Wantage is a large handsome town, situated near a brook which runs into the river Oek. It is a market town by prescription; the market being on Saturdays. The municipal government of the town is vested in a chief constable, and the number of inhabitants, according to the returns made in 1801, appear to have been then 3043; of which, however, 60 were in the hamlet of West Locking, 247 in Charlton, and 397 in the hamlet of Grove.

The inhabitants of Wantage are chiefly employed in the manufacture of a coarse cloth, called foulweather cloth, and sacking.

The parish Church is a spacious and handsome gothic structure, built in form of a cross. It contains several ancient monuments of the family of Fitzwarren, who are said to have erected the church.

In the parish register is the following remarkable entry: "September 1598—a strange miracle ! the 19 daye was buried two men children, growing together from the breast to the navels, having all their right members, each of them being the children of John Russel and Elizabeth his wife."

Round the Old Market Cross is the following, inscription:

"Pray for the good Earl of Bath, and for good master William Barnabe, the builder hereof, 1580, and for William Lord Fitzwarren."

Leland notices Wantage as being remarkable for having two churches in one church-yard; one of the churches he speaks of is an ancient building now used as a school; the north door has a circular arch, enriched with spiral mouldings and grotesque heads.

By an act passed in the year 1598 the town lands, given in the reigns of Henry VI. and Henry VII. for charitable uses, were vested in twelve of the better sort of inhabitants, who are to appropriate the revenues to the relief of the poor, the repair of the highways, and the support of a grammar-school.

There is also an English school supported out of the profits of these lands.

In 1680 Mr. Robert Styles founded and endowed an Almshouse, for 12 poor persons, who receive 3s. 6d. a week each.

A variety of concurring testimonies render it probable that Wallingford was once a Roman station. The vallum or surrounding wall being easily discovered on the south of the brook above mentioned, inclosing a space now called the High Garden. The hollow way from Faringdon makes another side, as does the morass and rivers the others. The site of the station, appears to have occupied a space of six acres, within an inclosure called Limborough. On the north side of the brook, a great many Roman coins have been found, and between this spot and the rivers, the remains of a building were discovered which was paved and appeared to have been a Roman bath.

Two Roman roads appear to have gone either through or very near Wantage, in a parallel direction, across the county from Wiltshire, to the Thames. The Ikening or Ikeneld Street, or as it is called in Berkshire the Ikleton Way, and that known by the name of the Portway, a title common to the Roman roads in many parts of the kingdom: the former of these enters the county from Wiltshire, between Ashdown Park and Ashbury; and proceeds by Uffington Castle before mentioned, Letcombe Castle, Cuckhamsley, over the Ridge Way, and East Ilsley, down to Streatley upon the Thames. The Portway Road enters this county at Idston, passes close by Ablebury, and from thence, in an eastward direction, passes the south end of the town of Wantage, and through the parishes of East Hendred, towards the Thames, between Wallingford and Streatley.

In the Saxon times Wantage was a place of some consequence, and a royal residence, having been with the surrounding country, the patrimony of the West Saxon Kings. The manor was bequeathed by Alfred to his wife Ealswith, daughter of Ethelred King of Mercia. When the Norman survey was taken it was part of the royal demesne.

Alfred, or Ælfred, the Great, king of England, the fifth and youngest son of Æthelwolf, king of the West Saxons, was born at Wantage, in the year 849. He distinguished himself, during the reign of his brother Ethelred, in several engagements against the Danes; and upon his death succeeded to the crown, in the year 871, and the twenty-second of his age. At his ascending the throne he found himself involved in a dangerous war with the Danes, and placed in such circumstances of distress as called for the greatest valour, resolution, and all the other virtues with which he was adorned. The Danes had already penetrated into the heart of his kingdom, and before he had been a month upon the throne, he was obliged to take the field against those formidable enemies. After many battles gained on both sides, he was at length reduced to the greatest distress, and was entirely abandoned by his subjects. In this situation, Alfred, conceiving himself no longer a king, laid aside all marks of royalty, and took shelter in the house of one who kept his cattle. He retired afterwards to the Isle of Æthelingey in Somersetshire, where he built a fort for the security of himself and family, and the few faithful servants who repaired thither to him. When he had been about a year in this retreat, having been informed that some of his subjects had routed a great many of the Danes, killed their chiefs and taken their magical standard, he issued his letters giving notice where he was and inviting his nobility to come and consult with him. Before he came to a final determination, Alfred, putting on the habit of a harper, went into the enemy’s camp, where, without suspicion, he was every where admitted, and had the honour to play before their princes. Having thereby acquired an exact knowledge of their situation, he returned secretly to his nobility, whom he ordered to their respective homes, there to draw together each man as great a force as he could; and upon a day appointed there was a general rendezvous at the great wood, called Selwood, in Wiltshire. This affair was transacted so secretly and expeditiously, that in a little time, the king, at the head of an army, approached the Danes, before they had the least intelligence of his design. Alfred, taking advantage of the surprise and terror they were in, fell upon them and totally defeated them at Æthendune, now Eddington. Those who escaped fled to a neighbouring castle, were they were soon besieged, and obliged to surrender at discretion. Alfred granted them better terms than they could expect: he agreed to give up the whole kingdom of the East Angles to such as would embrace the Christian religion, on condition they should oblige the rest of their countrymen to quit the island, and, as much as it was in their power, prevent the landing of any more foreigners. For the performance thereof he took hostages; and when in pursuance of the treaty, Guthrum, the Danish captain, came, with thirty of his chief officers, to be baptized, Alfred answered for him at the font, and gave him the name of Æthelstan, and certain laws were drawn up betwixt the King and Guthrum for the regulation and government of the Danes settled in England. In 884 a fresh number of Danes landed in Kent, and laid siege to Rochester; but the king coming to the relief of that city, they were obliged to abandon their design. Alfred had now great success; which was chiefly owing to his fleet, an advantage of his own creating. Having secured the sea coasts, he fortified the rest of the kingdom with castles and walled towns: and he besieged and recovered from the Danes the city of London, which he resolved to repair, and keep as a frontier.

After some years respite, Alfred was again called into the field: for a body of Danes, being worsted in the west of France, came with a fleet of 250 sail on the coast of Kent: and having landed, fixed themselves at Appletree: shortly after, another fleet of eighty vessels coming up the Thames, the men landed and built a fort at Middleton. Before Alfred marched against the enemy, he obliged the Danes, settled in Northumberland and Essex, to give him hostages for their good behaviour. He then moved towards the invaders, and pitched his camp between their armies, to prevent their junction. A great body, however, moved off to Essex; and crossing the river, came to Farnham in Surrey, where they were defeated by the king's forces. Meanwhile the Danes settled in Northumberland, in breach of treaty, and notwithstanding their hostages given, equipped two fleets; and, after plundering the northern and southern coasts, sailed to Exeter, and besieged it. The king as soon as he received intelligence, marched against them; but before he readied Exeter, they had got possession of it. He kept them, however, blocked up on all sides; and reduced them at last to such extremities, that they were obliged to eat their horses, and were even ready to devour each other. Being at length rendered desperate, they made a general sally on the besiegers; but were defeated, though with great loss on the king’s side; the remainder of this body of Danes fled into Essex, to the fort they had built there, and to their ships. Before Alfred had time to recruit himself, another Danish leader, whose name was Laf, came with a great army out of Northumberland, and destroyed all before him, marching on to the city of Werheal in the west, which is supposed to be Chester, where they remained the rest of that year. The year following they invaded North Wales; and after having plundered and destroyed every thing, they divided: one body returning to Northumberland, another into the territories of the East Angles: from whence they proceeded to Essex, and took possession of a small island called Meresig. Here they did not long remain; for having parted, some sailed up the river Thames, and others up the Lea road; where drawing up their ships, they built a fort not far from London, which proved a great check upon the citizens, who went in a body and attacked it, but were repulsed with great loss: at harvest time the king himself was obliged to encamp with a body of troops in the neighbourhood of the city, in order to cover the reapers from the excursions of the Danes. As he was one day riding by the side of the river Lea; after some observation, he began to think that the Danish ships might be laid quite dry: this he attempted, and succeeded; so that the Danes deserted their forts and ships, and marched away to the banks of the Severn, where they built a fort, and wintered at a place called Quathrig. Such of the Danish ships as could be got off, the Londoners carried into their own road; the rest they burnt and destroyed.

Alfred enjoyed a profound peace during the three last years of his reign, which he chiefly employed in establishing and regulating his government, for the security of himself and his successors, as well as the ease and benefit of his subjects in general. After a troublesome reign of 28 years, he died October 28th, 900; and was buried in the parish church of Little Driffield, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

All our historians agree in distinguishing him as one of the most valiant, wise, and best of kings that ever reigned in England; and it is also generally allowed, that he not only digested several particular laws still in being, but that he laid the first foundation of our present happy constitution. There is great reason to believe that we are indebted to this prince for trials by juries; and the doomsday book, which is preserved in the Exchequer, is thought to be no more than another edition of Alfred’s book of Winchester, which contained a survey of the kingdom. It is said also, that he was the first who divided the kingdom into shires: what is ascribed to him is not a bare division of the country, but the settling a new form of judicature; for after having divided his dominions into shires, he subdivided each shire into three parts, called trythings. There are some remains of this ancient division in the ridings of Yorkshire, the laths of Kent, and the three parts of Lincolnshire. Each trything was divided into hundreds or wapentakes; and these again into tythings, or dwellings of ten householders: each of these householders stood engaged to the king, as a pledge for the good behaviour of his family, and all the ten were mutually pledges of each other; so that if any one of the tythings was suspected of an offence, if the head-boroughs or chiefs of the tything would not be security for him, he was imprisoned; and if he made his escape, the tything and hundred were lined to the king. Each shire was under the government of an earl, under whom was the rieve, his deputy; since, from his office, called shire-rieve, or sheriff. And so effectual were these regulations, that it is said he caused bracelets of gold to be hung up in the highways, as a challenge to robbers, and they remained untouched.

In private life, Alfred was the most amiable man in Ins dominions; of so equal a temper, that he never suffered either sadness or unbecoming gaiety to enter his mind; but appeared always of a calm, yet cheerful disposition, familiar to his friends, just even to his enemies, kind and tender to all. He was a remarkable economist of his time, and Asserius has given us an account of the method he took for dividing and keeping an account of it: he caused six wax candles to be made, each of twelve inches, long, and of as many ounces weight; on the candles the inches were regularly marked, and having found that one of them burnt just four hours, he committed them to the care of the keepers of his chapel, who from time to time gave him notice how the hours went: but as in windy weather the candles were wasted by the impression of the air on the flame, to remedy this inconvenience he invented lanthorns, there being then no glass in his dominions.

This prince, we are told, was twelve years of age before a master could be procured in the western kingdom to teach him the alphabet; such was the state of learning when Alfred began to reign. He had felt the misery of ignorance; and determined even to rival his cotemporary Charlemagne in the encouragement of literature. He is supposed to have appointed persons to read lectures at Oxford, and is thence considered as the founder of that university. By other proper establishments, and by a general encouragement to men of abilities, he did every thing in his power to diffuse knowledge throughout his dominions. Nor was this end promoted more by his countenance and encouragement, than by his own example and his writings.— For notwithstanding the lateness of his initiation, he had acquired extraordinary erudition; and, had he not been illustrious as a king, he would have been famous as an author. His works are, 1. Breviurum quoddam collectum ed Legibus Troganorum, lib. I. A Breviary collected out of the laws of the Trogans, Greeks, Britons, Saxons, and Danes; in one book. Leland saw this book in the Saxon tongue, at Christchurch in Hampshire. 2. Visi Saxonwn Leges, lib. I. The laws of the West Saxons, in one book. Pitts tells us, that it is in Bennet-College Library, at Cambridge. 3. Instituta quaedam, lib. I. Certain Institutes, in one book. This is mentioned by Pitts, and seemed to be the second capitulation with Guthrum. 4. Contra Judices iniquos, lib. I. An Invective against Unjust Judges, in one book. 5. Acta Magistratuum suorum, lib. I. Acts of his Magistrates, in one book. This is supposed to be the book of judgments mentioned by Horne; and was, in all probability a kind of reports, intended for the use of succeeding ages. 6. Regum Fortunae varice, lib. 1. The Various Fortunes of Kings, in one book. 7. Dicta Supientum, lib. I. The Sayings of Wise Men, in one book. 8. Parbolae et Sales. lib. I. Parables and pleasant Sayings, in one book. 9. Collcctiones Chronicorum, Collections of Chronicles. 10. Epistola ad Wulfsigium Episcopum, lib. I. Epistles to Bishop Wulfsig, in one book. 11. Manuale Meditationum. A Manual of Meditations.— Besides these original works, he translated many authors from the Latin, &c. into the Saxon language, viz. 1. Bede’s History of England. 2. Paulinus Orosinus’s History of the Pagans. 3. St. Gregory’s Pastoral, &c. The first of these, with his prefaces to the others, together with his laws, were printed at Cambridge, 1644. His laws are likewise inserted in Spelman’s Councils. 4. Boetius de Consolatione, lib. V. Boetius’s Consolations of Philosophy, in five books. Dr. Plot tells us King Alfred translated it at Woodstock, as he found in a MS, in the Cotton Library. 5. Æsopi Fabulae, AEsop’s Fables: which he is said to have translated from the Greek both in Latin and Saxon. 6. Psallerium Davidicum, lib. I. David’s Psalter, in one book. This was the last work the king attempted, death surprising him before he had finished it; it was however completed by another hand, and published at London in 1640, in quarto, by Sir John Spelman. Several others are mentioned by Malmsbury; and the old History of Ely asserts, that he translated the Old and New Testaments.

The life of this great king was first written by Asserius Menevensis; and first published by Arch

bishop Parker, in the old Saxon character, at the end of his edition of Hassingham’s history, printed in 1674, fol.

The learned Joseph Butler, bishop of Durham, was born at Wantage, in the year 1692. He died at Bath in 1752, when his remains were carried to Bristol, and interred in the abbey church.

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WANTAGE, called by the Saxons, “Wanating,” from A. S. “Want,” a mole, and “ing,” a meadow, is a market and union town, and head of a petty sessional division and county court district, in the Northern division of the county, Wantage hundred and in the rural deanery of Wantage, archdeaconry of Berks and diocese of Oxford, on a branch of the river Ock and on the road from Oxford to Hungerford, about 2 ½ miles south from the Wantage Road station on the Great Western railway, 9 south-east from Faringdon, 10 south-west from Abingdon and 18 miles by rail from Oxford, 26 from Reading and 60 from London.

The town is not incorporated, but in the year 1828 an Act of Parliament (9 Geo. IV. c. 90) was obtained for the establishment of a Board of Commissioners, but under the provisions of the “Local Government Act, 1894,” the town is now governed by an Urban District Council of 15 members, first elected 17 Dec. 1894, who have the supervision of the paving, lighting and watching of the town; the District is conterminous with the township.

The town is lighted with gas from works the property of the Urban District Council, and supplied with water from wells and by the Wantage Waterworks Co. Lim.

The Berks and Wilts canal passes about three-quarters of a mile distant from the town, with which it is connected by a branch; a steam tramway, laid down in 1875, connects the town with Wantage Road station.

The church of SS. Peter and Paul, built either wholly or in part by the benefactions of the Fitz-Warine family, is a spacious cruciform building of stone with Bath stone dressings, in the Norman, Early English and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel with clerestory, north and two south side chapels, transepts, clerestoried nave of 10 bays, aisles, north and south porches with parvise, and an embattled central tower, containing eight bells and a clock: it was originally designed to have a nave without aisles; these seem to have been added in the reign of Edward I. about which time the chantry chapels, which vary considerably in style and date, were also built: the chancel appears to belong to the 15th and 16th centuries: the east window, inserted in 1857, was one of the earliest works of the late G. E. Street esq. R.A. then a resident in Wantage: the church is remarkable as being complete in its general plan from the beginning, the subsequent series of additions not having yet destroyed the original design: among other details worthy of mention are the very perfect and interesting remains of Pointed woodwork, consisting of a screen in the south chapel, parcloses shutting off the chancel and eighteen stalls, with carved miserere seats and beautiful poppy heads: in the chancel is the canopied marble tomb of Sir William Fitz-Warine K.G. 1st Baron Fitz-Warine, a distinguished soldier in the French and Scottish wars of the reign of Edward III. with recumbent figures of himself and wife Amicia (Haddon); he died in 1361, and was succeeded by his son Ivo or John Fitz-Warine, 2nd Baron, who accompanied Thomas (Plantagenet) of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and Earl of Buckingham, in his expedition to France, and was with him at the siege of Nantes; he died in 1414; in the church is a fine brass effigy of this knight, in armour, and another of a priest, said to be of the same family: there are other memorials to the Wilmotts of Charlton and Lamborne and to the family of Grove; there is also a memorial window to the Rev. the Hon. Edward Foyle Nelson M.A. formerly curate of Wantage, who died 8th September, 1859; the ancient altar-stone still exists and is in perfect condition: in Leland’s time a Norman church also stood in the churchyard; the remains of which as long as they existed indicated that it had been restored or rebuilt in the 12th century; the Norman doorway of this building has been removed to the Grammar School, with which it is still incorporated: the church was enlarged in 1881 at a cost of £1,473, and in 1896 the south-east chapel was restored and fitted up for services at a cost of about £1,000, in memory of the Very Rev. William John Butler D.D. late dean of Lincoln and vicar of Wantage 1846—80: there are 1,023 sittings.

By an Order in Council, October 28, 1881, the church was wholly closed against interments, and the graveyard also, with certain modifications. The register dates from the year 1538. The living is a vicarage, present gross value £519, with residence and 5 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Dean and Canons of Windsor, and held since 1881 by the Rev. Thomas Henry Archer Houblon M.A. of Christ Church Oxford, rural dean of Wantage, surrogate, and chaplain of the Union.

The Mission chapel of the Good Shepherd, attached to the parish church, was erected in 1888, at a cost of £640.

The Wesleyan chapel in Newbury street, is a building of rag stone with Bath stone dressings in the Decorated style, erected in 1844 at a cost of £1,200; it will hold 300 persons and has attached day and Sunday schools, and a minister’s house; the Baptist chapel in Mill street was built in 1860 at a cost of £1,450 and seats 300 persons. The Particular Baptists have also a small chapel in Mill street, erected in 1843 with 200 sittings.

The Cemetery to the south of the town, opened in 1850, and enlarged in 1897, is about an acre and a half in extent, and has one mortuary chapel; it is under the control of the vicar and churchwardens.

The Corn Exchange, erected in 1865 on the site of the Red Lion inn, and now the property of the Urban Council, is a structure of red brick, 90 feet long by 22 broad, and is also let for public meetings, balls and concerts, and will hold 300 persons.

The Town Hall, on the west side of the Market place, is a timber framed building, and includes a subscription reading-room.

The charter for a market was granted by Henry III. to the Fitz-Warines, a noble family, who were for some considerable period connected with Wantage: the market, formerly held on Saturday, is now held every alternate Wednesday; a pitched market was established in 1817, but this gradually receded into its former condition as a sample market, business being usually transacted in the afternoon and evening between a limited number of neighbouring farmers and a few local dealers: at the beginning of the year 1845 a second attempt was made to establish a pitched market, the result of which has been eminently successful; the soil of this district is conducive to the growth of prime samples of corn and the Great Western railway contributes to the attendance of competing purchasers from London, Bristol, and intermediate places in both directions; the corn market is now held on Wednesdays, and on every alternate Wednesday a market for cattle.

The fair held annually on October 17th and 18th was abolished by Order in Council, March 5th, 1872.

Fairs are now held on the first Saturday in March, the first Saturday in May and the first Saturday after Oct. 11th, and a sale for agricultural stock is held fortnightly on a Wednesday.

The manufacture of sacks and other hempen articles was formerly carried on here, but most of this trade has gone northward, and is now only pursued on a limited scale. The general trade of the town depends mainly upon the surrounding agricultural population. The iron and brass foundry established here by the late Mr. Charles Hart, and known as the “Vale of White Horse Ironworks,” employs a considerable number of hands; it is now the property of Messrs. Robinson and Auden Limited, whose reputation as manufacturers of steam thrashing machinery and agricultural implements in general extends throughout the kingdom.

The 2nd Squadron of the Royal Berkshire Yeomanry Cavalry and the K Company of the Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Royal Berkshire Regiment) have their headquarters in the town.

The Cottage Hospital, endowed in 1885 with £5,000 under the will of Mr. Percy Smith, was opened in the following year, subscriptions being raised for the purchase of the premises and the cost of alterations, the furnishing being defrayed by Mrs. Silver, of Letcombe Regis: the hospital has 9 beds and is under the control of a committee: the Firth Medical Dispensary is endowed with £2,000 under the will of Mrs. Harriet Firth.

The charities of the town are valuable; the town lands consist of about 156 acres, with a few houses and quit rents in the parish of Wantage, and 18 almshouses in the town of Wantage; the present yearly income is about £456, out of which the trustees have to pay the tithe rent-charge and other usual outgoings. The charities further include £2,820 in Consols. By a scheme of the Charity Commissioners a sum of £220 is appropriated yearly towards the support of King Alfred’s Grammar School in Wantage, and the remainder of the income is applied to the maintenance of aged and infirm persons resident in the almshouses, married inmates receiving 6s. and single persons 4s. weekly, provided the income of the charity is sufficient. Stile’s almshouses, managed by the churchwardens, are for 12 persons, each receiving 3s. per week; the income of this charity, derived from 238 acres of land, is £100 yearly; the remaining charities produce £68 7s. 9d. yearly, which is chiefly assigned to the almspeople.

The Vale of White Horse in this neighbourhood and west of the town is celebrated in ancient story as the scene of English victories over Danish invaders, traditionally perpetuated by the rude but well-known figure on one of the hills forming the south boundary of the vale, and known as the White Horse Hill, of a white horse in a galloping position on the upper part of the hill, 374 feet in length and occupying nearly an acre of ground; its shape is determined by trenched lines between two and three feet deep and about ten broad, cut in the white chalk; the head, neck, body and tail are composed of one line varying in width, and one line or trench has been made for each of the legs; this figure has been popularly accepted as a memorial of the great victory of AEscendune or Ashdown fought in 871, in which King AEthelred with Altred his brother signally defeated the Danes and slew their king, Baegsaeg; the battle is believed by some to have been fought on this spot, and this view is supported by Dr. Wise and more recently by Mr. Hughes, author of “Tom Brown,” but other authorities fix the site of the encounter more to the east, on the swelling hills above Aston Upthorpe, one point in which has long been known as “King’s Standing;” though the situation of the figure effectually preserves it from absolute obliteration, yet the inhabitants of the neighbouring parishes were wont from time to time to hold a rustic fete, on which occasion they cleared away any accumulation of weeds. It is a tradition recorded by Baskerville (1677—8) and Lysons (1806) that some neighbouring lands were held by the tenure of cleaning the figure, i.e. cutting away the evergreen turf at regular intervals; this obligation or custom had, however, died out in 1780, but was revived with much success in 1858, by the late E. M. Atkins esq. of Kingstone Lisle, an event which has been amusingly perpetuated in Mr. T. Hughes’s “Scouring of the White Horse,” and the figure has since been several times cleared under the direction of the Atkins family.

White Horse Hill is mentioned in a cartulary of the abbey of Abingdon temp. Henry II. and in another cartulary of the same abbey temp. King John.

On the summit of the hill is a magnificent British or Danish camp, known as “Uffington Castle,” after the village lying below; it is 700 feet in diameter from east, to west and goo from north to south, and is surrounded by a high inner vallum, and a slighter one on the outside, both of which are regarded as Danish, but it bears evidence of its subsequent occupation by the Romans; half a mile further north-west is another camp called “Hardwell Castle,” nearly square in form and surrounded also by a double vallum: its dimensions are 140 by 180 feet. Right down below the White Horse is a curious deep and broad gully called “The Manger,” into one side of which the hills fall in sweeping curves known as “The Giant’s Stairs:” the other side of the Manger is called “Dragon’s Hill,” or more properly “Pendragon’s Hill,” from a chief slain in battle and buried here.

About a mile westward from White Horse Hill, near the Ridgeway leading over the Downs, is the interesting and historical relic called “Wayland Smith’s Cave” a cromlech built up of megaliths called “Sarsden stones.’’ found in the neighbourhood, and doubtless the burial place of some pre-historic chieftain: in a charter of Edred. A.D. it is mentioned as “Welland's Smithy.” Weland, the Northern Vulcan (A. S. “weallan,” to fabricate) being one of the mythic deities of the Scandinavian legend, who fabricates the arms of the heroes of the early Sagas; but the tradition here is that this spot was formerly inhabited by an invisible blacksmith who good-naturedly shod any horse that was left there, provided a piece of money was deposited at the same time to reward the labours of the workman, and Sir Walter Scott, in “Kenilworth,” ch, xiii. has skilfully availed himself of this picturesque legend; the monument as it now exists consists principally of four flat stones, three slanting edgeways and a fourth placed flat upon them; the spot was formerly surrounded by others, arranged probably in an oblong form, extending due north and south, the existing stones occupying the eastern side of its southern extremity; though bearing a Saxon name and connected with a Saxon legend, it is probably only a Celtic grave.

About 5 miles from Wantage, near Kingstone Lisle, on the estate of Miss Martin-Atkins, is the famous “Blowing Stone,” a mass of red sandstone about 3 feet high, 3 feet 6 inches broad and 2 feet thick, pierced in a singular manner on three sides, with holes which, if blown through, produce a dull, moaning sound, audible, if the blower have strong lungs and some skill, at a distance of several miles.

Wantage is famed as being the residence of some of the early English monarchs and especially as the birthplace (Oct. 25, A.D. 849) of one of the most illustrious among them, King Alfred the Great. The palace of the Saxon kings is believed to have stood in an oblong piece of ground of about six acres, bounded on three sides by the hollow way into the town from Faringdon by Mill street and by some running water which divided the “high garden” (originally a Roman work) from the lower; near to it is an orchard, still called “Court close,” and about a quarter of a mile from the town between Limborough and the river is a brick paved pool and a well, both associated by local tradition with the name of the great king, who is said to have died at Faringdon, and to have been first buried, A.D. 903, in the cathedral of Winchester, and afterwards re-interred in 1116 at Hyde Abbey, without the walls of that city; the remains of the king are further asserted to have been discovered on this site, January 1, 1866, by Mr. John Mellor, of Derby, and to have been afterwards placed in two mortuary chests and conveyed to the church of St. Bartholomew, Winchester, but according to another account, Alfred was buried in the church of Little Driffield, Yorkshire. In 1849, the thousandth anniversary of King Alfred’s birth was celebrated at Wantage with much ceremony and great rejoicing, on which occasion a medal was struck, bearing the king’s profile, an oration delivered by Mr. Martin F. Tupper, and a “Jubilee song,” specially composed, was sung by a great concourse of people. In the centre of the spacious market place stands the fine statue of King Alfred, presented to the town by Lord Wantage V.C. and unveiled by T.R.H, the Prince and Princess of Wales, July 14th, 1877; the figure, executed in Sicilian marble by H.S.H. the Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, at a cost of 2,000 guineas, is 9 feet high, and, with its pedestal, 17 feet; the face, as well as the costume, has been modelled from the best existing authorities, and the general aspect of the statue, which faces towards the west, is strikingly heroic and effective. Dr. Joseph Butler, Bishop of Bristol, 1738—50 and of Durham, 1750—2, the celebrated author of “The Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion,” was born here in 1692 in a house called “The Priory,” on the south side of the churchyard; he died at Bath, June 16, 1752, and was buried in Bristol Cathedral.

The Urban District Council of Wantage are lords of the manor. The principal landowners are Lord Wantage, A. S. Castle esq. Edward Ormond esq. the trustees of the late Thomas Brown esq. Mrs. Deare and Stephen Wm. Silver esq. of Letcombe Regis.

The area of the entire parish is 5,596 acres; and of Wantage township, 468 acres of land and 10 of water; the population in 1891 was-township, 3,669; parish, 4,563, including 108 officers and inmates of the workhouse; rateable value of Wantage, £10,324.

Parish Clerk, Alban Kent.

The parish comprises the township of Grove, north of the town, and the hamlets of West Lockinge, 2 miles east, and Charlton, ½ mile north-east. The chapel of ease, at Charlton, an edifice of brick and stucco, with Bath stone dressings, in the Early English style, consists of chancel, nave, south porch and a bell-cot containing 2 bells: in 1891 a new chancel and vestry were erected and a font provided at a cost of £660: there are 90 sittings. The area of Charlton is 1,881 acres; rateable value £3,128; the population in 1891 was 260.

The petty sessions are held every alternate Wednesday & for indictable offences every Wednesday at the Town hall, at 12 o'clock.

The parishes in the division are:-Ardington, Chaddleworth, East & West Challow, Charlton, Childrey, Denchworth, Fawley, Goosey, Grove, East & West Hanney, East & West Hendred, Harwell, Letcombe Regis, Letcombe Bassett, East & West Lockinge, Sparsholt & Wantage.

YEOMANRY CAVALRY

Forming part of the 1st Brigade.

Royal Berkshire (2nd Squadron) (Capt. H. M. Jessel M.P.

VOLUNTEERS

1st Volunteer Battalion (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s Royal Berks Regiment) (K Co.); armoury, Market place; Color-Sergt. George Marshall, drill instructor.

WANTAGE UNION

Board day, every alternate Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Workhouse.

The Union comprises the following parishes:-Aldworth, Ardington, Beedon, Blewbury, Brightwalton, Catmore, Chaddleworth, Charlton, Childrey, Chilton, Compton or Compton Parva, Denchworth, East Challow, East Hanney, East Hendred, East Ilsley or Market Ilsley, East Lockinge, Farnborough, Fawley, Goosey, Grove, Hampstead Norris, Harwell, Letcombe Bassett, Letcombe Regis, Peasmore, Sparsholt, Upton, Wantage, West Challow, West Hanney, West Hendred, West Ilsley & West Lockinge. The population of the union in 1891 was 16,534; area, 76,979 acres; rateable value in 1899 was £101,682.

Workhouse, situated in an elevated position a mile and a half from the town, will hold 170 inmates.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of services

SS. Peter & Paul’s Church, Rev. Thomas Henry Archer Houblon M.A. vicar; Rev. Henry James Moore Sanders K.C.L. Rev. Stanley Heddon Howard M.A. Rev. Richard Rice Thomas M.A. Rev. Edward Samuel John D’Alessio B.A. Rev. Edward Cornish Henley B.A. curates; 7, 8 & 10.45 a.m. & 3 p.m. (children’s service) & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 7 & 10 a.m. & 7 p.m.; Wed. 8 a.m.

Mission Church, Grove street (in connection with the parish church), sunday, 3 p.m.

Baptist, Mill street, Rev. Charles Leicester Gordon; 10.45 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Particular Baptist, Mill street, 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan, Newbury street, Rev. Thomas Henry Penrith & Rev. Edwin Bell; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Thur. 7 p.m.

SCHOOLS

King Alfred’s Grammar School formerly stood in the churchyard, having been erected there in the time of Queen Elizabeth; but on the occasion of the millenary festival in commemoration of the birth of King Alfred, in October, 1849, funds were raised for the erection of a more convenient building as a permanent memorial of the labours of that enlightened monarch for the advancement of learning, & in the following year the present school buildings were erected on the south side of the town; these are in the Early English style, forming three sides of a quadrangle & retain the fine old Norman doorway of the previous structure; the school buildings have lately been very much enlarged by the addition of a separate block for science purposes, containing chemical & physical laboratories & balance, lecture & manual instruction rooms, all well equipped. The school will hold about 100 boys, including 50 boarders, & was reorganised under a scheme of the Charity Commissioners in Nov. 1893.

National (infants), Charlton, built 1858 & enlarged 1893, for 65 children; average attendance, 34.

National (boys), Alfred street, built in 1885, for 250 boys; average attendance, 177.

National (girls & infants), Back street, founded in 1849 & enlarged in 1898, for 600 children; average attendance, 166 girls & 123 infants.

St. Mary’s School (for daughters of gentlemen), under the charge of Sisters of the Community of St. Mary the Virgin, Newbury street.

St. Katherine’s, Wallingford street (middle class boarding & day school), conducted by the Sisters of the Community of St. Mary the Virgin.

Wesleyan, Back street, founded in 1839: it will hold 190 children; average attendance, 130.

St. Mary’s Home for Penitents (under the charge of the Sisters of the Community of St. Mary the Virgin), founded in 1850.

St. Michael’s Training, Tanner street (for teachers & industrial girls) (under the charge of the Sisters of St. Mary’s.)