By John U. Powell, 31. A. 



249 



Henry Coker was probably re-painted wrongly at some time (perhaps 

 in 1789, when the Church was repaired) : for a rare portrait of him, 

 in the possession of the Rev. John Powell, has this inscription : — 



" The Honble. Sir Henry Coker, of the County of Wilts, Knight, High Sheriffe, 

 Au° 63. Coll: of Horse and Foot to King Charles the First ; Coll: to the King 

 of Spayne, and Coll: to his Ma: that now is for the servis of Worcester, now Gents 

 of the Privy Chamber, setat. 48. 1669." 



The print is signed " W. Faithorne ad vivum faciebat." It is well 

 executed, and is surrounded by a garland of oak-leaves. Sir Henry 

 Coker died in 1693, according to the register, aged 72. In the 

 copy of Culpeper's Herbal, mentioned above, are prescriptions 

 "taken by me Sir Henry Coker, 1690"; but on the monument 

 he is stated to have died in 1661, aged 60. His son, Henry, died 

 in 1736, aged 80 : Henry's signature, endorsing the registers, appears 

 for the first time in 1704, and for the last time in 1730 ; it is 

 he who figures large in the parish legends as " Old Coker." 



The Manor House presents some features of interest, but it must 

 have been greatly altered in the eighteenth century, when it became 

 a farm-house, and perhaps was most altered when a fresh tenant came 

 in 1808. Certainly the grounds were altered, for there were fish- 

 ponds, and many buildings were pulled down. There are traces of a 

 banqueting-hall at the back of the house, with a dais. The situation 

 was well -chosen, and strong. It would be described now-a-days as 

 "being close to two main lines" : that is, the roads from Warminster 

 to Shaftesbury (Wilts to Dorset), and fromAndover and Heytesbury 

 to Bruton (London to Somerset and the West) , run close by, making 

 Hindon, Warminster, and Bruton — important centres then — easily 

 within reach. It is near the river, and bordered by a marsh ; on two 

 sides there are traces of a moat, and, according to local tradition, 

 there was a drawbridge. There still remain five loopholes in a 

 wall, commanding the only approach. This road runs into an ancient 

 drove called Lawrence's Lane, straight to Bidcombe, and also con- 

 nects with the road to Maiden Bradley. Tradition calls the house "a 

 den of robbers, into which many went in that never came out," and 

 points to ineffaceable blood-stains in a room overlooking the lonely 

 marsh. Into the parapet of the bridgo are worked well-carved 



VOL. XXVIII. — NO. LXXXIV. T 



