History had always been my passion, from the age of five when I craved visits to castles, cathedrals and ancient sites.
For me the history of man in his landscape, his homeland, was akin to the wildlife in which he owed his living. As the
Masonic precept says " Ever remember that nature has implanted in your breast a sacred and indissoluble attachment towards
that land when your derived your birth and infant nurture"
History for me is part of the sacramentalisation of life itself, part of the warp and weft of nature and of landscape.
If we do not learn from history, yes we may indeed be doomed to repeat it. But just as important we will never be able able
to reach out to all living things around us and awaken our own immanence and atman , unless we see ourselves in context as
a part of a very wonderful garden of life.
So in this part of the recomencing of my journey of life, history has returned. At the moment this takes the form
of research into local history: specifically Redlands. I built a website about Redlands history. Many more pages were due
to be added but this is in abeyance as my main focus now is on North Wiltshire History. As yer I am unsure at to whether
I will continue with undertaking writing the other anticipated subjects. It is a matter of finding time amidst my many commitments
So far the pages/subjects I have written on and which you will find on the website are as follows:
- Wantage Hall.
- Whiteley Manor.
- Redlands Brick Kilns.
- Alfred Waterhouse.
- Doomsday Book
- Bulmershe Court
- The Englefields
- Marquess of Blandford
- The
Queens Head pub.
- Elmhurst Road.
- Notes on the Map of 1885.
- Progress Theatre.
- Viscount Sidmouth.
- Redlands Conservation Area.
- London Road Campus.
- John Kendrick.
- Maiden Erleigh Estate.
- Christ Church.
- The Siege of Reading 1643
There are also pages for: Links; Guest Book; and Various maps of Redlands
in the nineteenth century.
Subjects which were started but for now have been postponed include (amongst others) the following:
- The D'Erleghs
- William de Erlegh
- Vanished Heritage
- St.Andrews/East Thorpe
- The Manors of
Erleigh
- The Drawing School. 1860''s
- BroadOak House (now St. Joseph's Convent School)
- Lord Wantage
- The Mount
- The Wilderness
- Foxhill House
- Nuclear Bunker
- The Palmers
- Reading School
- Famous Residents,
- Rufus Isaacs
- Leighton Park School
- Royal Berkshire
Hospital
- Sir John D'Erlegh II
- Good Ol Solly Joel
- Sir. Thomas Talfourd
- New Heritage
- Place
Names
You can find the Redlands website by clicking here (opens in new window):
