67 
central columns left remaining. The windows are internally 
cusped very prettily, and the owner has dug down some eight feet 
in search of encaustic tiles and for further discovery, but without 
success. There are some tiles of mediocre art in the house, and 
an underground passage is still in existence leading from the 
crypt, which would have given the Benedictine Monks an easy 
escape to William Rufus’s fortress on the neighbouring height had 
the turbulent mobs of the day attacked the Monastery, but which 
the owner thought would have been more useful for the clandes- 
tine admission of jovial guests to the Monks’ refectory or 
dormitory, especially of the softer sex, a common hallucination 
of the Protestant laity, whenever a secret subway is discovered in 
connection with a celibate establishment. The worthy owner led 
the party into his garden to show the exact site of the E. end, and 
of the original High Altar of the Abbey Church, and stated that 
he had sunk many feet deep to discover the body of King 
Athelstan, buried, according to local report, with untold jewels 
and gold, but without success, 
Bidding hearty thanks to Dr. Jennings for his courteous 
reception and valuable information the party soon found them- 
selves in the King’s Arms Hotel, and by no means averse to the 
bountiful fare provided by the well-known host, Mr. H. Jones. 
After doing full justice to the luncheon, three brakes carried the 
party about two and a half miles to the seat of the Earl of Suffolk 
and Berkshire, who had graciously opened his house and valuables 
to the inspection of the Field Club. Charlton park has for many 
generations been the residence of the Protestant branch of the 
noble family of Howard, represented in its Roman line by the 
Duke of Norfolk. The mansion, a substantial stone-built struc- 
ture, was originally built by Sir Thomas Knyvet in the reign of 
James I., the inner court being now roofed in, the E. front being 
added in 1773 by the Lord Suffolk of that time, the W. front 
being the work of Inigo Jones. Three rooms, hung with valuable 
pictures by English and foreign artists, were opened to the Club. 
