550 The Sixty -First General Meeting. 



proper repair. If this was nob done, the estate was not prepared 

 any longer to spend money on its repair, as it was of no use to tho 

 farm to which it is attached, and if no means of repairing it could 

 be found, it must be pulled down, much as Sir Charles himself 

 would regret this. At the suggestion of the Hon. Secretary, Mr. 

 Burder wrote to the Inspector of Ancient Monuments, Mr. C. Peers,, 

 who answered very sympathetically to the effect that the Board 

 of Works would probably be willing to take over the building and 

 keep it in repair, if it was handed over to them in good repair to 

 begin with. Mr. Peers also offered to send an architect to report 

 on the amount of necessary work to be done, and to estimate its- 

 cost. Mr. Burder, in a further letter, reported that he had had an 

 interview with Mr. Reginald Hobhouse, on behalf of Sir Charles, 

 and that the former had intimated that Sir Charles was willing to 

 hand over the barn free of cost, and to grant access to it, to a ' 

 public body which would undertake its repair. Mr. Burder him- 

 self suggested that the cost of necessary repairs might amount to 

 £500, The President said that Sir Charles Hobhouse's offer to 

 hand over the building free of cost was what one would have 

 expected of him, that it was impossible to entertain the idea for 

 a moment of the building being pulled down or allowed to fall 

 clown, and that though £500 was a large sum to raise, it could 

 probably be done by a general appeal. Mr. Goddard said that 

 several thousand people annually visited the Saxon Church at 

 Bradford-on-Avon, of whom a large proportion went on to see the 

 Barton Barn. If the building was once put in repair, a small sum 

 charged for admission to it in future would probably help largely 

 towards the expense of maintaining it. Mr. B. H. Cunnington 

 then proposed and the Eev. O. M. Holden seconded a resolution, 

 which was carried unanimously, that the Society should undertake 

 the negociations for the preservation of the barn, whilst the President 

 proposed and Mr. B. H. Cunnington seconded that Mr. Burder b& 

 empowered to act as the Society's representative, with reference 

 to the Committee if necessary, and that he be asked to write to 

 Mr, Peers and accept his offer to send an architect to report on 

 the condition of the building. 



