3 02 KINGSCLERE 



active communication with the haunts of men 

 owing to the contiguity of Park House), the quiet 

 roads leading from what may almost be called the 

 church square to Basingstoke and Newbury, and 

 on to the rising Downs, comprise features which 

 might in these days, when the railway goes every- 

 where, be called ' an ideal village.' As for its old- 

 worldness, as Mr. Shore says, ' the curfew bell is 

 an appropriate survival of a Norman custom in a 

 Norman church. Seven mills are mentioned in 

 Domesday Book, and four remain at the present 

 day.' As to modern ' Kingsclere ' — in which is 

 embodied the origin, development, and present con- 

 dition of Park House and John Porter's extensive 

 racing establishment — it is hoped that the contribu- 

 tion to its history which the proprietor of Park 

 House has made in the present volume will not be 

 found unacceptable to those who take an interest in 

 the English racehorse. 



