124 THE EXETER ROAD 



Yet Wortiiig lias had its bustling times, for here 

 was one of the most famous coachino- inns on the 

 road, the ' White Hart.' Another ' White Hart,' at 

 Whitchurch, is scarcely less celebrated in the annals of 

 the road. In fact, the ' White Harts ' are so many and 

 so notable on this road that the historian of the high- 

 ways becomes almost as ashamed of mentioning them 

 as of recounting the places which Cromwell stormed, 

 or where Charles the Second hid ; the houses in which 

 Queen Elizabeth slept, or the inns where Pepys made 

 merry. 



Worting is followed in quick succession by the 

 outskirts of Oakley, Clerken Green, Deane, Ashe, and 

 Overton. Excej^t Overton, which is a picturesque 

 village lining the road, of the old coaching, or 

 ' thoroughfare ' type, these places are all shy and 

 retiring, tucked away up bye-lanes, with great parks 

 on their borders, in whose midst are very vast, very 

 hideous country mansions where dwell the local 

 J.P.'s, like so many Rogers de Coverley in miniature, 

 with churches rebuilt or restored to their o-lorv and 

 the glory of God, and a general air of patronage 

 bestowed upon the villagers and wayfarers from the 

 outside world by those august partners. These 

 parks, w^ith their mile after mile of palings bordering 

 the road, and their dense foliage overhanging it, are 

 given over to solitude. An occasional gamekeeper, 

 or a much more than occasional rabbit or hare, are 

 the only signs of life, with perhaps the hoarse 

 ' crock ' of a pheasant's call from the neighbouring 

 coverts. The air beneath the overarching trees along 

 the road is stale and stagnant, and typical of the life 



