WOKINGHAM HISTORY
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POPULATION
The population of Wokingham in the year 1801 was 2,281 and by the year
1901 the number had risen to 6,002. In 1951 the population had risen to
11,643 and today the figure is approximately 32,000.
TOWN HISTORY
During the 14th century the town consisted of Rose
Street, Shute End, Peach Street, Denmark Street. The High Street was
where Broad Street and The
Terrace can be found today.
Rose Street was originally Le Rothe Strete. Shute End and the Terrace
was once known as La Schete and is now known as Shute End.. Denmark Street
was known as Le Don Strete and later Down Street before it was renamed in
honour of the Princess of Denmark (Queen Alexandra) when she married
Edward, Prince of Wales. At the Peach Street end of Cross Street stood an
iron marker. This defined the boundary of a parcel of land enclosed in
Berkshire that was owned by a Wiltshire estate. The old marker can still
be seen at the foot of the building, which is opposite All Saint's church.
In 1219 Wokingham received a Market Charter - "Market to be held
peaceably every Tuesday". Today, the market thrives throughout every
week of the year including the Farmers' Market, which is held once a month
in the Market Place.
TOWN HALL
The Town Hall, in the Market
Place, stands on the site of the former Guildhall, dating from 1612. In
1858 the Guildhall became so dilapidated that it was decided to hold a
competition for the design of a new building. The old building was pulled
down and the present building, designed by Poulton and Woodman, (Reading
architects) was opened in 1860 by Richard Neville, the fourth Lord
Braybrooke.
WAR MEMORIAL
The war memorial, situated in the Annexe, in the Town Hall records the
deaths of 217 Wokingham men during the 1914/18 war (World War l). 101
names are recorded, of those who fell, by the end of 1939/45 war (World
War ll).
ALMSHOUSES
Wokingham's last remaining almshouses, built through a bequest of 1665,
are said to be the finest buildings in the town, named Lucas
Hospital (a Grade I listed building) after their benefactor. The
property is now privately owned.
ALL SAINT'S CHURCH
In the 12th century All Saints'
Church was a "Chapel of Ease" becoming a church in the 15th
century. It was built on land that was the property of a large estate
owner at Amesbury in Wiltshire. This piece of land stretched to Ruscombe.
The whole came into the control of Berkshire in 1845. It was known to be
on the site of a Saxon chapel.
SCHOOLS
The first schools were established by a group of Puritan ministers,
including one in Montague House, which was founded in the 1790s by Henry
Montague.
INDUSTRY
The Lush Brothers of Wokingham made coaches for King Edward the seventh,
Prince Christian of Schleswig Holstein and the Empress of France.
One of the world's great industries in Victorian Wokingham the
production of bricks. The brickyards of Thomas Lawrence were situated off
Fishponds Road and a smaller one at the station end of Oxford Road.
Between 1771 and the 1820s there was a flourishing silk industry in the
town. Silk stockings were hand-knitted until the arrival of knitting
machines in the 18th century. The last silk factory closed in 1831 and was
located in the present South Place off Peach Street.
BELLS
A bell, made in Wokingham, was donated sometime before 1383 to Dorchester
Abbey. Its quality suggests a well-established foundry. For most of the
15th century a large proportion of southern England's bells came from the
Landen family's foundry, situated somewhere behind 7/15 Broad Street named
Smyths Place. Roger Landen is mentioned in Eton College's 1448 accounts.
The foundry moved to Chertsey sometime in 1620. Thomas Eldridge took over
the foundry at Smyths Place in the mid 16th Century. He sold bells to Bray
and Winkfield in 1565.
Note: The Landen family owned a farm and land off what is now known as
"Bell Foundry Lane". This farm was named "Bell Founders
Farm". The area is always described as arable land, there was no
source of sand or water vital for a bell foundry. Also consider the
difficulty of moving extremely heavy bells on horse drawn carts over very
muddy tracks. It is generally accepted that there was no foundry in that
area, the name of the lane being a corruption of the farm name over the
centuries. The Lush Brothers (see above, under Industry) were also well
known bellringers at All
Saints Church.
TRANSPORT
There was a good fast stage-coach service between London and Reading
which, until around 1849, stopped at Wokingham. It was at this time that
the Reading to Guildford railway opened enabling rail passengers to travel
to London via Reading. A more direct service was available when the
Staines to Reading line was completed in 1856. Wokingham train station
had, in 1900, ten employees. The present station
footbridge was apparently uniquely constructed from lengths of railway
line and is listed.
The Thames Valley Traction Company begun running a regular bus service
through Wokingham in the year 1920.
CIVIL WAR
In 1645, as far as Wokingham was concerned, the fighting was nearly over.
The second part of the Civil War did not involve the town. It was left
with a ruined economy and took many years to recover.
There were not many tears shed locally for Charles, when he was
executed in 1649 at the end of the conflict. In 1655 Colonel Richard
Neville, a staunch Royalist and Cavalier, was sworn in as Wokingham's High
Steward. The first Duke of St Albans, bastard son of Charles ll and Nell
Gwynn, became the High Steward of Wokingham from 1716 until 1726.
Today, Lady Elizabeth Godsal, a descendant of the Neville family, is
the High Steward of Wokingham (and the Vice Lord-Lieutenant for the Royal
County of Berkshire). In the Civil War 1643 - 1644 Wokingham town was
subject to foraging raids by both the Roundheads and the Cavaliers. The
Cavaliers raided on Market days to seize horses and food. They set fire to
the houses as reprisals for the townspeople not handing over enough food
and supplies for the army in Reading. Over thirty houses were burnt down
by the Royalists.
SOME PROMINENT PERSONAGES OF WOKINGHAM TOWN
FIRST DUKE OF ST ALBANS
The first Duke of St Albans, bastard son of Charles ll and Nell Gwynn, was
Wokingham's High Steward from 1716 until 1726.
RICHARD PALMER
The 1664 will of Richard Palmer provided for the ringing of the parish
church's Great Bell from March until September. One of the purposes of
this was to guide lost souls in the countryside to the church and town. It
was rung at 4.00am (morning bell - to waken people to prepare for the
day`s labours) and 8.00pm (the curfew bell - time to retire to bed in
preparation for the next day`s labour).
JOHN WALTER lll
John Walter lll was an MP for many years. He owned the London Times and he
also built and endowed St Paul's
Church at his own expense in 1864. He also had built the St. Paul's C
of E School in 1866 an the Walters also had built the Clock House and
Parish Rooms nearby in 1893. He was responsible for Finchampstead's first
school in 1855 and a new road across the Ridges between Crowthorne and
Finchampstead. He organised the planting of the two rows of Wellingtonia
sequoia trees, either side of the road, as a tribute to the Iron Duke.
SPORT AND ENTERTAINMENT
BOXING
In 1787 Wokingham, the prize fighter Tom Johnson "bashed the living
daylights" out of Bill Warr for the Championship of England and a
purse of £200.00.
CRICKET
Wokingham's first cricket club started in 1825. http://www.wokinghamcricket.co.uk
CINEMA
In 1912 a site in Broad Street was acquired for the 'Electric Theatre'
which later became the Savoy cinema.
The Savoy closed in 1950.
ANIMAL SPORT
COCK FIGHTING
Cock fighting was popular in Wokingham. There was once a cock-pit at the
end of Cock Walk (known today as Cockpit Path).
BULL BAITING
On the present day market site, bull baiting took place once a year, just
before Christmas.
George Staverton, a butcher who died in 1661, left a will giving, each
year, two bulls to be tethered in the marketplace and to be baited by
dogs. The bulls were paraded around the town a day or two before the event
and then locked in the yard of the "Old Rose". A number of dogs
would be maimed or killed during the event and the bull eventually
destroyed. The meat and leather retrieved from the slaughter was later
given to the poor people of the town. The practice was discontinued in
1821 for humanitarian reasons.
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