THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 



ii 



country. Near to the end of his communication he 

 says : "If we wanted further arguments to prove 

 the blessings which this country enjoys, we need 

 only mention the religions freedom which exists 

 amongst us ; the numerous charities to be found 

 throughout the kingdom ; and the provision which is 

 universally made for the instruction of the poor.'' 



Short-sighted alarmist ! He little thought a person 

 living at the time he penned the above would in the 

 year 1889 be able to say that one thing he so much 

 dreaded universal suffrage would be conferring its 

 benefits. He omits all allusion to the shocking 

 abuses of which the charities he praises were the 

 subjects. As for his myth, " religious freedom," the 

 wonder is that any man of ordinary honour and 

 knowledge could make such an assertion. Within a 

 few yards of my cottage exists evidence of religious 

 persecution, in the fact that intending worshippers in 

 a newly-erected Congregationalist Church were pro- 

 hibited from passing some thirty yards up a road in 

 front of the church, and along which -workmen went 

 te their workshop, and men passed to feed their pigs 

 and horses ; so the trustees were compelled to cut off 

 a slice ol their ground in order to approach the church 

 door. Religious freedom indeed ! 



JAS. W. BATCHELOR. 



ST. MARY'S CHURCH, GREYWELL. 

 To the Editor of The Hampshire Independent. 

 Sir, In your account of the visit of the Hants 

 Field Club appears the following, describing the 

 rood screen : " But at Grey well the loft and screen 

 are complete and have been raised on a stone founda- 

 tion so as not to interfere with the chancel arch, and 

 otherwise kept in repair. It is a carved modern 

 structure and was covered up with lathe and plaster 

 until discovered by the present Vicar." 



I have known the Church for 50 years, or 20 years 

 before the present Vicar came here. During the 

 whole of that time it has never had a lathe or a bit of 

 plaster on it, and was as distinct a feature then as it 

 is now, the only difference being that it now rests on a 

 stone foundation instead of as formerly on the floor of 

 the nave. It is certainly not correct that it was dis- 

 covered by him. 



I remain, sir, your obedient servant. 



ROBERT MULFORD, 



Churchwarden. 

 Greywell, near OJiham, Hants, October gth, 1889. 



The Westminster' Review for October in an article 

 on " William Shakespeare, Gentleman," has some 

 references to the great dramatist's relations with the 

 Earl of Southampton. 



Mr. Hubert Smith contributes to The Antiquary 

 this month some "Archaeological Notes in Normandy." 

 " The Archaeological Society " the name is somewhat 



vague whose congress he records, visited, among 

 other places, the famous Benedictine Abbey of Bee, 

 an abbey which at one time had an interest in 

 Hampshire. For Quarley manor, in this county, 

 was held by the Prior of Okeburn (new called 

 Ogburn, near Marlborough) as the representative in 

 England of the Abbey of Bee. See Hampshire 

 Independent (June 22, 1889) " Hampshire Field 

 Club." 



The Gentleman s Magazine contains an appreciative 

 article on " Swanage," and another, with much 

 antiquarian information in an attractive dress, 

 on "Ipplepen: Round and about an old Devon 

 village. " Another writer, in following the vicissitudes 

 of "Early Mormonisra," quotes from Mrs. Stenhouse 

 ("an educated apostate who has lately written against 

 her former faith") a graphic account of the Mormon 

 community as she knew it at Southampton in 1849. 



THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, October 19, 1889. 



THE WEATHER IN SEPTEMBER. 



The rainfall in September, as in most months, 

 varies greatly. In 1875 it was 0-37, and in 1876 473 

 inches, which is the least and the most in fifteen 

 years, and the average for the ten years preceding the 

 present is 274 inches. The past month has been 

 exceptionally fine, the total tall being only i'io 

 inches, the whole of which, except '01 on the 2nd, 

 fell from the igth to 24th, and rain -fell on six days 

 only. From August 22nd to September i8th in- 

 clusive, only -07 in. ol rain fell, which may be con- 

 sidered 28 days drought ; 25 days were without any 

 rain, and 15 days are entered " fine sunshine," i.e., 

 sunshine all day. Since January ist to September 

 3oth we have had 1808, the average for the same 

 months for the ten preceding years being 21 '51 in. 

 This gives a deficiency of 3-43 in. to the present time. 

 1888 was deficient 275, and 1887 10-51 inches from the 

 average often years, so that from January ist, 1887, 

 to the present time the deficiency here has been 16-69 

 inches, which is more than six months' average rain- 

 fall. The barometer has been over the average, 

 registering 30 inches and over on twenty days. The 

 highest was 30^45 and lowest 29-52. The tempera- 

 ture was high during the first fortnight, the ther- 

 mometer reaching 75 degrees on the i2th. The 

 maximum was 70 degrees and above on five days. 

 There were two frosts registering 30 degrees on each 

 night. Thermometer 3 feet from ground. 



Fordingbridge. T. WESTLAKE. 



ODIHAM AND GREYWELL CHURCHES. 

 The Rev. T. G. Clarke, vicar of Odiham, has 

 desired us to make the following corrections in our 

 report of the last meeting of the Hampshire Field 

 Club. It was at Odiham Church, not Greywell, that 

 the people put up the royal coat of arms at the Restora- 



