 This included Kingston Lisle. 6 This included the Berkshire portion of Inglesham. 7 Possibly there were 54 more. 8 And possibly 30 more. 307 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE is. Afd. at Goosey, and no less than \6s. 6d. at Reading. For the grazing (de herbagio) 5 shillings were received at Long Wittenham, and at Appleford 21 shillings ' de lucro terra? dominicas.' But this last is a special phrase, which is also found at Droxford, Hants, where 12*. accrued ' pro lucro terras.' It probably implies that part of the demesne was let at a money rent.1 One would like to be able to discover also some indication of the sheep-farming industry, but save for the early mention of a ' wick ' at Wantage, where the ewes' milk was probably the product,2 there is none. It is not till two centuries later that a rental at Brightwaltham, in the down district, shows us the tenants finding men to wash and shear the lord's sheep, and bound to shift the lord's fold, while the keeper of the wethers is entitled to keep forty sheep in a fold of his own grazing with those of his lord.3 As to the swine — far more important at that time for food than the sheep — there is never a doubt in Domesday. Their ' pannage ' in the woodlands, where they fattened on the beech-mast and the acorns in their season, forms a useful index to the distribution in the county of woods and forests at the survey. We read at the outset, under Windsor itself, of ' tantum silvas unde exeunt v porci de pannagio,' a phrase valuable as proving that in Berkshire the number of swine recorded was that which was received by the lord as tribute for pannage in his woods. But although this number might be presumed to be exact, it is often, as with other estimates in Domesday, suspiciously round. The evidence, however, is amply sufficient to show that, as in later times, the wooded districts were in the east and south-east of the county, and the open country in the west. Indeed we need not travel beyond the King's land to perceive that this was so. His woodlands were virtually confined to the Vale of the Kennet and the district to the east of that river. In the west it is true he had some scattered woods at Lambourn (10), and Shrivenham (20), and in the centre of the county some noteworthy exceptions at Basildon (120),* Compton (3), Winterbourne (3), and Bucklebury (100), as well as at Sutton Courtenay (40) to the north, but the great woodlands are where I have said. Although his forest of Windsor had encroached on those available for pannage, we find them at Windsor itself (55), Bray (60), Cookham (100), Wargrave (100), White Waltham (150), Warfield (100), Bark- ham (40), Finchampstead (200), Swallowfield (20), and Shinfield (90). Leaving the east we note, up the Kennet Valley, Reading (100), Earley (70), Aldermaston (30), Oakfield (50)," Thatcham (60), Kintbury (3), Hungerford (10). The woodlands in private hands present the same features. At 1 Compare the rents from demesne in The Domesday of St. Paul's (Camden Soc.), viii., Ixxxix., 70-71, 118-121. 1 See page 306 note 7 above. There is an important entry on the Pipe Roll for 1 1 30 of the purchase of 1500 sheep for restocking the royal manors of the county at a cost of £30 8/. \d. (p. 122). 3 Custumals of Battle Abbey (Camden Soc.), 61, 67. « Probably including Ashampstead. 6 This, perhaps, belongs rather to the eastern than to the Kennet district. 308 DOMESDAY SURVEY their head is the great lordship of Sonning, where they brought in 300 swine, for its ' hinterland,' as we have seen,' extended to the south border. Whistley (Hurst) produced 50, Easthampstead 10, Clewer 70, Pinkneys with Maidenhead 10, Hurley 5, and Dodworth 5. Stratfield Mortimer on the southern border produced 40. As on the royal demesne the figures on private fiefs imply woodlands in the Kennet Valley. The actual forest of Windsor appears to have been extended since the Conqueror's advent. The monks of Abingdon complained bitterly that four hides of their manor of Winkfield had been enclosed within the forest,* and Domesday admits the fact.3 At Windsor itself additional woodland had been enclosed in the forest (missa est in defensa), and at Cookham apparently also.* Even at this early date the king's ' forest ' was by no means limited to the immediate neighbourhood of Windsor. At Bucklebury, where, we have seen, he possessed extensive woodland,6 Walter Fitz Other, his forester for Berkshire,* had a small estate, of which we read that ' it lies in the forest, and has never paid geld.' But his headquarters must have been at Windsor, near which the monks of Abingdon accuse him of robbing them of two woods belonging to Winkfield. Valuable information is afforded by a charter of Henry II grant- ing to the church of Salisbury the tithes of all his forests within the diocese. For he specifies the sources of revenue from which the tithes were to be paid, viz., the composition (Jirma) for pannage, grazing (berbagio), cows, cheese, swine, and brood mares.' He further granted it the tithes of the proceeds of his chace within them ' excepta venatione quae capta erit cum stabilia in foresta de Windesores.' " This is a specially notable phrase, because ' the customs of Berkshire ' recorded at the commencement of the county survey close with the fine inflicted on him who did not come ' ad stabilitionem venationis ' when sum- moned.9 The stabllitio is also found in Domesday under Herefordshire and Shropshire as a royal due, and exemption from 'chacier establi' 10 was among the liberties granted by Henry II to Merton Priory.11 One must not leave the woodlands without observing that they were indis- pensable for building and for fuel in those days, and that even underwood was valuable for fencing, the ' silva ad clausuram ' of the survey. 1 p. 301 above. 2 ' de villa Winkefeld, versus Wildesoram sita, regis arbitrio, ad forestam illic amplificandam, iiii hidas tune exterminate sunt ' (Chron. Ab. ii. 7). 3 ' De hac terra sunt iiii hide in foresta regis.' 4 ' alia medietas est in foresta de Windesores.' 5 See p. 308 above. 6 ' forestarum per comitatum Berkescire ubique consitarum primas et tutor ' (Cbron. Ab. ii. 7). 7 The Pipe Rolls of his reign show that the revenue (census) from the forest in respect of all this was .£133 year. 8 Sarum Charters, p. 249. 9 ' qui monitus ad stabilitionem venationis non ibat 50 sol. regi emendabat.' The so-called laws of Henry I include among offences against forest law ' si quis ad stabilitatem non venit.' William of Malmesbury, cited by Ellis, speaks of the Confessor's wrath against a rustic, who ' stabulata ilia quibus in casses cervi urgentur, confudisset.' 10 The Norman French form. " Records of Merton Priory, App. p. xiv. 309 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE A good illustration of this is afforded by a local transaction about a century after Domesday. The manors of Robert d'Ouilly in the survey are headed by Chaddleworth and Letcombe (Bassett), of which the for- mer had woodland yielding ten swine, but the latter none. When Richard Basset, under Henry II, restored to Abingdon Abbey the rights at Chaddleworth bestowed on it by his predecessor he reserved for himself in its woodland these rights : — wood for his own fire and for his kitchen, when he was in those parts, rods and poles for making (sheep) folds and fence around his court, timber for (repairing) his mills at Letcombe, and entry for the swine on his demesne at Let- combe free of pannage.1 The inference is that at Letcombe he was dependent for all this on the somewhat distant woodland at Chaddle- worth. We may now at last approach the towns, of which there were several in the county. The origin of these is various, but presents no difficulty. Wallingford, by far the most important, had been a Roman station, and must have owed its origin, like Oxford, to the ford from which it is named. It occupies in Domesday the peculiar position assigned to county towns. As Professor Maitland has observed, it ' precedes the rubric 'Terra Regis.'1 The compilers of Domesday 'do not locate it on the Terra Regis ; they do not locate it on any man's land ; it stands out- side the general system of general land tenure.'* This he holds to be due to ' the tenurial heterogeneity of the burgesses ' in such towns, Wallingford, like Oxford, being an excellent example of the type.4 It is not possible to do justice in the space at one's disposal here to all the points of interest in that survey of the borough8 which occupies nearly a page of Domesday Book. Oxford and Wallingford in a sense were both border towns, for in Oxford there were certain Berkshire interests,6 and in Wallingford there were more houses belonging to Oxfordshire than to Berkshire manors. This is well seen in the useful and instructive map compiled by Mr. Ballard,7 where Wallingford is shown in a central position relatively to these manors. The ownership of these houses raises a difficult problem, which is discussed at length by Prof. Maitland, and even more fully by Mr. Ballard. Here one can only say that a careful distinction must be drawn between houses held apart from any other property, and houses 1 ' De bosco autem quod predicte terre adjacet, cum fuero in provincia ilia retineo ad focum coram me faciendum et coquinam mearn, et virgas, et palas ad faldes et sepes circa curiam meam faciendas et arbores ad molendina mea de Ledecumba, si in bosco illo inveniri poterunt,. . . . et porci mei de Lede- cumba de dominio quieti sint de pasnagio ' (Chron. Ab. 189-190). 2 Domesday Book and Beyond, 177. 3 Ibid. p. 178. * Ibid. pp. 179-80. B In this account of Wallingford it is twice styled a borough (burgus) and its inhabitants are burgesses (burgenses). Reading is the only other Berkshire town styled a borough by Domesday. Mr. Ballard (The Domesday Boroughs, 5) states that it applies the term ' civitas ' to Wallingford, but I do not find that this is so (see p. 316 below). • Under the King's manor of Steventon there is a remarkable entry that there belonged to it in Oxford thirteen houses, worth 12s. 6d., and a meadow worth a pound, and that they believed Robert d'Ouilly (the great man of the town) to be holding them, but had no knowledge thereof, as it was in another shire. A house in Oxford is also assigned to another Berkshire manor. * Facing p. 28 in his book, The Domesday Boroughs. 310 DOMESDAY SURVEY held in right of the ownership of a particular manor, and forming one of the sources of revenue appurtenant to that manor. The best example of this distinction is seen, I think, in the houses held by the King himself. Domesday begins its account with what by comparison with other towns we may term the King's demesne, which comprised in King Edward's time 276 houses.1 But it also makes sub- sequent mention of certain houses held by the King in right, probably, of his rural manors. Indeed this is in one case expressly said to be so, for he is entered as holding two houses, worth fivepence a year, in (right of) Aldermaston (in flLldremane stone) . Moreover, under the royal Manor of Sutton (Courtenay) we read that it included one house in Wallingford worth eighteenpence a year. Returning, however, to the houses on the King's demesne in the borough, I read the passage myself as asserting that of the 276 houses held by King Edward, the Crown, at the time of the survey, had lost the dues on fourteen in all, of which eight had been destroyed to make room for the castle (pro castello) ; but on the other hand there had risen twenty-two additional houses inhabited by Frenchmen, and bringing in six shillings and fivepence a year to the Crown.3 This phrase, which has perhaps escaped notice, appears to me to suggest some such foreign settlement as Domesday shows us springing up in the wake of the Conquest at Norwich. No fewer than twenty-seven houses worth twenty-five shillings were held by the bishop of Winchester (in right of his manor of Bright- well), with which, says Domesday, they are valued.3 This is a some- what difficult passage, for Domesday means by this formula that the value is included in the total value given as that of the manor, and yet under Brightwell the sum of twenty-five shillings is recorded as arising, not from the rents of these houses, but from the profits of jurisdiction over them (de placitis terre que in Walingeford huic manerio pertinet xxv sol.} .* It is well pointed out by Mr. Ballard that there is a charter of A.D. 945 granting 30 hides at Brightwell with land in Wallingford,8 proving the antiquity of the connexion. Under Brightwalton, Battle Abbey's only Berkshire manor, are entered ' in Walengeford v hagae,' and these, I think, must be the ones spoken of under Wallingford : ' v masuras in Berchesire habet abbas de Labatailge de xx denariis.' If so, we have here evidence that hagtz and masurce were identical, and we have a case of a holder being ' entered on both lists for the same property.' ' Domesday is, in this matter, most unsystematic, entering, as it does, these appurtenant houses sometimes under the town in which they were situate and some- times under the manor to which they belong. 1 I use this word for convenience. Haga, etymologically, meant an enclosed place, the ' haw ' of ' Bassishaw ' in London. J ' De superplus sunt xxii masuras francigenz.' 3 ' Et sunt appreciate in Bricstewelle manerio ejus.' 4 Mr. Ballard quotes the two passages (p. 48) and takes them thus, holding the latter to refer to the ' profits of justice.' And the Brightwell phrase is quite distinct from the normal one, which occurs in the preceding entry (for the episcopal manor of Harwell) : ' in Walengeford iii hagz de xv denar.' But he also quotes them on p. 31 as a case of a holder being ' entered on both lists for the same pro- perty.' In spite of the identity of the sum, its sources seem to me to be given as distinct. 5 Op. cit. p. 107. * See note 4 above. 3" A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE A mer points in the survey of Wallingford which must not be centun over are, first, the mention of the burgesses on the King's are Aesne being bound to do him service with their horses or their boats rup river to Sutton Courtenay, or down stream to Reading, inland to Blewbury, or across the water to Bensington. This suggests the avera or carrying service found in other parts of the country. Secondly, the mention of a moneyer (implying a mint), who holds his house rent- free in virtue of his office. Thirdly, the very mysterious mention of fifteen acres * on which the house-carls used to dwell.' Fourthly, the entry, of which the form is also somewhat mysterious, that certain * thegns (taint) of Oxfordshire had land in Wallingford.' I read it that this land had been appurtenant to certain manors which these thegns had held and which, at the time of the survey, were in the hands of their successors the Normans whose names follow. Fifthly, the mention of smiths (fabri}, with five houses valued at tenpence (rent) between them, including forges, as we see from a similar entry under Hereford.1 Lastly, the annual payment from the town requires to be carefully noted ; for the sharp rise in the sum exacted is a frequent and striking feature in the Domesday accounts of boroughs. Wallingford, we read, was worth £3° under Edward, and £4° afterwards. At the time of the survey its annual value to the Crown was reckoned (probably by the jurors) at £60, and yet it was farmed out at £80 to some one unnamed, who must have harried the burgesses to make his profit. Reading stands foremost among the other towns of the shire. Domesday distinctly calls it a borough, and surveys it, though among the King's manors, yet apart from the manor of Reading, which has the usual rural features. The whole of it stood on the King's demesne except Battle Abbey's interesting estate, a gift from the Conqueror. This estate is entered as having been held by Leofgifu the abbess, and appears to have had a * church ' or religious house for its centre. It has been supposed that this represented the former abbey of Reading destroyed by the Danes. To this rural property, as it seems to have been, though described as * in Reading,' there belonged twenty-nine ' masuras ' (in the borough), worth nearly as many shillings. The King, on the other hand, had twenty-four * hagae ' in the borough, worth eighty- three shillings ' pro omnibus consuetudinibus.' The average value is so high that it must have included more than rent, as indeed the Latin words suggest. As at Wallingford, exaction was at work, the eighty- three shillings' worth of revenue being * farmed ' for a hundred. In the case of Reading, however, the matter is complicated by the state- ment under Finchampstead that it * renders (its) farm in Reading,' which ought to mean that its £8 of rent was included in that of Reading. This, however, it will be seen, cannot be the meaning.8 The origin of 1 Where there were six smiths, each of whom paid a penny a year for his forge, and was quit of all other payment in consideration of forging the King's iron. 2 Space does not allow of discussing the case of the house appurtenant to Earley or of that which Henry de Ferrers held as successor to Godric the sheriff, whose official quarters it probably had been. 312 DOMESDAY SURVEY Reading is clearly its position at the junction of the Thames and Kennet valleys, which gave it a certain trade. Next in importance comes Windsor, a typical example of a town dependent on a great castle. Here the town is styled a ' vill,' and is part of the manor. It contained, however, 95 bagez, thirty shillings being received from the rent of sixty-nine of them. Possibly the ' new market' at Cookham was not unconnected with Windsor, but this is merely a guess. It is only from the survey of Surrey that we learn that the pious Edward had bestowed Old Windsor on his great foundation at Westminster, and that the Conqueror had redeemed it by the gift of Battersea. He then enlarged it, as we learn from the Clewer entry, by adding half a hide from that manor, on which Windsor Castle was placed,1 a statement which practically implies that he raised it there himself. Abingdon, of course, is the typical town that rises at the abbey gate ; indeed, Domesday describes its ten traders, paying their forty pence, as so situate. The nine hagce at Great Faringdon point to the commencement of a trade arising from the junction of several roads at its gap in the hills. Trade, due to a similar cause, would also be the origin of Newbury and Hungerford, but the twelve hagce entered at Thatcham as farmed for fifty-five shillings present some difficulty. Unless this royal manor possessed special trade privileges, of which there is no mention in the survey, one does not see why it should possess these houses, unless they were really situate in Newbury, which the formula does not suggest. The earliest mention, possibly, of New- bury by that name is found in my Calendar of Documents preserved in France^ and it seems desirable to say something of the early history of this town, in which Domesday records the existence of fifty-one hagce. Of Ernulf de Hesdin who held Newbury, under the name of * Ulvritone,' 4 it has been said that ' despite all researches,' he ' still remains one of the most mysterious personages in Domesday.' 3 That his Berkshire manor included, as has been believed, Newbury is for- tunately confirmed by two charters, one of which proves that he bestowed on the abbey of Preaux the church, tithes, and glebe of New- bury,4 while another records his gift to the Priory at his native Hesdin of a curtilage in Newbury.8 With the bulk of his possessions it must have passed to Patrick de Chaworth (Cadurcis] and Maud his wife,6 who is held, though (in my opinion) without good ground, to have been a daughter of Ernulf.7 Their heir Payn was, clearly, in possession of Newbury in n66,8 and it was subsequently, with other lands of 1 ' et castellum de Windesores est in dimidia hida.' This may be compared with the entry relating to Bramber castle, V.C.H. Sussex, i. 444. a See my note to ' Ulvritone ' in the text. s Cal. Docs. France, p. xlvii. * Ibid. p. 108. B Ibid. p. 482. • Ibid. p. 364. That Patrick held it in 1130 is proved, I consider, by the Pipe Roll of that year, which records the remission to him of 20 sh. for Danegeld, representing the 10 hides at which ' Ulvritone ' was originally assessed (pp. 125-6, cf. p. 124). 7 Ibid, xlviii. 8 Red Book of the Exchequer (Rolls Ser.) 297, where it is recorded that Payn de Muntdublel (his alias) had given ' unam vastam terram juxta Neuberiam ' to his steward Nicholas son of Simon. In the I 313 40 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Ernulf, held in John's reign by Geoffrey, Count of Perche.1 As Ernulf's fief is recognized as notoriously difficult to trace, it may be explained that the ' Simon de Chelefeld ' who held five fees of it in 1 1 66 derived his name from Chelsfield, Kent, and that his fees are represented by Kentish manors which were held in 1086 by Ernulf under the bishop of Bayeux. Two of these are recorded in 1346 to be held of the ' Honour of Newbury,' a which takes us back to the Domesday entry. The gift of Ernulf's tithes to Preaux luckily mentions that they arose from ' all the revenue of the vill, that is, of mills, of toll (theloneo)^ and all else. This charter is earlier than Domesday, and proves the existence of a toll, which virtually implies a market. It also mentions the substantial glebe of a hide as attached to the church, though Domesday does not speak of it. Of the town of Hungerford the great survey contains no mention. Camden's statement that its ancient name was ' Ingleford Charman Street,' has led to the supposition that we should seek it in the ' Ingle- flot ' or ' Inglefol ' of Domesday ; but I have shown in a note to the text that this is a misconception. In my opinion its subsequent history points to a very different identification. Perhaps the earliest mention of the name is found, as with Newbury, in my Calendar of Documents preserved in France, where, in a charter assigned by me to 1101— 1118, we read of ' a certain manor near Hungreford, Edevetona by name ' (p. 124). This manor was the ' Eddevetone ' of Domesday, which enters it on the royal demesne, and is now Eddington adjoining Hunger- ford, in which with Hidden (or Hudden) it is a joint tything. This charter is a grant by Robert, count of Meulan, to a religious house at Beaumont, his Norman stamm&aus, of this manor out ' of the lands and honours he had acquired in England,' which implies that this great royal favourite had been made a grant of it out of the King's demesne. Now when we find Eddington8 and Hungerford4 in the hands of his heirs, the earls of Leicester, under Henry II, we may safely infer that the town of Hungerford grew up, subsequently to Domesday, under the earls of Leicester, its origin, of course, being due to its position on the Kennet at the junction of several roads. As the town grew, its name, as in other cases, would overshadow that of Eddington. Legal antiquities are well represented in the Berkshire portion of the Survey. In addition to the very important summary of Berkshire customs which follows the account of Wallingford, we have note- Pipe Roll of the same year (1166) this Nicholas, as steward of Payn de Mundublel, is one of the three sureties for the £4.0 due from William of Newbury ' pro appellatione falsonarii ' (p. 120). As Payn accounts for his dues to the Crown under Berkshire (Ibid. p. 121, Pipe Roll 13 Hen. II. p. 6), and as the whole of the above £40 was remitted to himself, he was probably not only lord of Newbury but had a residence there. An earlier Pipe Roll, that of 1163, associates him with the place (p. 52)- i Ibid. p. 748 ; Cat. Charter Rolls, i. 102. 3 Feudal Aids, iii. 49, 50. 3 ' Edivetona feod' Com' Legr' ' appears in 1167 and 1168 (Pipe Roll 13 Hen. II. p. 8 ; 14 Hen. II. p. 202). For the subsequent exchange by which St. Frideswide's acquired the manor from the Norman house see Cartulary of St. Frideswide's (Oxford Hist. Soc.). * The Earl of Leicester's rebellion brought Hungerford back for a time into the hands of the Crown. Hence in 1173 we find the sheriff accounting for £5 6s. Sd. for the ' farm ' of Hungerford ' terra Com' Legr'ie,' for Midsummer term (Pipe Roll 19 Hen. II. p. 66). DOMESDAY SURVEY worthy legal phrases under Wallingford itself, and Kintbury, and some good examples of commendation. The Berkshire customs are expressly stated to be those of King Edward's day. They open with a special provision for the payment of (Dane) geld, which is by no means easy to explain, and which is unique in Domesday. When the tax was paid,1 according to this record, a hide paid only sevenpence, due in two half-yearly instalments. The next clause relates to the military service of the shire, and is somewhat full. It limits the quota of soldiers (milites) to one man in respect of each five-hide unit,4 a proportion found elsewhere in Domesday.3 He received for his service of two months (the extent evidently of the liability) four shillings from each hide, that is a pound in all, which works out at almost fourpence a day. The force would be a small one, but its quality superior, for the pay was high, half as much as that of the knight himself a century later.* On comparing the Domesday statements as to Oxford and Wilton, we arrive at the conclusion that the Crown looked on a pound as the equivalent of one man's service (from the five-hide unit), from which we may infer that it could hire soldiers as good for that amount. On the other hand Domesday expressly states that this pound from the five hides was to be given to the soldiers themselves, not to the King, a provision directed against such a trick as that by which Ranulf Flambard5 took ten shillings from each of the assembled soldiers, on behalf of William Rufus in 1094. Thus far the provisions suggest a force raised on the lines of the later militia ; but these are followed by others of a more feudal character. And these are closely parallel to those found in the similar summary of customs for Worcestershire.' The two passages illustrate each other. In each case there was a personal liability to summons and service, neglect of which entailed entire forfeiture of lands.7 In each there was a modified penalty for a substitute's failure to appear — in Berkshire 50 shillings, in Worcestershire 40 — payable by ' his lord ' to the King.8 But the detailed provisions here vary. The feudal touch imparted by the words * his lord ' prepare us for the next clause, which introduces us to 'relief/ although that 'relief assumes the form of a heriot. We have, in Domesday, to see these things through the eyes of 1 The phrase ' Quando geldum dabatur T.R.E. communiter per totam Berchesciram ' seems to dis- tinguish this general levy from special ones ; but even this is conjectural. A remarkable parallel is afforded by the phrase, in Richard Basset's restoration of Chaddleworth a century later : ' preter com- mune geldum totius comitatus' (Chron. Ab. ii. 189). 3 See p. 286 above. 3 See Feudal England, pp. 45, 67-9 ; Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 156. 4 Feudal England, pp. 270-72. 8 See p. 318 below. 6 Dom. Bk., i. 172. * WORCESTERSHIRE. BERKSHIRE. ' Quando rex in hostem pergit, siquis, edictu ejus ' Siquis in expeditionem summonitus non ibat vocatus remanserit — si ita liber homo est ut habeat totam terram suam erga regem forisfaciebat.' socam suam et sacam et cum terra suapossit ire quo voluerit — de omni terra sua est in misericordia regis.' 8 ' Quod siquis remanendi [? licentiam or necessitatem] habens alium pro se mittere promitteret, et tamen qui mittendus erat remaneret, pro 1. solidis quietus erat dominus ejus.' 315 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE foreign scribes, who may well have entered as a ' relief what, in King Edward's days, men would have called a heriot. For the horse and arms of the Berkshire entry are the characteristic of the heriot.1 The mention of the saddled and the unsaddled horse,* and the provision for offering hawks and hounds, if the dead man possessed them, for the King's acceptance, appear to be peculiar to Berkshire. The hunting service of * stabilitio ' spoken of above, 'similarly finds a parallel in the customs of Hereford.4 There only remain two clauses, which are of a more legal character, relating, as they do, to breaches of the peace. They are both somewhat parallel with clauses in the customs of the closely adjacent county of Oxfordshire. By the first the homicide of a man in the King's peace entailed forfeiture of life and of all one's substance to the King.* By the second, as I read it, the crime of 'borough breach ' involved a fine of a hundred shillings ' to the King, not to the sheriff." But the point is one of some difficulty. Mr. Ballard takes civitatem to refer to the * city ' of Wallingford, a view that we may certainly reject.7 Prof. Maitland renders the passage somewhat loosely in one place, * he who broke into a city by night paid I oo shillings to the King';8 but in another he appears to see in it the old crime of burh-bryce? What the borough-breach actually was cannot be ..said with certainty. The word comes to us from the Quadripartite* , which speaks of it in London, and from the Leges Henrici, where it is burchbreche" and Prof. Maitland suggests that it implied a breach of the special peace attached to the borough, especially a King's borough." Britton might almost be thought to have had in mind ' borough-breach,' or the Berkshire formula, when he defined burglars as ' those who feloniously in time of peace break churches or the houses of others or the walls or gates of our cities or boroughs' ; but he omits the words 'by night,' which, in later days, were essential to the crime of burglary," and which appear, oddly enough, in this Berkshire Domesday entry. » At Hereford ' burgensis cum caballo serviens, cum moriebatur, habebat Rex equum et arma ejus, (Domesday, i. 179) ; at Cambridge ' De harieta Lagemannorum habuit isdem Picot [vicecomes] viii. lib. et unum palefridum et unius militis arma' (16. 189). In Berkshire ' Tainus vel miles regis dominicus moriens pro relevamento dimittebat regi omnia arma sua et equum i cum sella, alium sine sella.' This passage is of great importance, for its clear correspondence with a clause in the laws of Cnut (A.D. 1027-1034), where, in the chapter on heriots, we read that the King's thegn, ' si notus fuerit regi,' owed as heriot ' duos equos, unus cum sella et alius sine, gladium unum et duas lanceas et duo scuta, et quinquaginta marcas auri ' (Prof. Liebermann's Gesetze der Angelsachsen, i. 359). » The number of the horses should be observed, for two were distinctive, in Cnut's law, of the heriot of a thegn midway between those who stood nearest to the King and owed four, and the ' lesser thegns," who owed one. 3 Seep. 309. « ' Qui monitus ad stabilitionem venationis non ibat 1. sol. regi emendabat ' (Berks). ' Quando rex venatui instabat, de unaquaque domo per consuetudinem ibat unus homo ad stabilitionem in silva' (Hereford). 6 The expression ' the King's peace ' distinguishes the peace of which this is a breach. In Oxford- shire this peace is more exactly denned : ' Pax regis manu vel sigillo data siquis infregerit ita ut hominem cui pax ipsa data fuerit occidat, et membra et vita ejus in arbitrio regis erunt,' etc. (i. 154^). « ' Qui per noctem effringebat civitatem c sol. emendabat regi, non vicecomiti.' ' See p. 310 note 5. 8 Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law, ii. 455. 9 Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 184, note. 10 Liebermann, op. cit. p. 558. " Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 185. " History of English Law, ii. 491. 316 DOMESDAY SURVEY The other two passages in which legal terms occur relate to Wal- lingford and to Kintbury. At Wallingford we have a group of ten householders who had no rent to pay and who enjoyed, as Professor Maitland renders the passage, ' blood, if blood was shed there, and the man was received inside before he was challenged by the King's reeve, except on Saturday, for then the King had the forfeiture on account of the market ; and for adultery and larceny they had the forfeiture in their houses, but the other forfeitures were the King's.' On this difficult but important passage he comments thus : — We cannot hope to recover the intricate rules which governed these affairs, rules which must have been as intricate as those of our ' private international law.' But the description of Wallingford tells us of householders who enjoy the ' forfeitures ' which arise from crimes committed in their own houses, and a suspicion may cross our minds that the right to these forfeitures is not in its origin a purely jurisdictional or justiciary right. However, these householders are great people (the Bishop of Salisbury, the Abbot of St. Albans are among them), their town houses are considered as appurtenant to their rural manors, and the soke over the manor comprehends the town house.1 With this explanation I cannot agree, for only the ten householders at the end of the list, of whom nine were natives and, therefore, of small account, enjoyed, as I read the passage myself, these privileges. More to the point is the Southwark entry appositely cited by the same writer : ' If any one in the act of committing an offence was there challenged, he paid the amends to the King, but if, without being challenged, he escaped under a man who had sake and soke, that man had the amends.' The Wallingford entry is important for its bearing on the question of soke and ' house-peace. " It must not be overlooked that in the above entry we incidentally learn of the existence of a Saturday market at Wallingford. Professor Maitland comments on the market-day exception : In the Wallingford of the Confessor's day there were many persons who had sake and soke within their houses. If any one spilt blood and escaped into one of these houses before he was attached, the owner received the blood-wite. But it was not so on Saturdays, for then the money went to the King ' because of the market.' Thus the King's borough-peace seems to be intensified on market-days ; on those days it will even penetrate the houses of the immunists.3 The Kintbury entry records, as the same writer expresses it, the grant by King Edward to one of his foresters of ' half a hide of land free from all custom except the King's forfeiture, such as larceny, homi- cide, ham-fare, and peace-breach,' 4 that is to say, the grant conveyed 1 Domesday Book and Beyond, p. 98. * For Professor Maitland writes : ' A much more difficult case comes before us at Warwick. We first hear of the town houses that are held by great men as parts of their manors, and then we hear that '' besides these houses are in the borough nineteen burgesses who have nineteen houses with sake and soke and all customs " [and so had them T.R.E.] ' (pp. cit. pp. 98-9). For this phenomenon he pro- pounds the doctrine of ' house-peace ' as against that of ' soke ' at Wallingford ; but, by my reading, the two cases fall into line as precisely alike. 3 Op. cit. p. 193. « Op. cit. p. 79. 3'7 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE the 'profits of justice' arising from all other crimes or offences com- mitted on that land. The cases of commendation in the Berkshire survey were discussed at length by Mr. Freeman.1 They are those of an Englishman in Wantage Hundred who had commended himself for his protection* to the bishop of Salisbury as his father had done before him to the bishop's predecessor, and — according to him — of Azor, whose land Robert d'Ouilly had contrived to subordinate to himself. But Domes- day says nothing, in this case, of commendation. A clear case, unnoticed by Mr. Freeman, is that of the English tenants of Abingdon Abbey at Lyford, who had commended themselves to Walter Giffard, which they had no power to do without the abbot's leave.3 We have a curious case of disputed title at Hampstead Marshall, where ' the (men of the) shire ' allege that ' Ebrige ' had not belonged to the holder's predecessor, through whom he claimed, while his own men refused to offer any explanation, and he himself had ' transported ' the hall, houses, and stock into another manor ! Under Buckland we seem to see a distinct case of the Domesday commissioners sitting in judgment on a holder's claim, that of bishop Osbern in right of his see, and declining to pronounce a decision, referring the matter to the King.* There is little more to note in the Berkshire survey. On the system of farming the Crown revenues we learn nothing in this county : incidentally we read that ' Robert ' was ' farming ' some land at Bet- terton with Wantage, though it used not to be appurtenant thereto, and that he was doing the same at Sutton (Courtenay) 6 ; but who Robert was we are left to guess. Probably he was no other than the redoubtable Robert d'Ouilly, but we do not know that this was so, or indeed who was the sheriff at the time of the survey. A previous sheriff, Froger by name, occurs under Sparsholt and Pangbourne. At the former place he had acquired — in what capacity we are not told — three manors held by Englishmen, and had made them into one ; at Pangbourne he had violently (absque placito et lege) restored to the royal demesne the manor, which had been separated therefrom. Of this Froger the monks of Abingdon relate that his cruel exactions were avenged by his own downfall and reduction to want. Lastly, we find as an under-tenant of the bishop of Salisbury at Winterbourne one whose name was soon to become widely execrated, the notorious Ranulf Flambard. Unlike Oxfordshire, in which not a few manors are surveyed by Domesday under other counties, Berkshire had all its manors surveyed 1 Norman Conquest, iv. 43-5. 3 ' pro sua defensione se commisit.' 3 ' nee poterant alias ire absque licentia, et tamen commendaverunt se Walterio sine abbatis pre- cepto.' The sequel is seen in the abbey's Chronicle (ii. 133-4), where we read that under Henry I the younger Walter was at length prevailed upon to become the abbot's ' man ' and to do him the service of one knight for the manor. 4 ' Unde judicium non dixerunt, set ante regem, ut judicet, dimiserunt.' • In each case the half virgate of a free Englishwoman had been added to the royal manor. 318 DOMESDAY SURVEY as within its own borders. One small and unidentified place seems to be the only one in the county that held an ambiguous position. This was ' Lonchelei,' of which we read that it belonged to ' Gratentun ' in Oxfordshire, and was valued with that manor, though it lay in Reading Hundred and paid its ' scot ' (i.e. geld) in Berkshire. As Miles Crispin was its lord, we must see in ' Gratentune ' that ' Gadintone ' — now Gathampton opposite Basildon — which heads the list of his Oxfordshire manors, but ' Lonchelei ' has not been found. The county's borders were well defined from Windsor to Lechlade by the river, but on the south and south-east, at the time of the Great Survey, the wild heath districts must have made them somewhat uncertain.1 Bagshot, for instance, on the Surrey side, lay across the border, and so, on the Hampshire border, did the Stratfield estates of Ralf de Mortemer, Stratfield Mortimer and Stratfield Saye being, both of them, traversed by the boundary, which here indents Berkshire. In such cases we should keep our eyes on both sides of the county boundary. The Hampshire Stratfields are represented by five entries in all, recording an original assessment of 24 hides ; the Berkshire Stratfield was originally assessed at 6 hides. Here we can hardly be wrong in holding that the Stratfields were originally assessed, as a whole, at 30 hides, an assessment which at once vindicates ' the five hide unit,' " and suggests that, like the parish boundaries, it is older than the county limits. We must now pass to the Wiltshire border, of which the com- paratively late origin is even more manifest. Starting from the south, the parish of Shalbourne is partly in Berks and partly in Wilts, while West Shalbourne, a chapelry thereof, is wholly in Wilts. A projection of the Berkshire portion, comprising Oxenwood, straggled down into Wilts as a small outlyer. In Domesday there are surveys of portions of Shalbourne under both counties. To the north of it Hungerford was always divided between the two, as was Chilton Foliat just above it. At the northern extremity of this western border Inglesham and Coleshill both lie partly in Berks and partly in Wilts. We will first take the case of Inglesham. The ancient lordship of Faringdon, Berks, assessed in Domesday at 30 hides, was eminently what it is now the fashion to call ' discrete ' ; that is to say, it was composed of scattered estates. Among them were the Berkshire portion of Inglesham (with the church but not the bulk of the parish), the parish of Little Far- ingdon with the Berkshire portion of Langford adjoining it, and the Berkshire portion of Shilton (with the bulk of the parish but not the church). The last three, though forming two 'islands' in Oxfordshire, were in the county of Berks and Hundred of Faringdon until trans- ferred to Oxfordshire in the days of William IV.3 It is difficult to 1 Even so late as the days of George I, Defoe could describe the Bagshot Heath and Windsor Forest district as ' a vast tract of land, . . . quite sterile, given up to barrenness, horrid and frightful to look on, . . . good for nothing, . . . the great black desert.' 2 See p. 286. 3 Our knowledge as to the limits of the lordship is derived from John's grants to his Abbey of Beaulieu, as set forth in the evidences of that house, which is consequently found in possession in the 319 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE resist the conclusion that the boundaries of the hundred and the county were here determined by those of the ancient lordship of Farringdon. The case of Coleshill, on the Wiltshire border, is one of singular interest. From Domesday we gather that, under William I, the Berk- shire portion had been assigned in three equal shares, eight hides to Walter de Laci,1 eight to Turstin Fitz Rolf, and eight to William Fitz Richard. Of its Wiltshire portion we have an entry perhaps unique in Domesday — Rogerius de Laci et Turstin filius Rolf et Willelmus Leuric tenent I hidam in Coleselle." Roger de Laci was the son of Walter, and the meaning of the entry is that the one hide in Wilts was divided in three shares exactly like the twenty-four in Berks. The first point here is that Coleshill was assessed, as a whole, at 25 hides, and that we thus reinstate 'the five hide unit.' 3 The next is that William ' Leuric ' equates William Fitz Richard as the third holder. Qan they possibly be identical ? The singular name of William ' Leuric,' half Norman and half English, is always deemed a puzzle : the suggested identity would solve it. On looking for the predecessors of the two Williams, we find that the first was preceded in his five Gloucestershire manors by ' Osgot, and the second in his three Berkshire manors by * Osgot.' And as they had the same predecessor, so they had the same successors. We read under Gloucestershire in the Testa (p. 77) that (in 1212) — Henricus de Scrupes tenet Wychington in dominico et debet Domino Regi de tenementis suis in Bercsir' et Oxon iij milites. This holding comprised William Leuric's manor of Whittington, Glouc., and William Fitz Richard's manors of Odstone and Childrey, Berks.4 We can even go further back and say that Odstone must have been held of Robert de ' Scrupa ' by Simon de ' Ordingetone 'inn 66.6 Apart from this interlacing of Berkshire, along its western border, with Wiltshire, there were, in the east of the county, three detached portions of Wiltshire of a very remarkable character. The largest of these was ' interned ' in the county between Twyford and Wokingham (both of which were partly comprised in it, and therefore in Wiltshire), while the other two were on the Hampshire border, Swallowfield being Testa and in Feudal Aids. It is clear that lands had been granted from the lordship even before John's time, and the Testa, which records the fact (p. 128), speab of ' Berninton ' also as a ' member of Farring- don,' and of Littleworth, apparently, also. The latter is styled by Henry II ' membrum manerii mei Ferendon' Worda vocatum ' (Ancient Charters [Pipe Roll Society], pp. 85, 86) when given by him to Stanley Abbey, which appears as holding it in the Testa and in Feudal Aids (i. 68). 1 See p. 288 above. * fo. 724. Owing to this entry being crowded in at the foot of the column, under the land of ' Drogo filius Ponz,' it has been supposed to belong to his fief (Domesday Book [Rec. Com.], Index vol., p. 216 ; Bristol and Glouc. Arch. Trans, xii. 27). 3 See p. 319 note 2 above. * Testa, p. 123, where Richard de Scrupes is entered as holding ' Ordeston ' and ' Chelry ' temp. Hen. III. * Red Book of the Exchequer (Rolls Ser.), 295 ; the place is ' Ordegeston ' in Domesday. 320 DOMESDAY SURVEY partly comprised therein. The Domesday survey is not affected, it would seem, by these ' outlyers,' and they cannot, therefore, in this place claim more than mention. But, taken in conjunction with the fact that Berkshire was comprised within the diocese of Salisbury, and that the bishop of that see had held an ancient and extensive lordship in the east of the county, they seem to be relics of an earlier age, and remind us that the map of an English shire may bear mute witness to kingdoms out of which the nation grew, to realms which are beyond the reach of records or the chronicles of men. 321 41 OXENEF ORI Hundreds A Hormmer B Merceham. C Gamesfel D Wifol. E Seriveham. T Hilleslau. C Wanetinz. H Sudtone. I Heslitesford. E/etesford K Blitberie. L Nachededorne. M £g/e/. N Lamborne 0 Cheneteberie P Roeberg. Q Borcheldeberie. Borchedeberie 8 Taceham. S Redinges. T Cerledone U Beners.Benes. V Riplesmere. W Ferendone Fermeberfe ——' o *^ oHC '"V Catmer< WI LTESCIRE t'/V/s /n w/i;c/) tvere A/n^i Manors & Ho/dings ..... Ferendone " " •' " holdings of Abingdon Abbey. ___ Cosei " " " " other ecclesiastical holdings --- Far el lei The small capitals above the names show the Hundreds in which the Villages were. Where two are given the Vill appears to have been in the respective Hundreds but those given in parentheses appear to be mistakes, chiefly due to omissions in the text DOMESDAY OF MAP BERKSHIRE (BERROCHESCIRE) by F. W. Ragg.M.A., FR.Hist.S. C I R E I)ESLITESFORD BOCHINGHAMSCIRE oEtingedene Frilesham 'Botcheldebene SeyeW REDINGES ^ Warwelt RlPLESMERE Borfetelle O ° Or* t-f f. r, Selmgefelle . s y Lonchelie? °Lecanestede s CERLEDONE °Bercheham DHochfelle (Offelle) . oS \Stradfeicl S U D R I E S C I R E NOTE The date of the Domesday Survey is 1086, and the two previous periods referred to are King Edward's time (T.R.E.), which is usually the time of his death, and the time at which the manor was acquired by the Norman holder. The ' hide ' is the unit of assessment to the ' geld,' and the ' virgate ' its quarter ; thirty (geld) acres went to a virgate. The caruca. was a plough drawn by eight oxen, and the arable land was reckoned by the number of ploughs required to till it ; ' land for half a plough ' (or ' for four oxen ' ) merely means half a plough land. The term ' de- mesne ' is used both of those manors which a lord kept in his own hands (instead of enfeoffing a tenant therein), and of that portion of a manor which was kept in hand (as a kind of home farm), the peasantry holding the rest of it under the lord. The ' bordars ' were a class of peasants interme- diate between the villeins and the serfs. Most of the identifications in the following translation are due to the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, some to Mr. H. T. E. Peake, but the translator has worked through the reasons for identification in all cases and has given in notes the result independently arrived at. In some cases he has felt it necessary to adopt other identifications, and some few he has abandoned without having alternatives to propose. The identification of holdings in this county is beset with difficulties through the absence of any fixed rotation in the taking of the Hundreds and Vills to tabulate them under holders in the Domesday Text, and through the alterations which at different periods have been made in the Hundreds and their boundaries — which amount to more than simple grouping or re-grouping, or change of name while retaining old boundaries. These difficulties are not lessened by the duplication of the same name and the subsequent divisions of vills into East and West and so forth, and by the usual formula of the entries, which is, e.g. ' The King holds Cheneteberie ' even if the king's holding was but a small part of Cheneteberie. In Herts, Beds and Bucks the usual formula in such a case would be ' The King holds x hides in Cheneteberie.' Each separate owner in a vill, even when the vill was a divided vill, is thus entered in the Berks Text as if he held the whole vill. And the separate holdings of the different owners, even when they comprised a large pro- portion of the vill, do not always appear to coincide with the subsequent divisions of the vill, as they not seldom seem to do elsewhere. The identifications are thus to be understood generally as not more than marking the places in which the holdings lay. For the notes initialled (J.H.R.) Mr. Round is responsible. 323 fo. 56 BERROCHESCIRE HERE ARE NOTED DOWN THOSE WHO HOLD LANDS IN BERROCHESSCIRE i KING WILLIAM n The Bishop of Winchester in The Bishop of Salisbury mi The Bishop of Durham v The Bishop of Exeter vi The Bishop of Coutances VH The abbey of Abingdon vin The abbey of Glastonbury ix The abbey of Westminster x The abbey of Winchester xi The abbey of Chertsey xn The abbey of St. Alban xiii The abbey of St. Peter sur Dive XIIH The abbey of Battle xv The abbess of Winchester xvi The abbess of Amesbury xvn The count of Evreux xvni Earl Hugh xix The count of Mortain xx Walter Gifard xxi Henry de Ferieres xxii William son of Ansculf XXHI William de Ow XXIHI William Pevrel xxv William de Braiose xxvi William Loveth xxvn William son of Corbucion xxvin William son of Richard xxix William de Calgi xxx William son of Ponz xxxi Walter son of Other xxxn Eudo son of Hubert xxxni Miles Crispin XXXIIH Ghilo brother of Ansculf xxxv Hascoit Musard xxxvi Gilbert de Bretevile xxxvii Gilbert de Gand xxxvin Geoffrey de Mannevile xxxix Osbern Gifard XL Robert son of Girold XLI Robert de Olgi XLII Robert de Stafford XLIII Richard Puingiand XLIIII Roger de Ivry XLV Roger de Laci XLVI Ralf de Mortemer XLVII Ralf de Todeni XLVIII Ralf fitz Count XLIX Ralf son of Seifrid L Ernulf de Hesding LI Hugh son of Baldri LII Hugh de Porth LIII Humfrey the Chamberlain LIIII Humfrey Visdelew LV Turstin son of Rolf LVI Albert LVII Aiulf the Sheriff LVIII Hugolin the Steersman (stirmati) LIX Maci of Mortain LX Bernard the Falconer LXI Reinbald the Priest LXII Grinbald LXIII Theodric the Goldsmith, Odo and several other thegns. 324 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS In the borough of WALINGEFORD [Wall- ingford] King Edward had 8 virgates of land, and in these there were 276 closes (hagte) yield- ing 1 1 pounds from rent (de gablo), and they who dwelt in them used to do service for the king with horses or by water (stream) as far as Blidbery [Blewbury], Reddinges [Reading], Sudtone [? Sutton Courtenay] or Besentone [Bensington in Oxfordshire (?)], and to those who did this service the reeve gave hire or payment not from the dues paid to the king but from that paid to him (non de censu regis sed de suo). There are all the customary dues (consuetudines) in this borough now as there used to be ; but of the closes (de hagis) 1 3 are gone (minus) ; 8 were destroyed to make the castle, and a moneyer has one quit of service (to hold) so long as he does the coining. Saulf of Oxeneford [Oxford] has one ; the son of Alsi of Ferendone [Faringdon] one, which he states that the king gave him ; Humfrey Vis- delew has one, for which he claims the king's warranty. Nigel (claims to hold) one of Henry through inheritance from Soarding, but the burgesses give evidence that they (se) never had it. From these 1 3 the king receives no dues (consuetudinem) ; and besides these (ad hue] William de Warene has one close (hagam) from which the king receives no dues (consuetudinem). Over and above these there are 22 dwelling houses held by French- men (maiuree francigena) which pay 6 shillings and 5 pence. King Edward had 15 acres on which housecarles were settled ; these Miles Crispin holds, by what (warrant) is not known ; one of them belongs to (facet in) Witeham [Long Wittenham1], a manor of Walter Gifard. Bishop Walchelin has 27 closes (hagas) worth (de) 25 shillings, and they are appraised in his manor of Bricstewelle [Brightwell2]. The abbot of Abingdon has 2 acres on which are 7 dwelling houses (masura) worth (de) 4 shillings, and they appertain to Oxeneford [Oxford]. Miles has 20 dwelling houses (masuras) worth (de) 12 shillings and 10 pence, and they belong to (jacent in) Neweham [Newnham Murren] ; and also I acre on which are 6 closes (hagte) worth (de) 1 8 pence ; in Haselie [Great Hazeley] he has 6 dwelling houses (masuras) paying 44 pence ; in Estoche [Stoke (Basset)] one dwelling house (masuram) worth (de) 12 pence ; in Celgrave [Chalgrove] 1 Now in the Hundred of Ock. 1 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. I dwelling house (masuram) worth (de) 4 pence ; in Suttone [Sutton (Courtenay)] i acre on which are 6 dwelling houses (masurai) worth (de) 1 2 pence ; in Braio [Bray 3] I acre, and there are 1 1 dwelling houses (masuras) worth (de) 3 shillings.* The whole of this land appertains to Oxenefordscire [Oxford- shire], and yet it is in Walengeford [Walling- ford]. Rainald has i acre on which are 1 1 dwelling houses (masurts) worth (de) 26 pence, and they appertain to Eldeberie [Albury6], which is in Oxeneford [Oxfordshire]. The Archbishop8 has 6 dwelling houses (masuras) worth (de) 26 pence ; Walter Gifard has i acre and 10 dwelling houses (masuras) worth (de) 6 shillings and 3 halfpence ; Robert de Olgi 4 dwelling houses (masuras) worth (de) 20 pence ; Gilbert de Gand I dwelling house (masuram) worth (de) 2 pence halfpenny ; Hugh the tall (Magnus) I dwelling house (masuram) worth (de) 4 pence ; R(alf) son of Seifrid 7 2 closes (hagas) worth (de) 12 pence ; Hugh de Molebec8 i close (haga) worth (de) 4 pence ; Ranulf Pevrel I worth (de) 4 pence ; Walter son of Other 6 closes (hagas) worth (de) 4 pence less i halfpenny ; William Lovet one plot of land worth (de) 4 pence ; in Eldeslei [Ilsley] 3 dwelling houses (masurte) worth (de) 3 pence. The abbot of Battle Abbey (Labatailge 9) has 5 dwelling houses (masuras) in Berchesire worth (de) 2O pence, and (there is) i close (haga), which belonged to Bishop Peter, worth (de) 4 pence. The king has 3 closes (hagas) worth (de) 6 pence ; Henry de Ferrariis 6 closes (hagas) which T.R.E. and also T.R.W. paid 62 pence customarily in the king's ferm (in firma regis) and now pay nothing. Bishop Remigius has I close (haga) worth (de) 4 pence ; Earl Hugh I close (haga) worth (de) 1 6 pence ; Godric I close (haga) worth » Now in the Hundred of Beynhurst. « Bray and Sutton Courtenay were royal manors in Berkshire, but the other places named were Oxfordshire manors held by Miles (J.H.R.). s Which he had held of Earl William Fitz Osbern (J.H.R.). e i.e. of Canterbury. i The tenant-in-chief of Clewer (J.H.R.). 8 For Bolebec. He was a tenant-in-chief in Bucks and Oxon., and a great under-tenant of Walter Giffard G-H.R.). 9 He held Brightwaltham in this county, and Crowmarsh (facing Wallingford) in Oxfordshire (J.H.R.). 325 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE fo. s6b (de) 2 pence ; Doda I close (haga) worth (de) 2 pence ; Algar I (close) worth (de) 2 pence ; Smiths (fabri) (have) 5 closes (hagas) worth (de) 10 pence. The king has in /ELDREMANESTONE [Alder- maston *] 2 closes (hagas) worth (de) 5 pence ; the Count of Evreux 2 closes (hagas) worth (de) 2 pence and a halfpenny; Hugh Molebec2 i close (hagam) worth (de) 2 pence ; Roger de Laci I close (hagam) worth (de) 12 pence ; Robert de Olgi I close (hagam) worth (de) 6 pence ; the king has I close (haga) worth (de) 6 pence ; Bishop Osmund 7 closes (hagas) worth (de) 28 pence ; Robert de Olgi 2 closes (hagas) worth (de) IO pence ; Roger de Laci has 5 closes (hagas) worth (de) 2 1 pence ; Ralf Percehaie 3 7 closes (hagas) worth (de) 50 pence ; Rainbald the priest i close (hagam) worth (de) 4 pence ; St. Alban I close (hagam) singa* and it is in dis- pute (in calumnia) ; Bristist I close (hagam) worth (de) 2 pence ; Leveva I close (hagam) worth (de) 2 pence ; Godwin I close (hagam) worth (de) 2 pence ; Alwin I close (hagam) worth (de) 2 pence ; ^Elmer a priest and another Elmer a priest and Bruman and Edwi and Edmund and William son of Osmund and Leflet and Lambert a priest, Alwold and Godric have rent (gablum) from their houses and (the fines due for) blood- shedding (sanguinem), if there is bloodshed there (iAi), and if the man (accused) is received in them before claim is made by the king's reeve (si receptus fuerit homo intus antequam calumnietur a proposito regis) except on Saturday, when the market is held (propter mercatum), because then the king has the fine (forisfacturam). Also they have the fines (emendam) for adultery and theft in their houses. Other fines (forisfacturee) however are the king's. T.R.E. it was worth 30 pounds, and after- wards 40 pounds ; now (it is worth) 60 pounds, and yet it yields from the ferm (de firma) 80 pounds by tale. What belongs to Adbrei 5 (is worth) 7 shillings, and the land of Milo Moli 8 24 shillings ; what the abbot of Abingdon has 8 shillings ; what Roger de Laci has 7 shillings ; what Rainald has 4 shillings. 1 Now in Theale Hundred. ' For Bolebec. 3 Compare, for him, the Chronicle of Abingdon (Rolls Ser.) ii. 34 (J.H.R.). * To this I can give no meaning, unless it be for slngukm ' separate ' (F.W.R.). e It is difficult to decide whether this is an ab- breviation of a personal or place name (F.W.R.). « ' Moli ' interlined. The following (subscript?) thegns of Oxene- fordscire (Oxfordshire) had land in Walinge- ford [Wallingford] :— Archbishop Lanfranc7 4 houses belonging to (in) Niwetone [Newington] paying 6 shillings ; Bishop Remigius8 i house belonging to (per- tinentem W) Dorkecestre [Dorchester] paying 12 pence. The abbot of St. Alban one house worth (de) 4 shillings. Abbot R [ 8] one house belonging to (HI) Awilme [Ewelme] paying 3 shillings. Earl Hugh10 i house belonging to (in) Pir- tune [Pyrton] paying 3 shillings ; Walter Gifard u 3 houses belonging to (in) Caveresham [Caversham] paying 2 shillings ; Robert de Oilgi " 2 houses belonging to (in) Watelintune [Watlington] paying 2 shillings and belonging to (in) Perie [Waterperry] i house worth (de) 2 shillings. Ilbert de Laci, Roger son of Seifrid and Orgar have 3 houses worth (de) 4 shillings ; Hugh de Bolebec13 3 houses belonging to (in) Crem [ ? Crowmarsh Giffbrd] paying 3 shillings. Hugh ' grando ' de Scoca I house worth (de) 12 pence. Drogo has, belonging to (in) Sireburne 14 [Shirburne], and belonging to (in) Westune [Weston] 3 houses worth (de) 4 shillings ; Robert Armenteres,15 belonging to (in) Awilme [Ewelme] i house worth (de) 1 2 pence ; Wazo18 I house belonging to (in) Awilme [Ewelme] paying 3 shillings. When geld was paid T.R.E. by BERCHE- SCIRE [Berkshire] as a whole (communiter per totam Berchesciram) a hide gave 3 pence and a half penny before the Feast of Nativity of the Lord and the same sum at Pentecost. If the king was sending out an army anywhere only ' Archbishop Lanfranc was tenant-in-chief in Newtone [Newington], Oxon. 8 Bishop Remigius of Lincoln was tenant-in- chief in Dorchecestre [Dorchester], Oxon. 8 No abbot can be identified as holding at Ewelme (J.H.R.). 10 Earl Hugh was tenant-in-chief in Pirtone [Pyrton], Oxon. 11 Walter Gifard was tenant-in-chief in Cavesham [Caversham], Oxon. la Robert de Olgi was tenant-in-chief in Wate- lintune [Watlington], Oxon. 13 Hugh de Bolebec held Crawmares [Crow- marsh Gifford] of Walter Gifard. » He held there under Robert d'Ouilly (J.H.R.). « " Robert " held under Gilbert de Gand, in Lawelme [Ewelme], Oxon., and " Robert, son of Ralf," a king's servant (minister) in the same Lawelme. 18 I have not succeeded in finding Wazo among the holders of land in Oxfordshire (F.W.R.). 326 • THE HOLDERS OF LANDS I knight (miles) went out from (each) 5 hides, and for his provision or pay 4 shillings for 2 months was given him from each hide (of the five). This money however was not sent to the king but given to the knights (militibus). If any one summoned on military service defaulted he forfeited all his land to the king (totam terrain suam erga regent forisfaciebat). If any had a substitute and the substitute defaulted the lord of the substitute was acquitted by payment of 50 shillings (quod si quis remanendi habcns alium pro se mittere promitteret et tamen qu't mittendus erat remaneret pro I. so? quietus erat). When a thegn or a knight (miles) of the king's demesne was dying he sent all his weapons to the king as ' relief,' and I horse with saddle and I without. If he possessed hounds or falcons these were offered to the king for his acceptance, if he wished to have them. If any slew one who was under the protection of the king's peace the slayer's person and his possessions were forfeit to the king (et corpus suum et omnem substantiam forisfaciebat erga regem). If any one broke into a town (effringe- bat civitatem) at night he paid 100 shillings to the king, not to the sheriff. If any were summoned to drive deer for the king's hunt- ing (ad stabilitionem venationis) and did not go he paid 50 shillings to the king. I. THE KING'S LAND King William holds WINDESORES [Wind- sor] in demesne. King Edward held it. There are 2O hides. There is land for [ ] . On the demesne is i plough ; arid (there are) 22 villeins and 2 bordars with 10 ploughs. There (is) i serf and a fishery worth (de) 6 shil- lings and 8 pence ; and 40 acres of meadow and woodland yielding (de) 50 swine for pan- nage dues (de pasnagio). Other woodland is placed in enclosure (missa est in defensa). There are, besides, 100 closes (bagee), less 5, in the vill. Of these 26 are exempt from rent-pay- ment (gab la). From the others come 30 shil- lings. Of the land of this manor Albert the clerk1 holds i^ hides and the third part of a coppice (dena) ; Walter son of Other i£ hides and I virgate, and as much woodland as renders 5 swine as dues for pannage (unde exeunt v porci de pasnagio). Gilbert Maminot (holds) 3 virgates, William i hide, Alvric i hide, an- other Alvric half a hide, and the priest of the vill i£ hides, and 2 sergeants of the king's court half a hide, Eudo Dapifer 2 hides. T.R.E. it was worth 15 pounds; afterwards 7 pounds ; now 1 5 pounds. > See Introduction. IN TACEHAM" [THATCHAM] HUNDRET The king holds TACEHAM [Thatcham*] in demesne. King Edward held it. It was then assessed at 2 hides and never paid geld. There is land for 25 ploughs. There are 35 villeins and 12 bordars with 25 ploughs, and there (are) 12 closes (haga) yielding from the king's ferm (reddentes de firma) 55 shillings; and 2 mills worth 22 shillings and 6 pence ; and 147 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 60 swine. The church of this manor 2 clerks hold with 3 hides which be- long thereto ; these pay geld with the county, and are worth 3 pounds. T.R.E. it was worth 2O pounds; now 30 pounds, and yet it pays 33 pounds. IN BENES [BEYNHURST] HUNDRET The king holds COCHEHAM [Cookham 3] in demesne. King Edward held it. It was then 20 hides but it never paid geld. There is land for 25 ploughs. There are 32 vil- leins and 21 cottars with 20 ploughs, and there are 4 serfs and 2 mills worth (de) 22 shillings and 6 pence, and 2 fisheries worth (de) 13 shillings and 4 pence and 50 acres of meadow. There is woodland to render (de) 100 swine and another moiety of it is in the forest of Windesores [Windsor]. From the new market which is there now (come) 20 shillings. The whole T.R.E. was worth 50 pounds ; afterwards 50 shillings ; now 36 pounds, yet it pays 45 pounds. Of these 20 hides, Reinbald the priest holds of the king i£ hides in almoin and the church of the manor itself with 8 cottars and i plough and 15 acres of meadow. It is worth 50 shillings. Two other clerks have half a hide of this, and (there are) 2 cottars with 2 ploughs and 8 acres of meadow. It is worth 5 shillings. The king holds WALTHAM [Waltham St. Lawrence *] in demesne. Queen Eddid held it. (It was) then (assessed at) 8 hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for 1 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 32 villeins and 4 cottars with 15 ploughs. There are 4 serfs, and woodland to render (de) 150 swine. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 12 pounds, now (it is worth) 10 pounds and yet it pays 15 pounds weighed money (ad pemam). IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The king holds BLITBERIE [Blewbury s] in 1 Now in the Hundred of Reading. ' Now in the Hundred of Cookham. * Now in the Hundred of Wargrave. o Now in the Hundred of Moreton. 327 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE demesne. King Edward held it. Then as now (it was assessed at) 3 hides. There is land for 20 ploughs. On the demesne are 4 ploughs ; and (there are) 24 villeins and 58 cottars with 15 ploughs, and 3 mills worth (de) 37 shillings and 6 pence, and 16 acres of meadow. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 50 pounds ; now 60 pounds. Of this manor William Belfou l holds the church with 5 virgates of land. Alvric held it of King Edward. There are 3 cottars and 10 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 100 shillings. The king holds ESTONE [Aston Tirrold 3] in demesne. The wife of Lane held it of King Edward. (It was) then (assessed) at 1 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and there are 14 villeins with 7 ploughs; also there are 3 serfs and 60 acres of meadow. T.R.E. it was worth 15 pounds; afterwards 12 pounds ; now 9 pounds. IN HESLITESFORD [ ] HUNDRET The king holds CELSEI [Cholsey 3] in de- mesne. King Edward held it. There were then 23 hides but it was assessed at 22 (pro xxii. se defendebat). There is land for 27 ploughs. Out of the whole of this land the king has 1 1 hides which pay no geld, and there on the demesne are 4 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 7 villeins and 7 1 cottars with 1 6 ploughs. There are 6 serfs and 3 mills worth (de) 62 shillings, and I oo acres of meadow. In this manor were 10 freemen T.R.E. and they held 12$ hides of the land of the same manor, but they could not withdraw themselves thence (to another lord). Richard Puingiant4 now holds 8 hides of this land which are now assessed at 3 hides; William holds of Richard 3 hides, and Hugh i hide ; there are 3 fo. 57 ploughs on the demesne ; and there are 4 vil- leins and 1 1 cottars and 26 acres of meadow and 7 serfs. Of the land of the same manor Gilbert holds 5 virgates of the king, and they are assessed at I virgate ; and Hervey holds of the king 3 hides and I virgate which pay no geld ; on the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) I villein and 14 cottars with i£ ploughs ; and 2 serfs and 3 acres of meadow. The whole T.R.E. and afterwards was worth 64 pounds ; the king's demesne now (pays) 1 ' Belfou ' interlined. See Introduction. 3 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. a Now in the Hundred of Moreton. 4 A tenant in chief in this county, and in four others (J.H.R.). 47 pounds by tale (ad numerum), and the part held by Richard and the others 17 pounds and 15 shillings. Of this manor the Abbey of Mont St. Michel holds of the king i church with i hide, and there is I plough with 4 cottars and 7 acres of meadow. It is worth 3 pounds. Two priests also in the same vill hold of the king in tithe and church what is worth 4 pounds. The king holds BASTEDENE [Basildon B] * in demesne. It was part of Earl Roger's fee.7 Aileva, a free woman, held it T.R.E. (It was) then (assessed) at 2O hides ; now (it is as- sessed) at 6. There is land for 20 ploughs. On the demesne are 5 ploughs ; and (there are) 28 villeins and 15 cottars with 14 ploughs and a mill worth (de) 15 shillings, and 13 serfs. In Walingeford [Wallingford] (are) 3 closes (hagte) worth (de) 9 pence ; and (there are) 30 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 120 swine. T.R.E. as now it was worth 25 pounds; when received 20 pounds. Of this manor 2 priests hold 2 churches with I hide, and the same men held them T.R.E. They have there 2 ploughs. It is and was worth 40 shillings. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The king holds WANETINZ [Wantage8] in demesne. King Edward held it ; then as now (it was assessed) at 4 hides. It never paid geld. There is land for 21 ploughs. On the demesne are 5 ploughs ; and 30 villeins with 40 cottars have 1 7 ploughs. There are 5 serfs. It is worth 61 pounds; it was for- merly worth 55. In this manor Bishop Peter held 2 parts of a church with 4 hides there- to belonging. These never paid geld ; they are now in the hands of the king because they did not belong to (the fee of) the bishop- ric. There is I plough and (there are) 3 vil- leins and 7 cottars with I plough, and a mill worth (de) 100 pence and 12 acres of mea- dow. There is land for 2 ploughs. It was (formerly) worth 3 pounds ; now 4 pounds. The third part of the aforesaid church William the deacon9 holds of the king with I hide which did not pay geld. There are 4 villeins with i plough. It was formerly worth 2$ shillings ; now 30 shillings. » Now in the Hundred of Moreton. • Occurs as Basteldene in 1316. Feudal Aids, i. 5*. i The forfeited fee of Roger, Earl of Hereford (J.H.R.). s Now in the Hundred of Wantage. 8 See Introduction. 328 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS The king holds SPERSHOLT [Sparsholt J] in demesne. Three freemen held it T.R.E. as 3 manors. Froger the sheriff had it after- wards and made it one manor. Then (T.R.E.) it was assessed at 16 hides ; now it is assessed at nothing. There is land for 10 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 28 villeins and 17 cottars with 5 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and 84 acres of meadow. The whole T.R.E. was worth 9 pounds ; afterwards 1 5 pounds ; now 1 9 pounds and 5 shillings, and yet it pays 23 pounds. The church of this manor with i hide Edred the priest holds, and he held it T.R.E. There he has i plough and i cottar and 4 acres of meadow. This hide pays no geld. It is worth 20 shillings. The king holds CERLETONE [Charlton *] in demesne. Elmer a free man held it T.R.E. (It was) then (assessed) at 8 hides ; now it is assessed at 7. There is land for 4 ploughs. Bishop Peter held it afterwards. There is I plough on the demesne, and i villein (is there) and 7 cottars with i plough. There are 3 serfs and 24 acres of meadow and a mill worth (de) 7 shillings and 6 pence which Walter Gifard holds unjustly — the hundred (court) says. T.R.E. it was worth 8 pounds; afterwards 4 pounds ; now 8 pounds. The king holds BEDRETONE [Betterton3] in demesne. Ulvric a free man held it T.R.E. It was then assessed at 10 hides ; it is now assessed at 2 hides all but i virgate. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are i£ ploughs ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 5 cottars with 2 ploughs. T.R.E. it was worth 6 pounds ; afterwards 3 pounds ; now it is worth too shillings. The king has there half a virgate which Ulflet held T.R.E., and he could go (with it) to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluit). It was assessed then at half a virgate, now it is assessed at nothing. Robert holds it in the ferm (firma) of Wanetinz [Wantage] but it never belonged thereto. It is and was worth 1 6 pence. In SUDTONE [Sutton 4] the king holds half a of > Now in the Hundred of Faringdon. a Now in the Hundred of Wantage. 3 Near Lockinge, now in the Hundred Wantage. * Sutton is no doubt the equivalent of Sudtone. But if it was in ' Wanetinz ' Hundred the place remains unidentified (F.W.R.). virgate which Leflet held T.R.E. and could go (with it) to what lord she8 wished (potuit ire quo voluit). (It was) then (assessed) at half a vir- gate ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. Robert holds it in the ferm (firma) of Sudton [Sutton] but it did not belong .thereto. It is and was worth 1 6 pence. IN RlPLESMERE [RlPPLESMERE] HuNDRET The king holds WARWELT [Warfield 8] in demesne. Queen Eddid held it. It was then as now assessed at 10 hides. There is land for [ ]. There are 13 villeins with 8 ploughs, and woodland to render (de) 100 swine. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 1 2 pounds ; now 6 pounds. A priest of Geoffrey de Mandevile has i hide of this which always belonged to this manor ; but he transferred it to (sed iste misit in) a manor of his lord.7 IN CERLEDONE [CHARLTON] HUNDRET The king holds WEREGRAVE [Wargrave8] in demesne. Queen Eddid held it. (It was) then (assessed) at 33 hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for 29 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and there are 41 villeins and 14 bordars with 25 ploughs. There are 6 serfs and a mill worth 9 shillings and 2 pence and 3 fisheries to render (de) 3,000 eels, and 1 6 acres of meadow, and wood- land to render (de) 100 swine. T.R.E. it was worth 3 1 pounds ; and afterwards, as now, 27 pounds and 6 shillings and 8 pence. The king holds RAMEHAM [Remenham "] in demesne. Queen Eddid held it. (It was) then (assessed at) 1 2 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 4 hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 20 villeins and 4 bordars with 6 ploughs. There are 4 serfs, and a mill worth 20 shillings and 1,000 eels, and 52 acres of meadow, and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausuram). T.R.E. it was worth 15 pounds ; afterwards, as now 10 pounds. The king holds SOANESFELT [Swallowfield10] 8 ' Leflet ' is a woman's name (J.H.R.). • Now in the Hundred of Wargrave. T This holding cannot be identified on Geoffrey de Mandeville's fief (J.H.R.). » Now in the Hundred of Wargrave. • Now in the Hundred of Beynhurst. 10 Although the form of this name is not sug- gestive of Swallowfield, this manor is again referred to towards the end of the survey of the King's land, 329 42 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE in demesne. Sexi held it of King Edward in alod.1 There is land for 7 ploughs. On the de- mesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 8 bordars with 5 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and a mill worth 50 pence, and 5 fisheries worth 40 pence and 1 2 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 20 swine. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 7 pounds ; now worth 8 pounds and 6 pence. The king holds SELINGEFELLE [? Shin- field 2] in demesne. Sexi held it in alod of King Edward. (It was) then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 5 bordars with 7 ploughs. There are 2 serfs, and a mill worth (de) 5 shillings and 150 eels, and 5 fisheries worth (de) 550 eels, and 16 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 90 swine. It was (for- merly) worth 7 pounds ; now 8 pounds. The king holds FINCHAMESTEDE [Finch- am pstead3] in demesne. Earl Harold held it. (It was) then (assessed) at 5 hides. It now pays no geld but renders ferm (reddit firmam) in Radinges4 [Reading]. There is land for 15 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and (there are) 1 6 villeins and 8 bordars with 14 ploughs. There are 6 serfs and a mill worth 7 shillings and 6 pence, and 4 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 200 swine. It is and was worth 8 pounds. The king holds BERCHEHAM [Barkham8] in demesne. jElmer held it of King Edward. Then, as now, it was assessed at 3 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 6 villeins and 4 bordars with 3 ploughs. There are 5 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 40 swine. It was worth 4 pounds T.R.E. ; and afterwards, as now, 3 pounds. under the form ' SOLAFEL " a closer approximation. And in the survey of Hampshire we find Gilbert de Breteville holding Bramshill and Stratfield, just across the border, as appurtenant to the King's manor of ' SUALEFELLE quod est in Berchesire.' There can therefore, in my opinion, be no ques- tion as to the identification, though what Gilbert de Bretteville had to do with Swallowfield is un- explained (J.H.R.). 1 Assessment omitted ; half a line left blank in the MS. 1 This is in my opinion the right identification, thoughhere again the form is very irregular (J.H.R.). 3 Now in the Hundred of Charlton. 4 i.e. it contributes to the ' ferm ' of Reading. ' e Now in the Hundred of Charlton. The king holds HERLEI ' [Earley *] in de- mesne. Almar held it in alod of King Edward. (It was) then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 4. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough ; and (there are) 6 villeins and i bordar with 3 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and i close (hagd) in Radinges [Reading] and 2 fisheries worth (de) 1 shillings and 6 pence, and 20 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 70 swine. T.R.E. it was worth 100 shillings ; and afterwards, as now, 50 shillings. IN BRAI [BRAY] HUNDRET The king holds BRAI [Bray 8] in demesne. King Edward held it. There are 18 hides and they did not pay geld. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 56 villeins and 7 bordars with 25 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and a church and 3 knights (milites) and 50 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 60 swine. Rain- bald holds I hide which belongs to the church, and there he has I plough. The whole T.R.E. was worth 25 pounds; and afterwards 1 8 pounds; now 17 pounds. IN BORCHEDEBERIE [BuCKLEBURY] HuNDRET The king holds BORCHEDEBERIE [Buckle- bury 9] in demesne. King Edward held it. There are 2 hides but they pay no geld. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne is I plough ; and (there are) 18 villeins and 1 6 bordars with 20 ploughs. One serf is there and a church to which belongs half a hide, and it is worth 15 shillings.. There are 1 1 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 100 swine. It is and was worth n pounds ; and yet it pays 16 pounds and 10 shillings. fo. IN NACHEDEDORN [ ] HUNDRET The king holds NACHEDEDORNE [ ] in demesne. Edric held it in alod of King Edward. (It was) then (assessed) at 20 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 9 hides all but I virgate. There is land for 1 2 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 4 bordars with 2 ploughs. The church of this « This is evidently 'Erley' (Testa de Nevill, p. 1 10), near Berkham, as the order there shows ; part of which was of the fief of Elyas Giffard : see note on the land of Osbern Gifard (p. 359). 7 Now in the Hundred of Charlton. s Now in the Hundred of Bray. 9 Now in the Hundred of Reading. 330 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS manor Ralf the priest holds, with i hide and half a virgate, and Rainald 2 hides and half a virgate. One plough is there and I villein. The whole, T.R.E., was worth 15 pounds; and afterwards 12 pounds. Now what the king has (is worth) 10 pounds; what Ralf has, 40 shillings; what Rainald has, 30 shil- lings. The king holds CONTONE [Compton1] in demesne. King Edward held it. There are 3 hides all but i virgate. There is land for 8 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 6 villeins and 12 bordars with 6 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and 4 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 3 swine. This woodland Henry de Ferrers holds. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 6 pounds ; now (it is worth) 8 pounds. IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET The King holds CHENETEBERIE [Kintbury2] in demesne. King Edward held it. There are 2 hides. There is land for 10 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 15 villeins and 16 bordars with 8 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and 2 mills worth (de) 32 shillings and 6 pence ; and 40 acres of mea- dow, and woodland to render (de) 3 swine. T.R.E., as afterwards and now, it was worth IO pounds. Henry de Ferrers holds of this manor 43 acres of land which were in the king's ferm T.R.E., according to the testi- mony of the shire(moot). They state also that the sheriff Godric made this into pasture land for his own horses ; but by what warrant they do not know (Sed ntsciunt quomodo). The King holds ESELDEBORNE [Shalbourn2] in demesne. King Edward held it. There are 6J hides. There is land for 10 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs, and (there are) 1 4 villeins and 1 3 bordars with 6 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings and 8 acres of meadow and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausuram). T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 1 2 pounds ; now 20 pounds. From this manor 2^ hides were added (missa) to the manor of Henry (de Fer- rers), I hide was land in the hands of the reeve (fult de Reve land), another belonged to the villeins, and the half hide belonged to the king's ferm ; but it was transferred (foris- missa) in the time of the sheriff Godric. This the whole shire(moot) attests. 1 Now in the Hundred of Compton. J Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. The King holds EDDEVETONE3 [Eddington4] in demesne. Azor held it as an alod of King Edward. (It was) then (assessed) at I o hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 (hides) all but half a virgate. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne is i plough ; and there are 6 villeins and 2 bordars with 2 ploughs. A serf is there and a mill worth (de) 15 shillings, and 34 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 10 swine. T.R.E. it was worth 6 pounds; after- wards 100 shillings; now 70 shillings. IN LAMBORNE [LAMBOURN] HUNDRET The King holds LAMBORNE [Lambourn and (Upper) Lambourn6] • in demesne. King Edward held it. There are 20 hides. There is land for 42 ploughs. On the demesne are 4 ; and (there are) 44 villeins and 60 bordars with 25 ploughs. There are 6 serfs and a church with i hide belonging to it and 2 mills worth (de) 20 shillings, and woodland to render (de) i o swine. T.R.E. it was worth 49 pounds and afterwards 34 ; now 44 pounds. IN EGLEI [EAGLE] HUNDRET In FALESLEI [Little Fawley 7] 8 the king 3 Probably for Eddenetone (F.W.R.). 4 In Hungerford. Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 6 Now in the Hundred of Lambourn. • The Lambourn fees are difficult to trace. In the text the whole of Lambourn appears divided between the King, Hascoit Musard, Geoffrey de Mannevile, and Mathew of Mortain. Hascoit's holding is accounted for in Testa de Nevill (p. 122) as still part of the Musard fief; but there is nothing to tell us in which Lam- bourn it lay. In Upper Lambourn (Testa, p. 128) William Briwar is stated to have held 10 librates of land given by King John without service speci- fied, this went later (Testa, p. no) to William Gernon as half a knight's fee ; and Richard ' Wallensis ' is stated to have held land worth seven pounds and ten shillings, also given by King John without service specified. These grants would therefore appear to have been made out of demesne. In Chipping Lambourn (Testa, p. iz8)Hawisia de Dinant is stated to hold land in chief worth twenty- two pounds and ten shillings, held by her late husband, Fulk fitz Warin, but given to her father, Joceus de Dinan, by Henry II. ; and William de Plugeney (Pluknet) held half a knight's fee in chief also in Chipping Lambourn. If one may conclude that these holdings also were granted from demesne, it would point to the King's land being in both Lambourns. The holding of Mathew of Mortain seems to be different from all of these (4 hides value fifty shillings). For Geoffrey's holding see (p. 358) below (F.W.R.). 7 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 8 See note on ' Farellei,' land of the church of Amesbury (p. 344 below). 331 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE holds I hide. King Edward held it. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs, with 6 bordars and 3 acres of mea- dow. It is and was worth 40 shillings. The King holds LEDENCUMBE [Letcombe Regis1] in demesne. King Edward held it. There are three hides. There is land for 16 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) I villein and 30 bordars and 1 8 boors (burs) and 2 serfs with 13 ploughs. There are 5 mills worth (de) 4 pounds and 225 acres of meadow. The church of this manor is held by the Abbey of Ambresberie [Ames- bury] with i virgate. The whole, T.R.E. and afterwards, as now, was worth 55 pounds ; yet it pays 60 pounds. IN HILLESLAU [ ] HUNDRET The King holds SPERSOLT [Sparsholt 2] in demesne. King Edward held it. There are 10 hides. There is land for 13 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs; and (there are) 25 villeins and 3 bordars with i o ploughs. There are 3 serfs and 200 acres of meadow. T.R.E. it was worth 1 5 pounds and afterwards 1 8 ; now (it is worth) 20 pounds ; yet it pays 26 pounds. Of this manor Henry de Fereres holds I virgate of land and 1 2 acres of meadow and I dairy (vacariam) yielding (de) 6 weys of cheeses. These virgates (quee) according to the testi- mony of the shire(moot) remained in the king's ferm when Godric lost the sheriffdom. IN SERIVEHAM [SHRIVENHAM] HUNDRET The King holds SERIVEHAM [Shrivenham 3] in demesne. King Edward held it. There are 46 hides. There is land for 33 ploughs. On the demesne are 4 ploughs ; and (there are) 80 villeins and 17 bordars with 30 ploughs. There is a church with 5 hides of the same land, and belonging thereto (ibi) are I plough and 4 villeins and 5 bordars with 2 ploughs. In the manor are 2 mills worth (tie) 20 shil- lings and 240 acres of meadow, and wood- land to render (de) 2O swine. T.R.E. it was worth 35 pounds and afterwards 20 pounds ; now 45 pounds. What the priest has (is worth) 4 pounds. IN WIFOL [ ] HUNDRET The King holds FERENDONE [Great and Little Faringdon a] in demesne. Harold held 1 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 1 Now in the Hundred of Faringdon. 3 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. it. It was then assessed at 30 hides ; it now pays no geld. There is land for 1 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 17 villeins and 10 bordars with 10 ploughs. There are 10 serfs and a mill with a fishery worth (de) 35 shillings ; and (there are) 9 closes (hagee) in the same vill worth (de) 40 shillings and 130 acres of meadow, and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausuram). Of this manor Bishop Osmund has i hide with the church ; Alsi has 4 hides, and on (his) demesne are 2 ploughs and 2 bordars and 6 serfs. The whole T.R.E. was worth 16 pounds, and afterwards 12 pounds ; now 21 pounds 6 shillings and 8 pence. What be- longs to the church or priest (is worth) 40 shillings ; what Alsi has, 30 shillings. The king holds COCHESWELLE [Great Cox- well *] in demesne. Harold held it. It was then assessed at 20 hides ; it now pays no geld. There is land for 8 ploughs. On the de- mesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 9 villeins and 4 bordars with 3 ploughs ; also 7 serfs and 80 acres of meadow less 3. A church is there with half a hide. T.R.E. it was worth 8 pounds ; afterwards 6 ; now 10 pounds. The king holds in demesne another COCHES- WELLE [Little Coxwell *]. Harold held it. It was then assessed at i o hides ; it now pays no geld. There is land for 9 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 1 1 villeins and 6 bordars with 6 ploughs ; also 2OO acres of meadow and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausuram). T.R.E. it was worth 1 6 pounds ; afterwards 12 ; now 14. IN SUDTONE [SUTTON] HUNDRET The king holds SUDTONE [Sutton Courte- nay 5] 8 in demesne. It was assessed T.R.E. at 23 hides and I virgate ; it is now assessed at nothing. There is land for 2O ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 48 villeins and 2 1 bordars with 1 7 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and 3 mills worth (de) 5° shil- lings and 300 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 40 swine. In Walingeford [Wallingford] is I close (haga) worth (de) 1 8 pence but it is waste. T.R.E. it was worth 30 potinds and afterwards 2O pounds ; now 50 « Now in the Hundred of Faringdon. * Now in the Hundred of Ock. « In Testa de Nevill (p. 125) we have John de Curtenay holding the manor of Sutton by gift of predecessors of the king, as freely as they them- selves held it (F.W.R.). 332 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS pounds, yet it pays 60 pounds from the ferm, by tale (ad numerum). Henry de Fereires holds in this manor, in (de) the king's demesne I2O acres of land and 3 acres of meadow for the reason that Godric his predecessor (antecessor suus) ploughed the land, when he was sheriff, with his own ploughs. But as the Hundred (court) attests it belongs of right to the king's establishment (curia], and (enini) Godric took possession of it unjustly. 'The king holds HENRET [East Hen- 1 Two problems are offered by this entry : first as to the hundreds, except for the entry of Stive- tune below, which may easily have been in Sudtone Hundred, I should feel sure that the entry of the Hundred had been omitted. Both Hendreds ap- pear in the combined Hundreds of Waneting [Wantage] and Gamenefeld [Gamenesfeld] in Testa de Nevlll and in Feudal Aids, 1316. In 1428 (Feudal Aids) ' Henrethe ' appears in the combined Hundreds of Ock and Sutton ; but they were both in Wantage up to 1831,31 least. All the other hold- ings in ' Henret ' in the text, including that of the Count of Evreux, which was in East Hendred (see note p. 345), are placed in the Hundred of ' Wanetinz.' The identification of the differenthold- ings in Henret, and their distribution into East and West Henret, form a second problem, an approach to the solution of which may be gained as follows : In Testa de Nevlll (p. 125) the Prior of Walling- ford holds § of West Hendred, once owned by St. Alban, and the king's bailiff lets £, once held by Rich, de Hanreth. In the text (p. 343) St. Alban's land is i o hides, reduced to 4. Originally, therefore, West Hendred was assessed at | of this, i.e., at 15 hides. The remaining holdings in Henret in the text are : — The King . Hen. de Ferrars Ct. of Evreux Grimbald . Cola . -iEldeva Total . To these add — St. Alban's . H. H. \\ (reduced to . o) i . 10 (reduced to . 7) . 5 (reduced to i) . 7 (reduced to . i J) i 2 8 \ hides as originally assessed. . 10 38 J hides as originally assessed. But Testa de Nevill (p. 125) gives in 'East Hanreth ' i hide, as belonging to the Bishop of Salisbury. Referring back to the text, we find in 'Waneting' Hundret a holding, with place un- named, of i £ hides, belonging to the Bishop of Salisbury (p. 335). If we add this to the total above we get 40 hides as the original assessment of Hendred, East and West. Taking then the dred 2] in demesne. King Edward held it. It was then assessed at 4^ hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 13 bordars with 2 ploughs and 2 serfs there and a mill worth (de) 42 shillings and 4 acres of meadow. T.R.E. it was worth 10 pounds ; and afterwards 8 pounds. Now (it is worth) 1 5 ; yet it pays 20 pounds. Henry (de Ferrers) holds there I hide which was in the king's ferm. Godric held it. Alvric of Taceham [Thatcham] states that he has seen the king's writ which made it over as a gift to Godric's wife because she was supporting the king's hounds. But there is no one in the Hundred (court) besides Alvric who has seen the writ. The king holds STIVETUNE [Steventon 3] in demesne. Harold held it. It was then as- sessed at 2O hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for 20 ploughs. On the demesne are 4 ploughs ; and (there are) 38 villeins and 28 bordars with 10 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and 3 mills worth (de) 45 shillings and 268 acres of meadow. There is a church in the manor. T.R.E. it was worth 25 pounds ; and afterwards 20 ; now 32, yet it pays 40 pounds. holdings given in Testa de Nevill, and working on the above data, we have — WEST HENDRED H. H. Wallingford Priory . 10 answering to St. (Testa de Nevill, p. 125) Alban's . 10 King's bailiff . . 5 possibly to Grim- (Testa, p. 125) bald's. . 5 EAST Priory of Noyon . (Testa, p. 125) Priory of Frampton (Testa, p. 125) Prioress of Littlemore (Testa, p. 125) Bishop of Salisbury (Testa, p. 125) HENDRED . 10 answering to Ct. of Evreux's (unreduced) 10 7 answering per- haps to Cola's 7 I answering per- haps to ^Eldeva's I i answering to Bp. of Salisbury's I j HENDRED Ct. of Ferrars . . i answering to Hen. (Testa, p. 121) de Ferrer's i The king's demesne is alone needed to make up the 40 hides ; but if it was still demesne it would only be found in either Testa de Nevill, or in Feudal Aids exceptionally. Since we can thus dispose of the holdings in West Hendred with probability, it will follow that the king's demesne, in which the land of Henry de Ferrers lay, was in East Hendred (F.W.R.). 1 Now in the Hundred of Wantage. 3 Now in the Hundred of Ock. 333 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE To this manor belonged in Oxeneford [Ox- ford] 1 3 closes (hagis) paying 1 2 shillings and 6 pence, and I meadow worth (de) 2O shil- lings. The men of the Hundred (court) now state that they believe (suspicantur) that Robert de Oilgi held this ; but they know no more about it because it is in another shire. fo.jS IN GAMESFEL [GANFIELD] HUNDRET The king holds ORDIA [? Littleworth *]* in demesne. Harold held it T.R.E. It was then assessed at 31 hides; now (it is assessed) at no- thing. There is land for 1 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 32 vil- leins and 13 bordars with 12 ploughs. There are 14 serfs and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings and 6 pence and a fishery worth (de) 10 shil- lings and 300 acres of meadow all but 15. Of this land Alsi holds 2 hides which be- longed to the villeins. Healso held them T.R.E. ; and Alviet 2 hides, and another Alviet held also. On this land is i plough — on the de- mesne— with 2 bordars and i serf and (there are) 54 acres of meadow. The whole T.R.E. was worth 30 pounds ; and afterwards 20 pounds; now 25 pounds and 10 shillings. IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET The king holds REDINGES [Reading3] in demesne. King Edward held it. Then as now it was assessed at 43 hides. There is land for 40 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 55 villeins and 30 bordars with 55 ploughs. There are 4 mills worth (de) 35* shillings and 3 fisheries worth (de) 14 shil- lings and 6 pence and 150 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 1 00 swine. From pasture (come) 16 shillings and 6 pence. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 40 pounds ; now 48 pounds. The king has in the borough of REDINGES [Reading] 28 closes (hagas), paying 4 pounds and 3 shillings for all customary dues. Yet those who hold them pay 100 shillings. Henry de Ferreres has there I close (hagam), 1 Now in the Hundred of Faringdon. 2 Ordia should represent some such name as Worthy [weorSig]. In Testa JeNevitt(f. 1 25) we are told that the Abbot of Stanley holds in de- mesne Wadeley and Little Worth, given in almoin by predecessors of the king. In 1428 (Feudal Aids, p. 68) we are told that the Abbot of Stanley holds Wadeley and Little Worth by gift of King Henry. Both places are there entered under the Hundred of Shrivenham (F.W.R.). 3 Now in the Hundred of Reading. « ? Corrected to 55. and half a virgate of land in which are 3 acres of meadow. It is worth 6 shillings. Godric the sheriff held this land to provide for guests (ad kospitium).5 Therefore Henry holds it. Reinbald son of Bishop Peter held i close (hagam) there which he transferred (trahebat) to his manor of Erlei [Earley]. It is now in the king's hands and is worth 1 6 pence. PANDEBORNE [Pangbourne 8] belonged to the ferm (jacuit in firma) T.R.E., and after that Alwold the chamberlain held it, but the Hundred (court) cannot state by what war- ranty (quomodo) he had it. Froger afterwards attached it to (misit in) the king's ferm without writ or warrant (absque placito et lege). Then it was assessed at 2 hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for 2 ploughs. There are 4 villeins and 5 bordars and a mill worth 2O shillings. It is and was worth 40 shillings. The king holds HELDREMANESTUNE [Aldermaston 7] in demesne. Harold held it. It was then assessed at 15 hides; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for 30 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 36 villeins and 12 bordars with 1 8 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and a mill worth (de) 20 shillings and 2 fisheries worth (de) 5 shillings. A church is there and 124 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 30 swine. T.R.E. and afterwards, as now, it was worth 20 pounds and 10 shillings. Yet from this, and from Hocfelle [Wokefield], which is under this manor, they who hold pay 26 pounds. To Eldremanestune [Aldermaston] belongs HOCFELLE [Wokefield]. Bricstuard held it by a grant from Harold. It was then as- sessed at i \ hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for 3 ploughs. There are 3 villeins and 6 bordars with 2 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and 6 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 50 swine. The value is included in that above (pretium ejus superim). IN THE SAME HUNDRET the king has I hide, and it belongs to SOLAFEL [Swallowfield] which is in CERLEDONE [Charlton] HUNDRET. Sexi held it T.R.E. There are 4 villeins and 2 bordars with 3 ploughs. It is appraised with Solafel [Swallowfield] which is the capital manor. » That is, as I take it, for reception of officials (F.W.R.). « Now in the Hundred of Reading. i Now in the Hundred of Theale. 334 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS IN ROEBERG [ ] HUNDRET The king holds WINTREBURNE [Winter- bourne1]. It was part of Queen Eddid's land. Lane held it of her. Teodric holds it of the king at ferm. It was formerly (tune) assessed at 5 hides ; now it is assessed at nothing. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and there are 4 villeins and 1 1 bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 2 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 3 swine. T.R.E. it was worth 6 pounds ; afterwards 50 shillings; now 4 pounds. II. THE LAND OF THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTER IN HILLESLAU [ ] HUNDRET Walchelin, Bishop of Winchester, has OLVRICESTONE [Woolstone 2] (which finds) support (de victu) for the monks. T.R.E. it was assessed at 20 hides ; it is now assessed at 10. There is land for 11 ploughs. On the demesne are i\ ploughs; and (there are) 12 villeins and 24 bordars with 2^ ploughs. There are 10 serfs and 2 mills worth (de) 12 shillings and 6 pence, and 150 acres of meadow. Of this manor Roger (de) Ivrei holds 3^ hides of the bishop and there he has i plough. T.R.E. it was worth 16 pounds; afterwards 12 pounds; now (it is worth) 1 8 pounds. Yet it renders from the ferm 22 pounds. What Roger holds (is worth) 3 pounds. IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The bishop himself holds HARWELLE [Harwell 3] in the demesne of his bishopric. Bishop Stigand held it T.R.E. (It was) then (assessed) at 1 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 10 hides. There is land for 8 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs; and (there are) 18 villeins and 5 cottars with 6 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and a mill worth (de) 30 pence and 45 acres of meadow ; and in Walengefort [Wallingford] 3 closes (hagte) worth (de) 15 pence. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 12 pounds ; now 16 pounds. IN ESLITEFORD [ ] HUNDRET The bishop himself holds BRISTOWELLE [Brightwell3]4 as belonging to (the fee of) his 1 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. 2 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. 3 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. * According to Testa de Nevill (p. 125), ' Brictewell,' and a certain part of 'Harewell' were held by the Bishops of Winchester in almoin, as the gift of a certain Wulward (F.W.R.). bishopric. Bishop Stigand held it T.R.E. It was then assessed at 20 hides ; now (it is as- sessed) at 10 hides. There is land for 16 ploughs. On the demesne are 4 ploughs ; and (there are) 17 villeins and 1 6 cottars with 9 ploughs. There are 1 5 serfs and a mill worth (de) 20 shillings. There is a church. And from the land-court (fees) (de placith terree) in Wallingford belong to this manor 25 shillings. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 20 pounds; now 25 pounds. III. THE LAND OF THE BISHOP OF SALISBURY IN CERLEDONE [CHARLTON] HUNDRET Osmund Bishop of Salisbury holds SONIN- GES [Sonning G] in demesne as of his bishop- ric. T.R.E. it was assessed at 60 hides; now (it is assessed) at 24. There is land for 46 ploughs. On the demesne are 5 ploughs ; and (there are) 40 villeins and 1 6 bordars with 41 ploughs. There are 10 serfs and 2 mills worth (de) 12 shillings and 6 pence and 5 fisheries worth (de) 30 shillings, and 40 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 300 swine. T.R.E. it was worth 50 pounds and afterwards, as now, 40. Of the appurten- ances of this manor Aubrey de Coci held 20 hides in HILDESLEI [ ] which of right belong to the aforesaid manor of the Bishop. Roger the priest holds i church in Walengeford [Wallingford], which of right belongs to this manor. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same bishop holds of the king i^ hides 8 and Tori holds them of him. Tori's father held them T.R.E. and could go to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluit) ; but for his protection he betook himself (se commisit) to Bishop Herman ; and Tori betook himself in like manner to Bishop Osmund. Formerly (tune) as now (it was assessed) at i^ hides. There is only land for 5 oxen (to plough), yet on the demesne is I plough with i cottar, and there is a mill worth (de) 6 shillings and 3 pence. T.R.E. it was worth 15 shillings ; afterwards 2O shillings ; now 30 shillings. 6 Now in the Hundred of Sonning. • No place is named. This holding was prob- ably in East Hendred, where Testa de Nevill gives (p. 125) John de Hanret as holding in ' East- hanreth ' I hide of the Bishop of Salisbury. See also note under 'Henret' in the King's land (p. 333) (F.W.R.). 335 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE IN ROEBERG1 [ ] HUNDRET The same bishop holds WINTREBORNE [Winterbourne *]. Rannulf Flammard holds it of him. Bishop Herman held it. It then was assessed at 2 hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for I plough. On the demesne is half a plough with 4 bordars. It is worth 20 shillings. IIII. THE LAND OF THE BISHOP OF DURHAM IN BENES [BEYNHURST] HUNDRET The Bishop of Durham holds of the king WALTHAM [White Waltham, alias Waltham Abbots 3] 4 in almoin. Ulwin, a canon, held it of Earl Harold and it belonged to the church of Waltham. Then as now (it was assessed) at 3 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 3 cottars with 4 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and 3 acres of meadow and woodland to ren- der (de) 6 swine. T.R.E. it was worth 60 shillings; afterwards 70 shillings ; now 100 shillings. fo. 8b V. THE LAND OF BISHOP OSBERN IN GAMESFEL [GANFIELD] HUNDRET Bishop Osbern holds BOCHELAND [Buck- land 6] in demesne belonging to (the fee of) his bishopric, he asserts. Ulvric Chenp dwelt there T.R.E. On the matter of the bishop's possession (unde) the court did not decide but sent the case to be tried before the king (sed ante regem ut judicet dimiserunt). It was formerly (tune) assessed at 15^ hides; now (it is assessed) at 8 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. There is nothing on the demesne ; but (there are) there 9 villeins and 7 cottars with 4 ploughs. A church is there and 7 serfs and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings and 6 pence and 4 fisheries worth (de) 20 shillings and 6 pence and 220 acres of meadow and a dairy 1 The name of this Hundred is, in Testa de Ncvill, Rughebergh ; in Feudal Aids, 1316, Rou- bergh (F.W.R.). 2 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. ' Now in the Hundred of Beynhurst. * This part of Waltham Abbots appears to have been afterwards restored to Waltham Abbey. For in Testa de Nevill (p. 124) we find that the Abbot of Holy Cross (Waltham) held ' Herwode Waltham ' in demesne. This was part of what is now White Waltham (Abbots), as appears from the Hundred it was in. ' Herwode ' is possibly a corruption of ' Harolds ' ; and Herwode Waltham would thus be Harold's Waltham (F.W.R.). ' Now in the Hundred of Ganfield. farm (uica) producing 10 weys of cheeses worth 32 shillings and 4 pence. T.R.E. it was worth 1 6 pounds ; and after that 1 2 pounds ; now 8 pounds. VI. THE LAND OF THE BISHOP OF COUTANCES IN NACHEDEDORNE [ j] HUNDRET Bishop Goisfrid holds CONTONE [Comp- ton 'J. Oda held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 5 hides ; it is now assessed at 2^. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 9 villeins and 4 bordars with 5 ploughs. There are 5 serfs and woodland to render (de) 10 swine. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 4 pounds; now 100 shillings. VII. THE LAND OF THE CHURCH (ABBEY) OF ABINGDON IN HORNIMERE [HORMER] HUNDRET The abbey of Abbendone [Abingdon] holds COMENORE [Cumnor7]. It has belonged to the abbey T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at 50 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 30 hides. There is land for 50 ploughs. On the demesne are 9 ploughs ; and (there are) 60 villeins and 69 bordars with 26 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and 2 mills worth (de) 50 shillings; and from the fisheries (come) 40 shillings ; and there are 200 acres of meadow. There is a church. T.R.E. it was worth 30 pounds; and afterwards, as now, 50 pounds. Of these 50 hides Anschil holds 5. Norman held them T.R.E. as one manor. It is called SEUACOORDE [Seacourt 7J, and he could not go (with it) to what lord (quo) he wished. It paid geld for 5 hides with the others above mentioned. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 12 villeins and 15 bordars with 5 ploughs. T.R.E. it was worth 100 shillings ; and after- wards 70 shillings ; now 8 pounds. In WINTEHAM [Wytham 'J Hubert holds of the abbot 5 hides of the land of the villeins. They were 4 and they paid geld with the hides of the manor. The thegn's hide was exempt from payment (quieta fait), but he could not go (with it) to what lord (quo) he wished. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne are i £ ploughs ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 1 1 bordars. There are 64 acres of meadow. 6 Now in the Hundred of Compton. 7 Now in the Hundred of Hormer. 336 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 50 shil- lings ; now 4 pounds. Of the aforesaid hides Osbern holds in COMENORE [Cumnor *] 2^ and they paid geld for as much, together with the other hides. Two alodiaries held them of the abbot. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the de- mesne is i plough with I villein and 3 bor- dars. It was (formerly) worth 60 shillings ; now 40 shillings. Rainald holds i hide in COMENORE [Cum- nor] ; and this paid geld for I hide along with the others. There is land for i plough. It was (formerly) worth 20 shillings; now IO.2 The abbey itself holds BERTUNE [Barton 3] in demesne. T.R.E. it was assessed at 60 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 40. There is land for 40 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 64 villeins and 36 bordars with 34 ploughs, and 10 traders dwelling in front of the door of the church paying 40 pence. In Bertune are 2 serfs and 24 ' coliberts ' and 2 mills worth 40 shillings and 5 fisheries worth (de) 18 shillings and 4 pence, and 200 acres of meadow and 1 5 shil- lings (coming) from pasture, and 2 mills be- longing to (/'») the court of the abbot not paying dues (sine censu). T.R.E. it was worth 20 pounds ; and afterwards as now 40 pounds. Of these 60 hides Rainald holds i manor of the abbot in mortgage (uadimonid) : — SIPENE [Shippon4]. Ednod the Staller held it T.R.E. and it did not then belong to (nun fuit tune in) the abbey. Earl Hugh gave it to the abbey. It then (T.R.E.) was assessed at 5 hides ; it is now assessed at i hide. There are on the demesne 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 2 villeins and 5 bordars with i plough, and 4 serfs, and 20 acres of meadow. The same man holds there of the abbot 3 hides. Alward a priest and Lewin a gold- smith held them of the abbot and could not leave their lord (nee poterant recedere). Then as now it was assessed at 3 hides. On the demesne he has i plough with I bordar and 1 8 acres of meadow and a fishery worth (de) 5 pence. This land is (sufficient) for 4 ploughs. T.R.E. it was worth 7 pounds ; afterwards 100 shillings ; and now 6 pounds. 1 Now in the Hundred of Hornier. 3 This is the end of the Cumnor entries. 3 Near Abingdon, now in the Hundred of Hormer. « Now in the Hundred of Hormer. Hugh the cook holds of the abbot in BER- TUNE [Barton4] i£ hides and in SANFORD [Dry Sandford 4] 2 hides. Lewin and Nor- man held these but they could not go to another lord (recedere nan potuerunt). There are i^ ploughs with i bordar and 6 acres of meadow. There is land for 2 ploughs. It is worth 40 shillings. Of the aforesaid 60 hides Anschil and Gil- bert hold in BAIORDE [Bay worth4] 10 hides of the abbot. Ulvric held them and could not go to another lord (recedere nan potuit). These 10 hides are assessed at 8. There are (on the demesne) 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 9 villeins and 8 bordars with 4^ ploughs. There are 5 serfs and 60 acres of meadow. There is land for 8 ploughs. It was (formerly) worth 10 pounds ; now 8 pounds. Of the same manor and of the same land Warin holds 4 hides in SOGOORDE [Sug- worth 4], and Berner 5 hides in SONINGEWELL [Sunningwell] and in CHENITUN [Kenning- ton4]and Alwin i hide in GENETUNEi[Kenning- ton *]. Six Englishmen held this and could not go from the lordship of the abbey (et ab ecc/esia recedere non potuerunt]. There is land for 6 ploughs and it paid geld along with the other hides. There are 3 ploughs (on the demesne) ; and (there are) 7 villeins and 18 bordars with i plough and 5 serfs, and no acres of meadow. It was formerly worth 1 2 pounds ; now i o pounds.5 IN ROEBERG [ ] HUNDRET The abbey itself holds CIVELEI [Chieve- ley6]. It has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at 2 7 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 7^ hides. There is land for 20 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 28 villeins and 10 bordars with 1 8 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and 4 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 60 swine. Of this land William holds of the abbot 5 hides, and Godefrid i£ hides and there is I plough there with 3 villeins and 2 bordars having i plough and 3 acres of meadow. The whole T.R.E. and after- wards was worth 12 pounds. The abbot's portion is now worth 10 pounds ; that of his men 50 shillings. The abbey itself holds WALIFORD [Wei- ford6] and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at 50 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 37 hides. There is land for 24 ploughs. On the demesne are 5 ploughs; 337 8 This is the end of the Barton entries. • Now in the Hundred of Faircross. 43 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE and (there are) 33 villeins and 34 bordars with 22 ploughs. There are 9 serfs and 5 mills worth (de) 60 shillings and 2 churches and 40 acres of meadow. There is woodland to render (de) 20 swine. T.R.E. as afterwards and now it was worth 27 pounds. Of the land of this manor Reinbold holds LECANESTEDE [Leckhampstead *], 10 hides; and William 4 hides in WESTUN [Weston1] and Berner 2 hides in BOVSORE [Boxford *]. These Bricstuin and Alfric and a certain reeve held of the abbot. They could not go to another lord (nee potuerunt recedere). There is land for 1 1 ploughs. There are 3 ploughs (on the demesne) ; and (there are) 12 villeins and 24 bordars with 6 ploughs and 6 serfs. There are 2 acres of meadow and a church. It is and was worth 10 pounds. Walter de Rivere holds, of the abbot, BEDENE [Beedon *]. Norman held it of the abbot and could not go to what lord he wished (with it) (non potult ire quo voluit). It was then assessed at 10 hides; now (it is assessed) at 8 hides. Yet it had stood at 15 hides (tamen fuit pro xv hid '), but King Edward allowed them (to pass) as 1 1 (condonavit pro */), so they assert. There is land for 1 1 ploughs ; on the demesne are 2 ; and there are 1 1 villeins and i o bordars with 6 ploughs ; and 3 serfs are there. Of this same land a cer- tain knight (miles) holds 2 hides and he has there i plough with 3 bordars. T.R.E. it was worth 1 1 pounds and afterwards 6 ; now 8 pounds. The same Walter holds 2 hides in BENE- HAM [Benham l]* Eddid held them T.R.E. and they were assessed for so much, then as now. Eddid herself could go (with them) to what lord she wished (ire quo vellei). There is land for i plough. There are 5 bordars and 20 acres of meadow — nothing else. It is and was worth 30 shillings. This land did not belong to the abbey (non fuit in abbatia) T.R.E. but it is discharged from payment to the king (sed est quieta regi). 1 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. > In Feudal Aids, 1316, p. 49, Welford, with the hamlets of Weston, Eston, Benham and Boxford (all in ' Roubergh ' Hundred), is given as belonging to Abingdon. The part of Benham thus specified is given in Testa de Nevill (p. 124) as Holebenham [Hoe Benham]. This part of Benham is in the right Hundred, but the Abbey's possession could not have been the whole of Hoe Benham, since half a knight's fee is set down (Testa, p. 122) as belonging to the fief of the Earl of Hereford (F.W.R.). IN MERCEHAM [MARCHAM] HUNDRET The abbey itself holds MERCEHAM [Mar- cham3]. It has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at 2O hides ; now (it is assessed) at 10 hides. There is land for i o ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs; and (there are) 18 villeins and 10 bordars with 10 ploughs. A church is there and 6 serfs and a mill worth (de) 15 shillings and 100 acres of meadow. Of this land Anschil holds I hide ; Alwin held it of the abbot, and there is on the demesne I plough. The whole T.R.E. was worth 12 pounds and 10 shillings, and now the same. The abbey itself holds FRIELIFORD [Fril- ford3]. It has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at (se defende- bat pro) IO hides as it is now (et modo facit). In the demesne are 4 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. There are 8 villeins with 2 ploughs and 40 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 40 shillings. Of the land of this manor Rainald holds 4 hides and Renbald i hide and Salwi i hide. Five thegns held this of the abbot and could not change their lord (nee potuerunt recedere). There is land for 6 ploughs. There are 2^ ploughs (on the demesne); and (there are) 6 villeins and 10 bordars with 2 ploughs and 2 serfs, and there are 60 acres of meadow. The whole, T.R.E., was worth 70 shillings ; and afterwards the same sum, now 6 pounds. Rainbald holds of the abbot I hide in TOBENIE [Tubney ']. Norman and Alvric held it. T.R.E. as now it was assessed at I hide. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne is nothing. There are 2 villeins and 1 6 bordars with 6 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and 1 5 acres of meadow. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 40 shillings ; now 4 pounds. William holds LEIE [Bessels Leigh 4JS of the abbot, and Norman held it of the abbot T.R.E. Then as now it was assessed at I hide. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs; and there are 12 bordars with 3 ploughs. It was (formerly) worth 40 shillings ; now 4 pounds. 3 Now in the Hundred of Ock. « Now in the Hundred of Hormer. » In Feudal Aids, 1401-02, p. 59, it is stated that William Warbeltone holds two parts (f) of a knight's fee in ' Leghe' and ' Rokeleghe,' which Peter Besyles lately held. A Thomas Basseley also is given (p. 60) as holding \ of a knight's fee in ' Leghe.' All this seems now to have been merged in Bessels Leigh (F.W.R.). 338 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS fo. S3 The abbey itself holds WAREFORD [Gar- ford*]. It has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at 10 hides; now (it is assessed) at 6. Of these the abbot holds 8 hides, and Berner holds 2 of him. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and there are i O vil- leins and 10 bordars with 3 ploughs. There is a mill worth (de) 7 shillings and 6 pence and there are 30 acres of meadow ; and Berner has i plough with 6 bordars and 6 acres of meadow. The whole was worth T.R.E. 12 pounds; and afterwards 10 pounds; (it is worth as much) now. The abbey itself holds HANLEI [East Hanney2],3 and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E., as now, it was assessed at 10 hides. There is land for 7 ploughs. There are 10 villeins with 2 ploughs and 100 acres of meadow. Of the land of this manor Ulwi holds 3 hides which were part of the demesne which supplied food for the monks (de dominico victu monackarum) T.R.E. and Nicholas holds i hide of the abbot which Edwin the priest held and could not go from the abbot (eo) (to another lord). On these 4 hides are 2 ploughs and 9 bordars with half a plough, and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings and there are 4 serfs and 60 acres of meadow. The whole T.R.E. was worth 8 pounds ; afterwards 7 pounds; and now the same amount. The abbey itself holds GOSEI [Goosey l] and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). It was assessed T.R.E. at 1 7 hides ; it is now assessed at 1 1 hides. There is land for 9 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs; and (there are) 6 villeins and 3 bordars with 2 ploughs and I ' radknight ' (rackeneste) with his own plough, and i oo acres of meadow ; and from pasture (come) 16 pence. Of the land of this manor Hermer holds 7 hides, and it is part of the demesne which supplied food for the monks (de dominico victu monachorum). He has there I plough, and (there are) 7 villeins with half a plough and 35 acres of meadow. The whole T.R.E. was worth 9 pounds ; 1 Now in the Hundred of Ock. a Now in the Hundred of Wantage. ' Testa de Nevitt (p. 121) has £ of a knight's fee in East Hanney as belonging to Abingdon. The entry of this under ' Merceham ' Hundret, and in such sequence, offers an unexplained difficulty. Except under the land of Gilbert de Bretville, where one may readily suspect an omission, Hanlei [Hanney] appears elsewhere under ' Wanetinz ' Hundret (F.W.R.). afterwards 10 pounds ; now the same amount (simi liter). Walter Gifard holds LINFORD [Lyford4]6 of the abbot. T.R.E. the sons of Eliert held it of the abbot and could not go to another lord (alias ire) without leave, and yet they put themselves under (commendaverunt se) Walter without the abbot's licence (precepto). Then as now it was assessed at 7 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 7 bordars with 2 ploughs, and there are 4 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 4 pounds ; now IOO shillings. Rainald holds of the abbot 3 hides in the same vill. Linbald a monk held it of the abbey, and it was assessed at 3 hides then as now. There is land for i^- ploughs. On the demesne is a plough ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 3 bordars with half a plough. There are I serf and 36 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 20 shillings ; now 40 shillings. The abbey itself holds DRAicoTE[Draycott Moor4] and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. as now it was assessed at 10 hides. There is land for 8 ploughs. There are 16 villeins with 7 ploughs and 40 acres of meadow. Of this land Gilbert holds i hide and a certain Englishman half a hide, and there is I plough with 2 villeins and 2 serfs. There are 6 acres of meadow and a fishery. The whole T.R.E. and afterwards was worth 100 shillings; (now) 6 pounds. IN SUDTONE [SUTTON] HUNDRET The abbey itself holds MIDDELTUNE [Mil- ton4] and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at 28 hides; now (it is assessed) at 23 hides. There is land for 24 ploughs. On the demesne are 4 ploughs; and (there are) 39 villeins and 25 bordars with 1 5 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings and 344 acres of meadow. Of the same land Azelin holds 2 hides and i virgate of the abbot, and Rainald 3 hides. There are 3 ploughs and 5 villeins and 1 1 bordars and a mill worth (de) 1 2 shillings and 6 pence, and 2 serfs and 30 acres of meadow. The whole T.R.E. was worth 25 pounds. The part which the abbot 1 Now in the Hundred of Ock. 6 Feudal Aids, 1401-02, i. 58, gives I knight's fee in Lyford in the Hundred of Okie (lie) as owned by Abingdon (F.W.R.). 339 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE holds is now worth that much ; what his men (hold is worth) 4 pounds and 5 shillings. The abbey itself holds APLEFORD [Apple- ford1] in demesne. T.R.E. as now it was assessed at 5 hides. There is land for 6^ ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 14 villeins and 20 bordars with 4 ploughs. One serf is there and 2 mills worth (de) 25 shillings and a fishery worth (de) 10 shillings and 60 acres of meadow, and 2 1 shillings of profits (de hero) from the demesne land. Of this land Robert holds i hide and he has 2 bordars there. The whole was worth T.R.E. 9 pounds ; and afterwards, as now, the same. In SUDTONE [Sutton Courtenay1] Alwi the priest holds I hide of the abbot. His father held it. It was assessed at the same then as now. He has there half a plough with 3 bordars. It is worth 20 shillings. The abbey itself holds WITEHAM [Little * Wittenham 3 ] 4 and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at 10 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and there are 1 1 villeins and 9 bordars with 3 ploughs. A church is there and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings, and 53 acres of meadow. T.R.E. it was worth 15 pounds ; and afterwards, as now, 12 pounds. IN RlPLESMERE [RlPPLESMERE] HuNDRET The abbey itself holds WENESFELLE [Winkfield s] " and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at IO hides ; now (it is assessed) at 3^ hides. There is land for 20 ploughs. There are 2O villeins with 9 ploughs, and there is i man holding half a hide against the will of the abbot, and he does so unjustly. Of this land 4 hides are in the king's forest. It is and was worth, then, as now (semper), 4 pounds. IN CERLEDONE [CHARLTON] HUNDRET The abbey itself holds WISELEI [Whistley T] and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). 1 Now in the Hundred of Ock. 3 Alias East. 3 Now in the Hundred of Ock. 4 feudal Aids, 1316, i. 53, gives the Vill of 'Est Wyttenham' as the holding ofAbingdon (F.W.R.). s Now in the Hundred of Ripplesmere. « Feudal Aids, 1316, has (1.48) « Wynekfelde'as belonging to Abingdon (F.W.R.). 7 In Hurst near Twyford, now in the Hundred of Charlton. T.R.E. it was assessed at 10 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 7 hides. There is land for 1 2 ploughs. There are 16 villeins and i bordar with 9 ploughs and a mill worth (de) 5 shillings and 250 eels and 10 acres of meadow ; wood- land (to render) 50 swine and a fishery worth (de) 300 eels. It was (formerly) worth 10 pounds ; now 6 pounds. IN NACHEDEDORNE [ ] HUNDRET The abbey itself holds FERMEBERGE [Farn- borough8]. T.R.E. it was assessed at 10 , hides ; now (it is assessed) at 4^ hides. There is land for 10 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 10 bordars with 6 ploughs. A serf is there and 5 acres of meadow and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausuram). T.R.E. it was worth 9 pounds; afterwards 6 ; now 8 pounds. Wenric holds CILLETONE [Chilton 8] of the abbot. Blacheman held it of Earl Harold as an alod, and could go to what lord he wished (patuit ire quo voluit). Then as now (it was assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne are i^ ploughs; and (there are) 3 villeins and 13 bordars with 2 1 ploughs and woodland to render (de) IO swine. IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET Hezelin holds LEWARTONE' [Leverton] of the abbot. Blacheman held it in fee T.R.E. It was then assessed at 6£ hides ; now (it is assessed) at 4^ hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne is I, and (there are) 4 villeins and 3 bordars with 2 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and a mill worth (de) IO shillings and woodland to render (de) 2 swine. It was (formerly) worth 60 shillings ; now 50 shillings. IN SERIVEHAM [SHRIVENHAM] HUNDRET The abbey itself holds WACHENESFELDID [Watchfield] and held it T.R.E. It was then assessed at 2O hides ; now (it is assessed) at IO hides. There is land for 1 2 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 14 villeins and 10 bordars with 6 ploughs. There are 8 serfs and a mill worth (de) 25 shillings, and 150 acres of meadow. Of this land Gilbert holds 3 hides and i virgate of the abbot and Wimund I hide. There are on the demesne 8 Now in the Hundred of Compton. 8 Near Hungerford, now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 10 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. 340 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS I plough and 2 villeins and 7 bordars. The whole T.R.E. was worth 1 5 pounds ; after- wards I O pounds. That part which the abbot has is now (worth) 1 2 pounds ; what his men (have is worth) 50 shillings. IN HlLLESLAUE [ ] HUNDRET The abbey itself holds OFFENTONE [Uffing- ton *] and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at 40 hides; now (it is assessed) at 1 4 hides. There is land for 1 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 17 villeins and 16 bordars with 7 ploughs. There are 1 1 serfs and a mill worth (de) 5 shillings and 85 acres of meadow. Of this land Gilbert holds 6 hides of the abbot and there he has I plough and 1 6 bordars with i plough. The whole T.R.E. was worth 15 pounds; afterwards 21 pounds; now 26 pounds. Anschil holds SPERSOLD [Sparsholt 2] of the abbot. Edric held it as an alod of King Edward and could go to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluii). Then as now it was assessed at 10 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 2 villeins and i serf with i plough, and a mill worth (de) 5 shillings and 50 acres of meadow. T.R.E. it was worth 7 pounds ; afterwards 4 pounds ; now (it is worth) 6 pounds. About this manor the shire(moot) attests that Edric who used to hold it gave it over to his son who was a monk in Abendone [Abingdon], to hold it at ferm and to provide the donor (siti) there- from with the necessaries of life, and after his death to have the manor ; and therefore the men of the shire(moot) do not know how far it belongs to the abbey, for they have seen neither king's writ nor seal concerning it. The abbot on the other hand testifies that T.R.E. (Edric's son) transferred (miiit) the manor to the abbey to which he belonged, and concerning this he has the writ and seal of King Edward ; and all his monks attest this. IN GAMENESFELLE [GANFIELD] HUNDRET The abbey itself holds ORDAM [Long- worth 3] * in demesne and held it T.R.E. (It 1 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. * Now in the Hundred of Faringdon. » Now in the Hundred of Ganfield. * ' Ordam ' should represent Worth : in Feudal Aids, 1401-02, i. 58, we find 'Worthe' as one of the vills in which was part of a knight's fee, owned by Abingdon. The same information is given in Testa de Nevill, but there is nothing to was) then (assessed) at 30 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 8 hides. There is land for 8 ploughs. fo. sgb On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 14 cottars with 6 ploughs. A church is there and 8 serfs and a fishery worth (de) 2 shillings and 100 acres of meadow. It is and was worth T.R.E. and afterwards (semper) 15 pounds. The abbey itself holds CERNEI [Charney8] and T.R.E. as now it was assessed at 2 vir- gates. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 3 cottars with 5 ploughs there and 4 serfs. It is and was worth 6 pounds. Warin holds of the abbey half a hide. Ulwin held it of the abbot T.R.E. Then as now (it was assessed) at half a hide. There is i plough with 2 cottars and i serf, and (there are) 1 6 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 1 2 shillings. The abbey itself holds SERENGEFORD [Shel- lingford5] and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. (it was assessed) at 12 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides and i virgate. There is land for 9 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 3 villeins and i cottar with 4 ploughs. There are 6 serfs and a mill worth (de) 30 pence and 104 acres of meadow, and from other meadows (come) 12 shillings and 6 pence, and from customary dues of cheeses 4 pounds and 1 6 shillings and 8 pence. Of this manor Gilbert holds 2 hides of the abbot : Wimund i hide. There are i£ ploughs with i serf. The whole T.R.E. and afterwards was worth 12 pounds. The part which the abbot holds is now (worth) 9 ; what his men (hold), 60 shillings. Gilbert holds of the abbot PESEI [Pusey *]. Alvred held it of the abbot T.R.E. Then as now (it was assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs and I cottar and 2 serfs. It was formerly worth 4 pounds ; now 3. indicate the Hundred in which 'Worthe' was situated. But the tithes of Longworth rectory, formerly belonging to Abingdon, appear to have been granted in 36 Hen. VIII. to Toppes and Alford [Pat. R. 36 Hen. VIII. 22, m. 35]. ' Langworthe cum Charney,' in Feudal Aids, 1316, i. 52, is set down as partly owned by Abingdon (F.W.R.). « Now in the Hundred of Ganfield. 341 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The abbey itself holds LACHINGES [East Lockinge *]» and held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at IO hides ; now (it is assessed) at 6 hides and i virgate. There is land for 8 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 1 1 cottars with 4 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and a mill worth (de) 30 pence and 34 acres of meadow. One hide of this land Gilbert holds of the abbot, and I church with half a hide, and there he has I plough with i villein. The whole, T.R.E., was worth 9 pounds. The abbey's demesne is now worth 7 pounds ; Gilbert's (holding is worth) 36 shillings. The abbey itself holds GAINZ [West Ginge 3] * and has held it T.R.E. and since (semper}. T.R.E. it was assessed at 10 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides and I virgate. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 1 8 cottars with 2 ploughs. There are 5 serfs and a mill worth (de) 6 shillings and 6 pence, and 3 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 8 pounds ; now 7. Rainald holds of the abbot 2 hides 6 ; Nor- man held them of the abbot T.R.E. Then as now (they were assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for i plough. There are 2 cottars and 2 acres of meadow. These were (for- merly) worth 40 shillings ; now 30 shillings. The abbey itself holds BOCHELANDE" [Buckland7]. .Slmar held it T.R.E. Then as now (it was assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is i plough ; and (there are) 4 villeins and i cottar and i serf with i plough, and a moiety of a fishery worth (de) 3 shillings, and 1 5 acres of mea- dow. T.R.E. it was worth 100 shillings ; afterwards 40 shillings ; now 60 shillings. ' Now in the Hundred of Wantage. « Feudal Aids, 1316, i. 52, gives ' Estlakinge' as belonging to Abingdon (F.W.R.). a Near Lockinge, now in the Hundred of Wan- tage. « Feudal Aids, 1316, p. 52, sets down the vill of ' Westgenge ' as belonging to Abingdon (F.W.R.). 5 The place is not named. • There is the possibility that this entry was omitted in the proper place, under 'Gamenesfelle' Hundret, and occurs here, but with the name of the Hundred omitted, to complete the list of the Abingdon lands. Under Bp. Osbern's land above, ' Bochelande ' is distinctly placed in ' Gamesfel ' Hundret (F.W.R.). ' Now in the Hundred of Ganfield. VIII. THE LAND OF THE CHURCH OF GLASTONBURY IN HiLLESLAUE [ ] HUNDRET The Abbey of Glastingeberie [Glaston- bury] holds EISSESBERIE [Ashbury 8J and held it T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at 40 hides ; now (it is as- sessed) at 1 6 hides and i\ virgates. There is land for 20 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 13 villeins and 26 bordars with 5 ploughs. There are 5 serfs and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings, and 200 acres of meadow and a little woodland. Of the land of this manor Robert de Olgi holds 4^ hides of the abbot, and Alwin 3 hides and Edward 2 hides. There on the demesne are 5 ploughs, and (there are) 2 vil- leins and 7 bordars with i plough. A church is there, and a priest having i hide, and 4 serfs and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings and 6 pence. The whole T.R.E. was worth 35 pounds; afterwards 20 pounds ; what the abbot holds is now (worth) 20 pounds ; what the (abbot's) men (hold is worth) 12 pounds. IX. THE LAND OF ST. PETER OF WESTMINSTER IN RlPLESMERE [RlPPLESMERE] HUNDRET The Abbey of Westminster holds LACHENE- STEDE [Easthampstead "].10 It held it T.R.E., and then it was assessed at IO hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 8 ploughs. There are 14 villeins with 5 ploughs, and woodland to render (de) 10 swine. T.R.E. it was worth too shillings; after- wards 50 shillings ; now 60 shillings. X. THE LAND OF THE ABBEY OF ST. PETER OF WINCHESTER IN EGLEI [EAGLE] HUNDRET The Abbey of Wincestre [Winchester] holds CEDENEORD [Chaddleworth u]. Two 8 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. • Now in the Hundred of Ripplesmere. 10 In Testa de Nevitt (p. 1 24) it is stated that the Prior of Hurley held ' Yashamsted ' in demesne, by gift in almoin of St. Edward. Feudal Aids, 1316, i. 48, gives the vill of ' Yesshampsted,' in Ripplesmere Hundred, as belonging to the Abbot of Westminster. Additional Charter 16350 (Brit. Mus.) is a deed of sale by Charles Howard to Leonard Chamberleyn, of the Priory of Hurley, and the manors of Hurley and Esthamstede, 'lately parcell of the possessions of the late monastery of St. Peter of Westminster,' given by Henry VIII. to Charles Howard, in 1544 (F.W.R.). " Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 343 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS freemen held it of Countess Gida and of her son Guert as 2 manors. It was then assessed at 16 hides; now (it is assessed) at 10 hides. There is land for 10 ploughs. One plough is on the demesne ; and (there are) 5 villeins and 5 bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 6 serfs and 2 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 20 swine. T.R.E. it was worth 14 pounds; afterwards 10 pounds; now 12 pounds. This manor Oda of Winchester gave to Robert steward (Dapifero) to Hugh de Port. How the abbey has (it) the men of the shire- (moot) do not know. IN HESLITESFORD [ ] HUNDRET The abbey itself held SOTWELLE [Sotwell *] in demesne for support of the monks (de victu monachorum). Hugh de Port now holds it of the abbot in fee. Then as now it was assessed at 10 hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 9 villeins with 3 ploughs. A mill (is there) worth (de) 15 shillings, and 30 acres of meadow and 9 cottars ; and in Walengeford [Wallingford] 8 closes (hagte) worth (de) 14 shillings and 4 pence. A man holds i hide of this land and there he has i plough with 3 cottars. The whole T.R.E. was worth 8 pounds ; and afterwards as much ; now 12 pounds. XL THE LAND OF THE CHURCH OF CHERTSEY IN BENERS [BEYNHURST] HUNDRET The Abbey of Certesyg [Chertsey] holds WALTHAM2 [White Waltham alias Waltham Abbots 3] as part of its demesne for the support of the monks (de dominica victu monachorum). It held it T.R.E. Then as now it was assessed at 10 hides. There is land for 12 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 8 villeins with 10 ploughs. One serf is there and a chapel (ecc/esio/a), and 9 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 5 swine. Of this same land Turold holds I hide and i virgate of the abbot, and there he has 2 ploughs with 2 cottars. The whole T.R.E. was worth 8 pounds ; the part (held by) the abbot is now (worth) 6 pounds ; Turold's part 10 shillings. 1 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. 1 Now in the Hundred of Beynhurst. 3 In Testa de Nevill (p. 1 24) it is stated that the Abbot of Chertsey holds ' Wytewaltham ' in de- mesne as grant in almoin by Saint Edward ; this however can only have been part of Waltham Abbots, as appears from Feudal Aids, 1316, i. 48, and from the entry of the land of the Bishop of Durham, above (p. 336) (F.W.R.). XII. THE LAND OF THE CHURCH [ABBEY] OF ST. ALBAN IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The Abbey of St. Alban holds HENRET [West Hendred*].5 Nigel de Albengi gave it to that church. Three thegns held it T.R.E. and could go to what lord they wished (poter- ant ire quo volebant). It was then assessed at 10 hides ; it is now assessed at 4. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 3 cottars with i plough, and there (are) 45 acres of meadow. Of this land Ernuzon holds 2 hides of the abbot, and there he has i plough with 4 cot- tars. A church is there and 5 acres of mea- dow. The whole T.R.E. and afterwards was worth 10 pounds. Now likewise the whole (is worth) 10 pounds. XIII. THE LAND OF THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER-SUR-DIVE IN GAMANESFELLE [GANFIELD] HUNDRKT The Abbot of Super Diva [St. Peter-sur- Dive] holds of the king PEISE [Pusey ']. Two alodiaries held it and could go to what lord they wished (potuerunt ire quo voluerunt). It was then assessed at 2^ hides ; now (it is as- sessed) at nothing. There are i plough and 2 villeins. It is and was worth 32 shillings and i penny. IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET The abbot himself holds 2 hides in COSE- RIGE [Curridge ']. Edward held them of King Edward as a manor. (It was) then (assessed) at 2 hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is I villein with 3 oxen. It is and was worth 10 shillings. XIIII. THE LAND OF ST. MARY OF WINCHESTER IN WIFOL [ ] HUNDRET The Abbess of Wintonia [St. Mary, Win- ton] holds COLESELLE [Coleshill *]. Edmund held it of King Edward in alod. Walter de * Now in the Hundred of Wantage. « Testa de Nevill (p. 125) tells us that two parts (}) of ' Westhanreth ' were in the possession of the Prior of Wallingford and had been a grant in almoin to the Abbey of St. Alban, made by pre- decessors of the King (F.W.R.). 6 Now in the Hundred of Ganfield. ' Near Chieveley, now in the Hundred of Faircross. 8 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. 343 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Laci * gave it to that church with his daughter, the shire(moot) does not know in what man- ner. T.R.E. it was assessed at 8 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2^ hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 6 villeins and 3 bordars with i plough. There are 2 serfs and the third part of a mill worth (de) 10 shillings, and 69 acres of meadow. It was worth (T.R.E.) 7 pounds ; afterwards 6 pounds; now 100 shillings. XV. THE LAND OF THE CHURCH [ABBEY] OF BATTLE IN NACHEDEDORNE [ ] HUNDRET The Abbot of Labatailge [Battle] 2 holds BRISTOLDESTONE [Brightwalton 3] of the king. Earl Harold held it. It was then (assessed) at i o hides. A certain thegn who held it before Harold (eum) used to pay geld for 1 5 hides. Now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 10 villeins and 1 3 bordars with 7 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and a church with a priest, (and) woodland to render (de) 20 swine, (and) in Walenge- ford [Wallingford] 5 closes (bagee). It was (formerly) worth i o pounds ; now 9 pounds. fo. 60 The abbot himself holds a church in RED- DINGES [Reading] with 8 hides thereto be- longing. Leveva the Abbess held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 8 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 3 hides. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and (there are) 9 villeins and 8 bordars with 5 ploughs. There are 2 mills worth (de) 40 shillings, and 2 fisheries and a moiety of one worth 5 shillings. In REDDINGES [Reading] are 29 dwelling houses (masurte) (belonging), worth (de) 28 shillings and 8 pence, and 12 acres of mea- dow, (and) woodland to render (de) 5 swine ; from the church come 3 pounds. T.R.E. it was worth 9 pounds ; afterwards 8 pounds ; now ii pounds. XVI. THE LAND OF THE CHURCH OF AMESBURY IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET The Abbess of Ambresberie [Amesbury] holds CHENETEBERIE [Kintbury*]. That 1 Father of Roger de Laci, who recurs below as a tenant-in-chief of lands which had similarly be- longed to 'Edmund' (J.H.R.). 1 Feudal Aids, 1316, p. 54, gives ' Brightwal- tone ' as owned by the Abbot of Battle (F.W.R.). ' Now in the Hundred of Faircross. • Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. church has held it T.R.E. and since (sem- per). T.R.E. it was assessed at 1 1 hides, now (it is assessed) at 8 hides. There is land for i o ploughs. On the demesne are 4 ploughs; and (there are) 12 villeins and 18 bordars with 8 ploughs. There are 1 1 serfs and a mill worth (de) 4 shillings, and 60 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 10 swine. It was (formerly) worth 1 2 pounds ; now 1 1 pounds. IN EGLEI [£AGLE] HUNDRET The abbey itself holds CEVESLANEB [Challow4]6 and has held it, T.R.E. and since (semper). T.R.E. it was assessed at 7 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 3^ hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 10 villeins and 8 bordars with 2 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and 40 acres of meadow. It is and was worth T.R.E. and afterwards (semper) 7 pounds. The abbey itself holds FARELLEI* [Great Fawley7]. T.R.E. it was assessed at 10 hides ; novr (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 4 serfs with 3 ploughs and 20 acres of meadow. It is and was worth T.R.E. and afterwards (semper) 6 pounds. XVII. THE LAND OF THE COUNT OF EVREUX IN RADINGES [READING] HUNDRET The Count of Evreux holds SEWELLE" « Probably for < Ceveslaue ' (J.H.R.). « This appears to be West Challow. In Feudal Aid.!, 1316, i. 49, 'Villa de Hampsted Mere- shall cum Westchaulo and Putwyke ' was held by the Earl Marshal, the Prioress of Ambresbury, and Robt. Acharde. ' Estchaulo ' is there given as held by the Abbot of Cluny, together with ' Dunledcombe and WodhulT (F.W.R.). i Feudal Aids, 1 3 16, i. 50, gives ' Villa de North- fallele cum Southfallele' as held by the Prioress of Ambresbury and John de Percy, and gives no further particulars. But from Feudal Aids, 1418, i. 66, we learn that William Fynderne held half a knight's fee in South Fawley ; and, referring back to Testa de Nevill, find that John, son of Hugh, held that amount in ' Falelegh' by gift of the king. This seems to settle the king's portion as in South Fawley, and therefore the land of Amesbury in North, alias Gt. Fawley (F.W.R.). « In Theale. The above reading of the name is that which is found in the MS., but I suspect a scribal error, for SEWELLE, as the place occurs subsequently as ' Seffeld Prioris de Nuiun ' (Testa, p. 133). The Count's land can largely be iden- tified by his successor's benefactions to the Priory of Noyon (see my Calendar of documents preserved 344 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS [Sheffield] of the king. Coleman and Brict- ward held it of King Edward and could go to what lord they wished (potuerunt ire quo vol- uerunt). Then as now it was assessed at 2 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne is nothing. There are 5 villeins and 5 bordars with 2 ploughs, and 4 serfs and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings and 20 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) IO swine. It is and was worth 40 shillings. 1 The same count holds I hide in PRAXE- MERE [Peasemore2]. Alwin held it in parage (in paragio), and it was assessed then at i hide ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is I bordar with half a plough. It is worth 10 shillings. IN BORGEDEBERIE [BuCKLEBURY] HuNDRET The same count holds BORGEDEBERIE [Bucklebury 3]. Lewin held it of King Ed- ward. It was then (assessed) at 4 hides ; now (it is assessed) at i hide and i virgate. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 4 bordars with 2 ploughs. There are 8 serfs and a mill worth (de) 4 shillings. It is and was worth 4 pounds. The same count holds CROCHESTROPE [ ]. Four freemen held it of King Edward. Then as now (it was assessed) at I hide. There is nothing on the demesne. There 3 villeins have i plough and 4 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 10 shillings. IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET The same count holds COLECOTE [Calcot *]. Brictuard held it of King Edward as a manor. It was then (assessed) at 3 hides ; now (it is assessed) at i hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough ; and there are 3 villeins and 4 bordars with i plough. A mill is there worth (de) 4 shillings, and 5 acres of meadow, and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausuram). It was worth 30 shillings (form- erly) ; now 20 shillings. In France, p. 220), and it is expressly recorded (Testa, p. 124) that the Priory had obtained 'Sheffeld' by the gift of a Count of Evreux (J.H.R.). 1 The name of the Hundred appears to have been omitted here. Ralf de Mortemer's entry places ' Praxemere ' in ' Roeberz ' (i.e. Roeberg) Hd. (F.W.R.). > Now in the Hundred of Faircross. a Now in the Hundred of Reading. 4 Near Leverton, now in the Hundred of Kint- bury Eagle. IN SERIVEHAM [SHRIVENHAM] HUNDRET The count himself holds BECOTE [Beckett ']. Two freemen held it of King Edward in alod as 2 manors. It was then assessed at 5 hides; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides and 4 acres; There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 2 villeins and 13 bordars with i£ ploughs, and 100 acres of meadow all but 7. It was (formerly) worth 4 pounds ; now (it is worth) the same amount. IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The count himself holds BLITBERIE [Blewbury6]. Brictuard held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 2 hides ; now (it is assessed) at i virgate. There is land for I plough. There are 4 cottars and a mill worth (de) 4 shillings and 10 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 40 shillings ; now 20 shil- lings. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same count holds HANLEI [East Hanney7].8 Two freemen held it T.R.E. It was then assessed at 6 hides ; now (it is as- sessed) at 2 hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne is i plough ; and (there are) 20 cottars with i plough. One serf is there, and 2 mills worth (de) 27 shillings and 6 pence, and 70 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 100 shillings ; now 6 pounds. The same count holds HENRET [East Hendred 7].9 Aluin held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for 2 ploughs. One plough is there ; and (there are) 6 cottars with i plough. A church is there, and a serf and 5 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 60 shillings; now 70 shillings. The same count holds 5 hides which 7 freemen held T.R.E. They were then as- sessed at 5 hides, and now (are assessed) at 30 acres of land. There is land for 2^ ploughs. There are 6 cottars with i plough, and 5 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 30 shillings. 6 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. 8 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. 7 Now in the Hundred of Wantage. 8 Testa de Nevill (p. 125) shows this to have been in East Hanney ; see the note to next succeeding entry (F.W.R.). 8 That this was in East Hendred is proved by Testa de Nevill (p. 125), which states that the Prior of Noyon holds 10 hides in < Esthanreth,' the gift in almoin of the Count of Evreux (F.W.R.). 345 44 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE IN THE SAME HUNDRED The same count has i hide. A certain Ulgar held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at i hide ; now (it is assessed) at 6 acres. There is land for i plough. There are 2 cottars and 12 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 10 shillings. IN GAMESFELLE [GANFIELD] HUNDRET The same count has I hide and 3 virgates and 2 acres.1 A certain Ulwin held them T.R.E., and they were assessed at that much ; now (they are assessed) at nothing. There are 4 cottars. There are 7 acres of meadow. (This holding) was formerly worth 30 shil- lings ; now 15 shillings. The same count holds 2 hides and 2 acres of land.1 These were held by 4 freemen T.R.E., and were assessed at that ; now (they are assessed) at 5 virgates. One villein is there and 4 cottars and 12 acres of meadow. T.R.E. they were worth 37 shillings and 6 pence ; now 22 shillings. XVIII. THE LAND OF EARL HUGH IN SUDTUNE [SUTTON] HUNDRET Earl Hugh holds DRAITUNE [Drayton 2] and William holds it of him. Ednod 3 held it of Harold and could not go to what lord he wished (nan potuit ire quoltbef). It was then assessed at 2 hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for \\ ploughs. On the demesne is i plough ; and (there are) 4 bor- dars and 2 serfs and 1 3 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 50 shillings. IN WIFOLD [ ] HUNDRET The earl himself holds BOROARDESCOTE [Buscot4] and Robert B holds it of him. Earl 1 One or both of these holdings must have been at Buckland (which was in ' Gamesfelle ' Hundred), for the grant to Noyon Priory (see preceding note under 'Sewelle') included lands at ' Bochelanda," together with those at Bucklebury, Sheffield, Graf- ton, Blewbury, etc., as among those given to the Count's predecessor by the Conqueror. As the Prior of Noyon was assessed on three ploughs there (Testa, p. 132), his holding would be large enough to represent both the above entries (J.H.R.). * Now in the Hundred of Ock. 3 See Introduction. * Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. 5 It is probable that these were respectively Robert d'Ouilly and Dreu [Droco] d'Andeli. For the Chronicle of Abingdm (ii., 67—9) proves that, twenty years later, this Dreu was holding of Robert, who held of the Earl of Chester, at Weston, Oxon., as he was also clearly doing at Ardley, in that county, in 1086 (J.H.R.). Harold held it. It was then assessed at 40 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 6 hides. There is land for 20 ploughs ; on the demesne are 4 ploughs ; and (there are) 25 villeins and 25 bordars with 8 ploughs. There are 6 serfs and a fishery worth (de) 1 8 shillings and 8 pence, and 300 acres of meadow. Of this land Drogo6 holds 8 hides and Rannulf 4 ; and there are on the demesne 2 ploughs and (there are) 2 villeins and 6 bordars. The whole T.R.E. was worth 20 pounds ; afterwards 17 pounds ; now 26 pounds. XIX. THE LAND OF THE COUNT OF MORTAIN IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The Count of Mortain holds ESTONE [Aston Tirrold6] and the abbey of Preaux (de Pratellis) holds it of him.7 Anschil held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for 2 ploughs, and on the demesne is i plough ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 3 cottars and 6 serfs and i church. It is and was worth 3 pounds. XX. THE LAND OF WALTER GIFARD. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET Walter Gifard holds HANNEI [West Han- ney8].* Osbern and Teodric hold it of him. Edwin a freeman held it of King Edward. Then as now it was (assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for I plough. One plough is there and 1 1 cottars and 24 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 40 shillings. Walter himself holds HANNEI [West Hanney8].10 Earl Tosti held it. It was then assessed at 14 hides, (now it is assessed) at 7 8 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. 7 See Introduction. 8 Now in the Hundred of Wantage. » Testa de Net/ill gives (p. 123) half a knight's fee in ' Westhenneye,' and I fee in West Wittenham, as parts of the honour of Giffard (F.W.R.). 10 Besides the half knight's fee in 'Westhenneye,' given in Testa de Nevill as belonging to the Honour of Giffard, the Prior of Longevile is stated (p. 125) to hold a mediety of Westhanney as gift in almoin of the Earl Marshal, and as of the Honour of GifFard. This seems to place the remainderofWalterGifard's holding in Hanney in West Hanney. See notes (p. 345) on the land of Count of Evreux, and (p. 357) on the land of Gilbert de Bretvile (F.W.R.). 346 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS hides. There is land for 8 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 14 villeins and 8 cottars with 3 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings and 6 pence, and another mill worth (de) 7 shillings and 6 pence, which belongs to the manor of Cerletone [Charlton], as the Hundred (court) states.1 The church of this vill is held of Walter by Turold the priest together with i hide which always pays geld. It was worth 10 pounds (T.R.E.) and afterwards 8 pounds ; now 1 4 pounds. IN SUTTUNE [SUTTON] HUNDRED 3 W(alter) himself holds WITEHAM [Long Wittenham 8]. Queen Eddid held it. It was then assessed at 20 hides ; (now it is as- sessed) at 13 hides and I virgate. There is land for 16 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs; and (there are) 29 villeins and 16 bordars with 9 ploughs. There are 6 serfs and 163 acres of meadow ; and in Warenge- ford [Wallingford] 8 closes (hagts) worth (de) 4 shillings. For herbage (are rendered) 5 shillings. T.R.E. it was worth 20 pounds, afterwards 15 pounds, now 20 pounds. XXI. THE LAND OF HENRY DE FERIERES IN NACHEDEDORNE [ ] HUNDRET Henry de Ferreres holds CATMERE [Cat- more 4] and Henry holds it of him. Ezui held it of King Edward. (It was) then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 3 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and there are 5 villeins and 12 bordars with 3 ploughs. It was worth 7 pounds (T.R.E.) ; and afterwards 40 shillings ; now 70 shillings. The same Henry holds HISLELEI [East Ilsley 6"\ 6 and Roger holds it of him. Algar held it of King Edward. Then as now it was (assessed) at 3^ hides. There is land for 1 See the relative entry under the King's land at Charlton on p. 329 (J.H.R.). » This entry was omitted, and is inserted at the foot of the page in the MS. 3 Alias West Wittenham. Now in the Hun- dred of Ock. * Near East Ilsley, now in the Hundred of Compton. • Now in the Hundred of Compton. J Testa de Nevill (pp. 1 09 and 1 2 1 ) gives part of ' Estildesle ' as belonging to the fief of the Earl Ferrers (F.W.R.). 2 ploughs. On the demesne is half a plough with 2 bordars ; and i serf is there. It was (formerly) worth 60 shillings ; now 40 shil- lings. The same Henry holds AssEDONE7 [? Ash- ridge in Compton] and Ralf 8 holds it of him. Bundi held it of King Edward. (It was) then (assessed) at 10 hides and i virgate ; now (it is assessed) at 9 hides. There is land for 10 ploughs. On the demesne are 4 ploughs ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 8 bordars. There are 9 serfs and 6 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 5 swine. The whole was worth 12 pounds T.R.E. ; after- wards 6 pounds; now 10 pounds. IN BORGEDEBERIE [BuCKLEBURY] HuNDRET The same Henry holds FRILESHAM [Frils- ham 9] and Roger holds it of him. Two freemen held it of King Edward. Then as now it was assessed at 7^ hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are fo. 6ob i£ ploughs; and (there are) 5 villeins and n bordars with 6^ ploughs. There are 3 serfs and a mill worth (de) 4 shillings, and 10 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 10 swine. It is and was worth T.R.E. and afterwards (semper) 6 pounds. IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Henry himself holds GRENEHAM [Green- ham9]. Seward 10 held it of King Edward in alod. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2^ hides. There is land for IO ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) n villeins and 19 bordars with 7 ploughs. A church is there and 4 serfs and a mill and a moiety of a mill worth (de) 1 1 shillings all but 2 pence, and 41 acres of meadow ; and 80 acres of meadow (also). T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 8 pounds ; now 6 pounds. i This manor appears in the Testa (pp. 121, 1 26) — where it is ' Asseden ' or ' Esseden ' — as held with Kingston and Compton by the Bachepuz family, of Ferrers. Kingston is accounted for under this fief in Domesday (see below), but Compton is not. I conclude, therefore, that this ' Assedone ' included the Ferrers holding in Compton, which adjoined East Ilsley in Compton Hundred. See Ancestor, No. 12. (J.H.R.). » This was Ralf de Bachepuz (J.H.R.) • Now in the Hundred of Faircross. "> This was Siward Barn, an English noble, who survived the Conquest, and much of whose land Henry obtained (J.H.R.). 347 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET The same Henry holds BECHESGETE [Bag- shot1]. Godric held it of King Edward as a manor. a Two hides (there) did not pay geld because they belonged to the king's ferm,3 and they are claimed for the king's use (ad opus regis). There is land for 4 ploughs. There are 9 villeins and 10 bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and a mill worth (de) 1 1 shillings, and 8 acres of meadow, and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausurani). It was formerly worth 30 shillings ; now 40 shillings. IN BENES [BEYNHURST] HUNDRET The same Henry holds BISTESHAM [Bisham *]. Bondi * held it of King Edward. Then as now (it was assessed) at 8 hides. There is land for 10 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 7 villeins and 2 cottars with 8 ploughs. A church is there and 2 serfs and 26 acres of meadow, and 12 arpends of vineyard. It was (formerly) worth 8 pounds; now 12 pounds. IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The same Henry holds WIBALDITONE [ ], and Nigel holds it of him. Turchil a freeman held it of King Edward. There is land for 6 ploughs. It was then (T.R.E.) assessed at 8 hides; now (it is assessed) at 4 hides and I virgate. A church is there and 9 serfs, and 2 ploughs on the demesne, and (there are) 10 villeins and 2 cottars with 8 ploughs, and 40 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 6 pounds ; now 9 pounds. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same Henry holds DENCHESWORDE [Denchworth •]. 7 Rayner holds it of him. jEilric held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 7 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5^ hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne i Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. * Duee bidif non geldabant. This was probably intended to mean : ' (there are) two hides ; they did not,' etc (J.H.R.). 3 See Introduction. 4 Now in the Hundred of Beynhurst. ' This was another great English predecessor of Henry, Bondig the staller, who similarly survived the Conquest (J.H.R.). • Now in the Hundred of Ock. 7 In Testa de Nevill, p. 109, in ' Suthdenches- worth' (also called simply ' Denche(s)worth,' pp. 121, 126, 132, while Northdenchworth is not so styled), Henry de Tubbeney is given as holding 4 a knight's fee of the Earl Ferrers (F.W.R.). is I plough ; and (there are) 5 villeins and 5 cottars with i plough, and 30 acres of meadow ; and a church is there. T.R.E. it was worth 70 shillings ; afterwards 60 shil- lings ; now 4 pounds. The same Henry holds CERLETONE [Charlton 8], and Robert holds it of him. Tovi, a freeman, held it. It was then as now assessed at "2\ hides. There is land for I plough. On the demesne is I plough with 7 cottars and a moiety of a mill worth (de) 5 shillings, and 8 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 50 shillings. Henry himself holds LACHINGE [West Lockinge8],9 and Hubert10 holds it of Henry. Siward u held it of King Edward. Then as (now it was assessed) at 10 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 14 cottars with 2 ploughs. One serf is there and 41 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 10 pounds ; now 8 pounds. The same Henry holds SPERSOLT [Spar- sholt "]. Polcehard holds it of him. Godric, a freeman, held it. Then as now (it was assessed) at i£ hides. There is land for I plough. There are 2 villeins and 2 cottars and 4 serfs. It was formerly worth 40 shil- lings ; now 30 shillings. The same Henry holds 3 hides and i vir- gate.13 Four freemen held these T.R.E. They were then assessed at 3 hides and i virgate ; now (they are assessed) at i hide. There is land for two ploughs. There are 8 cottars with i plough, and 3 acres of meadow. T.R.E. (this holding) was worth 60 shillings ; afterwards and now 40 shillings. This land Henry states to have been his predecessor (antecessoris) Godric's ; but accord- ing to the attestation of the hundred (court) Godric took possession of it to the hurt of King William after the battle (helium) of Hastinges [Hastings,] and he did not ever hold it in King Edward's time. IN MERCEHAM [MARCHAM] HUNDRET Henry himself holds CHINGESTUNE [King- 8 Now in the Hundred of Wantage. 9 In Testa de Nevill, p. 109, i knight's fee and J of a knight's fee are held of the Earl Ferrers in ' Westlaking ' (F.W.R.). «> This was Hubert de Curson (J.H.R.). " This was Siward Barn (see note 10, p. 347). » Now in the Hundred of Faringdon. •* The place is not named. 348 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS ston Bagpuize1]. Ralf3 holds it of him. Stanchil held it T.R.E., and then as now it was assessed at 5 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) I 1 villeins and 6 bordars with 2 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and 30 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 60 shillings ; now 50 shillings. The same Henry holds FIVEHIDE [Fy- field *] and another Henry holds it of him. Godric the sheriff held it of the abbey (of Abingdon), and could not go with this land to what lord he wished (nun potuit ire quolibet). Then as now it was assessed at 10 hides. There is land for 8 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 13 villeins and 5 bordars with 3 ploughs. A church is there and 7 serfs and 100 acres of meadow. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 10 pounds ; and now 6 pounds. The same Henry holds FIVEHIDE [Fyfield *]. Godric held it of King Edward, and then it was assessed at 10 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides because King Edward so allowed (sic condonavit), as the Hundred (court) attests. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 3 bordars with 2 ploughs ; and a moiety of a fishery worth (de) 1 1 shillings and 8 pence. Four serfs are there and 12 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 6 pounds; now IOO shillings. IN SUDTUNE [SUTTON] HUNDRET The same Henry holds HENRET [East Hendred3]4 and another Henry holds it of him. Godric the sheriff held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at I hide ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. This is that hide which belonged to the king's ferm (jacuit in firma regis) about which Alvric gave (detulit) evidence. There is land for 2 ploughs, and there they are on the demesne with 8 bordars and 6 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 100 shillings, and the same now. The same Henry holds STANFORD [Stan- ford in the Vale "]. Siward 6 held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 40 hides, and they say that King Edward allowed it as (condonavit pro) 30 hides. It now pays geld for 1 Now in the Hundred of Ock. » This was Ralf de Bachepuz G-H.R.). > Now in the Hundred of Wantage. 4 See note p. 333, under the King's lands. 6 Now in the Hundred of Ganfield. • This was Siward Barn (see note 10, p. 347). 6 hides. There is land for 20 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 21 villeins and 22 bordars with 9 ploughs. There are 7 serfs and 2 mills worth (de) 7 shillings and 8 pence, and 3 1 8 acres of meadow. For pasture 32 pence (are paid). Of this land Henry the steward holds f7 ] (and there is) half a plough ; and there he has I bordar. The whole T.R.E. was worth 30 pounds ; afterwards 24 pounds ; (now) 2O pounds and 10 shillings. The same Henry holds PEISEB [Pusey9], and another Henry holds it of him. Dom- niz held it of King Edward and could go to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluit). It was then assessed at i\ hides and 2 acres of land ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for i plough and this is there on the demesne with 4 bordars. T.R.E. it was worth 40 shillings ; afterwards 2O shillings ; now 30 shillings. IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET The same Henry holds i£ hides in BORGE- FEIXE [Burghfield10]. Two alodiaries held them T.R.E., and they were assessed at so much. One did service to the queen and the other to Bundi u (Bundino). They who then held it hold it still of Henry, but the Hundred (court) knows not on what war- rant (quare). There is land for 6 ploughs ; on the demesne are 2 ploughs, and (there are) 2 villeins and 2 bordars with i plough and a mill worth 5 shillings and 10 pence, and a fishery worth 68 pence, and 40 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 15 swine. It was (formerly) worth 40 shillings ; now 50 shillings. The same Henry holds I hide in BURLEI [ ]. Lewin held it of King Edward and could go to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluit). The same (Lewin) holds it still. It was assessed at i hide then as now. One villein is there and I bordar with i 7 The text is defective, omitting the amount of land and the words, ' there is land for,' etc. 8 Now in the Hundred of Ganfield. 8 The name of the Hundred seems here to be omitted. ' Peise ' is elsewhere placed under ' Gamesfel ' Hundret. I suspect this also to have been the case with the entry next above, and that the entry of the Hundred (Gamesfel) should have been at Stanford. This would make both right (F.W.R.). 10 Now in the Hundred of Theale. 11 This was Bondig the staller (J.H.R.). 349 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE plough, and a fishery worth 8 pence and 2 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 5 swine. It was formerly worth IO shillings ; now 2O shillings. The same Henry holds OLLAVINTONE [Woolhampton1].3 Godric the sheriff held it of King Edward. It was assessed at 3 hides then as now. There is land for 5 ploughs. There are 12 villeins and 4 bordars with 5 ploughs ; and 4 serfs and a mill worth 1 5 shillings, and 40 acres of meadow. It was (T.R.E.) worth 6 pounds ; afterwards, as now, 4 pounds. This land King Edward granted out of his ferm 3 to Godric ; and the seal (of the deed of grant) (inde) the men of the shire(moot) have seen. In addition to these hides Godric himself got possession (accepit) from the king's ferm 3 of I virgate of land ; the king's seal (and grant) of which (de qua) they have not seen. XXII. THE LAND OF WILLIAM SON OF ANSCULF IN RADINGES [READING] HUNDRET William son of Ansculf holds INGLEFELLE [Englefield1]. Gilbert holds it of him. Alwin held it of King Edward. Then as now it was assessed at 10 hides. There is land for 13 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 17 villeins and 3 bordars with 1 1 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings and 60 acres of meadow. T.R.E. it was worth 10 pounds ; afterwards '/ pounds ; (now) 7 shillings more. The same William holds BRADEFELT [Bradfield1]. Horling held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 9 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 6 hides. There is land for 30 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 2O villeins and 3 1 bordars with 1 8 1 Now in the Hundred of Theale. J Testa de Nevill gives (p. 1 z 1 ) J of a knight's fee in 'Wulavinton' as being then in the Honour of Earl Ferrars ; and £ a knight's fee as being then of the fief of Robert Achard : Testa also tells us (p. 124) that the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem held a mcdiety of ' Wulaviton' in almoin, the gift of Geoffrey de Hostrevill. All this, taken together with the fact that only this entry (of 3 hides) appears in the Domesday Text as the assessment of 'Ollavintone' seems to point to the omission somewhere of an entry of 2 hides, which would make the tale of 5 hides for 'Ollavintone' complete (F.W.R.). 3 i.e. out of the royal demesne from which the ' ferm ' was paid (J-H.R.). ploughs. There are 9 serfs and 3 mills worth (de) 53 shillings and 20 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 100 swine. T.R.E., and afterwards it was worth 24 pounds ; now 1 6 pounds. The same William holds HURTERIGE [Hartridge *]. Alvred held it of King Edward, and now holds it of William. Then as now it was assessed at i hide. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough ; and (there are) 2 villeins and 2 bordars with I plough. There are 3 serfs and woodland to render (de) 3 swine. It was (formerly) worth 60 shillings ; now 30 shillings. The same William holds ENGLEFEL [Englefield6]. Ulmer held it of King Edward. Then as now it was assessed at i hide. There is land for i plough. There are 2 bordars and 4 acres of meadow. This land fo. 61 Stephen holds of William. It was (formerly) worth 2O shillings ; now 7 shillings. The same William holds OFFETUNE [Ufton Robert 5] and a certain knight (miles) holds it of him. Horling held it of King Edward. It then was assessed at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 4^ hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 5 bordars with 5 ploughs. One serf is there, and 44 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) i pig. Of this land another knight (miles) holds 3 virgates and there he has I plough. The whole, T.R.E., was worth 100 shillings; and afterwards, as now, 60 shillings. IN NACHEDEDORNE [ ] HUNDRET The same William holds HODICOTB [Hodcott "] and Stephen holds it of him. Baldwin7 held it of King Edward. Then as now (it was assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne is I, with 3 bordars. It was worth (T.R.E.) 6 pounds ; afterwards 30 shillings ; now 60 shillings. The same William holds HISLELEV [East Ilsley 6] 8 and Stephen holds it of him. Bald- * Now in the Hundred of Reading. » Now in the Hundred of Theale. 8 Now in the Hundred of Compton. ' Baldwin was also a predecessor of William in Bucks, in which county he continued to hold some land, as his tenant, in 1086 (J.H.R.). 8 All the holdings of William son of Ansculf in Berks, except Hurterige, appear in Testa de Nevill as 350 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS win held1 it of King Edward. Then as now it was assessed at 65 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough ; and there are 4 villeins and 2 bordars with 2 ploughs. There are 7 serfs. It was worth (T.R.E.) 7 pounds ; afterwards, as now, 4 pounds. The same William holds ETINGEDENE [Yat- tendon 2] and Godebold (hoFd it) of him. Bald- win * held it of King Edward in alod. Then as now (it was assessed) at 8 hides ; this the shire(moot) attests. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 6 bor- dars with 3 ploughs. There are 9 serfs and a mill worth (de) 5 shillings, and 5 acres of meadow, and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausuram). It was formerly worth 7 pounds ; now 8 pounds. The same William holds STANWORDE [Stanford Dingley"].3 Edric held it of King Edward in alod. Then as now it was (assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 2 bordars with 3 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings. It is and was worth T.R.E. and afterwards (semper) 4 pounds. Gilbert holds it of William. parts of the Honour of Dudley, the fief of Roger de Sumery. One of these is in 'Estyldesl' (p. 122). 'Estildesl' is given as in the Hundred ofCumpton (p. 132), and answers to ' Hisleleu ' of the Text and to East Ilsley. At Dudelei (Dudley) William son of Ansculf had his castle (Domesday, Vol I. fol. 177) (F.W.R.). 1 See note 7, p. 350. * Now in the Hundred of Faircross. 3 In Testa de Nevill (pp. in and 122) Stam- ford (Stanford) is given as in the Honour of Dud- ley ; and (page 132) it appears as Stanford Willelmi in the Hundred of ' Rughebergh.' But under this Hundred are included in Testa all the vills which the Domesday Text has under 'Roeberg' and 'Borchildeberie' (except Benham (Abingdon Fee), ' Borchildeberie ' the vill, and ' Crochestrope ' (unidentified), none of which are named in this list in the Testa. In Feudal Aids, 1 3 1 6, i. 49, the Hundred of 'Burghildeburg' is restored as separ- ate from ' Roubergh ' Hundred, and it contains Stanford held in part by Herbert son of John. 'Burghildeburg' (the vill) is given to Reading Hundred. In 1428, feudal Aids, i. 69, Stanford is given as held by Robert Dyngley and formerly by Reginald son of Herbert. But like most of the vills in 'Burghildeburg' and all in 'Roubergh' Hun- dred, and some others, it is transferred to the Hun- dred of Bella Cruce (Faircross). This supports the identification, but the question of the changes in the Hundreds is too long for discussion in a note (F.W.R.). IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET The same William holds HINGEPENE [Inkpen4]. Two freemen held it of King Edward as 2 manors in alod. Then it was (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2^ hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 4 ploughs, and (there are) 10 villeins and 15 bordars with 7 ploughs. There are 2O serfs and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings and 6 pence and 16 acres of meadow, and woodland to provide fencing(W clausuram). It was worth (T.R.E.) 14 pounds ; and after- wards, as now, 12 pounds. IN HILLESLAU [ ] HUNDRET The same William holds CONTONE [Comp- ton Beauchamp6]. Almar held it in alod of King Edward. Then as now (it was assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and i villein and 9 bordars (are there) with i plough. A church is there with half a hide of this land ; and there are 60 acres of meadow. It was worth (T.R.E.) 8 pounds ; afterwards 100 shillings ; now 6 pounds. IN MERCEHAM [MARCHAM] HUNDRET The same William holds CHINGESTUNE [Kingston Bagpuize6]. Adelelm7 holds it of him. Turchil held it of King Edward and could go to what lord he wished (potult Ire quo voluit). It was then assessed at 5 hides; now it is assessed at 4 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 6 villeins and 9 bordars with i plough. There are 5 serfs and a fishery worth (de) 5 shillings and 30 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 100 shillings ; now 60 shillings. XXIII. THE LAND OF WILLIAM DE OW. IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET William de Ow holds of the king PETE- ORDE [Padworth8] and Gozelin holds it of him. Alestan 9 held it of King Edward, and 4 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 5 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. 8 Now in the Hundred of Ock. 7 He and Ralf de Bachepuz held respectively the two moieties of Kingston. He was addressed as Adelelm ' de Kingestuna ' in a writ of Roger Bishop of Salisbury, see Chronicle of Abingdon (Rolls Ser.) ii. 30, 121 (J.H.R.). 8 Now in the Hundred of Theale. 9 This was jElfstan of Boscombe, a Wiltshire thegn (J.H.R.). 351 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE then as now it was assessed at 2^ hides. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the de- mesne is I ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 4 bordars with i plough. There is a moiety of a mill worth (de) 7 shillings and 6 pence, and there are 16 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 50 shillings ; now 40 shillings. IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET The same William holds DANEFORD [Denford1]. Alward held it in alod of King Edward. It was then assessed at 10 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne is i plough ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 4 bordars with 2j ploughs. There are 3 serfs and a church. It was (formerly) worth 100 shillings; it is now worth 4 pounds. With this manor William holds half a hide which belonged to two freemen, and never was part of this manor, as the shire (moot) testifies. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same William holds DENCHESWORDE [North Denchworth 3],3 and Gozelin holds it of him. Alward a freeman held it of King Edward. Then as now (it was assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and (there are) 2 villeins and 6 cottars with i plough. There are 2 serfs and 27 acres of meadow. It was worth 50 shillings (T.R.E.), and afterwards 40 shillings ; now 60 shillings. XXIIII. THE LAND OF WILLIAM PEVREL IN EGLEI [£AGLE] HUNDRET William Pevrel holds of the king OLVELEI [Woolley «]. Earl Ralf held it of King Ed- ward. It was then assessed at 10 hides; now (it is assessed) at 3^ hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 10 villeins and 8 bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 4 serfs. It was (formerly) worth 10 pounds ; now 6 pounds. 1 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 1 Now in the Hundred of Ock. 8 Most of the holdings of Walter Gifard and of William de Ow appear in Testa tie Nevill as united in the one fief of the Earl Marshal (pp. 1 10 and 1 2 3). The ' Denchesworde ' holding is there given as in 'Northdenchesworth' (F.W.R.). * In Chaddleworth, now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. XXV. THE LAND OF WILLIAM DE BRAIOSE IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET William de Braiose holds SUDCOTE [South- cote8] of the king. Brictuard held it of King Edward. It then was assessed at 2 hides ; now (it is assessed) at I hide. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 5 villeins and 8 bordars with 2 ploughs. A mill is there worth (de) 18 shillings and a fishery worth (de) 50 pence. It was (for- merly) worth 4 pounds ; now 100 shillings. XXVI. THE LAND OF WILLIAM LOVET a IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET William Lovet holds DERITONE [ ] of the king. Toti held it of King Edward in alod. It was then assessed at 8 hides ; now (it is assessed) at I hide and I vir- gate. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne is half a plough, and (there are) 4 villeins and 3 bordars with 2 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and a mill worth (de) 1 5 shillings, and 4 acres of meadow, and woodland to ren- der (de) 5 swine. It was worth (T.R.E.) 8 pounds; afterwards 100 shillings; now 70 shillings. IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET The same William holds ANEBORNE [En- borne 7]. Toti held it of King Edward in alod as a manor. Then as now (it was assessed) at 3 hides and i virgate. There is land for 2 ploughs. There are 2 villeins and 7 bor- dars with 2 ploughs, and 13 acres of meadow and woodland to provide fencing. It was (formerly) worth 40 shillings ; now 30 shillings. IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The same William holds MORTUNE [South Moreton8]. Toti held it of King Edward. Then (it was assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2^ hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne is i; and (there 6 In Reading, now in the Hundred of Reading. 8 William Lovet's fief was not a large one, and the succession to it is not well defined ; but his two Bedfordshire manors are found in the Testa held by the Earl of Albemarle, and in Berkshire, similarly, his manors at Enborne and South Moreton are found held of that Earl, as one fee, by Philip de Sandrevill (Testa, pp. 1 1 1, 1 24). But ' Deritone' is not mentioned in the Testa (J.H.R.). ' Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 8 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. 352 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS are) 3 villeins and 4 cottars with i£ ploughs. A mill is there worth (de) 12 shillings and 6 pence, and 40 acres of meadow. It was and is worth 6 pounds, although it pays 7 pounds. XXVII. THE LAND OF WILLIAM SON OF CORBUCION IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET William son of Corbuzon holds of the king i o hides in TANEBURNE [Enborne1]. Toti held them as a manor in alod of King Ed- ward. They were then (assessed) at 10 hides ; now (they are assessed) at 8 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and 4 villeins and 7 bordars (are there) with 2 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and a mill worth (de) 20 shillings, and 20 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 10 swine. It was (formerly) worth 100 shillings ; now 4 pounds. IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The same William holds MORTUNE [North Moreton *] 3 and Ralf holds it of him. A certain freeman held it T.R.E. Then as now (it was assessed) at 10 hides. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs; and (there are) 14 villeins and 8 cottars with 6 ploughs, and a mill worth 12 shillings and 6 pence. A church is there, and 3 serfs, and in Walengeford [Wallingford] 5 closes (hagce) worth 50 pence. It was (for- merly) worth 10 pounds; now 12 pounds. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same William holds CERLETONE [Charlton4] and Geoffrey holds it of him. Tovi a freeman held it T.R.E. Then as now (it was assessed) at 2^ hides. There is land for i plough. On the demesne is i; and i villein (is there) and 5 cottars with half a plough. It was (formerly) worth 40 shillings ; now 50 shillings. XXVIII. THE LAND OF WILLIAM SON OF RICHARD IN WIFOL [ ] HUNDRET William son of Richard holds COJLESHALLE 1 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 2 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. 3 Part of ' Eneburne,' i knight's fee in North Moreton, and J of a knight's fee in ' Cherleton' ap- pear as part of the fief of the Earl of Warwick in Testa de Nevill, p. 122 (F.W.R.). 4 Now in the Hundred of Wantage. [Coleshill5]. Osgot held it in alod of King Edward. It was then assessed at 8 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and 2 villeins and 5 bordars. There are 4 serfs and the third part of a mill worth (de) 10 shillings and 69 acres of meadow. It was worth (T.R.E.) 7 pounds ; afterwards 6 pounds ; now 4 pounds. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same William holds CELREA [Child- rey4].8 Osgot a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then assessed at 1 2 hides ; now (it is as- sessed) at 8 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. In the demesne William has 2 hides, and there he has 2 villeins and 3 cottars with half a plough. Godfrey holds of him 10 hides, and there are 6 villeins and 8 cottars with half a plough and a mill worth (de) 4 shillings, and 36 acres of meadow. The whole T.R.E. and afterwards was worth 9 pounds ; now 6 pounds and 12 shillings. IN HILLESLAU [ ] HUNDRET 7 The same William holds ORDEGESTON [Odstone B]. Osgot held it of King Edward in alod. It was then assessed at 10 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 8 bordars with 3 ploughs. There are 5 serfs and 200 acres of meadow. T.R.E. it was worth 1 2 pounds ; afterwards 8 pounds ; now 10 pounds. XXIX. THE LAND OF WILLIAM DE CAILGI IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET William deCalgi holds of the king SOLEHAM [Sulham 8] and a certain knight (miles) holds it of him. Godric held it of King Ed- ward. Then as now it was assessed at 2 hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs; and (there are) 4 villeins and 6 bordars with 2 ploughs. A church is there and 2 serfs and 4 acres of meadow. It was worth (T.R.E.) 4 pounds; afterwards 3 pounds ; now 100 shillings. 8 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. 6 One Knight's fee in 'Chelrey' and one in 'Ordeston' appear together in Testa de 'Nevill (p. 123) as belonging to the barony of Scrupes (F.W.R.). 7 This entry was omitted and is placed at the foot of the page in the MS. 8 Now in the Hundred of Theale. 353 45 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE XXX. THE LAND OF WALTER SON OF PONZ Walter son of Ponz holds ETONE [Eaton Hastings *] a of the king. Guert held it in alod of King Edward. It was then assessed at 20 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 6 hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 3 villeins and 5 bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 7 serfs. They did not pay geld.3 There are 2 fisheries worth (de) 1 6 shillings and 148 acres of mea- dow. T.R.E. it was worth 10 pounds; after- wards i oo shillings ; now 9 pounds. Of this manor Ponz 4 gave 3 hides to St. Peter of Westminster for (the good of) his soul ; and on these hides there is I plough with 4 bordars and 3 oxen. It is worth 20 shillings. fo. 6ib XXXI. THE LAND OF WALTER SON OF OTHER IN RlPLESMERE [RlPPLESMERE] HuNDRET Walter son of Other holds ORTONEB [ ]. Godric held it of King Edward. It was then assessed as now at i£ hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 2 ploughs and 3 bordars and 1 acre of meadow. Woodland is there to render (de) 2 swine. It was (formerly) worth 40 shillings ; now 30 * shillings. IN NACHEDEDORNE [ ] HUNDRET The same W[alter] holds CILTONE [Chil- ton 7]. Wenesi held it of King Edward. Then as now it was assessed at 5 hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 7 villeins and 9 bor- dars with i£ ploughs. There are 4 serfs and 6 closes (hagte) in Warengeford [Wallingford] worth (de) 2 shillings. IN BORCHELDEBERIE [BuCKLEBURY] HUNDRET The same W[alter] holds BORCHELDEBERIE [Bucklebury 8], i hide ; and a certain man of 1 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. a The name of the Hundred seems here omitted in the MS. I suspect that it should be Wifol (F.W.R.). 3 ' Non deder' geldum.' The phrase is a diffi- cult one (J.H.R.). 4 See Introduction. • When this fief was divided in 1198 'Orton' fell to the share of Walter de Windsor. See Feet of Fines, 9 Ric. I (Pipe Roll Society, p. 1 10) (J.H.R.). 6 In the text ' 40 ' is corrected to ' 30." 7 Now in the Hundred of Compton. 8 Now in the Hundred of Reading. his holds it of him. It belongs to (Jacet in) the forest and never paid geld, so the shire- (moot) testifies. Aluila Dese held it of King Edward. There is i plough on the demesne. It is and was worth 7 shillings and 6 pence. 'In CHENETEBERIE [Kintbury10] the same W[alter] holds half a hide, which King Ed- ward gave to his predecessor (antecessori) out of the royal (sua) ferm, freed from all dues in consideration of wardenship of the forest u — except such forfeiture to the king as is due from theft, manslaughter, housebreaking la and breach of the peace.13 It is worth 5 shillings. IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The same W[alter] holds HACHEBORNE [West Hagbourne].14 Alwin a freeman held it. Then as now there were i o hides there, but it is assessed at 6£. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and there are 14 villeins and 10 cottars with 5 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings and 24 acres of meadow. Of this land Robert holds I hide of Walter, and there he has I plough with i cottar and 4 acres of meadow. The whole T.R.E. and afterwards was worth 13 pounds, and now 13 pounds. IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET The same [Walter] holds OFFELLE [Woke- field 15],16 and a certain knight (miles) holds it of him. Wicstric held it of King Edward. Then as now it was assessed at i£ hides. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 6 bordars with i plough. There are 4 acres of mea- dow and woodland to render (de) 15 swine. It was (formerly) worth 20 shillings ; now 30 shillings. XXXII. THE LAND OF EUDO, SON OF HUBERT IN RlPLESMERE [RlPPLESMERE] HUNDRET Eudo Dapifer holds LOSFELLE [ ] of the king. Alvric held it of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 2 hides ; now (it is 9 The name of the Hundred appears to be here omitted (F.W.R.). 10 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. « ' Propter forestam custodiendam.' " The MS. has ' heinfara ' for A.S. < hamfara.' 13 See Introduction. 14 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. 18 In Stratfield Mortimer, now in the Hundred of Theale. 354 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS assessed) at i hide. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 7 villeins with 2 ploughs ; and 7 acres of meadow, and wood- land to render (de) 5 swine. It was (formerly) worth 4 pounds ; now 30 shillings. XXXIII. THE LAND OF MILES CRISPIN IN RADINGES [READING] HUNDRET Miles Crispin holds PANGEBORNE [Pang- bourne 1], and William holds it of him. Bald- win held it of King Edward. There are 6 hides and i virgate, and they did not pay geld T.R.E. ; and now they do not pay except as 5 hides. There is nothing on the demesne. Three villeins and 5 bordars (are there) with 2 ploughs and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings, and 12 acres of meadow. Of this land a knight (miles) holds i hide ; and there he has I plough and 2 acres of meadow. The whole was worth (T.R.E.) 6 pounds ; after- wards 5 pounds ; now 4 pounds. The same William holds of Miles i hide in SOLEHAM [Sulham1]. Baldwin held it of King Edward ; it was assessed at that much then as now. There is one plough on the demesne ; and (there are) 3 bordars with half a plough. It was (formerly) worth 20 shillings ; now 30 shillings. IN ELETESFORD [ ] HUNDRET Miles himself holds CLOPECOTE [Clapcot2]. Ulnod, a freeman, held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 7 hides ; it is now assessed at I hide and I virgate. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne are i^ ploughs; and (there are) 7 villeins and 2 cottars with 2 ploughs and a mill worth 26 shillings, and 25 acres of meadow. It was worth (T.R.E.) 7 pounds ; after- wards 4 pounds ; it is now worth 100 shil- lings. The same Miles holds CLOPECOTE [Clap- cot2]. SafFord, a freeman, held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 7 hides ; now (it is assessed) at i hide and i virgate. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne are i£ ploughs ; and (there are) 2 villeins and 6 cottars with 3 ploughs. There are 25 acres of meadow. Of this manor Herold holds i^ virgates of Miles. The whole was worth 7 pounds (T.R.E.) and afterwards 4 pounds; now 100 shillings. These two manors Miles holds as one. 1 Now in the Hundred of Reading. * In Wallingford, now in the Hundred of Moreton. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same Miles holds BEDRETONE [Better- ton 3], and William holds it of him. Levric the monk held it T.R.E., and could go to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluit). Then (it was assessed) at 10 hides; now (it is as- sessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. One villein is there and 5 cottars with half a plough ; and 2 serfs and a mill worth (de) 5 shillings, and 10 acres of meadow. It was worth (T.R.E.) 8 pounds; afterwards 4 pounds ; now 3 pounds. IN MERCEHAM [MARCHAM] HUNDRET The same Miles holds APLETUNE [Apple- ton 4], and Richard holds it of him. Halden held it T.R.E. It was then assessed at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 £ hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 5 bordars with I plough. There are 3 serfs and a fishery worth (de) 34 shillings and 2 pence. It was worth 100 shillings (T.R.E.); afterwards 70 shillings ; now 60 shillings. The same Miles holds ELTUNE [probably Eaton "], and Richard holds it of him. Hal- den held it of King Edward. Then as now it was assessed at 5 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 4 bordars with 3 ploughs ; and a fishery worth (de) 5 shillings and 25 acres of meadow. It was worth (for- merly) 60 shillings ; now 50 shillings. The same Miles holds EDTUNE [probably Eaton *], and Alvred holds it of him. Bosi held it of King Edward. Then as now it was assessed at 5 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs; and (there are) 3 villeins and 6 bordars with i plough, and 2 fisheries worth (de) 1 8 shil- lings and 25 acres of meadow. It was (for- merly) worth 60 shillings ; now 70 shillings. IN RADINGES [READING] HUNDRET Leward holds in LONCHELEI [? Luckley], I hide, of Miles and could not go to what lord he wished (non potuit ire quolibet) with- out leave of Wigot.6 This land belongs to (jacet . . . in) Gratentun [ ] which is in Oxenefordscire [Oxfordshire], and it is appraised there, and nevertheless (its) geld (scotum) is in Berchescire [Berkshire]. 3 In Lockinge, now in the Hundred of Wantage. 4 Now in the Hundred of Ock. 6 In Appleton, now in the Hundred of Ock. 6 Wigot of Wallingford, Miles' predecessor. 355 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE XXXIIII. THE LAND OF GILO, BROTHER OF ANSCULF1 IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Ghilo holds MIGEHAM [Midgham *] of the King. Five freemen held it of King Edward as a manor. It was then assessed at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for 10 ploughs. On the demesne is nothing. But (there are) 9 villeins and 5 bordars with 5 ploughs and a mill worth (de) 14 shillings. Of this land Almaer holds 3 virgates, Rayner I virgate, Gilbert I hide i^ virgates, and there are 2^ ploughs, and (there are) 5 vil- leins and 8 bordars with i£ ploughs, and there are 80 acres of meadow in the manor. The whole was worth, T.R.E., too shillings ; it is now, in all, (worth) 6 pounds. IN BENES [BEYNHURST] HUNDRET The same Ghilo holds ELENTONE [Maidenhead and Pinkney's Green 3].4 Siward held it T.R.E. Then as now (it was assessed) at 3 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. Two men hold of Gilo : Hugh and Landri. They have there 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 6 villeins and 4 cottars with I plough. There are 16 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 10 swine. It was (formerly) worth 60 shillings ; now 40 shil- lings. IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET The same Ghilo holds OFFETUNE [Ufton Nervet ']. Saulf held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 3^ hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. There are 8 villeins and 5 bordars with 3 ploughs, and 36 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 100 shillings; now 60 shil- lings. 1 See Introduction. 1 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. * In Cookham, now in the Hundred of Cook- ham. * In Testa de Nev'tU (p. 121) all these holdings of Ghilo appear (except Enborne) as the fief of Henry de Pinkeny. In Feudal Aids, 1428, i. 70, we have I knight's fee, and also J a knight's fee in 'Northelyntone' held by John Pynkenye. Camden in Britannia (English translation of 1610, p. 286) speaks of 'a little town named in the former ages Southealington, afterward Maidenhith and at this day Mai(n)denhead ' (the ' n ' seems to be a misprint). These taken together give the position of 'Elentone ' as Maidenhead and Pinkneys Green (F.W.R.). * Now in the Hundred of Theale. IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET 6 The same Ghilo holds ANEBORNE [En- borne7]. Saulf held it of King Edward, as a manor, in alod. It was then assessed at 3^ hides ; now (it is assessed) at i hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is half a plough and there are 2 villeins and 2 bordars and 1 3 acres of meadow. The villeins have 2 ploughs. It was (formerly) worth 40 shil- lings ; now 2O shillings. XXXV. THE LAND OF HASCOITH (MUSARD) IN ROEBERG [ ] HUNDRET Hascoit holds of the king WINTREBURNE [Winterbourne8] and Chemarhuec holds it of him. Bristec held it T.R.E. and could go to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluif). It was then assessed at 2 hides ; now (it is as- sessed) at i hide and 3 virgates. On the de- mesne is I plough. One villein is there and 2 bordars with half a plough. It is and was worth 20 shillings. In the same vill Norman holds of Hascoit 5 hides. These Bristec held of King Ed- ward. They were then assessed at 5 hides ; now (they are assessed) at 2 hides and i virgate. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the de- mesne are 2 ploughs; and there are 5 villeins and 8 bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and 2 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 4 swine. It was (formerly) worth 8 pounds ; now 4 pounds. IN LAMBORNE [LAMBOURN] HUNDRET The same Hascoit holds LANBORNE [Lam- bourn9]. Bristec held it of King Edward in alod. It was then assessed at 8 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides and i virgate. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 6 bordars with 2^ ploughs. There are 8 serfs. It was (formerly) worth 12 pounds; now 6 pounds. The same Hascoit holds DRAITONEI() [Dray- ton11]. Goduin held it in alod of King Edward 8 This entry was omitted and is placed at the foot of the page in the MS. 7 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 8 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. 8 Now in the Hundred of Lambourn. 10 The name of the Hundred must here have been omitted. ' Draitune ' is distinctly placed in ' Sudtone ' Hundred under Earl Hugh's land, above (F.W.R.). » Now in the Hundred of Ock. 356 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS as a manor. It was then (assessed) at 3 J hides ; now (it is assessed) at I hide. There is land for i plough. There are 4 villeins with I plough. It was formerly worth 60 shillings ; now 20 shillings. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same Hascoit holds SPERSOLT [Spars- holt1]. Brictric a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then, as now, (assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne is i plough ; and there are 8 villeins and 5 cottars with 2 ploughs. There are 2 serfs. It is and was worth 8 pounds. XXXVI. THE LAND OF GILBERT DE BRETEVILE IN BORGELDEBERIE [BuCKLEBURY] HuNDRET Gilbert de Bretevile holds WILLE [probably Well (House) 3] and William holds it of him. Eluin held it of King Edward. Then as now it was (assessed) at I hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and there are 2 villeins and 2 bordars with i plough. There are 2 serfs. It was formerly worth 30 shillings ; now 40 shillings. The same Gilbert holds HANNEIS [(East ?) Hanney*] 8 and Gozelin holds it of him. God- ric a freeman held it T.R.E. Then as now it was assessed at 6 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 12 cottars with half a plough. There are 2 mills worth (de) 30 shillings and fo. 6a 38 acres of meadow. It was and is worth 6 pounds ; and yet it pays 6 pounds and an ounce of gold. The same Gilbert holds half a hide.8 Alvric a freeman held it. Then as now (it was assessed) at half a hide. One villein is 1 Now in the Hundred of Faringdon. 2 In Hampstead Norris, now in the Hundred of Faircross. 3 The name of the Hundred appears to have been omitted here in the MS. (F.W.R.). « Now in the Hundred of Wantage. 6 In Testa de Nevill 6 hides of East Hanney are stated to be held by the Prior of Noyon (this answers to the land of the Count of Evreux), and 6 hides (p. 124) to be held by Abingdon Abbey. These apparently makeup the total of East Hanney, West Hanney, so far as it is mentioned, belonging to the Honour of Giffard. It would seem, therefore, as if Gilbert de Bretvile's land had been transferred to Abingdon Abbey. A knight's fee (p. in) belonging to Hugh de Viun in East Hanney, how- ever, adds a difficulty (F.W.R.). 6 The place is not named. there and I serf, and 8 acres of meadow. It is worth 10 shillings. IN MERCEHAM [MARCHAM] HUNDRET The same Gilbert holds HEVAFORD [Hat- ford 7] and Payn holds it of him. Two brothers held this in parage (in paragio), each had a hall (haulam} and they could go to what lord they wished (potuerunt ire quo volu- erunf). Then as now it was assessed at 10 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and there are 3 villeins and 1 1 bordars with 2 ploughs. A church is there and 3 serfs and 100 acres of meadow. It was worth 8 pounds (T.R.E.) ; afterwards 100 shillings ; now 10 pounds. The same Gilbert holds NIWETONE * [NEW- TON] and Payn holds it of him. Alric held it and could go to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluit). Then as now it was assessed at 2 hides. There is land for i plough, and it is there on the demesne with 4 bordars and 2 serfs and 13 acres of meadow. It is worth 30 shillings. IN MERCEHAM [MARCHAM] HUNDRET 8 The same Gilbert holds PRAXEMERE [Pease- more9] and Richard holds it of him. Goduin and Urlewine held it T.R.E. and could go to what lord they wished (potuerunt ire quo vo/u- erunt). It was then assessed at 7 hides ; it is now (assessed) at 4 hides. There were 2 halls (bailee) there ; there is now I . There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne are i \ (ploughs) ; and (there are) 2 villeins and 5 bordars with half a plough. There is woodland to render (de) 2 swine. It is and was worth 4 pounds. XXXVII. THE LAND OF GILBERT DE GAND IN ROEBERG [ ] HUNDRET Gilbert de Gand holds of the king I manor,10 and Robert holds it of him. Tunna held it T.R.E. and it was then assessed at 6 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 3 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and 7 Now in the Hundred of Ganfield. 8 This I take to be an error. There was no need to repeat the name of the Hundred thus if it were Marcham. ' Praxemere ' appears most naturally in 'Roeberg' Hundret as entered under Ralf de Mortemer's land. Under the land of the Count of Evreux, by which it appears as if in Reading Hundred, I suspect an omission also (F.W.R.). 8 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. 10 The place is not named, but is probably Bradley and Langley, near Hampstead Norris (Testa, p. 1 24). 357 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE (there are) 2 villeins and 4 bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and woodland to render (de) 2O swine. Of this land Algolt holds 3 hides and he has there i plough ; and 2 villeins (are there) and 6 bordars with 2 ploughs. It was worth 6 pounds (T.R.E.) ; and afterwards 60 shillings ; now the same amount. XXXVIII. THE LAND OF GEOFFREY DE MANNEVILE IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET Geoffrey de Mannevile holds HILDESLEI [East Ilsley ? *] and Saswalo holds it of him. Ordolf held it as a manor in alod of King Edward. Then as now it was (assessed) at I hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is i plough ; and i villein (is there) and 7 bordars with i plough. There are 3 serfs and 7 acres of meadow, and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausuram). It is and was worth 20 shillings. The same Geoffrey holds HILDESLEI [West Ilsley ? *] 2 and Saswalo holds it of him. Or- dolf held it of King Edward in alod. Then as now it was (assessed) at 10 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 7 villeins and 1 2 bordars with 3 ploughs. There are 4 serfs. It was worth 8 pounds (T.R.E.) ; and after- wards 5 pounds ; now 6 pounds. IN LAMBORNE [LAMBOURN] HUNDRET The same Geoffrey holds LAMBORNE [East Garston ?3].4 Esgar held it of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 30 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 10 hides. There is land for 20 ploughs. On the demesne are 4 ploughs ; and there are 23 villeins and 12 bordars with 10 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and 2 mills worth 1 Now in the Hundred of Compton. ' Possibly this was the holding which in Testa de Nevill (pp. Ill, 123, 126), divided into two, be- longed to the Honour of Leicester ; but the descent I have been unable to trace. Geoffrey de Mandeville's land was much divided up before the times in which Testa de Nevill was compiled (F.W.R.). 3 Now in the Hundred of Lambourn. 4 East Garston occurs in Testa de Nevill (pp. 107, 124, 131) in Lambourn Hundred, as 'Esgareston' and ' Esegareston.' This would appear to be Esgar'ston ; and the later form Eastgarston a simple corruption. The form suggests the identity of Geoffrey's land in Lambourn and East Garston ; but I cannot trace the descent. The value given in Testa (p. 107) of this holding, twenty pounds, at any rate corresponds with the value given here of the holding of Esgar T.R.E. (F.W.R.). (de) 1 5 shillings and 5 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 40 swine. It was worth 20 pounds (T.R.E.) ; and afterwards, as now, 12 pounds. IN EGLEI [EAGLE] HUNDRED The same Geoffrey holds WATECUMBE [Whatcombe 5].8 Seward held it in alod of King Edward. Then, as now, it was assessed at 2 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough ; and 3 bordars (are there) with half a plough.7 It was formerly worth 30 shillings, now 20 shillings. IN BENES [BEYNHURST] HUNDRET The same Geoffrey holds HERLEI [Hurley8].9 Esgar held it of King Edward. Then as now (it was assessed) at 14 hides all but I vir- gate. There is land for 18 ploughs. On the demesne are 4 ploughs ; and (there are) 25 villeins and 12 cottars with 15 ploughs. There are i o serfs and a mill worth (de) 20 shillings. A church is there and 2 fisheries worth (de) 12 shillings and 20 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 5 swine. It is and was worth 12 pounds. IN ELETESFORD [ ] HUNDRET The same Geoffrey holds ESTRALEI [Streat- ley10]." Esgar held it of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 25 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 10 hides. There is land for 15 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 18 villeins and 10 cottars with 12 ploughs. There are 7 serfs and a mill worth (de) 22 shillings and 2 fisheries worth (de) 1 1 shillings and 22 acres of meadow. In Oxineford [Oxford] is I close (haga) worth (de) 10 pence. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 20 pounds ; now 24 pounds. Wibert the priest holds of Geoffrey the church of this manor with i hide and he has on the hide (ibf) I plough with i cottar and 4 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 50 shillings. • Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. • See note to next entry. • The text seems defective (in dominico est una caruca cum Hi bordariis et dimidia caruca). 8 Now in the Hundred of Beynhurst. • The Prior of Hurule (Hurley) held Hurley according to Testa de Nevill in almoin by gift of the Earl of Mandeville (p. 124), and'Watecumbe' was held under the same Prior (p. 125) (F.W.R.). 10 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. 11 'Stretle' in Testa de Nevill (p. 125) belonged to the Honour of the Earl of Essex, Geoffrey's descendant (F.W.R.). 358 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS XXIX. THE LAND OF OSBERN GIFARD IN CERLEDONE [CHARLTON] HUNDRET Osbern Gifard holds HERLEI [Earley *] a of the king. Don held it in alod of King Ed- ward. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne are i£ ploughs ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 7 bordars with l.\ ploughs. There is i serf, and there are 2 fisheries worth (de) 68 pence, and 20 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 30 swine. It was worth 100 shillings (T.R.E.) ; and afterwards 60 shillings ; now 4 pounds. XL. THE LAND OF ROBERT SON OF GIROLD IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Robert son of Girold holds BRINTONE [Brimpton3]. Brictric held it in alod of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 4^ hides ; now (it is assessed) at 3^ hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are i^ ploughs ; and (there are) 5 villeins and 3 bor- dars and I English knight (miles) with three ploughs. One serf is there, and a church and 2 mills worth (de) 26 shillings and 3 pence, and 35 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 4 pounds and 10 shillings. IN CHENETBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET The same Robert holds INGLEFOL [Ingle- wood1].5 Two freemen held it of King Edward 1 Now in the Hundred of Charlton. 8 Earley appears in Testa de Nevill as having I knight's fee belonging to the Fief of Elyas Giffard of ' Brumesfield ' (F.W.R.). a Now in the Hundred of Faircross. « The ' Inglefol ' of this entry is the ' Ingleflot' which occurs, as in Kintbury Hundred, near the end of the Berks Survey (see below), and must also be the ' Ingleflot ' of an entry just after it. It has been wrongly identified with Hungerford, and Mr. Ragg adduces on behalf of that identification Camden's statement that Hungerford was named in old times ' Ingleford Charnam Street.' This wholly unsupported statement is completely dis- proved by record evidence which proves that those two names were entirely distinct so far back as the days of Henry III., when they appear in the Testa as ' Ingeflod ' and ' Hungerford,' and in charters, similarly as ' Ingleflod ' and ' Hu(n)gerford ' (Cal- endar of Charter Rolls). Finally, the survey of '1284' (Feudal Aids, '. Jo) enters 'Kenetbury' (Kintbury) with ' Engleiiod Belet ' (Inglewood) and its other hamlets separately from ' Hunger- forde ' with its hamlets. There is further evidence which enables us to as 2 manors. Then as now it was (assessed) at 3 hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne is i plough, and there are 7 bordars with i plough. One serf is there and 4 acres of meadow and a small woodland. It was formerly worth 30 shillings ; now 2O shillings. XLI. THE LAND OF ROBERT DE OILGI IN EGLEI [EAGLE] HUNDRET Robert de Olgi holds CEDELEDORDE [Chaddleworth ']. Edward held it in alod of King Edward as a manor. Then as now it was assessed at 4 hides. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough ; and there are 2 villeins and 2 bordars with half a plough ; also 3 serfs and i acre of meadow. There is woodland to render (de) IO swine. It was worth 60 shillings (T.R.E.) j after- wards 30 shillings ; and now 40 shillings. The same Robert holds LEDECUMBE [Let- combe Bassett8]. Wigot held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 10 hides; now (it is assessed) at 7 hides. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 14 villeins and 8 bordars with 5 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and 2 mills worth (de) 3 pounds, and 36 acres of meadow. T.R.E. and afterwards it was worth 15 pounds ; now 1 6 pounds. The same Robert holds in SIFORD [Shef- ford] 6 i£ hides of the Bishop of Bayeux's fee.* Bristei held it of King Edward and could go to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluif). Then as now it was assessed at I ^ hides. On the demesne is i plough ; and (there are) 4 bordars and 2 serfs and a mill worth (de) 8 shillings and i acre of meadow, and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausurani). It was (formerly) worth 30 shillings ; now 20 shil- lings. trace back the name of ' Hungerford ' to within a generation of Domesday. In 1175 the men of ' Hungerford ' account for ihefrma of their town (probably during the disgrace of the Earl of Lei- cester) (Pipe Roll, 21 Henry II. p. 135), and in the writer's Calendar oj Documents preserved in France, p. 123, the Count of Meulan, ancestor of the Earls of Leicester (the subsequent lords of Hungerford), granted by a charter of II oi-l 1 18 to the canons of Beaumont ' a certain manor near Hungerford, Edevetone by name ' (the ' Eddevetona ' of Domes- day) (J.H.R.). ' See Introduction. • Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 359 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same Robert holds ARDINTONE [Ard- ington *]. Eduin a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides and i virgate. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 8 cottars with half a plough. There are 2 serfs and a mill worth (de) 1 1 shillings, and 26 acres of mea- dow. It is and was worth 4 pounds. The same Robert holds ARDINTONE [Ard- ington *]. Sawin a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 9 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 4 hides and 3 virgates. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 6 villeins and 5 serfs and 2 mills worth (de) 25 shillings. Cola, an Englishman, claims one of these mills, but Alwin and Goduin and Alvric give evidence that it always belonged to (jacuit in) Ardin- tone [Ardington]. It was worth 16 pounds (T.R.E); afterwards 12 pounds; now 16 pounds. The same Robert holds I hide2 which Azor the steward (dispensator) of King Edward held and could go with it to what lord he wished (et cum ea ire potuit quo voluit). It was then (assessed) at i hide ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and (there are) 1 1 cot- tars with half a plough ; and 10 acres of meadow. This land the same Azor holds of Robert, but the men of the Hundret (court) give evidence that he ought to hold it of the king, since King William gave it to him at Windesores [Windsor] and put the writ into his hands there ; Robert on the other hand holds it unjustly ; for no one of them (they say) has seen the king's writ (granting it to him), nor on his side the man who gave him seisin. It is and was worth 3 pounds, al- though it pays3 4 pounds. XLII. THE LAND OF ROBERT DE STATFORD [STAFFORD] IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET Robert de Stadford [Stafford] holds DENCHESWORDE 4 [South Denchworth B] of the king and Laurence holds it of him. Leveva a free woman held it T.R.E. It was 1 Now in the Hundred of Wantage. » No place is named. » reddat. * Now in the Hundred of Ock. « In Testa de Nevill (p. 123) ' Suthdenches- wurth ' has £ a knight's fee belonging to the Hon- our of Stafford (F.W.R.). then (assessed) at 6 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 4^ hides. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 4 vil- leins and 5 cottars with i plough ; and 24 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 3 pounds. XLIII. THE LAND OF RICHARD PUINGIANT IN ELETSFORD [ ] HUNDRET Richard Pungiant holds LOLINDONE [Lollingdon •]. Elmaer a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 3 hides ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land fo. 6ab for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 3 cottars with i plough ; and 12 acres of meadow. It was worth 100 shillings T.R.E. ; afterwards 40 shillings ; now 60 shillings. When Richard received this manor he found it in the ferm of Celsei [Cholsey]. It is now separate therefrom. The same Richard holds AVINTONE [Avington7].8 Gunnere held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 10 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and there are 6 villeins and 7 bordars with 3 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and a mill worth (de) i o shillings, and 2O acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 10 swine. It is and was worth 100 shillings. XLIIII. THE LAND OF ROGER DE IVERI IN BORGELDEBERIE [BuCKLEBURY] HUNDRET Roger de Ivrei holds of the king i virgate in ELINGE [Eling9]. Sawin held it of King Edward in his manor of Enrede [Hendred]. This Roger transferred it to his manor of Harewelle [Harwell] (misit in Harewelle\ to which it never belonged (ubi nunquam jacuit) so the shire(moot) testifies, nor did it ever pay geld. There are 4 villeins with 2 ploughs and woodland to render (de) 30 swine. It is worth 20 shillings. • In Cholsey, now in the Hundred of Moreton. Berks. Arch. Journ. x. 82. 7 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 8 The marginal note telling the Hundred must here have been omitted. Apparently it should be ' Cheneteberie.' Avington is now in the Hun- dred of Kintbury Eagle (F.W.R.). • Near Hampstead Norris, now in the Hundred of Faircross. 360 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS IN EGLEI [£AGLE] HUNDRET The same Roger holds in SIFORD [Shef- ford *] ij hides of the Bishop of Bayeux's fee." Bricstec held it of King Edward as a manor in alod. Then as now it was assessed at ij hides. There is land for i plough, and it is there on the demesne, and I villein and 3 bordars and a moiety of a mill worth 7 shillings and 6 pence and i acre of meadow and a small woodland. It was (formerly) worth 30 shillings ; now 20 shillings. IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The same Roger holds HAROWELLE [Harwell "]. Ulvric a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 6 hides ; now (it is as- sessed) at 3 hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 7 villeins and 7 cottars with 2 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and a chapel. It was formerly worth 1 2 pounds ; now 1 5 pounds. The same Roger holds HAROWELLE [Har- well 3] of the fee of Earl William. Achi, a freeman, held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides; now (it is assessed) at i\ hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and (there are) 5 villeins and 5 cottars with i plough ; and 3 serfs are there. It was (formerly) worth 5 pounds ; now 6 pounds. IN GAMESFELLE [GANFIELD] HUNDRET The same Roger holds PESEI [Pusey3] Alvric a freeman held it T.R.E. Then as now (it was assessed) at 6 hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 4 cottars with I plough. A church is there, and 4 serfs and 5 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 4 pounds. It is part of the Bishop of Bayeux's fee. XLV. THE LAND OF ROGER DE LACI IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET Roger de Laci holds TANEBURNE [En- borne1] of the king. Edmund held it of King Edward in alod. It was then (assessed) at 3 hides and i virgate ; now (it is assessed) at i hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. There are 6 villeins and 8 bordars with 3 ploughs, and 1 3 acres of meadow and wood- land to render (de) i pig. It was (formerly) worth 40 shillings ; now 50 shillings. » Now in Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. J See Introduction. 3 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same Roger holds CELREA [Childrey4]. Edmund a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 1 3 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 8 J hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 10 villeins and 9 cottars with 3 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and a mill worth (de) 5° pence. It is and was worth 8 pounds and I o shillings T.R.E. and now (semper). The same Roger holds 2 hides.6 Lewin a freeman held them T.R.E. They were then (assessed) at 2 hides ; now (they are assessed) at i J hides. There are 3 villeins with half a plough. It is worth 30 shillings. XLVI. THE LAND OF RALF DE MORTEMER IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Ralf de Mortemer holds BRINTONE [Brimpton *]. Godwin held it of King Edward in alod. It was then (assessed) at 3^ hides ; now (it is assessed) at ?.\ hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are i \ ploughs ; and (there are) 6 villeins and 3 bordars with 3 ploughs. A church is there and 6 serfs and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings, and 30 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 70 shillings. The same Ralf holds COSERIGE [Curridge 6] and Balduin holds it of him. Two freemen held it of King Edward as 2 manors. It is now in i manor. It was then (assessed) at 7 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 3 hides all but I virgate. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is i plough, and i villein (is there) ; and 4 bordars with i plough. It was formerly worth 60 shillings ; now 50 shillings. IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET The same Ralf holds STRADFELD [Stratfield Mortimer7]. Two thegns held it in parage (in paragio) T.R.E., — Cheping and Eduin. It was then (assessed) at 6 hides j now (it is assessed) at 3 hides. There is land for 21 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 14 villeins and 13 bordars with 8 ploughs. There are 10 serfs and a mill un- taxed (sine censu) and 7 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 40 swine. Of this land a knight (miles) holds half a 4 Now in the Hundred of Wantage. B No place is named. • Now in the Hundred of Faircross. i Now in the Hundred of Theale. 361 46 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE hide, and there he has I plough and a church with 4 bordars. It was (T.R.E.) worth 18 pounds; afterwards 10 pounds; now 10 pounds and 10 shillings. The same Ralf holds BORGEFEL [Burgh- field *] and a certain knight (miles) holds it of him. Abbot Elsi held it T.R.E. of the old monastery of the church of Winchester ac- cording to the testimony of the shire(moot), and afterwards also till he was an outlaw. Then as now it was (assessed) at i-J hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne is i plough ; and (there are) 6 villeins and 8 bordars with 5 ploughs. A church is there and a moiety of a mill worth (de) 5 shillings and 10 pence, and a fishery worth (de) 68 pence, and 43 acres of meadow, and wood- land to render (de) 15 swine. It was worth (formerly) 40 shillings; now 50 shillings. The same Ralf holds HURLEI [Earley2].3 Rachenild held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 2 hides ; now (it is assessed) at i hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is nothing ; but 2 villeins and 3 bordars have 2 ploughs there, and there is woodland to render (de) 15 swine. It is worth 40 shillings. IN RoEBERG [ ] HUNDRET The same Ralf holds PRAXEMERE [Pease- more 4] and Oidelard holds it of him. Two thegns held it T.R.E. and there were two halls (halite) there ; and (the thegns) could go to what lord they wished (et quo voluerunt ire potuerunt). It was then assessed at 8 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 3 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and there are 4 villeins and 1 1 bordars with 3 ploughs, and woodland to render (de) 6 swine. It was (T.R.E.) worth 6 pounds ; afterwards 60 shillings ; it is now worth 100 shillings. IN NACHEDEDORNE [ ] HUNDRET The same Ralf holds HODICOTE [Hod- cott 8] and Oidelard holds it of him. Alwin held it of King Edward. Then as now (it was assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; * Now in the Hundred of Theale. 1 Near Reading. Now in the Hundred of Charlton. 3 The name of the Hundred seems to be here omitted. ' Herlei ' appears in the king's land, and in Osbern Gifard's land entered under the Hun- dred of Cerledon ' (F.W.R.). * Now in the Hundred of Faircross. » Now in the Hundred of Compton. and there are 5 bordars with half a plough. It was (formerly) worth 7 pounds ; now 4 pounds. XLVII. THE LAND OF RALF DE TODENI IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET Ralf de Todeni holds CERLETONE [Charl- ton 6] of the king, and Drogo holds it of him. Three freeman held it T.R.E. Then as now it was (assessed) at 7 hides. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough ; and there are 4 villeins and 1 3 cot- tars with i plough. A moiety of a mill is there worth (de) 5 shillings, and 21 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 100 shil- lings ; now 6 pounds. This land is part of Earl Roger's fee. XLVIII. THE LAND OF RALF SON OF THE EARL IN LAMBORN [LAMBOURN] HUNDRET Ralf son of the Earl holds BOCHENTONE * [Bockhampton]. Three freemen held it of King Edward as 3 manors in alod. It was then (assessed) at 8 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 3 hides all but i virgate. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 1 bordars with half a plough ; i serf, a mill worth (de) 5 shillings, and 5 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) IO swine. Of this manor Odo holds i hide, and on it he has i plough with I bordar. It was worth (T.R.E.) 7 pounds ; afterwards 6 pounds ; now 7 pounds. XLIX. THE LAND OF RALF SON OF SEIFRID IN RlPLESMERE [RlPPLESMERE] HuNDRBT Ralf son of Seifrid holds CLIVORE [Clewer8] of the king. Earl Harold held it. It was then assessed at 5 hides ; it is now as- sessed at 4^ hides ; and the castle of Win- desores [Windsor] is on the half-hide. There is land for [ ]. On the demesne are i£ ploughs ; and (there are) 9 villeins and 6 bordars with 4 ploughs, and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings and 20 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 10 swine. Of this land Ralf's daughter's husband (gener) holds half a hide, and there is nothing on it. It was (formerly) worth 7 pounds ; now 4 pounds and 10 shillings. 6 Now in the Hundred of Wantage. ' Now in the Hundred of Lambourn. 8 Now in the Hundred of Ripplesmere. 362 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET Roger1 son of Seifrid holds FOLLESCOTE [Fulscot alias Fowescot 2] of the king. Lodric a freeman held it T.R.E. Then (there were) 3 hides ; (but) it was assessed for i hide, and the same now.3 There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 5 cottars with i plough and 30 acres of meadow. It was formerly worth 40 shillings ; now 4 pounds. IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET * The same Roger holds PORLEI [Purley "]. Bristeward held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 4^ hides ; now (it is assessed) at 4. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and there are 9 villeins and 3 bordars with 3 ploughs and 16 acres of meadow. It was worth too shillings (T.R.E.) ; afterwards 4 pounds; now 100 shillings. L. THE LAND OF ERNULF DE HESDING IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Hernulf de Hesding holds ULVRITONE [Newbury 6] 7 of the king. Ulward 8 held it of King Edward in alod. It was then assessed at 10 hides; it is now assessed at 2^ hides. There is land for 12 ploughs. On the de- mesne is I plough ; and (there are) 1 1 villeins > So the MS. * Now in the Hundred of Moreton. 3 ' Tune pro iii hidis se defend[ebat] pro I hida modo similiter.' 4 This entry was omitted, and is placed at the foot of the page in the MS. 5 Now in the Hundred of Theale. • Now in the Hundred of Faircross. 7 See the Introduction for the origin and de- scent of Newbury, which name appears to have replaced ' Ulvritone ' in the Norman period. The Domesday name is believed to have disappeared, but it may just possibly be preserved in Woolton Hill to the south-west, about a mile across the Hampshire border. For as, in western Berkshire, the ' Olvricestone ' of Domesday has become Woolstone, ' Ulvritone ' may have similarly be- come Woolton. The Domesday manor must have extended down to the Hampshire border, for Sandleford Priory was founded (between 1194 and 1205) by Ernulf's successors, Geoffrey Count of Perche and his wife, and endowed from Newbury (J.H.R.). 8 This was Wulfward the White, a wealthy thegn, whom Ernulf had succeeded in Middlesex, Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire, and Gloucestershire manors. In Bedfordshire he is disguised as Wulfward ' lewet ' G.H.R.). and 1 1 bordars with 7 ploughs. There are 2 mills worth (de) 50 shillings, and 27 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 25 swine, and 51 closes (haga) worth (de) 2O shillings and 7 pence. T.R.E. it was worth 9 pounds ; afterwards 8 pounds ; now 24 pounds. LI. THE LAND OF HUGH SON OF BALDRIC IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Hugh son of Baldric holds ESSAGES [Shaw "] of the king. Alvric held it of King Edward in alod. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2^ hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne is half a plough ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 12 bordars with 4 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and a mill worth (de) 2O shillings, and 5 acres of mea- dow, and woodland to render (de) 50 swine. It is and was worth 6 pounds. LII. THE LAND OF HUGH DE FORTH IN EGLEI [EAGLE] HUNDRET Hugh de Port holds SIFORD [West Shef- ford 10] " of the king. Ulveva held it in alod of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 20 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 7 hides and 2 acres. fo. 63. There is land for 10 ploughs. On the de- mesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 1 5 villeins and 8 bordars with 6 ploughs. There are 6 serfs and 6 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 30 swine. There is a mill worth (de) 10 shillings. It was (formerly) worth 6 pounds ; now 1 2 pounds. LIE. THE LAND OF HUMFREY THE CHAMBERLAIN IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Humfrey the chamberlain holds BAGE- NORE [Bagnor 12] of the king. Ulveva held it in alod of King Edward. It was then as- 9 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. Hugh son of Baldric (sheriff of Yorkshire) gave the tithe of this manor to the abbey of Preaux. Cat. of Docs. France, p. 108 (J.H.R.). 10 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 11 In Testa de Nevill, p. 124, we find the manor of ' West Sipford ' belonging to the barony of Basing and the family of S. John. Basing was one of Hugh de Port's holdings, and the family of St. John was descended from the family of de Port (F.W.R.). 13 In Speen, now in the Hundred of Faircross. 363 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE sessed at 3 hides ; now (it is assessed) at I hide. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne is i, and (there are) 3 villeins and 3 bordars with 2 ploughs. There is i serf, and a mill worth (de) 2O shillings, and 22 acres of meadow, and woodland to render (de) 4 swine. It is and was worth 4 pounds. 0 LIIII. THE LAND OF HUMFREY VIS DE LEW IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Humfrey Vis de lew holds SPONE [Speen *] of the king. Carlo held it of King Edward in alod. It was then (assessed) at i o hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 9 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 9 villeins and 10 bordars with 6 ploughs. A church is there and 7 serfs and a mill worth (de) 22 shillings, and 60 acres of meadow, and woodland to feed (de) 3 swine. It was (formerly) worth 8 pounds ; now i o pounds. To the church belongs half a hide of this same land. IN CHENETBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET The same Humfrey holds BOCHESORNE [Boxford *•]? Three brothers held it of King Edward in alod. It was then assessed at 9 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 4 hides. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and i villein (is there), and 6 bordars with i plough. A serf is there and a mill worth (de) 27 shil- lings and 6 pence, and 6 acres of meadow. Of this manor Alvric holds i hide and Almaer 2 hides, and there is I plough on the demesne. The whole T.R.E. and after- wards was worth 8 pounds ; now 6 pounds and 10 shillings. The same Humfrey holds BENHAM [Ben- ham3]. Three thegns held it in alod of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 4 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne is i ; and (there are) 6 villeins and 8 bordars with 5 ploughs. There are 2 serfs and 1 20 acres of meadow. Of this manor Anschitil holds 2 hides, and William 2 ; and there are 2 ploughs. The whole T.R.E. and afterwards, as now, was worth 6 pounds. 1 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. 3 As appears from Testa de Nevill (pp. 107, 128) parts of Boxore (Boxford) and of Benham in Kintbury Hundred were still held together and had been given to Hugh Wake in exchange for land near York, by King Richard (F.W.R.). 3 Near Newbury, now in the Hundred of Kint- bury Eagle. IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The same Humfrey holds MORTUNE [South Moreton4]. Osmund a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2^ hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 4 cottars with I plough. A church is there and 6 serfs, and 40 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 6 pounds. LV. THE LAND OF TUR(S)TIN SON OF ROLF IN WIFOL [ ] HUNDRET Turstin son of Rolf holds COLESELLE [Coleshill 8] of the king. Brictric held it in alod of King Edward. It was then assessed at 8 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 7 bordars and 5 serfs with half a plough. A third part of a mill is there worth (de) IO shillings, and 69 acres of meadow. It was worth (T.R.E.) 7 pounds ; afterwards 40 shil- ings ; now 100 shillings. IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET The same Turstin holds OPTONE [Upton *]. Brictric a freeman held it. It was then (as- sessed) at IO hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 9 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 1 6 villeins and 7 cottars with 6 ploughs. There are 7 serfs and 30 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 13 pounds. IN ELETESFORD [ ] HUNDRET' The same Turstin holds CELREA [Chil- drey7], and Roger holds it of him. Brictric a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 10 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 8 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 5 villeins and 6 cottars with i plough. There are 3 serfs and a mill worth (de) 2 shillings, and a church. Of this manor another Roger holds 6 hides and i vir- gate, and there is I plough on the demesne ; 4 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. f Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. 6 I suspect here either an entry omitted of a holding in ' Eletesford ' Hundred, or else an absolute mistake. ' Celrea' elsewhere appears in ' Wanetinz ' Hundred (lands of William son of Richard, and of Roger de Laci). The entry here of 'Wanetinz Hundred ' would set right both this and the next entry (Spersolt) (F.W.R.). 7 Now in the Hundred of Wantage. 364 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS and (there are) 6 villeins and 2 cottars with i plough, also 2 serfs. T.R.E. it was worth 10 pounds ; afterwards 8 pounds ; now 9 pounds and 5 shillings. The same Turstin holds SPERSOLT * [Spars- holt 2] and Roger holds it of him. Brictric, a freeman, held it T.R.E. Then as now it was (assessed) at 2^ hides and i virgate. There is land for i plough, and it is there on the demesne, and 2 serfs and 16 acres of meadow. It was worth (T.R.E.) 30 shillings ; after- wards 20 shillings ; now 30 shillings. LVI. ALBERT'S LAND IN RlPLESMERE [RlPPLESMEREJ HuNDRET Albert holds of the king DIDEORDE [Ded- worth 3]. Hugh the chamberlain held it of King Edward. Then as now (it was assessed) at i hide. On the demesne is i plough ; and there are 4 villeins and i bordar with 2 ploughs ; and 20 acres of meadow, and wood- land to render 5 swine. It was worth (T.R.E.) 4 pounds ; afterwards, as now, 30 shillings. LVII. THE LAND OF AIULF THE SHERIFF IN EGLEI [£AGLE] HUNDRET Aiulf holds SIFORD [East Shefford «]B of the King. Brictric held it in alod of King Edward. It was then assessed at 10 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 5 hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 8 villeins and 5 bordars with 3 ploughs. There are 5 serfs and 2 mills worth (de) 22 shillings and 6 pence, and 8 acres of meadow and woodland to render 10 swine. It was (T.R.E.) worth 10 pounds ; afterwards 9 ; now 10 pounds. LVIII. THE LAND OF HUGH THE STEERSMAN IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET Hugolin the steersman (stirman) holds HAMESTEDE[Hampstead Marshall4] of the king. 1 The name of the Hundred seems to have been here omitted. Sparsholt elsewhere appears as in the Hundreds of Hilleslau (Abingdon lands), and Wanetinz (the King's, Hen. de Ferrers' and Hascoit's lands) (F.W.R.). 3 Now in the Hundred of Faringdon. 3 Now in the Hundred of Ripplesmere. 4 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. 6 This must have been in East Shefford. The manor of West Shefford was held (Testa de Nevill, p. 124) by the descendants of Hugh de Port, see note on land of Hugh de Port (p. 363) (F.W.R.). Edward held it as a manor of King Edward in alod. It was then assessed at 4 hides ; now (it is assessed) at i hide. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and there are 4 vil- leins and 8 bordars with 3 ploughs. There are 10 serfs and a mill worth (de) 20 shillings and 6 acres of meadow and woodland to ren- der (de) 10 swine. It is and was worth 4 pounds. The same Hugolin has held up to the present (tenuit hactenus) EBRIGE [ ]. Herleng held it T.R.E. as a manor. Then as now it was assessed at I hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is nothing ; but 4 villeins and 4 bordars there have 3 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and a mill worth (de) 30 shillings and 3 acres of meadow and woodland to provide fencing (ad clausuram). It was formerly worth 4 pounds; now 3 pounds. About this manor the shire- (moot) attests that it did not belong to the predecessor (antecessorem) of Hugh through whom he claims it. His men however were unwilling to plead about it (noluerunt inde reddere rationem). He has also transferred (transportavit) the hall (hallam) and other buildings and the live stock to another manor (in alia manerio), The same Hugolin holds i virgate in BOR- GELDEBERIE " [Bucklebury 7], and it never paid geld ; it belongs and belonged to (jacet et jacult in) Hamesteda [Hampstead Marshall]. It is worth 10 shillings. LIX. THE LAND OF MATHIU OF MORTAIN IN LAMBORNE [LAMBOURN] HUNDRET Maci of Mortain holds LAMBORNE [Lambourn 8] of the king. Ulward held it of King Edward in alod as a manor. Then as now it was assessed at 4 hides. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is half a plough ; and (there are) 2 villeins and 8 bordars with i plough. It was worth (T.R.E.) 60 shillings ; afterwards 30 ; now 50 shil- lings. 8 In one of three ways one must seek explana- tion of this entry. Either the name of the Hundred has been omitted, or a single virgate in Bucklebury belonged to a Hundred from which it was quite detached, or else the name Borgeldeberie is the name of the Hundred, set down in error as the name of the vill, and the place is therefore unnamed (F.W.R.) 7 Now in the Hundred of Reading. 8 Now in the Hundred of Lambourn. 365 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE LX. THE LAND OF BERNARD THE FALCONER IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Bernard the falconer holds WALSINCE [? Wasing1] of the king. Alwin held it of King Edward in alod. It was then assessed at I hide ; it is now assessed at half a hide. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ; and (there are) 5 villeins and I bordar with 2 ploughs ; also i serf, and a mill worth (de) 1 6 shillings. It is and was worth 3 pounds. LXI. THE LAND OF RAINBALD OF CIRE(N)CESTER IN BLITBERIE [BLEWBURY] HUNDRET Reimbald of Cirecestre [Cirencester] holds HACHEBORNE [East Hagbourne2] of the king. He held it of King Edward. There are 1 5 hides there ; but then as now it was assessed at 12 hides all but i virgate. There is land for 12 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 18 villeins and 16 cottars with 10 ploughs. There are 6 serfs and a mill worth (de) 12 shillings and 6 pence, and 30 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 15 pounds ; now 18 pounds. The same Reinbald holds ESTONE [Aston Upthorpe ?3]. Eileva a free woman held it T.R.E. Then (there were) 10 hides there ; but it was assessed at 6£ hides then as now. There is land for 7 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) IO villeins and 12 cottars with 5 ploughs. There are 3 serfs and 41 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth i o pounds ; now 1 2 pounds. LXII. GRIMBALD'S LAND IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET Grimbald holds HENRET [West Hendred4]6 of the king. Achi a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is 1 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. J Now in the Hundred of Moreton. This passed with his other lands to Cirencester Abbey at his death (Testa,?. 125) (J.H.R.). 3 Now in the Hundred of Moreton. The Abbey of Cirencester, according to Testa de Nevill, held ' quoddam manerium Eston de dono Regis Henrici avi (I.) fundatoris.' This holding, in Feudal Aids, 1428, i. 65, is half a knight's fee and is in Aston Upthorpe. It seems probable that it was part of the land of Rainbald of Ciren- cester (F.W.R.). 4 Now in the Hundred of Wantage. • See note on Henret, King's land (p. 333). assessed) at i hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 2 vil- leins and 5 cottars with i plough and a mill worth (de) 10 shillings and 15 acres of meadow. It was worth (T.R.E.) 4 pounds, afterwards 30 shillings ; now 4 pounds. LXIII. THE LAND OF TEODRIC THE GOLDSMITH IN NACHEDEDORNE [ ] HUNDRET Theodric the Goldsmith holds ELLEORDE [Aldworth6]7 of the king. Edward held it in alod of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 6 villeins and 4 bordars with 3 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and woodland to render (de) 10 swine. It is and was worth 100 shillings. IN BoRGELDEBERIE [BuCKLEBURY] HuNDRET The same Theodric holds HANSTEDE [Hampstead Norris8].9 Lane held it of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 1 7 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 6 hides. There is land for 1 2 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 13 villeins and 9 bordars with 8 ploughs. There are 8 serfs and 4 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 40 swine. Of this land the priest of the church holds half a hide in almoin and has nothing on it. It was (T.R.E.) worth 12 pounds ; after- wards 9 pounds ; now IO pounds. IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET The same Theodric holds SOLEHAM [Sul- ham 10] . Edward held it of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at i hide ; now (it is assessed) at half a hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough with 5 bordars ; also (there are) 2 serfs and 2 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 30 shillings. The same Theodric holds in PORLAA [Purley10] " half a hide. Edward held it ; and it was assessed at that much then as now. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the de- • Now in the Hundred of Compton. ' In Testa de Nevill (p. 1 1 1 ) it appears that part of Aldworth, ' Hansted'and Purley was still united in one knight's fee and held in chief by William de Siffrewast (F.W.R.). 8 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. 9 See note above on Elleorde. 10 Now in the Hundred of Theale. 366 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS mesne is I ; and I villein (is there) and 3 bor- dars with i plough and 5 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 40 shillings ; now 50. The same Theodric holds WITELEI [Whitley1]. Edward held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 3 hides; now (it is as- sessed) at I hide. There is land for 3 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough ; and (there are) 2 villeins and 2 bordars with i plough. There are 4 serfs and 12 acres of meadow and a fishery worth (de) 40 pence ; it is and was worth 40 shillings. Co. 6ab. LXIIII. THE LAND OF STEPHEN SON OF EIRARD IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET Stephen son of Eirard holds of the king PETEORDE [Padworth a]. Three thegns held it in parage (in paragio) and could go with their lands to what lord they wished (potuerunt ire cum terns suis quo voluerunt). There are "j\ hides ; but then as now it paid geld for 5^ hides. There is land for 5 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 2 bordars with I plough. There are 2 mills and a moiety of a mill worth (de) 37 shillings and 6 pence ; and 48 acres of meadow. Of these hides Nigel holds I ; and a certain knight (miles) half a hide. There is on the demesne i plough ; and (there are) 4 villeins and 2 bordars with 2^ ploughs. The whole T.R.E. was worth 100 shillings ; afterwards 4 pounds ; now 4 pounds and I O shillings. The same Stephen holds i hide in SOLAFEL [Swallowfield 3], and Alvric holds it of him. Three alodiaries held it T.R.E. and could go to what lord they wished (potuerunt ire quolibet). Then as now it was assessed at I hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. Five alodiaries are there with 2 ploughs and I bordar. It is and was worth 20 shillings. LXV. THE LAND OF ODO AND OTHER THEGNS IN GAMESFEL [GANFIELD] HUNDRET Odo of Wincestre [Winchester] holds HENTONE [Hinton Waldrist4] of the king. Ulwen held it T.R.E. and could go to what 1 Now in the Hundred of Reading. 2 Now in the Hundred of Theale. lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluif). It was then assessed at 10 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 7-^ hides. There is land for 8 ploughs. On the demesne are 3 ploughs ; and (there are) 13 villeins and 8 bordars with 5 ploughs. A church is there and 8 serfs and 2 fisheries worth 20 shillings, and 40 acres of meadow. It was worth T.R.E. 1 1 pounds ; afterwards 100 shillings ; now 9 pounds. In the same vill Odo has 3 hides ; these, 2 thegns held, and they had 2 halls (hollas) and could go to what lord they wished (potuerunt ire quo voluerunt). These were assessed at 3 hides, then as now. There is land for i£ ploughs. These are there with 3 villeins and 12 acres of meadow. This belongs to the manor above. It was formerly worth 50 shillings; now 30 shil- lings. The same Odo holds there DUDOCHES- FORDE [Duxford *]. Alwi held it and could go to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluif). Then as now (it was assessed) at 3 hides. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the de- mesne is i plough ; and i villein (is there) and 4 bordars with half a plough. There are 2 serfs and a mill worth (de) 5 shillings and a fishery worth (de) 25 shillings and 2 pence, and 1 6 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 4 pounds. IN HlLLESLAUE [ ] HUNDRET The same Odo holds NISTETON [Knigh- ton *]. Five freemen held it in alod of King Edward. It was then assessed at 5 hides ; it is now assessed at 2 virgates and 2 parts of a virgate. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne is half a plough ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 6 bordars with 2^ ploughs. There are 3 serfs. It was worth 1 00 shillings T.R.E. ; afterwards 60 shillings ; now 6 pounds. IN BENES [BEYNHURST] HUNDRET Alward the goldsmith holds SOTESBROC [Shottesbrook 6] of the king. His father held it of Queen Eddid. Then as now (it was assessed) at 7 hides. There is land for 8 ploughs. On the demesne are 2 ploughs ; and (there are) 24 villeins and 2 cottars with 10 ploughs. A church is there and 2 serfs and 7 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 7 pounds; now 6 pounds. 3 See note on page 329 above 4 Now in the Hundred of Ganfield. 367 6 Now in the Hundred of Shrivenham. 6 Now in the Hundred of Beynhurst. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE IN BENES [BEYNHURST] HUNDRET Alwin son of Cheping holds BRAS [ ] * of the king. Tovi held it of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 2 hides ; now (it is as- sessed at I hide. There is land for i plough, and this is there and (cum) 10 villeins who have (themselves) I plough. A church is there. It was (formerly) worth 60 shillings ; now 30. IN GAMESFEL [GANFIELD] HUNDRET Alsi of Ferendone [Faringdon] holds LIERECOTE [ ] by gift of King William. Harold held it. It was then assessed at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2 hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne is I plough ; and there are 5 villeins and 5 bordars with 2 ploughs. There are 5 serfs. It was (formerly) worth 4 pounds ; now 5 pounds. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET The same Alsi holds of the king half a hide 2 which Alvric a freeman held T.R.E. Then as now (it was assessed) at half a hide. There are 2 cottars and 6 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 6 shillings. IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Edward holds of the king i hide in COSERIGE [Curridge *]. He held it in alod of King Edward. It was assessed at i hide then as now. There is land for i plough, and this is on the demesne with 3 bordars. It is and was worth 5 shillings. IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Cola holds of the king ACENGE [ ]. Brictric held it in alod of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 3 hides ; now (it is as- sessed) at 2 hides. On the demesne is I plough ; and (there are) 5 villeins and 3 bordars with 5 ploughs. There are 4 serfs and a mill worth (de) 1 5 shillings, and 25 acres of meadow and woodland to render (de) 3 swine. It is and was worth 3 pounds. IN CHENETEBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET Wigar holds of the king 2 hides in BENNE- HAM [Benham *]. Ormar held them in alod, 1 This may possibly be represented by Bray Wood, which, if maps are correct, was formerly in the Hundred of Beynhurst. The 2 hides here specified make up the 8 hides of Bray (which was in ' Brai.' Hundret) to a multiple of five (F.W.R.). a The place is not named. 3 Now in the Hundred of Faircross. « Near Newbury, now in the Hundred of Kint- bury Eagle. as a manor, of King Edward. It was then assessed at 2 hides ; now (it is assessed) at half a hide. There is land for i plough, and this is there on the demesne with 2 bordars and 60 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 40 shillings. IN LAMBORNE [LAMBOURN] HUNDRET Edward holds BOCHENTONE [Bockhamp- ton 6] of the king. Anschil held it in alod of King Edward. It was then (assessed) at 3 hides ; now (it is assessed) at half a hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. On the de- mesne is i plough with 5 bordars. It was (for- merly) worth 60 shillings ; now 40 shillings. IN WANETINZ [WANTAGE] HUNDRET Cola holds of the king HENRET* [East Hendred 7]. Sawin a freeman held it T.R.E. It was then (assessed) at 7 hides ; now (it is assessed) at i hide and 3 virgates. There is land for 3 ploughs. There are 8 cottars and a mill worth (de) 20 shillings, and 8 acres of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 100 shil- lings ; now 4 pounds. There ./Eldeva, a freewoman has of the king I hide in almoin. She held it T.R.E. and so held that she could have gone to what lord she wished (quo vellet ire potuiuet). Then as now (it was assessed) at i hide. There are 2 cottars and i acre of meadow. It was (formerly) worth 20 shillings ; now 5 shillings. IN GAMESFEL [GANFIELD] HUNDRET a certain woman, Eddid, has i virgate of the king 8 in almoin. She held it T.R.E. and so held that she could have gone to what lord she wished (quo vellet ire potuisset). Then (it was assessed) at I virgate ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. It is worth 12 pence. IN SUDTONE [SUTTON] HUNDRET Alwold the chamberlain holds CHERSVELLE 9 [Carswell 10] of the king. Queen Eddid held it. It was then assessed at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at i hide. There is land for 2 ploughs. These are there on the demesne ; and 4 villeins and 6 bordars (are there) with I plough. There are 9 serfs and a fishery worth 40 0 Now in the Hundred of Lambourn. 6 See note on Henret (King's land) above (P- 333)- ' Now in the Hundred of Wantage. 8 The place is not named. 9 If this is Carswell near Buckland, the only place of the name in Berks, the entry of it under Sudtone Hundred offers a difficulty (F.W.R.). 10 Near Buckland, in Ganfield Hundred. 368 THE HOLDERS OF LANDS pence and 59 acres of meadow. It is and was worth 4 pounds. IN REDINGES [READING] HUNDRET Alberic the queen's chamberlain holds I hide of the queen in BURLEI [ ]. Alward held it of King Edward and could go to what lord he wished (potuit ire quo voluit], It was then assessed at I hide ; it is now assessed at nothing. There is land for i-J- ploughs. It was (formerly) worth 30 shil- lings ; now 20 shillings. Herding holds I hide in BURLEI (j ]. This he held of Queen Eddid. Alveva held it T.R.E. and could go to what lord she wished (potuit ire quo voluit). It was then (assessed) at i hide ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. There is land for i £ ploughs. There is nothing on the demesne. But there 3 villeins have I plough. There is woodland to render (de) 5 swine. It was (formerly) worth 20 shillings ; now 12 shillings. IN CHENETBERIE [KINTBURY] HUNDRET is INGLEFLOT [Inglewood1] which Polcehard holds of William — I hide with I bordar. It is worth 3 shillings. And Alvred has I hide in the same manor and I plough on the demesne. This (hide) is worth 1 5 shillings. And Godebold has i£ hides with 3 bordars. They are worth 10 shillings. And Ralf de Felgeres has 2j hides which belonged to (jacuerunt in) INGEPENE [Inkpen 2j. So the shire (moot) says. 1 Now in Hundred of Kintbury Eagle, note on page 359 above. 8 Now in the Hundred of Kintbury Eagle. See IN MERCEHAM [MARCHAM] HUNDRED Berner nephew of R. de Perone holds ApLETONE3 [Appleton], part of the Bishop of Bayeux's fee.4 Alwin held it of King Edward. It was then assessed at 5 hides ; now (it is assessed) at 2^ hides. There is land for 4 ploughs. On the demesne is I ; and (there are) 3 villeins and 5 bordars with i plough. There are 3 serfs. It was (T.R.E.) worth 4 pounds ; afterwards 60 shillings ; now 50. Robert son of Rolf holds INGHEFLOT [Inglewood 2] of the king. Two thegns held it of King Edward as 2 manors. Then as now (it was assessed) at 3 hides. There is land for [ ]. There is I plough on the demesne. One villein is there and 7 bordars with i plough ; also i serf and 4 acres of meadow and a small woodland. It was worth (T.R.E.) 30 shillings ; afterwards 20, and now the same amount. IN GAMESFELLE [GANFIELD] HUNDRET A woman, Eldit, holds of the king i vir- gate in almoin.6 She held it T.R.E. It then paid geld for i virgate of land ; now (it is assessed) at nothing. It was (formerly) worth 30 pence ; now 1 2 pence. IN TACEHAM [THATCHAM] HUNDRET Alwi Ceuresbert held CROCHEHAM [Crook- ham "] T.R.E. and it was assessed at i hide. He holds it now. There is land for I plough. There are 3 villeins. It is worth 20 shillings. 8 Now in the Hundred of Ock. 4 See Introduction. 6 The place is not named. 6 Now in the Hundred of Reading. 369 47 INDUSTRIES INTRODUCTION BERKSHIRE can scarcely be said to rank high amongst the coun- ties of England in the number, extent or importance of its industries, but it possesses some features of peculiar interest which are worthy of historical study. The supremacy of Berk- shire as a rich cloth-making county which, according to Ashmole, ' supplied almost the whole nation ' with its wares, has long since passed away. It possesses no great industrial centres like Birmingham, Southwark, or the great cities of the north of England ; but industrial activity is not wanting in the county. The facilities of communication have never been lacking in Berkshire, and these have contributed mainly to its pros- perity. The great river Thames that bounds the county on its northern and eastern sides, a net-work of canals and rivers made navigable by former enterprise, and in recent times the numerous and important railways that connect the county with London, the West-country and the Midlands, have all contributed to the increase of the trade of the county at various periods of its commercial history ; and the progress hitherto made is not likely to be discontinued. In taking a survey, necessarily somewhat cursory, of the chief industries that have been fostered in this county, we shall consider here the conditions that have promoted their birth and development, and, when such has to be recorded, that have led to their subse- quent decay. Industries, the history of which is of special interest and value, will be reserved for more particular treatment after- wards. We need not concern ourselves with the ancient industries of prehistoric man who manufactured his flint implements, and made garments with his bone needles. An account of such manufactories has already been given in this volume in the chapter on Prehistoric Berkshire.1 The chapter on Roman Britain also furnishes some information with regard to the trades of the county at that period. i V.C.E. Berks, L The vicinity of the great Roman city of Silchester, where recent excavation has re- vealed the existence of dye-works ; the great roads that traversed the county, and the remains of numerous villas, testify to the prosperity of Berkshire under the Roman rule. The Saxon farmers laid the foundations of agriculture, which has been the main industry of the county since the time when they made their clearings in the forests and established their village communities. In this task they were greatly aided by the monks of Abingdon, and the chronicle of that abbey throws much light upon the early foundation of trade in Berkshire and its agricultural development. The ships of the abbot conveyed goods along the Thames,2 the situation of the monastery upon the banks of a navigable river con- tributing materially to the development of its capabilities, and affording an easy com- munication with Oxford on the one hand and with London on the other for the sale of its produce. The abbey enjoyed the valuable privilege of a fair or market within its town.3 The keenness with which the exercise of this right was attacked, and the pertinacity with which it was defended, afford proof of the value at which it was regarded by the con- tending parties, its chief opponents being the men of the neighbouring town of Walling- ford.4 The natural resources of the county are not favourable to the growth of industries other than agriculture. Ashmole states that ' this county may be valued rather for its pleasant situation than its fertility, the air being generally healthy even in its lowest vales, which may be judged to be the reason of the high price which the land of this county bears.6 This eminent authority should have excepted from a charge of want of fer- tility the Vale of the White Horse district, which contains some of the most fertile 2 Abingdon Chron. ii. 95, 119. 3 Ibid. pp. 1 80, 217, etc. « Ibid. pp. 227, 228, 229. 8 Ashmole, Berkshire, i. p. xxix. 371 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE land in England. The valley of the Thames has some rich pastures, and the Low-level al- luvium in the Kennet valley, near the junction of the Thames and the Ock, and between Mar- low and Windsor, produces large tracts of good meadow and corn land. Neither coal nor iron is found in the county. A rich and important family once endeavoured to supply the deficiency of the former useful substance, and spent a fortune in boring for coal in the neighbourhood of Radley, with the result of a considerable loss of fortune but no dis- covery of a carboniferous stratum. With the exception of the brick, tile and pottery works in the southern and eastern parts of the county the industries dependent on the mineral resources of Berkshire are on a small scale and are carried on mainly for the supply of local needs. In the north, along the outcrop of the Corallian Beds between Abingdon and Faring- don, stone of various qualities has been worked from very early times. The principal quarries now open are at Marcham, Kingston Bagpuize, Stanford in the Vale and Shelling- ford, but the remains of others, which may still be traced in the fields, show that formerly this industry must have been of greater importance than at present. The irregular bands of hard calcareous sandstone found in the lower part of this formation furnish good building material which has been much used in the district for churches, houses and barns, and also to a great extent for the walls which here form the fences round the fields, thus giving the country the peculiar ' stony ' appearance which is still more marked further to the north in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. The upper part of the Corallian Beds consists of oolitic limestone and rubbly coral-rock known as ' rag.' These have been used for rough building, for road- mending and for lime-burning. Lime for the buildings belonging to the Abbey of Abingdon in the fourteenth century was obtained from the quarries of Cumnor.1 The rag-stone is still burnt for lime at Chaw- ley near Cumnor, the material being obtained from shallow workings which are filled in at the close of each season. Chalk, the commonest of the rocks of Berkshire, has yielded material for a number of small industries. For building purposes chalk itself, when properly chosen and well seasoned before use, proves fairly durable, especially for inside work. The manufacture of whiting is another 1 Accts. of the Abbey of Abingdon (Camden Soc.), p. 47. small industry dependent on chalk for its raw material. For the production of a good article it is necessary that the chalk should be pure and white and as free from flints as possible. The usual method of preparing the material is to break up the lumps of freshly quarried chalk, to pick out the flints and to throw the remainder into a harrow-mill, where it is further broken up in water, the finer part being run off into tanks, where it gradually consolidates into ' slurry,' while the coarser part remains in the mill and is thrown away. When the slurry has become suffici- ently thick it is dug out and made into whiting and dried in lumps in sheds with open sides. An old-established manufactory is still carried on, on a small scale, at Warren Row near Hurley, where the chalk is obtained from underground workings in the side of a hill. Kintbury was formerly the principal seat of this industry in Berkshire. Mr. Bristow, writing in 1862,2 says : ' Chalk is made into whiting at Kintbury, and sent by canal thence in considerable quantities to Bristol, where it is consigned to the oil and colourmen. . . . At Kintbury there are five manufacturers of whiting, one of whom makes about 600 tons per annum, the others about 300 tons each, making a total of about 1,800 tons. Formerly it used to fetch 30^. per ton, but now it only sells for 8^.' At the present time (1904) there is one whiting manufactory at Kint- bury, the produce of which is mainly used locally. A considerable number of men find employ- ment in dredging gravel or ' ballast ' from the bed of the Thames for use as building material and other purposes. The coarser part is used for concrete and the finer for the best kinds of mortar and plaster. Here may be mentioned the quarrying of the ' sponge-gravel ' at Coxwell near Faring- don which has been carried on for over 200 years.3 The deposit is of Lower Greensand age, consists mainly of fossil sponges and other organic remains, and is in great demand for use on garden walks and similar situations on account of its bright colour and its power of absorbing moisture, paths made of it keeping a dry surface in the wettest weather. In another part of the same deposit on a hill about a mile south-west of Faringdon are * On the Geology of Parts of Berkshire, etc. (Mem. Geol. Survey, 1862), p. 17 ; see also The Cretaceous Rocks of Britain (Mem. Geol. Survey, 1904), iii. 393. 3 E. C. Davey in Trans. Newbury Dist. Field Club, vol. ii. Paper separately printed, Wantage, 1874. 372 INDUSTRIES the remains of some curious excavations in the earth which go by the name of ' Cole's Pits.' Many explanations of these have been suggested, but the most probable appears to be that they are the relics of old workings in the underlying ironstone.1 It is said that mill-stones were formerly made here of this substance. Building stone of Portland age, similar to that which occurs in the great quarries of Swindon a few miles to the west, was formerly worked at Bourton,2 a village which is built on a small outlier of that formation. Berkshire is well provided with the raw material for the manufacture of bricks, tiles and pottery, clay of various qualities being found abundantly within its borders. On the revival of brickmaking in the fourteenth century this county was one of the first dis- tricts in which it was carried on. The tower of Letcombe Bassett church is of brick with stone dressings in the Early English style,3 and was probably one of the earliest buildings to be erected with the newly introduced material. The good quality of the clay at Reading, which belongs to the geological formation known as the Reading Beds, com- bined with the ease with which it can be worked, occurring as it does on the hillsides on both banks of the Kennet, caused the town to be the chief centre of this industry in Berk- shire from the first. The bed of fossil oyster shells which was found near the base of the Reading clays in the pits of Katesgrove or Catsgrove early attracted the notice of the curious. We find it mentioned by Dr. Brewer,4 Robert Plot,5 Dr. William Stukeley a and others, some of whom also give accounts of the bricks and tiles which were then made at that spot. These were not only used for the houses of the town itself but also in the surrounding villages. The bricks for the seventeenth century church towers of Wargrave, Ruscombe, Hurst and Shin- field were probably obtained from the Kates- grove kilns. The site of the old brickyard is now built over, but further south, along the same hillside, the clay is still worked at the Waterlow kiln by Messrs. Poulton & Sons. At Coley, on the opposite side of the Kennet, the clay was worked up till 1877 by Messrs. S. & E. Collier, but the available supply 1 E. C. Davey, op. cit. 2 A. C. Ramsey. (Mem. Geol. Survey, 1858), On the Geology of Parts of Wilts and Berks, p. 27. <> Parker, Eccl. Topog. of Berks (1849). 1 Phil. Trans, xxii. 485 (1700). ' Nat. Hist, of Oxford, p. 120 (1705). • Itinerarium Curiosum, p. 59 (1724). being used up their works were then removed to Grovelands, between Reading and Tile- hurst, where an extensive manufactory of bricks, tiles, pottery and terra-cotta is carried on by that firm. This clay is also used in many other brickyards, not only near Reading, but all along its main outcrop and also on some of the many outliers which occur on the hilltops in the chalk districts. Among the principal kilns may be mentioned those at Pinkney's Green, near Maidenhead, Knowl Hill, Ruscombe, Shaw, Tilehurst, Upper Basildon, Kintbury, Curridge, Wickham, and many other places. The industry was carried on in Cookham parish in very early times, and judging by the exhausted clay pits must have been of some local importance. Tiles were made there in the year 1287, when they were sold at the price of 2s. 2d. per thousand.7 The names Kiln Meadow and Kiln Platt denote the sites of the former manufacture. The extensive works at Pinkney's Green for bricks, tiles, and terra-cotta were established in 1825 by Mr. Charles Cooper, and are now carried on by his descendants under the name of J. K. Cooper & Sons. For many years the ma- chinery was worked by horse-power, but steam power was substituted about 30 years go. The firm is noted for its terra-cotta work, and the colour is entirely due to the natural brick earth, and not to any artificial colouring. They employ about 100 men, and the trade is principally a home one, although they have a good foreign trade also. Owing to the great demand for bricks, caused by the increase of population in the south-eastern part of the county, many brick- yards have been opened in recent years near Bracknell and Wokingham by Messrs. T. Lawrence & Sons, The Bracknell Brick, Tile and Pottery Co. and others. The material used in this district is the London Clay and, in some instances, the overlying Bagshot Beds. The London Clay is also used for brick-making on the south side of the Kennet at Newbury. In the northern part of the county the Kim- meridge Clay is worked near Cumnor by the Chawley Brickworks Co. to meet the demand created by the neighbouring city of Oxford. The same clay is also dug at Faringdon and at Drayton near Abingdon. In the Vale of White Horse the Gault Clay is used for brick- making at Uffington, Childrey and other places. Sarsen stones,8 or Greywethers, hardened 7 Rogers, Hist, of Agriculture and Prices, ii. 434. 8 Prof. Rupert Jones, paper in Berks, etc., Arch. Jo-urn, vii. 54 (1901). 373 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE parts of sand beds of Tertiary age, are found in many parts of the county, especially on the chalk downs north of Lambourn, where, the softer sands having been removed by denuda- tion, the hard masses of stone lie exposed on the surface. They also occur occasionally in the gravel beds of the river valleys and have been used for road-mending, for pitching and paving, and also for building. The church- yard wall at Lambourn contains some very fine specimens of these stones. Wayland Smith's cave, the principal prehistoric monu- ment in the county, is a cromlech built of sarsens. They are also frequently made use of to keep vehicles from running against the banks by the roadsides, or against corners of houses. Mr. Bristow * mentions one at Thatcham which had received a polish from the constant use of it as a seat by the village children. Peat has been dug at many places in the Kennet Valley, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Newbury, both for use as fuel and also to be burnt for the sake of the ashes which are applied as a top dressing to the land. The quantity usually put on an acre of young clover is from 15 to 20 bushels. In 1862 the price at Newbury was about 4^. the bushel.3 In the early part of the nineteenth century the burning of the peat was a con- siderable industry, and it was no uncommon thing for farmers to fetch the ashes in wagons from long distances. In the seventeenth century, when the cloth industry of Reading and Newbury was in a flourishing condition and the difficulty of getting fullers' earth from a distance was considerable, it was usual for the local cloth- iers to make use of a bed of loamy clay found in the Reading Beds at Katesgrove Brick- yard.3 As some compensation for lack of mineral wealth Berkshire has for centuries possessed a large supply of timber. Leland in his de- scription of Maidenhead, written in the year 1538, states : ' There is a grate warfeage of tymbere and fierwood on the West ende of the bridge ; and this wood cummith out of Barkshir and the great woddis of the forest of Windelsore and the greate frithe.' * The far extending woodland of Windsor Forest 1 Geology of Parts of Berks, etc. (Mem. Geol. Survey), p. 51. 2 H. W. Bristow, in Geology of Parts of Berks, etc. (Mem. Geol. Survey), p. 50. 3 Letter from Dr. Brewer to Dr. Sloane, Phil. Trans, xxii. 485 (1700), reprinted in Geology of Reading, by Blake and Monckton (Mem. Geol. Survey, 1903). 4 Itinerary, ii. 28, 29, ed. 1769. was as late as the thirteenth century only separated from the great Berkshire forests by the valley of the Loddon.5 Berkshire coppice wood used to be in great demand, especially in the Vale of the Kennet, where the trade was considerable. A hundred years ago the demand for hoops and brooms, which were sent in large quantities to London, furnished a staple employment for the poor in winter, especially in the neighbourhood of navigation. The hoops had various names, such as Mid- dling, Long pipe, Short pipe, Hogshead, Barrel, Kilderkin, Firkin, Long pink, Short pink, Tumbril, Bottle. The hoops were made of willow, ash and hazel. Birch was sometimes used, and also for brooms, which were sold to the dealers in London by the load. The wharf at Aldermaston was the principal seat of this considerable trade. Extensive osier beds have been cultivated along the banks of the Kennet, in the neighbourhood of Aldermaston, Wasing, Woolhampton, Brimpton and Thatcham, and Dr. Mavor stated in 1808 that the osier was cultivated with a degree of care and success unknown in any other part of the kingdom. The proprietors used to sell the osiers to the whiteners, who stripped and whitened the rods, preparing them for the basket-makers. Many women and girls were employed in this industry and earned z\d,. per bolt, the measure of which is 42 inches girt, 14 inches from the butts. The basket-makers of London received their principal supply from the Berkshire beds. Willows were also exten- sively grown for laths, gates, hurdles, poles, etc., and fashion a century ago decreed that pollard willows should be made into ladies' hats. Dr. Mavor saw many trunks lying on the wharf at Lechlade in order to be carried to London for that purpose.6 This plentiful supply of timber was the source of considerable revenue to the county. A large amount was sent from Reading, Maidenhead and Windsor to London, and in the accounts of the building of portions of Windsor Castle and of Eton College we find several items relating to Windsor. Wargrave furnished some oaks for the repair of the castle in the time of Henry III.,7 and Godfrey de Lyston, keeper of the forest of Windsor, was ordered to give out of the forest to Gil- bert, the king's carpenter, as much timber as he required to repair the halls and chambers.8 Upton and Sunninghill supplied timber for B Cooper King, History of Berkshire, p. 12. 0 Mavor, Agriculture of Berks, p. 320. ' Rot. Claus. 27 Hen. III. s Ibid. 40 Hen. III. 374 INDUSTRIES the building of St. George's Chapel in the sixteenth year of Edward IV. In the year 1556 in the book of accounts of 'y° charges of building and Erection of the Almes Knights lodgings within the honour and castle of Wyndesor ' we find an entry : ' Timber for the upp lodgings was brought out of several places following Ashinge, Hurste, Bynfield, Water Cheley, Sunning hill parke, Wokefield. Timber feld and hewed out of Bagshot parke, Cranbourne Chace, Mote parke, for the same lodgings.' l For the building of Eton College timber was brought in large quantities, oak from London, Easthampstead, Foliejon Park, Sunninghill and Windsor Forest, and elm from Maiden- head and other places.2 Berkshire woods, the Forest and the Great Frith supplied the great ' warfage of Timbre ' at Maidenhead which Leland saw in the time of Henry VIII., and Cranbourne and Mote Park yielded timber for the works for supplying the castle with water.3 The corporation of Windsor paid £4 13^. 4^. to Thomas Benet in the time of Henry VIII. to buy timber for the bridge at Windsor, and very numerous other pur- chases were made in subsequent years for the same purpose. The trees of the forest of Windsor were extensively used for the ships of the English navy. In a survey of the Great Park made 27 February 1649-50 it is recorded, ' The totall of the trees which are marked for the use of the navy within the severall Walkes of the said park are in all Two thousand six hundred and foure trees.' * It will be understood from what has been already stated that before the advent of rail- ways and the extension of the system of canals the river Thames was the principal means of transit of goods and the great high- way of traffic. As early as the reign of John considerable quantities of wine and pro- visions were transmitted to and from Windsor by boats on the river.5 The king in 1205 gave licence to William FitzAndrew to have one vessel to ply on the Thames between Oxford and London without any impediment to him or his men on the parts of the bailiff of Wallingford or the bailiff of Windsor.8 Edward II. paid boats' hire for his son and his knights and clerks from Windsor to the Tower of London. Stone had frequently to be conveyed by the Thames to Reading, and 1 Ashm. MS. No. 1125, ff. 66, 66b. 3 R. R. Tighe and J. E. Davis, Annals of Windsor, i. 338. 3 Ashm. MS. No. 1125, ff. 68-71. 4 Ann. of Windsor, ii. p. 242. « Rot. Claus. 7 John. 8 Ann. of Windsor, i. 58, when the dwellings of the Poor Knights at Windsor were built ' Cane ' or Caen and other building stone were ' fetched from Reading Abbey by water ' and conveyed to Windsor.7 Stone for the building of Eton College was conveyed by the river, Caen stone and ragg stone from the Boughton quarries near Maidstone, Yorkshire stone vi4 London, the cost of the freight from London to Windsor being is. ^d. per ton. Headington quarries near Oxford gave a further supply, which the great river conveyed to the site of the rising college.8 In the time of Henry VIII. both persons and goods were usually conveyed by boat from Windsor to London. ' The quality ' travelled by barges, their servants and goods by boat. It must not be thought that the Thames was then the placid stream that affords delight to oarsmen. The dangers of the Thames in winter, in times of flood and storm, were serious obstacles to traffic, as the records of the sessions of the county show, to which we shall have occasion to refer later. No less inconvenient was the stranding of the barges in summer, when as Dr. Plot states ' in dry times barges do sometimes lie aground three weeks or a month or more as we have had sad experience this last summer.' Pre- vious to the Act of Parliament of 1624 providing for ' the opening of the river from Burcote by Abingdon to Oxford ' the system of flashing was used, stanches being placed at the shallow places which penned up the river, and when suddenly removed the barges were floated by the sudden rush of the water over the shallows below. The process of working the boats up stream over the shallows was difficult, as they had to be laboriously hauled up with the aid of a capstan on the bank. Dr. Plot describes the ' folding-doors, floodgates and turn-pikes ' that were con- structed after the passing of the Act at Iffley, Sandford and Culham, but in spite of these the river afforded an imperfect means of inland navigation, and the old system of ' flashing ' was continued at many weirs to a late period, even as late as the beginning of the last century. Wrecks were frequent and numerous. Thus in the book of the County Sessions of n April 1726 we find that ' Ben- jamin and Joseph Tomkins exhibited their complaints alleging that about the third day of March last 1 30 quarters of malt was greatly damaged by water by means of the casting away or sinking of a certain barge or vessel in the River of Thames at or near Purley, ' Tighe and Davis, Ann. of Windsor, i. 606. s Ibid. i. 336. 375 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE called ' Kings Arms,' transporting goods from Abingdon to London.' The claimants had paid duty on the malt and appealed to the sessions for rebatement thereof. A ' draw- back ' or allowance of $s. 6d. for each quarter was ordered to be given them. At the same time there were six other similar orders granted ; and similar items appear in the accounts of subsequent years, showing the unsafe condition of the Thames as a highway for traffic in the early part of the eighteenth century. The owners of mill-dams or weirs facilitated navigation by having openings in these constructions by means of which barges could be floated over the shallows, and the barge-makers paid an acknowledgment to the owners of the weirs for the convenience thus afforded to navigation. The fees charged gradually grew to be excessive, and statutes were enacted to regulate these charges, and to prevent impositions at the weirs 1 on the part of their owners, who levied heavy toll on all barges, boats and other vessels. At the beginning of the eighteenth century complaints by the barge-masters were made, and the Commissions appointed by Parlia- ment in 1729-30 found that ' the water carriage was much raised.' In 1772 the first great effort was made to improve the system of the Thames navigation. About that time the trade on the river, owing to the general prosperity of the country, was rapidly increasing, and it was proposed to cut a canal from Reading to Isleworth which would have shortened the distance between Reading and London by 33 miles. The owners of lands adjoining the river, fearing the diversion of trade, opposed this project, and obtained an Act of Parliament 3 for the appointment of Thames Commissioners who should borrow money in order to erect pound- locks, the interest on the money and the repairs being defrayed from the tolls collected. In 1795 an Act of Parliament was passed to explain and amend two former Acts of 1771 and 1775, and to give new powers. Since the passing of that Act the navigation has been improved by the removal of shoals and the building of locks and the reduction of the rates and prices levied by riparian owners. The trade at the beginning of the nine- teenth century was considerable, and the number of barges registered by the surveyor of upper districts of the Thames navigation as constantly or occasionally trading on that ' 6 and 7 Will. III. cap. 16 ; 3 Geo. II. II ; 24 Geo. II. cap. 8. « II Geo. III. cap. 45. cap. part of the river, amounted in 1805 to 195, and their tonnage was 15,037 tons. Other Berkshire rivers, the Loddon, Kennet, and the smaller streams, the Ock, Enborne, Emme, Broadwater, Ginge Brook, Black- water, contributed to the development of manufacturers and to the cultivation of industry. The lesser streams could be easily adapted to turn the wheels of the many mills which existed from an early period. At that time the riverside fisheries probably con- stituted the staple industry. The osiers which grew thickly on the river marshes by Twyford, Reading, and the banks of the Kennet, to which attention has already been given, were an obvious inducement for the existence probably at an early date of a considerable basket-making industry. As a means of communication for the traffic of merchandise the great roads passing through the county were largely used. Strings of pack-horses and wains conveyed along them the cloth goods and other products of Berkshire to London. This circumstance led to the construction of bridges which have exercised a considerable effect on the trading centres of the county. The construction of the bridge at Maidenhead in the thirteenth century called that town into being.3 Pre- vious to its erection there was a ford and ferry at Babham End, whereby passengers from Lon- don crossed the river going through Cookham. The Great Western road passed on thence to Maidenhead thicket, where it diverged, one branch going to Reading and Bristol, and the other to Henley and Gloucester. The con- struction of the bridge diverted the road at Two-mile Brook from Burnham, it being carried over the new bridge through the hamlet, now the town, of Maidenhead to the Thicket. Camden remarks that ' after they had built a wooden bridge here upon piles Maidenhead began to have inns, and to be so frequented as to outvie its neighbouring mother Bray, a much more ancient place.' The erection of bridges also made consider- able alterations in the course of trade in other parts of the county. The old Wallingford bridge, one of the most important on the Thames, contributed in early times to the prosperity of that town. But in 1416 it lost its special trading advantages owing to the public spirit of two worthies of Abingdon, John Brett and John Houchons, or Huchyns, who were far-seeing enough to understand that to improve their town, trade should flow through it and not by it. They therefore, 376 3 ' Pontagium pro ponte de Maidenheith ' (Cal. of Pat. 26 Edw. I.). INDUSTRIES with the aid of other benefactors of the town, built the bridges of Burford and Culhamford and a fine causeway connecting them, making Abingdon a considerable thoroughfare for the traffic of merchandise to Cirencester and the west. These bridges also benefited the ancient town of Faringdon, the western traffic being diverted and made to pass through it. In the eighteenth century there was a great movement for the improvement of inland navigation by the means of canals, and a very complete system was inaugurated, which opened many markets and wrought many changes in the county. The Kennet was rendered navigable from Newbury to Reading by certain projectors under powers given them by Parliament.1 Much opposition was at first encountered on the part of the cor- poration of Reading, the proprietors of water- works, mills and wharfs. But the scheme was at length accomplished, and Mr. John Hore was the engineer who also made the Kennet and Avon Canal which passes through Hunger- ford. Between Reading and Newbury he constructed twenty locks, and a wharf was made at Aldermaston. The trade of both Reading and Newbury was greatly increased by this means of communication with the west. ' The wharf at Newbury became the dep6t of a very extensive inland carrying trade to London and all parts of the west of England, and was provided with a bason or wet-dock, where ten of the largest barges might load or unload with the greatest facility, which gave quite a maritime and commercial appearance to the place, and bespoke the extent of its trade.' 2 Till a late period Reading was very deficient in the possession of large and convenient wharfs, without which the advantages arising from good water-ways are considerably decreased in value. There were few places for landing goods, except such as belonged to the Crown- lands, and for the use of them, being let to an under-tenant, a heavy toll was demanded. There was at one time a ' common landing place ' near High Bridge, but the Corporation acquired the right of buying wharfage dues. A commodious wharf and dock were however completed in i828,3 and were of much advantage to the trade of the town. In the north of the county an important engineering work greatly improved the means * Statute I Geo. I. cap. 24, 7 Geo. I. cap. 28 and 3 George II. cap. 25. Money, Hist, of New- bury, p. 367. 2 Ibid. p. 368, andMavor, Agriculture of Berks, p. 440. 3 Doran, Hist, of Reading, p. 236, of traffic. In 1730 a canal was formed by Act of Parliament from Framilode on the Severn to Walbridge near Stroud, and called the Stroudwater Canal. In 1789 this canal was connected with the Thames and made to pass through Sapperton to Lechlade, and thus to connect the great river with the Severn. Another canal, the Wilts and Berks, com- menced in 1793 under the direction of Mr. Whitworth, runs from Abingdon past Wan- tage to Semington in Wilts, where it joins the Kennet and Avon Canal. No less important to Berkshire was the Oxfordshire Canal, which connects London, Reading and Windsor with Birmingham and the Midlands, constructed in 1790. This water-way brought Berkshire into touch with one of the great manufactur- ing centres of England, and was especially valuable in providing a much cheaper supply of coal. Previous to its construction all the coal supply came from London. At the end of the eighteenth century we see the county provided with an admirable system of water communication, the construction of which showed much industrial enterprise and en- tailed the expenditure of vast sums of money. The extraordinary advance of science and the introduction of railways and steam power were destined to produce startling changes in the near future. We may note here that Wantage has the distinction of being the first place in England where a steam tramway has been made. This was constructed to connect the town with Wantage Road Station on the Great Western Railway, a distance of about two miles. An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1874 and a company formed ; at first only horse power was used, but two years later steam traction was introduced : one of the results was the revolution of the coal trade of the town, the supply of which for"nearly a century had been dependent upon the canal, the coal being brought from the Somerset and Gloucester- shire coalfields. The new steam tramway enabled the townspeople to receive trucks from all parts of the Midlands.4 Before we turn over a new page of the industrial history of Berkshire it may be well to record the rise, progress and decay of certain trades which once flourished in the county, and to note the kind of goods which were transported along their great water-ways. The extensive range of down-land on the chalk hills furnishes excellent pasturage for sheep, which formerly laid the foundations of the pre-eminence of Berkshire as a rich cloth- making county. Abingdon, Reading and 377 « Gibbons, ffantage, Past and Present, p. 98. 48 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Newbury were the great centres of the manufacture, which extended itself to other neighbouring towns and villages. Of Abing- don, Leland stated that in his time ' the town stondith by clothing.' The records of Reading and Newbury abound with refer- ences to the skill and prosperity of the clothiers, of the fame of ' Jack of Newbury,' of John Kendrick, and many others who wrought well and worthily and brought prosperity to their native towns and county. For a full account of their achievements we would refer the reader to the special section relating to Cloth-making. Besides its rich fleeces Berkshire has few natural products which tend to encourage other industries than agriculture. Of modern developments of its resources it is proposed to treat later. It may be well now to glance at the records of early industries which flourished in the chief centres of the population, and to con- sider the condition of the traders and their craftsmen. One of the earliest industries which flour- ished in Berkshire and rendered the county famous was that of Bell-founding. There was a foundry at Wokingham in the four- teenth century ; in the fifteenth it was owned by Roger Landen and later on by John Michel ; and the Knights, John Carter and others flourished at Reading, and were the makers of some of the best rings in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire and Oxford- shire. For a further account of this im- portant industry the reader is referred to the special section dealing with this subject. In the eighteenth century malting was one of the principal trades of the county, and an extended notice of this industry will appear later in the section on Brewing. There seems to have been a considerable trade in candle-making at Wallingford at the beginning of the eighteenth century, as revealed by the records of the County Ses- sions, and apparently unrecorded elsewhere. In 1732 one John Sexton forfeited £100 for using his private storehouse for laying and keeping candles for sale ; he also forfeited £50 for making a ' course ' of candles without having given a declaration to the proper office. A century later we find that the industry was still in existence and was represented by Edward Button, soap-boiler and tallow chand- ler, in St. Martin's Street.1 A new industry was introduced into Reading by William Wimpery, ' wire drawer,' who was admitted to the freedom of the borough in The list of trades at Reading in the time of Elizabeth shows that the making of pins was carried on in the town. There were three pinners at that period. In 1633 John Barnard, pinmaker, of Wargrave, approached the Corporation for the purpose of establish- ing a pin-making business in Reading ' for setting poor boys on work.' He asked for a convenient room for his people to work in, and convenient lodgings for himself and his family. He engaged to set in work ten or more boys, and offered the not very remunera- tive wages of 1 2 d. to 20 d. a week, nor would he find them meat, drink, apparel nor lodging. His offer seems to have been accepted by the Corporation, though no record of the order appears. But in 1640 Francis Thackham, a pinner, pays for his freedom and receives £30, which Mr. Barnard had in his hands upon security, and such convenient rooms in Mr. Kendrick's building as may be spared, he keeping six boys from time to time in work.3 The scheme of Mr. Barnard had evidently prospered. ' Mr. Kendrick's building ' was the famous Oracle,4 which continued to be the chief seat of the industry until pin-making ceased in Reading with the destruction of the Oracle about the middle of the last century. The trade was not confined to ' Mr. Kend- rick's building,' as in the same year John Mihell, a ' pynmaker,' is allowed to use his trade in the borough on payment of 20 shil- lings. The introduction of pin-making into Reading corresponds with the time when the home manufacture of this article began to grow more extensive and regular, and to supersede the foreign trade, which is said to have been so large in the reign of Elizabeth that £60,000 a year left the country to pay for the import of pins. The charter of the Pinners' Company of London was granted in 1636, some years after the introduction of the industry to Reading, though they existed in the city some three centuries earlier, and were allied to the Girdlers' and Wire-workers' Companies. The charter of Charles I., how- ever, stimulated the industry, which found a congenial soil in Reading. The trade con- tinued to be carried on in Reading through the seventeenth century. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the industry was carried on at the Oracle by Mr. Henry Deane, and provided employment for many poor persons, not only in the Oracle but also in their own homes, particularly in the heading part, which was principally performed by children by means of an engine worked by the 1 Pigot and Go's. Commercial Directory, Berks, 1830, p. 60. a Rec. of Reading, ii. 90. s Ibid. iii. 508, 510. 4 Vide infra, Clothing Industry. 378 INDUSTRIES foot. The old form of pin made in Reading, which has been obsolete only within recent times, consisted of a shank with a separate head of fine wire twisted round and screwed to it. Some examples of such pins manufac- tured in the town are preserved in the Reading Museum, and also some curious bones which were evidently used for sharpening the points. These were discovered when an old house was pulled down at the corner of Broad Street and Cross Street, where apparently pin- making was carried on. In 1830 Messrs. Nicholls and Brewer carried on this trade in Thorn Island.1 Mr. Hanson, who was an apprentice of Henry Deane, the Oracle pin- maker, bought his business and carried it on until the building was pulled down and the trade ceased in Reading, being effectually killed by the rivalry of Birmingham. Some of the last pins made in Reading are in the writer's possession. They are made of single pieces of wire, the head, shaft and point being in one piece, and are of very creditable work- manship. The consideration of the history of this important industry of old Reading has carried us a long way from the records of the trades of the seventeenth century, and it will be necessary to revert to the industrial history of that period. In 1640 we find the first notice of the manufacture of silk.2 Another new industry is mentioned in 1634 which has a brief, chequered and unsavoury career. William Hayes introduced the making of lute- strings with gut, but certain burgesses com- plained before the Corporation of Master Hayes ' annoying them with stinks by using the making of lute-strings, and misusing one of them in words,' and he was compelled to promise to desist from the manufacture of these tuneful articles.3 The making of guns was a Reading industry. Gun Street still exists where the manufacture was carried on, and the time was fast approaching when such weapons were to be much used in the town and neighbourhood. The earliest record of the industry is associated with the name of Bartholomew Abrey, gunsmith,4 who in 1636 was beaten and wounded by two men, and was bound over to prosecute. In the Reading Museum is a small blunderbuss with a flint lock stamped with the name of J. Mace. The date is c. 1750, and ' Reading ' is marked upon it. This was a production of a Reading gun- smith, whose descendant John Mace was still making guns in 1830. At that later period * Pigot's Com. Dir. Berks, 1830, p. 56. 2 Rec. of Reading, iii. 520. 3 Ibid. iii. 249. « Ibid. iii. 345. the trade was also carried on by William Morgan and John Soper, who lived and worked in Broad Street. The growing use of tobacco, the sale of which was hampered by many restrictions, is shown by repeated mention in the records of the town. There were several tobacco-pipe makers in Reading in 1636, as on September 27 there is an entry relating to the differences between these craftsmen, which were heard by the mayor and burgesses and ' left to the law to be tried and proved.' s At the beginning of the last century there was a gauze manufactory at Reading con- taining 109 looms, which found employment for a great number of men, women and children, in the making of gauze, crapes, muslinets, and plain and figured silk dresses. There were also several other manufactories, among which were two for the making of galloon, satin, ribbons, hat-bands, shoe-strings, etc., in which a large number of persons were employed. In 1814 a gauze manu- factory was carried on in the Abbey, which provided employment for seventy persons.6 Just before the advent of railways, in the year 1838, there were three firms of silk manu- factories, to whose works reference will be made in a subsequent chapter. William Clark made galloons, a kind of close lace, in Chatham Street ; and other trades were con- ducted there. Chairmaking was carried on at Speen in 1687 by one William Parker, who endeavoured to set up his trade within the precincts of the borough of Newbury, but he was ordered by the Corporation to return to Speen and the officers were commanded to remove him. An ingenious gentleman of Newbury in 1816 invented a lifeboat, the precursor of the modern boats designed for the deliverance from the perils of the sea. The inventor was Mr. William Plenty, who styled his new craft the Experiment, and Mr. Money states in his history that the boat received the encomiums of the Elder Brethren of Trinity House and the Directors of the East India Company ; Viscount Exmouth agreed with other distinguished naval authorities that Mr. Plenty's boat was built on such a prin- ciple of complete safety that it was impossible to sink her, or that she could become water- logged, or even bilged against rocks. The Lords of the Admiralty and the Royal In- stitution for the Preservation of Lives from shipwreck ordered several of the boats, after practically testing their powers, and they « Ibid. iii. 338. 9 Reading Seventy Tears Ago, p. 45. 379 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE were for many years in use at various places along the coast, and were instrumental in saving many lives.1 At the beginning of the eighteenth century the dressing of hemp and flax greatly increased in Abingdon, and the large number of spin- ning and weaving houses occasioned several dreadful conflagrations owing to the negli- gence and carelessness of the men, women and children employed therein. Hence very strict orders were issued that no one should work in these weaving sheds by candlelight ; and heavy fines were to be inflicted upon any employer or employ^ who should offend against this edict. This dressing hemp and making matting and sacking, biscuit-bagging, wool-sheeting and carpet-weaving, together with the large trade in malt for the London markets, formed the chief industries of the town before the advent of railways. In 1830 there were n maltsters, 22 sacking manu- facturers, 3 matting manufacturers. Joseph Hadley, besides making sacks and wool- sheeting, was ' a manufacturer of the im- proved patent waterproof canvas for wagon, boat and rick cloths,' and William Prince made rope and twine, tarpauling, hemp, carpeting, and wool-sheeting.8 By the early part of the nineteenth century we arrive at the period of our history when the county was traversed by an abundant system of inland navigation, while coaches and road wagons conveyed passengers and goods to and from the metropolis to the towns and villages. Vast sums had been spent upon the water-ways of the county. The original cost of rendering the Kennet river navigable was £84,000. Nearly a million sterling was spent on the Kennet and Avon Canal, and very large sums on the Wilts and Berks and Thames and Severn Canals. As we have seen the Thames did not always afford the safest and surest means of conveying goods. The floods and storms of winter caused wrecks of the barges, and in summer the dryness of the season often caused the water to be so low that boats were prevented from sailing. A diarist of Reading in 1814 records on 9 November of that year that the grocers employed Bowsher Parsons and Holloway's wagons to fetch goods from London, as no boats have arrived since the beginning of October ; the price of carry- ing by water being then is. lid. per cwt., by land zs. 6d. per cwt.3 The same writer records the incalculable advantages which Reading derived from ' the 1 Money, Hist, of Newbury, p. 394. 2 Pigot's Com. Dir. of Berks, p. 30, 1830. 3 Reading Seventy Tears Ago, p. 32. navigable canal to Bristol by which the produce of Ireland and our West Indian settlements, instead of being carried round a dangerous coast to London, and from thence to this town, are now brought directly here through the country, and by our grocers distributed among the neighbouring towns and villages at a lower price than by the London merchants, this causing an influx of wealth to our traders which is felt throughout thetown."4 The time arrived when this vast cost of con- structing water-ways was rendered compara- tively useless by the introduction of steam loco- motion. The opposition shown by several of the towns to the new means of traction, and the policy which in after years was seen to be so short-sighted, sealed the fate of these places and prevented them from even hoping to be- come important centres of industrial activity. This was particularly the case with Abingdon. In 1837 the Oxford and Great Western Union Railway proposed to construct a line passing through the town, but the Council of the Borough unanimously resolved to dissent from the proposal.5 In the next year the Borough Seal of the Council was affixed to a Petition to both Houses of Parliament against the Oxford and Didcot Railway Bill with a branch to Abingdon. In 1842 the wise-acres of the Council seem to have seen their mistake, and a committee was appointed to interview the Secretary of the Company with a view to getting the Company to construct their railways from Oxford to Moulsford nearer to the town for the conveni- ence of the town and trade of the borough. The Secretary replied that a meeting of the Directors would shortly be held at Steventon, when Mr. Brunei would be present, and they would be prepared to receive and confer with a deputation of the council. However, by a majority of five to four in 1843 the assent of the Council was refused to an application for the construction of the line from Oxford to Didcot with a branch to Abingdon. Twelve years later the Council recognized the folly of their decision, and unanimously agreed to a scheme for the construction of a line from the Great Western Railway to Abingdon. This is a striking illustration of the antagonism to the introduction of rail- ways when they were first inaugurated. Wallingford, Wantage and Faringdon were left forsaken by the railways, with only small branch lines as means of communication with the main railways. Newbury was more fortunate, the Berks and Hants Extension 380 Ibid. p. 34. Rec. of Abingdon, p. 257. INDUSTRIES Railway passing though that town, being opened for traffic in 1847. But Reading is most favoured by the Railway Com- panies, which have made it a great com- mercial trading centre and brought much prosperity to the town. The county has for many years been served by the main lines of the Great Western Railway, its northern line through Didcot to Oxford, its branch lines from Reading to Newbury and Hunger- ford, and from Didcot to Newbury, and from Maidenhead to Cookham, and other con- necting lines ; also by the London and South Western Railway from London to Windsor and Reading, and the London and South Eastern Railway from London to Reading via Guildford. The little Lambourn Valley railway has in recent years opened out the western part of the county. We have already noticed that the first steam tramway in England was made to connect Wantage with the Great Western main line. The town of Abingdon after its violent opposition to railway communi- cation nearly retrieved its fallen fortunes by attracting to it in 1865 the Great Western Railway Company's carriage works when they were removed from Paddington. In spite of the offer of Sir George Bowyer, bart., to give the Company half the land required for the works, the proposal fell through, as the Company stated that the arrangements for the removal of the works to Oxford had gone so far as to be irrevocable.1 The industry of staining glass was at one time carried on in Reading by John Rowell in the middle of the eighteenth century. Sir Horace Walpole speaks of him as one of those through whom the noble art was preserved, and by whom it was delivered down to the present time. The following curious advertisement was inserted by the artist in the Reading Mercury, 12 February 1753 : — John Rowell, professor of the ancient art of staining glass, late of Wycomb, Bucks, now of Reading, having no son to succeed him, doth there- fore for the encouragement and improvement of that curious art, propose to explain and teach the same to any proper person for a reasonable con- sideration. Performances by him are to be seen in the chancel window at Hambleton near Henley in Oxfordshire, in which are the twelve apostles and Moses and Aaron, in their robes, with a large window of our Saviour's resurrection triumphing over death and the grave. The figures as big as life. Other windows painted by him were at Abthorpe, Northants, Newnham in Hamp- shire, Penn in Bucks, the Palace of the Bishop of Worcester at Hartlebury, and at Arborfield, Berks. He died in 1756 and was succeeded as a plumber by Mr. Truss, but his peculiar art of staining glass died with him.2 One of the most important factories in Reading is that of Messrs. Huntley, Boorne & Stevens, who carry on the large tin works and employ about 1,000 hands. Established about the year 1840 by Mr. Joseph Huntley, on part of the premises now occupied by them, the firm turned their attention to the manu- facture of tin boxes and canisters for packing foodstuffs and other commodities. The works occupy the centre of the block of buildings bounded by London Street, Church Street,Southampton Street, and Crown Street, having frontages to each, the area being about three acres. In 1902 the business was formed into a private limited company, Mr. S. B. Stevens being the managing director. A very old-established industry is that of Charles Cocks & Co., Ltd., Reading, pro- prietors and sole manufacturers of Cocks' Reading Sauce. This sauce was first manu- factured by James Cocks in the year 1789, and it speedily attained considerable popularity. So long ago as 1814, Mr. Cocks obtained a verdict with a hundred guineas damages against an oil merchant in London for counter- feiting the Reading sauce. The business at its foundation was carried on entirely in Duke Street, but later on a brewing house and stores were erected on a site in King's Road, and in 1875 the premises now occupied by the company were erected on that same site. The Royal Seed Establishment of Messrs. Sutton & Sons provides one of the chief in- dustries for the county. Its foundations were laid at the commencement of the nineteenth century by thelate_Mr. Martin Hope Sutton. The story of his life has been told by Dr. Japp in his Successful Business Men, and in a privately printed memoir by the Rev. A. Cheales. He was an enthusiastic botanist, and by careful study of flowers, grasses and forage plants he acquired the knowledge requisite for his future business. The style of the firm was at first John Sutton & Son. In 1843 his brother Alfred became a partner. The Irish famine of 1847 proved advantageous to the firm, as Mr. Sutton was enabled by his knowledge to supply the distressed districts with seeds of turnips, beet, cabbage and other vegetables which by quick growth would mitigate the severity of the famine. The firm fought a hard fight against the system of seed adulteration prevalent sixty or seventy years ago, and it was mainly through their action that the Seeds 1 Rec. of Abingdon, p. 289. 38l 3 Man, Hist, of Reading, p. 94. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Adulteration Act became law, and put an end to the fraudulent sale of killed seed. The stores and offices cover a site of nearly seven acres, and in addition the firm has fifty acres of experimental grounds, and the flower seed houses in Portland Place, where the hybridization and improvement of choice flowers have been carried on for many years. The present members of the firm are Messrs. Martin John Sutton, Arthur W. Sutton, Leonard G. Sutton and Martin H. F. Sutton. Paper-making is carried on in the county to some extent, the most interesting works being the Temple Mills at Bisham, which have had a curious history. They received their name from the fact that the original mills belonged to the Knights Templars. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, being employed for making brass and copper pans and kettles they were known as the Bisham Abbey Battery works. The proprietors having been engaged in the unfortunate speculations of the South Sea year, the loss occasioned by working the mills is noticed in some of the journals among the bubbles of the period.1 In 1748 Temple Mills continued to be em- ployed for making brass and copper utensils, and there were two other mills, one for making thimbles, and the other for pressing oil from rape and flax seed, which were very successful.2 In 1759 the mills were worked for brass and copper only by Mr. William Ockenden. The Pengree family succeeded to the property which was purchased by the late Mr. Owen Williams in 1788. The manufactures carried on in the mills in 1800 were considered the most complete and powerful of the kind in the kingdom, and consisted of the rolling of copper sheets for various purposes, the rolling of copper bolts for the navy and other ship- ping, and hammering out copper pans and bottoms for distilleries. There was also a mill for drawing brass wire.3 The works are now used for making paper, and are conducted by Messrs. Thomas Brothers & Co., Limited. Paper-making was introduced into Cookham about the middle of the eighteenth century by Mr. William Venables. The paper was used mainly for wrapping purposes, but was of a superior quality and had a good reputation. The business passed through four generations of the Venables family, the last owner of the name dying in 1893, and is still carried on under the firm George Venables & Son. The Colthrop Mills at Thatcham now used for paper-making have a considerable history. 1 Mist's Journal, 26 Nov. 1720, ii. 71. ' lour through Great Britain, iv. 1748. ' Lysons, Berkshire, pp. 198, 199. They were re-built in 1472* and were then corn mills. In 1540 the premises are de- cribed as a ' fulling mill lately new built.' 6 In 1805, Fourdrinier, the Frenchman who invented the paper machine, lived at the dwelling house at the mill and worked the mill for making paper, a business which has continued to the present time. After passing through the hands of Mr. Munn and Mr. Shaw the mill was acquired by Mr. John Henry, who with the assistance of his sons has worked it for nearly half a century. The paper made here is chiefly brown paper and other kinds of paper and paper bags used by grocers, drapers and warehousemen. Paper was also made at the Sutton Mills, Sutton Courtenay by Edmund and John Norris in 1830 ; and Mr.Dawson,who married Elmira Reeves, the heiress of Arborfield Hall, estab- lished extensive paper mills near the old Hall about the same time, which were burnt down. The powerful water-wheel still remains and is used for providing motive power for the electric supply for lighting the Hall. The old paper mill at East Hagbourne, which be- longed to the Slade family from the days of Charles I., has disappeared. A medal was awarded to Mr. William Slade at the Paris Exhibition of 1855 for the only hand-made blotting-paper of superior quality exhibited. The mill was subsequently let to Mr. Ford, who worked it a short time, after which it was sold and demolished. Paper-making used to be carried on at the Greenham and West Mills, Newbury, and at the hamlet of Bagnor there were two large paper mills, one of which stood on the site of the cascade in Donnington Grove, and was pulled down at the beginning of the last century. The motive power was derived from the Lambourn river. During the latter half of the eighteenth century there was a paper mill at Whistley, near Twyford, on the site of the mill mentioned in the Domesday Survey ; but it has entirely disap- peared. Basket-making was at one time an import- ant industry in the villages along the banks of the Thames, where osier beds are cultivated. Formerly it was used extensively for the making of eel bucks and other fishing appli- ances, especially at Cookham. The industry is still carried on for the manufacture of baskets required for fruit gathering and marketing ; but the low prices of foreign baskets has greatly interfered with the trade. Lace-making was formerly a very common cottage industry at Cookham and other 382 * Barfield, Thatcham and its Manors, i. 352. « B.M. Harl. MSS. 606, f. 843. INDUSTRIES villages near the Buckinghamshire border, and the lace pillow was in use in very many of the cottages ; but this industry is no longer car- ried on except to a small extent at Windsor. Hand-made lace has been practically super- seded by the machine-made lace of Notting- ham, the prices received for the work being very unremunerative. It has been revived in Buckinghamshire by the help of an active society of ladies interested in the work, but the movement has not extended into Berk- shire. An interesting experiment was made in recent years in the starting of tapestry works in the royal borough of Windsor. Mr. Henry, a well-known designer, was the origin- ator of this scheme, whose idea was to pro- duce in England tapestry of the same high quality as could be purchased abroad. His plan received royal support. The late Duke of Albany, their Royal Highnesses the Prin- cesses Christian and Louise, the Duke of Westminster, the Marquis of Bute, the Marchioness of Waterford, and other dis- tinguished persons consented to act on the Committee, and the scheme was inaugurated with every prospect of success. Mr. Henry was appointed director of the works, and M. Brignolles the chief weaver. In 1876 the works were started in some temporary premises at Windsor. Additional space was soon required, new looms were wanted, and the works were removed to Manor Lodge, and then to Old Windsor, where a fine hall and workmen's cottages were built. The late Queen Victoria was a patron of the works, and took much interest in the opera- tions, authorizing the title to be bestowed upon them, ' The Royal Windsor Tapestry Works.' The product of the Windsor tapes- try looms has achieved great success. Some ®f the earliest work was a set of panels, ' The Merry Wives of Windsor,' woven from the cartoons of Mr. E. W. Ward, R.A., which were exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1878, and obtained the highest honours. Many fine specimens of this Windsor art were purchased by the late Queen- Victoria, and are now preserved at Windsor Castle, and Mr. Henry produced four historical panels for the city of London which now adorn the walls of the Mansion House, and a series of panels illustrating English sports and pastimes were worked for Mr. Vanderbilt and have found a home in America. The peculiarity of the Windsor tapestry is that it combines the broad effects of the Arras tapestry with the fine detail of the Gobelin. The work prospered for about five years, when a com- mittee of guarantors was appointed, composed of men of wealth and influence. His Royal Highness the Duke of Albany exerted himself greatly in endeavouring to promote the interest of the works, and after his death the Prince of Wales, now H.M. King Edward VII., accepted the Presidentship of the under- taking. Sir Robert Collins undertook the active direction of the works. But the per- manent success of the tapestry works has not been secured. The excessive costliness of the art of production will always prevent its general use, and it was found impossible to carry on the work without great loss, and the business was abandoned. It is unfortunate that so praiseworthy an effort to revive the production of English tapestry which was in existence in the time of Chaucer, and found a home at Barcheston, Warwickshire, in the reign of Henry VIII., and flourished at Mort- lake in the days of the Stuarts, should have been abandoned through lack of public support. IRONWORKS Owing to the absence of metals in the geological structure of Berkshire this county has no supply of iron for the needs of this particular industry. It can boast of no ancient works such as were carried on in the neighbouring counties of Surrey, Kent and Sussex, and formed such an important feature in the history of the industrial devel- opment of those counties ; but increased railway facilities and means of transit have rendered the working of iron possible and remunerative, and several firms of high stand- ing in the trade carry on their business within the Berkshire borders. The needs of an agricultural district also are well supplied by several large agricultural implement makers. Nail-making was carried on at Reading, though the makers do not seem to have been numerous ; we find mention of Richard Lowbridge, nayle-maker,1 in 1626, who was in trouble for wounding a soldier, and of James Durwold, nayler, who stood surety for him. The craft is however not mentioned amongst those enumerated in the list of the trades included in the five companies, and must therefore have been of a subordinate char- 383 1 Rec. of Reading, ii. 331. A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE acter. A similar conclusion may be deduced from an examination of the lists of trades in the other chief towns in the county, and it was left to modern times to institute and develop this industry in Berkshire. In 1830 Christopher Harris carried on the business of iron founder in Gloucester Street, Faringdon. At Abingdon, Nathaniel Dean in Stert Street, Robert Fairbrother in Bridge Street, and George Smith in Ock Street, were the chief Brass and Iron Founders. At Hungerford there was at that period a foundry owned by Mr. Richard Gibbons. In the neighbouring "village of Kintbury, Mary Harper in 1830 owned a foundry which has now ceased to exist. Newbury had no less than five iron founders at this period : William Ayres in Bartholomew Street, Joseph and Henry Burton near the gas works, John Deane at Speenhamland, who also worked in brass, William Golding at St. Mary's Hill, and William Plenty & Sons in the market place. At Reading there were three firms : James Hall at Bear Court, Bridge Street, who also paid special attention to the making of ploughs, Perry & Barret in Horn Street, and James Wilder at Hill Hall. At Wallingford Leonard Wilder, the founder of the firm Messrs. R. J. & H.Wilder, who carry on the Wallingford Ironworks, had a foundry at Mill Bridge, and was noted as a plough manufacturer. Thomas Castle in the High Street and William Guttridge in Green Tree Square were engaged in this industry. At Wantage John Austin had a brass foundry in Newbury Street, and Joseph Golding in Grove Street. Thus the county was fairly well provided with iron foundries at the beginning of the century, but many of these were doubtless small factories, and judging from the observa- tions of Dr. Mavor in his View of the Agri- culture of Berkshire we may conclude that the principal landowners and farmers were accustomed to procure their agricultural im- plements from Leicestershire, Cirencester, Northumberland and other distant places rather than from local manufacturers. How- ever, the Berkshire plough, cast-iron plough- shares, especially those improved by the invention of Mr. W. Morland of West Ilsley, the Hinton plough and scuffler, and other implements constructed of iron, we* e doubt- less made at the local foundries. These foundries were mostly of a primitive type, and the inventions which have been made since the beginning of the last century have revolutionized the methods adopted for the manufacture of implements and machinery. The large and important foundries of the present time form a striking contrast to the insignificant furnaces existing in the country during the period which we have been con- sidering. In every department of the iron industry numerous improvements have been made which need not be recorded in this place, inasmuch as they relate to the general history of industry and not to its progress in the Berkshire county. It will be sufficient for our present purpose to enumerate the chief foundries and engineer- ing works which exist at the present time within the limits of the county, and to record any special features of interest which may characterize each works. Inasmuch as Berk- shire is chiefly an agricultural county it is natural to find that the operations of most of the iron founders are concerned with the manufacture of agricultural implements and machinery. But the special advantages of Reading as regards nearness to the Metropolis and abundant railway facilities have attracted the greatest amount of enterprise in this industry. One of the oldest foundries in Reading is that of Messrs. T. C. Williams & Sons, Ltd. It was established in 1790 by Mr. Benjamin Williams, who was locally renowned as the introducer of public lighting into his borough. The business was carried on by his son and grandson until 1901, when it was converted into a limited liability company. The works consist of an iron and brass foundry, and the firm is specially engaged in the heating of buildings by hot water, steam, etc., the manufacture of cooking apparatus and general engineering. The number of workmen em- ployed is from 60 to 100. The works of the Pulsometer Engineering Company, Limited, stand on a plot of nearly 12 acres on the south side of the Oxford Road just beyond the Tramway Terminus. The company, which was established in the year 1875, moved to Reading in 1901 owing to their premises at Nine Elms, London, being too small. The title of the firm is taken from their principal manufacture — the Pulsometer Steam Pump. The original founder of the works and the present manag- ing director is Mr. John Eliot Hodgkin, F.S.A. Among the noted foundries in Reading may be mentioned the Kennet Ironworks, situated in the Vastern Road and owned by Mr. Francis A. Smith. A large number of steam engines and steam boilers are con- structed here, and also steam lorries, and machines for making bricks and tiles. Mr. Samuel Griffith has a foundry in the same locality, Vastern Road, and Mr. John Wilder 384 INDUSTRIES in Yield Hall Lane, Minster Street, an old- established business which was in existence at the beginning of the century. At the town of Wallingford there are the Wallingford Ironworks, the property of Messrs. R. J. & H. Wilder, whose ancestor Mr. Leonard Wilder was engaged in the business in 1830, as we have already mentioned. At Newbury Messrs. Turk & Son carry on the work of iron and brass founders, and are chiefly engaged in the manufacture of agri- cultural implements. Wantage has been important in recent years as the seat of a large engineering works. In 1847 a foundry was started by Mr. Charles Hart, which has attained to more than local importance. He very quickly established a wide reputation for two specialities, ' the Berkshire Plough ' and a threshing machine. After ten years Mr. Hart disposed of the business to Messrs. P. & H. P. Gibbons, who carried on the works for thirty-one years. For some years the business was carried on by Messrs. Robinson & Auden, and upon their retirement Lord Wantage of Lockinge, out of consideration for the benefit of the town, took over the works, and carried them on under the title of the ' Wantage En- gineering Company, Limited.' Lord Wantage greatly improved the works by adding new and convenient buildings, increasing the size and capacity of those already in existence, and fitting up the whole with improved machinery. In the neighbourhood of Wantage at Challow there are the engineering works of Messrs. Nalder & Nalder, Limited, founded by Mr. Thomas Nalder. The firm is mainly engaged in the manufacture of agricultural implements. At Maidenhead Mr. Charles Batting (late Batting & Son) has an iron and brass foundry, founded in 1820, which forms the principal industry of its kind in the town and neighbour- hood. About fifteen years ago he acquired the works of Messrs. Bulstrode & Rogers. Mr. Batting is an engineer and mill furnisher and agricultural implements and machine maker, and was employed in the construction of eleven of the bridges spanning the Great Western Railway, erected recently during the widening of the line. New works were erected in 1904. The works of Messrs. H. Gibbons & Sons, Hungerford, were established in 1814 by Mr. Richard Gibbons, grandfather of the present head of the firm, and carried on in Bridge Street just below the Canal Bridge until 1840, when they were removed to Charnham Street. In 1869 the works were considerably enlarged. Messrs. Gibbons & Sons are contractors to the India Office, and are the patentees and manu- facturers of moulding machines for making moulds used in casting metals. They produce also several kinds of similar machines, lawn- mower grinders, deep well machinery, agri- cultural machinery and ploughs. Messrs. Cottrell, Rose & Co., Limited, of the Eddington Iron and Wagon Works, carry on the business of agricultural, mechanical, electrical and horticultural engineers, and are the manufacturers of all kinds of implements used in the industry of farming. The im- proved patent " Climax " folding elevator for stacking hay or corn is a speciality of the firm. At Abingdon Messrs. Benjamin Ballard & Son have a foundry. Nor is the industry limited to the principal towns in the county. Some of the smaller villages have useful establishments which serve the needs of an agricultural population, supply implements used in farming, and are able to execute the necessary repairs. Amongst these are the White Well Ironworks at Compton, the property of Messrs. Thomas Baker & Sons, the ironworks at Bucklebury owned by Messrs. Hedges & Son, Messrs. Smith & Sons at Steventon, and Mr. Henry Smith at Rus- combe. BOAT-BUILDING Boat-building was extensively carried on in Berkshire in former days when the Thames was the great highway for goods traffic from London to Windsor, Reading, Abingdon, Wallingford and Newbury. The industry can certainly claim a very respectable anti- quity, inasmuch as the same river which now affords a pleasing pastime for holiday- folk, with ' Youth on the prow and Pleasure at the helm,' was once traversed by the barges of the watermen in mediaeval and later times. 385 Modern requirements have greatly increased the trade. The fashionable house-boat, the racing craft, the steam and electric launch, the ordinary pleasure boat, are much sought after by the public, and in recent years many boat-building yards have sprung up along the banks of the Thames, where a large number of these crafts are constructed. No small proportion of the boats which assemble each year at Henley Regatta are made in the numer- ous workshops which line the Berkshire side 49 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE of the river. The chief seats of the industry are at Reading, Windsor, Bray, Maidenhead, Pangbourne, Streatley and other river-side places. It is difficult to discover the builders of the old barges. The names of the owners and of the boats themselves, the King's Arms, the Admiral, the Vine, the Bold Hart, the Orange, the Little Dragon, which plied along the Thames and conveyed malt and other cargoes to London from Abingdon, Reading and other Berkshire towns in the early years of the eighteenth century,1 are easier to trace. The old Newbury barges were celebrated in the palmy days of inland navigation, and provided a standard of measurement. The Newbury-sized barges were 109 ft. long and 17 ft. wide, drawing 3 ft. 10 ins. of water and carrying about 128 tons.2 These barges were always constructed after the same model, being flat-bottomed with a round head, which was found most convenient, as this form enabled the barge to make nearly as speedy way through the water as any other, and did not prevent it from being shoved sideways off the shoals. These barges re- quired a crew of six men and a boy. The bargemen used long ashen poles from 14 to 19 ft. in length in order to keep the barge in the proper navigable channel. When going down stream only one horse was needed, and the boats travelled at the rate of three or three and a half miles per hour ; but against the stream in the upward passage eight to fourteen horses were required according to circumstances. Messrs. Quarrington & Son were the chief owners and doubtless builders of these barges which conveyed goods to London once a week. One Horner was another Newbury barge owner in 1830, and Messrs. Euclid Shaw & Co.'s Fly Boats twice a week traversed the whole distance from Bristol to London. Reading's chief barge builder was Thomas Simmonds, who had his yards in Blake's Wharf. Pangbourne has been for some time a home for the building of Thames boats. At the beginning of the last century Benjamin Briant and William Trumplett made boats and barges, and the traditions have been handed down to the present time, and a considerable industry is carried on in this pleasant riverside village. Mr. L. Franklin turns out a considerable number of motor launches, motor boats, and steam and electric launches. These are clincher-built of pine or mahogany, and have teak or mahogany 1 MSS. vols. in custody of Berks Co. Council. a Mavor, Agriculture of Berks, p. 431. fittings. He designs launches for business purposes as well as for the pursuit of pleasure. Thames punts propelled by motor power are also a speciality of his. Mr. Franklin also produces a large number of the ordinary mahogany punts. The Ashley family and the Thames Valley Electric Launch Com- pany, Limited, help to maintain the reputation of Pangbourne as an important seat of the industry. At Windsor there are two firms who build boats : Arthur Jacobs, whose works are in River Street, and the Husted Brothers in Goswell Road, while at Old Windsor, George and William Harris carry on the trade of building boats. Maidenhead has several noted boat builders. Amongst these is the firm of Messrs. H. Wilder & Son. They own the Ray Park Boat Houses, and their works are in Bridge Road. Messrs. E. Andrews & Son, builders of steam and electric launches, boats and punts, have a boathouse near Maidenhead Bridge. The senior partner, a winner of the Thames Champion- ship for punting and a well-known angler, started the industry in 1870. The firm has works in Oldfield Road, where they manu- facture boats, punts and canoes, as well as launches. Mr. J. Bond, designer and construc- tor of steam launches and boat builder, has a business founded a century ago, and carried on for many years by his father. Mr. Bond has five large boathouses. Mr. Henry Wood- house in the Bridge Road is a builder of steam launches and has a boathouse at Bray. There also is established the Immisch Launch & Boat Company, Limited, found- ed by Moritz Immisch in 1887, having their headquarters at Hampton-on-Thames. This company was the first to introduce launches electrically propelled. The diffi- culty of re-charging the batteries of their launches was overcome by equipping several floating charging stations, which could be moored at various points on the river, and from which fresh supplies of energy could be obtained. They have now permanent stations and depots for this purpose, the principal one being at Bray. Their premises at Maidenhead are situated near Boulter's Lock. The specialities of their works are the motor, switch propellers and thrust blocks, and the Immisch Scout cycle petrol motor. At Reading Arthur Henry East has for many years carried on the business of build- ing and letting boats out on hire. His original boathouse and works were at the mouth of the Kennet ; he has now con- structed large premises near Caversham Lock, and his business has been converted into a 386 INDUSTRIES company under the title of East's Boat Building Company, Limited. Edward J. Cawston makes boats at his works situated in the Caversham Road, and has been established at Reading since 1871. He earned fame in his young days by building the ' Rob Roy ' canoe, in which Mr. McGregor crossed the Atlantic and performed other adventurous voyages. Mr. Edward G. L. Marsh, William Moss, John Tims & Sons, who also have works at Staines, are among the number of the Reading boat builders. At Bisham there is the well known firm of Messrs. Meakes & Redknap. At Wargrave Mr. Henry Butcher is a builder of boats, and Cookham has an old-established building- yard, owned and worked by Mrs. William Lacey. At Streatley the executors of Mrs. Arthur E. Saunders and Mr. Henry Saunders represent the boat-building trade. Abingdon can boast of two firms of boat builders. Gabriel Davis owns the St. Helen's Works at the Thames Wharf, which establish- ment has now been converted into a company and is known as the Davis Engineering & Launch Building Company, Limited. The other Abingdon boat builder is Mr. James Stevens, who makes also punts and canoes at the St. Helen's Wharf and the Abingdon bridge. At Wallingford Bridge Mr. G.F.W. Corneby builds boats, punts and canoes, and Mr. P. Turner is established at the Lower Wharf. Thus all along the banks of the Thames have been established these numerous centres of a thriving industry, which those who love to take their pleasure on the river, and the competitors for rowing championships have called into being. Each summer seems to increase the numbers of those who frequent the aquatic pageants of Henley and other regattas, or who row gently along the stream on a summer's day, or glide along in electric launches. Hence the industry of boat build- ing shows no prospect of decaying, and the phenomenal progress which it has made during the last few years is likely to be abun- dantly maintained. CLOTH-MAKING The clothing industry of Berkshire was during the Tudor period one of the most important in the county, and the trade carried on in the chief towns and neighbour- ing villages must have been very considerable. Newbury, Reading and Abingdon were the principal centres of the industry which pro- vided work not only for the townsfolk, but for the neighbouring villagers. It has al- ready been noticed that the extensive range of downland on the chalk hills of Berkshire furnishes excellent pasturage for sheep, which provided the rich fleeces and laid the found- ations of its success as a flourishing cloth- making county. If we might take as evidence of the anti- quity of the industry the fanciful romance of Thomas Deloney entitled The Pleasant His- tory of Thomas of Reading or the SixeWorthie Teamen of the West — an assumption which is scarcely warrantable — we should conclude that cloth-making was in a very flourishing state as early as the days of Henry I. The hero of this tale is a certain Thomas Cole, cloth-maker of Reading, whose numerous wains laden with cloth arrested the progress of the king and drivers of his nobility as they rode from London towards Wales. He de- manded of the men whose wains they were. They answered ' Cole's of Reading.' The king was much interested in ' his worthy yeoman,' and when he died he ' desired to be buried near his good clothiers who living were his heart's delight.' The evidence of the existence of the trade in the time of Henry I. is extremely doubtful, but Deloney's description of clothing industry as it existed in his own days may be taken as fairly accurate. ' The Art,' he says, ' was held in high reputation both in respect of the great riches that thereby were gotten, as also of the benefit it brought to the common- wealth. Among all crafts this was the only chief, for that it was the greatest merchan- dise, by the which our country became famous throughout all nations. And it was wisely thought that the on» half of the people in the land lived in those days thereby, and in such good sort, that in the commonwealth there were few or no beggars at all ; poor people whom God had blessed with most children did by means of this occupation so order them that when they were come to five or seven years of age they were able to get their own bread. Therefore it was not without cause that clothiers were then both honoured and loved.' i The early notices of the existence of fulling mills in different parts of the county show 1 Deloney, Pleasant History of Thomas of Reading, Introduction. 387 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE that the cloth trade was carried on at an early period. At these mills the cloth was scoured and thickened by being saturated with hot water, and made to shrink by being worked under the falling weight of the fulling stocks. The material is thus made to shrink up and thicken. A fulling-mill is mentioned as existing at Newbury as early as 1205.* The cloth produced by these early English manufacturers was very coarse and very different from that woven by Flemish looms. The manufacture was carried on in the houses of the people, who were ignorant of the arts and processes used by the cloth-makers of the Netherlands. They wove hempen linen and woollen coverings, suitable for sacks, dairy- cloths, wool-packs, sails of windmills and similar purposes.3 It was not until the reign of Edward III. and the first immigrations of the Flemings that any improvements were effected in English manufactures. The Abbot of Abingdon had his fulling-mill, which was in ruins in 15 55, when the town received its first charter and was then to be rebuilt. A fulling-mill existed at West- brooke, near Newbury, in the time of Henry VI., when one Robert Curteys was lessee of a messuage with a fulling-mill in Benham manor.3 One of the mills of Hungerford called Dun Mill was a ' tucking ' or fulling-mill, and was held in 1614 by Thomas Holmes of Alexander Chock, Esquire, of Avington.4 As late as 1691 an action was brought by the owner or lessee of the Town Mill, which before the enfeoffment of the borough was the king's mill, in the Court of the Exchequer in order to restrain the owner of Dun Mill from grind- ing the corn of the inhabitants. The Court decided that the tenants of the Hungerford and Sandon fee were bound to have their corn ground at the Town Mill, and that Dun Mill must be either pulled down or converted into a tucking-mill again. It is stated, however, that it was found impos- sible to put the decree into operation, and the mill remains to this day a corn mill.5 The Berkshire wool was of such good quality that it commanded a price con- 1 Rot. Normanniz, No. 35, quoted by W. Money, Hist, of Newbury, p. 66. 2 Gibbins, Industrial History of England, p. 51. 3 The heading of this document, with the date, is gone, but it is considered at the P.R.O. to belong to the reign of Henry VI. 4 Mutilated Hungerford Town Articles in the possession of the Corporation, 1614. • From the information of Mr. W. H. Sum- mers, who is transcribing the documents in the possession of the Corporation of Hungerford. siderably above the average, ranking with other kinds thirteenth in the list of forty-four given in Professor Rogers' History of Agri- culture and Price, iii. 704, for the year 1454. A number of lists of prices of wool collected by Mr. Leadam 8 show that about the year 1547 the wool of Cotswold and Berkshire ranked, after Leicester and Marche, as the highest priced wools in England. Hence the Berkshire clothiers had excellent material for this cloth. The county in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ceased to be a purely agricultural district, producing a large quantity of wool and exporting it as a raw material to the Netherlands to be made into cloth ; and the cloth manufactured on the Berkshire looms had a good reputation in the markets of the world. In 1549 the English envoy at Antwerp advised Protector Somerset to send to that city for sale a thousand pieces of ' Winchcombe's Kersies.' 7 These were the products of the looms of the famous Jack of Newbury, who figures largely in the history of the Berkshire clothing industry. This John Winchcomb, alias Smalwoode, commonly called ' Jack of Newbury,' was the most famous of the Berkshire clothiers who lived in the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. The romantic details of his life will be more abundantly set forth in a later volume in the topographical section. He became an apprentice of a rich clothier in Newbury at the time when the trade was most flourishing, married his master's widow, and became very prosperous. Deloney's Pleasant History of John Winchcomb is valu- able, not so much as an accurate story of his life, or for its literary merit, but as being highly illustrative of old manners and customs of the time when the industry was most flourishing, and of the scenes which the writer had doubtless witnessed in the old cloth manufactories. Deloney's description of a clothing establishment in the time of the Tudors is doubtless drawn from personal observation : — Within one room, being large and long, There stood two hundred loomes full strong. Two hundred men, the truth is so, Wrought in their loomes all in a row. By every one a prettie boy Sate making quills with mickle joy; And in another place hard by An hundred women merrily Were carding hard with joyful cheere, Who singing sat with voyces cleere. And in a chamber close beside, • Introduction to the Domesday of Inclosures, i. 69. ' Burnley, Wool and Woolcombing. 388 INDUSTRIES Two hundred maydens did abide. In peticoats of stammel * red, And milk-white kerchers on their head ; Their smocke sleeves like to winter snow That on the westerne mountaines flow, And each sleeve with a silken band Was featly tied at the hand ; These prettie maids did never lin" But in their place all day did spin ; And spinning so with voyces meet, Like nightingales they sung full sweet. Then to another loom came they, Where children were in poor array. And every one sat picking woll The fineste from the course to pull. The number was seven score and ten, The children of poor silly men. And these, their labours to requite, Had every one a penny at night Beside their meate and drink all day, Which was to them a wondrous stay. Within another place likewise Full fiftie proper men he spies ; And these were shearemen3 every one, Whose skill and cunning there was showne. And hard by them there did remaine Full foure score rowers * taking paine. A dye-house likewise had he then, Wherein he kept full fortie men ; And likewise in his fulling mill, Full twenty persons kept he still. This fulling-mill was at Bagnor, a hamlet of Speen. The waste ground adjoining the mill is called ' Rack Marsh,' and so late as the end of the eighteenth century the old posts which formed the framework for drying the cloth were observable.5 We will pass over the poetical description of the food supplied to the workmen, the butcher, baker, brewer, five cooks and six scullion boys. The author tells of ' the warehouses, some being filled with wool, some with flocks, some with woad and madder, and some with broad cloth and kersies ready dyed and drest, beside a great number of others, some stretched on the tenters, some hanging on poles, and a great many more lying wet in other places.' We may take this ac- count as a fairly accurate description of a great merchant's clothing establishment in the time of the Tudor monarchs. Winchcomb of Newbury, according to Deloney's biography, took a leading part among the clothiers of England in obtaining freedom of trade with foreign countries. By reason of war many foreign merchants were 1 Stammel — a kind of fine worsted. 2 Lin — cease or stop. 3 Shearemen or Sheremen — clothworkers. * Rowers — those who smoothed the cloth with rollers. ' Netubury and its Environs, p 171. prevented from coming to England, and English merchants were forbidden to trade with France or the Low Countries. Hence the clothiers' stocks grew amazingly large, and they were forced to sell their goods at a very low rate. Wages were reduced, and many weavers, shearmen, spinners and carders were dismissed from their employment. Not half the looms were being worked. The New- bury clothier wrote a letter to the chief cloth- ing towns in England arranging for a petition to the king. This was presented by 120 persons, two representatives being sent from each town. The king received it graciously, and it was finally agreed that ' the merchants should traffic freely one with another, and that proclamation thereof should be made as well on the other side of the sea as in our land.' Cardinal Wolsey however for a time delayed the matter, calling forth the spirited speech of the Newbury clothier — ' If my lord cardinal's father has been no hastier in killing calves than he is in dispatching poor men's suits, I doubt he had never worn a mitre.' However the matter was finally concluded, and ' in a short space clothing again was very good and poor men as well set on work as before.' a Fuller says of him that ' he was the most con- siderable clothier, without fancy or fiction, England ever beheld. Another eminent clothier of Newbury was Thomas Dolman, whose factory was in Northbrook Street. He was more ambitious of social rank than honest Jack of Newbury, who declined the honour of knighthood, preferring ' to rest in his russet coat a poor clothier to his dying day.' Thomas Dolman's father was probably William Dolman, manager of Winchcomb's works, to whom ' Jack ' left a legacy of £10. He attained to great wealth and built Shaw House, expending on it £10,000. The house was completed by his son, also named Thomas. The weavers of Newbury, on his abandoning cloth-making, invented the rhyme : — Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable sinners, Thomas Dolman has built a new house, and turned away all his spinners. Of this Dolman a later writer states : — ' Newbury supplied another manufacturer « Deloney does not state his authorities, but his story is confirmed in its main outline by Lord Herbert's account of the disputes of the merchants with the cardinal, and their fears lest Henry's declaration of war with the emperor in 1528 should derange the whole system of the national industry. He speaks of ' the sullen merchants, ' little moved by the cardinal's menaces, and tells how at length they gained the day. 339 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE of wool, Doleman by name, so rich and so little inclined to thrift, that he laid out the enormous sum of ten thousand pounds on building a vast and strong house near his native place. Fearful of the lashes he ex- pected to receive from the envy of his neigh- bours, he inscribed more than one apposite sentence, both in Greek and Latin, above his superb stone porch, as spells against those ill-wishers whose peculiar malice he dreaded.' l Thomas Dolman, great-grandson of the Thomas Dolman who first held the manor of Shaw, was a clerk of the Privy Council, M.P. for Reading, attained to the honour of knighthood in the time of Charles II., and fought for the king in the second battle of Newbury. The manufacturers of the Tudor period were very prosperous. The foreign trade was good, and wool had increased in value, and the Inclosure Acts of 1517-8 show that a very large amount of arable land in Berkshire was laid down as pasture for sheep, in order to produce the rich fleeces for her traders and clothworkers. An enduring relic of New- bury's palmy days of the clothing industry is the existence of the Guild or Fraternity of Weavers founded in the reign of Henry VIII. and incorporated by Royal Charter in the forty- fourth year of Queen Elizabeth (1601), under the style of ' the Fellowship of the Weavers at Newbury.' As a reward for their royal welcome to King Henry VIII. he gave them permission to take four bucks out of his park at Donnington for their annual feast. By their charter no one was allowed to exercise the trade of weaving within the town unless they were made free of the company. Their annual feast days were celebrated with much festivity, especially in the seventeenth century. Basker- ville, in describing a journey from Abingdon to Newbury in the early years of the Common- wealth period, wrote of the town : ' They are a very sociable people, and to increase trade do keep great feasts, each several Company, they and their wives feasting to- gether, especially the Clothiers and Hatters.' The corporate insignia of the guild will be described in the topographical section, but the pall or hearse-cloth deserves mention here, as it is a specimen of the hand-weaving of the clothiers of Newbury at the time of William and Mary, and the shield of arms is a pro- duction of the old silk factory at Greenham Mills. Another relic of the ancient industry is the 1 Continuation of Henry's Hist, of Great Britain, by J. P. Andrews (ed. 1796), p. 424. Old Cloth Hall, which has recently been restored, and tells of the palmiest days of the town's mercantile importance. The same progress which has been noticed in the clothing industry, of Newbury is evi- dent in Reading, where there were several famous clothiers. One of the earliest records, now in existence, of the trade in the borough is in the year 1435, when Nicholas Mount- fort, a fuller, and John Heryng, a weaver, are admitted members of the guild. In 1469 two men were elected as wardens of the art of ' fullers' crafte.' In the previous year John Longe, ' fullere,' was admitted into the fraternity of the ' Gilde Aule Merchaunt.' In 1454 mention is made of one John Lynd, ' fuller and forenere, ' and in 1448 Thomas Clerk, weaver, was elected warden. The names of William Brussele and Edward Lynacre have a Flemish sound ; these men were mayors of Reading in 1444 and 1445, and may have emigrated here from the Low Countries, and helped to improve the art of manufacturing cloth. In the Records a large number of names of early craftsmen and traders is given, but the majority are English names, or are so anglicized that it is difficult to detect a foreign source. In the fifteenth century it may be con- cluded that the industry was firmly established in Reading, and possibly earlier, but of this we have no evidence. In the charter of Henry VII. granted in 1485, the king gave authority to the mayor and burgesses for ' the working and making of cloth, and exa- mining the utensils employed in the same.' Struggling clothiers were occasionally assisted by the bounty of Sir Thomas White, son of a Reading clothier who was Lord Mayor of London in 1553, and by the munificence of John Kendrick, which will be hereafter noticed more fully. In the year 1486-7 (2 Henry VII.) the mayor and burgesses took upon themselves the oversight and correction of all workmen in cloth-making within the borough, and several entries in the corpora- tion books show that the industry had greatly increased. The Inclosure Acts of 1517-18 brought an increased supply of wool to the Reading clothiers, and labour was plentiful owing to the eviction of tenants and villagers who flocked to the towns.2 Merchants and manu- facturers became rich and prosperous. A list of the five gilds or companies which existed in the time of Queen Mary is pre- served among the Corporation archives, and amongst these the Clothiers and Cloth- Industrid History of England, p. 98. 390 INDUSTRIES makers' Company occupied a prominent place. It included dyers, and weavers, and shear- men, shuttle-makers and ash-burners. Queen Elizabeth greatly encouraged the trade in the town, during whose reign it was carried on to an extent never equalled in any preceding period. As in other centres of industry Reading benefited by the immigration of the industrious Flemings, for whom the queen built some cottages on her property, the abbey precincts, using for the purpose the wall of the refectory. Contention was sharp in the town between the rival craftsmen. The clothiers and dyers had an important controversy, which was referred to the decision of the Privy Council of the State. It appears that the clothiers were accustomed to have dye-houses of their own, and to dye such wool as they convert into cloth, and to this the Privy Council saw no objection. But the dyers assert that the clothiers dye for others, and so make a benefit of the trade of dyeing. So the clothiers are forbidden to dye for others or to dye clothes ready made into any colour. The particular kind of cloth made in Reading was a heavy texture, the piece being 30 or 34 yards long by 6£ quarters broad, and weighing 66 Ib. to the piece.1 There is evidence that the manufacture was spread- ing at this time into the surrounding vil- lages, where cloth was made in the houses of the rural population, and that the Mer- chants' Gild of Reading, ever jealous of their monopolies, strove to confine the industry to the town. In 1592 certain orders were agreed upon for ' the reformacion of the abuses of Clothiers and Clothworkers,' which seem to establish both these conclusions. The order set forth : — 4 Imprimis that no clothier shall buy any thrums neither shall convert any thrums into cloth within this borough, or put any flocks into any cloth made or to be made within this borough. ' Item that expert searchers be specially appointed to search as well all manner of cloth made or to be made within this borough, as all such cloth as shall be brought to this borough to be milled or dressed, wherein any deceitful stuff shall be used, and upon finding thereof to stay such cloth until such time as the owner thereof do come presently before the mayor for the time being to the intent this order may be taken with an offender. ' Item that no clothier shall make any cloth all of warp to put to sale, nor buy any 1 Industrial Hist, of England, p. 134. warp yarn in the country for that intent.' * During the reign of James I. the industry continued to flourish in Reading. Amongst the most famous clothiers was John Kendrick, ' whose state,' says Fuller, ' may be com- pared to the mustard seed, from a small encreasing to a prodigious bigness.' He is said to have kept 140 looms in constant employ, whereby several hundred labourers, such as pickers, sorters, carders, spinners, weavers, dyers and teazers were comfortably maintained.3 He left a large fortune at his death in 1624, part of which was to be spent in erecting a strong and commodious house, in which the poor might be constantly employed, and to provide materials for carrying on the clothing trade, and for working in wool, hemp, flax, grinding Brazil-wood, or preparing materials for dyeing. This was the origin of the ' Oracle,' a building famous in the history of Reading industry. Money was also left by the benefactor to the mayor and burgesses to be lent to poor clothiers or others for a period of years. The records show that although the clothiers were prosperous the craftsmen were indigent. In 1623 all the clothiers, thirty in number, were warned to appear at the Guildhall and ordered to provide work for the poor people, spinners and carders and others depending upon the clothiers for their livings.* At the same time two clothier-overseers were appointed to meet at the Town Hall on Monday mornings at 8 a.m. to provide or assign work to the poor folk. In spite of this the complaint by the spinners and carders of lack of work increased, and the remedy agreed upon was that every clothier should ' weekly assign and put to spinning in the town his ordinary and coarse woof wool, and not send it into the country, if sufficient means be in the town to do it.'6 It was also arranged that every merchant that dealeth in white cloth should be enjoined to make for every ten white, one coloured cloth, for every coloured cloth setteth four times more workmen for its manufacture.6 The clothiers at the same time (9 Nov. 1623) testified to the decay of clothing and the badness of coloured cloth sale, owing to the competition of the northern clothiers, whose cloth was shipped at all times at less customs. They wanted more merchants, and to have the same liberty of shipping at all times and at the same charges 3 Rec. of Reading, i. 407. 3 Man, Hist, of Reading, p. 150. 4 Rec. of Reading, li. 153. 5 Ibid. ii. 159. 6 Ibid. p. 160. 391 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE and as free as the northern traders.1 They showed also their willingness to learn from their competitors. In 1624 they agreed that two of their number should have 40^. allowed them ' towards their charges in travelling into the West countryes to view the manner of making their white cloth.' A certain thriftiness is also displayed on the part of the members of the corporation, inasmuch as there is an order that, if their representatives ' spend not so much, they shall restore the overplus upon accomptes.' a Various entries refer to the loans to clothiers provided by John Kendrick's will. Thus in 1626 James Winche receives £200, and Walter Bye, Richard Stamp, and William Blackeall £100 each. William Kendrick, the son of the benefactor, sold his house with all his goods belonging to his trade of clothing to the corporation. The evidence in a pretty quarrel about the milling and dressing of cloth in 1628 shows that Mr. Kendrick and Mr. Winche had mills at Burghfield for the milling and dressing of cloth. The munificent bequest of John Kendrick instead of promoting the trade of cloth-making in the town was eventually the cause of its failure. Though the money was devised for the sole use of the poorer class of manufacturers, yet the greater part of it was soon appropriated by the members of the corporation or dis- posed to their friends amongst the clothiers, who being enabled, from the capitals thus possessed, to undersell their competitors, occa- sioned much discontent. The inhabitants petitioned the Government in 14 Charles I., and showed that these fortunate and wealthy clothiers, aided by the Kendrick monies, ' were enabled to pay dearer rates for their stock than other poor clothiers can afford to give, and to sell their cloth at a lower rate] than the rest could afford to sell at, whereby they have got into their hands the greatest part of the trade, and all the rest of the clothiers, which is the greatest number, are for the most part of the poorer sort, and for whose benefit the legacy was principally intended, are much prejudiced and impoverished, and are likely by the unequal division of the said stock to be driven out of their trades. And by this means there are not so many clothes made in the town by near a third part, as were before the legacy was given, and those worser wrought than formerly they were wont to be, which turns to his majesty's great loss in his customs, and to the decay of trading in that flourishing town.' 3 The Archbishop 1 Rec. of Reading, ii. 159. 2 Ibid. ii. 188. 3 Man, Hist, of Reading, pp. 155, 156. of Canterbury reported to the king in his judgment and confirmed most of the con- tentions of the petitioners. He wrote : ' I find it confessed that the town makes fewer cloths now than it did before this great stock was given unto it. So the trade decays by the abuse of this money, and the king loseth his customs ; and this decay is near a third part. I conceive this decay comes by unequal divisions of this great stock, by which means they which have a greater portion of it out- buy all the younger and poorer clothiers, for whose benefit principally this stock was given,4 who are, contrary to the donor's intent, almost undone by it.' The report makes sundry suggestions for the better manage- ment of the fund, which were ordered by the court, but only partially carried into effect. The clamour of the poor spinners and carders continued. Strict orders were issued that all weaving, burling, shearing and dress- ing should be given to the poor weavers, burlers and workfolk in the town, and not sent into the country under a penalty of IOJ. Petitions were presented to the king by clothiers from different counties in 1630 for liberty of trade, the industry being languishing, and Richard Stampe took charge of that from Reading. When the Civil War broke out and Sir Arthur Aston was Governor of the town in 1643, ' he declayred his Majesty's good intentions to the clothiers of Reading, and granted them free liberty to trade in London without the let or hindrance of his Majesty or any of his armies.' 5 But such freedom of trade came too late when the trade itself was gone. Kendrick's gift was the chief cause of its decline. The Civil War killed it, and Reading ceased to be one of the chief manufacturing centres in the west of Eng- land. At Wallingford the clothing trade was carried on from early times. Henry de Mont- fort in the thirteenth century was a weaver who exchanged the Hospital of St. John, a tenement situate in the parish of St. Peter, for a common messuage in the corn-market. Cloth was evidently sold in the market in 1233, as one burgess made a complaint that he was accused of stealing the same.8 Clothiers appear on the list of traders, or companies representing traders, as early as 1227, together with weavers and fullers, and in 1265 we find mention of the arconarii or woolcombers. « Ibid. p. 157. B Rec. of Reading, iv. 75. » Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vi., App. p. 573. 392 INDUSTRIES The industry, therefore, was well established in the town at an early period of its history. The ' fowlling ' or fulling-mill is mentioned in the years 1540 and 1553.* We have seen that the cloth trade fur- nished much industry, not only to the towns, but also to the surrounding villages. Every cottage had its spinning wheel, and every week the clothiers used to send out their men among the villages, their packhorses laden with wool, and every week they returned, their packs laden with yarn ready for the loom. The village of East Hendred was a prosperous clothing centre before the dissolution of monasteries. There is a picturesque field near the church where terraces still remain, which was used for drying cloth, and a piece of land called ' Fulling Mill Meer,' where, according to the statement of Mr. Woodward, rector in 1759, ' ancient people remembered the ruins of a mill in the stream hard by.' 2 This fulling-mill is mentioned in 1547, and was held of the king by John Tyson, alias Eston. In the church are brasses to the memory of Henry and Roger Eldysley, ' mer- catores istius ville,' and of William Whitwey, ' pannarius et lanarius,' both of the fifteenth century. The village had also a flourishing fair, which was held on the Downs, and reached from Scutchamore Knob to Hendred, along a straight green road once known as the Golden Mill. It was abolished by James I. in 1620. All this testified to the industrial importance of the little village in former days, and of the flourishing manufacture of cloth carried on there. We have now entered upon the period of the decline and fall of Berkshire's once great industry. The days of the great clothiers had passed away. They attained to great honour and wealth, and left noble legacies to the towns that gave them birth. One dis- tinguished clothier exclaimed : — I thank God, and ever shall ; It was the sheep that paid for all. The times had however changed, and prosperity had deserted the Berkshire looms. Daniel Defoe in his Tour through Great Britain, published in 1724, wrote of New- bury : ' The town of Nubery is an ancient cloathing town, though now little of that part remains to it, but it still retains a manu- facturing genius, and the people are greatly employed in making shalloons, a kind of stuff, which though it be used only for the lineing and insides of men's cloathes, for women use but little of it, nor the men for anything but as above, yet it becomes so greatly worn, both at home and abroad, that it has increased to a manufacture by itself, and is more consider- able than any single manufacture of stuffs in the nation. This employs the town of Nuberry, as also Andover, and abundance of other towns in other centres.' Still the cloth trade lingered on. The wars of the eighteenth century had a dis- astrous effect upon the industry, paralysing trade, and diminishing the numbers of workers, who were reduced to great poverty. In order to revive the industry, the Weavers' Company issued an advertisement in 1792, setting forth that they had agreed to dis- annul their powers and right of settling the price which any person in the trade shall give for making any kinds of goods and giving free liberty for strangers to come into the town and to manufacture silks, muslins, cottons, linen, worsted, etc., without any interference from the Company of Weavers. The announcement concludes with the follow- ing paragraph : — ' Newbury is a town well supplied with water, and an extraordinary good market to supply its inhabitants with every accommoda- tion that can make life comfortable, and it is well situated to carry on an extensive trade, having an easy conveyance to and from Lon- don by the River Kennet.' 3 But this action of the Weavers' Company came too late. Not all the attractions of the town, nor the abandonment of an obsolete monopoly, could attract the trade to its former haunts. One Newbury clothier, how- ever, accomplished a task which, as far as we are aware, no other manufacturer ever con- ceived or attempted, and that was to convert wool cut from the sheep's back into cloth and fashion it into a coat between sunrise and sunset on a summer's day. This difficult task was accomplished by Mr. John Coxeter, a cloth manufacturer at Greenham Mills in the early years of the last century. Mr. Money, the historian of Newbury, has told the story of this achievement in his history of the town, and only a brief account need now be given. Mr. Coxeter employed 100 hands in his mill at Greenham, and introduced there the best and more improved machinery. His mill was turned by water, and stood partly on the site of the present lanyard and flour mill. Sir John Throckmorton had such confidence in the man that in the year 1811 he wagered 1,000 guineas that between sunrise and sun- set a coat should be made from wool that had 1 Hist, of Wallingjord, ii. 255, 419. 8 Hundred of Wanting, by W. K. Clarke, p. 132. i 393 3 Money, Hist, of Newbury, pp. 242, 243. 50 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE been the same morning growing on the sheep's back. At 5 a.m. two sheep were shorn, the wool washed, stubbed, roved, spun and woven ; the cloth scoured, fulled, tented, raised, sheared, dyed and dressed. At 4 p.m. the cloth was finished. James White and his nine tailors finished the coat long before the sun had set, and the baronet appeared wear- ing it in the presence of 5,000 people. The coat was a hunting kersey, ' of a dark Welling- ton colour.' There were great festivities, a large oil-painting was made of the persons who were engaged or interested in the feat. The coat was exhibited at the great exhibi- tion of 1851, and still hangs in the hall of Buckland House as a permanent memorial of a curious industrial achievement. At Reading, when the Civil War put an end to the making of the good broadcloth for which the town was famous, the Oracle was turned into a garrison and then into a work- house for the poor. An attempt was made to revive the industry. An entry in the Corporation Diary in 1695 states that Samuel Watlington, ' who had £200 of Mr. Kendrick's money, should employ 20 poor persons charge- able to each parish.' In the following year an order was made ' for the blue-boys' gowns to be bought of Mr. Watlington, mayor, of that cloth which is made in the Oracle.' 1 In 1703, owing to the loss of £1,100 caused by the mismanagement of the custodians, all the looms were ordered to be taken out of the building. In 1716 poor people were em- ployed there in spinning coarse flax for sail cloth. Sheeting, sail cloth, floor cloth, and sacking goods continued to be manu- factured here [for over a century. The in- dustry spread, and manufactories were opened in other parts of the town. In 1719 a peti- tion was presented to the House of Com- mons from the Mayor, Aldermen, burgesses, and clothiers, drugget-makers, etc., of the borough of Reading, in behalf of themselves and several thousands depending upon them. In Katesgrove Lane Mr. Musgrave Lamb had in 1816 an old-established factory which produced sail cloth remarkable for its strength and whiteness, owing to a peculiar process the yarn was exposed to in boiling before it was woven. This sail cloth was extensively pur- chased by the Government for the use of the Navy and by the East India Company. About 140 looms were employed in this trade alone, some of which were capable of weaving cloths six or seven yards wide.3 At the beginning of the last century a floorcloth 1 Coates, Hist, of Reading, p. 147. a Man, Hist, of Reading, p. 161. manufactory existed in the town, the cloth being sent to London to be painted. Sacking was also made at Wantage, a poor substitute for the far-famed Berkshire cloth, once well known in the chief markets of the world. Dr. Mavor reported that in 1808 considerable quantities of sacking and hammocks were manufactured at Wantage for the use of the Government, and that five principal masters have establishments for making a kind of white cloth, called foul-weather, chiefly for the use of the labouring poor. The water was excellently adapted for fulling and many hands were employed. The cause of the decay of Berkshire cloth- making is not far to seek, apart from the special causes which have already been enumerated. The activity of the northern clothiers, the improvement in the manu- facture of cloth, the introduction of machin- ery, and with it the factory system, spinning- jennies, carding machines, and like inventions, due to the spirit of industry and inventive genius "of the clothiers in the large manufac- turing districts of Lancashire and Yorkshire, turned the tide of fortune elsewhere. Dis- tressed weavers and spinners fled northward, and the prosperity of the county as a great manufacturing locality for a time ceased. At Newbury the trade lingered on well into the last century, where in 1808 kerseys, cottons, calicoes, linen and damask were manufactured, and also a colony of Witney blanket makers settled in the town and produced blankets in no way inferior to the products of the famous Witney looms. Only in one town in Berkshire does the clothing industry still find a home, and that is in the town once famous for the same manu- facture, Abingdon. Leland stated in the time of Henry VIII. that ' the town stondeth by clothing.' It had its great merchants in mediaeval times, and the abbot had his full- ing mill, which became as ruinous as his own monastery. The charter of James I. shows that an attempt was made to revive the clothing industry by establishing a wool market, and the setting of the inhabitants to the working of sheep's wool, woollen thread and yarn. Amongst the members of the companies into which the inhabitants were ' to be sorted and severed,' clothworkers and sheremen are mentioned in the year 1669. The spinning and weaving of flax was a flourishing industry in the eighteenth century. Coarse cloth used for sacking, and other purposes, which have already been mentioned, continued to be made, and is still to some extent maintained. At the beginning of the last century the Abingdon manufacturers of sacking had a 394 INDUSTRIES Government contract, but this ceased a little later. A different kind of cloth was then used for hammocks, and one manufacturer, Thomas Westbrook, used to make 300 pieces a week of 24 yards each. A little later the industry declined, and only 700 pieces were made in the whole town. However, the industry found employment for 3,000 men, women, and children in Abingdon and the surrounding villages, and above 1,800 in the town alone. The Abingdon Sack Hiring Company, under the directions of Mr. Cope- land, manufactures sacks and sacking and rick cloths. But the old reputation of the town as a centre of the clothing industry is chiefly maintained by the manufactory of Messrs. Clarke, Sons & Co., who employ hundreds of workpeople both in the town and in the surrounding villages. The Abingdon Carpet Manufacturing Company's works (Messrs. Shepherd Brothers) have been established many years. The firm has still original hand-looms working upon jute weaving in the same style as in 1825, when Abingdon was the first town to establish this industry. The manufacture of rush and twine matting existed in Abingdon in 1808, and was then considered a new inven- tion, and large quantities were sold, being well adapted for halls and staircases. In the company's works ' Isis ' matting is woven from the rushes that grow on the banks of the Thames, also cocoa-nut matting, and rugs and carpets and heavy ' Windsor ' pile. It is pleasant to reflect that the industry has not quite forsaken the county which once produced Reading broadcloth and Winch- comb's Kersies. SILK MANUFACTURE It is generally held that the silk trade did not make much progress in England until the year 1585, when the Flemish weavers were driven from their country by religious perse- cutions. If that be so, the industry must have found almost its earliest home in Berk- shire, for at Wokingham in this county it was evidently established soon after that year, and the making of silk stockings became at an early date an important feature of its industrial history, and was legislated for by the muni- cipality. It is impossible, as far as we can determine, to discover who first started the making of silken hose in Wokingham. The industry was however much practised in the town at the beginning of the seventeenth century, as the following drastic laws relating to the trade appear among the old bye-laws of the borough promulgated in 1625 : — * ' 2 1 st. Order against persons refusing to knitt silk stockings not having any other trade and their penalty. Poor people refusing to work at the trade of Silk Stockings — and not suffering their children to be put to work in the said Trade or any other but rather their idle and naughty form of life, It shall be lawful for the Alderman 2 to commit them for so refusing to work to the house of cor- rection there to remain till they put in sufficient surties either to avoide the Town or to work in the same trade which shall be appointed them. 1 MSS. in the possession of the Corporation of Wokingham. 2 Under the charter of the old corporation of Wokingham the alderman was the chief magis- trate, corresponding to the mayor in other towns. ' 22nd. None to sett up the trade of Silk Knitting unless having served seven years apprentice to it under penalty of twenty shillings to be forfeited for every month. ' 23rd. None under the age of 25 years to keep at the same traid if not a penalty of zos. to be forfeited every month. ' 26th. Unmarried persons silk knitters com- pelled to serve for wages under penalty of forty shillings for every default.' The encouragement of idleness could not be laid to the charge of the old corporation of the town. It is known that James I. was very solicitous to promote the English silk trade, and the cultivation of silkworms, in order that his subjects might be independent of foreign supplies. He is said to have planted a garden of mulberry trees on the site of Buckingham Palace, but the venture was not successful. Following the royal example the good people of Wokingham planted numbers of mulberry trees in and near the town in order to supply themselves with the necessary material for their industry. Some of these may still be seen in many of the old-fashioned gardens at the rear of the houses in the town. There is no evidence that the famous stock- ing loom invented by the Rev. William Lee, who like many other inventors profited little by his wonderful ingenuity, ever found its way to Wokingham. The manufacture was evidently conducted on the domestic system, women and children knitting the stockings in their own homes and bringing them to their employer. How long the trade flourished we have no means of ascertaining, but at the 395 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE beginning of the last century three silk manufacturers had establishments in the town. One was for spinning and two for weav- ing. Hatbands, ribbons, watch-strings, shoe- strings, sarsenets, figured gauzes for ladies' dresses were made here. The spinning and twisting mill was worked by one horse, which turned a large horizontal wheel, that com- municated with others, and set in motion 432 spindles, in a very spacious apartment over the machinery. These manufactories were at that time fairly flourishing and increasing, and employed nearly 100 persons of all ages. The men earned 30^. a week, but women and children were chiefly engaged, the former earning 8/. to los. a week, the latter 5*. The produce was sent weekly to London. Until the middle of the last century the trade of silk throwing was carried on in the town. The silk was imported in bales, and opened into separate hanks and sorted. The coarsest was used for plush poplins and handkerchiefs, the finest for black silk, velvets, satins and serges. The silk was washed or soaked in order to dissolve the gum, and then dried by hanging on poles, reeled and wound on bobbins by women and children. The singles were then doubled and 'thrown,' the strands being twisted in a direction reverse to that in which it had been doubled, and so strengthened for weaving purposes. The factory where this process was carried on was situated in Peach Street. In 1830 it was owned by Mr. John Gower. Mr. Wescott bought the premises about the middle of the last century, and recollects that there were looms in the upper storey for weaving silk. According to the evidence of old inhabitants of the town a number of silk-weavers lived in Rose Street and wove silk handkerchiefs. Soon after the purchase of the old factory by Mr. Wescott it was burnt down. On its site Mr. Wescott erected his saw mills and timber stores, which are now owned by Mr. G. T. Phillips, and the silk industry in Wokingham disappeared from the town. The Cyclo- paedia published by Abraham Rees in 1819 records that the inhabitants of the town ' are chiefly employed in agriculture, throwing silk, sorting wool, and making shoes. The gauze manufacture was some years ago introduced.' In 1700 the silk stocking manu- facture was still carried on in Wokingham. The manufacture of silk was also carried on in Reading. In 164.0 the first notice of the manufacture appears when Robert Smart, a silk-weaver, was allowed to use his trade with- in the borough.1 At the beginning of the 1 Rec. of Reading, iii. 520. 396 eighteenth century it was fairly flourishing. In that home of all trades, the Oracle, plain and figured silk dress materials were manu- factured, some of which were from 1 8 to 60 inches broad.2 Mr. Man tells us that this manufactory ' had suffered a good deal by the American embargo and non-importation Acts.' That Reading was considered a convenient place for the trade is shown by the fact that a London silk manufacturer established about the year 1816 a branch business in the town, and employed as his agent one Deedy, who lived in East Street. This action offended the journeymen silk-weavers of Spitalfields, London, who brought an action against their master for starting the business in Read- ing. They were successful in this litigation,3 but the connection between the trades of London and Reading did not cease, as a few years later, in 1830, we find that Thomas Simmonds was carrying on the manufacture of silk in Minster Street, and had also works in St. Paul's Churchyard, London.4 An- other firm which had works both in London and Reading was that of Messrs. Williams & Simpson, who were silk manufacturers in the old centre of the industry at Spitalfields and also made ribbons in the Oracle at Reading. At the same time Matthew Green manu- factured ' shag ' or rough silk in East Street, and Messrs. Reynolds and McFarlane had works in some part of the abbey buildings. Twyford was also provided with a village in- dustry, and for several years silk-throwing was carried on there in houses which still exist. In 1830 Mr. George Billing and Mr. Thomas Billing employed several workpeople in this trade. They had also a considerable silk mill, which has now been converted into a corn mill. The Billings came to Twyford from Macclesfield, a great centre of the silk indus- try, about the year 1800, and George Billing, the last of the Twyford silk manufacturers, died in 1835. At the same period there was a small silk manufactory at Kintbury carried on by Jonathan Tanner. There are still some few persons living who worked in this factory when children. Their recollections of it are not very pleasant. They worked thirteen hours a day for six days in a week and earned one shilling, and frequent thrashings with a leathern strap from a somewhat brutal over- seer. Little girls from seven years of age and upwards were employed there. The factory came to an end in the forties, and the 2 Man, Hist, of Reading, p. 161. a Reading Seventy Tears Ago, p. 48. « Pigot's Commercial Directory, Berkshire, 1830. INDUSTRIES building was turned into a whiting factory. It was a hideous building and occupied a prominent position in the village, and when Sir R. Sutton bought the property from the Dundas family in 1876 he caused it to be pulled down. At Newbury Thomas Harker had silk works in the London Road, and silk ribbons were made at Thatcham by James Nesbitt. Greenham, always an active little suburb of Newbury, had some silk mills owned in 1830 by Thomas Hibell, where silk-throwing was carried on, and the same trade found a home in West Mills under the management of Charles Lewes. No other traces of the industry, which has long been extinct in the county, can now be found, and it is now entirely obsolete in the county of Berks. TANNING Tanning is one of the oldest industries in this county and still maintains its importance amongst the trades of Berkshire. The name of Alan le Tanur appears at Wallingford in the reign of Henry III. as an important person and witness to several deeds. The name of Richard le Tannur occurs in a deed dated 20 Edward II. ; that of Nicholas Tannere a few years later.1 At Reading also in the fifteenth century we find the trade firmly established. In 1444 the name of Thomas Web be, tanner, appears in the records of the town. He was a person of some position, and was one of the chief burgesses.2 There were also several skinners, allied traders to the tanners, and many workers in leather, glovers, cordwainers, saddlers, bottle-makers, etc. The cause of the excellence of the trade in this county is the plentifulness of oak trees in Berkshire. In early times the bark of the common oak (quercus robur), was almost the only tanning material used by British tanners, and it is still the substance from which the highest quality of heavy tanned leather is prepared, although with it the process is naturally tedious.3 Throughout the country there are still a few tanners who boast that they use nothing in their trade but oak bark. The woods of Berkshire and the neighbour- ing forests of Oxfordshire supplied this substance in plenty, and helped to make the reputation of the Berkshire tanners. Oak bark imparts firmness and solidity to leather, while other agents give softness, and the Berkshire product has not lost its good quality. During the sixteenth century the trade in Reading does not seem to have made much progress. Few tanners are mentioned in the lists of burgesses. The special trades carried on by the burgesses are not infrequently omitted in the records, and it is not there- fore safe to conclude that this industry was languishing. A munificent tanner, Robert Boyer, seems to have been very prosperous during this century, and left all his lands and tenements at Burghfield in trust for the poor of Reading. If Deloney's Pleasant and Delect- able Historie of John Wincbcomb may be taken as evidence of the condition of the trade, tanning prospered at Wallingford in the time of Henry VIII., inasmuch as the first suitor of the rich widow of Jack's master was a tanner, ' a man of good wealth ' dwelling in that town. While much dependence cannot, of course, be placed upon this romance, it serves to show that in Deloney's time (the latter part of the sixteenth century) tanning was a well estab- lished and flourishing trade in this district. In the seventeenth century it appears to have been flourishing at Reading. In 1624 Edward Baker was the chief of the tanners, and he and other freemen complained of strangers who sold leather in the market to the great hurt of the freemen, and to their buying hides contrary to the government of the town.4 Sealers of leather were appointed and were warned that they should seal no foreign leather bought and sold in the country and brought into the town, except on fair days.5 It appears in 1623 there was a tannery at Mortimer, for one Richard Boles brought some hides thence to Reading market. The searchers examined these hides and found them insufficiently tanned, and sundry fines were levied. The seizers, triers, and the poor received certain benefits from the proceeds of the sale. Searchers of leather regularly appear among the other officers of the town, and their names are recorded. In 1628 William Sedburye and John Hughes were sworn searchers and sealers of leather,8 and a month after their appointment seized five hides of leather of Matthew Turnoer, because they had not been examined, nor sealed, nor registered ; and three hides of John Joseph insufficiently tanned. The method of judg- 1 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vi., App. p. 581. 3 Rec. of Reading, i. 19. 3 Encycl. Brit. xiv. 381. « Rec. of Reading, ii. 168. • Ibid. p. 402. Ibid. 397 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE ing is curious. Six triers were sworn and appointed. The leather was forfeited and valued, and the amount divided into three parts, ' as the statute directeth,' x and given to the searchers, to Widow Bonivent, and to the poor of the three parishes. The sealers were not always careful to obey the laws of the borough, and were complained of by the freemen tanners for sealing strangers' leather. The complaint was listened to, but the consideration of it was conveniently postponed, and the sealers seem to have escaped censure. In 1630 the tanners again present their suit, and their leader in con- sideration of $d. paid him promised to save Mr. Mayor harmless of all actions and damages to be brought against him by any foreign tanner.2 The searchers and sealers of leather seemed to have been so hardly worked that their number wasjncreased in 1633 from two to three, and this arrangement was continued for several years until 1639, when the number was again reduced to two. Possibly this was the most flourishing period (1633-9) °f tne trade, which began to decline during the troublous times of the Civil War, when the sieges of Reading, the loans, the billeting of soldiers, and oppressions of both belligerents ruined for a time the trade in the town and county. In the midst of the war tanning was however still carried on. Sealers of leather were appointed in 1645. 3 Two years later the holders of this responsible office were ' put out of their office and the seal taken from them for having abused themselves in their office by sealing green leather.4 The chronicles of Newbury show that this in- dustry was established there at a very early date. An inquisition 5 of 1297 mentions the existence of tanning mills in the town, and Thomas le Tannur as tenant of the same.6 The Black Death, which inflicted much loss upon the town and neighbourhood, seriously checked the trade of tanning, and depreciated the value of this mill. Before this terrible scourge it was worth 26s. Sd. yearly ; after- wards it yielded nothing on account of the deadly pestilence.7 Amongst the quakers prosecuted here in 1683 there was one Thomas Hyne of Shaw, tanner ; but there are few references to the trade in the history of this town.8 At the beginning of the eighteenth century John Hazell had a tannery Rec. of Reading, ii. 403. Ibid. iii. 36. Ibid. iv. 170. « Ibid. p. 239. Inq. p.m. 25 Edw. I. No. 36. Chan. Inq. p.m. 29 Edw. I. No. 53. "> Ibid. 28 Edw. III. pt. 2, no. 37. 8 Money, Hist, of Newbury, p. 300. at Donnington, Charles Hote at Greenham Mills and John Lee in Cheap Street, but the industry is now extinct in this district. In Hungerford the tanning industry was carried on, and survived the cloth manu- facture, which, as we have already noticed, existed in the town. A large tanyard stood formerly by the Bath Road at the entrance to the town, and the importance of this indus- try is shown by the fact that searchers and sealers of leather were annually appointed by the Hock- tide court. In 1830 William Anning had a tannery in Charnham Street, which, Dr. Mavor reports, ' was on a large scale but the trade is no longer carried on here.' At Wantage there were no less than four tanneries, which gave the name to a street in the town called Tanner Street. The tan- yard belonging to Mr. Sylvester which flour- ished at the beginning of the last century was one of the largest in the kingdom and was conducted on the most approved principles. The then ' new art of tanning ' was introduced at great expense but with the best success by the proprietor, assisted by a German named Desmond. A process was discovered by which the hides were made fit for sale in half the time formerly expended upon the tanning, and without the smallest injury to the texture, which was thought to be improved by the speedier process. Many experiments were made in this tannery with different kinds of bark, but oak was found to be the best.9 It is interesting to note that the last relic of these tanneries was removed by the demolition of a wall built entirely of the skulls and part of the horns of animals, whose hides furnished the raw material for these works. The foot- way at Stiles's Almhouses, where the knuckle- bones of sheep form the sides of the paving, is an interesting memento of obsolete trades.10 At Abingdon tanning was an ancient industry. Tanners held their stalls in the markets and fairs long before the year 1557, when regulations were made with regard to the price they had to pay for the privilege. They were the chief members of the Company of Skinners, one of the three companies into which the traders of Abingdon were ' sorted and severed ' u ; and minute regulations with regard to the trade are laid down in an old document of unknown date containing ' the articles to be given in Charge to the Grand Jury to enquire of at the Leet & Laweday to be holden for the Borough of Abingdon.' The jury are directed as follows : ' You shall 393 • Mavor, Agriculture of Berks, p. 469. »» Wantage, Past and Present, pp. 88, 89. 11 Rec. of Abingdon, p. 160. INDUSTRIES inquire of Tanners that have used the occu- pation of a Cordwayner or a Currier, or hath putt any Leather to sale, but red Leather as it came from the Tannefutte, or that hath putt any Hyde or Peece of Leather to sale before it be well dryed, marked & sorted & then sold in open Markett, or that hath tanned any Sheepskins. Also wheather Glovers or Whitetanyers of Leather doe make any other ware then that w'ch is substantial!, well taned & dryed, and not rotten nor tainted, and sell the same at reasonabl prices. And a white Taner may tane noe calfe skynns except they be putt to him to be tanned upon paine to loose for every calfe Skynne xxd.' * Ock Street seems to have been the chief centre of the trade. In 1830 William Gidden and Thomas Waite had tanneries there, one of which was continued until a few years ago, having been carried on by Mr. T. R. Kendall. It is now aban- doned. Parchment does not properly come under the head of leather, seeing that it is neither tanned nor tawed, but consists of dressed skins dried and prepared for particular uses. But although an account of its manufacture does not come within the scope of this section, it may be stated that there were several parchment makers in the county at the beginning of the last century. James Parker carried on the business of fell- monger and parchment maker in the kine- croft, Wallingford, and was presumably con- nected with John Parker, tanner, who had a tannery in the same locality. Parchment was also made in the last century by George Jackson at Abingdon, which is still a seat of the industry, Messrs. T. J. Bailey & Son having a manufactory in Ock Street, and Mr. W. B. Bailey at the Spring Grove Works. Faringdon also produces parchments at the works of Mr. J. Bailey. At Windsor the industry was not unknown, though tanning has been extinct there for many years. In 1637 it is recorded there was a house called ' the Tannhowse ' by the Thames side, which points to the existence of a tannery at that period, and curriers and leather-cutters carried on this trade until modern times in High Street, Eton. The old Tanhouse at Wokingham still remains. It is an ancient building situated on the Barkham Road, and the business is now in the possession of Messrs. Philbrick, who own the Reading tannery in Katesgrove Lane. In 1830 James AUwright conducted the business at a tanyard, and was succeeded by the Twycross family, 1 Rec. of Abingdon, xxix. who held it until about 1860, when it was acquired by the late Mr. John Philbrick and adapted for the purposes of fellmongering. Messrs. C. & G. Philbrick's tannery at Reading is situated in Katesgrove Lane, and occupies the land between that thoroughfare and St. Giles's millstream. It was purchased some years ago by Thomas and John Phil- brick from Mr. George Higgs, who had successfully carried on the business for many years prior to 1832. The tannery was partially destroyed by fire in 1839 and was completely burnt down in 1851, when it was rebuilt by the late Mr. John Philbrick. The method of tanning carried on here is known as the ' English Oak Bark Tannage ' and the articles produced are dressing hides and calf skins. About thirty men are employed. It would appear that leather and all the trades dependent upon it have formed one of the staple industries of the county. Shoe- makers appear among the earliest manu- facturers in Berkshire industrial history. Allusion may here be made to an important village industry, that of boot and shoe making, which was founded at Cookham in 1828. This village became the centre of a large manufacture, giving employment to from 1,200 to 1,500 workpeople. The business was both home and colonial. It was a cottage industry carried on by the workpeople in their own homes, women and girls taking the lighter portions of the work, only the cutting out and giving out of the work being done at the central place of business. But with the introduction of machinery in making boots and shoes, enabling them to be produced at lower prices than by the handmade pro- cess, this was superseded, and the Cookham business, hitherto so successfully carried on first by Mr. Burrows and subsequently by his sons, was brought to a close some twenty years since, the trade going to towns such as Leicester and Northampton and the work being carried on in large factories. The origin of the Cookham business was somewhat singular. Mr. W. J. Burrows had been connected with the Bermondsey leather market, but ill-health compelled him when quite a young man to retire from business, and he settled at Cookham. From his business knowledge he enabled the three or four local shoemakers, for whom he interested himself, to obtain their materials on better terms than they had been accustomed to do, and, noting how much spare time they had, he suggested to them the making of boots and shoes, of good material and workmanship, suitable for the middle and working classes, which he would dispose of for them. The 399 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE ready-made boots at that time were of very both at home and abroad that the business inferior quality. Mr. Burrows's suggestion rapidly attained the size before mentioned : was taken, and the goods met with such favour a philanthropic act substantially rewarded ! PRINTING The county can boast of a very early press which was established in the sixteenth century in accordance with the Act of the reign of Richard III. inviting strangers connected with the art to take up their abode and exercise their calling in the country. In 1528 John Scolar, probably identical with the Oxford printer of 1518, set up a press in the Abbey of Abingdon and there printed a breviary for the use of the monks of that house. Emman- uel College, Cambridge, possesses the only known copy of this work.1 At the end of the sixteenth century the legislature did all it could to discourage the art, and an Act was passed in 1583 prohibiting the practice of printing except in London, Oxford and Cambridge. In consequence of this edict doubtless, the early press at Abing- don disappeared, and Berkshire printing ceased, except perhaps by the private presses that followed in the wake of the army during the Civil War. Restrictive Acts of Parlia- ment prevented the spread of printing, which were kept in force till 1693 ; after that date the art increased rapidly in the provinces, especially in relation to the production of newspapers. The earliest known printers in Reading were W. Parks and D. Kennier, who were the first printers of the Reading Mercury, a news- paper which made its first appearance on 8 July 1723. This paper has had an interest- ing and remarkable history. Only six other news-sheets in England have existed so long a period, retaining the same title ; and the Reading Mercury has remained in the pos- session of the same family for nearly a century and a quarter. It was founded by Mr. John Watts, mayor of Reading, the author in 1749 of a pamphlet bearing the alarming title, The Black Scene opened. Parks, one of its first printers, was of a roving nature. He estab- lished himself at Ludlow in 1719 and at Hereford in 1721, and thence came to Reading, where his sojourn was equally brief. Mr. Allnutt, Librarian of the Bodleian Library, has traced him to Annapolis in Maryland and to Williamsburgh in Virginia.3 Isaiah 1 English Provincial Presses, by W. H. Allnutt, published in Bibliographica, ii. 30. 2 Notes on Printing in Reading during .the l8th century, by W. Allnutt in Reading Mercury. Thomas, in his History of Printing in America, says ' Parks was well acquainted with the art of printing and his work was both neat and correct.' He acquired a handsome property, was much respected, sailed for England in 1750, and died on board the ship, his body being buried at Gosport. His partner, David Kennier, was in early life apprenticed to a London printer and member of the Sta- tioners' Company, Matthew Jenour, in 1715. After the departure of Parks he continued to print the Mercury. The first number con- sists of 12 pages foolscap 410 size, or 8 by 10 inches. The first two pages are occupied with a list of goods imported and exported at London, and an introductory address ' to the gentlemen of Berkshire and the counties adjacent,' in which the proprietors quaintly remark : ' We have pitched our Tent at Reading, induc'd by the good character this country bears for Pleasure and Plenty : and intend with your leave to publish a Weekly News-Paper under the Title of The Reading Mercury or Weekly Entertainer: containing Historical and Political Observations on the most remarkable Transactions in Europe ; collected from the best and most authentic accounts, written and printed : with the Imports and Exports of Merchandizes to and from London, and other Remarks on Trade ; also the best recount of the Price of Corn in the most noted Market-Towns 20 or 30 miles circular. And when a scarcity of News happens we shall divert you with something merry.' The printing office was styled the Saracen's Head in High Street. In 1725 Kennier printed Heliocrene a poem in Latin and English : on the Calybeate Well at Sunning Hill in Windsor Forest. It is inscribed — Excudebat D. Kennier, Typographus Read- ingensis Anno Dom. 1725. Two years later another printer appeared in the town, one William Ayres, who set up his press in Minster Street. He printed a sermon on the Order of Duties by Joseph Slade, which created much controversy. He continued his art until 1734, when he printed Messiah, a divine essay, a work written by the senior boy of the Free Grammar School, James Merrick, after- wards a noted Reading author. After chang- ing its proprietary at least once the Mercury became in the latter part of the seventeenth century the property of the widow of the 400 INDUSTRIES brilliant but unfortunate Christopher Smart, poet, author of the Song of David, and the translator of Horace. Christopher Smart had two daughters by this lady, one of whom married Thomas Cowslade, and the other Chevalier Le Noir, one of the refugees who fled to England during the French Revolution of 1789. On Mrs. Smart's death the paper passed into the possession of her daughters. The firm was styled Smart & Cowslade in 1794, when they published Alter et idem, a new Review, and in 1816 Cowslade & Co. Even- tually the paper passed to the children of Thomas Cowslade, the grandfather of the present proprietor, Mr. William Wallace Cowslade, whose sons now control the paper. Henry's Reading Journal or Weekly Review was published in 1744 as a rival to the Mercury. It was printed by D. Henry and published at his house in Friar Street, and sold at his office at the Upper End of the Church Walk in Winchester. Local news is scarce in this folio sheet, which is mainly filled with extracts from the London Gazette and other London newspapers, with occasional references to the Dutch journals published at The Hague and Utrecht. This printer combined his trade with that of a vendor of patent and other medicines, and at the end of each copy of his paper advertises his sale of Daffey's Elixir, Chymical Drops for Coughs and Colds, etc., etc., as well as Dr. Henry's Nervous Medicines for the cure of all nervous disorders, etc. His press seems to have been very active. He published in 1747 'An Historical Review of the Transactions of Europe from the commencement of the war with Spain in 1 739 to the Insurrection of Scotland in 1745' (two volumes), by S. Boyse, a second work on the History of the Late Rebellion in 1745, Five Discourses by the Revd. Lubbridge Wood, and Plain •practical and experimental discourses on the Infinite and Eternal Trinity by A. D. in 1747. He became in 1754 a partner in the Gentleman* 's Magazine. Henry died at Lewis- ham, Kent, in 1792 in the 8znd year of his age.1 Messrs. J. Newbery and C. Micklewright were established as printers in the market place at the sign of the Bible and Crown in 1744, and published a book of travels by C. Thompson. They published also some lectures on Philosophy entitled Philosophia Micrographia Nova by Benjamin Martin in 1743, and the same writer's Philosophia Britannica in 1747. C. Micklewright printed under his own name Sermons by Dr. Trapp in 1752. Messrs. J. Carnan & Co. were Read- Gent. Mag. 1792, p. 578. ing publishers in 1764, the successors doubtless of William Carnan who in 1736 printed a folio edition of Ashmole's History and Antiquities of Berkshire. They had the honour of publishing the works of James Merrick, scholar, divine and poet, whose youthful essay has been already mentioned. Amongst the worb published by this firm were A Letter to the Rev. Mr. Joseph Warton chiefly relating to the Composition of Greek indexes, Reading, 1764 ; Annotations, critical and grammatical, on Chap. I. v. I to 14 of the Gospel according to St. John, 1764; Annotations, critical and grammatical, on the Gospel according to St. John, to the end of the third chapter, 1767; The Psalms translated or paraphrased in English verse, 1765 (the second edition appeared in 1766) ; Annotations on the Psalms, 1768. A Manual of Prayers for Common Occasions, 1768. The Miscellaneous Works serious and humourous in verse and prose for the fair sex of C. S. Boyse were also issued by this firm in 1740. A little earlier C. Pocock was a printer in Reading and produced the Miscellaneous Works in Prose and Verse of Mrs. Mary Latter of Reading, Berks, in 1759. The Life and Sufferings of Henry Grace were published in 1764 at Reading, and in 1777 The Reading Races, a Poem was printed and sold by Carnan & Smart, who also published in 1791 the poems of Christopher Smart, the learned proprietor of the Mercury. Reading printers produced the first edition of Lempriere's Classical Dictionary in 1788. The author was a master at the Reading school. It was entitled Bibliotheca Classics, and was printed at Reading for T. Cadell, London. Various sermons and pamphlets were printed and published in Reading by Dale Ingram, Anthony Addington, Thomas Hull, H. Land, Dr. R. Valpy, W. Vanderstegen, Charles Sturges, Edward Wilson, Edward Barry, and the Hon. W. B. Cadogan. Bar- cham of Reading printed a poor poem on Cranmer by Arabella Georgina Campbell at the beginning of the last century. The Snares were a family of noted Reading printers and booksellers. Robert Snare was the founder of the business in Minster Street. He published an excellent and voluminous catalogue in 1832 of the books current at that time. In 1798 the name of the firm was Snare & Co., who published Poems of W. Lane and other works. In 1811 Robert Snare was publishing on his own account, and a volume of sermons came from his press. Mr. Snare seems to have entered into partnership with Mr. John Man, and the name of the firm, 401 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE ' Snare & Man ' appears on many title pages. The Stranger in Reading was printed by them in 1810, a satirical work generally supposed to have been written by Man, also Classical Pastimes by Mirrianne Curties. They printed and published Mr. Man's History of Reading in 1816, a well printed and il- lustrated 410 work, and a long poem on The Death of Abel. The partnership seems to have been dissolved about this time. Mr. William Man carried on the printing and publishing business in Butcher Row, and books appear with his name only on the title page. A book of poems by T. Wyatt was printed by him in 1818. Robert Snare published several works and was succeeded by John Snare, who in 1845 printed Arborleigh and in 1843 a work entitled Environs of Reading. He used excel- lent paper and good type, and considerably improved the style of Reading printing. In 1825 George Lamb was printing and publishing the second oldest newspaper in the county, The Berkshire Chronicle. This news- paper has an interesting history. Founded in 1770 its early years are merged in obscurity, but a rare copy of one of the numbers of the third volume is preserved in the office and is full of interest. Issued at z^d. it consists of four pages 12 J by i8£ inches, and it was published at Wokingham by Messrs. Trickey, Cruttwell & Co. in the market place. Owing to the increase of the stamp duty, which reached 4^. in 1815, the Chronicle like many other papers felt the burden insupportable, and for a time its publication was suspended. In 1825 it reappeared, consisting of four five- column pages (15^ by 21 \ inches) bearing a 4^. stamp, the price being jd. The printing office was now removed to Reading in the High Street, the publisher being G. Lamb. Various changes took place in the size and price of the paper. Richard Welch was the publisher in 1850 and continued to conduct the paper until recent times, when a company was formed to carry on the paper, which holds a prominent place among the newspapers of the county. In addition to the newspaper proprietors, there were two other printers in the town in 1830, E. Beasley and W. Drysdale. The latter printed The Life of Anne Smith in 1829. In 1831 the name of W. Conibear appears on the title page of The New Con- fectionary. Richard Parsons was printing at this time and published in 1835 a volume of sermons, and W. Thomas, of Broad Street, produced A Voice from Italy in 1843. Two years later Richard Welch was established in the market place, and printed Barra, a Trajedy in 1845. A private press was set up in Reading by Mr. T. E. Williams, who produced a reprint of P. Heutzner's Journey in England in 1807. Newbury had several printers at the beginning of the last century, of whom Messrs. Hall & Marsh were the chief firm. They printed a history of the town in 1839, and had their press in Speenhamland. Other printers in the town were William Mayo and Matthew Vardy in Northbrook Street, and Matthew Price in the marketplace. In 1841 Mr. James Blacket acquired one of the North- brook Street businesses, and in 1864 was joined in partnership by his son, Mr. W. J. Blacket. In 1867 the Newbury Weekly News was started by the latter in conjunction with Mr. T. W. Turner ; this paper is still printed by the same firm. The volumes of the Trans- actions of the Newbury Field Club are printed by Mr. Blacket. Another Newbury news- paper was The Newbury Express, printed and published by Mr. W. Hall, but now discon- tinued. The Caxton Printing Works in the market place are owned by Mr. G. J. Cosburn, who produces an annual illustrated directory of the town and neighbourhood. Messrs. Hemmin, Nash & Oliver are also printers in the town. A press was in existence at Faringdon in 1 798, owned by L. Piggot,who printed a small History of Faringdon, a scarce volume which now commands a large price. In 1830 Richard Knapp was the sole printer there. Luker & Co. are now the only printers in the place, and publish the Faringdon Advertiser and Vale of White Horse Gazette. Abingdon printers at the beginning of the century were Caleb Evans and W. Willmor. The only newspapers published in the town are the Abingdon Herald, the proprietor of which is Mr. H. G. Loosley, and the Abingdon Free Press ; but there are several printers, Baylis & Co., S. Waite, Messrs. H. H. Hughes, T. Leach and W. H. Hooke. A volume entitled Selections from the Records of the Borough of Abingdon was printed and published by Mr. W. H. Hooke, who has his works in the marketplace. Neither Wantage nor Woking- ham could boast of a press in 1830, but, as we have already mentioned, in the latter town Messrs. Trickey Cruttwell & Co. had a press in the market place in 1773, which produced the earlier numbers of the Berkshire Chronicle. For many years W. J. Gotelee and also Mrs. Millin have carried on small printing works in Wokingham ; and the Wokingham Gazette has recently been started by Mr. F. Staniford. At Wantage Mr. H. N. Nichols has for many years had a press, and has printed several works, including Wantage, 402 INDUSTRIES Past and. Present, 1901. A. Gibbs and Clegg & Son are also printers in the town. Two newspapers have recently been started in the town, the Wantage Herald published by Mr. A. Gibbs, and the Wantage Free Press. John Bradford was established as a printer at Wallingford in 1830, and he had several active successors. In 1855 the Berks and Oxon Advertiser was established. It is published by Mr. W. D. Jenkins. The Wallingford Times was printed and published by Mr. G. Rippon, but is now discontinued. Mr. Bradford is now a Wallingford printer. Maidenhead had two printers at the beginning of the century, Thomas Hughes and G. W. Welton. Now it has two newspapers, the Maidenhead Advertiser, published by Mr. F. G. Baylis, and the Maidenhead Argus by Mr. T. J. Northery, and four other presses owned by Messrs. Burnham, Loosley, Isaac and J. C. Smith. Windsor had three early printers in the nineteenth century, one of whom, Henry W. Reynall in 1812 founded the Windsor and Eton Ex-press, which is still published by Oxley & Son. The Windsor Chronicle is published by Mr. T. E. Luff. Mr. F. Walker has also a press in Victoria Street. The spread of printing has caused the setting up of several presses in the rising villages of Berkshire, such as Ascot, Crow- thorne and Bracknell. The little town of Hungerford does not yet support a newspaper of its own, but it has a printing office owned by Mr. F. New. After this brief resume of the presses through- out the county, we must return to the county town, where in recent years an enormous increase has taken place in the numbers and extents of the printing establishments. There are now no less than twenty-one firms engaged in this industry, and while some are only small concerns with one or two presses, a considerable number are large and important works, replete with modern machines and appliances. During the past few years the removal of large printing works from London to the country has not been uncommon. The high value of land in London, the heavy rates and rental, have induced several printers to migrate into the country, where sites can be secured at a reasonable rental and room for expansion can be procured. Reading, owing to its proximity to London and its excellent train service, has found favour as a suitable place for the erection of printing works, and several firms have established themselves in the town. Amongst those who have migrated to Reading is the firm of Messrs. Wyman & Sons, who had large works at Fetter Lane and at Carter Lane, Doctors' Commons, London, and required an extension of their premises. They selected a site of three acres just off the Caversham Road in Cardiff Street, about three acres in extent, and in 1901 erected their new buildings, which have subsequently been enlarged. The works cover a space of nearly two acres, and there are numerous departments for the various kinds of printing carried on in the buildings. Amongst the most important productions of this press are the Parliamentary debates, which have to be printed with much expe- dition, and a large staff of readers is employed when Parliament is in session. The Litho- graphic department is an important one, and the geological maps of the Ordnance Survey are produced by this firm, who are also contractors for the printing for the Treasury, the Privy Council Office, the Education Department and H.M. Stationery Office. They print also time-tables and other matter for the Great Western Railway, besides news- papers and magazines. A large staff is also employed in the binding department. In the composing and other departments a large amount of female labour is employed, the hands having migrated here from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Recently two more annexes have been added to the works, one of which contains the monotype installation, and the other a roller-casting plant. The proprietors of The Graphic have established at Reading their Colour Printing works in Katesgrove Lane. The old multiple- colour process has been abandoned at these works, and the new three-colour process is entirely adopted. Each machine is driven by its own electric motor. The Reading works are in close touch with the London office, and no inconvenience has been caused by the establishment of this department in the Berkshire capital. The needs of the modern advertiser have called into being many huge printing estab- lishments, and amongst these the large works of Messrs. Petty & Son, called the ' Southern Printeries,' in contradistinction to their north of England ' Whitehall Printeries ' at Leeds. The founder of the firm, the late Mr. J. W. Petty, learnt printing at the Leeds limes office about 1830, when that newspaper was printed on a handpress. The Reading business was started in 1895 in buildings in Katesgrove Lane, burnt down in 1901, the ruins of which were purchased by the pro- prietors of The Graphic, and converted into the colour printing works described above. Messrs. Petty bought the large Queen's Hall, 403 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE built as a concert or entertainment room, and converted it into a printing establishment. The old gallery, now extended round the building, is devoted to the composing and block - making departments. The ground floor constitutes the machinery hall, and is replete with equipments for colour printing, letterpress and lithography, including three- colour-process work, bookbinding, etc. Some of the machinery is of the new American type, and in the west gallery is a monotype plant worked on the typewriter principle. About 300 hands are employed, and the managing director is Mr. Benjamin Petty. The firm has branch establishments at London, Bristol and Southsea. Picture posters, fashion cata- logues, commercial printing and the manu- facture of account books are some of the specialities of the firm. Reading produces, in addition to the two already mentioned, two other newspapers, the Reading Observer and the Reading Standard. The former is owned by Messrs. Charles Slaughter & Son, who also undertake some general printing, and publish the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Archtzological Journal. The Berkshire Printing Company, Messrs. Black- well & Gutch, Messrs. Bradley & Son, electric power printers, Messrs. Knill & Sons, printers and bookbinders whose works were founded in 1853, and numerous other printers have established their presses in the town and made Reading an important centre of this particular industry. BREWING Brewing and malting have been for many years the staple industries of the county. Parts of the district are especially suitable for the growing of good barley, and an abundant supply of grain suitable for malting has always been available. Facilities of transit along the river Thames, assisted by the numerous canals that intersect the county, have also contributed largely to the encour- agement of the trade. The English monasteries were remarkable for the strength and purity of their ales, brewed from malt prepared by the monks with great care and skill, and the abbeys of Abingdon and Reading were doubtless no exception to this rule, as in the book De Consuetudinibus Abbendonia we find numerous references to the use of ale in the monastery : ' Cervisia copiose per cellarium propinabitur ' at and after dinner and after compline. The cellarer had numerous duties with regard to providing the monks with ale, and he might have for his own use ' oblatam cervisiae,' a jugful of ale. A similar amount is ordered to be given to various persons for divers duties, and abundant evidence is afforded of the use of ale in the monastery,1 brewed in the monastic vats. Large sums were derived from malt, but the greater part, 383 quarters, was assigned to the cellarer ' to brew for the convent,' its ale being evidently great in quantity and good in quality.2 ' Item de debili cervisia vis viiid ' shows that weak ale was brewed in the monastery, and is con- trasted with ' bona cervisia.' Few industries appear more often in the records of municipal government than that of brewing, except perhaps that of baking bread. The Assize of Bread and Ale appears very frequently in the statutes of England, the earliest known example being the Assiza Panis et Cerevisics of 51 Henry III.3 Each borough also enacted frequent orders for the regulation of the trade, and the ale-taster appears frequently as a responsible officer in most of the corporations. So important was the industry that Charles I. contemplated the formation of an Incorporated Company or Society of Maltsters for Berkshire, for the reforming of abuses and the regulating of the trade. The king issued to the authorities of the county certain articles directing them to read the same to the maltsters ; but doubt- less the troubles of the Civil War prevented the carrying out of the proposal. In the Rawlinson MSS. preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford these Maltsters' Articles have been discovered and are as fol- lows : — * ' Articles to be propounded to the maules- ters in the county of Berks. ' First that noe person after six munthes next comming shall buy any corne to conuerte to maulte butt in the open markitts to sell agayne. ' Seccondly that noe brewer or other person useing any other traide mistery or occupacon shall conuerte any graine to maulte to sell the same either to theire use or with theire stock by breweing of beere or ale. 'Thirdly that noe maulster Whatsoeuer shall conuerte any graine into Maulte in the 1 Abingdon Chronicle, ii. 402, etc. a Accounts of the Obedientiars, Int. xiii. 3 Gibbins, Industrial Hist, of England, p. 229. « Rawlinson MSS. D. 399, f. 153. 404 INDUSTRIES munthes of June July and Auguste in any yeare. ' Fowerthly that noe person that conuerteth any sorte of Graine into maulte to sell shall buy any maulte to sell againe. ' Fiftly for the better regulateinge of the Traide of mauletinge his majesty pleased that a competente number of meete persons to bee approued in euery county shalbee incor- porated in to a body whoe may take care for the reformeinge of the abuses nowe practised in the said traide of Maulting and none to make maulte to sell againe but such as are under a gouerment and euery maulster admitted of the said society shall use the traide in the Towne or place assigned him by his majesty or by the corporacon and not elsewhere. ' Sixtly that such persons as shall desire to bee admitted into the corporacon of maules- ters for any county shall first bringe a certificate of the juste length bredth and depth of theire cesternes or steepinge fatts which they use or intend to use in mauletinge. ' And for the better effecting this his Majestys servis you are to give warraunte to the high cunstables and cunstables in euery hundred to warne to come before you all the maulesters therein to receive from you his majestys pleasure in this buissines.' The records of Wallingford, being the oldest in the county, give the earliest inform- ation with regard to the industry of brewing and malting. In the Burghmote Roll for 17 Henry III. several women were ' amerced for ale,' i.e. for breaking the assize as to selling ale.1 This is a very early example of the enforcement of the assize of ale, earlier than the Act mentioned above. A description of the castle of Wallingford is given in I3oo,2 which states that there were two malting mills within the precincts of the castle.3 Ale-tasters discharged their office in Walling- ford at an early period. In 1369 these officers did not perform their duty to the satisfaction of the court of frankpledge and were therefore amerced. At the same time more than twenty persons were presented for selling ale by false assize and for refusing to sell it out of their houses. Two aldermen of the borough, William de Harwell and Henry Redynge, were amongst the offenders, and were fined 3^.* Selling ale by false measures was a common offence. In the seventh year of Richard II. over twenty persons were fined i Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vi. 573. 3 Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. I. No. 44. 3 Hist, of Wallingford, i. 352. 4 Hist. A/SS. Com. Rep. vi. 581. various sums for brewing contrary to the assize and for selling ale by the cup. One Elias Prestone, a brewer, was fined for refusing to put up a sign without his house, and for refusing to sell ale out of his house. The setting forth of signs and ale-poles before the doors was duly enforced by subsequent enact- ments 5 ; and in the time of Henry VIII. all brewers were ordered to sell thirteen gallons to the dozen of ale for Z2d., so long as a quart of malt was not more than 8^., and all tipsters to sell out of doors a quart of ale for a half -penny while malt was at that price. Brewers were to sell in and serve the town at the same price of one half-penny.6 The voluminous records of Reading con- tain a vast number of references to the trade. In a list of the burgesses in 1510 appear the names of Henry White,' bruere,' and Nicholas Nicolas, ' bere-bruer.' The distinction be- tween the ale-brewer and the beer-brewer is noticeable about this time in most of the towns. Beer is made from farinaceous grain, generally from malted barley, flavoured with hops. Old English ale lacked this last in- gredient, as hops were not introduced into this country before the time of Henry IV., and did not come into general use until the reign of Elizabeth. A curious edict of Henry VII. forbade the mixture of either hops or sulphur with beer. Little attention seems to have been paid to this regulation, for in 1552 hop plantations were formed.7 As late as 1649 the city of London petitioned Parlia- ment against ' hoppers ' being used, urging that ' this wicked weed would spoil the drink and endanger the lives of the people.' 8 In Berkshire neither drinkers nor makers of drink seem to have feared the effects of the ' wicked weed,' and beer-brewers flourished in all parts of the county. In Reading two men in 1596 are recorded as having taken their oaths for the assessing of prices of beer and ale according to the form of the statute.9 The province of the brewers was sometimes trespassed upon by the inn-holders and alehouse-keepers, who brewed beer and ale on their own premises. This was not permitted by the authorities, and in 1622 the latter were warned not to brew or sell any ale ' but such as is sold a quart a penny of the best and ij quarts of the 5 Hist, of Wallingford, ii. 77. • Ibid. ii. 78. 7 Hops were cultivated until quite recently at East Hagbourne, and at Little Wittenham at an earlier period, where a plot of ground on the north- west side of the Round Hill still bears the name of the ' Hop Garden field,' and another tract near the park is called the ' Upper Hop Garden.' 8 Encycl. Brit, iv 272. 8 Reading Records, i. 438. 405 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE other.' * The names of the chief brewers in Reading at this period were Mr. Ironmonger, Mr. Winche, and Bernard Harrison, as appears from a record which gives the names of certain offenders who had presumed to draw and sell the beer of their brewers without having a licence. The ale-tasters sometimes were in trouble and lost their position on account of ' partiality in their offices and other mis- demeanors.' 2 In 1627 four brewers satisfied the wants of the town, as appears from the record of the visit of the judges at the Assizes, when each brewer had to provide one barrel, making a total of four barrels. The excessive making of malt seems to have troubled the corporation, and ' Counsell's letters for re- straining ' this excess were read and an inquiry ordered. The corporation called a meeting of the maltsters, brewers of strong beer or ale, and all who had other trades were ordered to be suppressed. In 1630 ' the mayor did sett the price of ale and beere, viz. double beere le barell viiis, and soe after that rate ; single beer le barrell iiijs and soe ratably.' 3 The same prices held good for several years, and in 1635 tne price of malt in the market was fixed about 2^s. or 2$s. the quarter. The following is a full list of prices which appears first in 1635, and held good for many years — Double beere. The barrell v'ms. The kiderkyn iiij/. The firkyn \}s. The pipkyn xiid. The dussen of ale iiijd. Single beere. The barrell iiijj. The kilderkyn us. The virkyn xiid. The pipkyn viJ. A full quart of the best could be procured for id., and two quarts of the small for the same sum. The conduct of alehouses was watched with careful eyes, especially during the prevalence of Puritan principles. Keepers of alehouses who allowed the playing of cards, or who kept a ' noddye board,' or a ' shovegroat,' or who permitted drinking on the Sabbath, usually lost their licences, and had to take down their sign or allow it to be beaten down. Mr. T. Harrison seems to have been the chief brewer in the town at this period. He had a brewhouse parcel of John Alarder's land, for which he paid the rent of £8 a year in 1637, when the lease was renewed. He 1 Reading Records, ii. 106. 1 Ibid. ii. 193. ' Ibid. iii. 44. was mayor for several years and an alderman of the borough, but fell into evil days. In 1644 he desired to be removed from his office, for ' he had lost his estate and was undone.' 4 The siege of Reading and the troubles of the Civil War period appear to have ruined the distinguished brewer who had done such good service to his town and neighbours. The corporation was indebted to him for various sums of money which he had advanced during his prosperity. He seems to have met with nothing but vexatious delays and very little satisfaction in his repeated attempts to obtain justice. In the sixteenth century malting was a flourishing trade at Abingdon, and continued to be such until recent times. Brewers and maltsters are enumerated amongst the members of the companies of the town. The Assize of Ale and Beer was entrusted to the Mayor and burgesses by its earliest charter, granted in 1555. 5 The brewing of good ale was deemed a subject worthy of special inquiry by the Grand Jury at the leet or lawday. The members thereof are thus ordered ' to inquire of Brewers and Tipsters whether they make good and holesome Ale and Beere for man's body or not, and sell and alter the same according to the Lawes and Statutes of this Realme. And alsoe they ought not to putt out their signe or Alestake untill their Ale be assayed by the Aletaster and then to sell and not before.' Brewers were fined 6s. Sd., for every barrel of beer or Ale which they lay into any man's sellar, to be sold there by retaile, by any that is not licensed to sell Ale or Beer.' 6 The names of the chief maltsters in 1585 at Abingdon are preserved in a decree of the corporation ordering each of them to bring three bushels of malt into the market on market day, and are as follows : — Mr. William Braunche, Mr. Lyonell Bos- tocke, Mr. John Fyssher, Mr. Rysbye, Mr. Anthonye Teysdall, Mr. Anthony Bostocke, Mr Blacknoll ' of Banbury curte,' William Welling and Richard Bolte. They seem to have been among the chief men of the town ; most of them held the office of mayor, and the first-named gentleman represented the borough in Parliament.7 At the same time there were many others who used the trade of malting, all of whom were required to bring into the market two bushels of malt on market days. The trade must therefore have been considerable. Measurers of malt were • Ibid. iv. 130. 8 Rec. of Abingdon, p. 1 8. 8 Ibid. pp. xxix., xxx. 7 Ibid. pp. 128., xlix., xliv. 406 INDUSTRIES appointed in 1591. They were two in number and had a fee of \A, ' for every flore,' the payment being divided equally between the seller and buyer. A fine of id. was levied for every quarter sold without the assistance of the ' mesures,' who forfeited their fees if they were not in attendance.1 A heavy fine of ids. for every pot of liquor was ordered to be levied in 1579 on all innkeepers, vintners or victuallers who should ' brue in his Howse any Beere or Ale to be sold offerid or drunke in his Howse, either by the pinte potte, quarte pottell, or gallon potte.' 2 The privileges of the brewers were not to be inter- fered with by any unauthorized persons who presumed to brew and sell beer in his own hostelry. The malting trade increased enor- mously in the town and district of Abingdon in succeeding years, and large quantities were sent by boat to London. By the Act of Parliament (7 & 8 George IV. c. 52, par. 76), if malt was damaged by fire or water, an allowance equal to the whole of the duty, if totally destroyed, or part if the damaged malt be sold on salvage, was allowed. A hundred years earlier a somewhat similar Act was in force, and the books of the Berkshire County Sessions, from the date of their earliest existence in 1726, record the rebatements granted to the maltsters on the loss of malt owing to the wrecking of barges on the stormy and lockless reaches of the Thames. Thus on II April 1726 Benjamin and Joseph Tomkins exhibited complaint alleging that about the 3rd day of March last 130 qrs. of malt was greatly damaged by means of the casting away or sinking of a certain barge or vessel in the river of Thames at or near Purley called King's Arms, transporting malt from Abing- don to London. Tomkins had paid the duty, and appealed to the Sessions for rebatement thereof, and drawback or allowance of 3/. 6d. for each quarter of malt was granted. Like abatements were made on other occasions. Nor was the county entirely ignorant of the making of cider, as Charles Pocock of Abingdon made cider about this period, and exhibited complaints alleging that several hogsheads of cider had leaked.3 Cider was also made at Sotwell in the early part of the last century, chiefly by Mr. John Wilson, who formerly lived at Mackney Court, Brightwell. The cider-press was long in existence, and also at Croft House, Sotwell. Mr. Wilson was an apple merchant. 1 Rec. of Abingdon, p. 129. J Ibid. p. 126. 3 MS. Records of Quarter Sessions, preserved at Reading. The records taken from the Berkshire Quarter Sessions are interesting, and could be extended indefinitely, as showing the con- siderable extent of the malting trade in the eighteenth century, which was carried on not only in the towns but also in the numerous villages of the county. These ' malt orders ' show only the amount of the damaged material, which was considerable, but it may be presumed that a very large number of barges found their way safely to the metro- polis, and that only a small proportion of the total amount of malt sent to London is recorded in these interesting Sessions books. Shellingford was at one time the centre of a large trade in malt, where there were not less than six malthouses, three of which were double. Two very substantial malthouses stood near the bridge, but most of the build- ings have been demolished. Although the trade has very considerably declined in many Berkshire villages, in the neighbourhood of Abingdon, Wallingford, Newbury, Maiden- head and elsewhere, old malthouses are still standing, memorials of an industry which is now in many places completely decayed. Not all the malt manufactured in Berks was conveyed to London. In addition to the great brewers who, as we have seen, carried on their business in the chief towns, there were innumerable private breweries. It was the fashion in the eighteenth and early nine- teenth centuries for each squire or occupier of a considerable house to brew his own beer, and as this county has always been an impor- tant residential neighbourhood, the number of private brewhouses was very considerable. An advertisement in Henry's Reading Journal (29 Oct. 1747) records the sale of such an establishment : ' To be sold at Squire Dough- tyes at Beenham a complete set of brewing vessels, the copper holds about 80 gallons, with mash tub, underbank, couler, Tun etc.' Such was the usual equipment of every country house, and the maltster's skill was needed to supply the necessary malt for these private breweries. The itinerant brewer, who went.from house to house, was a notable person, whose services were in great request, and the yeomen and farmers, no less than the squire, all brewed their own beer. In the neighbour- hood of Abingdon in 1830 there were eleven malting establishments. The Cheer family and Cousins had malthouses in Ock Street and the former a brewery, E. Wells & Co. and E. Davis in East St. Helens. Sutton Courtenay had two malthouses owned by Pullen & Russ, and Marcham a like number, occupied by Hammans and Stone. John Spenlove was a maltster and brewer at the 407 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE Abbey Mill. At the beginning of the last century Mr. Child had a large brewery for beer and porter, and there were several smaller establishments for beer only. Some of the names of the great Newbury brewers have been preserved. In the seven- teenth century John Edmands, gent., Thomas Martyn, gent., and Thomas Manning, are styled ' beere brewers ' in the presentments at the Court List of 1643, on which occasion they were amerced for taking excessive gains. The number of licensed houses in the town was considerable, and must have taxed the resources of the brewers in order to obtain supplies. In 1761 there were no less than forty-one within the borough. On account of the position of the town on the great western roads, and the good inland navigation system of which it was the centre, the large number of passengers travelling through the town entailed the increase of inns and the plentiful supply of liquors. At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were thirteen maltsters carrying on their trade in the town, and six brewers, of whom Samuel Slocock & Son, Satchell & Rowell, in Northbrook Street, and Mr. Gale of Speenhamland were the chief. Malting was carried on in Hungerford, where there were three establishments in 1830, also in Kintbury, where a malthouse was owned by Edward Giles. The Homers and Morlands were maltsters and brewers at West and East Ilsley. Five maltsters flourished at Faringdon. The Stephens family were brewers at Aldermaston, and John Kingston carried on malting both there and at Wool- hampton. Lamboum had two malt makers and a brewery. Nor was the eastern division of the county less amply provided. Cook- ham had a famous firm of brewers, Messrs. James and Stephen Darby, to which we shall refer later, besides the breweries of James Mickley and R. Partlo ; two of the old brew- houses in the town have recently been pulled down. Wokingham had a brewer and malt- ster, James Hayward, and a brewery in Broad Street owned by Thomas Lock. Bray had a malting house owned by John Barton, and there were small breweries at Twyford and at Hurst, both of which are now extinct. The most flourishing trade in Wantage a century ago was malting, the malt being chiefly used locally as most of the private householders brewed their own beer. The Days and Willoughbys were the chief malt- sters, and there was a brewery in Tanner Street owned by Robert Palmer. One of the old public-houses called ' Thatchells,' in Back Street, was the origin of the present Want- age Brewery Company.1 Lewis' Rockwell Brewery also flourishes in the same town. Brewing and malting were amongst the chief industries of Windsor in former days. The muniments of the town record the names of many of the brewers who supplied ale and sack to the members of the corporation when they were assembled at their meetings. Nor- den's map of the castle and town shows that the brewing of beer was one of the chief indus- tries of the town. He depicts several casks lying on the ground near the present stables of the dean and canons. In a survey of the manor of Windsor Underoure in the reign of Edward VI., ' John Aldham beare brewer ' is described as the tenant of these premises,2 when there were twenty-one inns in the town. The brewery shown by Norden still exists a few yards to the north of the site indicated by him, and is a striking example of the perman- ence and stability of trade in the borough. Windsor ale frequently was sent as a present by the Corporation to some noble lord as a reminder of favours required, or as a mark of gratitude for favours received. Hence under 1640 there are entries of payments to William Mills for ale sent to the Earl of Holland, and to Thomas Chapman for ale sent to Sir Thomas Roe. William Mills and Thomas Chapman were the chief brewers of the town. Other gifts of hogsheads of ale are recorded, and need not be mentioned here. Mr. Galland and Mr. Sweetzer were also purveyors of ale in 1645, and the names of George Pennington and Mr. Quartermaine appear in the records of 1666 as providers of beer and sack for Mr. Mayor and his guests when they met for the transaction of the business of the town. The following curious table shows the price of malt sold in Windsor market from 1646 to 1746 — since continued twelve years further to I758.3 N.B. The bushel contains 9 gallons and the duty on malt is not included. Malt. Per Quarter. Per Bushel £ ,. d. ,. d. For the 1st 20 years from 1646 to 1666 . . . For the 2nd 20 years from 1666 to 1686 . For the 3rd 20 years from 1686 to 1706 . . . For the 4th 20 years from 1706 to 1726 . . . For the 5th 20 years from , 1726 to 1746 . . . i 12 oj 40 167 3 3j i 6 8 3 4 2* 3 408 1 Wantage, Past and Present, p. 93. 1 Annals of Windsor, ii., 25. o Add. MSS. No. 4391. INDUSTRIES Malt. Per Quarter. Per Bushel. £ >. d. .. a. And for 10 years since from 1746 to 1756 .... i 5 4 32 Malt at the highest price A.D. 1659 288 62 Malt at the lowest price A.D. 1691 o 17 4 22 The difference between the two extremes . I II 4 4 o If the century be divided into 2 halves of 50 years each, then the common price or mean rate of the first 50 years is ... I 8 4^ 3 6J And the common or mean rate of the last 50 years is 1 7 lot 3 51 And the common or mean rate of the whole cen- tury I 8 \\ 36 N.B. A.D. 1756 the com- mon or mean rate was .160 33 A.D. 1757 The common or mean rate was I 16 o 4 6 The fame of Windsor ales was preserved during the early part of the nineteenth century by John Jennings & Co., whose liquor was dignified with the title of King's Ale, and Messrs. Ramsbottom & Legh, who held the breweries in Thames Street, and brewed the Queen's Ale, and the Twinch family had the brewery in Peascod Street. The Jennings also carried on the business of maltsters, and the Coopers and Mr. John Voules were engaged in the same trade. Since that period the trade has developed enormously, and four large breweries supply the wants of the neighbourhood and send their casks to London and elsewhere : the Royal Brewery in Peascod Street, owned by Mr. John Canning ; Messrs. John Lovibond & Sons ; Messrs. Burge & Co ; and Messrs. Nevill Reid & Co., who own the Windsor Brewery in Thames Street, having acquired the business of Messrs. Ramsbottom & Legh about the year 1835. *n ^37 they bought the old brewery at Cookham, a town famous for its brewing and malting, which trade was carried on there in the middle of the seven- teenth century. The Cookham brewery was acquired by the Ray family in the early part of the eighteenth century, and carried on by them until 1785, when the property was disposed of to Abraham Darby and the business conducted by him and afterwards by two of his sons. When Messrs. Neville Reid & Co. acquired the business they transferred the brewing to Windsor, and as they have recently erected malthouses near Windsor, the trade will soon disappear from Cookham. Hop cultivation at Cookham was introduced by the Rays, but was not con- tinued by their successors. Wallingford, being the centre of a rich barley-growing country, had always an abun- dant supply of grain suitable for malting at the numerous malthouses that formerly were at work, while the trade was greatly encouraged by the ready means of river traffic. During the eighteenth century the trade considerably declined, though there were still some considerable establishments, the leading malting houses being situated in High Street and Fish Street. The owners of these were in 1830 Edward Wells, Peter Spokes, James Bennett, Charles Morrell, Job Lovelock and William Hilliard in Wood Street. As late as 1835 the demand for malt annually from the town was 150,000 bushels.1 Of late years the trade has much declined, and barley grown in the neighbourhood, which is of superior quality, is sent away in large quan- tities to undergo the steeping and drying process at distant kilns. The Wallingford Brewery Company, Limited, was founded in 1720 by Mr. Edward Wells. Dr. Mavor states that in 1809 the brewery was reckoned the largest in the county, about 130 quarters of malt being converted into beer and porter at the proper seasons. In 1896 it was formed into a company. The site of the brewery lies between Goldsmith Lane and the Kine Croft, and a mineral water manufactory is connected with and adjoining the brewery. In Wokingham at the beginning of the last century the brewery of Mr. James Webb was extensive, and Dr. Mavor states that it produced a ' wholesome and pleasant beverage, not inferior to any in the county.' Messrs. Headington & Son, and Messrs. F. J. Baker & Co. are now the chief brewers in the town. The process of the amalgamation of several breweries into one business has during recent years been evident in all parts of the country. At Abingdon Messrs. Morland & Co., Limited, in 1887 took over the business of John Thornhill Morland and Edward Morland of the Abbey and Eagle Breweries at Abingdon, and the business of Edward Henry Morland of the West Ilsley Brewery. They also acquired the breweries of Saxby & Co. of Abingdon and of Field & Sons of Shelling- ford. The Ilsley Brewery has been in the possession of the Morland family for many generations, John Morland having purchased the property from Benjamin Smith in 1711, and it is described as ' including the Malt 409 1 Doran, Hist, of Reading, p. 283. 52 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE House.' Allusion has already been made to the Abbey Brewery, which was formerly carried on by the Spenlove family and pre- vious to them by the Child family. The old abbey buildings were used for the business. The Belcher family formerly held the Eagle Brewery, which is now the headquarters of the present firm of Morland & Co. Most of the buildings are old, and include the quaint early eighteenth century malthouse, as well as the new malthouse erected in 1904. About 100 men are employed. At Aldermaston there is an old-established brewery which was founded in 1770. It was purchased by the late Thomas Strange in 1833 and is now carried on by his grandson, John Thomas Strange. The brewery covers a large amount of land. It has its own artesian well, 160 ft. deep, which supplies water of great purity taken from the chalk. The machinery is worked by water power derived from the Kennet and Avon Canal. A staff of about thirty men is employed. Reading has several large and important breweries. Messrs. H. & G. Simonds, Limi- ted, are the proprietors of ' The Brewery,' Reading. It was founded at the corner of Broad Street during the latter part of the eighteenth century by Mr. William Blackall Simonds, the ancestor of the present directors. The premises being found too small in 1790 the brewery was transferred to its present site in Bridge Street on the west bank of the river Kennet, where Mr. Simonds erected a twenty- five-quarter plant, together with malthouses and stabling sufficient for his requirements. The business developed slowly until the time of the son of the founder, Mr. Blackall Simonds, a famous sportsman, who antici- pating the passing of the Duke of Wellington's Beerhouse Act bought up suitable land in the neighbourhood for erecting public-houses, and when the Act was passed built the beer- houses, and greatly developed the trade. He took into partnership his brothers Henry and George, and their descendants are the directors of the present firm which in 1885 was converted into a private limited company. The premises cover seven acres, and over 200 workmen are employed in addition to a staff of clerks, travellers, etc. The firm has a considerable military trade, and established depdts at Malta and Gibraltar, and eleven branch houses in this country. The Royal Albert Brewery is an old- established firm, the property of Messrs. James Dymon Brown & Son, Limited. It was founded nearly 100 years ago by the grandfather of the present senior partner of the firm. They have a thirty-quarter plant, and the buildings are constructed on modern principles. Another important firm is that of Messrs. Blandy & Hawkins, who own the Castle Brewery in Bridge Street. This brewery was established at the beginning of the eighteenth century. John Mills owned the property in 1698, but it is not known whether he was a brewer. Robert Noakes was estab- lished as a brewer in 1720. The Dean family held it from 1754 to 1773. The Tanners, Harmans, Rickmans and Rickfords were some of the owners. In 1847 the firm was Rickford & Hawkins, and 1856 Blandy & Hawkins. In 1888 a large part of the brewery was burnt, and replaced with modern plant. The old stone houses still remain, and also part of the old brewery with the old-fashioned horse wheel. The amalgamation in 1856 of the ' Mill Lane ' and ' Castle ' Breweries led to the partnership of Messrs. Blandy & Hawkins. The Mill Lane Brewery was bought in 1831 by Messrs. Willots and John William Stevens, and then passed into the possession of Mr. William and Charles Blandy, until 1856, when part of the brewery was demolished. The private house still stands as the clothing factory of Thomas Cooke & Sons, and the malt- house is still used by the present firm. Messrs. Ferguson & Sons have a brewery in Broad Street. There are several other breweries in the town of Reading, which maintain the reputation of Reading ales. A hundred years ago the trade in Reading was consider- able. There were at that period five brew- eries in the town. Messrs. Stephens was then the principal firm. It produced 25,000 barrels of beer and porter annually, and Dr. Mavor states that the other breweries were likewise very considerable, and that large quantities of malt were made there for the London market, 10,000 quarters being sent annually to London. At Maidenhead there are two breweries of note, Messrs. Fuller Story & Co., Limited, who own the Bell Brewery, and Messrs. Nicholson & Sons, Limited, in High Street. The South Berks Brewery Co. is carried on by Messrs. Hawkins & Parfitt at Newbury and Hungerford, and at the former town the Newbury Brewery Co., Limited, thrives, and at the latter the Crown Brewery is con- ducted by Mr. Thomas Crook. Nor is this industry confined to the prin- cipal towns. Brewing may be said to be a village industry, and quite small places can boast of their breweries. The following are the chief : at Harwell there is the brewery of Mr. W. H. Beesley; at Theale, Blatch's brewery ; at Ashbury, Mr. T. J. Carter's brewery ; at Waltham St. Lawrence, near 410 INDUSTRIES Twyford, Messrs. H. Hewett & Co. ; at Mortimer, Messrs. Mosdell & Pagze; at Donnington, Mr. E. E. Palmer ; at Buck- land, Messrs. Phillips & Sons, Limited. It is not intended in this section to record the names of all the Berkshire brewers, but enough has been said to prove that the industry is widely extended throughout the county, and shows no sign of decay. One important firm states that it has quadrupled its output during the last thirty years. Whatever may be the effect of the new Licensing Act it appears unlikely that the industry will suffer any real diminution, or that the reputation of the Berkshire ales, especially those of Windsor and Reading, will be seriously affected. BISCUIT MAKING Reading has for several years been recog- nized as the chief home of the manufacture of biscuits, and the works of Messrs. Huntley & Palmers, Limited, have attained a world- wide reputation. This industry is entirely of modern growth and has increased with extraordinary rapidity during recent years. The history of the rise and development of the industry is not devoid of interest. In 1830 Messrs. Joseph Huntley & Son were established as biscuit bakers in London Street. At that time the only kind of biscuits which were known were what are called ' captain's biscuits.' The late Mr. George Palmer in 1841 joined Mr. Thomas Huntley in partner- ship, and by sound judgment and good sense contributed largely to the laying of the foundations of the trade. Some new varieties of biscuits were invented, but little progress was made in the expansion of the business until the abolition of the Corn Laws, and the introduction of free trade in wheat during the year 1846 improved the conditions of the industry and made it possible to sell biscuits at a small price. The demand rapidly in- creased, and it was soon found to be impossible to make by hand a sufficient number of biscuits in order to satisfy the wants of the public. It was then determined by the firm to try and invent some machine in order to help the manufacture. Mr. George Palmer designed and planned the first biscuit-making machine, by which the biscuits could be cut out and stamped with far greater speed than by mere hand labour. The machine was the forerunner of still more ingenious mechanical contrivances, which are now in use in the Reading factory. At the time of the great exhibition of 1851 the firm only employed 200 workpeople. Eleven years later the number of persons engaged at the works had been doubled. In 1867 it was nearly 1,000. At the time of the Paris Exhibition of 1878 nearly 3,000 persons were employed, while at the present time the total is between 5,000 and 6,000 hands. The buildings have also increased in the same proportion from the modest factory in use half a century ago to the present large pile of buildings situate in the King's Road, and extending a long distance towards the lines of the South-Eastern Railway. The river Kennet flows between the two sections of the property owned by the firm and is spanned by many bridges. In 1857 Mr. Huntley died, but Mr. George Palmer was assisted in the continued develop- ment of his business by his two brothers, Mr. Samuel and Mr. William Isaac Palmer, who had previously joined the firm. The success of the industry and its extraordinary growth were mainly due to the inventive genius, energy and application of these three gentle- men. The firm was converted into a private limited company in 1898, and the directors are Messrs. George William Palmer, Alfred Palmer, S. Ernest Palmer, Sir Walter Palmer, M.P. for Salisbury, Charles H. Palmer, W. Howard Palmer, Albert J. Palmer, and William Bullivant Williams. The firm have their own railway within the works, which is connected with the lines of the three railway companies having stations in Reading. It is beyond the scope of this history to describe minutely the operations of manu- facturing companies, or to give accounts of their machines and factories. But as the works of Messrs. Huntley & Palmer differ greatly from ordinary enterprises it may be well to furnish a short sketch of the work done in this Reading biscuit factory, where more than four hundred varieties of biscuits are manufactured, besides a large assortment of cakes. The principal feature of the first room in the factory is the revolving pans in which the material for the different kinds of biscuits are mixed into dough. The dough is placed in one of the huge rolling presses and cutting machines, and after passing through it emerges in the required shape of biscuits ; these are transferred to the ovens on trays, and by means of revolving bands are passed through the heated chambers, and emerge duly baked. The speed of the passage through the ovens can be carefully regulated, 411 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE So that the biscuits receive the requisite amount of baking. Thus the ordinary biscuit is manufactured. Various processes have to be adopted for other more delicate kinds, but it is not necessary here to describe them. The biscuits have then to be sorted, so that no defective ones are sent out, and then packed. In the packing department there are three branches — the home trade, the conti- nental trade, and the export trade. The last includes all countries in the world out- side Europe, and special patent air-tight soldered tins have been devised in order to prevent any injury that might be caused by excessive heat or cold, damp or insects. Women are largely employed in decora- ting biscuits and cakes with sugar, and there is a special engineering department where nearly all the machinery used in the factory is designed and made. Two large steam engines are in constant use, and there are about twenty smaller ones and several dynamos. A large staff of carpenters is also employed in making the packing cases. Reading at the present time possesses another biscuit factory, the property of Messrs. H. O. Serpell & Co., Limited. This firm was established in 1851 at Plymouth, and was engaged principally in the manu- facture of ship biscuits, the proprietors being Messrs. Frean, Daw, and Serpell. The first of these became partner in the London firm of biscuit-makers, Messrs. Peek, Frean & Co. ; the last-named partner, Mr. R. C. Serpell, the father of the present proprietor, bought out Mr. Daw's interest and became the sole proprietor. In former days, when vessels occupied many months during their long voyages, a large supply of ship bread and biscuits was needed. Owing to the more rapid sailing of ships large stores were no longer required, and the demand for ship bread was greatly diminished. Hence the firm began to make fancy biscuits. In 1869 their factory at Plymouth was destroyed by fire and rebuilt. Owing to the progress made in recent years the Plymouth factory became too small, and as there was no space for expansion, and as an opportunity occurred of purchasing the biscuit factory in Reading formerly worked by Messrs. Meaby & Co., Limited, Mr. Serpell decided to remove his business to the Berkshire town in 1899. Unfortunately a disastrous fire occurred in 1904, which completely destroyed the build- ings. They were immediately rebuilt, the work being accomplished in eight weeks. The factory is a two-storey building. On the ground floor is the biscuit cutting and mixing machinery with a range of ovens adjoining, engineers' shop, etc., and on the first floor is the icing room where women are employed in icing and decorating cakes and fancy biscuits, packing rooms, stores and warehouses. THE BELL FOUNDRIES OF BERKSHIRE For considerably over three centuries the craft of bell-founding flourished in Berk- shire, and then, when roads had somewhat improved, and trades in commodities not of every day requirement were gradually con- centrated in London, it dwindled down al- most to vanishing point, and finally came to an end in the early years of the eighteenth century. For just over half a century (about 1565 to 1616) there was sufficient demand to support three flourishing foundries in the county at the same time, the two chief of which were in Reading. At what period bell-founding was first practised in the county is unknown ; very likely one or more of the religious houses may at an early date have contained a brother versed in the mysteries of the art, but if so, not only the productions but all documentary record of these ' potters ' or ' ollarii ' have long disappeared. During the last quarter of the fourteenth century, however, an excellent and important bell-foundry was at work at Wokingham. This business, to distinguish it from its later rivals, I would call the Wokingham-Reading- London Foundry, from its successive habitats. No name of an owner of this foundry has as yet been discovered earlier than nearly the middle of the fifteenth century, but there are several bells from it which are obviously of earlier date, and in the case of one bell there is good proof that it was cast not later than 1383, and from its quality we may con- fidently assert that it was by no means the earliest effort. There are two ancient bells at Wotton (Surrey), which may be either the two earliest known examples from this foundry (not necessarily then located at Wokingham), or which at least seem * to show a connecting link between this foundry and that of Stephen Norton, a founder who rather vaguely de- scribed himself on some of his bells as ' De > For the reasons, I must refer the inquirer to my Church Bells of Buckinghamshire (Jarrold, 1897), p. 48, footnote. 4I2 INDUSTRIES Kent,' and whose known date is from 1 363 to 1381. Be this as it may, the oldest bells certainly from the Wokingham foundry seem to be the second at Appleford, one at Arbor- Fic. r. STAMP OF LION'S HEAD. field, and two at Didcot, all in Berkshire ; also three in Hampshire and two in Oxford- shire. All these are ornamented merely with stamps of a trefoil, a lion's head (Fig. i), and a coin. Then it seems likely that the beautiful set of crowned capital letters long associated with this foundry, in- cluding the initial cross formed of fleurs-de-lis (Fig. 2), and the stop (both crowned like the letters), were added to the stock-in-trade. This first inscribed group in- cludes a bell at North Moreton (Berks), one at Winchester, and one at Dorchester (Oxon.). The latter is worth description. It is in- scribed : >J< PROTEGE : BIRINE : QVOS : CON- voco : TV : SINE : FINE : RAF : RASTWOLD. the coin, the same lion's head (Fig. i), a horse (Fig. 4), the trefoil (placed on its side), and the coin again. St. Birinus, to whom the bell is dedicated, was the first bishop of Dor- chester, A.D. 634 to c. 648. The name of ' Raf Rastwold,' who was doubtless the donor, enables us to date the bell approxi- mately, as by an inquisition post mortem preserved at the Public Record Office it appears that he died in June 1383, and that he held at the time of his death (besides the manor of Hyle, in Wilts), the manor of Crowmarsh Gifford in Oxfordshire, which village is only four miles from Dorchester, and various lands at Hurst, in Berkshire, only four miles from the foundry. A satis- factory connection therefore appears be- tween the native place of the bell and its subsequent home. The second bell at St. Maurice, Winchester, has the three stamps — trefoil, head and coin — and the crowned cross as well, but no letters. FIG. INITIAL CROSS OF FLEURS-DE-LIS. The inscription begins with the cross ; an ornamental stop divides each word ; and at the end come a figure of a dragon (Fig. 3), FIG. 3. FIGURE OF DRAGON ON BELL AT DORCHESTER (OxoN.). This completes the history of the trefoil stamp, which never reappears, as so many old stamps do, on later bells. One bell in Hampshire and one in Oxford- shire have merely the cross, coin, and lion's head. There was formerly a bell at Seale (Surrey) which is said to have had only the cross and head ; it seems probable, however, that the coin was on it, but was overlooked, as it was melted before Mr. Stahlschmidt visited the tower. There are three other bells inscribed en- tirely in capital letters, which seem to come next, one at Sherborne St. John (Hants), inscribed : £4 AWE : MARIA, preceded by the cross and the stop between the words, and followed by the coin and lion's head ; and a like bell at Chilton (Berks), except that AVE is correctly spelt. And the tenor at Chertsey (Surrey), »j< ORA : MENTE : PIA : PRO : NOBIS : VIRGO : MARIA with cross and stop, followed by the lion's head and coin. All the remaining examples from this foundry, numbering over fifty, bear the two 413 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE latter stamps, and have black-letter smalls, the ornamental capital letters being re- stricted to the initial letter of each word, and the stop between each word omitted ; there is one exception on which there is said to be only stamps, without any letters ; but one of FIG. 4. FIGURE OF HORSE ON A BELL AT DORCHESTER (OxoN.). the stamps on it, to be mentioned directly, shows its place to be among later bells, and that it is not one of the group already re- viewed. First in this group comes the tenor at Hambleden (Bucks), with the same inscrip- tion as the Chertsey bell above mentioned, except that it is in ' mixed Gothic,' as just described. The tenor at Hughenden (Bucks) has : CRIST[?] BAPTISTA CAMPANA GAU- DEAT ISTA. The last letter of Crist- is doubtful ; it is not e as in Gaudeat, but looks more like a long c or f. A bell at Felpham, Sussex, has : <% SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENE- DICTUM. All the remaining bells of this group (or it is possible the adoption of a fixed form of inscription may show a change of founder) take the form of an invocation : SANCTE (or SANCTA so and so, according to whether the saint addressed be a male or female) ORA PRO NOBIS, with a few modifications such as ORA abbreviated into OR, one or other of the stops belonging to the founder being used as the sign of abbreviation ; or in other cases the entire ORA PRO NOBIS is omitted. There were until recently three bells of this group in Berkshire, the tenors at Appleford and Drayton, the latter now regrettably melted, and one at Ruscombe (with the above noted abbreviation). Bedfordshire has (or had re- cently) two of these bells ; Buckinghamshire, four ; Hampshire, eleven ; Oxfordshire, one ; Surrey, two ; and Sussex, two. From this point certain names of owners of this foundry have been recovered, and it seems possible to sort the bells among their respective founders. An additional stamp 414 now comes into use, the shield bearing a bell, with the letters R.L. on either side and W underneath (Fig. 5). The latter letter obviously stands for Wokingham, but the identity of R.L. was only discovered by Mr. Stahlschmidt noticing an item in the Eton College accounts,1 under date 1448, of a payment to Roger Landen, of the town of Woking- ham, for casting 30 Ibs. of bronze for flues, and for pro- viding a portion of it. Although this entry does not refer to the casting of a bell, it is extremely improbable that there were two founders having the same initials in Wokingham at the same time. The bells which I suggest are by Roger Landen have the same ' mixed Gothic ' letterings, the inscription usually but not always, taking the form of an invocation as before, with the two stamps previously used, and the addition of the ' R.L.' shield. I know of no example in Berkshire, but there are (or were recently) sixteen in other counties, viz., Oxfordshire, three ; Bedford- shire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, FIG. 5. STAMP OF ROGER LANDEN. Somersetshire and Surrey, two each ; and one example apiece in Hampshire, Hertford- shire and Sussex. Besides a few possible additions not yet discovered, there may be one or two others belonging to this group, confusedly described by Mr. Ellacombe in his Somerset, etc.2 » H. W. Clark, History of Cambridge University, i. 405, footnote. 2 See Church Bells of Buckinghamshire, p. 55, footnote. INDUSTRIES The next change in the ornaments on bells from this foundry is the disappearing of the original lion's head (Fig. i), and the substitu- tion of a new and very inferior copy (Fig. 6). FIG. 6. STAMP OF LION'S HEAD SUBSTITUTED FOR FIG. i. This, I suggest, shows the death or retire- ment of Roger Landen, and the advent of a successor, probably some years past the middle of the fifteenth century. This suc- cessor appears to have been John Michell, for whose name we are indebted to the Corpora- tion Records 1 of Henley( Oxon.), where, under date 4 January, 1493, there is an entry of a payment to John Michell of Wokingham for making a big bell. Berkshire has two bells by Michell, one at Stanford Dingley, inscribed, ijt TE DEUM LAUDAMUS, and one at Warfield with the invocation to SANCTA KATERINA ; both have the coin and ' R.L.' shield, and the newer lion's head. There is one bell by him in Buckingham- shire with invocation to SANCTA MARIA, and one in Sussex, and apparently one in Bedford- shire with the Stanford Dingley inscription ; the Bedfordshire bell, however, may be by Roger Landen, as Mr. North, who records it, does not notice the change in the lion's head. Michell appears to have been the last of this line of founders who worked at Woking- ham, and he seems to have either died or retired before Ascension, 1495, and the business was then transferred to Reading. That this business was a continuation of the Wokingham one is shown by the use of Wokingham stamps by subsequent owners of the Reading foundry, though the first man to work there provided himself with a complete stock of new stamps. The link between the two localities and the approximate date of the change, are recorded in the Thame Churchwardens ' Accounts, where there are entries referring to a bell cast by ' le Belle- maker de Okyngham ' in 1487-8, which broke and was taken down before Ascension, 1495, and two men were sent on horseback to Wokingham, but they apparently found on arrival that the foundry had been removed, and later there is an item of the expenses of two men riding to Henley, which might be on the way either to Wokingham or Reading, from Thame. There are then items showing the carriage of the cracked bell to Reading, and that two men rode there to see it recast ; and lastly, an item of zd. for the expenses of writing an indenture between the church- wardens and William Hasylwood, which gives the name of the Reading founder. William Hasylwood's new letters were a large bold set of capitals averaging about i£ inches in height, with an initial cross pattde, and a larger set of smalls than had hitherto been used, the ' n ' being reversed, and a shield charged with the cross of St. George. There is no bell, so far as is yet known, by Hasylwood in Berkshire, but there are two in Buckinghamshire and one in Hampshire , all having the invocation form of inscription and bearing his initials. Mr. H. B. Walters has told me of one by him at Broadwell (Oxon.), but I do not know what the inscrip- tion is. The treble at Baddesley Clinton (Warwick) is similarly inscribed to his bells, and bears his initials ; but the orthography is so much blundered that it is very likely by his successor. Two other bells bearing his initials in Hampshire, and one in Somerset, nray also, perhaps, from the mixture of letterings used, be assigned to his successor rather than to him. His will 2 is dated 8 March, 1507, and was proved 10 December, 1509. The Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Law- rence, Reading, have : — 1509-10. It. rec* of Hasylwood is weyff for ringing of the grett bell . . . xijd. It. recd of Hasylwood is weyff for hir husbond is grave, and for couyng of the same . . . vijs. ijd. These accounts contain several other refer- ences to him. His will shows that his first wife's name was Margaret ; the accounts show that she died in 1502-3 ; two or three years afterwards he married his second wife Elizabeth. Entries of payments for a seat for both wives appear in the accounts. In 1507-8 he made for St. Lawrence's ' a new holy water stok of laton,' the price being ' ijs. viijd.' One entry in these accounts seems worth quoting here in full, for al- Burn, History of Henley-on-Tbam.es, p. 214. Given in full in Church Bells of Bucks, p. 60. 415 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE though it does not necessarily refer to his work, it shows a contemporary custom con- nected with his trade : — Itfn. payed for halowyng of the grete bel namyd Harry . . . vjs. viijd. And over that Sir William Symyz. Richard Clech. And maistrez Smyth beyng god faders And god moder at the consecracyon of the same bell. And beryng al other costes to the ffufrygan. In 1510-11 the same accounts have : — Itm. payd for trussing of the ijd bell to Hasylwoodes man . . . xijd. This would refer to John Hasylwood, the son and apparently successor to William. It is doubtful whether there are any bells which can be assigned to him or whether the next group, besides the bells in Warwickshire, Hampshire and Somerset already referred to, are not the work of John's successor, John White, possibly at first as manager for John Hasylwood. White's name appears from 1515 (vide Sussex Bells, and that is not necessarily his first appearance) to 1539. His earliest appearance that I know of is in the Church- wardens' Accounts of St. Lawrence's, Reading, for 1516-17 : — It. for tylling of the grete bell at the knyll of Whit the belfownders wif . . . xijd. The preceding item — Inprimis for ryngyng of the grete bell for the knyll of Raphe White of Okynglim . . . xijd. — though proving nothing, suggests that John White may have migrated with the foundry from Wokingham to Reading. There are several bells which seem to be by John White : and I suggest, though with considerable hesitation, that W, either singly or in combination on bells having Wokingham- Reading stamps — except where W.H. are both in Hasylwood's capitals — always stands for John White. A bell at Hoggeston (Bucks) and one at Caldecote (Cambs.), both have a string of stamps, chiefly already known as belonging to this foundry ; the former has H W in the Wokingham crowned capitals, the latter only the W. A bell at Ewelme (Oxon.) has a meaningless (so far as I can guess) string of black-letter smalls, preceded by a capital D, both of which sets of letterings came into use in this foundry from about this time, and in the middle of the inscription are the letters (wrong side up) K I W, the two former in W. Hasylwood's letters, the last a large plain letter. A bell at March Baldon (Oxon.) has the cross and last seven letters of the Wokingham crowned set, alternated in a sportive manner in two lines, the upper of which is completed by Hasylwood's cross, a circular stamp not occurring to my knowledge elsewhere, and the later lion's head. The tenor at Boveney (Bucks) bears the first seven letters of the alphabet in Hasylwood's capitals, without initial cross or other ornament. And a bell at Bloxham (Oxon.) has in the Wokingham crowned capitals, or their sixteenth century reproductions, and the large black-letter smalls already mentioned as on a bell at Ewelme : — SANCTA MARIA HORAPRONOBIS W. Sancta ends as well as begins with a capital and the last three words are run together, and an aspirate prefixed. The W is followed by the later lion's head. The above group seem to be the works of John White. The following entry * in the Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Lawrence, Reading, for 1520-21, shows him in a different ' line ' :— It. paid to White the Belfounder for' arrerag1 of the glasse for the new wyndows in the quere in full payment for the same wyndows. xiijs. iiijd. John White had a son of the same name, who continued paying the ' yeres rent of the tenantes in the South side of the newe ftrete ' regularly until 1547-8 : and in 1553 a bell- founder of this name, ' of Brystowe,' recast three bells belonging to the church of Weston under Penyard in Herefordshire,3 which parish is divided from that of Bridstow by the parish of Ross. In 1539 John Saunders took over the foundry. He was probably not a Reading man, but came there expressly ; and seems to have been in some way connected with Winchester and London. There are a few bells which bear his initials, and which it may be taken for granted are his work, but there are other bells connected with these by lettering or other stamps, most of which are almost certainly by him, while one or two might be by an unknown founder (else- where), whose stamps Saunders subsequently acquired ; others again might possibly be by their next owner. They occur in Berkshire, 1 Various other documentary evidences of this founder are quoted in Church Bells of Sucks, pp. 46, 64, 65, 66. > Exch. K.R. Ch. Goods Heref. 7 Edw. VI. A No. 2. 416 INDUSTRIES Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, and Sussex. The treble at Fulmer (Bucks) has the invocation form of inscription entirely in a small-sized set of black-letter smalls, without capital or any stamp, and ending with a small-sized capital W, under which are the initials 'is' in the black-letter set. This is probably one of Saunders's first productions at the Reading foundry, the W referring to White. The former tenor at Drayton (Berks), now unfortunately melted, had the invocation form of inscription in a large florid set of quasi-Lombardic capitals (to which the D on the Ewelme bell previously ascribed to White, possibly belongs), with an S-like stop between each word, followed by a stamp showing the arms of the episcopal see of Winchester (Fig. 7) and Saunders's initials. FIG. 7. STAMP SHOWING ARMS OF THE SEE OF WINCHESTER. This stamp naturally suggests that Saunders obtained it from a foundry in that city or elsewhere in the diocese, very likely learning his work there, but I have not succeeded in tracing the foundry. He also introduced a large set of black- letter smalls, and a rebus shield which evidently reads Winton. There are initials on it, unfor- tunately imperfect in the examples I have met with, but which may be DR,OK. The stop (Fig. 8) makes its appearance about the same time. Other bells apparently by Saunders in Berkshire, are at Hurley and Tidmarsh. In Church Bells of Bucks I have carefully FIG. 8. STOP INTRO- DUCED BY SAUNDERS. enumerated all the bells belonging to this group which were known to me, and since its publica- tion Mr. H. B. Walters has discovered three more, namely, at Souldern and Shipton on Cherwell (Oxon.), and Shipston on Stour (Wore.). The books of the Founders' Company (London) for the year 1554-5 contain entries of the payment of fines for the admission of John Saunders, stranger, and Gilbert Smythe, his servant. In 1557-8 Saunders was admitted to the ' livery ' of the Gild, his entrance fine of xiijs. iiijd. being recorded. He died in Reading, intestate, in 1558-9, and in the list of the Founders' Company for 1559 Gylbert Smythe's name is entered as a ' journeyman stranger.' No London-made bells by Saunders have been recognized, and Mr. Stahlschmidt thought it very likely that the freedom of the . Founders' Gild was only obtained by him for the convenience of binding apprentices. It seems quite possible, however, that Saun- ders in 1556 may have succeeded Austen Bracker in the important London business, which can be traced more or less perfectly through (to mention only the principal names) Henry Jordan, John Danyell, Robert Crowch, John Walgrave, and back to William Dawe, or ' William Founder ' ; and that Gil- bert Smythe may have been his manager in London, and William Welles, to be mentioned again directly, his manager at Reading. What happened to this ancient business on the death of Saunders is not obvious. Among the archives of the Corporation of Reading is an undated manuscript book entitled ' The Booke of the Names and Ordinnances of the Cutlers and Bellfounders Companye.' It contains lists of several other trades besides the two mentioned ; and records some ' perticuler orders ' regulating some of them. It gives the names of three bellfounders (having presumably separate businesses) exist- ing at the same time in the town, namely, William Welles, William Knighte, and Vin- cent Gorowaye. Mr. Tyssen * considered the date of this book to be about 1565, but Mr. Stahlschmidt a considered it somewhat earlier, for, in the books of the Founders' Company of London, he found under the year 1518, the name of ' Winsent Galaway,' while a William Knight was Under Warden of the Company in that year, Upper Warden in 1528, and Master of the Guild in 1530-31. Probably all these three bellfounders learnt the business in the old Reading foundry, and eventually each perhaps set up for himself independently. William Knight (or possibly his son) certainly owned a large independent 1 Sells of Sussex, 20, footnote. * Bells of Surrey, 94. 417 53 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE business, to be treated of presently, forming the second of the Reading bellfoundries. Goroway (or Galaway, etc.) has no recog- nizable work surviving to the present day, and, documentary notices of him being ex- tremely meagre, his business (if he ever had one of his own, independent of being a fore- man in the old foundry) was, we may sup- pose, very slight. In the Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Lawrence's parish, Reading, for 1564, is an item of izs. received of ' Vin- cent Gorway ' for 10 pounds ' of certayne brasse,' and in those of St. Giles's, Reading, for 1569, is an entry of 13*. 4^. paid to ' Vyncent ' for the ' pte of Castinge of the Bell.' But as Vincent appears as a surname in these accounts on several occasions, though never as a bellfounder, it is a matter of con- jecture whether it is here meant for Goro- way's Christian name. William Welles, the third of the contem- porary bellfounders in Reading, has been considered as the successor of Saunders in the old business, but there only remain two bells, so far as I am aware, which we can put to his credit. One of these, the treble at Leck- hampstead (Bucks) is inscribed ' gaude virgo matr ' in the large set of black-letter smalls introduced by Saunders, the letters spaced with most surprising irregularity. It should perhaps be placed to Saunders's account, but if so, Leckhampstead being over forty miles distant as the crow flies from Reading, it is not unlikely that he sent his assistant to cast it on the spot, and Welles is very likely to have been that assistant. The other bell, also in Buckinghamshire, at Radclive, has an interesting mixture : SANCTE GEORGE ORA. The S is a clumsy imitation of the fourteenth century crowned Woking- ham set, and so is probably the G, though it has no crown. The O is a stranger to me ; the smalls are the same large set of black- letter, except the o in George, which is not black-letter, and is smaller than the other letters. The words are divided by a stamp between each, namely the pair of Royal Heads usually believed to represent Edward III. and his queen Philippa. This is the only known instance of the appearance of these wanderers in Reading. The words are fol- lowed by the well known stamp of William Dawe, alias Founder (already mentioned, p. 417), who flourished in London between about 1385 and 1418. These three stamps, whose original home was London, may show that Saunders or his successor had something to do with a London business. So far as is known, this re-appearance of Dawe's stamp is a unique instance. The inscription ends with the letters K and V. The former is Hasyl- wood's letter (placed on its back), and the latter is about the size of the Wokingham set (but uncrowned). I can find no possible donor's or rector's name to fit these initials, and can only speculate whether the former stands for Knight and the latter for Vincent Goroway. A good many entries of Welles or Wells are in the Registers and Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Lawrence's and St. Mary's, Reading ; among the accounts of the former parish, a ' Goodman Welles,' whose interment charges are entered in the year 1573-4, was probably the bellfounder, who most likely died about March 1572-3. The inventory of his goods at Somerset House is an inter- esting document, mentioning among his other possessions ' ij bowes, a sheiffe of arrowes, a habbarde, a sworde and a coote of plate.' His trade is proved by an iron beame, pott- mowldes, meltinge pannes, etc., ' In the bell- house.'* Other curious items are quoted in Church Sells of Bucks, p. 78. The inventory is not itself dated, but is docketed 1572. By 1578 Joseph Carter was manager of this foundry, but whether he started on the death of Welles or whether any one intervened is not known, but the former, however, is more probable. His name first appears in the Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Lawrence's, Reading, for the year 1581, but the items for the recasting of the ' great bell ' and one other, run through those of the two previous years, without the founder's name being mentioned, and had there been a change of personnel during that time we may suppose the former name would also have been men- tioned. His name is repeated in the accounts for 1582, 1584 and 1585. In 1593 he was churchwarden of the church of St. Lawrence. Under date ' 29 of December 1596 ' : — At this accompt also y' was agreed That our gret Bell should be cast againe, and not so much the Tune of the bell was cared for, as to have y* A lowd bell and hard fltar. And the churchwarden, Joseph Carter, consented and agreed, to cast yt before Midsomer ffollowing : And so he was chosen againe Churchwarden the second Time. There being present mr. ffranceys More, mr. John- son, mr. Lydall, Goodma Russell, the church- wardens, w"1 others. I have notes of fifty-two bells by Joseph Carter between 1581 and 1609. In Berk- shire, sixteen ; Buckinghamshire, eight ; Essex, one ; Hampshire, six ; Kent, three ; Oxfordshire, ten ; Surrey, one ; Sussex, seven. There is also a bell at Pamber (Hants) dated two years earlier than any of these, which is probably by him, and which appears to have 418 INDUSTRIES been the second of a contemporaneous ring of four. Carter used a great variety of letterings and ornaments (such as Figs. 9 and 10), but as he always added his name or initials (at least from 1581) his bells need no further descriptions for their identification. On the death of Joseph Carter, his son William having his hands full with the White- chapel business, the Reading foundry was taken over by Joseph's son-in-law, William Yare. By him there are eight bells in Berk- shire j three in Oxfordshire, besides the sixth FIGS. 9 AND 10. ORNAMENTS USED BY JOSEPH CARTER. His will (given at length in Church Bells of Bucks) is dated 14 Feb. 1609, and was proved 2 April, 1610. He was buried at St. Law- rence's, Reading, 21 May, 1609. In 1606 Robert Mot, bellfounder of Whitechapel, London, sold his business to Carter, who put his son William in charge of that foundry. It is not clear whether Mot (in or before 1570) started a new foundry in Whitechapel, or whether he succeeded to the business of Thomas Kempe, of Aldgate ; nor yet whether the latter set up a new foundry, or followed the very old line of London founders, of which the names of some of the best-known owners have already been men- of the Christ Church, Oxford, Cathedral ring, recently melted, and one in Buckingham- shire ornamented with the running pattern (Fig. Ii). There may be a very few others by him yet awaiting discovery in the first two of these counties. Yare's will, dated 22 January, 1615-16, was proved 19 April, 1616, by Edith his widow ; she was probably his second wife, Carter's daughter being apparently Anna Yaare, who was buried at St. Lawrence, Reading, in February, 1609-10. At Yare's death this ancient and important foundry was closed. Some of the stamps belonging thereto came into the possession of a founder whose initials were I.H. Probably Fie. II. BORDER USED BY YARE. tioned (p. 417). At any rate, the pedigree of the present Whitechapel foundry, known as ' Mears and Stainbank,' is perfectly clear from Mot's time to the present day ; and in the Berkshire line, it certainly goes back well into the fourteenth century. this was John Higden, who had been ' ser- vant,' i.e. journeyman, to Joseph Carter. He evidently set up a business in Hampshire, probably at Winchester. His foundry con- tinued until 1651, with a re-appearance in 1681, and even possibly later. It is probable 419 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE that a certain R.B. succeeded him, but nothing is yet known concerning him. A small offshoot from Carter's Reading foundry, or what appears to be such, is sug- gested by a bell at Wingrave (Bucks) by W.W., in 1618. The only founder known at this date with these initials is William Wakefield, mentioned in Carter's will as his apprentice. Only three other bells attributed to him are known, two in Sussex dated 1632, and one undated in Kent. The Wingrave bell, how- ever, seems to have no resemblance to these. What was doubtless also an offshoot from the original Reading foundry, and a very important one, was started some time in the sixteenth century, and lasted until early in the eighteenth, when it was moved to London. This continued during the whole of the time it was at Reading in the hands of one or other of the Knight family ; it must here be dealt with very shortly. The name of William Knight has been already mentioned under the original Reading foundry. It seems most probable that he learnt his work there, and that there were two generations of the same name. If the William Knight who was Under Warden of the Founders' Company of London in 1518, Upper Warden in 1528, and Master of the Guild in 1530-31, was identical, as seems likely, with the Reading founder of the same name, who appears in ' The Booke of the Names and Ordinnances of the Cutlers and Bellfounders Companye,' he was then doubt- less identical with the William Knight who was churchwarden of St. Lawrence's, Reading, in 1519, and who was buried in that church in 1535. Mr. Stahlschmidt * was inclined to think that the Knights' foundry was of Lon- don growth, but the fact of this early Reading churchwarden, and the appearance of a John Knight in the same parish as early as 1498, are strong reasons for a contrary belief. There is, however, no record of any bell cast by a Knight until the year 1567, when William Knight recast one for St. Law- rence's, Reading. It seems reasonable to suppose that he was son of the individual above referred to, and probably therefore the second founder of the name. The two oldest dated bells by him, now known, were cast in 1578 ; one is at Flaunden (Herts), and the other was formerly there also, but was removed to St. John's, Uxbridge (Midd.). He generally added his initials. There are four undated bells with curiously misspelt English inscriptions, entirely in Lombardic capitals. These may be older than his dated bells, which have equally misspelt Latin inscriptions in clumsy black-letter smalls. The bells with Lombardics may possibly be by the older William. The inventory of the goods of (the second ?) William Knight was taken by Joseph Carter and others on 24 November, 1586, so he probably died early in that month. His will is dated 19 October, 1586, and was proved 28 April, 1587. He was succeeded by his son, Henry Knight. I have notes of between eighty and ninety bells by him. He began by using clumsy black-letter, like his father, from whose bells his however are distinguished by the change of initial. Beginning in 1610, all bells from this foundry during the next forty- eight years are inscribed in irregular, heavy Roman capitals. Besides the inequality in size of letters apparently belonging to the same set, there were several sets in use, of different sizes, but of more or less similar type. The following is one of his more remarkable inscriptions, one line to each of four bells : — THINKS NO COST TO MVCH THAT YOV BESTOW OF ALL TO BRINGE TO PAS SO GOOD A THING On a ring of five bells, the above third and fourth lines are both on the third bell ; the fourth bell has : THAT FIVE BELLS MAY TO- GETHER RING, and the tenor has a reproduc- tion of a fifteenth century Latin inscription. The burial of Henry Knight is recorded in the register of St. Lawrence's, Reading, on 8 January, 1622 ; and an inventory of his goods was taken on the tenth, which, besides the bellfounding appliances, includes the ' Debts due vppon specialtie.' Three of these were ' in the County of Buck ' ; one was ' in the County of Oxon ' ; and one ' At Blewberie in the County of Berkes ' amounted to ' xxiij li.' the largest item of the five. He was succeeded by his son Ellis, under whom the business increased and prospered. His most common inscription was, PRAYES YE THE LORD, and others similar in style were nearly as common. For a ring of five he put (one line on each bell) : — I AS TREBLL BE GINN I AS SECOND SING I AS THIRD RING I AS FORTH SOVND I AS TENAR HVM ALL ROVND 1 Bells of Surrey, p. 94. For a ring of six, the fourth has : i AS FORTH IN MY PLACE, and the fifth : i AS FIFT 420 INDUSTRIES WIL SOVND. Sometimes the second, third, and fourth also have the future — WILL. After the siege and surrender of the town of Reading to Cromwell's soldiers under the earl of Essex, in April 1643, there was doubt- less a serious stagnation of trade, and for four entire years ensuing, this hitherto flourishing foundry does not appear to have turned out a single bell. In 1647 two orders at any rate were received, one from Buckinghamshire, which bell is still extant, and the other was to replace Joseph Carter's ' lowd ' bell at St. Lawrence's, Reading, cast 1596-7, and broken in 1646. This latter order, ' Anno 1647-8,' was to ' Ellys Knight, and Francis Knight.' A Francis Knight married at St. Mary's, Reading, in 1630, and was buried there in 1671, and is probably the founder who ap- pears from the above entry to have been at that time in partnership with Ellis. There is no trace of any order to this foundry in 1648, and only one the next year (Tidmarsh, Berks). After that there was a partial re- vival of trade, there being six bells known from this foundry in 1650, and from one to four each subsequent year of that decade, except 1657. When Ellis Knight died is not known ; it seems likely that he was not in business after 1658, but that a younger namesake then appeared on the scene. In 1651 the tenor at Chinnor (Oxon.) has the initials H K, indi- cating apparently the first effort of the second Henry Knight, then presumably learning the business with Ellis and Francis. This Henry was probably the son of Edward Knight, and baptized at St. Lawrence's (Reading) in 1621. In the Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Giles's, Reading, for 1661, is a payment to ' Henry Knight belfounder,' so he seems then to have been the senior partner ; and many bells dated during the next twelve years state distinctly that HENRY KNIGHT MADE MEE, while about an equal number have a shield obviously indicating an Ellis Knight, but which is always accompanied by H.K. stamped on either side. In 1666 is dated the nuncupative will of Thomas Knight, who is therein described as ' late of Reading in the county of Berks Bell- founder.' He was evidently a junior member of the firm, who never rose to the honour of having his name recorded on a bell. He was probably the Thomas baptized at St. Mary's, Reading, in 1626-7, whose father, likewise Thomas, had been married at that church in 1620. Henry died towards the end of 1672 (prob- ably in January 1672-3). The inventory of his goods describes him as ' Henrie Knight Senr late of Reading Belfounder.' After his death the partners were Ellis (probably No. II., as above suggested), and Henry's son — Henry Knight III. — who was baptized at St. Law- rence's, Reading, in 1649. It seems likely that Ellis retired after 1675, and Henry's business shrank to a small out- put. He died, or perhaps retired in disgust, about 1682, and Ellis once more took over the business ; but in 1684 he evidently handed over the management to Samuel Knight, and in the following year he made his will, and then lived ten years in retire- ment, as it was not proved until April 1694, when an inventory was also taken. As Samuel is not mentioned in either the will or inventory it appears most likely that he was not Ellis's son. His earliest known bell is at Stanford Dingley (Berks), and is dated 1684. By about 1702 the business had diminished seriously, and after that year I know of no orders executed by him at Reading outside his own county. In 1710 (probably) he left Reading, and removed to the parish of St. Andrew, Holborn, London. The actual site of his foundry is not known, but Mr. Stahlschmidt believed it was in Shoe Lane. For the first twelve or eighteen months there he seems to have had absolutely no business, but the tide eventually turned, and from 1712 he sent at least thirty-six bells to Sussex towers1 ; from 1721, between eighty and ninety bells to Kentish towers * ; and some few elsewhere. In Surrey he contri- buted the renowned ring of twelve (of which the majority still remain) to St. Saviour's, South wark, in 1734-5, and a few others. His will is dated 15 November, 1739, and was proved on 19 December in the same year. He was succeeded in his London foundry by Robert Catlin, who appears in Samuel Knight's will as executor and residuary legatee. On the fifth bell of a ring of six at St. Michael's Church, St. Albans (Herts), dated 1739, it is stated that SAMUEL KNIGHT MADE ME and that 'ROBERT CATLIN HUNG us ALL. Catlin was admitted a ' Love Brother ' (hon. member) of the Founders' Company (London) in 1740, and died in I75I.3 He kept up his predecessor's connection with Reading to some extent, by recasting the important rings of St. Lawrence and St. Mary, in that town. He was succeeded by Thomas Swain, who I believe came of a Reading family but not born there, being the eldest son of Thomas Swain of West Bedfont (Midd.). During the latter years of his life Bells of Sussex. * Bells of Kent. 3 Bells of Herts. 421 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE he lived at Harmondsworth in that county, stamp (Fig. 14.). He was succeeded in 1592 and was buried there April 1782,* and with by Richard Eldridge, presumably a son, and His him this foundry came to an end. grandmother was probably Barbara, a daugh- one or other of them sent a bell to Great Marlow (Bucks) in that year. Several ex- ter of William Eldridge, bel] founder of amples by Richard exist. From 1610, or FIGS. 12 AND 13. STAMPS USED BY T. SWAIN. Chertsey (Surrey), to be mentioned again directly. About seventy years after the ancient bell- founding business above mentioned had been removed from Wokingham to Reading, the third Berks bellfoundry was established in the former place by Thomas Eldridge, who sent bells thence in 1565 to two towers in the county — Bray and Winkfield. This business Fie. 14. STAMP AND INITIALS OF THOMAS ELDRIDGE. was in all probability an offshoot from one of the Reading foundries. The two bells just mentioned have long since disappeared, but the saunce bell at Quainton (Bucks) appears to be a specimen of his work ; the inscription consists merely of his initials in small black- letter preceded by an extremely indistinct 1 Belli of Herts. earlier, until 1622, he had a branch establish- ment at Horsham (Sussex), evidently a very small concern. It is probable that he took over a small business already established there and did not originate it. He seems to have died in 1624. He was succeeded at Wokingham by Bryan Eldridge, who was doubtless his son. Another son, John, was a weaver in the same town. Bells by Bryan are known from 1618, during his father's lifetime. Mr. Stahlschmidt con- jectured that this earliest bell was cast at Horsham, and that he set up a business at Chertsey (Surrey) in the following year. He died August 1640, leaving two sons, Bryan (II.) and William, the elder of whom succeeded him and died in November, 1661. The business at Chertsey was carried on by his younger brother, William, who had previously been associated with it, until his death at the end of 1716. With his death this foundry came to an end, though his two sons, William II. and Thomas II., had both assisted their father. William II. subsequently moved to West Drayton (Midd.), and recast some bells there, though he was apparently not in business as a founder. 422 DA The Victoria history of 670 Berkshire BAV6 v.l PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY