Page:VCH Berkshire 1.djvu/472

A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE parts of sand beds of Tertiary age, are found in many parts of the county, especially on the chalk downs north of Lambourn, where, the softer sands having been removed by denuda- tion, the hard masses of stone lie exposed on the surface. They also occur occasionally in the gravel beds of the river valleys and have been used for road-mending, for pitching and paving, and also for building. The church- yard wall at Lambourn contains some very fine specimens of these stones. Wayland Smith's cave, the principal prehistoric monu- ment in the county, is a cromlech built of sarsens. They are also frequently made use of to keep vehicles from running against the banks by the roadsides, or against corners of houses. Mr. Bristow * mentions one at Thatcham which had received a polish from the constant use of it as a seat by the village children. Peat has been dug at many places in the Kennet Valley, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Newbury, both for use as fuel and also to be burnt for the sake of the ashes which are applied as a top dressing to the land. The quantity usually put on an acre of young clover is from 15 to 20 bushels. In 1862 the price at Newbury was about 4^. the bushel. 3 In the early part of the nineteenth century the burning of the peat was a con- siderable industry, and it was no uncommon thing for farmers to fetch the ashes in wagons from long distances. In the seventeenth century, when the cloth industry of Reading and Newbury was in a flourishing condition and the difficulty of getting fullers' earth from a distance was considerable, it was usual for the local cloth- iers to make use of a bed of loamy clay found in the Reading Beds at Katesgrove Brick- yard. 3 As some compensation for lack of mineral wealth Berkshire has for centuries possessed a large supply of timber. Leland in his de- scription of Maidenhead, written in the year 1538, states : ' There is a grate warfeage of tymbere and fierwood on the West ende of the bridge ; and this wood cummith out of Barkshir and the great woddis of the forest of Windelsore and the greate frithe.' * The far extending woodland of Windsor Forest 1 Geology of Parts of Berks, etc. (Mem. Geol. Survey), p. 51. 2 H. W. Bristow, in Geology of Parts of Berks, etc. (Mem. Geol. Survey), p. 50. 3 Letter from Dr. Brewer to Dr. Sloane, Phil. Trans, xxii. 485 (1700), reprinted in Geology of Reading, by Blake and Monckton (Mem. Geol. Survey, 1903). 4 Itinerary, ii. 28, 29, ed. 1769. was as late as the thirteenth century only separated from the great Berkshire forests by the valley of the Loddon. 5 Berkshire coppice wood used to be in great demand, especially in the Vale of the Kennet, where the trade was considerable. A hundred years ago the demand for hoops and brooms, which were sent in large quantities to London, furnished a staple employment for the poor in winter, especially in the neighbourhood of navigation. The hoops had various names, such as Mid- dling, Long pipe, Short pipe, Hogshead, Barrel, Kilderkin, Firkin, Long pink, Short pink, Tumbril, Bottle. The hoops were made of willow, ash and hazel. Birch was sometimes used, and also for brooms, which were sold to the dealers in London by the load. The wharf at Aldermaston was the principal seat of this considerable trade. Extensive osier beds have been cultivated along the banks of the Kennet, in the neighbourhood of Aldermaston, Wasing, Woolhampton, Brimpton and Thatcham, and Dr. Mavor stated in 1808 that the osier was cultivated with a degree of care and success unknown in any other part of the kingdom. The proprietors used to sell the osiers to the whiteners, who stripped and whitened the rods, preparing them for the basket-makers. Many women and girls were employed in this industry and earned zd,. per bolt, the measure of which is 42 inches girt, 14 inches from the butts. The basket-makers of London received their principal supply from the Berkshire beds. Willows were also exten- sively grown for laths, gates, hurdles, poles, etc., and fashion a century ago decreed that pollard willows should be made into ladies' hats. Dr. Mavor saw many trunks lying on the wharf at Lechlade in order to be carried to London for that purpose. 6 This plentiful supply of timber was the source of considerable revenue to the county. A large amount was sent from Reading, Maidenhead and Windsor to London, and in the accounts of the building of portions of Windsor Castle and of Eton College we find several items relating to Windsor. Wargrave furnished some oaks for the repair of the castle in the time of Henry III., 7 and Godfrey de Lyston, keeper of the forest of Windsor, was ordered to give out of the forest to Gil- bert, the king's carpenter, as much timber as he required to repair the halls and chambers. 8 Upton and Sunninghill supplied timber for B Cooper King, History of Berkshire, p. 12. Mavor, Agriculture of Berks, p. 320. ' Rot. Claus. 27 Hen. III. s Ibid. 40 Hen. III. 374