The Annual Dinner. 3 
Kingston House,! where tea had been most kindly prepared in 
the garden by Mrs. Movtron. The beautiful place, with its terraces 
and flower borders, was looking its best, and after tea Mr. Mouton 
gave a short account of the history of the building and of the 
reasons which had induced him to change the name from “ Kingston 
House” to “The Hall.” Built probably in the reign of James 
I., possibly by John Thorpe, for one of the Hall family, who 
seem to have been seated here long before this date, it passed when 
the last of that family died in 1711 to Miss Baynton, who married 
the heir presumptive to the Dukedom of Kingston, their son be- 
' coming the second Duke, who married Miss Chudleigh, the notorious 
Duchess. From the end of the last century until it was bought by 
the father of the present owner in 1848 the house fell on evil times 
and practically ceased to be used as a residence, part of it being 
utilised for manufacturing purposes. After its purchase by Mr. 
Stephen Moulton the building, especially the front, was extensively 
restored. In the interior, in addition to the fine fireplaces and 
plaster ceilings, attention was especially called to the curious 
minstrels’ gallery over the porch, which has no visible means of 
access to it; to the three pieces of tapestry hanging in the hall, 
which belong to the house; and to a beautiful rapier (ci. 1600 ?) 
also found in the house during the progress of the restoration. 
The Annual Dinner, to which twenty-eight sat down, was 
held at the New Bear Hotel, the company afterwards adjourning 
to the Town Hall, where they were serenaded on their arrival by 
‘the Town Band—the effect in the irregular little square, with the 
many narrow streets opening into it, crowded with people looking 
on, suggesting an evening scene in some town on the Continent 
rather than in our own County of Wilts. 
The Conversazione, though only attended by some thirty- 
four persons, proved an interesting one, Mr. Talbot leading off 
with his inaugural address on Restoration and the 
Preservation of Ancient Buildings, followed by the 
Rev. W. G. Clark-Maxwell, on “The Suppression of 
Alien Priories and Friar’s Houses in Wilts.” Both these 
———eeOooowowawwta_oeoooo - 
‘See Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. i., p. 265. 
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