BOOK OF DOVECOTES 



cell to the great Benedictine house at West- 

 minster. Never a large house, Hurley, at the 

 moment of the Dissolution, had but eight 

 monks, in addition to its prior. 



The Lovelacefamily,connectionsof the poet 

 and cavalier, then came into its ownership, and 

 were succeeded by the sister of a bishop, who 

 purchased it with the proceeds of a prize gain- 

 ed in a lottery. Still later came the brother of 

 that Kempenfeldt who perished in the Royal 

 George, and who himself had helped to plant 

 a laurel alley at the place. Finally, early in the 

 present century, Ladye Place came into the 

 hands of the present owner, who built the house 

 now seen, and to whose interesting pamphlet 

 concerning it, as also to his kindly help in other 

 ways, this account is largely indebted. 



Everything at Ladye Place is of interest; 

 thevery charming house itself, thesubterranean 

 chamber, the old fish-ponds, and the stately 

 cedars on the lawns. But we must turn our 

 back on all except the dovecote, standing in its 

 field beside a splendid tithe-barn and another 

 building scarcely less in size. 



It is a circular stone structure, eighty-eight 

 i66 



