338 



The noticeable plants found on the great vallum were a rare variety of the 

 Hawkweed Picris called arvalis, and on its Western side a patch of that curious 

 plant the Stinking Iris, Iris fcetidissima. The way was now taken for Humber 

 Church, which was reached just in time to afford shelter from a heavy storm. 

 The Church consists of a nave, chancel, and ancient oak porch on the south side, 

 with a tower at the west end covered with a shingle spire. The chancel is 

 unusually long compared with the nave. There is a modern transept on the north 

 side with an ancient door now walled up, and a priest's doorway south of the 

 chancel. At the east end are two Early lights with a circular one above. Between 

 the two lights is a very large projecting stone corbel, probably used for a statue 

 in early days. There is also a piscina, or aumbry, in the south chancel wall. The 

 upper part of the font is Norman, which it was stated had been found by the 

 present incumbent, the Rev. H. V. Bacon, in a neighbouring garden, and had been 

 remounted and replaced for the service of the church. It is worthy of remark also 

 that several blocks of Travertine stone were observed in the walls of the Norman 

 and Early English portion of the church, a proof of the existence of springs deposit- 

 ing lime — petrifying springs as they are called— existing in the immediate district. 

 The church has been thoroughly restored inside and out, the last addition being 

 the shingle spire, in memory of the late Rev. Philip H. Scudamore Stanhope, 

 Rector of the parish. 



The rain still came down heavily, so the time was utilized by reading the 

 paper on the discoveries at Blackwardine, which Mr. T. Davies Burlton had been 

 kind enough to prepare for the Club, which was illustrated by his own photographs, 

 and a collection of Roman pottery, red and black, which had been kindly brought 

 by Mr. Wadeley, of Stoke Prior. Some of the pottery was thick and coarse, 

 portions of large jars, with a mouth 11 and 13 inches wide ; but other portions were 

 much finer, Samian ware, and turned. There were also several Roman coins, 

 which are specially noticed in Mr. Burlton's paper. 



Blackwardine lies close to Humber, on the other side of the brook, and the 

 footpath was taken under Mr. Wadeley's guidance just over the bridge. He 

 pointed out the fields in which most of the remains had been found— indeed 

 broken pieces of pottery were thickly scattered about— and in one part of the 

 railway cutting, near the surface, some 40 or 50 yards of charred material 18 inches 

 thick were observed. A sharp look-out was kept for any traces of defence to the 

 old town. There is a steep escarpment towards the brook for some distance, and 

 the border of the two fields containing the remains is some three or four feet 

 higher than the adjoining ground, which, whether natural or artificial, could 

 easily have been stockaded. The rain however was relentless, and although an 

 enthusiastic botanist went through some ten or twelve yards of some high clover 

 to gather the Clover Dodder, Cuscuta trifolii, there was a limit, the archaeologists 

 thought, to investigation under such circumstances, so the way was taken across a 

 turnip field— how fresh and happy the turnips looked, holding up the great drops 

 of water they had been so long drooping for !— and it was decided to walk on at 

 once by the line to Stoke Prior on the return to Leominster. 



The church at Stoke Prior is quite modern. It was built in 1862-3 on the 



