1.
Seat of local government
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In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre, a guildhall, a Rathaus, or a municipal building, is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city or town council, its associated departments and it also usually functions as the base of the mayor of a city, town, borough, or county / shire. By convention, until the mid 19th-century, a large open chamber formed an integral part of the building housing the council. The hall may be used for meetings and other significant events. This large chamber, the hall, has become synonymous with the whole building. The terms council chambers, municipal building or variants may be used locally in preference to town hall if no such large hall is present within the building, the local government may endeavor to use the town hall building to promote and enhance the quality of life of the community. In many cases, town halls serve not only as buildings for government functions and these may include art shows, stage performances, exhibits and festivals. Modern town halls or civic centres are designed with a great variety and flexibility of purpose in mind. As symbols of government, city and town halls have distinctive architecture. City hall buildings may also serve as icons that symbolize their cities. The term town hall may be a one, often applied without regard to whether the building serves or served a town or a city. This is generally the case in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, english-speakers in some regions use the term city hall to designate the council offices of a municipality of city status. This is the case in North America, where a distinction is made between city halls and town halls, and is also the case with Brisbane City Hall in Australia. The great hall of the town-house or municipal building, now commonly applied to the whole building city hall. Conversely, cities that have subdivisions with their own councils may have borough halls, in Scotland, local government in larger cities operates from the City Chambers, otherwise the Town House. Elsewhere in English-speaking countries, other names are occasionally used, in London, the official headquarters of administration of the City of London retains its Anglo-Saxon name, the Guildhall, signifying a place where taxes were paid. In a small number of English cities the preferred term is Council House, this was also the case in Bristol until 2012, when the building was renamed City Hall. In Birmingham, there is a distinction between the Council House, the seat of government, and the Town Hall, a concert
2.
Italianate architecture
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The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. The style of architecture that was created, though also characterised as Neo-Renaissance, was essentially of its own time. The Italianate style was first developed in Britain about 1802 by John Nash and this small country house is generally accepted to be the first Italianate villa in England, from which is derived the Italianate architecture of the late Regency and early Victorian eras. The Italianate style was developed and popularised by the architect Sir Charles Barry in the 1830s. Barrys Italianate style drew heavily for its motifs on the buildings of the Italian Renaissance, the style was not confined to England and was employed in varying forms, long after its decline in popularity in Britain, throughout Northern Europe and the British Empire. From the late 1840s to 1890 it achieved popularity in the United States. A late intimation of Nashs development of the Italianate style was his 1805 design of Sandridge Park at Stoke Gabriel in Devon. Later examples of the Italianate style in England tend to take the form of Palladian-style building often enhanced by a belvedere complete with Renaissance-type balustrading at the roof level. Sir Charles Barry, most notable for his works on the Tudor, unlike Nash he found his inspiration in Italy itself. Barry drew heavily on the designs of the original Renaissance villas of Rome, the Lazio and his most defining work in this style was the large Neo-Renaissance mansion Cliveden. Thomas Cubitt, a London building contractor, incorporated simple classical lines of the Italianate style as defined by Sir Charles Barry into many of his London terraces. Following the completion of Osborne House in 1851, the became a popular choice of design for the small mansions built by the new. These were mostly built in cities surrounded by large but not extensive gardens, on occasions very similar, if not identical, designs to these Italianate villas would be topped by mansard roofs, and then termed chateauesque. However, after a modest spate of Italianate villas, and French chateaux by 1855 the most favoured style of an English country house was Gothic, the Italianate style came to the small town of Newton Abbot in Devon, with Isambard Brunels atmospheric railway pumping houses. An example that is not very known, but a clear example of Italianate architecture, is St. Christophers Anglican church in Hinchley Wood, Surrey. When the Ottomans exiled Fakhreddine to Tuscany in 1613, he entered an alliance with the Medicis, upon his return to Lebanon in 1618, he began modernising Lebanon. He developed an industry, upgraded olive-oil production, and brought with him numerous Italian engineers who began the construction of mansions. The cities of Beirut and Sidon were especially built in the Italianate style, the influence of these buildings, such as the ones in Deir el Qamar, influenced building in Lebanon for many centuries and continues to the present time
3.
Reading, Berkshire
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Reading is a large, historically important town in Berkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The 19th century saw the coming of the Great Western Railway, Today Reading is a major commercial centre, with involvement in information technology and insurance, and, despite its proximity to London, has a net inward commuter flow. The first evidence for Reading as a settlement dates from the 8th century, by 1525, Reading was the largest town in Berkshire, and tax returns show that Reading was the 10th largest town in England when measured by taxable wealth. By 1611, it had a population of over 5000 and had grown rich on its trade in cloth, the 18th century saw the beginning of a major iron works in the town and the growth of the brewing trade for which Reading was to become famous. During the 19th century, the town rapidly as a manufacturing centre. It is ranked the UKs top economic area for economic success and wellbeing, according to such as employment, health, income. Reading is also a regional retail centre serving a large area of the Thames Valley. Every year it hosts the Reading Festival, one of Englands biggest music festivals, sporting teams based in Reading include Reading Football Club and the London Irish rugby union team, and over 15,000 runners annually compete in the Reading Half Marathon. In 2015, Reading had an population of 232,662. The town is represented in Parliament by two members, and has been continuously represented there since 1295, for ceremonial purposes the town is in the county of Berkshire and has served as its county town since 1867, previously sharing this status with Abingdon-on-Thames. It is in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway. Reading is 75 miles east of Bristol,25 miles south of Oxford,42 miles west of London,17 miles north of Basingstoke,13 miles south-west of Maidenhead and 20 miles east of Newbury. Reading may date back to the Roman occupation of Britain, possibly as a port for Calleva Atrebatum. However the first clear evidence for Reading as a settlement dates from the 8th century, the name probably comes from the Readingas, an Anglo-Saxon tribe whose name means Readas People in Old English, or less probably the Celtic Rhydd-Inge, meaning Ford over the River. In late 870, an army of Danes invaded the kingdom of Wessex, on 4 January 871, in the first Battle of Reading, King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes defences. The battle is described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and that account provides the earliest known record of the existence of Reading. The Danes remained in Reading until late in 871, when they retreated to their quarters in London. After the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest of England, William the Conqueror gave land in, in its 1086 Domesday Book listing, the town was explicitly described as a borough
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Alfred Waterhouse
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Alfred Waterhouse RA was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for Manchester Town Hall, financially speaking, Waterhouse was probably the most successful of all Victorian architects. Though expert within Neo-Gothic, Renaissance revival and Romanesque revival styles, Waterhouse was born on 19 July 1830 in Aigburth, Liverpool, Lancashire, the son of wealthy mill-owning Quaker parents. Alfred Waterhouse was educated at the Quaker Grove House School in Tottenham and he studied architecture under Richard Lane in Manchester, and spent much of his youth travelling in Europe and studying in France, Italy and Germany. On his return to Britain, Alfred set up his own practice in Manchester. Waterhouse continued to practise in Manchester for 12 years, until moving his practice to London in 1865 and his earliest commissions were for domestic buildings. His success as a designer of buildings was assured in 1859 when he won the open competition for the Manchester Assize Courts. This work not only showed his ability to plan a building on a large scale. In 1860, he married Elizabeth Hodgkin, daughter of John Hodgkin, Elizabeth was herself the author of several books, including a collection of verse and some anthologies. Her best known work was The Island of Anarchy, a Utopian story set in the late 20th century, first published in 1887, Waterhouse had connections with wealthy Quaker industrialist through schooling, marriage and religious affiliation. Many of these Quaker connections commissioned him to design and build country houses, several were built for members of the Backhouse family, founders of Backhouses Bank, a forerunner of Barclays Bank. For Alfred Backhouse, Waterhouse built Pilmore Hall, now known as Rockliffe Hall, in the same village he built the Grange, now the Hurworth Grange Community Centre, which Alfred Backhouse had commissioned as a wedding gift for his nephew, James E. Backhouse. Another Backhouse family mansion designed and built by Waterhouse was Dryderdale Hall, near Hamsterley, in 1865, Waterhouse was one of the architects selected to compete for the Royal Courts of Justice. The University Club of New York was undertaken in 1866, girton College, Cambridge, a building of simpler type, dates originally from the same period, but has been periodically enlarged by further buildings. From the late 1860s, Waterhouse lived in Reading, Berkshire and these included his own residences of Foxhill House and Yattendon Court, together with Reading Town Hall, Grove House, a boarding house at Leighton Park School and Reading School. Foxhill House is still in use by the University of Reading, as are his Whiteknights House, for the Prudential Assurance Company, Waterhouse designed many offices, including their Holborn Bars head office in Holborn and branch offices in Southampton, Nottingham and Leeds. He also designed offices for the National Provincial Bank in Piccadilly, Liverpool Infirmary was Waterhouses largest hospital, and St Marys Hospital, Manchester, the Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl, and extensive additions at the Nottingham General Hospital, also involved him. He was involved in a series of works for the Victoria University of Manchester, St Marys Church in Twyford, Hampshire shows interestingly similar patterning to the Natural History Museum and was designed at the same time
6.
Berkshire
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Berkshire is a county in south east England, west of London. It was recognised as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of Windsor Castle by the Queen in 1957, Berkshire is a county of historic origin and is a home county, a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county without a county council. Berkshire County Council was the main county governance from 1889 to 1998 except for the separately administered County Borough of Reading, in 1974, significant alterations were made to the countys administrative boundaries although the traditional boundaries of Berkshire were not changed. The towns of Abingdon, Didcot and Wantage were transferred to Oxfordshire, Slough was gained from Buckinghamshire, since 1998, Berkshire has been governed by the six unitary authorities of Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham. It borders the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Greater London, Surrey, according to Asser, it takes its name from a large forest of box trees that was called Bearroc. Berkshire has been the scene of notable battles through its history. Alfred the Greats campaign against the Danes included the Battles of Englefield, Ashdown, Newbury was the site of two English Civil War battles, the First Battle of Newbury in 1643 and the Second Battle of Newbury in 1644. The nearby Donnington Castle was reduced to a ruin in the aftermath of the second battle, another Battle of Reading took place on 9 December 1688. It was the only military action in England during the Glorious Revolution. Reading became the new county town in 1867, taking over from Abingdon, boundary alterations in the early part of the 20th century were minor, with Caversham from Oxfordshire becoming part of the Reading county borough, and cessions in the Oxford area. On 1 April 1974 Berkshires boundaries changed under the Local Government Act 1972, Berkshire took over administration of Slough and Eton and part of the former Eton Rural District from Buckinghamshire. 94 Signal Squadron still keep the Uffington White Horse in their insignia, the original Local Government White Paper would have transferred Henley-on-Thames from Oxfordshire to Berkshire, this proposal did not make it into the Bill as introduced. On 1 April 1998 Berkshire County Council was abolished under a recommendation of the Banham Commission, unlike similar reforms elsewhere at the same time, the non-metropolitan county was not abolished. Berkshire divides into two distinct sections with the boundary lying roughly on a north-south line through the centre of Reading. The eastern section of Berkshire lies largely to the south of the River Thames, in two places the county now includes land to the north of the river. Tributaries of the Thames, including the Loddon and Blackwater, increase the amount of low lying land in the area. Beyond the flood plains, the land rises gently to the county boundaries with Surrey, much of this area is still well wooded, especially around Bracknell and Windsor Great Park. In the west of the county and heading upstream, the Thames veers away to the north of the county boundary, leaving the county behind at the Goring Gap
7.
Reading Abbey
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Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. Reading Abbey is currently the focus of a major £3 million project called Reading Abbey Revealed and this project is conserving the ruins so that they can be re-opened to the public. Alongside the conservation, new interpretation of the Reading Abbey Quarter will be installed, Abbey Ward of Reading Borough Council takes its name from Reading Abbey, which lies within its boundaries. The abbey was founded by Henry I in 1121, as part of his endowments, he gave the abbey his lands within Reading, along with land at Cholsey. He also arranged for land in Reading, previously given to Battle Abbey by William the Conqueror, to be transferred to Reading Abbey. Following its royal foundation, the abbey was established by a party of monks from Cluny Abbey in Burgundy, the abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist. The first abbot, in 1123, was Hugh of Amiens who became archbishop of Rouen and was buried in Rouen Cathedral, the adjacent rivers provided convenient transport, and the abbey established wharves on the River Kennet. The Kennet also provided power for the water mills, most of which were established on the Holy Brook. When Henry I died in Lyons-la-Forêt, Normandy in 1135 his body was returned to Reading, other royal persons buried in the abbey include parts of Matilda of Scotland, William of Poitiers, and Constance of York. The abbey also held over 230 relics including the hand of St James, a shrivelled human hand was found in the ruins during demolition work in 1786 and is now in St Peters RC Church, Marlow. The song Sumer is icumen in, which was first written down in the abbey about 1240, is the earliest known six part harmony from Britain, the original document is held in the British Library. Reading Abbey was frequently visited by kings and others, most especially by Henry III who often visited three or four times a year staying several weeks on each visit, the abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during Henry VIIIs Dissolution of the Monasteries. The last abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon, was tried and convicted of high treason and hanged, drawn. After this, the buildings of the abbey were extensively robbed, with lead, glass, some twenty years after the dissolution, Reading town council created a new town hall by inserting an upper floor into the former refectory of the hospitium of the abbey. The lower floor of this continued to be used by Reading School. For the next 200 years, the old building continued to serve as Readings town hall. Between 1785 and 1786, the old hall was dismantled and replaced on the site by the first of several phases of building that were to make up todays Reading Town Hall. St Jamess Church and School was built on a portion of the site of the abbey between 1837 and 1840 and its founder was James Wheble, who owned land in the area at that time
8.
St Laurence's Church, Reading
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St Laurences Church is a Church of England mission and former parish church in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated alongside the site of Reading Abbey, formerly bounded by the main Compter Gate to the south, what was once the private chapel of the latter institution still remains in the north aisle. St Laurences was one of the three parish churches, along with St Marys and St Giles, serving the medieval borough of Reading. It was built to serve the people of the part of the town. Its location next to the Abbey stimulated trade in part of the town and St Laurences soon became surrounded by a large market place which included a pillory. The church dates from the Norman period but underwent major rebuildings in 1196, in the 15th century, the building is of flint with ashlar quoins. The principal feature of the church is a tower, built in 1458. The church is a Grade I listed building, in the 1970s, a declining congregation meant that the parish of St Laurence was merged with that of St Marys. Numbers continued to decline, and at the end of the 20th century it was decided to seek a new role for the church, the interior of the church was reorganised and a modern mezzanine floor inserted at one end of the nave. Today it serves as a church with a mandate to encourage the faith amongst young people
9.
Reading Museum
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Reading Museum is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. Reading Town Hall was built in phases between 1786 and 1897, although the principal facade was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in 1875. In 1879, the stone was laid for a new wing containing a library and museum. Three art galleries were added in extension in 1897. In 1975, the offices moved out of the Town Hall, to Reading Civic Centre followed in 1985 by the Reading Central Library, leaving only the museum. After some debate, plans to demolish the Town Hall and replace it with a new centre were dropped. The museum was closed for renewal in 1989, reopening in stages from 1993 to 2000 and this includes the bronze Silchester Eagle that was immortalized by Rosemary Sutcliff in her children’s book The Eagle of the Ninth. The Bayeux Gallery contains the UKs only copy of the famous Bayeux Tapestry, made in 1885, together with information on the history of Saxon migration, the Green Space explains the geology and natural history of the Reading area, with a wide range of specimens. The Huntley & Palmers Gallery explains the history of the industry that was once one of the mainstays of the Reading economy, with special emphasis on the Huntley. The Windows Gallery displays the collection of sculpture and decorative art. The John Madejski Art Gallery is a recreation of the museums original Victorian era art gallery and it is named after John Madejski, the chairman of Reading F. C. The Exhibition Gallery houses changing exhibitions, both from the collection and external sources. As an example, in late 2004, the gallery contained an exhibition on the history of the Reading Festival, the museum is free to visit. As of October 2013, it is open from 10,00 to 16,00 on Tuesday to Saturday,11,00 to 16,00 on Sunday, and closed all day Monday, with exceptions for holidays
10.
Listed building
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A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, however, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building, Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
11.
River Kennet
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The Kennet is a river in the south of England, and a tributary of the River Thames. The lower reaches of the river are navigable to craft and are known as the Kennet Navigation. This, together with the Avon Navigation, the Kennet and Avon Canal, the former local government district of Kennet in Wiltshire was named after it. The River Kennet has been assigned as a Site of Special Scientific Interest from near its sources west of Marlborough down to Woolhampton and this is primarily because it has an extensive range of rare plants and animals that are unique to chalk watercourses. In these early stages it passes close by many sites including Avebury Henge, West Kennet Long Barrow. From there the river flows through Marlborough, Hungerford and Newbury before flowing into the Thames on the reach above Sonning Lock at Reading in Berkshire. The upper reaches of the River Kennet have two tributaries, the River Og which flows into the Kennet at Marlborough and the River Dun which enters at Hungerford, the Kennets principal tributaries below Marlborough are the River Lambourn, the River Enborne and the Foudry Brook. For six miles to the west of, and through, Reading, the Kennet supports a secondary channel, the Holy Brook, the Horseshoe Bridge at Kennet Mouth, a timber-clad iron-truss structure, was built in 1891 as a way for horses towing barges to cross the river. Originally this short stretch of river was under the control of the Abbey, today, including Blakes Lock. From High Bridge through to Newbury, the river was navigable between 1718 and 1723 under the supervision of the engineer John Hore of Newbury. Known as the Kennet Navigation, this stretch of the river is now administered by the Canal & River Trust as part of the Kennet, the River Kennet is a haven for various plants and animals. Its course takes it through the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the protection that this status affords the Kennet means that many endangered species of plants and animals can be found here. Animal species such as the vole, grass snake, reed bunting, brown trout. Crayfish are very common in parts of the river, and not forgetting the foundation to supporting this varied wildlife food chain, there are the insects, many hundreds of species, common and rare, that can be found in and around the River Kennet. There are large hatches of mayflies, whose long-tailed, short-lived adults are a food of trout, many species of water beetle. Caddisflies are also numerous, especially in the late summer. Alongside the river, the beds, grasses and other vegetation support many other insect species, including the scarlet tiger moth, poplar hawk moths. Throughout its history, water mills on the Kennet have been a source of power for various pre-industrial and industrial activities, in places the river has been built up to provide an additional head of water to drive the mills
12.
Dissolution of the Monasteries
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Although the policy was originally envisaged as increasing the regular income of the Crown, much former monastic property was sold off to fund Henrys military campaigns in the 1540s. Professor George W. Bernard argues, The dissolution of the monasteries in the late 1530s was one of the most revolutionary events in English history. one adult man in fifty was in religious orders. Very few English houses had been founded later than the end of the 13th century, there was a Medieval proverb in England that said if the Abbot of Glastonbury married the Abbess of Shaftesbury, the heir would have more land than the King of England. The 200 houses of friars in England and Wales constituted a distinct wave of foundations almost all occurring in the 13th century. Friaries, for the most part, were concentrated in urban areas, however, the religious changes in England under Henry VIII and Edward VI were of a different nature from those taking place in Germany, Bohemia, France, Scotland and Geneva. Bernard says there was concern in the later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries about the condition of the monasteries. Pastoral care was seen as more important and vital than the monastic focus on contemplation, prayer. English monasticism in the 1530s may have faced grave and urgent problems, Henry wanted to change this, and in November 1529 Parliament passed Acts reforming apparent abuses in the English Church. These Acts sought to demonstrate that establishing royal jurisdiction over the Church would ensure progress in religious reformation where papal authority had been insufficient, the monasteries were next in line. The stories of monastic impropriety, vice and excess that were to be collected by Thomas Cromwells visitors may have been biased and exaggerated. Levels of monastic debt were increasing, and average numbers of professed religious were falling, only a minority of houses could now support the twelve or thirteen professed religious usually regarded as the minimum necessary to maintain the full canonical hours of the Divine Office. Extensive monastic complexes dominated English towns of any size, but most were less than half full, renaissance princes throughout Europe were facing severe financial difficulties due to sharply rising expenditures, especially to pay for armies, fighting ships and fortifications. Most tended, sooner or later, to resort to plundering monastic wealth, protestant princes would justify this by claiming divine authority, Catholic princes would obtain the agreement and connivance of the Papacy. Monastic wealth, regarded everywhere as excessive and idle, offered a standing temptation for cash-strapped secular, in terms of popular esteem however, the balance tilted the other way. By the time Henry VIII turned his mind to the business of monastery reform, the first case was that of the so-called Alien Priories. As a result of the Norman Conquest some French religious orders held substantial property through their daughter monasteries in England, some of these were merely granges, agricultural estates with a single foreign monk in residence to supervise things, others were rich foundations in their own right. Such estates were a source of income for the Crown in its French wars. If the property with which a house had been endowed by its founder were to be confiscated or surrendered, then the house ceased to exist, whether its members continued in the religious life or not
13.
Greyfriars Church, Reading
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Greyfriars Church is an evangelical Anglican church, and former Franciscan friary, in the town centre of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The church forms part of the Church of Englands Diocese of Oxford and it is the oldest Franciscan church still in use as a place of worship in the UK, and is said to be the most complete surviving example of Franciscan architecture in England. As a consequence, it has listed as a Grade I listed building. The Franciscan order of friars first arrived in Reading in 1233 with the intention of creating a community to minister to the poor and the oppressed. This arrival was not welcomed by the established Reading Abbey, but the fact that the friars had royal patronage meant that Adam de Lathbury, the then abbot, was obliged to assist. Initially the friars were granted a site alongside the road to Caversham Bridge, however the site proved prone to flooding, impeding the ability of the friars to undertake their ministry. Eventually John Peckham, who was both the Archbishop of Canterbury and a fellow Franciscan, intervened and by 1285 a new site had been obtained at the west end of what is now Friar Street. The new friary on the new site, that was eventually to become Greyfriars Church, was ready by 1311, the friars were expelled in 1538 as part of King Henry VIIIs dissolution of the monasteries. At the time of the dissolution, the town of Reading was administered from a hall known as the Yield Hall. However, by the middle of the 16th century this had proved too small, the mayor, along with Thomas Vachell of Coley Park, petitioned the king to grant the nave and aisles of the church for use as a town hall. In 1543, this petition was granted, the remainder of the church and friary, together with the adjoining grounds, were sold to Robert Stanshawe, after whom the nearby Stanshawe Road is named. Thereafter Greyfriars was used successively as a hospital for the poor, in the 18th century it became the towns jail. By the middle of the 19th century only the walls survived, the church was restored around 1863 by the then Reading Borough Surveyor, W H Woodman. The original building is constructed from squared and knapped flints with a stone plinth, the tiled roof sweeps down over aisles, and the church has a three bay nave. The large transept and triple arched belfry were added to the church by Woodman, the nave has segmental headed 3 light windows of plain decorated style and an extremely fine west window of 5 lights, in a decorated style with reticulated tracery. The interior is spacious, with a crown post and wind brace roof supported on original cruciform, the font and pulpit date from the restoration. The Memorial Hall, a building seating about fifty opens both to the side of the Church and to Sackville Street, was constructed in the early twentieth century. It can be divided into three rooms, the Vicarage building was re-built in 1961-62 with the outward appearance of the original Georgian town house, but with a modern interior
14.
Hospitium
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Hospitium is the ancient Greco-Roman concept of hospitality as a divine right of the guest and a divine duty of the host. Similar or broadly equivalent customs were and are known in other cultures. Among the Greeks and Romans, hospitium was of a character, private. In Homeric times, all strangers, without exception, were regarded as being under the protection of Zeus Xenios, the god of strangers and suppliants, and had the right to hospitality. Immediately on his arrival, the stranger was clothed and entertained, when the guest parted from his host he was often presented with gifts, and sometimes a die was broken between them. Similar customs seem to have existed among the Italian peoples, the advantages thus obtained by the guest were, the right of hospitality when traveling and, above all, the protection of his host in a court of law. The contract was sacred and inviolable, undertaken in the name of Jupiter Hospitalis, sometimes an individual came forward voluntarily to perform these duties on behalf of another state etheloproxenos. The proxenus is generally compared to the consul or minister resident. Many cases occur where such an office was hereditary, thus the family of Callias at Athens were proxeni of the Spartans. We find the mentioned in a Corcyraean inscription dating probably from the 7th century BC. There is no proof that any direct emolument was ever attached to the office, while the expense, probably the honors which it brought with it were sufficient recompense. Public hospitium seems also to have existed among the Italian races, foreigners were frequently granted the right of public hospitality by the senate down to the end of the republic. A full bibliography of the subject will be found in the article in Daremberg and Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquités, die Gastfreundschaft im Altertum, see also Smiths Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities
15.
Reading School
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Reading School is a grammar school with academy status for boys in the English town of Reading, the county town of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey, there are no tuition fees for day pupils, and boarders only pay for food and lodging. Reading School was founded as part of Reading Abbey, in 1486, the school was refounded as a Free Grammar School by Henry VII on the urging of the then Abbot, John Thorne. From at least this time, the School was housed in the former Hospitium of St John, the main building of the hospitium still exists, but the refectory, which once housed the schoolroom, was demolished in 1785 and Reading Town Hall now stands on the site. After the dissolution of Reading Abbey in 1539, the school fell under the control of the corporation of Reading, there were interruptions to schooling in 1665, when Parliament, forced out of London by the Great Plague, took over the schoolhouse. The civil war also interrupted, with the school being used as a garrison by royalist forces, the school soon restarted, however, with the Reading School Act setting out its administration and funding. The foundation stone for new buildings, designed by Alfred Waterhouse, was laid by the Prince of Wales in 1870, the 1944 Education Act saw the abolition of fees, with the cost of education now being met by the local authority. The 1960s saw the rise of education, which threatened Readings status. However, Reading was exempted in 1973 after a petition of over 30,000 local people was handed to the government, in 1986 the school celebrated the quincentenary of its refounding, and was graced by a visit by Queen Elizabeth II. A history of the school by Michael Naxton was published that year by Reading School Parents Association, previously, seriously injured or ill patients from the Reading area had to be flown either to Wexham Park Hospital near Slough, or to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for treatment. The new arrangement means that the field can now be used for emergency touchdowns. Patients are transported by ambulance from the school to the hospitals accident. While this arrangement was made official in 2007, the school field had been unofficially used on several occasions by the Thames Valley. In 2016, it was confirmed that a new house would be introduced to cater for a form in year 7. Laud house, named after William Laud, will have the light blue. The current school consists of a main block, a Science block, the Page building, the John Kendrick building, South House, Music School. The main school building, the chapel, South House and the building to the east of South House have all been designated as Grade II listed buildings by English Heritage, the main block consists of 11 teaching rooms, as well as most of the schools administrative rooms. The classrooms here are used to teach English, Economics, Business Studies, Classics, Latin and Ancient Greek
16.
Sash window
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The oldest surviving examples of sash windows were installed in England in the 1670s, for example at Ham House. The invention of the window is sometimes credited, without conclusive evidence. Others see the window as a Dutch invention. To facilitate operation, the weight of the panel is usually balanced by a heavy steel, lead. The sash weight is connected to the window by a braided cotton sash cord, or a chain, breakage of this cord requires disassembly, or destruction, of the trim pieces to gain access for repair. The term sash windows is used interchangeably with the term box sash windows in the United Kingdom, historically box sash windows are heavier and more stately in nature than modern sash windows, but both terms are used within the industry when referring to the same type of window. The name hung sash window, which is usual in the United States than in the United Kingdom. These windows are found in older buildings in warmer climates. A significant advantage of double-hung windows is that they provide efficient cooling of interiors during warm weather, a double-hung window where the upper sash is smaller than the lower is termed a cottage window. A single-hung window has two sashes, but normally the top sash is fixed and only the bottom sash slides, triple- and quadruple-hung windows are used for tall openings, common in New England churches. Construction is usually of softwood, and these sashes were traditionally only single-glazed, early sash windows were made from high-quality wood that has lasted generations and should, if at all possible, be repaired with similar-quality slow-growth wood rather than being replaced. The glass in old windows can be as important as the sashes themselves, old glass is easily recognised by its imperfections which give a degree of distortion both when looking through it and when looking at it from the outside. Of these, the glass still currently being manufactured in the traditional way is cylinder. All other old glass is therefore irreplaceable and should be carefully conserved and/or protected before any work is carried out, modern double-glazed sash windows are now available, but depending on their aesthetic style, can be frowned upon. Traditional problems with solid wooden sash windows include rot, swelling or distortion of the woodwork or rattling in the wind and these problems can be solved by careful repair and the introduction of draught stripping. It is also a problem for inexperienced painters to paint the sash stuck. The sliding mechanism makes sash windows more vulnerable to these problems than traditional casement windows, sash windows are relatively high maintenance, but offer advantages in return. However, well-maintained sash windows should last generations without needing parts replaced and it is also possible to clean all the glass from within the building by sliding the two panes to different positions
17.
Organ (music)
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In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more pipe divisions, each played with its own keyboard, played either with the hands on a keyboard or with the feet using pedals. The organ is an old musical instrument, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria. It was played throughout the Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman world, subsequently it re-emerged as a secular and recital instrument in the Classical music tradition. Pipe organs use air moving through pipes to produce sounds, since the 16th century, pipe organs have used various materials for pipes, which can vary widely in timbre and volume. The pipes are divided into ranks and controlled by the use of hand stops, although the keyboard is not expressive as on a piano and does not affect dynamics, some divisions may be enclosed in a swell box, allowing the dynamics to be controlled by shutters. Some organs are enclosed, meaning that all the divisions can be controlled by one set of shutters. Some special registers with free reed pipes are expressive and these instruments vary greatly in size, ranging from a cubic yard to a height reaching five floors, and are built in churches, synagogues, concert halls, and homes. Small organs are called positive or portative, increasingly hybrid organs are appearing in which pipes are augmented with electronic additions. Great economies of space and cost are possible especially when the lowest of the pipes can be replaced, non-piped organs include the reed organ or harmonium, which like the accordion and harmonica use air to excite free reeds. Electronic organs or digital organs, notably the Hammond organ, generate electronically produced sound through one or more loudspeakers, mechanical organs include the barrel organ, water organ, and Orchestrion. These are controlled by means such as pinned barrels or book music. Little barrel organs dispense with the hands of an organist and bigger organs are powered in most cases by a grinder or today by other means such as an electric motor. The pipe organ is the grandest musical instrument in size and scope, along with the clock, it was considered one of the most complex human-made mechanical creations before the Industrial Revolution. Pipe organs range in size from a short keyboard to huge instruments with over 10,000 pipes. A large modern organ typically has three or four keyboards with five each, and a two-and-a-half octave pedal board. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called the organ the King of instruments, some of the biggest instruments have 64-foot pipes, and it sounds to an 8 Hz frequency fundamental tone. For instance, the Wanamaker organ, located in Philadelphia, USA, has sonic resources comparable with three simultaneous symphony orchestras, most organs in Europe, the Americas, and Australasia can be found in Christian churches. The introduction of organs is traditionally attributed to Pope Vitalian in the 7th century
18.
Henry Willis & Sons
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Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845 in London at 2 & 1/2 Foundling Terrace, Grays Inn Road. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other countries, five generations of the Willis family served as principals of the firm until 1997 when Henry Willis 4 appointed David Wyld as Managing Director, who subsequently became the majority shareholder. From London, the firm had moved to a works, designed by Henry Willis III. After acquisition by David Wyld, the firm re-located to its present base and head office in Liverpool. He was a friend of Samuel Sebastian Wesley whom he met at Cheltenham, and this was largely restoration of an existing instrument, but Willis always claimed that it was the success of this early work which established his reputation. During the Industrial Revolution many towns equipped themselves with imposing town halls, preferably with a Willis instrument of the symphonic style. Industrialists competed to endow the most lavish halls and instruments, the result was a convergence of both a very fine and technically proficient organ builder, and a substantial number of commissions for really exceptional instruments. This heritage continues with recent new instruments in Florence and Auckland, St Michael and all Angels, Croydon boasts a Father Willis built and installed in 1882 with additions by Noel Mander in 1955. The 1887 Father Willis pipe organ at Beckwithshaw Church is still in use, the Grand Organ built by Henry Willis & Sons in 1871 for the Royal Albert Hall had four manuals and 111 stops and was, at that time, the largest in the world. The tiny hamlet of St Michaels, near Tenbury Wells also has an organ which was installed in the new church created to support the then new St Michaels College in the mid-19th century. The 4,600 pipes organ built in 1892 was originally installed in the Brisbane Exhibition Building, the organ in St Bees Priory Church was the last major instrument to be personally supervised by Father Henry Willis. Father Williss organ won a Council gold medal in the Great Exhibition of 1851 at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, with 70 speaking stops this was the largest of the organs exhibited. It was an achievement by the young Henry Willis. The organ was installed in Winchester Cathedral by the family firm after being reduced to 49 speaking stops. Another example of a fine Father Willis pipe organ can be found in the firms present hometown of Liverpool at St Georges Hall and this was an organ of 100 speaking stops dating from 1855. Wesley acted as the consultant for what was the most ambitious organ at that time, the Josiah Wedgwood Willis organ has been installed in St Peters Church on Hayling Island. Although four generations of Henry Willises are mostly remembered for organs on the scale they also built smaller instruments. Seven examples exist in Australia, including the last imported, the 1881 organ in All Saints Church, Bodalla, New South Wales, commemorating the father of Australian dairying, Thomas Sutcliffe Mort
19.
Gothic Revival architecture
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Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. Gothic Revival draws features from the original Gothic style, including decorative patterns, finials, scalloping, lancet windows, hood mouldings, the Gothic Revival movement emerged in 19th-century England. Its roots were intertwined with deeply philosophical movements associated with a re-awakening of High Church or Anglo-Catholic belief concerned by the growth of religious nonconformism, ultimately, the Anglo-Catholicism tradition of religious belief and style became widespread for its intrinsic appeal in the third quarter of the 19th century. The Gothic Revival was paralleled and supported by medievalism, which had its roots in antiquarian concerns with survivals, as industrialisation progressed, a reaction against machine production and the appearance of factories also grew. Proponents of the such as Thomas Carlyle and Augustus Pugin took a critical view of industrial society. To Pugin, Gothic architecture was infused with the Christian values that had been supplanted by classicism and were being destroyed by industrialisation, poems such as Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson recast specifically modern themes in medieval settings of Arthurian romance. In German literature, the Gothic Revival also had a grounding in literary fashions, guarino Guarini, a 17th-century Theatine monk active primarily in Turin, recognized the Gothic order as one of the primary systems of architecture and made use of it in his practice. Some of the earliest evidence of a revival in Gothic architecture is from Scotland, inveraray Castle, constructed from 1746, with design input from William Adam, displays the incorporation of turrets. These were largely conventional Palladian style houses that incorporated some features of the Scots baronial style. The eccentric landscape designer Batty Langley even attempted to improve Gothic forms by giving them classical proportions, a younger generation, taking Gothic architecture more seriously, provided the readership for J. Brittens series of Cathedral Antiquities, which began appearing in 1814. In 1817, Thomas Rickman wrote an Attempt. to name and define the sequence of Gothic styles in English ecclesiastical architecture, the categories he used were Norman, Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular. It went through numerous editions and was still being republished by 1881. The largest and most famous Gothic cathedrals in the U. S. A. are St. Patricks Cathedral in New York City and Washington National Cathedral on Mount St. Alban in northwest Washington, D. C. One of the biggest churches in Gothic Revival style in Canada is Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate in Ontario, Gothic Revival architecture was to remain one of the most popular and long-lived of the Gothic Revival styles of architecture. The revived Gothic style was not limited to architecture, classical Gothic buildings of the 12th to 16th Centuries were a source of inspiration to 19th-century designers in numerous fields of work. Architectural elements such as pointed arches, steep-sloping roofs and fancy carvings like lace ant lattice work were applied to a range of Gothic Revival objects. Sir Walter Scotts Abbotsford exemplifies in its furnishings the Regency Gothic style, parties in medieval historical dress and entertainment were popular among the wealthy in the 1800s but has spread in the late 20th century to the well-educated middle class as well. By the mid-19th century, Gothic traceries and niches could be inexpensively re-created in wallpaper, the illustrated catalogue for the Great Exhibition of 1851 is replete with Gothic detail, from lacemaking and carpet designs to heavy machinery
20.
Terracotta
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Terracotta, terra cotta or terra-cotta, a type of earthenware, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic, where the fired body is porous. The term is used to refer to the natural, brownish orange color, of most terracotta. This article covers the senses of terracotta as a medium in sculpture, as in the Terracotta Army and Greek terracotta figurines, asian and European sculpture in porcelain is not covered. Glazed architectural terracotta and its version as exterior surfaces for buildings were used in Asia for some centuries before becoming popular in the West in the 19th century. In archaeology and art history, terracotta is used to describe objects such as figurines not made on a potters wheel. An appropriate refined clay is formed to the desired shape, after drying it is placed in a kiln or atop combustible material in a pit, and then fired. The typical firing temperature is around 1,000 °C, though it may be as low as 600 °C in historic and archaeological examples. In some contexts, such as Roman figurines, white-colored terracotta is known as pipeclay, as such clays were later preferred for tobacco pipes, fired terracotta is not watertight, but surface-burnishing the body before firing can decrease its porousness and a layer of glaze can make it watertight. It is suitable for use below ground to carry pressurized water, for garden pots or building decoration in many environments, most other uses, such as for tableware, sanitary piping, or building decoration in freezing environments, require the material to be glazed. Terracotta, if uncracked, will ring if lightly struck, painted terracotta is typically first covered with a thin coat of gesso, then painted. It has been widely used but the paint is only suitable for indoor positions and is much less durable than fired colors in or under a ceramic glaze. Terracotta sculpture was rarely left in its raw fired state in the West until the 18th century. Terracotta/earthenware was the known type of ceramic produced by Western and pre-Columbian people until the 14th century. Terracotta has been used throughout history for sculpture and pottery as well as for bricks, in ancient times, the first clay sculptures were dried in the sun after being formed. They were later placed in the ashes of open hearths to harden, however, only after firing to high temperature would it be classed as a ceramic material. Terracotta female figurines were uncovered by archaeologists in excavations of Mohenjo-daro, along with phallus-shaped stones, these suggest some sort of fertility cult and a belief in a mother goddess. The Burney Relief is a terracotta plaque from Ancient Mesopotamia of about 1950 BC. In Mesoamerica, the majority of Olmec figurines were in terracotta
21.
Thomas Lainson
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Thomas Lainson was a British architect. Lainson was born in 1825 in the Brighton area and his first commission may have been a 13-house terrace on the west side of Norfolk Terrace, on the Brighton/Hove border, which has been dated to the mid-19th century. The road was developed in stages from the 1850s. Lainsons design was in the Italianate style, popular at the time because of the influence of Queen Victorias Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. In about 1870 he built another terrace of Italianate houses nearby on Sillwood Road, the whole street was renamed Sillwood Road when Lainsons 16 houses were finished. Adelaide Mansions, a four-storey seafront development in Hove, followed in 1873, by the 1870s, a dense working-class residential area had developed to the east of Brighton on the way to the high-class Kemp Town estate, it became known as Kemptown. Methodist minister J. Martin wanted to extend that reach into the area. His Romanesque Revival design was accepted, and builder John Fielder constructed the church in 1873, bristol Road Methodist Church survived in religious use until 1989, when it became a recording studio. In 1874, Lainson received the commission for another religious building, a site on Middle Street in The Lanes was found, and the Sassoon family donated money to fund Lainsons elaborate Neo-Byzantine/Italian Romanesque Revival design, which was opened in 1875. Lainson won the commission in competition, it was unusual for a non-Jew to design synagogues, archdeacon John Hannah, Vicar of Brighton from 1870 until 1888, founded an Anglican slum mission in the east end of Brighton in 1876. Lainson designed the building which housed the institute and its activities, it was finished in 1877. Also in 1876–77, he designed and built a villa, Brooker Hall, Lainson was married and had six children, two of whom—Thomas J. and Arthur—joined his practice in 1881. After this, most commissions were undertaken jointly under the name Lainson & Sons, the first of these was the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children, built on Dyke Road in 1880–81. The institution was founded in 1868 and moved to a school in Dyke Road in 1871. A rare commission outside the Brighton area came in the year, working on his own. Brighton was a pioneer in the cooperative movement, and in the 1880s the Brighton & Hove Co-operative Supply Association was a major force in local commerce. Lainson & Sons were chosen as the architects, and they provided two large buildings in Hove, Palmeira House in 1887, and a lavish repository and warehouse at 75 Holland Road in 1893. The buildings, which survive, were of significantly different design
22.
Baroque
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The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is also yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses. It employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can also be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The later Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists. Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
23.
Henry Taunt
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Henry William Taunt was a professional photographer based in Oxford, England. His studio was in Broad Street, Oxford, Henry Taunt was born in Pensons Gardens in the parish of St Ebbes, Oxford. He was the son of a plumber and glazier, also Henry, and his wife Martha, at the age of 14, Taunt joined Edward Bracher as a member of staff in 1856 at his photographic premises based at 26 High Street, Oxford. In 1868 he set up his own business in Oxford. Moving from his Broad Street studio, Taunt traded from 1894–95 at 41 High Street, Oxford and later moved to 34 High Street, after this time he moved all his work to his home on Cowley Road. In 1893 Henry Taunt was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and this was a substantial honour in recognition of the notable feat of cartography and accuracy of measurements that featured in the New Map of the Thames. Henry Taunts black-and-white photographs are views of Oxford, Oxfordshire. He produced the first pocket guide to the River Thames to be illustrated with photographs, in the 1860s, it covered the upper Thames, but it expanded its range over several editions. At the beginning of the 1860s this was a feat of skill. Henry Taunt was at the forefront of Victorian location photographic technology, Taunts photographs are reproduced in many books and form a useful historical record of social history and architecture. Major collections of his work are held by English Heritage,14,000 images, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire Studies, the England of Henry Taunt, Victorian photographer. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd, the River Thames Revisited, In the Footsteps of Henry Taunt. Henry Taunt of Oxford, A Victorian Photographer, Oxford Then and Now, From the Henry Taunt Collection. Read, Susan, ed. Thames of Henry Taunt, – Several collections of Taunt photographs can be found by searching the Photo Essays on this website
24.
Strategic bombing
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One of the aims of war is to demoralize the enemy, so that peace or surrender becomes preferable to continuing the conflict. Strategic bombing has been used to this end, because the term has pejorative connotations, some, including the Allies of World War II, have preferred to use euphemisms such as will to resist and morale bombings. The theoretical distinction between tactical and strategic air warfare was developed between the two world wars, some leading theorists of strategic air warfare during this period were the Italian Giulio Douhet, the Trenchard school in the United Kingdom, and General Billy Mitchell in the United States. One of the aims of war is to demoralise the enemy, facing continual death, when such attacks were tried in the 1930s—in the Spanish Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War—they were ineffective. Commentators observed the failures and some air forces, such as the Luftwaffe, Terror bombing is an emotive term used for aerial attacks planned to weaken or break enemy morale. Use of the term to refer to aerial attacks implies the attacks are criminal according to the law of war, or if within the laws of war are nevertheless a moral crime. The Allied governments usually described their bombing of cities with other such as area bombing or precision bombing. He then added in a remark that the raid also helped destroy what is left of German morale. Howard Cowan, an Associated Press war correspondent, filed a story about the Dresden raid, there were followup newspaper editorials on the issue and a longtime opponent of strategic bombing, Richard Stokes, MP, asked questions in the House of Commons on 6 March. The first bombing of a city was on the night of 24–25 August 1914, the first effective strategic bombing was pioneered by the Royal Naval Air Service in 1914. The mission was to attack the Zeppelin production lines and their sheds at Cologne, led by Charles Rumney Samson the force of four aircraft inflicted minor damage on the sheds. The raid was repeated a month later with more success. Within a year or so, specialized aircraft and dedicated bomber squadrons were in service on both sides. These were generally used for bombing, the aim was that of directly harming enemy troops, strongpoints, or equipment. Eventually, attention turned to the possibility of causing harm to the enemy by systematically attacking vital rear-area resources. The most well known attacks were those done by Zeppelins over England through the course of the war, in all, four people were killed and sixteen injured, and monetary damage was estimated at £7,740. German airships also bombed on other fronts, for example in January 1915 on Liepāja in Latvia, in 1915 there were 19 more raids, in which 37 tons of bombs were dropped, killing 181 people and injuring 455. London was accidentally bombed in May, and in July the Kaiser allowed directed raids against urban centers, there were 23 airship raids in 1916, in which 125 tons of ordnance were dropped, killing 293 people and injuring 691
25.
Reading Civic Centre
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Reading Civic Centre is a civic centre in the town of Reading, itself in the English county of Berkshire. The centre dates from the mid-1970s, to the north the plaza was bounded by the Broad Street Mall, a contemporaneous shopping mall. Prior to the 16th century, civic administration for the town of Reading was situated in the Yield Hall and this was to remain the site of Readings civic administration, through the successive re-buildings that eventually created todays Reading Town Hall, until the 1970s. By the 1950s the administration of the town of Reading had overflowed the available offices in the Town Hall, the decision was taken to build these at the opposite end of the town centre from the Town Hall, where land was available following slum clearance. The architect for the new offices was the firm of Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall & Partners. The new civic offices opened in 1976, followed by the Hexagon in 1977
26.
Reading Central Library
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Reading Central Library is a public library in the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. From 1882, the library was in Reading Town Hall. However, as early as World War I complaints were being made there was insufficient space for books and it was only in 1982 that plans started being laid for a new central library in Reading, and building starting in 1984. This new building was opened in 1985 and it is also very near the old Abbey gateway, where Jane Austen went to school, and which is the ancestor of the current Abbey School. Reading Central Library is a four storey red brick building based on traditional Reading brick designs, the Holy Brook runs underneath the Library and it is near The Oracle to the south west and to the north lies the beautiful Forbury Gardens. It also provides loans of CDs, DVDs, and videos for which there is a charge and also has a large collection of vocal. Special collections include books and letters by local author Mary Russell Mitford and local MP, judge, books in the library are generally ordered by Dewey Decimal Classification, though the Local Studies collection has its own library classification system. The online library catalogue which includes a selection of digitised local Studies photographs can be found on the library website and it is run by a team of qualified librarians with the support of library assistants with the aim of providing good library services to the people of Reading. Reading Libraries website Reading Borough Libraries
27.
Historic England
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Historic England is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with protecting the environment of England by preserving and listing historic buildings, ancient monuments. The body was created by the National Heritage Act 1983. Historic England has a remit to and complements the work of Natural England which aims to protect the natural environment. Historic England inherits English Heritages position as the UK governments statutory adviser and this includes archaeology on land and under water, historic buildings sites and areas, designated landscapes and the historic elements of the wider landscape. It monitors and reports on the state of Englands heritage and publishes the annual the Heritage at Risk survey which is one of the UK Governments Official statistics and it is tasked to secure the preservation and enhancement of the man-made heritage of England for the benefit of future generations. Giving grants national and local organisations for the conservation of buildings, monuments. In 2013/14 over £13 million worth of grants were made to support heritage buildings, advising central UK government on which English heritage assets are nationally important and should be protected by designation. Administering and maintaining the register of Englands listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered battlefields, conservation areas and protected parks and this is published as an online resource as The National Heritage List for England. Advising local authorities on managing changes to the most important parts of heritage, providing expertise through advice, training and guidance to improve the standards and skills of people working in heritage, practical conservation and access to resources. In 2009–2010 it trained around 200 professionals working in local authorities, consulting and collaborating with other heritage bodies, local and national planning organisations e. g. It is not responsible for approving alterations to listed buildings, the management of listed buildings is the responsibility of local planning authorities and the Department for Communities and Local Government. It also owns the National Heritage Collection of nationally important historic sites, however they do not run these sites as this function is instead carried out by the English Heritage Trust under licence until 2023. Britain from Above, presents the unique Aerofilms collection of photographs from 1919-1953. Images of England website Heritage Explorer, Education site for teachers Department for Culture Media and Sport
28.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
29.
Reading Minster
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Reading Minster, or the Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin as it is more properly known, is the oldest ecclesiastical foundation in the English town of Reading. Although eclipsed in importance by the later Reading Abbey, Reading Minster has regained its importance since the destruction of the Abbey and is now an Anglican parish church and it gives its name to the street of St Marys Butts, on which it stands. The Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin should not be mistaken for the similarly named St Marys Church, Castle Street. According to unverified tradition, Saint Birinus founded a chapel on the site of Reading Minister in the 7th century. In 979, Queen Ælfthryth, wife of King Edgar of England, founded a nunnery on the site as an act of repentance for the murder of her stepson. All that remains of this nunnery is a rounded Saxon door in the church, in the 11th century, the Danes sacked Reading and the nunnery was destroyed. By the time of the Domesday Book, the church had been granted to Battle Abbey by William the Conqueror, in 1121, King Henry I founded Reading Abbey which grew to become one of the most important religious and political centres of England. For the following 400 years the Abbey was the centre of power in the town. The main body of the dates from the late 11th Century, however in 1539. In the Reformation that followed, St Marys church was stripped of its altar, statues and stained glass, between the years of 1551 and 1555 the church was extensively restored, using quantities of masonry and timber from the ruins of the Abbey. In 1918 a war memorial chapel, known as St Edwards Chapel, was added with entry through the old Saxon doorway of the nunnery. The church had undergone restoration in 1863 when a new choir aisle was added. Most of the bells now hung in the Minsters tower date from the 17th and 18th centuries, the present peal consists of three dated 1640, two dated 1740 and two dated 1743. In 1611 the first clock was installed in the tower, the Minsters organ dates was built by Father Willis for the 1862 International Exhibition. It was rebuilt by the company in 1936. In the early 21st century, the church began a project to restore the organ, the organ was largely neglected throughout the 20th century, leaving pipes corroded, the bellows damaged and the soundboards warped. The restoration requires a fund of approximately £500,000 and aims to replace the system, electronics. It is crossed by several other paths which carry pedestrian traffic between various town centre areas
30.
Albion Terrace, Reading
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Albion Terrace, also known as Albion Place, is a 19th-century residential terrace in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a building, being listed grade II*. The terrace is situated at numbers 45 to 65 of London Road and it is opposite the frontage of the University of Readings London Road Campus and close to both Kendrick School and the Royal Berkshire Hospital. It was built by Richard Billing, an architect and builder. The terrace is of 3 main floors, together with an attic, the frontage is stucco, and the roof is slate. There is a string under the first floor windows, and a cornice with parapet. The terrace is symmetrical, with the two end houses projecting slightly, the property is fronted by a carriage sweep, with pairs of panelled pyramidal-capped stone piers at each end. Albion Terrace was acquired and internally rebuilt as an apartment complex by Thomas Homes in the 1990s, prior to this it had comprised 11 separate houses, many of which were, by the time of the rebuilding, in multiple occupancy. Media related to Albion Terrace, Reading at Wikimedia Commons
31.
Royal Berkshire Hospital
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The Royal Berkshire Hospital is a National Health Service hospital in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It provides acute services to the residents of the western and central portions of Berkshire. The hospital provides 813 inpatient beds, together with 204-day beds, in doing so, it employs over 4,000 staff and has an annual budget of £228 million. The Royal Berkshire Hospital was opened in 1839 on the London Road on land donated by Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, the hospital was built by local architect and builder Henry Briant, who won the design competition. King William IV took a keen interest in the hospital before it was built, the first patron of the hospital was Williams niece and successor, Queen Victoria. In the 1860s, the building was extended with east and west wings designed by Joseph Morris. In the 1880s, a new chapel was added to the rear of the main block, both chapel and side wings were also designed by Morris. In 1993, the Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospitals NHS Trust was formed, on 24 February 2006, The Queen accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh opened the new buildings of the Royal Berkshire Hospital. This was to celebrate the completion of a project to move the Battle Hospital services onto the Royal Berkshire Hospital site. In August of the year, the trust became an NHS Foundation Trust under the name of Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust. The accident and emergency department is one of the most efficient in the country, with more than 99% of patients being seen. In August 2010, it was reported that the number of jobs in the hospital would be reduced by 600, out of a total of around 4000, to achieve a saving of £60 million. The hospital occupies a long thin site, running uphill from London Road to Addington Road. The buildings that house the hospital are of ages, from the original building of 1839 to the latest ward block built in 2006. Despite the various ages and styles of building, almost all of the departments are accessible from a single indoor pedestrian route that runs the length of the site. The original entrance on London Road still exists, but the entrance is now situated in Craven Road. The original building of 1839, together with the wings added in the 1860s, are now listed grade II* by English Heritage and they are built of Bath Stone with slate roofs, and the main building comprises 2 storeys and a basement. The frontage has 11 bays, with the central 7 bays forming a projecting pedimented portico with Ionic columns
32.
St Mary's Church, Castle Street, Reading
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St Marys Church, Castle Street is an Anglican church in the town centre of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It should not be mistaken for the similarly named but much older Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin. In 1798, there was a disagreement between the Bishop and the congregation of St Giles Church in nearby Southampton Street, many of the congregation left and founded a new chapel in Castle Street, on the site of Readings old gaol. This chapel eventually became the Church of St Mary, Castle Street, the church is a Grade II* listed building. The original 1798 building was a simple Georgian building, but in 1840 the present hexastyle portico in Corinthian style was added by local architect, the frontage is rendered in stucco while the capitals of the portico are probably formed of Coade stone. The church has one of Readings best church interiors, with a gallery in 5 bays with marbled Doric ground floor. There is a cornice to the coved central ceiling and a small projecting chancel with a bay for the mid-19th-century organ. The instrument, by Vowles of Bristol, is dated 1870, the church used to be lit by two mid-19th-century cast iron chandeliers. Today the church part of the Church of England, a group of Anglican congregations outside the Church of England. Media related to St Marys Church, Castle Street, Reading at Wikimedia Commons Official web page of St Marys, Castle Street
33.
St Peter's Church, Caversham
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St Peters Church is a Church of England parish church in Caversham, a suburb of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated close to the River Thames in Caversham Heights, royalists stationed troops in St Peters Church during the Siege of Reading in 1643, and situated a cannon on top of the church tower. The Parliamentarians used artillery to destroy the tower, the church itself was also ruined in the process
34.
Watlington House
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Watlington House is a 17th-century building, with a large walled garden, in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The building is built and is reputed to be the oldest surviving secular building in the town. It is a building, being listed grade II*. The western or rear part of the building was built in 1688 for Samuel and Anne Watlington, whilst the eastern part, Samuel Watlington served as mayor of Reading in 1695 and again in 1711. The first recorded occupant of the house was Captain Edward Purvis in 1794 and he fought at the Battle of Corunna in the Peninsular War with the 4th Regiment of Foot and trained the Berkshire Militia in Orts meadow near his home. The house is rumoured to be haunted by his ghost, after Captain Purvis, the house was variously occupied by a Mrs Stevens and then used as an office by the town clerk of Reading. In 1877 the house became the first home of the newly founded Kendrick Girls School, the school remained on the site until 1927, when they moved to their current location on the corner of Sidmouth Street and London Road. During their stay they erected an iron hall in the garden. Since 1931, the building has been owned by local trustees and they provide accommodation for social and educational organisations, using the rents for the upkeep of Watlington House. Since 2003, the House has been the home of the Mills Archive, the repository for documents, images and other records on mills, milling. Media related to Watlington House at Wikimedia Commons Watlington House official web site
35.
Abbey Mill (River Kennet)
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Abbey Mill, or Abbey Mills, is a ruined former watermill on the Holy Brook, a channel of the River Kennet in the English county of Berkshire. The mill originally belonged to Reading Abbey, whose monks are believed to have created the Holy Brook as a supply to this. It is situated just to the south of the ruins of the Abbey itself, the mill was built straddling the Holy Brook which marked the southern boundary of the monastic enclosure. It continued to grind corn into the 1950s, today, all that remains is a section of wall, pierced by three arches. List of watermills in the United Kingdom Media related to Abbey Mill, Reading at Wikimedia Commons
36.
All Saints' Church, Reading
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All Saints Church is a Church of England parish church in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The church is on Downshire Square, a square in West Reading close to the Bath Road. It is part of the parish of St. Mark and All Saints, the church was built between 1865 and 1874, as a daughter church of the Minster Church of St Mary, to serve the growing population of the Bath Road area. It was designed by the architect James Piers St Aubyn, the construction is of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings and weathered buttresses. The roof is tiled, and the church has a five bay aisled nave with a short transept, the interior includes a painted arcade, a rich five-window apse, and mural mosaics, the finest of which is a glass mosaic reredos depicting the last supper. This came from the London workshop of the glass artist Antonio Salviati and was installed in 1866. The foundations for a tower to the side of the church were constructed. The music for the church was provided by a small four-stop organ lent to the church by a Father Willis. The organ was extensively enhanced to include a keyboard and additional pipes between 1874 and 1883, and has remained in more or less the same form until the present day. There is a current project appeal for the upgrading of the church to modern accessibility standards and this project hopes to add toilet facilities and improve disabled access to the building whilst retaining the churchs unique character and architectural features. The church is categorised as a Grade II listed building by English Heritage, media related to All Saints Church, Reading at Wikimedia Commons
37.
Bath Road Reservoir
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Bath Road Reservoir is an underground reservoir complex in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Located to the north-west of the Bath Road in West Reading and it comprises two underground reservoirs, covered entirely by vegetation, together with a water tower that is listed as a grade II listed building. The site dates back to 1850, when the Reading Union Water Company started construction of the reservoir, which opened in 1852. Originally untreated water was pumped to the reservoir by a station at Southcote Lock on the River Kennet. The site was acquired by Reading Borough Council in 1868, new reservoirs were constructed in 1900 and 1939, and these were supplemented by the construction of the Tilehurst Water Tower, on higher ground elsewhere, in 1932. The northern reservoir fell out of use by 1960, and the newer southern reservoir by 1993, the Bath Road water tower was last used in the 1970s. The site is no longer required for its purpose, and Thames Water. This has proved controversial in the area, largely because it has become home to a wide range of wildlife including protected species. Species sighted on the site include roe deer, badgers, owls, slow worms, muntjac, foxes, hedgehogs, in 2008, Thames Water submitted plans for 96 homes on the site. In 2009, Reading Borough Council rejected the plans, Thames Water filed an appeal, which was rejected in January 2011. The planning inspector stated that the development would damage the character and appearance of the site, in August 2011, Thames Water announced new plans that would involve the construction of 80 homes on the site, whilst setting aside a small proportion of the land as a wildlife reserve. The new plans also involve the conversion of the tower into residential accommodation. Consultation for these new plans opened on 24 September 2011, on 17 October 2012, Reading Borough Council approved plans to create 84 homes on the site. The plans include extending the house and water tower to create 10 homes
38.
Broad Street Independent Chapel, Reading
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Broad Street Independent Chapel is a former nonconformist chapel dating from 1707. It is situated in Broad Street, now the principal shopping street of the English town of Reading, the building has been sympathetically reused as a branch of the Waterstones chain of bookshops. The building is a Grade II listed building, the main building was built in 1707 and is set back from Broad Street. The interior is square with encircling galleries, and a domed ceiling with modillion cornice. Later additions were made to the side and rear of the original building, in 1892 a separate frontage building was built along the building line of Broad Street, with an arch surmounted by a tower, itself capped by octagonal turret, and flanked by two shops. Waterstones now occupies both the building and most of the frontage building. The frontage building has been linked to the chapel by a lightweight modern glass-roofed conservatory. The galleries of the chapel now form part of the shop. Details of baptisms and marriages at the church between 1720 and 1837 are available on the International Genealogical Index produced by the LDS Church, william Blackall Simonds, the founder of Simonds Brewery and J & C Simonds bank, was baptised at the chapel on 13 August 1761. Media related to Broad Street Independent Chapel at Wikimedia Commons
39.
Brock Barracks
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Brock Barracks is a British Army barracks in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Located on Oxford Road in the district of West Reading, the majority of the buildings and structures within Brock Barracks are Grade II listed. The barracks, which were named after Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, were built in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style and their creation took place as part of the Cardwell Reforms which encouraged the localisation of British military forces. The barracks became the depot for the 49th Regiment of Foot, following the Childers Reforms, the 49th and 66th regiments amalgamated to form the Royal Berkshire Regiment with its depot in the barracks later that year. During the Second World War the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment of 101st Airborne of the United States Army were based at the barracks in preparation for the Normandy landings. The Duke of Edinburghs Royal Regiment retained their administrative headquarters at Brock Barracks until they moved to Cathedral Close in Salisbury in 1982, media related to Brock Barracks at Wikimedia Commons 7 RIFLES - British Army Website
40.
Caversham Park
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Caversham Park is a Victorian stately home with parkland in the suburb of Caversham, on the outskirts of Reading, England. Historically located in Oxfordshire, with boundary changes it became part of Berkshire in 1911, Caversham Park is home to BBC Monitoring and BBC Radio Berkshire. The history of Caversham Park goes back to at least Norman times, when Walter Giffard, the estate, then Caversham Manor, was a fortified manor house or castle, probably nearer the Thames than the present house. The estate was registered in the Domesday Book, in an entry describing a property of 9.7 square kilometres worth £20, the estate passed to William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke and Protector of the Realm, in the late 12th century. Marshall, who in his final years acted as de facto regent under the reign of a young Henry III, later it was occupied by the Earls of Warwick. In 1542, it was bought by Sir Francis Knollys, the treasurer of Queen Elizabeth I, however, he did not move here until over forty years later, when he completely rebuilt the house slightly to the north. Sir Francis son, William Knollys, the Earl of Banbury, entertained Queen Elizabeth I, later it became home to the Royalist Earl of Craven. During the Civil War, the house was confiscated and used to imprison Charles I, following the Civil War, the Elizabethan manor house was demolished because of its poor state of repair and rebuilt by Lord Craven after 1660, probably with William Winde as the architect. The estate was sold in 1697, passing by the 1720s into the hands of William, first Baron, William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan started to have the house rebuilt in 1718. A friend of the Duke of Marlborough, he tried to rival the gardens at Blenheim Palace, a plan of the 1723 design was published by Colen Campbell in Vitruvius Britannicus III,1725. The house burned down in the late 18th century and was replaced with a smaller house and this was enlarged by Major Charles Marsack in the 1780s, in the Greek temple style, with an impressive Corinthian colonnade. Marsack was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire for 1787 and this house also burnt down in 1850. Crossing the whole breadth of a valley, the road is conducted along the bottom, continually winding in natural easy sweeps. An astute observer, Jeffersons account in his Notes of a Tour of English Gardens reads like this, a large lawn, separated by a sunk fence from the garden, appears to be part of it. A straight broad gravel walk passes before the front and parallel to it, terminated on the right by a Doric temple and this straight walk has an ill effect. The lawn in front, which is pasture, well disposed with clumps of trees, Jefferson undertook the tour in the company of John Adams, his close friend and predecessor as US president. Adams observations are far more general, however, he gives a fuller account of the route they were taking, Mr. The gentlemens seats were the highest entertainment we met with, stowe, Hagley, and Blenheim, are superb, Woburn, Caversham, and the Leasowes are beautiful
41.
Coley Park
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Coley Park is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is largely built on the estate of a house of the same name. Coley Park lies entirely within the borough of Reading, within Minster ward and it is within the Reading West parliamentary constituency. Coley Park is split between the Church of England parishes of All Saints Church and St Giles Church, although neither church is actually within the area, the suburb of Coley Park was built largely on the lands of the Coley Park estate. The original manor house, known as Vachel House, was built c.1555 by Thomas Vachell on the banks of the Holy Brook rivulet and it was restored after the English Civil War c.1651 by Tanfield Vachell. Eventually Vachel House once again fell into disrepair and a new mansion, Coley House, was built on ground by the new owner. Between 1882 and 1889, Reading Football Club played their games at Coley Park, on the site now known as Coley Park Recreation Ground. During the First World War two fields in Coley Park were used as an airfield for the Royal Flying Corps No 1 School of Military Aeronautics and No.1 School of Technical Training, based nearby. However, flying was disrupted by river fogs and by the end of the war the airfield fell into disuse, amongst the pilots trained at Coley Park was W. E. Johns, who went on to create the Biggles series of aviation based adventure stories. After the Second World War, the Ministry of Agriculture occupied Coley House, two blocks of offices were built for the ministry in these grounds, the more recent in 1968. In 1956 the then Reading Corporation purchased the section of Coley Park estate for a future council housing estate. By 1958 new residents were arriving and by 1960 a set of three high-rise 15-storey flats were under construction, by the end of the 1960s a row of five shops, a pub, a church and a school had been built on the Coley Park estate. New roads built at this stage included Wensley Road and Lesford Road, in 1993 the Berkshire Independent Hospital run by Ramsay Health Care UK was purpose built on a site adjacent to Coley House. This involved constructing a new road parallel to Wensley Road. Subsequently Coley House itself underwent major works, including the construction of new buildings to the rear. Today this Grade II Heritage listed building contains consulting rooms and other outpatient facilities for the hospital, two new housing developments on the site of Coley Houses former gardens followed. One, at the end of Swallows Croft, replaced the later of the office blocks. The other, accessed by the new Rembrandt Way, was situated to the north of the hospital, the earlier ministry office block remains occupied by what is now the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and has recently been refurbished and reroofed
42.
The Forbury Hotel
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The Forbury Hotel is a grade II listed hotel in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated on the side of Forbury Gardens, a public park in the town centre. The Forbury Hotels building was constructed in 1911 as a building for Berkshire County Council. It accommodated staff and held meetings, full council meetings being held in the Assize Court building next door. In 1980 the council moved to a new Shire Hall in Shinfield Park and it was converted into a hotel and in 2006 opened under the name The Forbury Hotel. Media related to The Forbury Hotel at Wikimedia Commons Official website
43.
High Bridge, Reading
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High Bridge, sometimes known as Duke Street Bridge, is a bridge across the River Kennet in the town centre of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It links Duke Street, to its north, and London Street, High Bridge is the oldest surviving bridge across the Kennet, and is a grade II listed building. It comprises an arch of vermiculated Portland stone, with a plain keystone of ashlar. The bridge forms the limit of the Brewery Gut, a particularly narrow stretch of the river. For this reason, navigation under the bridge and through the Brewery Gut is controlled by a set of lights on a single-file basis. The first bridge in Reading to be built over the Kennet was located at Seven Bridges, in the oldest, Saxon, part of the town. The bridging point now occupied by the High Bridge was probably the second to be used, providing, as it did, a more access to Reading Abbey and its environs. Certainly there was a bridge on the site by the time of John Speeds map of 1611, by 1788, the timber-framed bridge of 1707 required replacement, and a stone bridge able to handle wagon traffic generated by the textile industry was commissioned. Designed by architect Robert Furze Brettingham, it was built at a cost of £3,500, for much of its life, the current bridge formed the downstream limit of the stretch of the River Kennet dominated by the presence of Simonds Brewery. Media related to High Bridge, Reading at Wikimedia Commons
44.
Highdown School
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Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre is an academy in Emmer Green on the outskirts of Reading, Berkshire, England. It has a capacity for approximately 1450 students aged 11–18, there are currently 1342 students on roll at the school with 262 students attending the Sixth Form. Highdown School is a specialist school for maths and computing, Highdown School was established as a comprehensive school in September 1971. Highdown School has three Grade II listed buildings within its grounds, the main building was altered and extended by Richard Norman Shaw from 1878–80. On 1 November 2010, Highdown School became an independently run academy after being judged outstanding by Ofsted and it was the first school in Berkshire to be awarded academy status. During April 2015 Highdown School was judged as Good by Ofsted
45.
Kendrick School
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Kendrick School is a selective girls grammar school situated in the centre of Reading, Berkshire, UK. In February 2011, Kendrick became an Academy, the school is named after John Kendrick, a Reading cloth merchant who died in 1624. John Kendrick left the then substantial charitable bequest of £12,500 to the towns of Reading and Newbury to provide employment and education for the poor. Initially this was used to provide a house of industry, or workhouse, called The Oracle, in later years the funds left by Kendrick were mismanaged and subject to legal challenge. In the 1870s this was resolved, and the remaining bequest used to found Kendrick Girls School, an oil painting of John Kendrick, rescued from the Oracle workhouse, still hangs in the hall at Kendrick School. The caption reads John Kendrick, founder of this workhouse, the school in its current form was founded in 1877 and occupied Watlington House in Watlington Street for the first 50 years of its life. In 1927, the moved to its current site, situated on the corner of Sidmouth Street. The building is a Grade II listed building, the school is sometimes referred to incorrectly as Kendrick Girls School or Kendrick Girls Grammar School, the correct name is Kendrick School. The current Headmistress is Ms. Christine Kattirtzi and she replaced Mrs. Marsha Elms at the end of the Spring Term,2012. Kendrick School has an outstanding Ofsted rating and has a progress 8 score well above national average, pupils are selected on the basis of academic ability via an admissions test at age 11. As a state-funded school, there are no fees, so it is severely over-subscribed with over seven applicants per place, the Kendrick House system consists of three houses, Cedars, Sidmouth and Palmer House. Each house is assigned a colour, as follows, Cedars - blue, Sidmouth - yellow, the girls represent their houses in events such as Sports Day, House Scrabble, House Music, House Chess, Junior House Music and House Drama. House Points are awarded throughout the year with the winning house receiving the House Cup, Heads of Houses are elected from girls in the Lower Sixth Form, Year 12, to take over until mid-Year 13. The Heads of Houses are members of the Head Girl Team, the current Head Girl is Nasya Munga replacing the former Head Girl, Francesca Parkes. Beryl Cook, artist Chi-chi Nwanoku, musician Janet Reger, lingerie designer Rosi Sexton, world champion cage fighter Yasmina Siadatan, winner of the BBC television series, The Apprentice in 2009
