I would post a pic of churchill but it's about as interesting as the side of a barn.....and I'd get shot if I stopped long enough to take a picture in that part of town....twice.
Double dare ya Shaggy?
King Henry I founded Reading Abbey in 1121 and chose to make it his family mausoleum. He died in France fourteen years later, before the building work was complete. Despite fierce competition from Rouen cathedral, the Royal body was embalmed, wrapped in bull's hides and shipped back to Reading for burial before the Abbey's High Altar. His funeral was attended by Queen Adeliza, the new King, Stephen, and most of the Archbishops, Bishops and nobles of England. The former gave a hundred shillings for the maintenance of a lamp to burn constantly over his grave; and a fine effigy of the monarch was later erected over the same. It was probably not unlike that of his grandson still to be seen at Fontevrault in Anjou.
A tradition, current in the 16th century, held that King Henry was buried in a silver coffin and it is thought that this inspired the workmen demolishing the choir to break into his tomb. Finding only a stone sarcophagus, they scattered the Royal bones: "thrown out to make room for a stable for horses". Today King Henry is remembered by a large memorial cross in the Forbury Gardens and a small plaque in the South Transept, close to his last resting place.
The best known remnant of the great Abbey of Reading is the Inner Gate. Commonly known as the "Abbey Gateway," this was the smallest of several entrances to various parts of the monastery. It guarded the way into the monastic inner-sanctum where the general public were not admitted and appears to have survived destruction due to its administrative role. It was the meeting place of Abbot and townsfolk and confrontation between the two was rife in the Middle Ages, particularly over the Mayoral elections.
The Last abbot of Reading was hanged just outside the Abbey Gateway in 1539, bringing the site's monastic connection to a close. It was part of the Royal Palace that superseded the Abbot's House for a while, but in the 18th century became the original home of the 'Abbey School' which was attended, for several years, by the author, Jane Austen. The building was heavily restored in 1861 after virtually collapsing during a thunderstorm. It now belongs to Reading Museum.
Nelly
