In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Sonning like this:
SONNING, a village and a hundred in Berks, and a parish in Berks and Oxford. The village stands on the Thames, 2 miles W by N of Twyford r. station, and 3 ENE of Reading; was the seat of a bishopric, afterwards removed to Sherborne, and finally to Salisbury; retained an episcopal palace till the time of Elizabeth; contains a house in which Sydney Smith wrote "Peter Plymley's Letters; '' and has a post-office under Reading, and an excellent inn. ...
The parish comprises the liberties of S.-Town, Earley, and Woodley and Sandford, in Wokingham district, Berks, and the liberty of Eye and Dunsden in Henley district, Oxford. Acres, 9,813. Rated property, £15,083. Pop., 2,747. Houses, 566. Holme Park, Bulmershe Court, Earley Court, and Maiden Earley are chief residences. A cattle market is held every Monday at Loddon-Bridge. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford. Value, £514.* Patron, the Bishop of O. The church was restored in 1853. A chapel of ease is in Eye and Dunsden. The p. curacy of Earley is a separate benefice. There are an endowed school with £30 a year, a national school, church lands £54, and general charities £101. The Reading cemetery also is in the parish.-The hundred contains 3 parishes, and 3 parts. Acres, 22,119. Pop., 8,268. Houses, 1,570.
Sonning through time
Sonning is now part of Wokingham district. Click here for graphs and data of how Wokingham has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Sonning itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Sonning, in Wokingham and Berkshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/1462
Date accessed: 20th April 2024
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