35 



castle being then held by the Prater family, it was garrisoned for 

 the King, and after a determined resistance to the attacks ot the 

 Parliamentary Forces, at length surrendered on condition that the 

 garrison should be allowed to go to their own homes. 



On the 29th of June a large number of members 

 A day in the went by train to Brockenhurst, there taking brakes 

 New Forest. for a tour in the northern part of the Forest. 

 Driving by Lyndhurst and Minstead to Rufus Stone, a halt was 

 there made, the party walking down to the spot where Rufus met 

 his death. Mr. Brownen then read a paper on the death of that 

 king, in which he showed that the evidence was strongly in favour 

 of Rufus having been murdered as the result of a plot, to which his 

 brother Henry was probably privy, rather than of his having been 

 shot by accident. The contemporary chronicles favour this view, 

 while not actually stating it in plain words, and it is the later ones that 

 give prominence to the theory of accidental death. From Rufus stone, 

 now a popular picnic resort and much vulgarized by the presence of 

 ginger-beer booths and cocoanut shies, the drive was resumed 

 through a less frequented part of the Forest to Fritham, in the 

 north-western portion. In this remote spot is situated a large 

 powder factory, but its chief interest lies in the proximity of the 

 remains of Roman potteries in the neighbourhood, many of the 

 party walking about a mile into the heart of the forest to Crockhill 

 Green, where the site of one of these potteries was found and many 

 fragments picked up. There are other potteries in the Sloden 

 enclosure near by, but time did not allow a visit to these, nor to the 

 famous yew trees there. These potteries are due toan outcrop of 

 the Lower Bagshot Clays, and were worked by the Romans in the 

 third century. Near Fritham is Iron's Well, the water of which 

 was once reputed of value medicinally, but now neglected. Here 

 one of the party came close upon a group of deer that had come 

 down to drink at the stream just beyond the well. From Fritham 

 the drive was continued to Brook, where tea was provided at the 

 golf cottage, and thence by Cadnam to Brockenhurst, where train 

 was taken back to Bournemouth. The day was a most enjoyable 

 one, the magnificent vegetation of the Forest being in full perfection. 



This excursion took place on the 27th of July, a 

 Winchester. large party going by train to Winchester, where 

 they were met by Mr. N. C. H. Nisbett, a.r.i.b.a., who kindly acted 

 as conductor, his association with the architectural and historical 

 interest of the city making him most valuable in that capacity. The 

 Cathedral was first visited. Amongst the interesting objects seen 

 were the " Pilgrim's Gate," the oldest iron grille in England ; the 

 black Tournai Font, of the 12th century, carved with legends of St. 

 Nicholas ; the chantry of Bishop Wykeham ; the Gardiner chantry ; 

 the Lady chapel ; the reredos, etc. The great interest of the 



