282 



The Fori [//-Second General Meeting. 



landed the party close to the market cross, which gives such an 1 

 unusual character to the village. The CHURCH was thoroughly I 1 

 inspected under the guidance of Mr. Brakspear, who acted as J 1 

 cicerone throughout the day. The tower — a very beautiful one— | a 

 was happily left untouched at the "restoration," when the screens J o 

 were swept away, and the present poor rose window over the | f< 

 chancel arch was recklessly substituted for the original five or 

 six-light window of entirely different character. A few of the > | 

 Members ascended the tower and were amply repaid, not so much tr f 

 by the view of the village and valley, though that is worth seeing, i 

 as by the nearer sight of the charming little spire which crowns the , \ 

 stair- turret and still contains a small mediaeval bell. Nothing more a 

 graceful than this was to be seen during this whole excursion. The 

 MANOR HOUSE and its grounds occupying a position which is cer-i t 

 tainly unique among Wiltshire residences for the natural beauty of ' j 

 its surroundings, was thrown open in the most hospitable way by I 

 Mr. Lowndes. The gardens, the pannelling, the pictures, and the i i 

 many other objects of interest in the house itself, the group of f 

 Roman architectural fragments from North Wraxall, preserved ! 

 on the lawn, the large sarcophagus from the same place, and the 

 bell-turret from the Church of Biddeston St. Peter's, destroyed inij 

 1840, were all inspected before it was time to sit down to the 9 

 sumptuous lunch to which Mr. Lowndes had invited the Society I 

 in a tent erected on the lawn. On its conclusion Mr. Lowndes j 

 was warmly thanked by the President, Sir H. B. Meux, in the<| 

 name of the Society, for his hospitality. 



Entering the carriages again the route lay through the beautiful j 

 park up to the old Roman Road from Cirencester to Bath — the i 

 FOSSWAY — close to which stands the remarkable cromlech known 



I 



as LUGBURY, the top stone of which was fallen and in its present i! 

 condition in Aubrey's time. Only two of its upright supports] 

 remain, though it probably once had more. It stands at one end j 

 of a long barrow, much reduced in height by long-continued i 

 ploughing (now happily forbidden), of which it seems probable .j 

 that it may once have formed the sepulchral chamber. Mr. 

 Lo\vndes gave the history of its exploration by Sir Richard Colt 



