158 



CONFERENCE OF THE EAST ANGLIAN 



of colour — pink chestnuts and hawthorns, the laburnum with its golden 

 tassels, white lilac, and the dark metallic foliage of the copper-beech ; and 

 over all there is an air of peacefulness, so that one of the party was probably 

 not far wrong when he compared the valley of the Stort of to-day to the valley 

 of the Lea in the days of Izaak Walton." 



" From Stortford the members drove along the old I^oman stone street, 

 with a stop at the church of Little Easton, notable for its half-effaced wall- 

 paintings in the nave — the Crucifixion, the Burial, and some others on the 

 South side, and a St. Christopher on the North. There is a peculiarity about 

 ancient wall paintings — they grow upon one, and become more distinct the 

 longer one gazes, till the half-effaced figures seem so familiar that one wonders 



Oak Tree in Easton Park, Essex. 



Fiviii a Photograph by Prof. Meldola. 



there was ever any hesitation as to deciding what they represent. This church 

 contains one of the few brasses which remain of a Knight wearing the Garter 

 badge, and in the Maynard Chapel are some fairly good monuments — one of 

 them occupying the site of the old altar, as is evidenced by the piscina on the 

 South side. Opposite the church are the old stocks, witli an upright post 

 fitted with iron holdfasts to confine the hands also." 



At the church the party was received by the Rector, the Rev. A. L. 

 Whitfield. 



Our member, Mr. G. E. Pritchett, F.S.A., very kindly gave a demonstra- 

 tion of the numerous monuments, very many being those of members of the 



