Notes Speldhurst, Stanstead 249 



' Southmead,' says Sir Robert Atkins, 1 * is another 

 manor in this parish ; it did belong to the nunnery 

 of St. Mary Magdalen in Bristol : the Prioress did 

 grant a long lease of this manor to Thos. Haines, 

 Esq., who obtained the reversion from King 

 Henry vm.,' etc. 



Speldhurst Churchyard, Kent. A tree about 

 25 feet high, measures 18 feet 6 at 3 feet from the 

 ground. At 10 feet it is about 3 feet in girth. 

 The top has been broken. This is a good example 

 of the rapid growth of the trunk after fracture of 

 the leading stem. The galls on it are numerous. 



Stanstead, Kent. In the churchyard is a re- 

 markably fine tree, with a splendid head 30 feet 

 in height ; diameter of umbrage, 57 feet. Jhe 

 girth at the ground is 237 ; at 3 feet, 257 ; at 

 5 feet, 26 feet. There is a central hollow contain- 

 ing a dead trunk about 5 feet in diameter, and 

 a network of roots of good size which have 

 intertwined and coalesced in a striking manner, 

 somewhat like that in the Ankerwyke tree. There 

 are six principal branches, 5 to 8 feet in girth, 

 each enclosing a dead branch of the original trunk. 

 In this respect this is a more singular one than any 

 I have seen, One or two of the branches have 

 somewhat separated from the others and have thus 

 increased the larger girth. They are held together 

 by chains (September 28th, 1892). 



1 History of Gloucestershire, 1768, p. 423. 



