H 



PREFACE 



ITHERTO no complete and exhaustive history of this royal 

 county has been written. Many attempts, it is true, have 

 been made in this direction ; some excellent monographs 

 have appeared dealing with special subjects, and volumes 

 treating of the history of Hundreds, single towns and parishes, or 

 country seats, have been written ; but no work hitherto published 

 relating to the county as a whole can claim to be exhaustive. 



Among the scholars of an earlier age who have laboured in the 

 same field may be mentioned Elias Ashmole who earned the gratitude 

 of Berkshire men by publishing his Antiquities of Berks, as well as his 

 Visitation of Berks and The Institution, Laws and Ceremonies of the most 

 noble Order of the Garter, which forms an important part of Windsor 

 history. Hearne, a native of Berkshire, wrote an Account of some 

 Antiquities between Windsor and Oxford, and Dr. Wise in his Letter to 

 Dr. Mead gave an account of some Berkshire Antiquities, especially 

 relating to the White Horse Hill. Mr. E. Rowe Mores published in 

 1759 his Collections towards a Parochial History of Berks, but the returns 

 which he sought from the incumbents and other gentlemen were in 

 many cases somewhat meagre; 



The Antiquarian Societies of Berkshire have contributed largely 

 to the elucidation of the history of the county. The Berkshire Ash- 

 molean Society founded in 1840 published a few volumes, amongst 

 which the Union Inventories was perhaps the most important. The 

 Transactions of the Berks Archaeological Society, the Newbury Field 

 Club, the Thames Valley Antiquarian Society, the Maidenhead and 

 Taplow Field Club, and the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Archaeological "Journal, 

 have been of some service in the compilation of this history. 



The editors wish to express their indebtedness to Dr. F. Haverfield 

 for suggestions and help regarding the article on the Roman Remains 

 of the county, and regret that owing to his many duties he was un- 

 able to write this article. 



The editors desire also to record their thanks to the Corporation 

 of Reading for the use of books, and for permission to have photo- 

 graphs and drawings of various objects in the Reading Museum, to 

 Mr. J. W. Colyer the Curator for his constant assistance and courtesy to 

 those who have helped in the production of this volume, to Mr. J. 

 Rutland and others. The editors also wish to express their acknow- 

 ledgments to the Society of Antiquaries, Sir John Evans, Messrs. 

 Longmans, Green & Co., the Royal Archaeological Institute, and Mr. 

 A. H. Cocks for the use of blocks for illustrations. 



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