A MITRED ABBOT
The Abbot of Reading was, like the Abbot of Abingdon, mitred, and bore
powerful rule. Reading ranked third among the abbeys of England, and
held the great privilege of coining. It was founded in 1121 by King
Henry I. himself, who was afterwards buried here. It was for long
supposed that Adeliza his queen lay here also, but the evidence goes to
show she was buried in Flanders. The Empress Maud lies at Reading. The
great church was dedicated by Thomas à Becket, and in it took place the
marriage of John of Gaunt.
Fuller, who is always worth quoting, says that though Ely "bare away
the bell for bountefull feast making," Reading "spurred up close" to
it, and continues: "The mention of Reading minds me of a pleasant and
true story, which, to refresh my wearied self and reader, after long
pains, I here intend to relate":
"King Henry VIII. as he was hunting in Windsor forest lost himself,
and struck down about dinner-time to the Abbey of Reading, where,
disguising himself, he was invited to the abbot's table and passed for
one of the king's guard. A sirloin of beef was set before him on which
the king laid on lustily, not disgracing one of that place for whom he
was mistaken. 'Well fare thy heart,' quoth the abbot, 'and here in a
cup of sack, I remember the health of his Grace your master. I would
give a hundred pounds on the condition I could feed so heartily on beef
as you do. Alas, my weak and squeasy stomach will hardly digest the
wing of a small rabbit or chicken.' The king pleasantly pledged him,
and heartily thanking him for his good cheer, after dinner departed as
undiscovered as he came thither. Some weeks after the abbot was sent
for by a pursuivant, brought up to London, clapped in the Tower, kept
close prisoner, fed for a short time with bread and water. Yet not so
empty his body of food as his mind was filled with fears, creating
many suspicions to himself, when and how he had incurred the king's
displeasure. At last a sirloin of beef was set before him, on which the
abbot fed as the farmer of his grange, and verified the proverb that
'Two hungry meals make the third a glutton.' In springs King Henry out
of a private lobby where he had placed himself, the invisible spectator
of the abbot's behaviour. 'My lord,' quoth the king, 'presently deposit
your hundred pounds in gold, or else no going hence all the days of
your life. I have been your physician to cure you of your squeasy
stomach, and here, as I deserve, I demand my fee for the same.' The
abbot down with his dust, and glad he had escaped so, returned to
Reading, as somewhat lighter in purse, so much more merrier in heart
than when he came thence."
When the Dissolution came, the abbot, full of belief in his own
strength, defied the king, though he saw the whirlwind around him
which had devastated other monasteries no less powerful than his own.
There was no over-tenderness in Henry's methods, and Hugh Faringford,
thirty-first was abbot, hanged, drawn and quartered in front of his own
gateway in 1539.
There is very little left of this famous abbey now, and the gateway has
been so carefully "restored" that there is more restoration about it
than anything else; in fact, it is simply a reconstruction. Nearly all
the remains lie within a very few acres, and the Forbury public garden
is on the site of one of the courts of the abbey. The ruins at the east
end are heavily covered with masses of ivy, but preserve the outlines
of the chapter house and church, which was over five hundred feet in
length.
Reading possessed a castle as well as an abbey, and the castle has
vanished still more completely, leaving even its exact site unknown,
though it is supposed to have been at the west end of the present
Castle Street, or at the place where the prison now stands.
[Illustration: CAVERSHAM]
In 871 the Danes got as far up the river as Reading, and seized both
town and castle. Many times has parliament been held in the ancient
town, and many sovereigns have visited Reading, including Queen
Elizabeth, who stayed there no less than six times. In the civil wars
Reading was a stronghold for the king until, after a severe siege, in
1653 the garrison capitulated on condition of being allowed to walk out
free with arms and baggage, a boon which was granted. After this the
place was held by the Parliamentarians, but was again occupied for the
king, only to become once again the headquarters of the Parliamentary
army, and so it had many changes of fortune. St. Giles's church still
bears the marks of the artillery from which it suffered during those
uncertain times. There are other churches in Reading, but this is not
a guide book, so there is no need to enumerate them. Archbishop Laud
was born in Reading, and educated at the Free School. Reading is not
actually on the river, and Caversham may be called its river-suburb.
It is not a place which much attracts boating men. From its size,
its manufactories, its chimneys, it is necessarily in many aspects
unpleasant to those who have come to seek their rest and pleasure far
from smoke and toil. The most important industries are Messrs. Sutton's
seed emporium, and Messrs. Huntley and Palmer's biscuit factory, which
employs more than five thousand persons; there are also breweries
and many lesser works. Did it not lie between two such pre-eminently
charming places as Sonning and Mapledurham, boating people would avoid
it altogether.