1 26 KINGSBRIDGE 



time. It was nearly dark when they returned, or rather 

 when one of them returned, for Wood was never more 

 seen alive. Several persons bore witness to the fact of 

 having heard cries of murder in the direction of the water, 

 but being dark they did not ascertain the exact spot from 

 whence they proceeded; it was thought, however, that 

 some withheld their testimony lest through their means the 

 man's life would be forfeited; and so the affair remained 

 a mystery; but sixteen years afterwards, a human skeleton 

 was found buried beneath the beach on one of the points 

 of land, and kept down by large stones. 



The village of Frogmore (which is partly in Charleton 

 and partly in Sherford parish) is situated at the head of 

 a navigable creek. Vessels of one hundred tons here load 

 and unload their cargoes; and there are lime kilns, coal 

 wharfs, and corn stores. There was formerly an extensive 

 flour mill in this village, but it was destroyed by fire about 

 the year 1845, and it has never been re-built, which is 

 somewhat surprising, considering the amount of water power 

 which would be available for working it. The ruins of 

 the mill, although gradually crumbling away, have been so 

 beautifully covered with ivy, and look so picturesque, that 

 strangers very commonly suppose them to be the remains 

 of an old monastery, which they closely resemble.* 



There are some valuable slate quarries in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Frogmore. The Molescombe quarries were 

 first opened in the reign of Henry VIII. The Winslade 

 quarries were very old workings re-opened a few years 

 ago, but from repeatedly falling in, are, we believe, again 



* "The Thames to the Taniar" has the following remark: — "At Frog- 

 more a decayed flour mill, covered with ivy, has received a kind of counterfeit 

 dignity, being generally taken for a ruined castle." 



