I know full well that I have read more books than that, but the past couple of months have been a bit all over the place. As posted in my last blog, we've had a fairly hefty flood here, followed very quickly by two cyclones up north, then an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, and now we are due another cyclone next week on the Queensland coast. So remembering which books I have and haven't read recently hasn't exactly been my top priority. Sorry. I will do my best to stick to my promise of blogging each book I read, but I know that some will just slip through the radar.
Now, on to more important (and fun) things.
With the help of the mighty Cyber-God, 'Google', I've been going on holiday! While I know that not everyone has been keen to have the Google Vans trundle down their streets, filming them in their natural habitat, for all the world to see, I have to admit, it does make a quiet weekend a whole lot more fun!
In honour of Ceramix, whose blog I regularly traverse, I decided today to turn my wandering cyber-feet in the direction of Reading, Berkshire.
I start my cyber-holiday with a quote, from a book rather famous in itself - "Three Men In A Boat", by Jerome K. Jerome:
"The river is dirty and dismal here. One does not linger in the neighbourhood of Reading."
Given I am travelling via electronic means, I cannot say with all honesty whether Mr Jerome's comment about the state of the river (I can only guess he meant the Kennett?) , and Reading itself is true, but from what I have seen, through the media of other people's photos, websites, and Google Maps itself, with both its aerial and street views, I quite like the place.
To be honest, this isn't my first cyber-trip across the great wide pond, to Reading. I have something of a devout love of history, and have spent many a happy afternoon looking into every nook and cranny for old documents, photos, stories, and histories of places around the world. So I have been to Reading via the ethernet before.
A lot of books and poems have been written about, based in, or have at least a fleeting reference to this place which is still, sadly, just a 'town'. Given its age, and history, surely it should be a city by now? But apparently you must have a cathedral for that to happen.
Which brings me to the first of my cyber-stops, Reading Abbey:
Now, I'm not going to give you an indepth history of the Abbey, or its sacking, its many uses over the years, or much at all about it beyond a few quick notes:
1. It was apparently founded in 1121 by King Henry I, who also happens to be buried there.
2. Both the first and last Monks of the Abbey were called Hugh. The latter one was also known as the Blessed Monk, who is sometimes said to haunt the Abbey Ruins.
3. The Abbey, at one time, was apparently used as a palace, also as a meeting place for Parliament in 1453, and eventually largely destroyed in 1538 by King Henry VIII.
4. A very lovely old piece of music, which holds a dear and long-standing place in my heart, having sung, performed, and arranged various versions of it, was written in the Abbey by one of the monks about 1240.
If you go here:
http://www.pteratunes.org.uk/Music/Music/Lyrics/summerisicumenin.htmlyou will find out the original lyrics, plus the more commonly known modern ones, and get to hear a nice little midi version if it. It is, of course, "Sumer Is Icumen In."
5. Part of the grounds of the old Abbey now house the Reading Gaol (famous, mostly, because it was once home to Oscar Wilde for a few years), also St James' Roman Catholic Church and Forbury Gardens are to be found within the boundaries of the old Abbey lands.
Wandering around the area of the Abbey, you can find street names like "Abbey Street", "Abbey Square", and "Abbot's Walk", all of which you would expect in the vicinity of an Abbey.
The bit marked with a green square is what is left of the Abbey Ruins, shown from above (thanks to Google Maps). Not much left of something that DOMINATED the landscape, once upon a time:
Even though the second picture is a bit small and hard to work out, if you look at the general shape of Reading Abbey in the first picture, then mentally lay that over the Google Map, you will see just how BIG the Abbey grounds were!
Down the road just a little bit, is Forbury Gardens, where you will find the Maiwand Lion. Ceramix blogged about it here:
http://ukceramix.blogspot.com/2010/04/maiwand.htmlIt also is where you will find the Forbury Mound, which is apparently where, if it were to be dug up, you would find the remains of a castle and a motte.
I know this because I spent half the morning researching the Reading Castle, having found various streets in Reading which seemingly refer to a castle that once (or twice or thrice) stood in Reading.
One appears to have been built in - against religious decree, I might add - the actual grounds of the Abbey itself. This is the one that is probably to be found under the Forbury Mound. The Royal Berkshire History page states:
At the time of the Civil War between Henry I's daughter, the Empress Matilda and her cousin, King Stephen, Reading Abbey was still being built. The latter apparently constructed a motte and bailey castle in its grounds, possibly to harass Wallingford, though this was a little distant. It was destroyed by the Empress' son (later Henry II) in 1153. The remains of the motte can still be seen in the Forbury Gardens (which take their name from the Castle: the Fore-Borough). Castle Hill and Street in Reading probably take their names from the ancient ruin of a Roman Villa in the area.
Another, much older one, has a few possible locations.
According to one site on the history of Reading:
(
http://www.localhistories.org/reading.html)
The Normans built a wooden castle in Reading. It was later replaced by a stone castle. The king demolished the castle in 1152, fearing it might fall into the hands of his enemies.
William the Conqueror also gave land west of the town and the rents from 29 houses in Reading to Battle Abbey in Sussex. The land was later given to Reading Abbey but a lane called Battle Lane existed for centuries and the name lives on in Battle hospital.
Another site (the Reading Borough Libraries site, no less), states:
"Reading certainly once had at least one castle, possibly more.....The obvious location, from the place name, would be Castle Hill, somewhere near where Berkshire Record Office is now. This would overlook the west side of Reading, the road towards Newbury and Castle Street leading up towards it......."
Tudor historian and antiquarian John Leland, on his visit to Reading around 1540, found himself in much the same position as I am right now - trying to find where this castle is!
“There was a castelle in the Saxons Tyme in this town and the name of castelle streat yet remaynithe lying from east to west to pass to Newbyri. But I could not perceive or clerlie learne wher it stood. But by all lykelhood at the west ende of Castelle streat, and as sum think about the place of execution.”
("There was a castle in the Saxon's Time in this town and the name of castle street yet remaining lying from east to west to pass to Newbury. But I could not perceive or clearly learn where it stood. But by all likehood at the west end of Castle street, and as some think about the place of execution.")
“It is very likely that a peace of the abbey was builded of the ruins of it; peradventure it stood where the abbey was.”
Reading Borough Libraries has a very interesting article about the Reading Castle (from which I procured the above quotes):
http://www.readinglibraries.org.uk/services/local/readingcastle.htm
After having read the above article thoroughly, I am still none the wiser as to the location of the castle, or why there is a street called Castle Hill in Reading, but it's been an interesting journey nonetheless!
I have discovered that there are many places in Reading that I am fast becoming rather fond of. It is a town of much history, even being mentioned in the Doomsday Book. It is, indeed, rather old by my young Australian standards :-)
As I found out during a 'let's play tourist in our own town' visit to Brisbane last year, history is generally to be found if you look UP. A walk through the Queen Street Mall in Brisbane is proof of that. At ground level it is all modern and spacky, but if you just look up, you will see that a lot of the old facades are still there to be seen, complete with their years of birth (or the concrete building equivalent), and often, with the original names (or what they were once called, like "The Bank of New South Wales").
Reading seems to be a lot like that.
Take Broad Street, for example. Currently home to Waterstones Bookshop, John Lewis Department Store, Marks and Spencers, Sainsburys, and a whole bunch more chain stores, it is now a pedestrian Mall, much like our own Queen Street Mall.
But back in its day, it was a whole lot different.
Waterstones Bookshop, for starters, was, previously, the Broad Street Independent Chapel, which dates back to 1707, although the frontage only dates to 1892:
Down Broad Street a bit, you are likely to trip over the entrance to the Oracle Shopping Centre. While I'm not totally sure where the original Oracle Workhouse was, I do know that at least part of the Oracle Shopping Centre was built over the top of where it once stood.
What a forbidding place that would have been! A great gaping black hole into hell.....
Broad Street, at one stage, was also a battleground.
The Battle of Broad Street (also known as The Battle of Reading) was fought here in 1688, during the "Glorious Revolution".
There are many such places in Reading, and its surrounding areas. Far too much to go into in just a single trip.
While I have not finished my cyber-visit to Reading, I am, however, finished for today. But I will come back soon and continue where I left off.
