xliii. 



are awakened in our minds by the scene of devastation before us, they 

 are qualified by the reflection that, in obedience to the laws which govern 

 alike the affairs of men and the operations of nature, out of death and 

 destruction arise new and nobler forms of life ; and, while we view here 

 and in many a crumbling ruin in our land a type of the overthrow of 

 that feudal system of which these vast creations of architectural skill are 

 the exponents, we recognise the gradual growth of the noble edifice of 

 English liberty, which may be said to have originated from the tyrannous 

 acts of the king whose name, as we have seen, is more intimately asso- 

 ciated with Corfe Castle than that of any other English Sovereign." 



At the conclusion of the paper Mr. Mansel acted as guide over the 

 ruins and gave many further particulars respecting them. 



Some of those present availed themselves of Mr. W. A. llixon's kind 

 invitation to inspect the interesting features of his residence, Corfe 

 Castle Manor House, and at 1.15 p.m. the party drove to Newton Manor, 

 where the Club had been kindly invited to luncheon by Sir Charles and 

 Lady Robinson. A sumptuous repast was served in the fine dining room, 

 into which an ancient barn had been converted. The usual toasts of 

 " The Queen " and " The Host and Hostess " having been duly 

 honoured, the many objects of interest in the house and garden were 

 inspected and an interesting paper describing them (which will be found 

 in full later in the volume) was read by Sir C. Robinson. 



LAKE VILLAGE AT GLASTONBURY. At the request of the President, 

 Professor Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., who was present as a visitor, gave 

 some of the results of the exploration of the lake village. He said that 

 there was a closer connection than appeared at first sight between the 

 Somerset lake village, discovered and explored by Mr. Arthur Bulleid, 

 and the Jocal interests to which the Dorset Society gave their chief 

 attention. In the first place the beautiful designs on the pottery, and 

 Hie work in wood and metal, might be appropriately mentioned after 

 the admirable paper of Sir Charles Robinson on the art collections in his 

 beautiful house. They consisted of designs, mostly in graceful curves and 

 flamboyants, derived from the South of Europe in the prehistoric Iron 

 Age, and belonging to a style older than the Greek and Roman art, 

 many examples of which were in the house in which he was speaking. 

 In the second place the whole group of remains in the lake village proved 

 that the dwellers in the marshes of Somerset were in the same stage of 

 culture and belonged to the same race as the builders of the great 

 fortress of Maiden Castle that commanded the downs near Dorchester, 

 and the line of strongholds which kept watch and ward over the Lower 

 Stour and the Vale of Blackmore Spettisbury, Hod, and Hambledon a 



