196 president's address. 



remainder of our programme. The wood was charming, and, but 

 for the shower which caused us to hurry, the walk through it 

 would have been delightful. Emerging fi'om the wood, and 

 crossing a few fields, the members were on the site of the famous 

 Roman Station, Yinovium. A solitary fai'mhousc stands now 

 where, first, one of the most populous towns of the Brigantes, 

 and, next, one of the most important of the lloman garrison 

 towns, was situated. The rich pasture around covers doubtless 

 innumerable relics. In days gone by numberless Eoman coins 

 have been found on the spot, so many that the term '' Binchester 

 Pennies" was once commonly applied to them, and numerous 

 altars have been disentombed, most of them unfortunately only 

 to be destroyed. At the present time the chief relic of Roman 

 greatness to be seen is a most perfect and most interesting hypo- 

 caust, to which access is obtained by a trap door and a flight of 

 steps. About eighty perfect pillars of lloman brick are standing, 

 with tiled covering above, and the height is sufficient to enable 

 any person with little difficulty to explore the whole. Our party 

 descended, eight or ten at a time, until all had visited it. 



From Binchester we descended the Hundred Steps to the bank 

 of the Wear, and then walked through the beautiful Park, at- 

 tached to Auckland Castle, to that interesting pile. At the en- 

 trance to the Chapel the Bishop met us, and most kindly explained 

 everything to us, and took us into the State llooms of tlie build- 

 ing. The portraits in the Great Drawing lloom are vciy in- 

 teresting, as also are the valuable paintings of Jacob and his 

 twelve sons by the Spanish painter Zurberan in the Great Dining 

 Room. The Bishop showed us also Antony Bee's sword. After 

 thanking his Lordship for his great courtesy, the party hastened 

 to tlie Talbot Inn, unable through the rain to visit the clilfs in 

 the Park, which so strikingly display the strata of the Coal 

 Measures of tliat locality. At the Talbot a capital dinner, ex- 

 cellently put upon the table, and tlie genial company of our 

 liishop Auckland brother naturalists banished all sense of fatigue 

 and all thought of the rain, and a most agreeable hour was spent. 

 As a memento of our visit, and of our pleasant fraternisation, the 

 Bishop Auckland Club Ix^ggcd our Clu))'s acceptance of a C(fpy 



