GREAT TANGLEY MANOR 



Forty years ago, lying lost up a narrow lane that joined a track across 

 a wide green common, this ancient timber-built manor-house could 

 scarcely have been found but by some one who knew the country and its 

 by-ways well. Even when quite near, it had to be searched for, so much 

 was it hidden away behind ricks and farm-buildings ; with the closer over- 

 growth of old fruit trees, wild thorns and elders, and the tangled wastes of 

 vegetation that had invaded the outskirts of the neglected, or at any rate 

 very roughly-kept, garden of the farm-house, which purpose it then 

 served. 



What had been the moat could hardly be traced as a continuous 

 water-course ; the banks were broken down and over-grown, water stood 

 in pools here and there ; tall grass, tussocks of sedge and the rank weeds 

 that thrive in marshy places had it all to themselves. 



But the place was beautiful, for all the neglect and disorder, and to 

 the mind of a young girl that already harboured some appreciative 

 perception of the value of the fine old country buildings, and whose home 

 lay in a valley only three miles away, Tangley was one of the places 

 within an easy ride that could best minister to that vague unreasoning 

 delight, so gladly absorbed and so keenly enjoyed by an eager and still 

 almost childish imagination. For the mysteries of romantic legend and 

 old tale still clung about the place — stories of an even more ancient 

 dwelling than this one of the sixteenth century. 



There was always a ready welcome from the kindly farmer's wife, and 

 complete freedom to roam about ; the pony was accommodated in a cow- 

 stall, and many happy summer hours were spent in the delightful 



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