Aldermaston

"ALDERMASTON, (or Admiston), a parish in the hundred of Theale, in the county of Berks, 10 miles to the S.W. of Reading, and 9 S.E. of Newbury. It is situated in a pleasant district, in the valley of the Kennet, near the junction of the Emborne with that river, and is a station on the Hungerford branch of the Great Western railway. The Kennet is navigable, and there is a wharf; which has a good traffic in coal and timber. There is also an extensive brewery and malting establishment. This place was formerly a market town. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford. The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, stands in the park. It is a large and ancient structure, in the decorated style, with a Norman doorway, and contains some brasses and tombs of the Orchards and Delameres. There is a handsome marble tomb of George Foster and his lady, which is a fine specimen of ancient workmanship, and a monument in memory of Ralph Congreve. Near the village is Aldermaston Court, a fine new mansion in the Tudor-Elizabethan style of architecture. Aldermaston Park was the seat of Mr. Congreve, a member of the family of the dramatist of the 18th century. The mansion is the old manor house, a fine hall, with stained windows. At Aldermaston Soak are some remains of a camp. There are some almshouses, endowed by Dixon, and a national school. Horse and cattle fairs are held on the 6th May and the 7th July, and a fair for horses, &c., on the 13th October.

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.