FIFEHEAD NEVILLE MfeETli^G. Ixxvii. 



ohfe natae for both — Sturmiuster Newton. The earliest record of Sturminster 

 seems to be iu the last will of King Alfred, wherein he bequeathed to his son 

 Ethelwald inter alia lands at Stui-miuster ; and in 968 these lands became the 

 property of the Church, King Edgar giving the Manor of Sturr or Stour for the 

 use of the monks of Glaston. To this gift was added Newton Castle by King 

 Edmund Ironside, a little before his death, about 1016. At the dissolution of the 

 monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII., the Manor, Rectory, and advowson of 

 the Vicarage were granted to Queen Katharine. Later on King Edward VI. 

 granted them to the Princess Elizabeth, who, when she came to the throne, 

 demised them to Christopher Hatton, from whom they passed through a few 

 others to the Frekes of Shroton, and from them to the Pitts of Strathfield Say, 

 ancestors of General Pitt-Rivers and the present Lord of the Manor. The 

 following description of Sturminster in the 16th centur}' by an anonymous author 

 of a manuscript "Tourist's Guide," dated 1579, is interesting and worthy of a 

 place here: — " Sturminster, two miles oif Lidlinch by the East, the which of old 

 was given to the Abbey of Glastonbury by King Edgar. The personage whereof 

 was impropriate to the said Abbaye with a Vicarage yndewed. A market town 

 on Thursdays and the fayer on St. Philip and Jacob and then on St. Luke's day. 

 Where was of old a castle now decayed, but a bewtifull house on it called 

 Sturminster Newton Castle, a seat of Saxon Kings, chiefly of Edgar and Edward 

 senior. Now a school there, the Schoolmaster thereof is called Lowne, a 

 Lancashire man. The church builded by John Selwood, Abbot of Glastonbary, 

 with Mr. John Lutterel's cote and 12 divers cotes." " Yesterday," continued 

 Mr. Mansel-Pleydell, "I was speaking to the oldest inhabitant of Sturmiuster, 

 and asked her what she could remember of the old castle ; and she said ' My 

 father when a boy used to know the last person who lived in the castle — an old 

 woman who used to sell cider.' You can see that the castle occupied a consider- 

 able area of ground. Mr. Pitt-Rivers hopes one day to make some excavations 

 to try to find the foundations, and gain some idea of the plan of the old castle. 

 And, according to the ' oldest inhabitant,' such investigations will be rewarded, 

 for, said she, ' There's a gold table in the well.' " 



The members then drove on to Hinton S. Mary, where they 

 were courteously received by Mr. and Mrs. Alex L. Fox Pitt- 

 Rivers, who showed them parts oi the house and a barn which 

 dates from the 13th century, and other objects of interest. 



Business Meeting. 



The members then returned to Sturminster, where they were 

 hospitably entertained at the Vicarage and refreshed with tea, 

 which was very welcome to the visitors. After tea the meeting 

 of the Club was held. 



