INDUSTRIES villages near the Buckinghamshire border, and the lace pillow was in use in very many of the cottages ; but this industry is no longer car- ried on except to a small extent at Windsor. Hand-made lace has been practically super- seded by the machine-made lace of Notting- ham, the prices received for the work being very unremunerative. It has been revived in Buckinghamshire by the help of an active society of ladies interested in the work, but the movement has not extended into Berk- shire. An interesting experiment was made in recent years in the starting of tapestry works in the royal borough of Windsor. Mr. Henry, a well-known designer, was the origin- ator of this scheme, whose idea was to pro- duce in England tapestry of the same high quality as could be purchased abroad. His plan received royal support. The late Duke of Albany, their Royal Highnesses the Prin- cesses Christian and Louise, the Duke of Westminster, the Marquis of Bute, the Marchioness of Waterford, and other dis- tinguished persons consented to act on the Committee, and the scheme was inaugurated with every prospect of success. Mr. Henry was appointed director of the works, and M. Brignolles the chief weaver. In 1876 the works were started in some temporary premises at Windsor. Additional space was soon required, new looms were wanted, and the works were removed to Manor Lodge, and then to Old Windsor, where a fine hall and workmen's cottages were built. The late Queen Victoria was a patron of the works, and took much interest in the opera- tions, authorizing the title to be bestowed upon them, ' The Royal Windsor Tapestry Works.' The product of the Windsor tapes- try looms has achieved great success. Some f the earliest work was a set of panels, ' The Merry Wives of Windsor,' woven from the cartoons of Mr. E. W. Ward, R.A., which were exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1878, and obtained the highest honours. Many fine specimens of this Windsor art were purchased by the late Queen- Victoria, and are now preserved at Windsor Castle, and Mr. Henry produced four historical panels for the city of London which now adorn the walls of the Mansion House, and a series of panels illustrating English sports and pastimes were worked for Mr. Vanderbilt and have found a home in America. The peculiarity of the Windsor tapestry is that it combines the broad effects of the Arras tapestry with the fine detail of the Gobelin. The work prospered for about five years, when a com- mittee of guarantors was appointed, composed of men of wealth and influence. His Royal Highness the Duke of Albany exerted himself greatly in endeavouring to promote the interest of the works, and after his death the Prince of Wales, now H.M. King Edward VII., accepted the Presidentship of the under- taking. Sir Robert Collins undertook the active direction of the works. But the per- manent success of the tapestry works has not been secured. The excessive costliness of the art of production will always prevent its general use, and it was found impossible to carry on the work without great loss, and the business was abandoned. It is unfortunate that so praiseworthy an effort to revive the production of English tapestry which was in existence in the time of Chaucer, and found a home at Barcheston, Warwickshire, in the reign of Henry VIII., and flourished at Mort- lake in the days of the Stuarts, should have been abandoned through lack of public support. IRONWORKS Owing to the absence of metals in the geological structure of Berkshire this county has no supply of iron for the needs of this particular industry. It can boast of no ancient works such as were carried on in the neighbouring counties of Surrey, Kent and Sussex, and formed such an important feature in the history of the industrial devel- opment of those counties ; but increased railway facilities and means of transit have rendered the working of iron possible and remunerative, and several firms of high stand- ing in the trade carry on their business within the Berkshire borders. The needs of an agricultural district also are well supplied by several large agricultural implement makers. Nail-making was carried on at Reading, though the makers do not seem to have been numerous ; we find mention of Richard Lowbridge, nayle-maker, 1 in 1626, who was in trouble for wounding a soldier, and of James Durwold, nayler, who stood surety for him. The craft is however not mentioned amongst those enumerated in the list of the trades included in the five companies, and must therefore have been of a subordinate char- 383 1 Rec. of Reading, ii. 331.
