Devon.

As for the almshouses, it was hard to conceive a better laid out block of buildings.

LITTLECOTE HALL.

A short drive brought the party to Littlecote Hall, possessing the distinction of being the finest 16th Century house in the whole land, with the possible exception of Haddon Hall. It was by the courtesy of the present occupant of this historic place, Mr. Leopold Hirsch, that the club visited it.

Mr. DORAN WEBB traced the history of Littlecote from the 13th century, when the owner was Roger de Calston, whose son of the same name succeeded to the property, and in 1341 applied to the Bishop of Salisbury for a licence to hear mass in his oratory at Littlecote. By the marriage of the granddaughter and heiress of John de Calston with William Darell, younger son of Sir William Darell, of Yorkshire, the property passed into the hands of that family, who held it until 1589, when, on the death of William Darell, it went to his cousin, John Popham, afterwards, from 1592 to 1607, Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench. The present house was built by the father of the last William Darell, replacing an older structure.

Mr. Webb then accompanied the party in their tour through the rooms, pointing out the objects of interest and commenting on the many traditions associated with the building.

On quitting the house the club enjoyed a ramble through the gardens. Before leaving, the PRESIDENT, in the name of the Club, expressed their thanks to Mr. Hirsch for his kindness in receiving them.

RAMSBURY.

After luncheon at the Bell Inn, Ramsbury, the Club, under the guid. ance of Mr. Doran Webb, visited the Church of the Holy Cross, built practically on the site of the ancient cathedral of Ramsbury-the only West Saxon cathedral, founded at the beginning of the tenth century. There they saw a problem in architecture worked out, for the church was originally cruciform, but later, probably in the 14th Century, the walls of the aisles were taken down and re-erected flush with those of the transepts, by which means the transepts were absorbed into the aisles, and what the church lost in dignity it gained in size. The most interesting thing in the church is a section of the upright shaft of a preaching cross with carving of Scandinavian type, erected probably in 908, when the first Bishop of Salisbury was consecrated to minister to the spiritual needs of the still half savage West Saxons.

Mr. Doran Webb and Mr. St. George Gray were heartily thanked for their valuable services as guides, and the party then drove back to Marlborough and took train for Dorset.

THE INTENDED MEETING IN THE CERNE VALLEY.

On Tuesday, 27th August.

When the Field Club assembled at the S.W.R. Station, Dorchester, to carry out the programme which had been arranged, many of the Members heard for the first time of the fatal accident which had befallen the Rev. C. W. H. Dicker on the previous day.

Mr. NELSON M. RICHARDSON, in announcing the sad occurrence, paid an appreciative tribute to the memory of their Hon. Editor, and proposed that a message of condolence should be sent by the Club to Mr. Dicker's son and sisters. This resolution was seconded by the Rev. Herbert Pentin, and carried.

It was also unanimously decided to adjourn the meeting for one month, and the Members then dispersed.

*

THIRD SUMMER MEETING.

THE UPPER YEO VALLEY.

Wednesday, 11th September.

The Members and their guests, who met at Pen Mill Railway Station, numbered about eighty, including the three Members of the Executive and four Vice-Presidents.

TRENT CHURCH.

The party drove first to Trent Church, where they were received by the Rector, the Rev. T. G. Wilton, who described the chief features of interest. Among these were the oak screen of the 15th Century, the carved bench-ends of a century later, the chauntry chapel built in memory of John French, a parishioner, who was Master of the Rolls under Henry VI., and three pre-Reformation bells. The Register contains a reference to the battle of Babylon Hill in 1642.

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The Rev. E. H. BATES HARBIN then contributed some notes on John Coker, the supposed author of the Survey of Dorset," and showed that the history was in fact written by Thomas Gerard, a resident of Trent. After the exterior of the church and the spire had been inspected, Mr. ALFRED POPE drew attention to the mutilated shaft of a cross, standing upon a circular calvary of 12 feet in diameter, and mentioned a tradition that the cross had been moved from the village into the churchyard.

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The RECTOR next pointed out the chantry priest's house, a beautiful little dwelling with 15th century windows, and the larger Church House," said to have been once a refectory, but for the last 300 years the home of successive churchwardens.

Trent Manor House was then visited under the guidance of Mr. E A. RAWLENCE, who related to the Members the stirring incidents of the year 1651, when Charles II. took refuge with Colonel Wyndham after the battle of Worcester. Mr. Rawlence led the way to the King's chamber and the actual hiding place beneath the floor, which latter had been recently discovered during the structural alterations then in progress.

WYKE GRANGE.

A pleasant drive brought the party to the moated farmhouse which is said, probably with truth, to have been used by the Abbots of Sherborne as their summer quarters. The manor was afterwards held by the family of Horsey for a long period, and some documents relating

to these lands can be found in the Fry collection at the museum in Dorchester. Over the main door is the date 1650, the year in which the building was restored or altered. Among the attractions of the place are two mediæval barns with fine timbered roofs.

BRADFORD ABBAS CHURCH.

The Rev. Canon WICKHAM received the visitors and sketched for them the history of the church from its construction by Abbot Bradford, of Sherborne, about 1480. The style is Perpendicular throughout, the material employed being Hamdon stone. At the eastern end of the south wall stands a small doorway, or priests' porch, which was much admired, as were the armorial corbels in the nave. The tower is justly regarded as the best example of its class within the county, indeed, those who saw it for the first time might well have believed that they were over the border in Somerset.

Mr. ALFRED POPE commented upon the shaft and steps of the churchyard cross, which is in a fair state of preservation, and assigned its date to the fifteenth century.

CLIFTON MAYBANK.

By the permission of Mr. Daniell, who was away from home, the Club was enabled to inspect the exterior of the Manor House and its surroundings.

The HON. SECRETARY observed that they were then looking at a portion only of the great house wherein the Horseys lived in the sixteenth century, the builder of which was probably Sir John, who died in the year of the Armada. The ancient gateway, attributed to Inigo Jones, had been taken down and removed to the park at Hinton St. George, and a portion of the main fabric was transferred 40 Montacute House.

Chief among the surviving architectural details is the magnificent oriel window placed high up in the wall of the western, or garden, front. There was, at one time, a chapel adjoining the house, but nothing more than the turf-covered foundations are now to be seen. Some pieces of sacramental plate are, however, still preserved in Bradford Abbas church.

NEWTON SURMAVILLE.

The Rev. E. H. BATES HARBIN, addressing the Members assembled near the porch of his Jacobean home, said that he knew the unbroken history of that manor from the period when Emma de Waie married a member of the Norman family of Salmunvill. This lady died in 1221, owning lands in Niveton and leaving Philip de Salmunvill as her son and nearest heir. The manor was owned by several other

families before it was acquired in 1608 by Robert Harbin, of Wyke, near Gillingham, who built the existing house and finished it in 1612. The party was then conducted through the house and had full opportunity for examining the many treasures, artistic and literary, which were to be seen. Among these were memorials of the Wyndhams, of Trent, and Charles II.

The Club was afterwards entertained at tea by Mr. and Mrs. Bates Harbin, who were cordially thanked by the PRESIDENT for their hospitality and kindly welcome.

A plate of Newton Surmaville accompanies the report of this meeting.