Forbury Gardens
Encyclopedia
Forbury Gardens is a public park in the town of Reading
in the English county of Berkshire
. The park is on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey
, which was in front of the Abbey Church. The site was formerly known as the Forbury, and one of the roads flanking the current gardens is still known as The Forbury. Fairs were held on the site three times a year until the 19th century.
Forbury, a suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin
, was named after the gardens by early resident William Henry Valpy
, who was born in Reading.
was founded in 1121, by King Henry I
, and for the next four centuries it dominated the town, becoming one of the most influential establishments in England. Like other such monasteries, Reading had a forbury, or 'borough in front', an area of open land which provided a meeting place between the Abbey and the town. The Forbury in Reading was part of the outer court of the Abbey, and provided a market place as well as a meeting place.
In 1150, what is now Forbury Hill was constructed to help fortify the Abbey during the civil war between King Henry I
's daughter, Matilda
, and his nephew, Stephen
.
The abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during Henry VIII's
Dissolution of the Monasteries
. The last abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon
, was subsequently tried and convicted of high treason
and hanged, drawn and quartered
in front of the Abbey Church. After this, the buildings of the abbey were extensively robbed, with lead, glass and facing stones removed for reuse elsewhere, and the focus of the town moved away from the Forbury.
Reading suffered badly during the English Civil War
, being occupied at different time by both sides. During the Siege of Reading
(1642-3), the Royalist
garrison built defences that further damaged the remains of the Abbey, and Forbury Hill was used as a gun emplacement.
As a result of the concerns sparked in England by the French Revolution
, and throughout the ensuing Napoleonic Wars
, the Forbury was used for military drills and parades, in addition to its well-established use for fairs and circuses. Three annual fairs were generally held on the Forbury, but the most significant was the Michaelmas Fair, held in September. This fair became known as the Reading Cheese Fair, although cattle, horses and hops were also sold, and it served as the principal local hiring fair
.
By the first years of the 19th century, the western part of the Forbury was in use as a playground or sports ground for Reading School
, which at this time was housed in the former Hospitium of St John. However the whole of the Forbury was in private ownership, and disputes were common as to the common rights of the town and the rights of the school.
In 1854, Forbury Hill and the eastern section of the present gardens were sold to Reading Corporation at the cost of £1200, of which £400 was donated by the previous owner, a Mr Wheble. The resulting gardens were planned with a 'botanical character', a fountain and a summer house, and became known as the Pleasure Gardens. Work started in 1855 and the Pleasure Gardens opened on Easter Sunday 1856. A tunnel was built on the eastern side in 1859 to link the gardens and the Abbey ruins.
The success of the Pleasure Gardens contrasted with the situation in the western part of the Forbury, which was still used for fairs. After one fair, the area was described as being covered 'with heaps of oyster
shells, manure and other refuse'. In 1860, this section of the Forbury was purchased by the town for £6010 from Colonel Blagrave. It was decided that fairs should no longer be held there, but the emphasis remained on recreational use rather than botanical display, with the area grassed except for the outside walks and a gravelled parade ground.
The common ownership notwithstanding, the two halves of the Forbury remained very different in character, and separated by a wall. However in 1869 the town purchased 12 acres (4.9 ha) of King's Meadow, the abbey's former water meadow by the River Thames
, as a recreation ground. This paved the way for the incorporation, in 1873, of the western part of the Forbury into the gardens, which then became known as Forbury Gardens.
The Maiwand Lion
statue was erected in 1886 to commemorate the loss of over 300 officers and men of the Royal Berkshire Regiment
at the Battle of Maiwand
in Afghanistan
in 1880. The sculptor was George Blackall Simonds
and it is sometimes known locally as the Forbury Lion.
A cross memorializing Henry I was put up, at about the same time as the Maiwand Lion, on the north-west corner of the footings of the Abbey Church. The Victoria Gates on the southern side of the gardens commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The shields on the gates are those of the Borough and the Abbey.
A grand re-opening event took place on May 14, 2005, to mark the completion of a one-year restoration project. The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded Reading Borough Council £2.13 million to restore the historic features of the Forbury Gardens and improve safety and access for visitors. The scheme was developed in consultation with residents and interested local groups.
Work in the gardens themselves has included the restoration of the Maiwand Lion, the bandstand, water feature and the garden's walls, fencing and gateways. A new Keeper's Lodge also includes a refreshment kiosk, public toilets and facilities for a resident gardener. Reading Borough Council organises summer concerts in the bandstand on Sunday afternoons during July and August.
After the restoration, closed-circuit cameras monitor the whole Gardens area, in a bid to deter the drug users and other miscreants that used to make ordinary people fearful of using the public gardens. The garden has received a Green Flag Award
for being welcoming, safe, well maintained and involving the community.
The Forbury Hill is now accessible by two winding footpaths (wheelchair-accessible) that lead to an area that is elevated about 3 metres above the surrounding gardens. A single plane
tree stands in the middle, and around the outer edge of the top of the hill are wooden seats.
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
in the English county of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. The park is on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors...
, which was in front of the Abbey Church. The site was formerly known as the Forbury, and one of the roads flanking the current gardens is still known as The Forbury. Fairs were held on the site three times a year until the 19th century.
Forbury, a suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, was named after the gardens by early resident William Henry Valpy
William Henry Valpy
William Henry Valpy was a noted early settler of Dunedin, New Zealand. He is sometimes referred to locally as "The father of Saint Clair", as he was the first settler in the area now occupied by the suburb of Saint Clair....
, who was born in Reading.
History
Reading AbbeyReading Abbey
Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors...
was founded in 1121, by King Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
, and for the next four centuries it dominated the town, becoming one of the most influential establishments in England. Like other such monasteries, Reading had a forbury, or 'borough in front', an area of open land which provided a meeting place between the Abbey and the town. The Forbury in Reading was part of the outer court of the Abbey, and provided a market place as well as a meeting place.
In 1150, what is now Forbury Hill was constructed to help fortify the Abbey during the civil war between King Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
's daughter, Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
, and his nephew, Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
.
The abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during Henry VIII's
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
. The last abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon
Hugh Cook Faringdon
Blessed Hugh Cook Faringdon, O.S.B., , also known as Hugh Faringdon or Hugh Cook, was a Benedictine monk who ruled as the last Abbot of Reading Abbey in the English town of Reading. At the dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII of England, he was accused of high treason and executed...
, was subsequently tried and convicted of high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
and hanged, drawn and quartered
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
in front of the Abbey Church. After this, the buildings of the abbey were extensively robbed, with lead, glass and facing stones removed for reuse elsewhere, and the focus of the town moved away from the Forbury.
Reading suffered badly during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, being occupied at different time by both sides. During the Siege of Reading
Siege of Reading
The Siege of Reading refers to the English Civil War military campaign waged to besiege a Royalist garrison quartered in the town of Reading, Berkshire from 4 November 1642 to 25 April 1643.-Background:...
(1642-3), the Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
garrison built defences that further damaged the remains of the Abbey, and Forbury Hill was used as a gun emplacement.
As a result of the concerns sparked in England by the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, and throughout the ensuing Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, the Forbury was used for military drills and parades, in addition to its well-established use for fairs and circuses. Three annual fairs were generally held on the Forbury, but the most significant was the Michaelmas Fair, held in September. This fair became known as the Reading Cheese Fair, although cattle, horses and hops were also sold, and it served as the principal local hiring fair
Hiring fair
Hiring fairs were also called statute, or mop fairs. They date from the time of Edward III, and his attempt to regulate the labour market by the Statute of Labourers in 1351 at a time of a serious national shortage of labour after the Black Death...
.
By the first years of the 19th century, the western part of the Forbury was in use as a playground or sports ground for Reading School
Reading School
Reading School is a state-funded, selective academy school for boys in the English town of Reading. It is notable for tracing its history back to the school of Reading Abbey, making it one of the oldest schools in England. There are no tuition fees for day pupils, and boarders only pay for food and...
, which at this time was housed in the former Hospitium of St John. However the whole of the Forbury was in private ownership, and disputes were common as to the common rights of the town and the rights of the school.
In 1854, Forbury Hill and the eastern section of the present gardens were sold to Reading Corporation at the cost of £1200, of which £400 was donated by the previous owner, a Mr Wheble. The resulting gardens were planned with a 'botanical character', a fountain and a summer house, and became known as the Pleasure Gardens. Work started in 1855 and the Pleasure Gardens opened on Easter Sunday 1856. A tunnel was built on the eastern side in 1859 to link the gardens and the Abbey ruins.
The success of the Pleasure Gardens contrasted with the situation in the western part of the Forbury, which was still used for fairs. After one fair, the area was described as being covered 'with heaps of oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
shells, manure and other refuse'. In 1860, this section of the Forbury was purchased by the town for £6010 from Colonel Blagrave. It was decided that fairs should no longer be held there, but the emphasis remained on recreational use rather than botanical display, with the area grassed except for the outside walks and a gravelled parade ground.
The common ownership notwithstanding, the two halves of the Forbury remained very different in character, and separated by a wall. However in 1869 the town purchased 12 acres (4.9 ha) of King's Meadow, the abbey's former water meadow by the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, as a recreation ground. This paved the way for the incorporation, in 1873, of the western part of the Forbury into the gardens, which then became known as Forbury Gardens.
The Maiwand Lion
Maiwand Lion
The Maiwand Lion is a sculpture and war memorial in the Forbury Gardens, a public park in the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. The statue was named after the Battle of Maiwand and was erected in 1886 to commemorate the deaths of 329 men from the 66th Berkshire Regiment during...
statue was erected in 1886 to commemorate the loss of over 300 officers and men of the Royal Berkshire Regiment
Royal Berkshire Regiment
The Royal Berkshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 49th Regiment of Foot and the 66th Regiment of Foot.The regiment was originally formed as The Princess Charlotte of Wales's , taking the...
at the Battle of Maiwand
Battle of Maiwand
The Battle of Maiwand in 1880 was one of the principal battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under the leadership of Malalai Anaa, the legendary woman of Afghanistan, the Afghan followers of Ayub Khan defeated the British Army in one of the rare nineteenth-century victories of an Asian force...
in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
in 1880. The sculptor was George Blackall Simonds
George Blackall Simonds
George Blackall Simonds was an English sculptor and director of H & G Simonds Brewery in Reading in the English county of Berkshire....
and it is sometimes known locally as the Forbury Lion.
A cross memorializing Henry I was put up, at about the same time as the Maiwand Lion, on the north-west corner of the footings of the Abbey Church. The Victoria Gates on the southern side of the gardens commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The shields on the gates are those of the Borough and the Abbey.
The gardens today
Work in the gardens themselves has included the restoration of the Maiwand Lion, the bandstand, water feature and the garden's walls, fencing and gateways. A new Keeper's Lodge also includes a refreshment kiosk, public toilets and facilities for a resident gardener. Reading Borough Council organises summer concerts in the bandstand on Sunday afternoons during July and August.
After the restoration, closed-circuit cameras monitor the whole Gardens area, in a bid to deter the drug users and other miscreants that used to make ordinary people fearful of using the public gardens. The garden has received a Green Flag Award
Green Flag Award
The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for parks and green spaces in the United Kingdom. The scheme was set up in 1996 to recognise and reward green spaces in England and Wales that met the laid down high standards...
for being welcoming, safe, well maintained and involving the community.
The Forbury Hill is now accessible by two winding footpaths (wheelchair-accessible) that lead to an area that is elevated about 3 metres above the surrounding gardens. A single plane
London Plane
Platanus × acerifolia, the London plane, London planetree, or hybrid plane, is a tree in the genus Platanus. It is usually thought to be a hybrid of Platanus orientalis and the Platanus occidentalis . Some authorities think that it may be a cultivar of P...
tree stands in the middle, and around the outer edge of the top of the hill are wooden seats.
External links
- Video: History of Reading Abbey, BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
- Berkshire History: Reading Abbey