Abbey Quarter

Abbey Quarter. Forbury Hill. , In 1643, during the Civil War, this hill was part of a ring of defences hastily dug out by an army defending Reading from attack. The walls of the abbey were also used as part of the defences., The attacking army (Parliamentarians) wanted Parliament to have more say in ruling the country. The defending army (Royalists) supported the king. The Royalists lost control of the town, but later took it back. The Civil War, which caused sieges and battles all over the south and midlands, was eventually won by the Parliamentarians., Anarchy in the Forbury , Henry I founded Reading Abbey in 1121, shortly after his only son, William, was drowned in a shipwreck. Henry then named his daughter Matilda as heir to the throne, but when he died in 1135 the English barons refused to accept her as queen. Instead they supported Henry's nephew Stephen. He became king, but Matilda continued to fight for the crown in a long civil war known as the Anarchy. Matilda captured Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln but never became queen. However, her son was acknowledged as Stephen's heir and crowned King Henry Il in 1153. Henry II ordered that a castle built in the grounds of Reading Abbey during the Anarchy should be destroyed. We don't know exactly where that castle was, but it was probably in the Forbury., Look out - the Vikings are coming! In 870 a Danish army rampaged across England from the east coast, burning farms and stealing whatever they could lay their hands on. When they reached this spot they built a fortified camp, and spent the winter here. King Aethelred and his brother Alfred led an army from Wessex to fight the Danes. There was more than a year of fighting in and around Reading before they were forced to retreat eastwards. , Timeline , 1121 Henry I founds Reading Abbey , 1164 Henry II attends official opening of Reading Abbey , 1254 Reading receives royal charter from Henry III , 1453 Parliament meets at Reading Abbey , 1539 Henry VIII closes Reading Abbey, Abbot Hugh is executed , 1560 Elizabeth I grants a new town charter , 1643 Forbury Hill is part of Reading's Civil War defences , 1833 People of Reading fundraise to buy Abbey Ruins , 1861 Abbey Gateway is restored by George Gilbert Scott , 1920 Reading Pageant in the Abbey Ruins , 2018 Abbey Ruins re-open after major conservation works