Aldworth

"ALDWORTH, (or Allder), a parish in the hundred of Compton, in the county of Berks, 4 miles S.E. of East Ilsey, and 12 from Reading, its post town. It is an ancient place, and is situated near the Roman Icknield Street. It is thought by some to have been a Roman settlement. At Beach Farm there was formerly a castle, which was the seat of the family of the De la Bêches, who were lords of the manor. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford, value £449, in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of St. John's College, Cambridge. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. It is very old, and in the early English style. It contains nine tombs, with finely sculptured monuments of the De la Bêches. Six are effigies of armed knights, one of a person in the common dress of the time, and two of women. They are all richly canopied, and are probably the work of the 14th century. In the churchyard is a fine yew-tree; measuring twenty seven feet in circumference.

From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland(1868). Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003

Other descriptions can be found from other periods in various trade directories covering Berkshire from the early 19th century onwards from Berkshire FHS (members only) and from A Vision of Britain Through Time.