Editing Reading Abbey (section)

==History==

The abbey was founded by [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] in 1121. As part of his endowments, he gave the abbey his lands within Reading, along with land at [[Cholsey]], then in Berkshire, and [[Leominster]] in Herefordshire. He also arranged for further land in Reading, previously given to [[Battle Abbey]] by [[William the Conqueror]], to be transferred to Reading Abbey, in return for some of his land at [[Appledram]] in Sussex.<ref name=ahcbbr>{{cite book | chapter = The borough of Reading: The borough | title = A History of the County of Berkshire | volume = 3 | year = 1923 | pages = 342–364 | chapter-url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43226 | editor1-first= P.H. | editor1-last= Ditchfield | editor2-first= William  | editor2-last= Page }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kemp|first1=Brian R.|title=Reading Abbey an introduction to the history of the abbey|date=1968|publisher=Reading Museum and Art Gallery|location=Reading|page=13}}</ref>

Following its royal foundation, the abbey was established by a party of [[monk]]s from [[Cluny Abbey]] in [[Burgundy]], together with monks from the Cluniac [[priory of St Pancras]] at [[Lewes]] in Sussex. The abbey was dedicated to the [[Virgin Mary]] and [[St John the Evangelist]].<ref>Charles Tomkins, ''Views of Reading abbey, with those of the churches originally connected with it'', 1805</ref> The first abbot, in 1123, was [[Hugh of Amiens]]<ref>C. Warren Hollister, ''Henry I'' (2001), pp. 282–3.</ref> who became [[archbishop of Rouen]] and was buried in [[Rouen Cathedral]].

According to the twelfth-century chronicler [[William of Malmesbury]], the abbey was built on a gravel spur "between the rivers Kennet and Thames, on a spot calculated for the reception of almost all who might have occasion to travel to the more populous cities of England".<ref>[https://www.readingabbeyquarter.org.uk/history-abbey-quarter "History of the Abbey Quarter", Abbey Quarter]</ref> The adjacent rivers provided convenient transport, and the abbey established [[wharf|wharves]] on the [[River Kennet]]. The Kennet also provided power for the abbey [[water mill]]s, most of which were established on the [[Holy Brook]], a channel of the Kennet of uncertain origin.

[[File:Burial of Henry I, 1136 by Harry Morley, painted in 1916.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|Burial of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] at Reading Abbey in 1136, painted by [[Harry Morley]] (1916)]]
When Henry I died in [[Lyons-la-Forêt]], Normandy in 1135 his body was returned to Reading, and was buried in the front of the [[altar]] of the then incomplete abbey.<ref>Hollister, C. Warren (2003). Frost, Amanda Clark (ed.). Henry I. New Haven, US and London, UK: Yale University Press. p. 474, {{ISBN| 978-0-300-09829-7}}</ref>

Because of its royal patronage, the abbey was one of the [[pilgrimage]] centres of [[medieval]] England, and one of its richest and most important religious houses, with possessions as far away as [[Herefordshire]] and Scotland. The abbey also held over 230 [[relic]]s including the hand of [[James, son of Zebedee|St James]].<ref name=rbhrra>{{cite web |url=http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/rdgrelic.html |title=Relics from Reading Abbey |author=Ford, David Nash |year=2001 |work=Royal Berkshire History |publisher=Nash Ford Publishing |access-date=28 December 2010}}</ref> A shrivelled human hand was found in the ruins during demolition work in 1786 and is now in St Peter's Catholic Church, [[Marlow, Buckinghamshire|Marlow]].<ref name=rbhreading>{{cite web |url=http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/reading.html |title=History of Reading, Berkshire |author=Ford, David Nash |year=2001 |work=Royal Berkshire History |publisher=Nash Ford Publishing |access-date=28 December 2010}}</ref> The song [[Sumer is icumen in]], which was first written down in the abbey about 1240, is the earliest known six-part harmony from Britain. The original document is held in the [[British Library]].<ref name=rbhsiii>{{cite web |url=http://www.berkshirehistory.com/maps/reading_abbey/rdgab08.html |title=Sumer is icumen in memorial, Reading Abbey |author=Ford, David Nash |year=2001 |work=Royal Berkshire History |publisher=Nash Ford Publishing |access-date=28 December 2010}}</ref>

Reading Abbey was frequently visited by kings and others, most especially by [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] who often visited three or four times a year staying several weeks on each visit. It also hosted important state events, including the meeting between [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] and the [[Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem|Patriarch of Jerusalem]] in 1185, the wedding of [[John of Gaunt]] and [[Blanche of Lancaster]] in 1359 and a meeting of [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] in 1453.<ref name=cs7>{{cite book | title = The Town of Reading and its Abbey | first = Cecil | last = Slade | publisher = MRM Associates Ltd | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-0-9517719-4-5 | pages = 6–7}}</ref>

The abbey was mostly destroyed in 1538 during [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII's]] [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]]. The last abbot, [[Hugh Faringdon]], was subsequently tried and convicted of [[high treason]] and [[hanged, drawn and quartered]] in front of the Abbey Church. After this, the buildings of the abbey were extensively robbed, with lead, glass and facing stones removed for reuse elsewhere.<ref name="rarwa"/>
[[File:Map of reading abbey 2.png|alt=Map of Reading Abbey before its destruction.|thumb|upright=1.35|Map of Reading Abbey before its destruction.]]
Some twenty years after the Dissolution, Reading town council created a new town hall by inserting an upper floor into the former refectory of the [[hospitium]] of the abbey. The lower floor of this building continued to be used by [[Reading School]], as it had been since 1486. For the next 200 years, the old monastic building continued to serve as Reading's town hall, but by the 18th century it was suffering from structural weakness. Between 1785 and 1786, the old hall was dismantled and replaced on the same site by the first of several phases of building that were to make up today's [[Reading Town Hall]].<ref name=dptsor42>{{cite book | first = Daphne | last = Phillips | title = The Story of Reading | year = 1980 | publisher = Countryside Books | isbn = 978-0-905392-07-3 | pages = 42}}</ref><ref name=dptsor88>{{cite book | first = Daphne | last = Phillips | title = The Story of Reading | year = 1980 | publisher = Countryside Books | isbn = 978-0-905392-07-3 | pages = 88}}</ref> Around 1787, [[Henry Seymour Conway]] removed a large amount of stone from the wall and used it to build [[Conway's Bridge]] near his home at [[Park Place, Berkshire|Park Place]] outside [[Henley-on-Thames|Henley]].<ref>{{Cite book| last1=Mackay |first1 = Charles |author-link=Charles Mackay (author) |title=The Thames and its tributaries; or, Rambles among the rivers| year=1840 |publisher=R. Bently |location=London |url=https://archive.org/stream/thamesitstributa01mackiala#page/340/mode/2up |page=341}}</ref>

[[St James's Church, Reading|St James's Church]] and School was built on a portion of the site of the abbey between 1837 and 1840.<ref>{{cite web|title=Church of St James', Reading|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-38939-church-of-st-james-reading|publisher=British Listed Buildings|access-date=7 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=About the Nursery|url=http://www.forburygardensdaynursery.co.uk/about|publisher=Forbury Gardens Day Nursery|access-date=7 June 2011}}</ref> Its founder was James Wheble, who owned land in the area at that time. [[Reading (HM Prison)|Reading Gaol]] was built in 1844 on the eastern portion of the abbey site, replacing a small county Gaol on the same site. James Wheble sold the rest of his portion of the abbey site to Reading Corporation to create the [[Forbury Gardens]], which were opened in 1861.<ref name=stjames>{{cite web | url = http://www.jameswilliam-reading.org.uk/documents/StJamesChurch-avisitorsguide2007.pdf | title = St James Church – A guide for Visitors | publisher = St James Church | access-date = 24 October 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927231653/http://www.jameswilliam-reading.org.uk/documents/StJamesChurch-avisitorsguide2007.pdf | archive-date = 27 September 2007 }}</ref><ref name=hmpreading>{{cite web | url = http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/prison.asp?id=625,15,2,15,625,0 | title = HM Prison Service – Reading | publisher = [[Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)|United Kingdom Ministry of Justice]] | year = 2004 | access-date = 24 October 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014939/http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/prison.asp?id=625%2C15%2C2%2C15%2C625%2C0 | archive-date = 28 September 2007 }}</ref><ref name=rbcfg>{{cite web | title = Forbury Gardens | publisher = Reading Borough Council | url = http://www.reading.gov.uk/leisureandculture/parksandopenspaces/fulllistofparksandopenspaces/General.asp?id=SX9452-A77F90A5 | date = 2000–2007 | access-date = 24 October 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090109230339/http://www.reading.gov.uk/leisureandculture/parksandopenspaces/fulllistofparksandopenspaces/General.asp?id=SX9452-A77F90A5 | archive-date = 9 January 2009 }}</ref>