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of “Tiny slippers of gold and green, tied with a mouldering 
golden cord ” found in an Egyptian sarcophagus. 
The date of the completion of the Speech House was 1680, as 
appears from an inscription over the entrance to the Court Room. 
Another inscription on the lintel of the stable door bears the date 
1676. The holly trees in the wood adjoining the Speech House 
are said to have been mostly planted in the time of Charles II. 
The beeches are numerous and very fine. When was this tree 
introduced into Britain ? Cesar, in his commentaries, remarks. 
on the absence of the beech and fir in England. 
Leaving the Speech House, the party drove to Stanton, which 
probably takes its name from the Buckstone, which is not far off. 
_ There is also a long-stone, or maen-hir not far from the village. 
The Church is a quaint little building of late Norman character, 
with Early English and Decorated additions. Some round-headed 
arches remain. The old font, not now used, is apparently a 
- Roman altar, which has been hollowed out to receive the water. 
_ The pulpit is curious, it is attached to the wall, and must be 
_ passed through by anyone wishing to ascend the belfry stairs. 
On the road outside the churchyard are the steps and part of 
the stem of a fine old village cross. There is a local tradition 
_ referring to the long-stone mentioned above, that if the stone be 
-pricked with a pin exactly at midnight it bleeds. Some of these 
isolated stones, at least, appear to have been used as mustering 
places for fighting men in olden times. The face carved on this 
maen-hir was the production of some rustic artist about 50 years 
ago. 
_ Just before reaching Newland, the celebrated oak is to be seen 
on the right, but there was not time to examine it closely. It is 
one of the oldest and largest trees in the kingdom, measuring 
_ 41 feet in girth at five feet from the ground. Newland Church is 
“most interesting, the nave and aisles being of great width, and the 
clerestory very fine. Two recumbent figures of priests have no 
in ription, but the effigies of Sir John Joce and his wife, in the 
