Chris Darbyshire

ISBN 978-0-9935512-5-3   PRICE £19.50 PLUS £2.95 P&P, £22.45

However, to avoid the p&p, it may be possible to arrange a pick up point in town or from my house. To discuss this please email or phone  - John Mullaney.

jgmullaney@aol.com

Phone; 0118 9470478

OR scallopshellpress@yahoo.co.uk

Hugh Cook Faringdon

Last Abbot of Reading

This new history of the life and death of Hugh Cook Faringdon, the last Abbot of Reading, is the first detailed study of the subject for nearly one hundred years, and the first to deal in detail with the trial and execution of the last abbot of Reading abbey.

Exploring the legal documents relating to the trial, the author sheds new light on the charges Cook faced, the personnel involved in the trial, and the course of his execution, together with the possible motivation of those who pursued him to his death.

The book is 17x24 cms and has over 230 pages. Among its illustrations are those of the original documents used at Abbot Hugh’s trial.

THE AUTHOR

Chris Darbyshire is a retired judge and has used his legal knowledge and skills to assess the primary sources and relate the story of the trial by placing it in its wider historical context, with special reference to Reading.

This book must rank among the most important pieces of historical research concerning the last days of the Abbey.