Wednesday, July 5th. 



297 



forty at the Evening Meeting afterwards, when Mr. Talbot read 

 his paper on " Amesbury Church : reasons for thinking that it was 

 not the Church of the Priory," relying on various recorded 

 measurements, and the evidence of the destruction of the Abbey 

 Church, to prove that the existing building cannot be identified 

 with it. He was followed by the Be v. C. S. Ruddle, Vicar of 

 Durrington, who read a short paper reinforcing Mr. Talbot's 

 arguments, whilst Mr. E. Doran Webb, F.S.A., and the Rev. 

 A. W. Phelps spoke on the opposite side. At this point, when 

 the interest in the discussion was at its height, the proceedings 

 were brought to an ignominious conclusion by the landlord inti- 

 mating that those who were* not staying in the hotel must leave 

 the house, as it was 10 o'clock. Accordingly they grumbled and 

 left, and once outside promptly came to the conclusion that there 

 was no manner of reason for their being turned out. It was, 

 however, too late then, and Members went home to bed. 



WEDNESDAY, JULY 5th. 



The first place on the day's excursion at which the carriages 

 stopped was WILSFOKD CHURCH, the only points of interest in 

 which seemed to be the 12th century Norman west door, and the 

 base of the cross, apparently of 15th century date ? on the south 

 side of the Church. After a very short stoppage here the party 

 went on to LAKE HOUSE, where Mr. Lovibond, the present owner, 

 received them and read some notes on the house. This beautiful 

 old house, when it passed quite lately into Mr. Lovibond's hands, 

 was in a very bad state of repair, the walls and mullions very 

 badly cracked, whilst the outer surface of the walls was in 

 many places wholly separated from the inner core of rubble 

 work. Now, under the care of Mr. Detmar Blow, the whole of 

 the walls have been most carefully repaired — entirely from inside— 

 so that it is undoubtedly true to say that from the outside no one 

 would have any idea that anything whatever had been done to it. 

 Not a new stone, or a new bit of mullion is visible, and Mr. 

 Lovibond may well feel proud of the example which he has given 



