92 



The Forty-Fifth General Meeting. 



also exhibited good specimens of circular pack-horse bells, marked 

 B.. W. (probably R. Wells, of Aldbourne), and apparently of 

 seventeenth century date — a man- trap — watchman's rattle — and 

 an interesting sword, found in a barn at Stratton, of Civil War 

 date, with "Andrea Ferrara " on the blade. The collection included 

 a considerable number of Saurian remains from the Kimeridge 

 Clay of Swindon : vertebrae, jaws, and limb bones of Icthyosaurus, 

 PleiosauruSy Plesiosaurus, and Teleosaurus — the most notable speci- 

 men amongst them being a very large bone, as to which authorities 

 have not as yet been able to decide, either the species of the beast, 

 or the position in its body, to which it belonged. Altogether the 

 collection is a remarkable one and shows what may be done by 

 anyone who takes the trouble to keep his eyes open. 



THUESDAY, JULY 7th. 



The first day's excursion was chiefly outside the borders of the 

 County of Wilts, but the second day's was chiefly within it. 

 Leaving the Groddard Arms at 9.35, a small party of sixteen 

 proceeded to STANTON FITZWARREN CHURCH, which still retains 

 many of the features of an early Norman or Pre-Conquest Church, 

 though the " Saxon " proportions of the nave, which were formerly 

 so striking, have been swept away by the recent large addition to 

 the west end of the Church, an addition which may, perhaps, have 

 been necessary, but is none the less regrettable. Notes on the 

 building were read by Mr. Ponting, who acted as the Society's 

 guide throughout this second day's excursion. The Vicar, the 

 Rev. W. C. Masters, followed with some really excellent notes 

 on the various alterations and destructions which were perpetrated 

 during the "restoration" of 1865. It is much, indeed, to be 

 wished that all clergy would as diligently seek out and put on 

 record the exact facts as to the alterations which their Churches 

 have suffered. There was only just time for some few of the 

 members to give a hurried glance into the Vicarage, where a fine 

 collection of portraits by Lely and others tempted them to stay 

 longer, The start, however, had been late, and the whole pro- 



