Panel 1 - Domesday Book and King John

Each panel was developed either individually or in tandem with the surrounding panels, using the process as previously described in the development of 'The life of Jesus . . '. Initial scamps evolved into drawings, the primary aims being that the piece works visually as well as being historically accurate.

These were transposed to the Apple Macintosh and redrawn in Illustrator where line weight, layering etc. could be specified and kept consistent throughout. It was much more important to be accurate in this project, as these vector drawings would become the basis for the computer controlled milling. Mistakes could be very expensive!

The story starts with the Domesday Book, commissioned in 1085 and begun in 1086. William the Conqueror used the information that was collected to raise money through taxes to bribe King Canute of Denmark and King Olaf of Norway to stop sending marauders to England. This is generally recognised as the beginnings of the state collecting information about income and property - in other words William invented the Inland Revenue! Newbury is included as part of Ulvritone, a part of Thatcham, and many believe that this is where the competitive relationship between Newbury and Thatcham started. Pictured under the hoof of the jousting horse is one of the Domesday chests.

Legend has it that King John hid whilst on a visit to Newbury and disguised himself as a spinning woman to escape murderous opponents. The year is 1200, and I was very careful to include a spinning wheel of the right kind, taken from the Luttrell Psalter of 1345, and a type common before the invention of pedal powered spinning wheels.

In 1248, King Henry III hosted a Royal Tournament in Newbury. Here he cheers on the contestants, with members of his court in attendance.

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Panel 2 - Jack and the Battle of Flodden Field

Jack of Newbury, or John Smallwood, escaped his former monastic life of sobriety and celibacy and came to Newbury as a young man. He began working in the cloth trade, and within a few years had inherited his former employers business and his wife as well! Newbury became one of the major centres of the cloth trade in Europe with Jack at the centre of it. He was, in a sense, a medieval sheik; rich and powerful and friend and host to Royalty.

In 1513, the English were at war with both the French and Scottish, with the bulk of the English army in France. By Royal Decree, all able bodied men not in war service were required to enlist to swell the army and march to Scotland. Jack sent up to 50 fully equipped horsemen and 50 pikemen/bowmen. Whether they ever saw action is in some doubt, but a contemporary ballad sings their praises in glowing terms, which becomes the basis for this panel.

Click here to read The Ballad of Flodden Field

The inclusion of this caused some consternation in the local museum. They expressed a wish to have this removed and see some other aspects of 'the real history of Newbury' in it's place. However, I considered that the archers with their bare feet and gesturing at their enemy, with the Flodden Memorial in the background, was much more interesting that a picture of a watermill or some such building; so it stayed!

Jack stands with his sheep and his wool comb in front of his house in what is now Northbrook Street. The building, that still stands, is very distinctive with its black beams and herringbone pattern brick infill.

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Panel 3 - Jack with John and Frances West

By now Jack has married Alice, his former employers widow, and extended his former employers cloth business. He established what some consider to be the first factory in England, employing some 1000 men, women and children who operated some 200 looms in one huge building. He is described by a contemporary historian as "the most considerable clothier England ever beheld".

Jack is pictured as in the brass in St Nicolas Church, dressed as in a monk, perhaps as a reminder of his original occupation in an Abbey in Winchcombe. Between 1500 and 1532, St Nicolas Church was built in virtually its present state. The tower was added with some considerable financial help from Jack. He stands with the Masons tools and materials at this feet. In the background, the Church is shown as it appears today, complete with the Victorian additions and the clock.

To the left are John and Frances West, wealthy residents of Newbury in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Childless themselves, legend has it that after attending a Sunday Service at St Nicolas Church, they encountered as they left, a child from Christ's Hospital begging for funds .So taken were they that they used their fortune to establish a trust which supports scholars in attendance at Christ's Hospital through the West Gift.

Christ's Hospital was, and indeed still is, a Bluecoat School, established by Edward VI in 1552 to educate orphans and the children of the poor and needy. In the dormitories, rats were a constant problem especially at night, so the students would soak their socks in saffron, the smell of which rats hate (apparently), and place these socks near their heads to ensure an undisturbed nights sleep. The saffron turned their socks yellow . . .

Even today, Christ's Hospital students wear the traditional attire of a Bluecoat School, complete with yellow socks; hence the rat and in the complete version of this panel, look out for the socks. I am assured that there are no longer any rats.

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Panel 4 - The Borough of Newbury is established

In 1596, Queen Elizabeth created Newbury a Royal Borough. The town was to be governed by a Mayor and Council. There were to be 5 companies for the principal trades in Newbury; Tanners (people who tan animal hides into leather) including Barber and Surgeons; Mercers including all Provision Dealers and Apothecaries (Chemists); Clothiers (Tailors) including Scriveners and Schoolmasters; Weavers and Clothmakers; Braziers including Masons and Builders.

Barbers and surgeons at this time mainly used to be the same person, as pictured in this panel. Before the invention and use of anesthetic, the death rate on the surgeon's table was high, as was the cost of the surgery. Surgeons would supplement their income through cutting hair and removing teeth.

Mercers were traders in high quality cloth. Many would travel throughout Europe finding and selling these cloths, and, as Newbury was one of the major European cloth producers, many Mercers would visit. Perhaps the most famous Mercer was a character known to many of us through Christmas Pantomime; it is of course Dick Whittington. Before his political career in London, it is highly likely that in the course of his travels, he would have visited Newbury.

In the panel, Dick is pictured with his cat, the famous feline that helped him to make his fortune. The Mason comes from an illustrated version of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The Mason, with his compass and square, is assembling the crest of the Town Council.

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Panel 5 (and panel 6) - The English Civil War in Newbury

Two famous battles took place in Newbury during the English Civil War, as well as a legendary siege at Donnington Castle just outside the town. For the purposes of the mosaic, I elected to amalgamate all three events in to two panels, with the distinctive landmarks in the rear; Shaw House; Donnington Castle; the Falkland Memorial to the fallen Royalists.

The first battle took place on the outskirts of the town, with the Parliamentarians in the countryside and the Royalists on a hill overlooking them and blocking their retreat to London. Over 20,000 men took part in the battle of 20th September 1643, and accounts of it indicate that more men died on this day than on June 6th 1944. The lanes were choked with the dead and the dying, whilst the Royalist cannons at what is now 'The Gun' public house and Battery End bombarded the 'London Apprentices'. The battle ended at about midnight with the Parliamentarians gaining a little ground and the Royalists withdrawing under cover of darkness. The wounded were brought in to town on farm carts and treated at St Nicolas Church, while on the roof, troops stripped the lead to make shot for their muskets.

The second battle in October 1644, was centred around Shaw House, Donnington and Bagnor. Charles was attempting to relieve the siege at Donnington Castle when he encountered Parliamentarian forces. When stalemate ensued, the Parliamentarians engaged in a famous flanking movement, dividing their forces and marching 15 miles so that they could attack the Royalists from the rear. Charles had been withdrawn to Bagnor, and an uncoordinated attack meant that this battle was inconclusive, just as the first. Oliver Cromwell took part in the second battle, but his infantry proved ineffective.

Here troops are engaged in front of Shaw House. This eventually became a school, and on my visits to it, it was still possible see the musket dents in the brickwork at the front of the building.

In these scenes, I wanted to portray the chaos of battle; with arms, legs and weapons all over the place in a frenzy of activity.

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Panel 6 (and panel 5) - The English Civil War in Newbury

The siege of Donnington Castle was concluded after some 20 months. Captured and held by the Royalists, Cromwell wanted it reduced to rubble. It virtually was by the time it was returned to it's rightful owner in 1646, the Parliamentarians having deployed all manner of assaults on the Castle walls and earthworks, including a huge siege cannon. By all accounts, the Royalists under John Boys were particularly effective at mounting raiding parties, which crept up on the besieging troops and stole food and munitions.

Donnington Castle and the Falkland Memorial are the backdrop to the fighting that takes place. Royalists defend their artillery position against advancing Parliamentarians. This could be Battery End where the cannons were situated on the high ground above the battlefield in 1643. However, poor reconnaissance prevented them from becoming decisive on the day.

Much of this area is now farmland, with artifacts and skeletons still being turned up by the ploughs of the farmers. At the time of writing, my son goes to Enborne School, on the very field of the first battle. One of his friends lives in Essex Street, named after the Earl of Essex and he is at an age when some say that young people are vulnerable to visits from unsettled spirits. This may sound like hogwash, but his father, a very down to earth builder, believes that his son has been nuisanced by a spirit from this battle. It really is like Poltergeist; freezing air in a warm room; objects moving around when the room is empty; noises in the middle of a still night.

You can understand it if you remember that many of these young men were torn away from their homes to march endlessly up and down the country, fighting for Charles or Cromwell who were as bad as each other, and dying unfulfilled in vast numbers only to be buried in unmarked mass graves over which some money hungry developer builds houses and shops.

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Panel 7 - The Newbury Martyrs

If you read John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, burning people at the stake for their religious beliefs was the pastime of choice in 16th century England. Four men had been martyred in Newbury, at almost the same spot and less than 40 years apart.

The first was Christopher Shoemaker, burned at the stake for translating the bible from Latin into English and reading it aloud. It was only as late as 1962 when Pope John, after the Second Vatican Council, stated that mass could be given in a language other than Latin.

John Gwin, Thomas Askew and Julius Palmer were convicted and executed together. Not a great deal is known of the first two, but Palmer was immortalised in Foxe's book after his refusal of an offer of land, money and a wife in exchange for his affirmation of the Catholic doctrine, and was tried and sentenced at St Nicolas Church.

Here, the three latter martyrs are surrounded by faggots as the flames leap up to their faces. Palmer, a former master of Reading Grammar School, is said to have raised his face to the heavens and prayed as his life ended. I decided to show the other two in more of a state of panic.

To the right stands Sir John Throckmorton, who in 1811, wagered 1000 guineas that a coat could be made in a single day; the sheep being shorn on the same day and tailored to be worn to dinner on the evening of that day. On 25th June 1811, the wager began under the direction of John Coxeter and was duly accomplished with an evening celebration during which 120 gallons of strong beer was consumed. The whole episode was an attempt to revive the failing cloth industry and to prove the speed and efficiency of modern machinery, and the coat was shown at the 1851 Great Exhibition in Crystal Palace. In 1991 a repeat performance took place, with this coat now in the collection of Newbury Museum.

Behind Throckmorton and the sheep shearer is Horatio Nelson, a regular visitor to Newbury on his travels between London and Bath. He had relations in Shaw-cum-Donnington and was a regular guest at a hotel called the George and Pelican; as was his father.

In the background is the aforesaid George and Pelican; one of many well known coaching inns that were established in Newbury because of its geographical location just about half way between Bath/Bristol and London.

The George, bits of which can still be seen in Oxford Street and London Road, sounds like it was quite a place, with partying travellers being bled white by the landlord. One visiting actor quipped

The famous inn at Speenhamland
That stands below the hill
May well be called the Pelican
From it's enormous bill.

Other coaching inns that have survived as either hotels to public houses to the present day are The Chequers; The Bacon Arms and The Cross Keys.

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Panel 8 - John Gould and the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust

A coach and horses, continued from panel 7, is the backdrop to John Gould. With one of his barges 'Iris' and his inimitable goat, Gould was the catalyst that led to the regeneration of the Kennet and Avon Canal, and founder of what is now the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust.

The canal is a continuous waterway that links Reading and Bath. The canal joins the River Kennet at Newbury and the River Avon at Bath and is some 27 miles long. It was completed in 1810, quite late in the canal era, but due to the expansion or rail travel, never made a profit for it's investors. In 1846 it was sold to The Great Western Railway Company who let it fall into disrepair and discouraged it's use through high tariffs. For much of it's length, the railway line follows the same route as the canal, as railway companies purchased the long strips of land to build their line at the least possible cost.

By the 1950s the canal was in a dangerous state of disrepair, and it's then owners, the British Transport Commission, was lobbied and eventually sued by John Gould for failing to keep the canal navigable. Gould was awarded a substantial sum in an out-of-court settlement, and this proved to be a turning point in the revival of the canals fortunes.

From the late 1950s to 90s Gould was heavily involved in the restoration of the canal to its present state which includes a line of 29 successive locks, 16 with side ponds, at Caen Hill in Devises.

His widow, Wynn, placed the final pieces in this panel.

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Panel 9 - Glenn Miller at the Corn Exchange and Newbury Racecourse

Race meetings had taken place in Newbury as far back as 1740, but it was not until 1904 that plans were made to have a purpose built course in Greenham. The plot of land adjoining the railway was purchased by the Newbury Racecourse Company, it's legal representative being no less than Mr. G. Gardner Leader (significant if you are familiar with the town), and in 1905 the course was opened for race meetings.

Today, it is the venue for prestigious races such as the Dubai Stakes and Hennessy Gold Cup. Hennessy is the longest sponsor of a race, dating back to 1957, and in the drawing, the horses are cheered home with a large glass of brandy.

The colours of the competing horses became the Queen Mothers and Lord Carnarvons and were placed by a former jockey who had raced at Newbury.

Behind, a racegoer holds a paper, commemorating 'pig and paper day' (Thursdays are traditionally the day when the first market of the week takes place and the Newbury Weekly News is published).

At the back, Glenn Miller plays his trombone. The American Military has a long and strong connection with Newbury,as will be detailed in the next panels. Miller played one of his final dates at the Corn Exchange, Newbury, before embarking on the fateful flight to France where he was killed in action. When working on this panel, an old lady visited me at my studio. She had been at that very concert and remembered it well.

As we moved into the modern era, I met many people who had either been there themselves or knew someone that had, and it is amazing to think that as I was researching this history, I was beginning to meet some who had been a part of it. Meeting this lady is like meeting someone who had been to an Elvis concert or knew John Lennon, and her memories offer a priceless and fascinating insight.

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Panel 10 - Greenham Common, 5th June 1944

The link with the American Military continues in this panel, that portrays the visit of General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, to elements of 101st Airborne based at Greenham Common.

This panel is based on a photograph taken during Eisenhower's visit, when he stopped to chat to Airborne troops preparing to jump onto occupied France and spearheading Operation Overlord. Events that took place in and around Newbury have since been immortalised in 'Band of Brothers', a series of films produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks that details the fortunes of a platoon from 506 PIR based at Aldbourne.

I took great pains to ensure that the weapons that the troops carried; the M1 and Thomson; were correct as well as the uniforms, insignia and C47 Skytrain transport in the background. The number 23 denotes the number of the aircraft that this soldier and his 'stick' was due to fly to France in.

My studio is on the site of the former USAF Greenham Common, and whilst working on the drawing for this panel, the 101st Airborne Association had organised a visit to the site by veterans of the war and post war period, to honour those who had fallen. They took refreshments in the restaurant opposite my studio, and some of them wandered in to see what I was doing.

One old chap who peered with some interest at the photograph and then the drawing, explained that he served at Greenham with the 101st Airborne. He then proceeded to name many of the individuals in the photograph, stating who they were and what they did. The man wearing the number 23 was Wallace Strobel, who was alive and well and had talked to this man on the telephone not 3 weeks earlier.

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Panel 11 - two decades of protest

The base ceased to be of any military importance after the end of WW2 and in 1946 was closed. As the cold war became colder and the perceived threat from the east more significant, it reopened and between 1951 and 1979 became host to a number of different military aircraft including Stratojets (nuclear capable), B52 Stratofortress, F111 fighter bombers (very noisy) and KC135 Air Transports (the loudest in USAF). There was an alleged nuclear accident in 1958 when an airborne Stratojet dropped its fuel tanks on to a stationary one and set off fires that lasted 16 hours, and another in 1963 when another Stratojet crashed on landing. All accusations of radioactive contamination were denied and have been ever since.

From 1973 the RAF held their annual International Air Tattoo at Greenham. I moved to Newbury around that time and can well remember selling programmes at the then biannual event. In 1979, a row developed between the British Government and USAF over use of Greenham for KC135 Tankers. In the end the tankers were sent to Fairford as they posed a serious accident threat to surrounding areas or importance such as AWE Aldermaston (not to mention Burghfield Common weapons store) and other areas of concentrated population (housing estates). So the USAF decided to base intercontinental nuclear missiles there instead.

On 5th September 1981, the Welsh group 'Women for life on earth' arrived at Yellow Gate, Greenham Common, to deliver a statement of intent to challenge the deployment of 96 cruise missiles. They were, of course, ignored, and within 6 months they had established a Womens Peace Camp at Yellow Gate that lasted for over 19 years, and became the focal point of international protest and media interest.

In 1982 the so called 'Embrace the Base' protest took place when some 30,000 people made a human chain around the perimeter of Greenham Common, and in 1983 all nuclear sites in Berkshire (Greenham Common, Aldermaston, Harwell, Burghfield Common) were linked by 14,000 protesters holding hands.

I was there at Greenham on both occasions, not as a protester but as an interested observer

In the drawing, there is a protester holding a sign bearing one of their slogans. She stands next to a policeman and in the distance is one of the silos.

The collapse of the Warsaw pact combined with the US investment in ballistic missile submarines meant that by 1990, the missiles had gone and in 1992, the base was closed.

Protest continues with the saga of the Newbury Bypass, pictured on the right. Although the debate about the bypass had been rumbling on since the 1980s, the 'Third Battle of Newbury' took place in 1996, and protesters remained on the route until well in to 1997. Newbury was again the centre of media attention as contractors worked around protesters chained to the tops of tree, or tunneling underground, as 'Swampy' (front left) did, or lying in front of machinery.

Ironically, the airbase again played a controversial role, the runway being dug up to become the hardcore for the road, and questions again being raised about whether the concrete was contaminated.

At one point, construction was halted whilst conservationists decided what to do with the population of 'Desmoulin', snails which were apparently quite rare and in decline. In the end they were moved to another location of similar geographical qualities.

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Panel 12 - Industry and nature

Greenham Common Trust purchased the former airbase in March 1997, restored the common and have been developing the brownfield sites ever since. There is much new industry there, pictured is the English Provender Company, whist the base water towers still stand in the background. Housing has been purchased and developed by Sovereign Housing and Sanctuary Housing, and there are several nature reserves on the common (hence the owl), and commoners have the right do graze cattle, which they do. It is also the home to New Greenham Arts where my own modest studios are based.

Newbury has also become synonymous with another industry; mobile phones; and Vodafone have their world HQ just outside the town. The building of this was a controversy in itself and at one point it looked as though they would relocate due to council resistance to their plans.

In the drawing, three people talk on their mobile phones (as Vodafone wanted to plug their mobile conferencing and '3' facilities). The character on the right is a Muslim in traditional dress; the idea being that in the aftermath of the Iraq wars, we should promote dialogue between different races and religions rather than conflict.

In the foreground is a fox, hinting at the fox hunting debate which is current on West Berkshire. There are many hunts around Newbury, and the banning of fox hunting has caused a certain amount of polarisation of opinion within the town and rural communities.

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