208 



HAMPSHIRE DAYS 



follow a path which he pointed out, and when we got 

 on the hill we would see Priors Dean before us. 



And that was how we found it. There is a satirical 

 saying in the other villages that if you want to find 

 the church at Priors Dean you must first cut down the 





nettles. There were no nettles nor weeds of any kind, 

 only the small ancient church with its little shingled 

 spire standing in the middle of a large green graveyard 

 with about a dozen or fifteen gravestones scattered 

 about, three old tombs, and, close to the building, an 

 ancient yew tree. This is a big, and has been a bigger, 

 tree, as a large part of the trunk has perished on one 



