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] 
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By T. H. Baker. 235 
the writer of this paper noticed a stone between Mere Down Farm 
and Chadenwyche of a different appearance to others used for the 
same purpose. On examination it proved to be a portion of the 
shaft of a cross of Ham Hill stone, of octagonal form; and a short 
distance from it, at the next bend, was a similar fragment. They 
were removed to the churchyard (other stones having been put in 
their respective places), where it is intended to restore them to their 
original position in their mutilated condition, with a new base 
from designs by Mr. Ponting. 
Tradition also says there existed a cross in the garden at 
Woodlands to the north of the chapel. An old man named 
Thomas Cowley, who died a few years since, 90 years of age, 
stated that when a boy he had assisted to carry away the stones of 
which this cross was built. 
The fair held on October 10th owes its institution to the dedication 
of the Church to Saint Michael. 
SuRNAMES. 
Nearly all the surnames given above as those of inhabitants of 
Mere in the fourteenth century have disappeared from the neigh- 
bourhood, but a few families still remain which are probably 
descended in a direct line from the individuals who lived here in 
those days, and in some instances they have retained the same 
Christian names, as, for instance, John Harding, John Shepherd, 
etc. Some have undergone a slight alteration, viz., John at the 
Green is now John Green, William of the Marsh is William Marsh, 
and so forth. The original appellation plainly shows the derivation 
of the name. Others, again, have become so altered as to be 
scarcely recognizable. Cleimond has become Clement, Solely has 
become Sly, ete. Some which have entirely disappeared have their 
names perpetuated in fields, lanes, ete. Henry of Horsington, who 
was M.P. for Mere in 1805, must have been a landowner here. 
There are fields still called Horsington’s situated on the borders of 
the parish, between Whitehill and the boundaries of Gillingham 
Forest. In 1568 these fields are described as “ of old time a wood 
__ now wasted and destroyed.” In 1300 they are mentioned as wood. 
