OF SELBORNE. 17 
stood within these twenty years a broad-leaved 
elm or wych hazel, wlmus folio latissimo scabro of 
Ray, which, though it had lost a considerable lead- 
ing bough in the great storm in the year 1703, equal 
to a moderate tree, yet, when felled, contained 
eight loads of timber; and, being too bulky for a 
carriage, was sawn off at seven feet above the but, 
where it measured near eight feet in diameter. 
This elm.I mention, to show to what a bulk plant- 
ed elms may attain, as this tree must certainly have 
been such, from its situation. Inthe centre of the 
village, and near the church, is a square piece of 
ground, surrounded by houses, and commonly call. 
ed the Plestor.* In the midst of this spot stood, 
* Sir Adam Gurdon,* in conjunction with his wife Constan- 
tia, in the year 1271, granted to the prior and convent of Sel- 
borne all his right and claim to a certain place, placea, called La 
Pleystow, in the village aforesaid, ‘‘in liberam, puram, et perpetuam 
elemosinam.” This Pleystow, locus ludorum, or play place, is a 
level area, near the church, of about forty-four yards by thirty- 
six, and is known now by the name of the Plestor. It continues 
still, as it was in old times, to be the scene of recreation for the 
youths and children of the neighbourhood, and impresses an 
idea on the mind that this village, even in Saxon times, could 
not be the most abject of places, when the inhabitants thought 
proper to assign so spacious a spot for the sports and amuse- 
ments of its young people. 
* Sir Adam Gurdon was an inhabitant of Selborne, and a man of the 
first rank and property in the parish. By Sir Adam Gurdon I would be 
understood to mean that leading and accomplished malcontent in the 
Mountfort faction, who distinguished himself by his daring conduct in the 
reign of Henry IIIf. Ie has been noticed by all the writers of English 
history for his bold disposition and disaffected spirit, in that he not only 
figured during the successful rebellion of Leicester, but kept up the war 
after the defeat and death of that baron, intrenching himself in the woods of 
Hampshire, towards the town of Farnham. After the battle of Evesham, 
in which Mountfort fell, in the year 1265, Gurdon might not think it safe 
to return to his house for fear of a surprise, but cautiously fortified him- 
self amid the forests and woodlands with which he was so well acquaint- 
ed. Prince Edward, desirous of putting an end to the troubles which 
had so long larassed the kingdom, pursued the arch-rebel into his fast- 
nesses, attacked his camp, leaped over the intrenchments, and, singling 
B 2 
