BOOK OF DOVECOTES 



timber buildings of which the county is most 

 justly proud. He is said to have built the old 

 market-hall of Hereford, now, alas! a thing of 

 the past; and he rendered valuable services to 

 the city in 1645, when it was besieged by the 

 Scottish army, by constructing corn-mills. Full 

 many a delightful cottage and farmhouse in 

 "black and white" was probably John Abel's 

 work; nor is it unreasonable to attribute to him 

 some of the half-timbered dovecotes still to 

 be seen in the district — notably perhaps the 

 charming specimen already visited at Butt 

 House, King's Pyon, dated 1632, when Abel 

 would be in the prime of life. 



But for the moment we are now concerned 

 with a date earlier than John Abel's time, and 

 with material far more durable than that with 

 which he mostly worked. Our business is with 

 the small tower of the church itself Its height 

 fromground to wall-plate is but littleover thirty 

 feet, and its internal measurement is only eight 

 feet square. The walls are massive, being some 

 three feet thick. 



About twenty years ago, Mr. George Mar- 

 shall, the owner of Sarnesheld Court, noticed, 

 120 



