East Hendred, Berkshire

Description
Hendred, East or Great, a village and a parish in Berks. The village stands near a small affluent of the river Thames, 2 miles S by W from Steventon station on the G.W.R., 2 1/2 N of the Ridge Way, and 4 1/2 E by N from Wantage; was formerly a market-town and a seat of cloth manufacture, is now a picturesque and interesting place, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office, of the name of East Hendred, under Steventon (R.S.O.) The parish comprises 3198 acres; population of the civil parish, 802; of the ecclesiastical, 788. The property formerly belonged chiefly to the abbeys of Sheen, Reading, and Abingdon. Hendred House is a seat of the Eyston family, has belonged to that family since the 13th century, is adorned with ancient monograms, and contains relics and memorials of Sir Thomas More. A chapel, called the chapel of St Amand, is attached to the mansion, dates from about the year 1256, has always, like only other two chapels in England, been used for Roman Catholic worship, and is of Early English architecture with very thick walls. Hendred Down House is a modern mansion standing in a park of 90 acres. Remains of a monastery connected with Sheen Abbey, and comprising a Later English chapel and a small monastic house, now used as a granary, are at the entrance of the village. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net yearly value, £406. Patron, the Bishop of Oxford. The church is ancient, was restored and enlarged in 1861, has an embattled tower with ancient chimes, and contains a lectern of the 13th century and several ancient brasses. There is a Roman Catholic church, dedicated to St Mary, which was erected in 1865, and is a building of stone in the Decorated style. There are also a Primitive Methodist chapel and charities worth about £110 a year. Two abbots of Abingdon were natives, Robert de Hendred and Richard de Hendred, both of the 13th century.