6 
gravestones and in the fabric of the churches themselves. Of the 
character of this neighbourhood in Later Medizeval times, you have 
a most interesting illustration in the fortified church tower at 
Dearham, which was meant less for a belfry than to be a fortress 
for the parish. The fact that almost every old manor house has 
grown, like Netherhall, around an old peel tower, is remarkable 
enough as an evidence of the unsettled state of the district three 
or four hundred years ago: but these fortress churches tell the tale 
of border frays in a more striking manner still. 
Let me urge then all members of this Association to interest 
themselves in observing and recording the antiquities of their own 
neighbourhoods. ‘The study will greatly increase the interest of 
your reading of- history, and the vividness of your historical 
knowledge : 
“* Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures 
Quam que sunt oculis submissa fidelibus.” 
You may often be enabled to record or preserve things which 
might otherwise be entirely lost. And as regards those around us 
in encouraging, more especially in the young, the observant eye, 
and the intelligent interest in what is seen, whether in antiquities, 
or in natural history, or in art, we are developing the higher parts 
of our human nature, and adding immensely to the store of human 
enjoyment. 
