By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 275 



there, which possessed, amongst other things, the rectory and tithes 

 of the parish of Frome Selwood. In return for that benefit it would 

 not have been unbecoming if he had left some particulars of the 

 state of things hereabout that he had heard or read of, or that hap- 

 pened in his own time. But what says Richard of Cirencester five 

 hundred years ago : — " Such was the negligence and inattention of 

 our ancestors that hardly anybody thought of writing history but 

 men in holy orders, and even they esteemed it inconsistent with 

 their sacred office to engage in such profane labours. My own 

 abbot did all he could to dissuade me, telling me that such occupa- 

 tions were of no service, it was only deluding the world with un- 

 meaning trifles/' Richard then ventured to argue with his Superior 

 that such histories were important, and did not in any degree clash 

 with more sacred employment; but in deference to his Superior's 

 opinion, he humbly acquiesced and gave over writing, and the con- 

 sequence is that he has left us only a few pages. Of course we 

 have general histories of England (such as they are) in the Anglo- 

 Saxon period, but I am not here to-night to give you the general 

 history of England, but the particular history of a very small part 

 of it. S el wood Forest is my text, and I want to stick to my text, 

 and all I can find about it in this period amounts to two solitary 

 facts, or to two individuals connected with its name. 



The first of these is the famous Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury, 

 who founded two small subordinate houses, one at Frome and the 

 other at Bradford-on-Avon. At Bradford he also built a small 

 Church, which exists there to this day— that little ecclesiola which 

 was recovered from utter destruction chiefly by the late Canon 

 Rich- Jones, and which is now put into such a state of substantial 

 repair— not restoration— as will ensure its safety for many years to 

 come. 



I may just say in passing, that I lived near Bradford many 

 years ago, and have walked by that building five hundred times 

 without thinking anything of it. Moreover, Canon Jones told me 

 that he himself had lived seven years at the vicarage house, which 

 is close by it, and had seen it every day without taking more notice 

 of it than I had done. The fact is, it was so completely built 



