264 THE ANTIQUITIES 



sixteen feet eight inches ; and full seventeen feet nine inches in 

 height. The ceiling is formed of vast joists, placed only five or 

 six inches apart. Modern delicacy would not much approve of 

 such a place of worship : for it has at present much more the 

 appearance of a dungeon than of a room fit for the reception of 

 people of condition. For the outside I refer the reader to the 

 plate, in which Mr. Grimm has repres^ited it with his usual 

 accuracy. The field on which this oratory abuts is still called 

 Chapel-field. The situation of this house is very particular, for 

 it stands upon the immediate verge of a steep abrupt hill.i 



Not many years since this place was used for an hop-kiln, and 

 was divided into two stories by a loft, part of which remains at 

 present, and makes it convenient for peat and turf, with which it 

 is stowed. 



LETTER X. 



The Priory at times was much obliged to Gurdon and his family. 

 As Sir Adam began to advance in years he found his mind influenced 

 by the prevailing opinion of the reasonableness and efficacy of 

 prayers for the dead ; and, therefore, in conjunction with his 

 wife Constantia, in the year 1271, granted to the prior and convent 

 of Selborne all his right and claim to a certain place, placea, called 

 La Pleystow, in the village aforesaid, "in liberam, puram, et per- 

 petuam elemosinam ". This Pleystow,'^ locus ludorum, or play-place, 

 is a level area near the church of about forty-four yards by 

 thirty-six, and is known now by the name of the Plestorfi 



It continues still, as it was in old times, to be the scene of 

 recreation for the youths and children of the neighbourhood; 

 and impresses an idea on the mind that this village, even in 

 Saxon times, could not be the most abject of places, when the 

 inhabitants thought proper to assign so spacious a spot for the 

 sports and amusements of it's young people.* 



1 [This reference is to the plate in the quarto editions. I regret to say that the 

 house as it stood in Gilbert White's time no longer exists. It has long been pulled 

 down, giving place to as uninteresting and ugly a building as can be imagined. 

 The old wall, however, still remains, and probably without any important change. 

 —Bell.'] 



2 In Saxon PleSejTov, or Plegj-rop ; viz. Plegestow, or Plegstow. 



^ At this juncture probably the vast oak, mentioned p. 4, was planted by the 

 prior, as an ornament to his new acquired market place. According to this sup- 

 position the oak was aged 432 years when blown down. 



' For more circumstances respecting the Plestor, see Letter II. to Mr. Pennant. 



