V. Observations on Reading Abbey, by Sir Henry Englefield, Bart. F.S.A.

Extract

The abbey of Benedictine monks at Reading, founded in the year 1121 by Henry the First, rendered still more famous by his and the empress Maud's burial there, was second to few in this kingdom in its wealth, honours, and magnificence. The number of its religious was two hundred; and their abbot, who was a peer of parliament, gave place only to those of Glastonbury and Saint Albans. His abbey answered in stateliness to the rank and consequence he possessed; and a proof of that is, that parliaments and councils have more than once been held in the great hall of the abbey. The shattered and disjointed ruins of the building, which now remain, bear a character of majesty very singular and almost peculiar to themselves. Stript by destroyers of more than ordinary patience and industry, of almost every stone which cased the walls, they still, though built only of small flints, defy the injuries of time and weather, and have more the appearance of rocks than of the works of human hands. My residence in the neighbourhood has given me frequent opportunities of examining these ruins, and the plan and drawings now presented to the inspection of the Society are the result of my enquiries. I make no apology for this communication; it has long appeared to me, that a number of surveys of the different abbies and cathedrals of this kingdom would be a fund of valuable information for those who study the history of architecture in England