Doctor and Mrs. Jatkson 131 



granted, as we did the Established Church itself. 

 They were there as the church was there, looking 

 out over meadows and ploughed fields as it had 

 looked out since good souls built it in the reign of 

 Henry III., and over these same fields Dr. and 

 Jackson looked out with knowing eyes as 

 they sat on their gurgoyles of a sunshiny 

 morning. The water that collected on the tower 

 roof was discharged by large projecting gurgoyles 

 ending in the semblance of two fierce animal 

 heads, one a griffin, and the other a wolf ; and on 

 these the Doctor and his wife loved to sit and 

 t;ilk, full in view of the old Scholar's study 

 room. 



The church was not only old, but mouldy and 

 ill cared for. It had escaped the ruthless hand of 

 the restorer, the ivy clung around it, the lights 

 and shadows still made its quaint stone fretwork 

 restful to the eye, but I fear it cannot be denied 

 that it needed the kindly hand of a skilful architect 

 to keep it from decay. Half of a stringcourse 

 below the gurgoyles had fallen and never been 

 replaced : and below that again the effigy of the 

 patron saint looked as if it had been damaged by 



K 2 



