So 



THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. 



limited to 250, with the understanding, however, that 

 this should not prevent the committee from electing 

 any member beyond that number who was known to 

 have been engaged in some scientific researches con- 

 nected with the county. There was some discussion 

 on this proposition, in which Messrs. Miles, F. A. 

 Edwards, Dale, and Shore took part, and it was ulti- 

 mately adopted with one dissentient. 



Privett church was next visited. This is one of the 

 finest modern village churches in Hampshire, and 

 was described in the programme as the best example 

 of a flint building in the county. It was built by Mr. 

 W. Nicholson, lately M.P. for Petersfield, and the 

 cost was variously stated at from 25,000 to 40,000. 

 It is a beautiful building in design, and it is evident 

 that no pains were spared in the execution. Several 

 different kinds of stone are brought into requisition 

 in the interior of the building Bath Oolite, yellow 

 stone from Ham Hill in Somerset, red sandstone from 

 Dumfries, Purbeck marble (for the shafts), and 

 carboniferous limestone (for the chancel steps). On 

 the use of the Purbeck marble it was remarked by 

 Mr. B. W. Greenfield that after a long period of 

 disuse the rediscovery of this stone was contemporary 

 with the building of the Temple Church, about 1837. 

 The chancel floor and aisles are inlaid with mosaic 

 work in patterns, for the laying down of which an 

 Italian artificer had to be employed. Some informa- 

 tion about the flints and the deposit named Clay with 

 Flints of the surrounding country was given by Mr. 

 Whitaker, who stated that it was a deposit left by the 

 denudation of the chalk, which had been dissolved 

 away, whilst the insoluble matter remained. It lay 

 like a cap on the tops of the surrounding hills, having 

 a very irregular junction with the chalk. The flint 

 work of the church, Mr. Whitaker thought, would 

 not compare favourably with similar work in Norfolk 

 and Suffolk, where the flints were dressed so as to 

 present a more even surface. 



A pretty drive through Mr. Nicholson's park led to 

 East Meon, the central point of the day's excursion. 

 The church here is an interesting building, dating 

 from Norman times. In shape it is cruciform, with a 

 central tower (with Norman windows) and spire. It 

 was entered by the beautiful west doorway, with 

 the well known Norman moulding. The Rev. G. N. 

 Godwin gave some account of the history of the 

 church. In the time of Edward the Confessor Meon 

 was held by Archbishop Stigand for the use of the 

 monks of Winchester. It contained 72 hides, though 

 assessed at 35 hides, and its value was 60. At the 

 time of Domesday it paid 100, but appears to have 

 been too highly rented at that figure. Bishop Walke- 

 lin then held of the manor six hides, one yardland 

 and the church, so that by this time the Church had 

 been deprived of a large slice of its possessions. It 

 is supposed by some authorities (e.g. Rev. Canon 

 Benham, History of the Diocese of Winchester), that 

 the church was built by Walkelin, but Mr. Shore 

 expressed a .doubt on this point ; was it likely 



when the Conqueror had taken possession 

 of so much of the land that Walkelin would 

 have erected the Church ? Was it not rather 

 the work of Stigand ? To answer this question archi- 

 tectural lore was brought into requisition. Mr. Dale 

 thought it was earlier than Walkelin's work in Win- 

 chester Cathedral ; Mr. Nisbet, an architect of the 

 party, said that whilst the west door was later than 

 the time of Walkelin, the tower arches were earlier. 

 These tower arches are very similar to those of St. 

 Michael's Church in Southampton. The tower is 

 supported on four massive pillars connected with 

 severely plain round arches ; the moulding from 

 which the arches spring is on one side only of the 

 stone, which in itself indicates a very early period. 

 Attention was drawn to the stone in the floor (which 

 was referred to in our Notes and Queries column a 

 week or two ago), on which are the words " Amens 

 Plenty " ; but the mystery surrounding it was hardly 

 altogether cleared up. Mr. Godwin thought it showed 

 the place where some of the Parliamentary soldiers 

 slain in the Civil War were buried ; Mr. Shore sug- 

 gested that the stone might be the last tribute to the 

 memory of a deceased parish clerk, and asked whether 

 Plenty occurred as a surname in the village. Some 

 support to Mr. Godwin's theory was afforded by a 

 resident of the locality, who stated that the stone was 

 not now in its original position, and that when it was 

 removed six skeletons were found under it which had 

 been buried upright. Perhaps the most interesting 

 archaeological feature of East Meon Church is the 

 font, which is formed of a square stone, with carvings 

 in relief on the four sides, and also in the spaces be- 

 tween the round basin and the four corners. This 

 font is similar in character to those at Winchester 

 Cathedral, at St. Michael's Church, Southampton, 

 and at St. Mary Bourne. These fonts 

 have given rise to much discussion amongst 

 archaeologists as to the stone of which they 

 are made and as to their origin. Some have 

 pronounced them to be of slate and of Norman work- 

 manship. Mr. Shore is of opinion that they are of 

 Byzantine origin, being brought over to this country 

 by early merchants, possibly at the time of the 

 Crusades. The style of carving he pronounced to be 

 nothing like a typical Norman font, but undoubtedly 

 Byzantine ; and it was stated in support of this theory 

 that a model of this font in the South Kensington 

 Museum is labeled as Byzantine, and another of the 

 Winchester one, now or lately at the Crystal Palace, 

 is similarly labeled. The carvings on this font were 

 described by the vicar, the Rev. Mr. Tomlinson, to 

 represent the creation of Adam and Eve, the tempta- 

 tion, the expulsion, and the angel teaching Adam and 

 Eve to dig ; on the third side there are doves and 

 dogs, and on the fourth dragons. In the top corners 

 are birds drinking out of vessels, which Dr. Davies 

 thought distinctly Byzantine. Around the sides were 

 also represented series of arches, and Mr. Shore 

 suggested that these might be intended to represent 



