37 
Bingham’s A visit was paid on Saturday, July 5th, by 70 
Melcombe and members to the beautiful old Manor House of 
Milton Afc&’ey. Bingham’s Melcombe, where they were received 
by Mrs. Bosworth Smith, the owner. The jour¬ 
ney was made in motor chars-a-banc, the route being through 
Bere Regis and Puddletown. The house was built in the reign of 
Edward I.—the style of the plinth of a small piece of one of the 
walls points to the time of King Stephen. 
In a window in the Hall, which was originally the Chapel, 
are the Arms of England and Spain quartered together, which 
shows they were placed there in the time of Philip and Mary. 
There is a large table in the hall, some centuries old, with a flap 
to it which gave rise to the expression “ above board,” because 
the head of the house sat at it and the family, servants, and re¬ 
tainers sat below it. Above the hall is the drawing room with a 
small “ powdering room ” adjacent. In the “ gun room is a 
large oval table made of chestnut wood, curiously inlaid, mounted 
on a sea chest instead of legs, taken from one of the ships of the 
Spanish Armada. In a room over the old Gatehouse are two beams 
—date 1300. In the garden is an immense yew hedge over 20ft. 
thick and proportionately high, the intricate boughs and stems of 
which render it practically impenetrable even to a bullet. It dates 
from the time of Henrv Mill. 
A v isit w T as then paid to Hilton Church to see twelve curious 
mediaeval painted panels of saints taken from Milton Abbey. On 
the north wall of the church are some good 15th century gargoyles. 
The party then proceeded to Milton Abbey, where they were 
met by the Vicar, the Rev. Herbert Pentin, who conducted them 
to St. Catherine’s Chapel, on the hill slope, overlooking the stately 
Abbey Church. Here a halt was made for lunch, after which Mr. 
Pentin gave a short description of the building. It was founded by 
King Athelstan as a thank-offering for his victory at the battle of 
Brunanbush. He had previously encamped near the site and had 
dreamt he would conquer his enemies in the coming battle and 
become King of England. “ Christ helping him, he had the vic¬ 
tory, and there slew five kings and seven earls ” (Saxon 
Chronicle). Little remains of the original edifice, it undeiwventcon- 
siderable restoration in Norman days and again in the sixteenth 
century. The arches of the doors are Norman and the windows 
early Norman and Perpendicular. At present it consists of a Nave 
and Chancel and is dedicated to St. Catherine, the patron Saint of 
spinsters, and in the north wall in a stone with three small holes, 
into which it has long been the custom of the village maidens to 
put their fingers and pray for a husband, using the following 
doggerel rhyme:— 
St. Catherine, St. Catherine, O lend me thine aid 
And grant that I never may die an old maid. 
A husband, St. Catherine, 
A good one, St. Catherine ; 
