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tellers horse if it was left here for a short time with a 

 piece of money by way of payment. Whether what is 

 called the Dragon Hill, just tinder the White Horse, 

 is a natural or an artificial mound, is a matter of doubt. A 

 number of barrows clustered together on Lambourn Downs 

 go by the name of ' the-Sevn Barrows,' but they are more 

 numerous than the name implies. A curious stone, called 

 1 the blowing stone,' is situate at Kingston Lisle, five miles 

 due north of Lambourn. At the back of this stone grows an 

 old elm tree : the stone itself is a species of red sandstone. 

 It is about three feet high, three feet six inches broad, and 

 two feet thick, but it is rough and of rather irregular surface. 

 It has several holes in it of various 'sizes. There are seven 

 holes in the front, three at the top, a large irregular broken 

 hollow at the north end (for it stands north and south), 

 and one if not more holes at the back. If a person blows 

 in at any one of three of the holes, an extremely loud 

 noise is produced, something between a note upon a French 

 horn and the bellowing of a calf, and this can be heard in 

 a favourable state of weather at Faringdon Clump, a dis- 

 tance of about six miles ; and a person standing at about a 

 yard distant from either end of the stone while it is blown 

 into will distinctly feel the ground shake. The holes in the 

 stone are of various sizes, but those which if blown into 

 produce the sound easily admit a person's finger. The 

 hole most commonly used to produce the sound is at the top 

 of (lie stone ; and if a small stick, eighteen inches long, be 

 pushed in at this hole it will come out at a hole at the 

 rack of the stone, about a foot below the top, and almost 

 immediately below the hole blown into. It is evident that 

 this is the place at which the air finds its exit, as after the 

 stone has been blawn into at the top for a considerable time 

 this hole becomes wet. There seems, however, no doubt 

 that there are chambers in the stone, as the irregular broken 

 hollow at the north end of it has evidently formed a part of 

 another place, at which a similar sound might once have 

 been produced. In the neighbourhood there exists a tradi- 

 tion that this stone was used for the purpose of giving an 

 alarm on the approach of an enemy. 



We believe that there is no account of this very singular 

 stone either in Lysons's Magna Britannia, or any other 

 publication. It is marked in the Ordnance Map. 



When the Saxons became possessed of South Britain, 

 Berkshire was included in the kingdom of the West Saxons. 

 It was partly wrested from them by the powerful and ambi- 

 li ins Otfa, king of the Mercians. At what time it returned 

 under the sway of the West Saxon kings we are not aware ; 

 probably it was when Egbert elevated Wessex to a perma- 

 nent superiority over the other parts of tho Saxon Octarchy. 

 It formed part of Wessex under the reign of Ethelwulph 

 (son of Egbert), whose youngest son, the great Alfred, was 

 born at Wantage in this county. In the reign of Ethelred I., 

 the brother and immediate predecessor of Alfred, the Danes 

 invaded Berkshire, and possessed themselves of Reading. 

 Here they were attacked by the West Saxons ; in the first 

 engagement the Danes were defeated, but in the second 

 they repulsed their assailants. Four days afterwards at 

 /Kscesdun, i.e. Ash-tree-hill, a more important battle was 

 fought, in which both Ethelrud and Alfred were present, 

 and in which the Danes were defeated with great slaughter. 

 The site of this /Bscesdun has been much disputed. Wise, 

 in his Letter to Dr. Mead concerning some Antiquities in 

 Herkihire, contends for the ridge of the chalk hills extending 

 from Wantage into Wiltshire, and thinks that the White 

 II ir-e, cui on the lull, is a memorial of the victory. Aston, 

 a village near Waltingfbrd, and Ashampstcad, a village 

 1 equally distant i'roin Wallingford, Newbury, and 

 Heading, have each their partizans. Mr. Turner (History 

 of the An%l<j-Stt.rong) inclines to the opinion that Meran- 

 tune (where shortly afterwards 1 the Saxons sustained a 

 severe defeat, in which Ethelred was mortally wounded.) 

 was Moreton, near Wallingford. 



As the White Horse has been connected by Mr. Wise 

 with tho above-mentioned battle of yEscesdun, and as it is a 

 work either of Saxon original, or of still higher antiquity, it 

 scorns not out of place to give a brief account of it here. 

 Tho White 11 >r.-;e is the figure of a horse cut in the turf on 

 the north-west face oi ;hr range of chalk downs which cross 

 this county ;.t u part where the declivity is. at once lofty and 

 steep. Mr. \V: i in raptures with the skill displayed in 

 the work, and in the admirable choice of a situation where 

 it is little exposed to injury or decay. More sober judges, 

 however, describe it as a rude figure, about 374 feet in 



length. When the afternoon sun shines upon it, it may be 

 seen at a considerable distance ten, twelve, or even fifteen 

 miles ; and from its immense size forms a remarkable object. 

 It has given name to the hill on which it is carved and to 

 the vale above which that hill rises. The inhabitants of the 

 neighbourhood have an antient custom of assembling ' to 

 scour the horse,' i. e. to clear away the turf where it has 

 encroached upon it. On such occasions a rural festival is 

 held, and they are regaled by the lord of the manor ; but it 

 does not appear that they have observed this custom since 

 1780. Nearly above the White Horse, on the summit of the 

 hill, is the antient camp or earthwork called Uffington 

 Castle; and in its vicinity are the antiquities Hardwell 

 Camp, Alfred's Castle, Dragon Hill, the Seven Barrows, 

 and Wayland Smith, already described. Mr. Wise thought 

 that Wayland Smith was the monument of a Danish King 

 slain in the Battle of /Escesdmr. 



Messrs. Lysons have given snme weighty reasons, urged 

 by Dr. Beke, professor of modern history in the university 

 of Oxford, for identifying the Ethandane of the Saxon 

 Chronicle, where King Alfred gained the victory that re- 

 stored him to his throne, with Eddington, near Hungerford 

 in this county : this is contrary to the general opinion which 

 has supposed Ethandane to be Ed'dinuton, near"VVestbury 

 in Wilts. 



In the war with the Danes during the reign of Ethelred 

 II., Berkshire was laid waste with fire and sword. The 

 barbarous invaders burnt Reading, WallingforS, and other 

 places. This was in 100C. At the time of the Norman 

 invasion, William the Conqueror received at Walling ford 

 the submission of the archbishop Stigsrnd and of the prin- 

 cipal barons, before he marched to London ; and shortly 

 afterwards a strong castle was built at Wallingford by 

 Robert DOyley, one of the followers of the conqueror. 



In the civil war consequent upon the usurpation of Ste- 

 phen, Berkshire was again the seat of war. Brian Fitz- 

 court, who had come by marriage into possession of Wal- 

 lingford Castle, early took the side of the Empress Maud ; 

 and his castle afforded her a secure retreat when she lied 

 from Oxford. Faringdon Castle, which was erected by 

 Robert earl of Gloucester, natural brother of the Empress, 

 was taken by Stephen, and so completely demolished, that 

 not a vestige now remains. When John rebelled against 

 his brother, Richard I., he seized Wallingford and Windsor 

 Castles, but they were taken from him again by the barons 

 ii> the king s interest, and placed in the hands of the queen 

 dowager. The strength of these two fortresses rendered 

 them important as military stations, in the troubles which 

 took place during the latter part of the reign of John, and 

 during the reign of Henry III. In 1263 Windsor Castle 

 was taken by Simon de Montfort. During this early part 

 of our history, the palace at Old Windsor, or the castle at 

 New Windsor, was the frequent residence of the king. 



Of the castles of this period there are few remains except 

 at Windsor. The antient castle there, still the abode of 

 royalty, will be described under the article WINDSOR. Of 

 Wallingford Castle, the ditches and earthworks, which are 

 of great extent, and a fragment of a wall, are the only re- 

 mains. Donnington Castle, near Newbury, is said to hcve 

 been founded in or near the time of Richard II. It has 

 been asserted, that Chaucer the poet was possessor and in- 

 habitant of this place, but the assertion is not borne out by 

 evidence. Camden, who calls its Dennington or Dunning- 

 ton, describes it as a small but elegant castle, on the top of 

 a woody hill, commanding a pleasant prospect, and lighted 

 by windows on every side. It suffered so much, however, 

 during the civil war, that only a gateway with two towerg 

 is remaining now. Tho very sites of the castles at Read- 

 ing, Newbury, Faringdon, and Brightwell near Walling- 

 ford, are unknown. Aldworth Castle, about five miles 

 south-east of East Ilsley, has scarcely a vestige left : some 

 foundations of walls built with Hints have been lately 

 dug up. 



There is an old manor-house at Appleton, not far from 

 Oxford, supposed to be of the time of Henry II. ; and there 

 are other antient manor or other dwelling-houses at 

 Withams and Cumnor, near Oxford ; Little or East Shef- 

 ford, between Nowbury and Lambourn ; Sutton Courtney, 

 near Abingdon ; and Ockholt manor-house, near Maiden- 

 head. Ockbolt manor-house is an antient seat of the 

 Norreys family, now a farm-house. It appears to have 

 been built befote the Reformation. In the hall is a large 

 bay window filled with coats of arms, which appear coevnl 



