THE ALE 145 



One, iu particular (certainly not a romantic one), 

 related his great fondness for oysters, of wliicli he 

 was in the habit of consuming large quantities ; in 

 fact, he is said to have kept a museum of the tubs 

 emptied by him, for one room in Calcot House was 

 fitted round with shelves, upon which these empty 

 mementos were arranged in reo;ular order. It was his 

 humour to show his friends this unique arrangement 

 as a convincing proof of his capabilities in that 

 particular branch of good living. 



Upon the death of his wife, Calcot became un- 

 bearable to him, and he sold it. But, curiously 

 enough, nothing could induce him to quit the house, 

 and the new proprietor was reduced to rendering it 

 uninhabitable to him by unroofing it. Mr. Child 

 then retired to a small cottage in an adjoining wood, 

 where he spent the rest of his days in retirement. 



The Kendrick vault in the church of St. Mary, 

 Reading, was exposed to view iu 1820, when, among 

 the numerous cofiins found, was one bearing the in- 

 scription, "Frances Child, wife of Benjamin Child, of 

 Calcot, first daughter of Sir W. Kendrick, died 1722, 

 aged 35." The cofinn was of lead, and was moulded 

 to the form of the body, even to the lineaments of 

 the face. Mr. Child was the last person buried in 

 this vault. His coflin, of unusually large dimensions, 

 is dated 1767. 



Two and a half miles from Calcot Green, and we 

 are at Theale, a village prettily embowered among 

 trees, but possessing a large and extraordinaril}^ bad 

 " C.arpenter's Gothic" church, built about 1840, which 

 looks c[uite charming at the distance of a quarter of 



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