Jane and Phil arrive ot give their talk ©FNRC Jane and Phil arrive ot give their talk

Newbury and District Field Club explained

History Group meeting in the Chapel

The cemetery was looking at its best on Monday 18th July when the History group hosted a meeting in the cemetery chapel. At our request fellow Friends Jane Burrell and Phillip Wood came and appraised us about the early days of Newbury and District Field Club. We heard about Dr Silas Palmer (unfortunately not buried with us) who set up the Field Club, President the 3rd Earl of Carnarvon. Our own Walter Money was a leading light for many years.Other famous names included Charles Kingsley (Water Babies) and Waterhouse (architect). We heard about an early excursion to Lambourn followed by Ashdown House for dinner.

We also learned about the way in which the Field Club raised the funding for the first central section of West Berkshire Museum after the collections were moved from Northbrook Street. As a bonus we also learned about the precursor to the Field Club, the Literary and Scientific Society, which existed in Newbury before the Act of Parliament that set up similar organisations across the country. All in all a very informative evening to help us with our ongoing research. Thank you Jane and Phil.