INDUSTRIES 



INTRODUCTION 



BERKSHIRE can scarcely be said 

 to rank high amongst the coun- 

 ties of England in the number, 

 extent or importance of its 

 industries, but it possesses some 

 features of peculiar interest which are worthy 

 of historical study. The supremacy of Berk- 

 shire as a rich cloth-making county which, 

 according to Ashmole, ' supplied almost the 

 whole nation ' with its wares, has long since 

 passed away. It possesses no great industrial 

 centres like Birmingham, Southwark, or the 

 great cities of the north of England ; but 

 industrial activity is not wanting in the 

 county. The facilities of communication 

 have never been lacking in Berkshire, and 

 these have contributed mainly to its pros- 

 perity. The great river Thames that bounds 

 the county on its northern and eastern sides, 

 a net-work of canals and rivers made navigable 

 by former enterprise, and in recent times the 

 numerous and important railways that connect 

 the county with London, the West-country 

 and the Midlands, have all contributed to the 

 increase of the trade of the county at 

 various periods of its commercial history ; and 

 the progress hitherto made is not likely to 

 be discontinued. 



In taking a survey, necessarily somewhat 

 cursory, of the chief industries that have been 

 fostered in this county, we shall consider here 

 the conditions that have promoted their 

 birth and development, and, when such has to 

 be recorded, that have led to their subse- 

 quent decay. Industries, the history of 

 which is of special interest and value, will be 

 reserved for more particular treatment after- 

 wards. 



We need not concern ourselves with the 

 ancient industries of prehistoric man who 

 manufactured his flint implements, and made 

 garments with his bone needles. An account 

 of such manufactories has already been given 

 in this volume in the chapter on Prehistoric 

 Berkshire. 1 The chapter on Roman Britain 

 also furnishes some information with regard 

 to the trades of the county at that period. 

 i V.C.E. Berks, L 



The vicinity of the great Roman city of 

 Silchester, where recent excavation has re- 

 vealed the existence of dye-works ; the great 

 roads that traversed the county, and the 

 remains of numerous villas, testify to the 

 prosperity of Berkshire under the Roman rule. 

 The Saxon farmers laid the foundations of 

 agriculture, which has been the main industry 

 of the county since the time when they made 

 their clearings in the forests and established 

 their village communities. In this task they 

 were greatly aided by the monks of Abingdon, 

 and the chronicle of that abbey throws much 

 light upon the early foundation of trade in 

 Berkshire and its agricultural development. 

 The ships of the abbot conveyed goods along 

 the Thames, 2 the situation of the monastery 

 upon the banks of a navigable river con- 

 tributing materially to the development of 

 its capabilities, and affording an easy com- 

 munication with Oxford on the one hand and 

 with London on the other for the sale of its 

 produce. The abbey enjoyed the valuable 

 privilege of a fair or market within its town. 3 

 The keenness with which the exercise of this 

 right was attacked, and the pertinacity with 

 which it was defended, afford proof of the 

 value at which it was regarded by the con- 

 tending parties, its chief opponents being the 

 men of the neighbouring town of Walling- 

 ford. 4 



The natural resources of the county are 

 not favourable to the growth of industries 

 other than agriculture. Ashmole states that 

 ' this county may be valued rather for its 

 pleasant situation than its fertility, the air 

 being generally healthy even in its lowest 

 vales, which may be judged to be the reason 

 of the high price which the land of this 

 county bears. 6 This eminent authority should 

 have excepted from a charge of want of fer- 

 tility the Vale of the White Horse district, 

 which contains some of the most fertile 



2 Abingdon Chron. ii. 95, 119. 



3 Ibid. pp. 1 80, 217, etc. 



Ibid. pp. 227, 228, 229. 



8 Ashmole, Berkshire, i. p. xxix. 



371 



