Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 53312-h.htm or 53312-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53312/53312-h/53312-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53312/53312-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/bygoneberkshire00ditc BYGONE BERKSHIRE Edited by P.H. DITCHFIELD, M.A., F.S.A., Editor of the "Berks, Bucks, and Oxon Archæological Journal," Secretary of Berkshire Archæological Society. Author of "Our English Villages," etc. London: William Andrews & Co., 5, Farringdon Avenue. 1896 Hull: William Andrews and Co., The Hull Press. [Illustration: WINDSOR CASTLE.] Preface. The Royal County has many charms for the Antiquary and the Historian, and we trust that "Bygone Berkshire" will not be the least interesting volume of the series which the publisher has so successfully inaugurated. We have attempted to give some glimpses of bygone times and episodes, sketches of the manners and customs of old Berkshire folk, and a few biographical notices of our heroes and learned men. The story of our castles and abbeys shows how many great events in the history of England have been enacted on Berkshire soil, and Windsor, the home of our sovereigns, sheds additional glory on the annals of our ancient county. The editing of this volume has been a task congenial to one who for many years has made Berkshire his home. I desire to express my gratitude to the authors who have so kindly co-operated with me in the preparation of this volume, and I trust that their labours will meet with the approbation of all who reverence antiquity, and love the traditions of the Royal County. P.H. DITCHFIELD. BARKHAM RECTORY, _August, 1896_. Contents. PAGE HISTORIC BERKSHIRE. By P.H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A. 1 WINDSOR CASTLE. By Evelyn Ingleby 21 WALLINGFORD CASTLE. By J.E. Field, M.A.. 47 CUMNOR PLACE AND AMY ROBSART. By H.J. Reid, F.S.A. 63 ALFRED THE GREAT. By W.H. Thompson 98 THE GUILDS OF BERKSHIRE. By P.H. Ditchfield, M.A., F.S.A. 115 THE SCOURING OF THE WHITE HORSE. By E.R. Gardiner, M.A. 137 THE LAST OF THE ABBOTS 153 SIEGE OF READING 160 READING ABBEY 179 THE FIRST BATTLE OF NEWBURY. By Edward Lamplough 193 THE SECOND BATTLE OF NEWBURY. By Edward Lamplough 204 BINFIELD AND EASTHAMPSTEAD, 1700-1716, AND THE EARLY YEARS OF ALEXANDER POPE. By C.W. Penny, M.A. 211