ITINERARIES. 



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the Priory, I visited Sir Simon Archer, who Uved then in 

 Warwick ; at whose house I saw many rarities, especially 

 many pieces of turned work in ivory, incredibly small and 

 curious ; also a letter patent of King William I ; a letter 

 of the Pope with a leaden seal, to grant liberty to one 

 Archer to build a chapel ; a plenary indulgence to another 

 of that name by Pope Boniface IX. On one side of the 

 seal, written in capital letters, " Bonifacius Villi," on 

 the other side were two faces looking one towards another, 

 and above, these letters " S.P.A. S.P.E." i. e. " St. 

 Paulus, St. Petrus." The like seal and inscription on 

 the forementioned grant. Also a patent of Edward III 

 for free warren to another of the name of Archer, with a 

 seal ; on the one side of which was the figure of the king 

 on horseback ; on the other, he was represented sitting 

 on his throne. 



August the 18th, I departed from the Priory, and rode 

 through Coventry to Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Coventry is a 

 weU-built city, and has a very beautiful market-cross, and 

 one large church. The story of the Lady Godeva, who 

 rode naked through this town, may be had at large, in 

 Dugdale's 'Description of Warwickshire," and indeed 

 whatever is remarkable, or worth noting in the whole 

 county. At Ashby I saw the Earl of Huntingdon's 

 house, now almost quite ruined ; this was the principal 

 strength of the garrison at Ashby. Thence, the next day, 

 I passed on through Derby to Ashburn in the Peak. 

 Derby is a large town, but meanly built ; there have been 

 in it five churches, but some of them are decayed, and 

 ready to drop down. Here I was told by a countryman, 

 that there is a pool on the top of a mountain, reported 

 bottomless, near Leek, named Blackmeer. In my 

 journey this day I saw some coal-pits about two miles 

 from Ashby, and passed the river Trent at Swarson 

 bridge, where is a caussey cross the meadows about half 

 a mile long, that deserves to be remembered, cast up with 

 abundance of pains and cost at the first. 



August the 1 9th, I got to Ashburn, where is a very fair 

 church, built cathedral-wise. 



