Newbury Society - Southern Walk

Southern Walk
THIS walk is based on the fifteenth (2000) edition of our "Two Town Walks in Newbury" booklet which incorporates the work of several contributors, but specific mention is made of the: information provided by the late Miss Helen Purvis, a former librarian of Newbury Library, of the maps drawn by the late Ernest Paul, who was a local architect and chairman of The Newbury Society's Buildings committee, updates resulting from Mr. Jeremy Holden-Bell walking the routes, and desk-top publishing and photographs by Mr. Robert Willis.
For convenience our tour is divided into two walks, one south of the River Kennet, and the other north. They can be taken separately or as one longer walk. Both start from West Berkshire Council offices in Market Street near the centre of the town. The figures in parenthesis in the text refer to locations on the maps.		Click on Map to Enlarge
THERE are also many interesting sites and buildings on the outskirts of Newbury, at Speen, Shaw, Donnington and Sandleford for example, which cannot be fitted into a short tour. Being on a river crossing, Newbury has a long history starting with the Middle Stone Age about 7000 BC. The Romans left a cemetery on the site of the railway goods yard and had a military station at Speen from which a road went to Cirencester. From Saxon times onwards Newbury has been the centre of a rich agricultural district with markets and fairs, and a flourishing woollen cloth industry from the Middle Ages to the early 19th century.
Enjoy the walks, but please take great care crossing the roads and beware of buses in the pedestrian zone.
WE start from the West Berkshire Council Offices which are a late 1970's development. Opposite is the Kennet Centre, with murals representing (left to right) Bath, Devizes, Newbury, Oxford, Reading and London.		Council Offices
The bus station to the east was the site of the 19th century cattle market which was itself preceded by a Quaker burial ground. To the west is the rear entrance to the 17th century Dolphin Inn (1), with a typical brick and tile yard, formerly a "putting-up" place for carriers' carts coming in from the villages on market days.
Follow the road round the west side of the Council Offices and cross a car park to the rear of the Eight Bells* (2).*
THE Eight Bells coffee shop is an attractive gabled building with a porch made from ship's timbers. It was one of the oldest inns in the town, probably Tudor.
We now enter Bartholomew Street.
BARTHOLOMEW Street, curved and of medieval origin, shows an accumulation of styles through the centuries. Here, and throughout the town, it is worth noticing the varied roof lines and the attractive local bricks.
Continue southwards.
WE see on the opposite side of the road a substantial brick building of mid-Victorian date which was the Brewer's House, part of the former Phoenix Brewery (10).
We now approach Black Boys Bridge over the Paddington-Penzance railway line; its name originated from a public house that was part of the building opposite (Roderick Anthony). The bridge was rebuilt in 1999 and the carriageway is now somewhat higher reducing visibility for northbound drivers making right turns into Station Road. Facing us on the bridge is a colour washed house of the 17th century (Simply Perfect Nails Studio). This was the Vine Inn (9). Two cottages of the same period lie behind it, approached by the passage.
We now cross the bridge.
CONTINUE along Newtown Road to see Lower Raymond's Alms-houses (3), built in 1796, having moved from Argyle Road where they were established in 1676. These almshouses face on to Fair Close, where a Statute Fair, granted by King John was held at St. Bartholomew's tide from 1213 to 1939. Another wing of the almshouses was destroyed by enemy action in 1943 and has been replaced by housing and a day centre for the elderly.
Cross the road by the pedestrian crossing.
TO the right is the remaining part of the medieval Litten Chapel (4), which was partially demolished in the late 19th century to build the present main road. Newbury's first Grammar School, founded in 1466 by Henry Wormestall, was housed there, and later until the 1880's in the large grey building that lies corner wise at the junction of Newtown Road and Pound Street. Behind the modern Christian Science Church we see the back of St. Bartholomew's Hospital (5), a range of almshouses founded by King John, who had many connections with Newbury.
Walk up the road to the roundabout.
WE see on the left the new St. John's Church. Built with many millions of specially made local bricks to the design of Stephen Dykes-Bower, it replaced the Butterfield church that was destroyed in the 1943 air raid.
East of the church is the former vicarage, now an Abbeyfield Home, which was also designed by Butterfield and gives some indication of the architectural style of the earlier church. Until recently, just beyond the roundabout in the corner between Newtown Road and Old Newtown Road was St. John's Infants School in similar style but now replaced by houses.
We are now entering the old part of Newbury known as "The City". In former times a mock "mayor", having no connection with the official Mayor of Newbury, was installed at the Wellington Arms on the corner of Andover Road. Turning down Derby Road, on the right can be seen Upper Raymond's Almshouses (6), built in 1826 in the Gothic Revival style. The first building seen in Argyle Road is a pleasing modern building in traditional style with picturesque porch over which are the arms of the County of Middlesex.
Next is an attractive half-timbered range (7), originally Raymond's Alms-houses, part of which was a medieval farm building. These two blocks are retirement homes for nurses, preference being given to former staff of the Middlesex Hospital, where their founder, Dr. Essex Wynter, had worked.
S St. Bartholomew's Hospital		Over the porch of the older block we see the arms of the Brewers' Company of which the founder of Raymond's was a member. Opposite is the front of St. Bartholomew's Hospital (5), the back of which we saw from Newtown Road, for originally this narrow little road was the main route to Southampton. This block was rebuilt in 1618, the central cupola and clock were added in 1698 and the Royal Arms in the 18th century.
The building below the Nurses' Homes is the old Bartholomew Manor (8). This is probably the site of the Saxon manor house of Ulvritone, the pre-Norman name for Newbury. The present building dates from the 14th and 15th centuries with many later additions including Tudor fireplaces and staircase, 18th century panelling and recent restorations. Jack of Newbury leased the house for a short time. On the corner is Bartholomew Close, an 18th century building in red brick with attic windows in large tile hung gables.
Cross Pound Street.
FACING us as we cross are the Queen Anne Garden House, brick and tile hung, and Cottrell's shop which is a mid to late Georgian block, attractively rounded on the street corner. Crossing the "Black Boys" railway bridge again we get a view of the Vine Cottages, and westwards down the line is the wide arch of the Rockingham Road bridge. This is one of the original broad gauge bridges of the Berks and Hants Railway, and the only one remaining in Newbury.
We pass the Vine Inn (9) again, and come back to Phoenix House (10), where one can get a glimpse of the remaining brewery buildings in the yard, the main one now converted to offices.
		The Coopers' Arms (11) on the corner of Craven Road is late 18th century but with earlier features, mainly Caroline.
Here turn left into Craven Road.
CRAVEN Road is dominated by the tall front of the late Victorian Oddfellows' Hall.
Take the second turning on the right into Kennet Road.
FROM the corner look back at the diaper patterned brickwork of "Diamond House" built in 1862.
Halfway along Kennet Road, to the right, a grand old chestnut has its heavy branches supported by metal stays. Beyond it we come to Kimber's Almshouses, built here in 1939, though originally built in Cheap Street in 1795. We now come to the Kennet and Avon Canal at West Mills. n the left-hand corner alongside the canal are the Weavers' Cottages (12) with an oriel window on the end gable. From the swing bridge one gets a general view of West Mills as far as St. Nicolas Church. It is now partially hidden by a modern block of flats on the site of one of Newbury's two former mills that were mentioned in Domesday. This was the town corn mill, the other near the swing bridge was a fulling mill for several centuries. On the right lies the picturesque range of buildings of varying sizes covering the 17th to the 19th centuries.
Turn right along West Mills.
ON the corner opposite the Weavers' Cottages is a fine Queen Anne house known as the Club House (13). The handrail along the path by the Club House is supported on pieces of Brunel's broad gauge rail. Several buildings along the road were almshouses, now rebuilt on other sites, including No. 11 with its Gothic headed windows. Originally three almshouses end on to the road and rebuilt in 1807. The plaque from the oval panel being refixed to the replacement bungalows in St. David's Road.
Craven House, No. 9 (14) is 18th to 19th century with attractive arched windows and door. The Chantry (15), with a fine Doric porch, is mid 18th century, as is the imposing St. Nicolas House (16) next to it, which has a good staircase of the same period. The canal-side road was itself West Mills Wharf where Somerset coal was discharged and Pyle Hill gravel was loaded for Bristol and the West Country. Until the recent development the remains of a weighbridge frame still existed in West Mills Yard.
From West Mills we enter, by the south door, Newbury Parish Church of St. Nicolas. In 1986 celebrations were held to mark 900 years of Christian worship on this site. The parish is now known as St. Nicolas, Newbury with St. Mary's Speenhamland following the redundancy and eventual demolition of St. Mary's Church in the London Road in the early 1970's.
The present St. Nicolas Church is Perpendicular Gothic having been mainly rebuilt by Jack of Newbury and his son between 1500 and 1532. It is more or less complete for the period, with few alterations since except for some restoration between 1850 and 1870, the late Victorian stained glass windows, and some re-ordering of the chancel including stained glass windows on the south side, and provision of a nave altar during the 1980's. The pulpit is Jacobean, and there is a fine Tudor roof. The brass of Jack of Newbury and his first wife is beneath the tower, which holds a ring of ten bells and affords fine views of the town when open. Besides being a place of worship with three sung services most Sundays, it provides a venue for concerts and plays throughout the year, including the Newbury Spring Festival. Although the community hall has been built on part of the churchyard and an office block has replaced the Victorian parish room, the much depleted "green lung" provided by the churchyard together with the rural atmosphere of the near-by canal still makes a valuable contribution to the nature conservation habitat.
From the church, for those who have the time for the complete tour, continue past Lloyds Bank and over the canal by Newbury Bridge, following the itinerary for the Northern Walk.
To continue the Southern Walk cross Bartholomew Street and go along Mansion House Street.
THE Town Hall which fronts the Market Place was designed by J.H. Money, a local architect, after the manner of Waterholes who designed Reading Town Hall and the Prudential Buildings in Holborn. This building, with its high clock tower, was built in 1878. The later Municipal Building in Mansion House Street was completed in 1911, after the 18th century Mansion House with its open arched "shambles" below for market stalls, had been demolished to widen the street. In 1997 Newbury regained its Town Council and it is back in use as the Town Hall. On the opposite side of Mansion House Street there are several former houses, including one long occupied by Beynons, whose fronts are a mixture of mid-Georgian, but whose origins are a mixture of Caroline and Tudor. This mixture of three or more periods is characteristic of many buildings in the centre of Newbury, where owners continually updated their properties instead of demolishing them. Wholesale demolition only started to gain momentum in the Victoria era, reaching disastrous proportions between the 1960's and 1980's.
		The Market Place is an open square of irregular shape surrounded by attractive buildings. Originally the 17th century Guildhall stood in the middle. This was demolished in 1832 to be followed later by a terracotta statue of Queen Victoria presented in 1902 by Lord George Sanger of circus fame; a small remaining part of this is now banished to Victoria Park. To the left of the Town Hall are Daniel's and other shops of 17th and 18th century date. To the right are the National Westminster Bank and The Old Wagon and Horses (17) containing a 17th century staircase.
On the east side stand White Hart House (18) a former posting inn, of 16th, 17th and 18th century date, and the Hatchet and Queens Hotel, that have 19th century fronts with earlier work behind. Between them is the Corn Exchange built in 1861-2 with an imposing Corinthian front, for many years used for a variety of local activities but closed in 1988 because of inadequate fire precautions. After much delay, restoration and refurbishment was completed in 1994. It now provides a much needed and enhanced general purpose hall suitable for use both as a theatre and a concert hall, and also ancillary accommodation.
Leave the Market Place between the Old Wagon and Horses and White Hart House.
WE pass 5 Wharf Street, an imposing 18th century house that has fine panelling inside, and come to the Museum (19).
		The Old Cloth Hall dates from 1627 but was converted to its present use in 1902. It is joined by the Granary (20), of Charles II's time, extending along one side of the Wharf and has a long overhanging gallery on the first floor. There was a similar granary by the south basin.
Other buildings on Newbury Wharf are include: the mid-18th century Wharf House (21) formerly named Kendrick House and once the home of the Page family, the original promoters and proprietors of the Kennet Navigation and Newbury Wharf, and the Stone Building (22) previously thought to be all that remains of Newbury Castle and Norman fortress demolished in the wars of King Stephen and Queen Matilda.
		Beyond is the historic crane, restored by The Newbury Society.
In this area the Newbury Coat was made in the year 1811, from the sheep's back to the wearer in one day, Sir John Throckmorton wearing it to dinner the same evening. The buildings remaining in the Wharf epitomise the great prosperous days of the Newbury of the past, when cloth and grain traders were the mainstay of the town. Many small breweries and five iron foundries also flourished in the town, the latter being represented today by the firm of Plenty, although now on a new site outside the town. The Wharf has continued to evolve: in 1996 a Peace Garden was sponsored by the local firms, Bayer (German), Zanussi (Italian) and Panasonic (Japanese). The award winning public convenience followed in 1997. The Public Library, unfortunately delayed because of technical problems, is expected to open Summer 2000. We should see rebuilding of the "temporary" wartime Emergency Bridge to Parkway in Spring 2001. Today's prosperity is reflected in the furniture extension of Camp Hopson across the river. Its curving front was designed to front a large circular basin, part of a planned redevelopment yet to start. Return to the Market Place.

WE finish our walk along Cheap Street. No. 33, Michael Greenwoods' Shoe shop (23) originates from the late 17th century, and opposite there are several 18th century buildings, including No. 48 which has a fine 17th-18th century staircase. Further on past the Library is No. 63, formerly A.J. Chivers (24), an 18th century house with pedimented doorway and bow windows, unusual in this part of the country. The Mills & Bann office (25) opposite this is of the same period.
Return along Cheap Street and turn left into Market Street to the Council Offices, where the walk began. © 2000 The Newbury Society.
Northern Walk

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