II E A 



land in Iu rlohire, is bit tinted on two small eminences 

 on tlu; nvcr Kennel, which flows through the town in 

 several channels. The streets are in general regular, 

 though some of them are narrow ; and the houses, 

 \vhifli :ire good, are built of brick. 



The principal public buildings and establishments 

 are the three parish churches of St. Lawrence, St. 

 Mary's, and St. Giles; several meeting houses be- 

 longing to the dissenters, the town hall, the theatre, 

 the county gaol, and various schools. The church of 

 St. Lawrence, built about the end of the sixteenth 

 century, is partly built of the materials of the old 

 abbey. St. Mary's church, the teselated tower of 

 which is admired, was built about 1547, and part of 

 it seems to have belonged to a more ancient edifice. 

 St. Giles's church, which was probably built about the 

 end of the twelfth century, has a modern tower, the 

 old one having been damaged by the cannon of the 

 parliamentary army in 164-3. The dissenting meeting 

 houses are those of the Independents, the Baptists, the 

 Quakers, the Methodist, besides a Cudworthian, and 

 a Unitarian meeting house, and a Catholic chapel. 



The town hall and free school form one neat build- 

 ing ; the latter being on the ground floor, and the for- 

 mer on the upper story. Among the portraits in the 

 council chamber, there is .a good likeness of Queen Eli- 

 zabeth. The county gaol was erected in 1793, on the 

 site of one of the ruins of the abbey. It is a large 

 and commodious building, with a neat chapel, an in- 

 firmary, &c. in the centre ; while one of the wings is 

 allotted to males, and the other to female prisoners. 

 The theatre, which has been recently built, is com- 

 modious and neat. The bridewell was once a priory, 

 and the west window of it is handsome. 



The free school of Reading was established by the 

 abbot John Thome, in the time of Henry VII. The 

 Blue Coat School was founded in 16.56, by Mr. Richard 

 Aldworth, who left 000 for the support of a mas- 

 ter, lecturer, and twenty boys ; but in consequence 

 of other donations, it is able to support forty-eight 

 boys. The Green School, for the daughters of decayed 

 tradesmen, and of unprovided orphans, is supported 

 by annual subscription. In the Foundation School, 

 instituted in 1766, by Mr. Joseph Reid, eight male, 

 and eighteen female children are taught to read. The 

 School of Industry for female children, is supported 

 by subscriptions from ladies. The Lancastrian School, 

 established in 1818, educates thirty-two boys nominat- 

 ed by the subscribers. The school for national edu- 

 cation en Dr. Bell's plan was founded in 1813. 



There is also in Heading a public library, a dispen- 

 sary, a workhouse for the employment of the poor, 

 called the Oracle, established in 1624-, by Mr. H end- 

 rick's legacy of .7500, and occupied by sacking ma- 

 nufacturers, sail-cloth weavers, and pin-makers, &c. 



Among the antiquities of Reading, the principal are 

 the ruins of the abbey, which was founded by Henry I. 

 in 1121. These ruins consist of fragments of massy 

 walls of flint and gravel, which are in some places 

 eight feet thick, and which seem to have been once 

 cased with stone. The space which it occupied mea- 

 sured about thirty acres, and was surrounded on three 

 sides by a high and strong wall, and on the fourth by 

 the river Kennet. The abbey church seems to have 

 been 2(iO feet long, and to have had the form of the 

 cross with the tower and spire in the centre. The 

 abbey mill is still standing, and in actual use: it is a 

 substantial building of flint and stone, and seems to be 

 of the same age with the abbey church. 



RE A 



The borough of Reading was incorporated by char- n*lfr, 

 ter from ()\n-t-i\ Kli/abeth, who also conferred upon Jk'pflg 

 the corporation considerable estates. It is govern- ^ ^ 

 ed by a mayor, a recorder, twelve aldermen, and *" Y "" 

 twelve burgesses. It sends two members to parlia- 

 ment, who are elected by the inhabitants, who pay 

 scot and lot, about 800 in number. 



The situation of Heading is very favourable for trade. 

 By the Thames, it has an easy communication with 

 the metropolis ; and as the Kennet is navigable west- 

 wards to N 7 ewbury, a communication is opened with 

 Bnh, Bristol, and the Severn, by means of the Kennet 

 and Avon canal. The principal article? which are ex- 

 ported from Heading are flour, 20,000 cabks of which 

 nre annually sent to London, timber, bark, btraight 

 hoops, linen, wool, cheese, &c. 



The articles of import are groceries iron, spirits, fir 

 timber, deals, staves, Portland stone, bricks, hemp, 

 flax, hides, leather, coals, Bath freestone, Birming- 

 ham goods, &c. &c. Heading was formerly celebrated 

 for its extensive trade in woollen goods, but it declin- 

 ed in the seventeenth century, and has never revived. 

 The principal manufactures now are sail-cloth, floor- 

 cloth, sacking, gauze, crapes, muslinets, ribbons, hat- 

 bands, shoe-strings, and pins. Reading has two weekly 

 markets, one on Wednesday for butcher meat, fruit, 

 vegetables, &c. and one on Saturday for corn, cattle, 

 pigs, and various articles of provision. Population 

 about 12,000. West Long. 38'. North Lat. 51 

 27'. See the Beauties of England and Wales, Vol. i. 

 p. 83, but particularly the History and Antiquities of 

 Rending, by John Mann, 4to. 181?. 



REALGAR. See MINERALOGY Index. 



REAPING MACHINE, is a machine intended to 

 be used for cutting down standing corn. 



In our article on AOHICULTURE, Vol. I. p. 263, we 

 have already given a chapter on machines for reaping 

 corn ; but as the subject was then in its infancy, we 

 promised to renew the consideration of it under the 

 present head. We shall therefore lay before the reader 

 a description of Mr. Scott's ingenious machine, which 

 we have no doubt will yet come into actual use, and 

 also an improved form of Mr. Gladstone's reaping ma- 

 chine. 



1. Description of Mr. S.olts Reaping Machine. 



Plate CCCCLXXVIII. Fig. 1. represents the under Descrip- 

 frame part of the reaping machine ; this part supports <'on u 

 Fig. 2. on four strong iron pillars, two of them are si- Mr.Scoui 



milar to Fig. A, the other two to Fig. B, into the last rea P' n 



. *> P . \ -\ f machine, 



mentioned two, a strong iron axis x is immoveably fix- p tJlTB 



ed, on which turn the two roller wheels C and D, that CCCCLXXVIII. 

 carry the machine, as shown by Figs. I. 3. and 4. and 



Fig. 5. represents the cutter ring, on which are CCCCLXXII. 

 screwed sixteen cutters, all toothed similar to that of '* * *> 

 a common reaping hook ; these cutters are made to cut ' 

 the corn, against the front prongs, at the angle of 45. 

 The form of the prongs to effect this is shown in Fig. 1. 

 of which they form a part, as also in Figs. 3. and 5. 



The upper frame part of the cutter rings is represent- 

 ed by Fig. 6'. and is fixed to it by four strong iron pil- 

 lars similar to Fig. E. 



Fig. 4. is a section of the whole machine, where 

 a b c c represents the under frame part, as shown by 

 Fig. 1 . ef, the frame ring as shown by Fig. 2. 6 and 

 fc the two pillars, as represented by Fig. B, which 

 connect this ring with the under frame part, and into 

 these two pillars is fixed the strong iron axis x. C and 



