hall with selds under it, the earliest mention of which dates back to
the reign of Edward II, and occurs constantly as the place wherein the
burghmotes were held. The present town hall was erected in 1670--a
picturesque building on stone pillars. This open space beneath the
town hall was formerly used as a corn-market, and so continued until
the present corn-exchange was erected half a century ago. The slated
roof is gracefully curved, is crowned by a good vane, and a neat
dormer window juts out on the side facing the market-place. Below this
is a large Renaissance window opening on to a balcony whence orators
can address the crowds assembled in the market-place at election
times. The walls of the hall are hung with portraits of the worthies
and benefactors of the town, including one of Archbishop Laud. A
mayor's feast was, before the passing of the Municipal Corporations
Act, a great occasion in most of our boroughs, the expenses of which
were defrayed by the rates. The upper chamber in the Wallingford town
hall was formerly a kitchen, with a huge fire-place, where mighty
joints and fat capons were roasted for the banquet. Outside you can
see a ring of light-coloured stones, called the bull-ring, where
bulls, provided at the cost of the Corporation, were baited. Until
1840 our Berkshire town of Wokingham was famous for its annual
bull-baiting on St. Thomas's Day. A good man, one George Staverton,
was once gored by a bull; so he vented his rage upon the whole bovine
race, and left a charity for the providing of bulls to be baited on
the festival of this saint, the meat afterwards to be given to the
poor of the town. The meat is still distributed, but the bulls are no
longer baited. Here at Wokingham there was a picturesque old town hall
with an open undercroft, supported on pillars; but the townsfolk must
needs pull it down and erect an unsightly brick building in its stead.
It contains some interesting portraits of royal and distinguished folk
dating from the time of Charles I, but how the town became possessed