WOKINGHAM, a market-town and parish, having
separate jurisdiction, situated
partly in, and forming
a detached portion of,
the hundred of AMESBURY,
county of WILTS, but
chiefly in the hundred of
SONNING, county of BERKS,
7 miles (E. S. E.) from
Reading, and 32 (W. S. W.)
from London, comprising
the Berkshire and Town divisions,
and containing 2810 inhabitants. This town,
situated within the prescribed limits of Windsor Forest,
is of triangular form, and consists of several streets
irregularly built, meeting in a central area; water is
supplied from wells in abundance: the atmosphere is
considered particularly salubrious, and the inhabitants
are remarkable for longevity. The manufacture of silk,
gauze, and shoes, and the malting and flour trades, are
the only branches of business. The market, which
is on Tuesday, is one of the most noted in the kingdom
for its abundant supply of poultry; the fairs are,
April 23rd, June 11th (both of little importance, and
not regularly held), October llth, and November 2nd,
chiefly for cattle. The government of the town is vested
in an alderman, seven capital burgesses, ahigh steward,
recorder, and town clerk: the charter has been possessed
from time immemorial. The alderman is elected
from among the capital burgesses, annually on the Wednesday
in Easter week, and becomes the chief magistrate
for the year ensuing: the alderman, high steward, and
recorder, are justices of the peace, with exclusive jurisdiction.
The corporation holds half-yearly courts of
session for minor oifences, and is authorized by charter
to hold a court of requests, for the recovery of small
debts; but this power has not been exercised for some
years. The gift of freedom is vested in the corporation,
and may be acquired by birth, apprenticeship, and purchase.
This being the only town in the forest, the forest
courts were formerly held here; but they have been discontinued;
manorial courts are held as occasion requires.
Petty sessions take place, on the first and third
Tuesdays in the month, for the Wokingham, or Forest,
division of the county. The town hall, which is over
the market-house, is an ancient building in the centre
of the town; it was repaired about twelve years ago,
at an expense of £1100, defrayed by subscription:
balls are occasionally held here in the winter season.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the peculiar
jurisdiction and patronage of the Dean of Salisbury,
endowed with £400 royal bounty. The church, which
is dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient structure. There
are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists.
The free school, in Down-street, for children
of both sexes, is supported by the proceeds of various
bequests left for the instruction of children, particularly
a rent-charge on certain lands in this parish,
by Dr. Charles Palmer, in 1711, amounting to the sum
of about £20 per annum, and by voluntary contribution:
thirty-four boys and twelve girls receive
instruction, and, with the master, are appointed by
the corporation: there are likewise other scholars of
both sexes in the establishment. The Sunday school
in Rose-street, conducted on the National system, in
which two hundred children of both sexes are taught,
is supported partly by some small bequests, and partly
by subscription, and is held in a substantial brick
building, erected in 1825, at an expense of £700. Eight
almshouses near the church, founded and endowed
by Mr. John Westend, an inhabitant of this town, in
1451,. are occupied by sixteen poor men and women,
who receive a small allowance of fuel. At Luckley
Green, in this parish, about a mile from the town, is
an hospital, founded in 1665, by Henry Lucas, Esq., for
sixteen poor pensioners and a master, under the superintendence
of the Drapers' Company in London:
the pensioners are chosen alternately from sixteen of
the neighbouring parishes in the counties of Berks and
Surrey, and receive £ 14 per annum in weekly payments.
Attached to the hospital, which is a handsome
brick building, erected at an expense of £2320, is a
chapel, with a residence for the minister, who is the
perpetual curate of the parish. Archbishop Laud bequeathed
£60 per annum, for apprenticing boys two
years successively, the third for poor maidens. Dr.
Thomas Goodwin,' who, after various promotions, was
eventually raised to the see of Bath and Wells, was
a native of this town, and received the elements of
his education in the free school: in the chancel of the
church is a monument to his memory, the inscription
written by his son, who was Bishop of Hereford.