VOL. XLIII.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. l67 



incredible benefit that would redound to these nations, if leading persons would 

 make themselves, their tenants and cottagers, all happy by following our exam- 

 ple. I leave the reader to cast up how many millions of hogsheads of wine, in a 

 few years, would be raised in the land. And truly I conceive it the chief cause, 

 that, in all these times of late wars, none of our poorest cottages saw want; in all 

 houses they had the same number of meals, and the same constant fare : our ara- 

 ble seems not a jot the less, nor our pasture the less ; and for some uses the shadow 

 of the orchard brings on the grass a fortnight the sooner, as commonly for ewes 

 and lambs." 



Concerning the Ancient Bridewell at Norwich. By Mr. Henry Baker, F. R. S. 



N° 477, p. 320. 



This account it seems Mr. B. received from a Mr, Wm. Arderon of Norwich, 

 as follows : The city affords a remarkable instance of an art now lost, viz. the 

 wonderful art, which our ancestors knew, of cutting or rather breaking flint 

 stones into uniform figures, of equal sizes, and with smooth and plain surfaces. 

 Many remains of this sort are to be seen in our old buildings ; but hone is more 

 artfully and regularly finished than the north wall of Bridewell at Norwich, which 

 in length is 1 14 feet, and in height 30. 



This ancient structure is one of the greatest curiosities of its kind, either in 

 "this city or county, and is not perhaps to be exceeded in any part of the known 

 world.* It was built by William Appleyard, the first Mayor of Norwich, who 

 in the year of Christ 1403, held his mayoralty there : and yet this flint-work ap- 

 pears now as perfect as if it had been finished but yesterday; whereas the bricks, 

 which were, afler a certain manner, wrought-in near the bottom of the wall, as 

 a ground work, are almost entirely rotted away. The windows and mouldings, 

 which were built at the same time, of freestone, are nearly in the same condition. 

 But these flints have hitherto defied the devouring teeth of time, and will pro- 

 bably continue untouched for many ages ; being perhaps the most durable way of 

 building that ever was yet invented. 



These beautiful flint-stones are squared to such a nicety, that the thin edge of a 

 knife cannot be insinuated between the joints without a great deal of difficulty; 

 and it is no easy task to make out that they were laid with lime. Most of them 

 are about 3 inches square, and as smooth and level as if they had been ground. 

 They are also laid with such great exactness, that no brick-work, or hewn-stone, 

 appears more regular in its courses. 



* The gate of the Austin Friars at Canterbury, that of St. John's Abbey at Colchester, and the 

 gate near Whitehall, Westminster, are in the same taste. But the platform on the top of the 

 Royal Observatory at Paris, which, instead of being leaded, is paved with flint after this manner, is 

 an instance that the French have, in some measure, recovered this art. — Grig. 



