xlvi. THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. 



Society, and one of their most distinguished Members. The 

 PRESIDENT seconded. It was carried. 



THE SUMMER MEETINGS. The next business was the choice 

 of the places of field meetings to be held during the ensuing 

 summer. Many suggestions of localities had been received by 

 the Secretary on forms sent out for the purpose, and these were 

 put to the vote, with the result that Bradford-on-Avon and Bath 

 (two days) ; Brownsea Island ; and Langton Herring, Fleet, and 

 the Chesil Beach were selected for the outdoor meetings. 



An interesting paper was then read by Captain ACLAND on 

 "The Saxon Origin of Studland Church." Captain Acland 

 included in his paper some notes by Mr. A. M. Luckham, 

 churchwarden of Studland 30 years ago. These observations 

 by an observant man, who had unusual opportunities for 

 studying the details of the work, are of much value, shewing 

 as they do the discoveries that were made in the course of it, and 

 some of the changes carried out in the course of the restoration. 



He says : " It will be noticed that in the thick and thin course rabble work of 

 the church not a single quarried stone appears ; a large proportion of the stones 

 are water worn, and have been broken in two, so as to get one flat surface 

 outward, and other stones are rough flints, or hard sandstone, such as may be 

 picked up even now on the seashore, or in the fields. Every stone of the worked 

 ' ashlar ' has been added to an existing building, and mortar of a different 

 colour and better quality has been used in fixing them. The hewn stones of the 

 quoins throughout the building do not ' course ' with the rubble work. When a 

 portion of the S.W. quoin of the nave was taken down, it was found that the 

 corner of the nibble work had been roughly pulled down and the new ' ashlar ' 

 stones built in without any regard to the courses of the old work ; here also a 

 whiter and better mortar has been used. The whole of the plinth of the exterior 

 walls, and of the skirting stones at the foot of the interior, carry no weight, are often 

 quite thin, and fell out when the earth was removed from their bases. The band 

 of ' ashlar ' round the chancel, and the worked stones round the windows, were 

 also merely stuck on with the white mortar, and, when some of the stones of this 

 band were removed (being loose), it was found that some of them were merely 

 hollowed-out shells stuck on over some hard flints in the rubble work, which was 

 too hard to be chopped down. To put in new woodwork to the south doorway, it 

 was necessary to remove some of the quoin stones on the inside of the church, and 

 it was found that the Norman builders had been acting on the same lines of 

 preservation as we had in our repairs ; for, although much labour might have 

 been spared by pulling out the old sandstone quoins, they had chosen to cut the 



