HENLEY-upon-THAMES, a market-town and parish, having separate
jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Binfield, county of OXFORD,
on the high road from London to Oxford and Cheltenham, 23 miles
(S. E.) from Oxford, and 35 (W.) from London, on the western bank
of the river Thames, containing 3509 inhabitants. This
is supposed by some antiquaries to have been a town
of the ancient Britons; according to others it was
the Roman station Calleva, which has with greater
probability been fixed at Silchester, in Hampshire.
Leland mentions the discovery of gold, silver, and
brass coins of the Romans at this place; but no notice
of the town occurs in history till after the Norman
Conquest. A bridge across the Thames was erected
here at an early period, and it is not improbable that
the town owed its origin to this circumstance. In the
reign of Henry III. the manor belonged to Edmund,
Earl of Cornwall, the king's nephew, on whose death
it reverted to the crown; and in the 10th of Elizabeth,
a charter of incorporation was granted to
the town, in which it is denominated -Hanleygang, or
Hanneburg. In 1643, the parliamentary forces were
quartered in the vicinity, when they were attacked by
the royalists, who entered the town, but were dispersed
by the firing of a cannon down Duke-street, which
did much execution: in the following year the inhabitants
sustained considerable damage from the wanton
conduct of the parliamentary soldiers, who plundered
most of the houses. The town, which is remarkably
dry and healthy, is situated on a gentle ascent from the
western bank of the Thames, which here takes one of
its most agreeable curves: it is surrounded by hills
clothed with lofty beech woods and extensive plantations,
interspersed with elegant villas; as approached
from London, the general appearance is striking,
and the scenery remarkably picturesque. At the entrance
into the town is a handsome stone bridge over
the Thames, erected in 1786, at an expense of £10,000,
and consisting of five elliptical arches, surmounted by
a balustrade: the key-stone on each face of the central
arch is adorned with a sculptured mask, from the
chisel of the Hon. Mrs. Darner j that towards the
north represents the Genius, or presiding Deity, of the
Thames; the mask on the reverse key-stone exhibits
the goddess Isis. The hills giving name to the Chiltern
hundreds form a ridge extending from Henley,
along the southern part of the county of Buckingham,
to Tring in Hertfordshire 5 they were formerly so
covered with thickets as to be almost impassable, until,
by order of Leofstan, abbot of St. Alban's, these were
cut down, on account of the security which they afforded
to robbers. The popular appellation is derived from
the Saxon words, cealt, cylt, or chilt, signifying chalk,
of which substance they are principally composed.
The nominal office of steward of the Chiltern hundreds
under the crown, by the acceptance of which
members of parliament vacate their seats, is derived
from these hills. Henley consists of four principal
streets, well paved and lighted; at the intersection is a
plain stone cross and conduit: the houses, although
irregular, are spacious and well built, and some of them
handsome. A considerable trade in malt was formerly
carried on here: every facility of water carriage to
London is afforded by the Thames; and it is stated that
so far back as the reign of Anne, there had been
sold as much as three hundred cart loads of malt,
and various kinds of grain, at the weekly markets: at
this period it enjoyed also the manufacture of glass, in
the composition of which, a black flint, and a kind of
sand which formed part of the soil, essentially contributed.
There is a silk-mill on a small scale; and
near the town is a paper-mill. The market is on
Thursday, for corn (which is pitched), seeds, &c.;
fairs are on March 7th, for horses and cattle; Holy
Thursday, for sheep; the Thursday in Trinity-week,
and the Thursday after September 21st, the last of
which is a statute fair. This town was incorporated
by Elizabeth, but the charter by which it is now governed
was granted by George I., in 1722, to the
"mayor, aldermen, portreeves, and burgesses," with
power to elect a high steward, "who shall be a baron
of this kingdom, or at least a knight," and a recorder.
The present corporation consists of a mayor, high
steward, ten aldermen, two bridgemen, sixteen burgesses,
with a recorder, town clerk, and inferior officers: the
mayor, recorder, and the two senior aldermen, are justices
of the peace, and have the power of holding a weekly
court of record, for the recovery of debts to the amount
of £ 10, at which the mayor presides; quarter-sessions
are also held regularly. One bridgeman is appointed
annually by the corporation at Michaelmas, and the
junior bridgeman for the preceding year then becomes
the senior for the year ensuing: these officers, according
to ancient custom, are always the churchwardens of
the parish, and each continues in office for two successive
years. All the rents received by them on account
of the various charities are called "Bridge Rents," and
the book in which they are entered, " The Bridge Book,"
from the ancient title of the officers who collect them.
The town-hall, erected by the late Mr. W. Bradshaw, a
member of the corporation, in 1796, stands on un
elevation in the High-street, and is supported by sixteen
Doric columns; it contains a hall and a council-chamber,
and on the basement are rooms used on public occasions,
and a gaol.
The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and
diocese of Oxford, rated in the king's books at £21.1.3.,
and in the patronage of the Bishop of Rochester. The
church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a spacious and handsome
structure, chiefly in the decorated and later
English styles; in the walls are some portions of chequered
work in flint and chalk; it has a fine tower,
erected at the expense, of Cardinal Wolsey, and some
good tracery in the east window of the chancel. The
present north aisle appears to have formerly constituted
the body of the church; in the north part of the chancel
are indications of the original altar, with two canopied
niches, in one of which is a recess, formerly used for
the eucharist. A large sepulchral chapel, or chantry,
founded by the family of Elmes, was, in 1820, converted
into a vestry-room and library, and contains many
valuable works in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and the oriental
languages, with various historical publications, kthe
liberal bequest of Dean Aldrich, rector of Henley, who
died in 1737, and to this library all the inhabitants
who pay church rates have free access, being likewise
permitted, on certain conditions specified by the donor,
to take away the books for perusal. In the chancel is a
handsome monument, with a recumbent effigy of Lady
Elizabeth Periam, the benefactress to Balliol College,
Oxford: there are also monuments to Dr. Cawley, father
of Lady Kneller, who died in 1709, and to Mr. William
Hayward, of Shrewsbury, the architect of Henley bridge:
in a vault on the south side are deposited the remains of
General Dumouriez, so celebrated in the revolutionary
history of France. Richard Jennings, the " Master
Builder of St. Paul's Cathedral," who died at Badgemore,
near this town, lies interred in the church-yard.
There are places of worship, in the town and environs,
for Baptists, the Society of Friends, and Independents. A
grammar school was founded, in 1604, by James I., and
endowed with the proceeds of certain church lands and
other property, partly bequeathed by Augustine Knapp,
and its funds were subsequently augmented by a benefaction
from William Gravett, in 1664. A Blue-coat
school, for educating, clothing, and apprenticing twenty
boys, was founded, in 1609, by Lady Elizabeth Periam;
and in 1774 these two schools were united by act of
parliament, and their incomes consolidated, amounting
at present to about £ 360 per annum, the two foundations
(to be called the " United Charity Schools in
Henley," being placed under the direction of trustees,
who were incorporated, and invested with the right of
a common seal, and other privileges. The schools are
still kept separately: the upper school, for the instruction
of twenty-five boys in Latin and Greek, is under
a master, who has a salary of £70 per annum; and
the lower school, for sixty boys, under a master whose
salary is £60, and an usher with £40 nw asnnm. A
Green seliool, for six boys and six girls, was founded
in 1717, in consequence of a bequest by Mr. John
Stevens, and subsequently endowed with property
producing £54 per annum; and there is a National
school, supported by voluntary contributions, and at
present containing one hundred and eighty boys and
one hundred girls. An almshouse for five poor men,
and an adjoining house for three poor women, who
receive a weekly allowance of three shillings each, were
founded and endowed by John Longland, Bishop of Lincoln,
in 1547, and are under the management of the corporation.
There are ten almshouses for poor persons,
founded and endowed with a bequest by Humphrey
Newbury, in 1664; and four for poor widows, founded
in 1743, by Mrs. Ann Messenger; and numerous other
charities are at the disposal of the bridgemen, and the
mayor and corporation. A savings-bank was established
in 1817.