132 



The Forty-Seventh General Meeting. 



little Caracci of the Carpenter's Shop at Nazareth. A number of 

 these pictures were cut from their frames and carried off, some 

 years ago, by a man who had been a servant in the house, and for 

 a considerable time entirely disappeared. The thief, however, 

 found that they could not be disposed of, and they were eventually 

 discovered and returned to their frames again. In addition to the 

 pictures, the Long Gallery contains a magnificent Eagle, caught in 

 Braden Forest, about 1840, and on the staircase is a portrait of 

 Charles II. 's Moll Davis, a native of Charlton, whom the King first 

 saw at a fete there, from a window of the gallery. 



CHARLTON CHURCH, which was next visited, has several points 

 of interest, which will be dealt with in Mr. Brakspear's notes, read 

 on the spot by the Rev. E. H. Groddard, in the absence of the 

 author, who was unavoidably detained at Corsham until the after- 

 noon. GARSDON MANOR HOUSE, the next item on the programme, 

 proved on examination to be more interesting even than at first 

 appeared, for in addition to the good Jacobean strap-work ceilings, 

 and mantlepiece, with the arms of Moody on it, it is evident that 

 at the back of this later building the earlier hall of four bays of 

 loth century date still exists — indeed its open roof is still visible 

 in the attics. Mr. and Mrs. Sistjm, the present tenants, most 

 obligingly allowed the party to wander over the house at their will. 



GARSDON CHURCH. Mr. Brakspear's notes were here read by 

 the Rector, the Rev. R. W. Hay, who showed a Norman stoup 

 bowl of very hard stone, " said to have come " from the porch of the 

 neighbouring Church of Leigh. The Church plate, given by Lady 

 Pargiter, wife of Lawrence Washington, and the fragments of the 

 mural monument which before the re-building of the Church in 

 1856 stood in the chancel to the memory of Sir Lawrence 

 Washington, Kt., now lying loose in the windows of the Church, 

 were inspected with interest, and an opinion was expressed that at all 

 events the shields of arms belonging to this monument might well 

 be fixed against the walls for security. These arms, some years ago, 

 got as far as Southampton on their way to America, having been 

 acquired and removed by an enterprising American. They were, 

 however, rescued at the last moment by the late Rector, Dr. Gray .J 



