Wokingham

Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may also have owned lands at Wokefield in Berkshire and Woking in Surrey. The courts of Windsor Forest were held at Wokingham and the town had the right to hold a market from 1219. From the 14th to the 16th centuries, Wokingham was well known for its bell foundry which supplied many churches across the South of England. Some of the houses involved in these cottage industries are still to be seen in Rose Street. In the years 1643–44 Wokingham was regularly raided by both sides in the Civil War. These raids would involve the looting of livestock and trading goods, and over thirty buildings were burnt down,…