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1. Abingdon Abbey, Berkshire, England

Former Benedictine Abbey.
Nothing of the abbey church remains in situ, and the surviving abbey buildings all post- date the 12thc. In the Abbey Gardens, where the church once stood, is an artificial ruin constructed of fragments from the site. Reset in the S wall of this are the voussoirs described below.
2. St Nicholas, Abingdon, Berkshire, England

Parish church
The W front and N wall date from the mid 12thc., but no original sculpture survives. The present W door belongs to a restoration of 1880, and is based on drawings by H.Neil (1804, engraved by J.C.Smith and published in 1805), and J.Storer (1808, engraved by the artist). These show the doorway in a dilapidated state, but substantially as it appears today, with the exceptions noted below.
3. Aldermaston, Berkshire, England

Parish church
A large pebble-dashed church with a single nave and chancel and no chancel arch. The original church was shorter, but was extended E and W in the 13thc., the W part of the nave being slightly wider than the E. At the same time a S transept was added as a chapel. There is a 15thc. tower with a spire. The only features of interest are the large reset W doorway and a head set on the S wall inside the nave.
4. Appleton Manor, Appleton, Berkshire, England

Manor house
Appleton is in the NE of the traditional county, less than a mile from the River Thames, which formed the Oxfordshire border. As it is now considered part of Oxfordshire it may be more helpful to say that it is 4 miles NW of Abingdon and 7 miles SE of Witney. The village clusters around the junction of three minor roads W of the A420, with the church near its centre and the manor immediately to the S. Appleton Manor is surrounded on three sides by a dry moat, and dates from c.1200, although it was altered in the late 16th century and refaced in the 20th. The main 12thc feature remaining is the hall, which survives astonishingly intact, although partitioned into two rooms. It runs more or less from E (the low end) to W with its main entrance doorway in the N front of the manor, now protected by a two-storey Elizabethan porch. This gives access to the hall at the E end of the N wall. In the E wall is a pair of doorways leading to the service passage. The S wall, opposite the entrance, contains a large window. The W wall is a later insertion, the hall originally continuing into the room beyond, which now cotains panelling of c.1700. The outer SW angle of this room is decorated with a 12thc shaft. The manor was enlarged in later periods, especially the 16thc, and sensitively restored and enlarged by Detmar Blow in the 1920s.
5. St Laurence, Appleton, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Nave with four-bay N aisle of similar width, chancel with N chapel and 15thc. W tower. The nave arcade belongs to the end of the 12thc., but the chancel arch is 19thc. and the chancel itself was rebuilt in the 16thc. The nave aisle and the chancel and its chapel have barrel vaults, which might be wooden as is the 18thc. four-bay arcade separating chancel and chapel. There are doorways with porches to N and S. There was a restoration in 1883 when a W gallery was taken out. Only the N arcade and the font are 12thc.
6. St Mary, Ashbury, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Remains of a 12thc. nave arcade on the aisle side of the present, later arcade indicate that the Romanesque church had aisles. The S doorway also has 12thc. sculpture.
7. St Mark and St Luke, Avington, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Despite later additions, the 12thc. church survives in its entirety, consisting of an aisleless nave with a chancel of the same width but slightly lower. The main areas of interest are the richly-carved S doorway, the chancel arch, the remains of the chancel rib vault, and the font.
8. Barn Acre Cottage, Borough Marsh, Berkshire, England

Private house
These gateposts with beakhead voussoirs built into them were crucial to the rediscovery of carved stones from the cloister of Reading Abbey. Just before the outbreak of World War II, Dr Wilfred Bowman bought Barn Acre Cottage in Borough Marsh near Wargrave. He intended to use it as a summer cottage, but he and his family took more-or-less permanent residence there after the air raids on London began. While gardening Dr Bowman unearthed the two beakhead voussoirs recorded here, and had them incorporated into the gateposts of a new set of gates for the cottage. In 1948 the stones were noticed by René Ledésert, a specialist in French literature based in London, who brought them to the attention of his friend George Zarnecki at the Courtauld Institute of Art, who at once recognised them as stones from Reading Abbey, and began a correspondence with Dr Bowman that resulted, later the same year, in the Courtauld Institute excavation of Dr Bowman's garden, and the discovery of some sixty carved stones that are now in Reading Museum. For an account of how the stones may have come to Borough Marsh, and more details of the excavation, see Baxter and Harrison (2002) and Zarnecki (1949 and 1950). An account of the excavation has been compiled by Tessa Smith, Dr Bowman's daughter, which includes photographs and copies of correspondence.
9. St Nicholas, Beedon, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Single nave with timber bell turret at W and wooden S porch on a stone base, lower square-ended chancel. There are opposing N and S doorways. The church appears to date from the early 13thc., but the chancel arch and font are described below
10. St Lawrence, Besselsleigh, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Aisleless nave and chancel in one, with bellcote at W end and plain, continuous 12thc. S nave doorway (not described or photographed). The only 12thc. sculpture is the pillar piscina.
11. All Saints, Bisham, Berkshire, England

Parish church
The fabric of the church was entirely replaced in restorations of 1849, 1856 and 1878, apart from the late 16thc. Hoby chapel S of the chancel and the 12thc. W tower. Late 12thc. sculpture is found on the E arch of the tower and the bell-openings (the latter restored in 1962).
12. St Michael, Blewbury, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Late 12thc. nave and rib-vaulted crossing and chancel, with S nave aisle of similar date. N aisle added 14thc. and S chancel chapel c.1300. Perp. W tower and N and S doorways. 12thc. sculpture is found on the crossing pier capitals and crossing vault supports, on the S arcade capitals and a piscina serving the lost rood-loft altar.
13. St Michael, Bray, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Large church of 14thc. and later, extensively restored 1859-60. In the churchyard N of the church a flint building, originally the Chantry Chapel of St Mary, later a school. In the S wall of this is a reset 11thc. or 12thc. relief.
14. All Saints, Brightwalton, Berkshire, England

Parish church
A spired church in a late 13thc. style by G. E. Street, 1862-63. It contains an arcaded font which is probably medieval rather than 19thc.
15. St Leonard’s, Brimpton Manor Farm, Brimpton, Berkshire, England

deconsecrated chapel (formerly Free Chapel)
Brimpton is a village in the south of the county, five miles E of Newbury and only a mile from the Hampshire border. The village lies between the rivers Kennet and Enborne, just south of the line of the Roman road from Newbury to Calleva (Silchester). It is clustered around a minor crossroads, with the parish church (St Peter’s) in the centre and Brimpton Manor farm and St Leonard’s chapel 500 metres to the north. The chapel of St Leonard stands immediately to the E of Brimpton Manor farmhouse, and is a simple rectangular flint building with ashlar quoins and a modern red-tiled roof. The N doorway indicates an origin in the 12thc, but there are additions of the 13thc (N window) and 14thc (E window). The only Romanesque sculpture is on the N doorway.
16. St Mary the Virgin, Buckland, Berkshire, England

Parish church
A cruciform church with a wide, early 12thc. nave with unusually large N and S doorways described below. The N transept and crossing tower are 13thc.; the chancel 14thc., and the S transept bears the date 1787. Many 12thc. moulding fragments (not described) are incorporated in the exterior wall facings, and a single-billet 12thc. string course has been reset under the later W nave window.
17. St Mary, Bucklebury, Berkshire, England

Parish church
The ornate S doorway is all that remains of the 12thc. work.
18. St Mary, Buscot, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Perpendicular crenellated W tower, aisleless nave and chancel separated by a chancel arch of c.1200, S doorway under a porch. The chancel arch and font are included here.
19. St Margaret, Catmore, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Single nave and chancel. Nave has a 19thc. bellcote on the W gable and opposed N and S doorways, both 12thc. The S doorway, described below, is protected by a porch with a neo-Norman external doorway. The N doorway, not described, is completely plain and headed by a segmental chamfered arch. There is a 12thc. font decorated with beakhead.
20. Caversham Court, Caversham, Berkshire, England

Public park
Of the buildings of Caversham Court only the stables and a garden house remain. The site is now a public garden on the N side of the Thames, just S of St Peter's Caversham, and at the top of a flight of steps is a pair of gateposts with a beast's head corbel built into each.
21. St Peter, Caversham, Berkshire, England

Parish church
A large flint and ashlar church with an aisled nave, the aisles extending some way along the chancel. The S aisle is an addition of 1878, and in this year the W tower was also rebuilt. The chancel has a N vestry and was extended in 1924–25 by Ninian Comper. There is a 12thc. S doorway under a porch, and the font might also be Romanesque. Finally the N aisle wall incorporates a variety of reused material including a stone carved with chevron.
22. St Andrew, Chaddleworth, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Integral 12thc. single nave and chancel with 13thc. tower. To this, G.E. Street added a brick chancel higher than the nave in 1851. Two chapels of 1706 (E chapel) and 1765 (W chapel) open off N side of nave. The tower bears the inscription MBR1637AMP, presumably referring to a restoration. 12thc. sculpture consists of a S doorway elaborately carved with chevron, a plain font, and reused pieces on the tower arch and the label of the W window.
23. St Peter, Charney Bassett, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Charney Bassett is in the NW of the traditional county, 7 miles W of Abingdon and 4 miles N of Wantage. The village contains only approximately 100 houses clustered, with the church, at a junction of minor roads some 3 miles W of the A338, a former Roman road from Wantage to Bicester. The church comprises a nave with a N aisle and S porch and a chancel. 12thc. sculpture is found in the S portal and in an important tympanum reset inside the church.
24. St Mary the Virgin, Childrey, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Nave of c.1200 or slightly later, heightened 15thc. with a late 13thc. chancel and 14thc. transepts. Carved S nave doorway contemporary with nave. The lead font from the same period is not described.
25. All Saints, Chilton, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Nave of 12thc. with S aisle added early 13thc. Present chancel 14thc. Original W tower reputedly destroyed 1644, rebuilt 1847 and 1876 and extended to S 1971. Plain 12thc. N doorway (blocked). A single corbel is the only 12thc. sculpture to survive, although a second is recorded.
26. St Mary, Cholsey, Oxfordshire, England

Parish church
An aisleless cruciform church with rendered nave, crenellated flint crossing tower, south transept and square chancel. Construction appears to be of flint throughout. A plan on show inside the church (1991) indicates that the chancel was originally shorter and apsidal, and that there were two transepts with apsidal chapels. No authority for this plan is given. In 1991 the interior of the nave was inacessible owing to restoration work. By 1998 this had been completed and proved to consist in the main of laying a new floor and altering the liturgical arrangements by installing an altar at the W end of the nave with rows of chairs facing it. According to the churchwarden, the work was overseen by Martin Biddle. The old pulpit remains in its original position, at the E end of the nave and is thus not usable in the new arrangement. The original altar remains in place too, so is presumably used for some services. Romanesque features described below are the S nave doorway, corbels on the S transept, a window in the chancel N wall, and the crossing arches with their capitals.
27. St Andrew, Clewer, Berkshire, England

Parish church
In 1868 Clewer was described as a parish a mile from Windsor, but today it has been almost entirely subsumed by its neighbour. Clewer is at the northern extremity of Windsor, alongside the Thames, whose floodplain has effectively put a stop to expansion in that direction. St Andrew’s is a flint church with a short W tower carrying a shingled broach spire. Otherwise it has a chancel with a S chapel, a nave with N and S aisles, the N continuing eastwards as a chapel, now used as an organ loft, and vestry, and a modern S porch. The present S aisle was the original, early 12thc. nave of the church, and its plain chancel arch now leads to the Brocas chapel; the old chancel rebuilt as a chantry by Sir Bernard Brocas in the 14thc. The present nave was added in the later 12thc., and the three-bay S arcade dates from that time. The present N arcade appears to be of the early 13thc., but there is a record of “a new N aisle with wall repairs” added by Henry Woodyer in 1861. Woodyer may thus have widened an existing aisle. The chancel was also restored by Henry Woodyer in 1868. The plain 12thc. chancel arch is round-headed, of one order with plain hollow-chamfered imposts. Romanesque sculpture is found on the S nave arcade and the font.
28. All Saints, Coleshill, Berkshire, England

Parish church
12thc. work remains in the S nave arcade, and in fragments reset in the exterior wall of the chancel.
29. St Michael, Cumnor, Berkshire, England

Parish church
A large church comprising nave with N aisle, W tower, S transept and square-ended chancel. The church contains an important series of 12thc. corbels. Of these, a group of four are in their original positions on the S nave wall, below the level of the added clerestorey. One is reset at the SW corner of the nave. The remainder (18 in all) have been brought inside the church and reset under the roof trusses of the N, S and W nave walls, and on the N and S walls of the N aisle. Also present are a late 12thc. W doorway and tower arch.
30. St James, Denchworth, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Nave with 13thc. N aisle, chancel, S transept and NW tower all apparently post-12thc. Late 12thc. sculpture is found on the simple S nave doorway.
31. All Saints, East Garston, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Externally, All Saints' appears to be a substantial aisleless 12thc. cruciform church with a two-storey crossing tower. A S aisle has been added to the nave, and a 14thc. chapel added to the N of the chancel. There are N and S doorways, the former blocked and the latter under a porch. On the interior, all four crossing arches prove to be replacements, and the S arcade is of 1882 by Ewan Christian. The chancel is of 1875, by J. W. Hugall. Construction is of flint with brick banding on the tower and transepts. A 1684 datestone on the E wall of the N chapel presumably indicates a restoration, as does the 1882 date on the rainwater heads. This report includes the S doorway of c.1200 and the lower storey tower windows, as well as two crudely carved heads reset in the walling. Pevsner also reports a Norman pillar piscina, but its capital is carved with naturalistic foliage forms, and it must date from the later 13thc.
32. St Michael and All Angels, Eaton Hastings, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Aisleless nave with opposed N and S doorways, the former now enclosed in a vestry. W bellcote. There was a 13thc. S aisle, which has been removed leaving the arcade visible. Long, square-ended chancel. The church was restored by Champion, 1870-73. The following 12thc. work is described below: the N nave doorway, windows in the nave and chancel N walls, chancel arch jambs and font.
33. St Mary, East Ilsley, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Nave with early 13thc. S aisle, N aisle of 1844-45, 14thc. W tower, and large square 13thc. chancel. The S aisle was restored in 1881-82, and the tower refaced in 1885-86. A further restoration was made in the mid-1970s to the stonework of the tower and the S aisle roof, and in 1987 major repairs were made to the N aisle roof, the ringers' chamber and the nave floor. The only feature reported here is the font, which dates from c.1200 or slightly later.
34. St Michael, Enborne, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Nave, chancel and N transept. Aisles were added to an earlier nave towards the end of the 12thc., and at the same time the nave was extended one bay to the W. Sculpture is found on the nave capitals and the font.
35. St Mark, Englefield, Berkshire, England

Parish church
An estate church built by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1857, re-using a good deal of the medieval church that was already there. It consists of a nave with S aisle, chancel with a N chapel (the Englefield Chapel), a tower (added in 1868) at the NW of the nave and a S doorway with a porch. Three bays of the S arcade date from c.1200, while the jambs of the doorway, a pillar piscina and the font are all 12thc.
36. St Thomas, East Shefford, Berkshire, England

Redundant church
Single nave and chancel of c.1100 (12thc. window in N wall, 12thc. paintings on chancel arch wall) with timber bell turret at W end of nave and S nave doorway. The chancel E wall was rebuilt 13thc., and the chancel arch enlarged and a S chancel chapel added, probably c.1463. Romanesque sculpture comprises a font, a pillar piscina and a loose fragment elaborately carved with foliage.
37. All Saints, Faringdon, Berkshire, England

Parish church
The present nave and crossing fall just outside the scope of this Corpus. The only 12thc. sculpture is on the reset doorway to the 19thc. baptistery, towards the W end of the N nave aisle.
38. All Saints, Farnborough, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Perpendicular W tower of ashlar and single nave and square chancel of flint rubble. The church has opposed N and S doorways, with a S porch. The simple 12thc. N doorway is the only feature to be described.
39. St James, Finchampstead, Berkshire, England

Parish church
St James's has a rectangular 12thc. nave (two N windows visible inside) and apsidal chancel, with a square red brick tower of 1720. On the N side is a chapel running the length of the chancel and most of the nave with arches from both. This addition is dated 1590 TH (above the outer door). Nave, chancel and N chapel are all rendered. Romanesque sculpture is confined to a font and a pillar piscina.
40. St Frideswide, Frilsham, Berkshire, England

Parish church
12thc. aisleless nave and chancel with N and S doorways and two windows remaining. Only the N doorway is carved. Mee (1939) recorded a plain Norman font, but this does not survive.
41. St Nicolas, Fyfield, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Nave with Perpendicular N arcade, large two-bay 14thc. chancel and W tower, square in its lower stage and octagonal above. The S porch, described by Pevsner as comical, is probably J. C. Buckler's work of 1867–68. There was a fire in 1893, and after this a through restoration including the upper parts of the tower. The blocked N doorway is of c.1200 or slightly later. The W doorway is, stylistically at least, significantly later and is not included here.
42. St Mary, Great Shefford, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Substantially a church of the end of the 12thc., with chancel, nave and a round W tower. Romanesque sculpture is found on the S doorway and the font.
43. St Mary, Hampstead Norreys, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Substantially 12thc. single nave and 13thc. square chancel almost as wide as the nave. The nave was extended W, and a W tower added (perhaps replacing an earlier one further E) in the 15thc. The N porch also dates from this period. A vestry was added on the N side of the chancel in the 19thc. There was a major restoration in 1879-80, mainly involving the replacement of a screen dividing nave from chancel with the present chancel arch. Remains of an early rood screen were unfortunately destroyed at that time. Romanesque sculpture is found on the N and S nave doorways.
44. St Mary, Hamstead Marshall, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Nave with14thc. N aisle, chancel, 18thc. brick W tower. Plain 12thc. S doorway.
45. St Matthew, Harwell, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Aisled nave, W tower and transepts of c.1190-1220, chancel c.1300, nave aisles heightened c.1300. Remains of a 11thc. nave excavated to W of present church in 1962-63. The stiffleaf and crocket capitals of the nave are not treated here, but the stylistically earlier exterior capitals of the W tower are. There is also a plain font.
46. St George, Hatford, Berkshire, England

Parish church
An aisleless church of c.1130-50, with carved S doorway and chancel arch. The priest's doorway, added c.1200, has no carving.
47. Blessed Virgin Mary, Hurley, Berkshire, England

Benedictine Priory church.
The present church is the long, narrow, aisleless nave of the priory church, with 11thc. proportions and plain 12thc. windows. The carved W and S doorways are in 12thc. style, but the former belongs partly and the latter entirely to Henry Hakewill's comprehensive restoration of 1852 as does the W window. To the N of the church stand the cloister and refectory, now a private house, the former containing two plain arches which appear to be c.1100 but are not regarded as medieval by VCH. Further 12thc. sculpture is found inside the two doorways.
48. St Nicholas, Hurst, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Hurst is a village in the SE of the county, just outside the western edge of Reading and three miles N of Wokingham. St Nicholas’ church is on the southern edge of the village, and consists of a nave with separately roofed aisles and a modern S porch, a chancel with a N chapel and a 19thc N vestry, and a W tower of 1612. Construction is of flint except for the brick W tower. Inside, the nave arcades are of three bays; the two E bays of the N arcade are 12thc., but the W bay is significantly later, perhaps c.1300. The S arcade is mid-13thc. work with complex moulded capitals and pointed arches with multiple mouldings. The 12thc. parts of the N arcade are recorded here.
49. St John the Baptist, Kingston Lisle, Berkshire, England

Parish church
A small, unaisled church with 12thc. nave and chancel. The only sculpture is on the N doorway of c.1200.
50. St Mary, Kintbury, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Unaisled 12thc. nave and chancel with W tower and transepts added later. The S doorway is 12thc. but heavily restored, as was the entire building, in 1859. The S porch is 19thc.The W doorway is a Victorian copy of the S doorway almost exactly the same size but differing slightly in detail.
51. St Michael, Lambourn, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Lambourn is a large village (with a population of around 3,000) in west Berkshire, two miles from the Wiltshire border. The river Lambourn rises here, and runs SE through the village. Lambourn is in the heart of the chalk downs of Berkshire and is famous for its association with horse racing. There are more than 50 racing yards in the Lambourn valley, with more than 2,000 horses in training. The church, surrounded by its spacious churchyard, stands in the centre of the village. It is a cruciform building with an aisled and clerestoried nave, crossing tower, transepts and a chancel with one N and two S chapels. Of this the nave, aisles and crossing arches are all late-12thc, the N transept (now housing the organ) is 13thc and the S transept 14thc. The inner chapels are both 14thc in origin, and the outer S chapel, with its battlements and elaborate pinnacles, is 15thc. The chancel, with its spectacular E window, is largely Perpendicular in style. The tower is largely 15thc, while the W front was originally a fine 12thc composition divided into four storeys by stringcourses, with large round-headed windows above the central doorway, an oculus in the gable, and plain round headed windows in the W aisle walls, but a three-light reticulated window introduced in the 14thc has rather disrupted the design. The church was repaired and reseated by T. L. Donaldson in 1849-50, and repairs were carried out by L.E. King of London in 1949-51. Features recorded here are the W doorway and oculus, the nave arcades, the crossing arches and a pillar piscina used as a stoup in the N aisle.
52. St Mary, Little Coxwell, Berkshire, England

Parish church
12thc. work is found on the S nave and chancel doorways. The former is described below, the latter is completely plain.
53. St James, Leckhamstead, Berkshire, England

Parish church
The present church is by S. S. Teulon, 1858-60, but contains an elaborately carved 12thc. font.
54. St Michael and All Angels, Letcombe Bassett, Berkshire, England

Parish church
12thc. nave and chancel. 13thc. W tower. Two-bay S nave aisle by Butterfield added in 1862 when church restored. Good quality early 12thc. sculpture on N chancel doorway and chancel arch.
55. St Andrew, Letcombe Regis, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Nave, chancel and W tower, all post 12thc. Only the font is 12thc.
56. All Saints, Lockinge, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Originally a single nave and chancel with W tower added 1564. In 1853 a new nave was added to the S, the old church then becoming the N aisle. In 1886 an aisle with an arcade of oak was added to the S. There is a 12thc. N doorway (revisit needed) and a plain font.
57. St Mary, Long Wittenham, Berkshire, England

Parish church
The church built c.1120 by Walter Giffard, 3rd Earl of Buckingham, consisted of an aisleless nave and a short chancel. A S aisle was added c.1200, running the entire length of the nave, with an arcade of four bays, and a N aisle of three bays was added to the eastern part of the nave c.1350. The piers of the two aisles do not correspond. The 12thc. chancel was extended eastwards to its present length in the 13thc., and a new E window fitted in the 14thc. The chancel was entirely rebuilt in 1850. A S transept was added c.1300, traditionally by Joan, widow of Gilbert de Clare (d1295), as a memorial chapel. It now functions as the vestry. A W tower was added in the 15thc. The chancel arch capitals are the only sculpture remaining from the original 12thc. church.
58. St Mary, Marlston, Berkshire, England

Chapel of Bucklebury
The church was built substantially by Butterfield in 1855, of flint with red tile roof. It has a single nave with a bell turret at W end, and a square-ended chancel of two bays. There is a vestry in the position of a N transept, and facing doorways at the W end of the nave, the S under a porch. The N doorway is of c.1200, and there is a pillar piscina in the chancel.
59. St Lawrence, North Hinksey, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Single nave with E part roofed lower than W, and square-ended chancel roofed still lower. W tower with pyramidal roof. The nave has opposed N and S doorways; the blocked N doorway has no remaining sculpture, while the elaborate S doorway, protected by a porch of 1786, is described below. Two Norman windows survive in the nave N wall, and another is low down in the chancel S wall. The Norman-looking chancel arch is 19thc. work by John MacDuff Derick.
60. St John the Baptist, Padworth, Berkshire, England

Parish church
A complete 12thc. church with a rectangular aisleless nave and apsed chancel and a shingled W bell-turret. The external masonry is covered with pebbledash rendering throughout. High-quality 12thc. sculpture is to be found on the N and S nave doorways (the S doorway protected by a modern porch), and the chancel arch.
61. St Mary the Virgin, Purley-on-Thames, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Largely of 1870 by Street, but incorporating older fabric. Brick W tower of 1626. Nave with 20thc. N aisle extending along N side of tower. Square chancel with pointed chancel arch. The 12thc. chancel arch has been reset on the N side of the chancel and is described below. There is also a 12thc. carved font.
62. Reading Abbey, Reading, Berkshire, England

Benedictine Abbey
The abbey was begun in 1121 under the patronage of Henry I, the choir of the church must have been complete by January 1136, when Henry was buried there. It was dedicated by Archbishop Becket in the presence of Henry II in 1164, by which time it must have been substantially complete. A Lady Chapel was added at the E end in 1314 by Abbot Nicholas of Whaplode (1305–28). More details of the history of the abbey will be found in section VII below.
63. St James, Radley, Berkshire,

Parish church
The village of Radley stands in a loop of the Thames that forms the boundary between the traditional counties of Berkshire (to the W) and Oxford (to the E). The village is now on the NE outskirts of Abingdon, and at the northern edge of the village stands the church and Radley College. St James’s church consists of a nave with a W gallery, a S aisle and S transept (housing the organ), a chancel and a W tower. The S aisle is separated from the nave by five bays of tall wooden piers that carry longitudinal arched braces instead of arches. It was restored and reseated by J. O. Scott in 1900-03. The font is 12thc., as is a corbel discovered during the 1900-03 restoration on the NE of the chancel arch.
64. 35 London Street, Reading, Berkshire, England

Private house
35 London Street, now the headquarters of R.I.S.C., is a terraced house of three storeys with a large basement extending under the road. It now boasts an imposing baroque facade. The fragments of sculpture here described were discovered built into the fabric of the first floor and basement during a major restoration of the building in 1997. The stones were found in two locations: (i) built into a wall on the first floor, and (ii) built into walls in the basement. Details of the location of each stone are given below, but they are all described under the heading of loose sculpture, since it is intended that they should be removed from their present locations for display in the public areas of the building.
65. Reading Abbey Mills, Reading, Berkshire, England

Former corn-mill
All that remains is a section of wall running N-S, pierced by three arches. They are described under section III.3.d. below.
66. Reading Museum and Art Gallery, Reading, Berkshire, England

Museum
Reading abbey stones
67. St James RC church, Reading, Berkshire, England

RC church
St James’s stands on the site of the N transept of the Abbey church; now on Forbury Road immediately E of the Forbury Gardens. The original church of 1840, built of flint from designs by Pugin, consisted of an aisleless nave with a S sacristy off the E end, and a semicircular E apse. There was no tower, but a simple bell-turret on the W gable. A major enlargement by Wilfred Mangan of 1925-26 added a S aisle, a narthex (Pugin's doorway being moved west), and an ambulatory around the apse. The sacristy was extended eastwards at this time. Finally a N nave aisle was added by H. Bingham Towner, work completed in 1962. The complex also includes a Priest House, S of the church, and S of this a school (now Forbury Gardens Day Nursery), parallel and similar in form to the church, even to the bell-turret. Access is through an arch at the end of Abbot's Walk into a path running along the W side of the complex. Walls on either side of this path include reset abbey stones. The complex was built on the site of the N transept of the Abbey church, and two masses of rubble marking angles of the transept may be seen at the front of the Priest House. The S boundary wall of the school is built on the line of the N choir arcade, and includes two pier bases. A respond base, belonging to a N transept chapel, may be seen in the Priest House garden. All these remnants of abbey fabric still in situ are dealt with more fully in the entry on the abbey itself. The present entry describes two capitals inside St James's, one remodelled as a font, and fragments of carved stone from the abbey built into the external walls of the church, the Priest House and the walls of the path running along the W side of the group.
68. St Laurence, Reading, Berkshire, England

Parish church
St Laurence’s is in the centre of Reading, originally standing beween the W gate of the Abbey and the Hospitium of St John. It now faces Friar St with the Town Hall to the N. It consists of a nave with a N aisle only, a chancel with a N chapel and a 16thc. W tower. Construction is of flint. The original church on the site may have been early 12thc., but according to VCH all that remains standing of this is the S nave wall, the lower part of the tower S wall and a window reset in the SW of the nave. The foundation of the Hospitium of St John in 1196 may have acted as a spur to enlarge the church by demolishing the old tower to extend the nave, and at the same time new N and S doorways were added. The S is still in place, and fragments from the N are set in a blocked arch in the N nave aisle. The N aisle itself and the chancel chapel apparently followed in the 13thc. The N arcade was rebuilt in 1522, and the church was repaired and reseated by Joseph Morris of Reading in 1867-69. Late 12thc. sculpture is found on the S nave doorway and in a blocked arch in the N aisle wall, but more interesting are the carved stones from the Reading Abbey site used to construct what must be called a folly in the churchyard NE of the church (see III.4.(i)).
69. St Mary, Reading, Berkshire, England

Parish church, formerly Minster church
W tower, four-bay aisled nave, chancel aisled on the S side only. The S nave arcade dates from the late 12thc. The tower is largely 16thc., having been rebuilt after a storm in 1593/94, and contains 12thc. moulded stones taken from the abbey. The history of the N aisle is a complex one. There was a N transept in the 14thc., in which the Jesus Chantry was housed, but the north nave aisle which it now terminates was not added until 1872. In 1918 a small chapel, the St Edward's or War Memorial Chapel, was built out from the north wall of the aisle. The chancel was extended and given its S aisle in 1863. This S chancel aisle was originally a Lady Chapel, but is now a candle shop. The only 12thc. sculpture is on the capitals of the S nave arcade.
70. St James, Ruscombe, Berkshire, England

Parish church
12thc. flint chancel, brick nave and W tower of 1638-39. The only features of interest are a pillar piscina and the recut font.
71. St Mary, Shaw, Berkshire, England

Parish church
The present church, by J.Hansom, dates from 1840-42. The plain font is all that survives from the previous building.
72. St Faith, Shellingford, Berkshire, England

Parish church
A complete late 12thc. church of aisleless nave, chancel and W tower, the last with round-headed lower windows but lancets in its upper storeys. There was an internal restoration in 1850, when the chancel floor was raised to the level of the nave floor. More recently, a vestry has been built on the N side of the nave, enclosing the N nave doorway which now gives access to the vestry from inside the church, and which is therefore no longer visible from the exterior. Nevertheless it has here been treated as an external doorway (III 1.(iii)).
73. St Mary, Shinfield, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Flint nave with 19thc. S aisle, square early 14thc. chancel, S chapel (dated 1526), and red brick W tower of 1664. There is a 12thc. N doorway, protected by a timber porch.
74. St Andrew, Shrivenham, Berkshire, England

Parish church
A church built from 1638 by Lord Craven around the central tower (c.1400) of the earlier church. The only Romanesque feature is the 12thc. font.
75. St Andrew, Sonning, Berkshire, England

Parish church
As it stands the church consists of a rectangular nave and chancel with N and S aisles throughout, the chancel aisles, slightly wider than those of the nave, forming chapels and a vestry. There are nave doorways covered by porches to N and S, and a W tower. The fabric is all of flint with ashlar dressings. The VCH identifies a complex building history beginning in the 13thc., but the overall visual effect is of Woodyer's extensive restoration of 1852. The interest of the church lies in the carved stones, presumably from Reading Abbey, set into the tower (which became unstable and was rebuilt at the Reformation), and in an elaborate pillar piscina, repositioned against a pier of the N arcade opposite the N doorway.
76. St James, Sotwell, Berkshire, England

Chapel
Aisleless nave and chancel with timber bell-turret capped by a short broach spire, all of 1883-84 by S.R.Stevenson. It incorporates several features from the church demolished in 1883, among which are a reset 12thc. respond capital and a reset chip-carved window head.
77. Holy Rood, Sparsholt, Berkshire, England

Parish church
13thc. W tower, 14thc. nave, chancel and S transept (N transept removed). Plain 12thc. font and late 12thc. - 13thc. sculpture on N and S doorways.
78. St Denys, Stanford Dingley, Berkshire, England

Parish church
Flint with wooden bell-turret. A N aisle with an arcade of two unequal bays was added to the original aisleless church in the late 12thc. The same was done on the S side early in the 13thc., and at the same time or shortly afterwards the N aisle was extended W by one bay and a new chancel built, to be replaced c.1768 by the present one of brick. 12thc. sculpture is found on the piers of the N nave arcade.