Second Day, Wednesday, August Wth. 113 



matters from early times. And then Professor T. Rupert Jones 

 gave an admirable address " On the History of Sarsen Stones/' and 

 in which he contrived to embody a great deal of very interesting as 

 well as valuable information. 



A vote of thanks from the chair to the readers of these two 

 papers, heartily responded to by the audience, terminated the pro- 

 ceedings of the day. 



SECOND DAY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11th. 

 At nine o'clock those who had signified their intention of joining 

 the excursion to Liddington and Barbury Castles repaired to the 

 Town Hall, where sundry brakes awaited them ; and on as pleasant 

 a morning as excursionists could desire the party started for Wan- 

 borough, where the Church attracted great attention, from the 

 singular feature of its possessing a square tower at the west end and 

 a spire between the chancel and the nave. There are said to be but 

 three examples of this in England, and, strange to say, another of 

 the three is to be visited in to-morrow's excursion, viz., that of 

 Purton. The third example is far away from Wiltshire, viz., 

 Ormskirk, in Lancashire. Here Mr. C. E. Ponting, under whose 

 auspices the Church has been admirably restored, read a short paper, 

 pointing out all that was most interesting ; but, as we look forward 

 to printing a paper by that gentleman on this and some other 

 Churches visited by the Society in this year's excursions, we will 

 not anticipate his remarks here. It was observed that Wanborough 

 lies on the summit of a hill surrounded in great part by a bank and 

 ditch, doubtless remains of the ramparts with which in ancient 

 times it was defended, for Wanborough was once a place of no small 

 importance, and enjoys the reputation of having been formerly " the 

 key of Wessex," near to which all the great highways of Wessex 

 converged, and in whose neighbourhood one of the fiercest and 

 bloodiest battles recorded in our annals was fought, as pointed out 

 long since by Dr. Guest. From Wanborough a short drive brought 

 us to Liddington, and here, too, the pretty little Church demanded 

 notice, and its curious tombs, said to be in memory of two Abbesses 

 of Canterbury, one of whom tradition declares to be the founder of 

 VOL. XXIII. — NO. lxviii. 1 



