THE MONTHLY REVIEW, For MAY, 1804. ART. I. The History and Antiquities of Reading. By the Reverend THO 11. 10s. 64. HOSE works which belong to the class of local history may, in general, be compared to repositories, the structure of which is humble, and in which articles endlessly various are stowed, but the majority of them being of an inferior description. If magnificence and elegance must not here be sought, neatness may be attained, and convenience consulted; the building may be happily contrived, the contents exhibited in their best state, and arranged in the order which is most commodious. When the literary architect aims at more than this effect, he is sure to occasion disgust; if he falls short, offensive blemishes will be evident. The author before us appears fully to have comprehended the nature of his province; and to have spared. no labour which was requisite, in order properly to execute the undertaking in which he engaged. He is intitled to praise for his diligence in collecting facts, for his judgment in sorting them, for the accuracy with which he weighs them, and for the fidelity and impartiality which throughout distinguish his narrative. The place which is the subject of this history is a handsome borough town, situated on the Bath road, in the Eastern part of Berkshire, where the county is narrowest, between Oxfordshire and Hampshire; at the distance of 39 miles from London, and 67 from Bath, in longitude o° 52' West; latitude 51° 28′ North. It stands on the Kennet; and is surrounded, to the North, with rich meadows washed by the Thames, having a beautiful view, extending from Mapledurham to Sunning.' The first mention made of it in our early annals occurs in 871, when the Danes, under Hinguar and Hubba overcame in battle, and put to death, Edmund king of the East Angles; made themselves masters of Reading, reVOL: XLIV, tained. B tained it during the summer, and then quitted it in order to take up their winter quarters in London. In the year 1006, in the reign of Ethelred II, Sweyn king of Denmark burnt this as well as several other towns in Berkshire. The account of Reading in Domesday book stands thus: "The king holds in demesne Redinges. King Edward held in Redinges the hundred. Then and now it defends itself for fortythree hides. The arable land is of forty carucates. One is in demesne; and fifty-five villeins, and thirty bordars, with fifty-five ploughs. There are four mills of eighty five shillings, and three fisheries of fourteen shillings and six pence, and a hundred and fifty acres of meadow. The wood can feed a hundred hogs, the feed of which is worth sixteen shillings and six pence. In the time of king Edward, and afterwards, it was worth forty pounds; now fortyeight pounds. The king has in the burgh of Redinges twenty-eight hagas or houses, paying four pounds and three shillings for all customs; but he who holds it pays a hundred shillings. Henry de Fereres has there one haga, and half a virgate of land, in which are three acres of meadow, worth six shillings. Goceric, the sheriff, held this land for the purpose of making it inhabited. For the same purpose Henry holds it. "Rembaldus, son of Peter the bishop, held one haga there, which he removed to Erley, his own manor. Now it is in the king's hands, and is worth sixteen pence." On this description, the author observes; By this account the hundred court, or court of judicature for the hundred, was held at Reading in the Confessor's time; and the town, both then, and at the time of the compiling Domesday Book, was taxed at forty-three hides; each hide, in the general opinion, being 120 acres. In the Confessor's time, when each hide was taxed at two shillings, Reading paid, for the demesne land only, eighty. six shillings. In five or six years after the general survey of the kingdom, the tax on land was raised by the Conqueror to six shillings a hide. Reading is said to have paid for forty-three hides in king Edward's time; and then follows its present measure of forty carucates. The abbreviation car. means both a carucate, and a plough, caruca; so that we find one, out of these forty carucates, in demesne; and, on that carucate, 55 villeins, or tenants at will, subject to base and uncertain services; and 30 bordars, such as were of a less servile condition than the villeins. having a bord or cottage, with a small portion of land, or, according to other interpretations, such as furnished the lord's board with poultry and some other provisions. On this carucate in demesne were 55 ploughs. The whole land, with the service of the tenants, three mills, three fisheries, and the feed of a hundred hogs, was worth in king Edward's time forty pounds, and at the time of the Norman survey forty eight pounds. The king had in Reading twenty-eight hagas or houses, which paid four pounds three shillings for all customs; but the bailiff who managed managed it for the king paid a hundred shillings; for it was no rare thing that the person who held property under the crown paid more than he received. These expressions are not uncommon in Domes. day: "Firma nimis alta est ;" the farm is at too high a rent. "In firma multum perdit;" he is a great loser by the rent which he pays to the crown. Henry de Ferrariis or Ferrers had one haga, and half a virgate of land, in which were three acres of meadow, valued at six shillings. He rented this land, as Goderic the sheriff had done," ad hospitium," in order that it might be built upon, and inhabited. This Henry de Ferrers was one of the commissioners for surveying Worcestershire, and other counties. William the Conqueror gave him Tutbury castle, in Staffordshire, with large possessions in that county, Berks, Oxfordshire, Wilts, Lincoln, Bucks, and Gloucester, amounting to a hundred and seventy-six lordships. His youngest and only surviving son Robert, who succeeded him, was created earl of Nottingham and Derby by king Stephen in 1138. The title continued in that family till the attainder of Robert, sixth earl of Derby, who took part with the barons against Henry the Third; and, after having been deprived of his title and estates by the parliament, died in 1278. Rembaldus, or Renbaldus, as he is sometimes called, is probably the same with Renbald the priest, whose name occurs several times in Domesday. He was dean of the collegiate church of Cirencester, in the body of which he lies buried, with this inscription: "Hic jacet Rembaldus presbyter quondam hujus ecclesiæ decanus et tempore Edvardi regis Angliæ cancellarius." He is called the son of Peter the bishop, probably Peter bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, called Chester, on account of the see being removed by him thither.' The first part of this volume is occupied by a narrative of those public and political events which took place at Reading; such as the residence of the court, its visits, sittings of the parliament and of courts of justice, sieges, battles in the vicinity, and others of like importance. This town is often mentioned in the history of the last civil war. The corporation adhering to the royal cause, the friends of the parliament circulated the following story respecting the Mayor: "At the king's coming to Reddinge, a speech was made unto him by the maior of the towne; wherein, after he had in the best words he could devise, bid him welcome thither, for want of more matter he concluded very abruptly. Not long after, he invited prince Robert to a sumptuous dinner, providing for him all the dainties he could get, but especially a woodcock, which he brought in himself. Prince Robert gave him many thanks for his good cheere, and asked him whose was all that plate that stood upon the cupboard. The mayor, who had set out all his plate to make a shew, and besides had borrowed a great deal of his neighbours to grace himself withal, replied, "And please your highness, that plate is mine." B 2 "No," quoth quoth the prince, "this plate is mine;" and so accordingly he took it all away, bidding him to be of good cheere, for he took it, as the parliament took it, upon the publick faith." With regard to the origin of the corporation of Reading, Mr. Coates informs us that, It was the same as that of all other corporate bodies; a fraternity, or gild, that is, an association of persons united in trade, and governed by private regulations of their own establishment. The society of Gild-merchants of Reading was undoubtedly very antient; existing before the foundation of the abbey, and claiming a charter, or grant of privileges, from Edward the Confessor. All the carly records concerning the gild are lost; the oldest diary of the corpora tion of Reading, now extant, beginning with the mayoralty of John Kyrkby, in 1432, the tenth of Henry the Sixth.' Whatever claim the members of the gild might have had to any charter, or grant, of protection from the crown, it was annulled at the erection of the abbey. In the words of the charter, the royal founder says, "I have given to the said monastery Reading itself, Cholsey also, and Leominster, with their appendages;" from which it seems, that, if the fraternity paid any thing to the crown for their gild, this was virtually assigned over to the abbey with the other crown-rents of the town, which was a royal demesne; and the fine paid to the abbat at the entry of a new member of the gild-merchant reverted to the crown after the dissolution of the abbey.' The mayor was chosen by the abbot, out of 3 persons presented to him by the burgesses: but there were almost constant disputes and frequent lawsuits between the gild and the abbot, touching the rights of the latter over the former. On the dissolution of the abbey, the corporation was made independent. It had its governing charter from Charles I.; in which, however, a few slight alterations have been made by those of the 1st and 10th of Charles II. The details of what may be considered as the internal affairs of this borough are given under three heads, forming the several histories of the three parishes into which it is divided, namely those of St. Mary, St. Lawrence, and St. Giles. The parochial histories severally include accounts of the sacred edifices, antient religious foundations, monumental inscriptions, the incumbents, the terrier, benefactions, registers, meeting houses, and the parish books. Among the vicars intitled to notice, stands the name of Peter Mews, who died Bishop of Winchester; and who, according to A. Wood, Was a prelate eminent in the duties of his profession, and remarkable for his hospitality, generosity, and justiee; but bishop Burnet is pleased to describe him as a man of no abilities nor learu ing, whom obsequiousness and zeal raised to the height of his pre ferment. ferment. He died at Farnham castle, November 9, 17:6, aged 88, and was buried in Winchester cathedral in a vault belonging to the lord treasurer Weston, with a short inscription on a small square stone. A neat marble monument has since been erected to his memory, by Dr. Butler, president of Magdalen college, Oxford, and principal registrar of the diocese of Winchester; with a Latin epitaph, composed by William Lowth, B.D. his lordship's chaplain, the commentator on the Prophets, and father of the late bishop of London.' We find also William Lloyd raised afterward to the see of Worcester, distinguished by the share which he took in the Popish controversies, and by his being one of the seven Bishops: Bishop Burnet speaks of Bishop Lloyd with the greatest warmth of friendship, and in the highest stile of panegyrick. In reality he was indebted to Dr. Lloyd for a great part of his own fame, having undertaken the History of the Reformation by his persuasion, and being furnished by him with a large share of the materials: he likewise revised every sheet of the whole work, during the printing. The world is likewise obliged to bishop Lloyd for that stupendous work, Pole's Synopsis; which was undertaken by his advice, as appears by a letter of that prelate addressed to Mr. Henry Dodwell, and communicated to Mr. Granger by his son, the late Dr. Dodwell, archdeacon of Berks. Bishop Wilkins, in his preface to "An Essay towards a real Character and a Philosophical Language," acknowledges himself obliged to "the continual assistance of his most learned and worthy friend Dr. William Lloyd," and expresses the highest opinion of his "great industry, and accurate judgment, in philological and philosophical matters." Among the incumbents of St. Lawrence, occurs the name of Simon Ford, who was appointed to it during the troubles; and connected with whose history is an anecdote which affords no very favourable specimen of the liberty of those times, nor of the independence and purity of that clergy who had so loudly inveighed against the servility and corruption of the episcopalians, whom they supplanted, and whom they appear to have exceeded in the very vices against which they had complained. The author gives an account of a funeral sermon preached by Dr. Ford on the death of Colonel Hammond, and observes: This Colonel Hammond had been governor of the Isle of Wights and was the person to whom Charles I. surrendered himself, after he withdrew from Hampton Court in 1547. He was much in the confidence of Cromwell; and, by his advice, had been married to a daughter of John Hampden, whose memory he adored. At the time of his death, Colonel Hammond had been called to an eminently civil and military trust in Ireland, and chosen high steward, and burgesse in parliament," says the author, "for this Corporation." مورد |