At Hungerford, the first town in Berkshire, over nine miles direct from Marlborough, we return to the Kennet.  The townsmen are proud of the fact that their liberties were given them by John of Gaunt, who held the Royal Manor, which afterwards became the property of the town, and as proof of the charter they still show the stranger a famous horn presented to the burgesses by the great Duke of Lancaster.  A fierce battle is said to have raged on the banks of the Kennet between West Saxons and Danes, where now anglers whip the stream for the fat trout that this part of Kennet breeds.  The historic Bear Inn was the lodging of William of Orange on the night of December 6, 1688, when he received the messengers of James II.  Hungerford Church is now of small interest.  It has been rebuilt within recent times and contains little from the old building.  A cross-legged effigy is supposed to represent Sir Robert de Hungerford (1340).

In coming from Marlborough to Hungerford the valley of the Kennet has been left to the north, but only for the purpose of noting the beauties that lie around Savernake Forest and the course of the Avon Canal.  The Kennet in its upper course is equally beautiful and, if possible, an additional journey should be made through the picturesque village of Axford, passing on the way Mildenhall, the one-time Cunetio.  The site of the Roman station is now marked by Folly Farm.  The most attractive place on this part of the river is Ramsbury, six miles from Marlborough and five from Hungerford.  That this little town was evidently of great antiquity is proved by the important place it held in the tenth century, when it was a “stool” of the Bishop of Wiltshire.  Originally the name of the town was Hrafensbyrig or Ravensbury.  The Early English church contains a number of interesting relics of the supposed cathedral discovered in the restoration of the existing building.  They consist of sculptured stones of fine design and well preserved.  In the Darell Chapel is an altar tomb and others to various members of this once famous family.  A canopied tomb of William de St. John stands in the chancel.  Other interesting items are the finely sculptured font and stoups at the north and south doors.  Ramsbury Park has been passed on the way here from Marlborough.  In it is the manor house, a seventeenth-century building, containing a famous collection of armour.  The Kennet is at its best as it flows through the park.

On the Hungerford side of Ramsbury, and to the south of the Kennet, is the famous Littlecote Manor, a magnificent and unexcelled sixteenth-century house.  Built by the Darells it passed to the Pophams, one of whom was a leader of the Parliamentarians.  A gruesome and probably true story is told of the last of the Darells—­“Wild Dayrell.”  A midwife deposed that she had been fetched blindfold to attend a lady at dead of night.  When her offices were over, a wild-looking man seized the infant and hurled it in a blazing fire.  Afterwards apprehended, Darell by some trick managed to defeat justice.