Your Council is glad to inform this meeting that our Society has 

 been placed upon the Register of " Societies in Union." The 

 first Congress of Archaeological Societies in Union with the 

 Society of Antiquaries was held in July, and was attended by one 

 of your elected delegates, the Rev. Dr. Cox. 



During the latter part of last year, a very interesting work has 

 been done in the town of Derby, for which the sincere thanks of 

 our Society are due to our member Mr. Keys. At his own 

 expense, and with untiring energy, in the face of some difficulties, 

 Mr. Keys has opened and cleared out the ancient and historic 

 well of St. Thomas Beckett, and has restored the last of the 

 buildings placed over the site. An exhaustive paper upon this 

 subject appears in another part of this Journal. Mr. Keys also 

 most kindly offers to present to our Society the " Mercury " stone 

 found at Little Chester, and described in the last volume of our 

 Journal. Upon this work at Beckett's well, and upon other 

 " restoration " and similar points, our Society's opinion and 

 advice has been asked and given in the past year, proving, your 

 Council hopes, that the value and influence of the Society is 

 felt more and more. There is, unfortunately, one " restoration " 

 scheme before us just now which cannot be passed over withont 

 special comment. 



As mentioned in our last Report, your Council was asked to 

 advise respecting a probable restoration of the interesting chancel 

 of the church at Chapel-en-le-Frith. As a result of the advice 

 then given, one of our members, Mr. Jolley, was invited to report 

 upon the condition of the chancel, his opinion being " there is no 

 necessity for pulling it down." It is unnecessary to emphasize 

 this opinion, as of course our members do not need to be 

 reminded tliat if there is no necessity for pulling down an ancient 

 and interesting chancel, nothing can justify the pulling of it down. 

 All the most competent authorities seem to agree that the chancel 

 in question is very decidedly interesting as well as ancient ; the 

 most cultured local antiquaries have deprecated its demolition ; 

 the Athenaeum, and other leading London and provincial papers 

 have written strongly against pulling down ; the Society for the 



