Aldermaston is a parish and village in south Berkshire, 10 miles south-west of Reading. The church of St. Mary, formerly belonged to the Benedictine priory of SS. Mary and John the Baptist, at West Sherbourne, Hampshire is in the Decorated style. The east window of the chancel is Early English and has three lancets under one arch. The south chapel has a Transitional Norman arch, windows and a Decorated piscina. There is a good Perpendicular high tomb of alabaster, with effigies; and amongst other monuments is one to the memory of Richard Congreve, the dramatist. Aldermaston House, a fine Elizabethan edifice, was formerly the seat of the Congreves, and was rebuilt in 1856 after being burnt down. An important trade is done in the neighbourhood in coal and timber, and there is also a large malting and brewing establishment.
Cassell’s Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1899)
