Caversham

"CAVERSHAM, a parish in the hundred of Binfield, in the county of Oxford, 1 mile N. of Reading. It is beautifully situated on the river Thames, near the Great Western railway. At the period of the Conquest this place was given to the Giffards, earls of Buckingham, who subsequently founded a priory which was attached to Notley Abbey. Caversham Hill, in 1643, was the scene of a skirmish between the parliamentarians and Prince Rupert. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Oxford, value £236, in the patronage of Christ Church, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient edifice with a tower partly of wood. It was partially restored in 1857. At the village of Kidmore End, which is situated within this parish, is a district church erected in 1852. There is a Dissenting place of worship and National schools for both sexes. A new church school with teacher's residence was built in 1860. The charities amount to £14 11s. 6d. per annum. There is a mineral spring in the neighbourhood. William Crawshay, Esq., is lord of the manor, and resides at Caversham Park, the grounds of which were laid out by Capability Brown. This estate, which was purchased by Mr. Crawshay, formerly belonged to the Marsacs and Cadogans, and gives to the latter the title of viscount. Old Caversham House, where the queen of James I. was entertained by Lord Knowles, and Charles I. was permitted to see his children, was destroyed by fire in January, 1850, but has since been rebuilt." [The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]