Report of the Meetings for 1898. 241 



The first to arrive at Netherwitton was the party which had 

 driven from Morpeth up the valley of the Font, by way of 

 Pigdon. Under the guidance of the Eev. A. Jones, Kector of 

 Stannington, they had called at Stanton and inspected the old 

 manor house of the Fenwick family, which in the reign of 

 Henry YI., 1422-61, was a famous pele tower. Mr Jones ex- 

 plained that Veitch, the Covenanter, had lived in it, and that 

 not far from it was Clavering's Cross, where one of the Claver- 

 ings fell in an encounter with the Scots. From Stanton the 

 party walked across the fields to Witton Shields, where they 

 found much to interest them in the old tower bearing the date 

 1608, and also in the old, and now happily beautifully restored 

 Eoman Catholic Chapel. Arrived at Netherwitton, they were 

 kindly received and made welcome by Mrs T. R. Trevelyan, Mr 

 T. Trevelyan, junr., and Miss Trevelyan. Both parties were 

 entertained to a sumptuous luncheon by Mr and Mrs Trevelyan 

 before proceeding to visit the fine grounds and well-kept 

 gardens. 



The botanical specimens in the grounds and garden were of 

 an interesting order, and in their researches the members had 

 the willing help of Mr C. Fercival of Longwitton. The King 

 and Queen oak trees— the girth of the former being 13 feet, and 

 the latter 1 1 feet — were visited, and an ancient defunct monarch 

 was inspected whose earlier dimensions were 22 feet in diameter. 

 Mr Walker, with the assistance of Mr Trevelyan, pointed out the 

 leading features of interest in the building, giving a history of 

 the Trevelyan family and their connection with the place, and 

 showing how at one time the village of Netherwitton had stood 

 not where the present one does, but between it and the 

 hall. 



In the seventeenth century a fair was held annually at Nether- 

 witton from the 8th to the 13th of August, when the squire had 

 to entertain all the "muggers." "He found it," said Mr 

 Walker, " a very costly business." Mr Walker then explained 

 how the grandfather of the present squire had sought to intro- 

 duce the manufacture of cotton into the village, and had erected 

 a large mill. The introduction of the railway and the develop- 

 ment of the canal system, however, militated so much against 

 the scheme that it had to be abandoned, and ultimately it was 

 converted into a woollen mill, where even to-day a small business 

 is done. Mr Trevelyan headed the party, and took them up to 



