22 AUTOBIOGRAPHY [CHAP. iv. 



river. Access on that side is thus only possible by boat, 

 or by a rough way, known as the Fisherman's Path, along 

 the front of the cliffs. Nevertheless, because of the ex- 

 ceeding picturesqueness of the spot, it was a favourite resort 

 on the twelve Sundays in the year on which (I believe 

 under some legal necessity) service was there, in my time, 

 performed. The scene, on the only occasion I was ever 

 present (when our parish church was closed), might have 

 furnished an excellent subject for a painting, as the congre- 

 gation (far too many for the little church to hold), in their 

 bright Sunday dress, emerged from the sloping glades or 

 woodland, to the open space close by the church. Com- 

 fort was a matter of minor importance. Those who 

 disposed themselves on the grass, where they had full 

 enjoyment of the fresh summer air, and heard, through 

 the open door, as much of the service as they chose to 

 listen to, doubtless enjoyed themselves, but within it was 

 not so agreeable. The squire's family were of course 

 installed in the pew, and there w r e were packed as tightly 

 as could be managed, so that we all had to get up and sit 

 down together. We had a " strange clergyman," reported 

 to be of vast learning ; and my juvenile terror, along with 

 my physical condition from squeezing, has imprinted the 

 morning's performance on my recollection as something 

 truly wretched. 



There being no resident population the chapel has since 

 fallen into ruin, and the font and bell have been removed 

 to the mother parish of Woolastone, the bell now doing 

 duty at the day-school there. In 1890 Sir William H. 

 Marling, Bart, (patron of the living) carefully restored the 

 font and placed within it a brass plate bearing the following 

 inscription : 



" Perantiquum hunc fontem baptismalem e ruinis sacelli sci Jacobi 

 Lancaut in comu Glouce servatum refecit Guls Hens Marling Bars 

 A.D. 1890." 



The venerable relic stands in the hall at Sedbury Park. 



The history of the " Church " in our parish of Tidenham, 

 whether interpreted as the body of believers or the building 

 in which they worshipped, might be well taken, during 

 about the fifty middle years of the past century, as an 

 illustration of " changing times." In the year 1826 or 

 thereabouts when my father purchased the property, 

 Tidenham Church was no exception to many other 



