HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



! 3i 



the members present, and hints were dropped that it 

 was a leper chapel. However that be, it is a notable 

 feature in a church not less remarkable for its noble 

 proportions than for its careful preservation. 

 Leaving the church the party proceeded to a huge 

 wooded mound or tumulus, not far from the west 

 end, and between it and the parsonage. This 

 tumulus, which was once moated, is, according to 

 conjecture, the burial-place of King Merwald, 

 founder of the Convent of Nuns at Leominster, and 

 father of Melburga, who founded Wenlock Priory. 

 Making its way along a fine birch avenue, the Club 

 visited the house of Dr. Williams, and inspected a 

 noble collection of birds' eggs — an instance of what 

 a busy village surgeon can accomplish in spite of the 

 distractions and seclusion of rural practice. At the 

 back of the doctor's house there is a large tithe-barn 

 of some antiquarian interest. 



The village was next traversed, the party 

 assembling at the pedestal memorial of the great 

 Battle of Kingsland Field, which once more put the 

 fortunes of the House of York in the ascendant, and 

 placed Edward IV. on the throne. 



Making a sharp turn to the left, the party skirted 

 the village, passing many handsome half-timbered 

 houses, and under the guidance of Mr. Barker, a 

 pattern country clergyman, proceeded to Eardisland, 

 where the house in which he lives was inspected, and 

 a more curious specimen of fourteenth-century work 

 could not easily be found. The church, an ancient 

 building reverently kept, was next visited, and a huge 

 moated wooded mound adjoining ; this mound is of 

 enormous size and in excellent preservation. The 

 pigeon house, a splendid building, was not forgotten ; 

 the village whipping post, another small mound in 

 Monks' meadow, and the Arrow, or Blue river, also 

 came in for some discussion. Among the archaeo- 

 logical treasures of Eardisland was a curious carved 

 piece of bone, somewhat in the shape of a cross, eight 

 inches by four or five, rudely fashioned and obviously 

 of great antiquity ; it had been found in the neigh- 

 bourhood. 



Burton Court, on the site of an ancient camp, 

 was next visited, and the handsome entrance hall 

 was inspected, while the noble oaks, singularly well 

 grown and symmetrical, which make this part of 

 Herefordshire a paradise to the lover of fine timber, 

 were not neglected. Some of these trees are perfectly 

 majestic in size, and are conspicuous objects in the 

 landscape. One, not far from the Court, is as grand 

 a tree as I ever remember seeing. 



The next halting-place was Stretford, where the 

 vicar received the party, and described the ancient 

 church — small and rude certainly, but singular 

 from the presumption that it was a double church 

 dedicated to two patron twin saints, their supposed 

 burial place being between what probably were the 

 halves. The conjectures of ecclesiologists are so 

 various and ingenious that it was not surprising that 



some of the members of the Woolhope offered daring 

 guesses as to the foundation and original plan of the 

 church ; these guesses having the not uncommon 

 merit of showing that, in default of accurate know- 

 ledge, there are hardly any lengths to which the 

 intellect of the initiated will not take them. 



From Stretford, hidden away in rural solitudes 

 rarely disturbed by the foot of man, the party went 

 to Monkland, for so many years the residence of 

 Sir Henry Baker, the beloved editor of " Hymns 

 Ancient and Modern"; the church is handsome and 

 well kept, and has a good organ. The neighbourhood 

 is noteworthy for buildings of great antiquity, now 

 used for purposes not identical with their original 

 intention. Having done a creditable amount of 

 exploration the Club now returned to Leominster, and 

 was sumptuously regaled at the Royal Oak Hotel 

 with a meal not less remarkable for its abundance 

 than its moderate price. But I must congratulate the 

 Club on the great economy which distinguishes it. 

 After dinner, time still remained for an inspection of 

 the glorious church of the town, singular for its 

 colossal size and for consisting of two buildings of 

 widely different ages and styles : the north part is a 

 vast Norman church in excellent preservation, the 

 south a huge decorated church standing side by side 

 with the former. These two churches are now used as 

 a single church of dimensions so large that few 

 preachers could hope to make themselves distinctly 

 heard without almost superhuman efforts ; while, were 

 all the grown-up inhabitants of the town to attend at 

 the same time there would still seem to be room to 

 spare. In my visit to the church I had the signal 

 advantage of being accompanied by Father Rogers, a 

 Confrater of the English Benedictines, and though up 

 to that morning an entire stranger to me even by 

 name, I soon felt closely drawn to him. He is a 

 person of such culture and ripe attainments that it was 

 not unnatural that I should conjecture that his earlier 

 years had been passed at one of our great public 

 schools and ancient universities, and that he had 

 once been in the English Church. This is mere 

 conjecture on my part ; but, whether right or wrong, 

 it was a great treat to meet with a man so vastly 

 superior to ordinary mortals, and with manners so 

 well bred and highly cultured. Father Rogers 

 showed me the far-reaching remains of the ancient 

 sanctuary of the priory church : the latter, when 

 connected with the rest of the building and in perfect 

 preservation, must have been one of the most 

 stupendous churches in the kingdom, larger than 

 many of the cathedrals, and only surpassed by a few 

 of the most stupendous. 



But to all earthly pleasures there is an end, and 

 when at the station I wished the learned Benedictine 

 farewell, I could not but feel that I had passed a day 

 not soon to be forgotten, and not marred, like too 

 many excursions, by cloudy skies and inclement 

 winds. I hurried to Hereford, and thence to Ledbury, 



