1540-1700 including The Civil War
1547
King Henry VIII
died, Edward VI became King.
1549
The first book of
Common Prayer in English satisfied many for it offered a Catholic worship.
However, there was
still great division. Extremists
on either side of the religious divide were aroused to activity.
In the same year
the first blow was struck against St. Giles when the cross in London
Street was smashed.
1553
Edward VI died
and Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon took the
throne of England.
1554
Mary married
Philip of Spain. The couple
visited Reading and were received at the top of Silver Street.
The bell ringers
of St. Giles earned 8 pence for ringing the bells at the coming of the
King and Queen.
1555
The
ecclesiastical laws of Henry VIII were annulled.
England returned to Roman Catholicism, Cardinal Pole returned as
Papal Legate and the persecution of Protestants began.
Meanwhile, Julian
Palmer, headmaster of Reading School was martyred, for refusing to change
back to Roman Catholicism.
1558
Elizabeth I,
daughter of Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn came to the throne.
The Church of
England reverts back to the Crown.
There was general
dissatisfaction throughout England with the “established Church”, both
Protestant and Catholic.
In Reading about
200 clergy were forced to live in poverty and lay people were imprisoned
for not attending church.
Queen Elizabeth
visited Reading at regular intervals and supported the cloth trade.
Greyfriars church
was converted into a hospital and workhouse for the reception of children
and old people.
1601
The Poor Law was
established (The destruction of the monasteries meant that care for the
poor and sick was no longer available from the Church).
1603
James I became
King of England.
1608
Serious outbreaks
of plague in Reading.
1624
The Oracle,
Reading’s 17th Century workhouse for the poor and unemployed cloth
workers was opened. It was an
extensive range of shops and warehouses situated on the angle of Minster
and Gun Streets. The Oracle
was built on instructions from John Kendrick's will; he left 7,500 pounds
for this purpose. There was a
clause in the will which stated that ‘if the manufacture should cease
then the whole property should go to Christ’s Church London’.
In 1836 the Charity Commissioner reported that the funds of the
Kendrick bequest had been misapplied.
The Trustees, three vicars and three laymen, had managed the
property badly. When they made enquiries about the clause they exposed
themselves and the state of the Oracle to those in London. Christ’s Church demanded all the proceeds from the
property, and their claim was upheld by the courts.
The actual buildings were demolished in 1850. On this same site in 1997 a new shopping precinct is about to
be built. It will be called
“THE ORACLE”
For 20 years the
people of Reading had been under leadership of a fanatical high Churchman
named Laud. He tried to
impose his ideals of unity and order upon the Church.
Laud was born in Reading and was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
by Charles I. Although he did
many good things, he was much hated and very unpopular because of cruel
and senseless activities. He
was beheaded in 1645.
1628
With the
abolition of the Abbey and the Franciscan Greyfriars, Reading's poor
became a new civil problem. Parishes
were required to levy a ‘poor rate’ to house the poor, to encourage
them to work and to punish “idle rogues and vagabonds”.
When it ceased to be the Tudor Guildhall the old Greyfriars church
became Reading's first poor house.
In 1636 Berkshire
was the 6th richest county in England.
By 1649 it had dropped to 21st place.
1637
The first
hospital in Reading, apart from the Abbey, was built in the parish of St.
Giles on Whitley Hill.
1640
Despite the
Plague and persecution at this time, 1640 saw the establishment of the
Baptist movement in Reading. From
a small gathering of Baptists the present King’s Road Baptist church was
formed. John Bunyan preached
in Pickney Lane on several occasions.
The Civil
War 1642-1649
1642
The Civil War was
a “Power war” between King Charles I and Parliament.
While many of
Reading’s wealthy citizens were royalists, the town as a whole was for
Parliament and when war broke out it was garrisoned against the King by
Colonel Henry Marten, the Berkshire MP.
Charles kept his
troops in Reading for one month. During
this time the tailors were ordered to equip his army. It is said that because of this the clothes trade died ‘for
the cause of the King’.
From November
1642 through to April 1643 Charles I returned and occupied Reading with
some 3000 men. Hosted by the
parish of St Giles, it was to be the largest Royalist garrison outside
Oxford. Trade with
Parliamentarian London was banned and large sums were levied on the town
to support the troops all of which cost the town dear.
The parish suffered and was greatly impoverished as a result.
In the same year a battle took place in the Parish.
Parliament forces won. Following
this the Commons abolished the use of the Prayer Book and strict rules of
worship were enforced.
1643
Reading was the
first town in England to be besieged.
On 15 April a Parliamentary force under the Earl of Essex appeared
at Caversham. The next day
they began bombarding Reading, seized and crossed the medieval Caversham
Bridge and began advancing on the town.
After a siege of 10 days the town was taken by parliamentary
forces, Reading surrendered and on 27 April, to the fury of the King, the
garrison marched out of Reading.
Parliament held Reading until September 1643. It then fell back into Royalist hands until Essex reoccupied it in May 1644.
1643
1644
By this time both
Reading and Berkshire were totally impoverished. The town had suffered badly in the war. Its trade
ruined, Reading took a long
time to recover.
Most of what
survived of the great Abbey Church was destroyed in the Civil War of the
1640’s; what survived through into the late 19th century was
bought and preserved by the town.
1655
George Fox,
founder of the Society of Friends, addressed a large crowd in an orchard
on the south side of London Road. Recording
afterwards, he wrote, “Out of Sussex I passed through the counties till
I came to Reading, where I found a few that were convinced of the way of
the Lord. There I stayed till
the First-day, and had a meeting in George Lamboll’s orchard; and a
great part of the town came to it. A
glorious meeting it was; a great convincement there was, and the people
were mightily satisfied. Thither
came two of Judge Fell’s daughters to me, and George Bishop, of Bristol,
with his sword by his side, for he was a captain.
After the meeting many Baptists and Ranters came privately,
reasoning and discoursing; but the Lord's power came over them.”
1658
Again from the Journal of George Fox: “After a while I went to Reading, where I was under great sufferings and exercises, and in great travail of spirit for about ten weeks. For I saw there was great confusion and distraction amongst the people, and that the powers were plucking each other to pieces. And I saw how many were destroying the simplicity and betraying the truth. Much hypocrisy, deceit and strife were got uppermost in the people, so that they were ready to sheath their swords in one another’s bowels. There had been a tenderness in many of them formerly, when they were low, but when they were got up, had killed and taken possession, they came to be as bad as others; so that we had much to do with them about our hats, and saying Thou and Thee to them. They turned their profession of patience and moderation into rage and madness; and many of them were like distracted men for this hat-honour. For they had hardened themselves by persecuting the innocent, and were at this time crucifying the Seed Christ, both in themselves and others; till at last they fell a-biting and devouring one another, until they were consumed one of another; who had turned against and judged that which God had wrought in them, and shewed unto them. So shortly after God overthrew them, who were often surmising that the Quakers met together to bring in King Charles, wheras Friends did not concern themselves with the outward powers or government. But at last the Lord brought him in, and many of them, when they saw he would be brought in, voted for bringing him in. So with heart and voice praise the name of the Lord. To whom it doth belong: who over all hath the supremacy, and who will rock the nations, for He is over them.”
1659
The Journal of
George Fox again: “Now while I was under that sore travail at Reading,
by reason of grief and sorrow of mind and the great exercise that was upon
my spirit, my countenance was altered, and looked poor and thin; and there
came a company of unclean spirits to me, and told me the plagues of God
were upon me. I told them it
was the same spirit spake that in them that said so of Christ, when He was
stricken and smitten; they hid their face from Him.
But when I had travailed with the witness of God which they had
quenched, and had got through with it and over all that hypocrisy which
the outside professors were run into and saw how that would be brought
down, and turned under, and that life would rise over it, I came to have
ease, and the light, power and spirit shined over all.
And then having recovered, and got through my travails and
sufferings, my body and face swelled when I came abroad into the air; and
then the bad spirits said I was grown fat, and they envied at that also.
So I saw that no condition or state would please that spirit of
theirs. But the Lord
preserved me by His power and spirit through and over all, and in His
power I came to London again.”
1662
The crowning of
Charles II brought back official recognition of the Church of England.
The Act of
Uniformity restricted the Non Conformist movement.
Persecution by
the established Church began.
Many
Congregational Churches grew as a result of this, including one at Broad
Street.
Nonconformists
thrived in Reading not withstanding disabilities.
Reading and Thatcham were regarded as the headquarters of the
Non-conformists. People came
from the villages to attend Reading chapels.
The main denominations were the Baptists, the Independents, and The
Friends. An Anabaptist
congregation existed in Reading prior to 1656; Bunyan preached to
them…(Jews were numerous, but they had no synagogue.)
BROAD STREET CHAPEL
During the time
between the Act of Uniformity in 1662 and the Toleration Act of 1689, it
was illegal to be a non-conformist. Information
about non-conformists during this time is scarce, but it is believed that
the worship and meeting together of those who had come out of the Church
of England and were to become the Independents first began in three houses
in Reading around 1672. These
meetings took place in the homes of Richard Hunt, Richard Ellis and
Griffith Bubby. The first
minister of this group was to be Reverend Thomas Juice.
1670
Returning to the
Journal of George Fox: “At Reading most of the Friends were in prison,
and I went to visit them. When
I had been a while with them, the Friends that were prisoners gathered
together, and several other persons came in; so that I had a fine
opportunity amongst them, and declared the Word of Life, encouraging them
in the truth; and they were refreshed in feeling the presence and power of
the Lord amongst them. When
the meeting was ended, the jailer understanding that I was there, the
Friends were concerned how to get me out free again.
But after I had stayed a while with them, and supped with them, I
went downstairs, and the jailer being at the door, I put my hand in my
pocket, which he had such an eye to, and the hope of some silver, that he
forgot to question me. So I gave him some silver and bade him be kind and civil to
my Friends in prison, whom I came to visit; and so I passed out.”
1671
It was reported
that there were 77 Quakers in Reading prison and six others had died
there. Of the 77 prisoners 28
men and 35 women were there for refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance to
the King; others for non-payment of tithes, or of fines for not attending
parish church services.
1674
It is related
that Mr Juice and another ejected Minister were hidden by a godly woman in
Mill Lane. They were hidden
in the centre of a bark rick. Mr
Juice crept out to preach to his people when the scouts were not about.
It is recorded that Mr Juice was minister of the Church in 1674, although the first meeting is not recorded until 1680.
1676
After the
rejection by the English Church of Rome’s claims upon its allegiance
there remained in Reading no place of worship or centre of teaching of
Catholicism. Three families
retained Franciscan Chaplains. These
were the Perkins at Ufton Court, the Blounts at Mapledurham and the
Englefields at Whiteknights. Records
show that in Reading there were only two Roman Catholic families in the
parish of St. Lawrence and one family in the parish of St. Mary's.
1688
August 15 was
John Bunyan’s last visit to Reading He came to reconcile a Father with
his son, who lived in Bedford. He
preached in a boathouse on the Kennet side.
He died soon after his return to London.
1688
“The Reading
Fight,” otherwise known as the ‘bloodless’ Revolution overturned
Britain’s last Catholic Monarch, James II in favour of his Protestant
daughter Mary and her Dutch husband William III who was crowned William of
Orange. William’s army
landed at Torbay and advanced on London.
James sent 600 horse and foot to waylay the Dutch column in
Reading. The townspeople
supported William and sent word to him of the plan.
James’s Irish
troops in Reading were caught off guard by William’s men who routed them
in a savage fight through the streets of the town killing about 50 for the
loss of six of their own. Some
of the Irish fell to townspeople firing down on them from their windows on
Pangbourne Lane, now the Oxford Road.
The celebrated ‘Reading Fight’ was the only blood spilt in an
otherwise bloodless revolution.
Do events
from the past have any influence on the way we are today?
- Blood
shed in Civil War in Reading.
- Lay
people imprisoned for not attending church.
- Reading
and Thatcham regarded as HQ of Non-conformists.
- Persecution
of Protestants.
- Persecution
of Catholics.
- Persecution
of Non-Conformists.
- Quakers
imprisoned.
- Blood
spilt in Oxford Road: Catholic v Protestant.
- Establishment of Baptists.
- John Bunyan and George Fox visited and preached here.
1066 - 1540 The Middle Ages including Reading Abbey
1540-1700 including The Civil War
Historical Streets and Places in Reading
Praying together for Reading - What is God doing?
Words, Pictures, Prophecies and Promises
Principle Sources and Further Reading