By T. H. Baker. 



235 



: the writer of tliis paper noticed a stone between Mere Down Farm 

 %nd Chadenwyche of a different appearance to others used for the 

 |ame purpose. On examination it proved to he a portion of the 

 jphaft of a cross of Ham Hill stone, of octagonal form ; and a short 

 ^distance from it, at the next bend, was a similar fragment. They 

 were removed to the churchyard (other stones having been put in 

 sjtheir respective places), where it is intended to restore them to their 

 Ipriginal position in their mutilated condition, with a new base 

 iftrom designs by Mr. Ponting. 



& Tradition also says there existed a cross in the garden at 

 * Woodlands to the north of the chapel. An old man named 

 s Thomas Cowley, who died a few years since, 90 years of age, 

 I stated that when a boy he had assisted to carry away the stones of 

 I which this cross was built. 



I The fair held on October 10th owes its institution to the dedication 

 I of the Church to Saint Michael. 



: 



; Surnames. 



t Nearly all the surnames given above as those of inhabitants of 

 !j Mere in the fourteenth century have disappeared from the neigh- 

 i bourhood, but a few families still remain which are probably 

 L descended in a direct line from the individuals who lived here in 



those days, and in some instances they have retained the same 

 5 Christian names, as, for instance, John Harding, John Shepherd, 

 5 etc. Some have undergone a slight alteration, viz., John at the 

 e Green is now John Green, William of the Marsh is William Marsh, 



and so forth. The original appellation plainly shows the derivation 

 , of the name. Others, again, have become so altered as to be 

 1 scarcely recognizable. Cleimond has become Clement, Solely has 



become Sly, etc. Some which have entirely disappeared have their 

 | names perpetuated in fields, lanes, etc. Henry of Horsington, who 



was M.P. for Mere in 1305, must have been a landowner here. 

 , There are fields still called Horsington's situated on the borders of 



the parish, between Whitehill and the boundaries of Gillingham 

 i Forest. In 1568 these fields are described as " of old time a wood 

 ) now wasted and destroyed." In 1300 they are mentioned as wood. 



