THE ANNUAL EXCURSION. 231 



mented the mem'bers of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, 

 who had joined them, and explained that the Bishop and Dr. 

 Barham would also have been present on the occasion had it not 

 been the eve of a wedding in the family of the latter. It was, 

 therefore, necessary for both to be in Truro, in readiness for 

 the happy event of the coming morning, the Bishop having 

 promised to officiate. He regretted their absence, — the Bishop 

 possessed a pleasant power of throwing light on matters under 

 investigation, and never spoke without being intelligible to all 

 and instructive to many ; Dr. Barham, moreover, was one of the 

 prime movers of the expedition, and upon him had depended, in 

 a great measure, its success. Describing the places visited, Mr. 

 lago gave some additional details as to events connected with 

 them, and alluded to Mr. Stokes's poetry when speaking of the 

 beautiful ruin of Eestormel Castle. 



The E,ev. J. R. Brown next spoke on the subject of Temple 

 Church, near Bodmin, narrating how he had found it a roofless 

 ruin, except for a tarpaulin spread over part of it by his pre- 

 decessor, and how he had been endeavouring to obtain a 

 sufficient fund for rebuilding it. The patron, and others, 

 including the noble chairman of the meeting, had given him 

 their aid. The Rector of Blisland had restored to it the chalice, 

 dated 1577, which formerly belonged to it, and he hoped very 

 soon to be enabled to complete the church, and have it 

 re-opened. He recounted its early history, stating that it was 

 built by the Templars, eventually it fell into decay, and an ash 

 tree, 40 feet high, grew up in the centre of the nave. "When 

 this was lately removed, it was discovered that its roots had 

 penetrated a somewhat rudely constructed vault, and had grown 

 around what had been the body of a man buried there. The 

 skeleton enclosed by the roots was perfect. He therefore had 

 the vault reconstructed and the remains re-interred. Mr. 

 Silvanus Trevail, the architect, a member of the Royal 

 Institution of Cornwall, had presented the plans for the work. 



The Rev. W. lago was then again called upon by the 

 chairman, and in response explained the various antiquities 

 exhibited, and the diagrams upon the walls. He remarked, with 

 regard to the latter, that most of them related to Cornwall, but 

 some were placed there for the sake of comparison, being 

 representations of important reKcs in other parts of the kingdom, 



