Reading, Berkshire

Kearsley's Traveller's Entertaining Guide Through Great Britain (1801):

Reading is a borough pleasantly seated on the river Kennet, near its confluence with tthe Thames, and is the largest and best town in the county, with three parish chruces. It had once a rich abbey, of which some runis remain. It was built by Henry I who ws interred here in 1133; and in 1787, in digging the foundation for a gaol, on the site of the abbey, the remains of that prince were found in a vault, in a leaden coffin. His queen and his daughter Maud were here also interred. Its abbot was mitred. Parliaments have been frequently held in this abbey. Its gatehouse is nearly entire. In the civil wars the town was taken in ten days, by the parliament forces. Its chief trade is in malt. Archbishop Laud was born in this town, and was a great benefactor to it. On a hill hear it, is a remarkable bed of oyster-shells, of which there isa n account in the Transactions of the Royal Society.

Inns: Crown, Bear

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