By Rev. Chr. Wordsvjorth, M.A. 263 



on the south bank of tlie river Kennet, about a quarter of a mile from the 

 town. The house still stands." 



These last four words might easily give rise to erroneous im- 

 pressions. They seem to suggest that even now, in the district of 

 St. Margaret's, is to be found something like a considerable portion 

 of the Iniildings of the original priory of St. Margaret's. There 

 stands, indeed, a structure, in the walls of which lie concealed, 

 without doubt, many fragments of the original priory, including 

 one angle of the old walls. But that the present structure, as it 

 stands, ever formed an integral part of the priory is quite beyond 

 belief, though it contains the lower courses of part of the original 

 walls ; nor can it be supposed that it represents, otherwise than 

 in a quite fragmentary manner, any considerable portion of the 

 mansion of the Daniels. 



An examination of the structure suffices to show that it is of 

 weak — in other words, of late — construction. We have had our 

 surmises as to the date confirmed (as regards the present building 

 as a whole) by the opinion of an eminent authority on architecture, 

 Mr. C. E. Pouting, F.S.A. 



We may add that in the south wall, about midway of its height 

 is a stone bearing the date " 1680," which seems to be coeval with 

 the present erection of the greater part of the materials. The 

 initials " H x G " also appear on the stone. Jeffrey Daniel died 

 in April, I68I.1 



A careful inspection of the fabric by Mr. Pouting enables us to 

 bring out certain points of interest. 



The quoin of the north-west angle of the main building shows 

 a kind of slate shale bedded in the mortar joints, and the base of 

 the wall below, including the plinth course,indicates mediaeval work 

 (probably not earlier than the middle of the fourteenth century) 

 still remaining in situ. In other words, we have a piece of wall, 

 in which the north door is set, still standing as it stood before the 

 dissolution in 1539, and rising in this condition at the angle to a 



' Mr. Gwillim finds Senxy Gately holding a lease of a tenement in the 

 Green Ward in 1696. But St. Margaret's appears to have been held by 

 T. Fettiplace up till April, 1700. 



