Cholsey, Berkshire

Description
Cholsey, a village and a parish in Berks. The parish lies on the G.W.R., adjacent to the river Thames, 1 mile from Moulsford station, and 2 1/4 miles SW of Wallingford, with a post, money order, and telegraph office (S.O.) Acreage, 4438 ; population, 2014, which includes the lunatics at the asylum. The population of the parish proper is 1400. A monastery was founded here in 986 by Ethelred to atone for his brother's murder, and was given by Henry I. to Reading Abbey. Traces of the foundations and surrounding moats still remain. The living, is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; net yearly value, £308 with residence. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is partly Norman, and contains some very ancient brasses. There is a Baptist chapel. Winterbrook is a hamlet 2 miles NE. The County Lunatic Asylum, which is in this parish, was opened in 1870, and is a building of red brick standing on an estate of 80 acres, and affording accommodation for about 600 patients. It is generally known as the Moulsford Asylum.