(Vlatthew flrnold.
From the pn/ture in tlic Oriel Coll. Coniinon liooni, O.vford. Jhc Oxford poems
0[ attfiew
("Jk SAoUi: S'ips\i' ani "Jli\j«'vs.'') Illustrated,
t© which are added
w ith the storv of Ruskin's Roa(d makers.
with Glides t© the Country the p©em5 iljystrate.
Portrait, Ordnance Map, and 76 Photographs.
by
HENRY W. TAUNT, F.R.G.S. Photographer to the Oxford Architectural anid Historical Society. and Author of the well-knoi^rn Guides to the Thames. &c., 8cc.
OXFORD: Henry W, Taunl ^ Co
ALI. RIGHTS REStHVED. xji^i.
TAONT & CO. ART PRINTERS. OXFORD
The best of thanks is ren(iered by the Author to his many kind friends, -who by their information and assistance, have materially contributed to the successful completion of this little ^rork. To Mr. James Parker, -who has translated Edwi's Charter and besides has added notes of the greatest value, to Mr. Herbert Hurst for his details and additions and placing his collections in our hands; to Messrs Macmillan for the very courteous manner in which they smoothed the way for the use of Arnold's poems; to the Provost of Oriel Coll, for Arnold's portrait; to Mr. Madan of the Bodleian, for suggestions and notes, to the owners and occupiers of the various lands over which •we traversed to obtain some of the scenes; to the Vicar of New Hinksey for details, and to all who have helped with kindly advice, our best and many thanks are given. It is a pleasure when a ^ivork of this kind is being compiled to find so many kind friends ready to help. CONTENTS.
Matthew .Arnold's Poem, 'The Scholar-Gipsy' 5 - 3^
do. do. ' Thyrsis ' 33-60
New Hiiilisev and South Hinksev O2 69
South Hinksev Church ..69-70
Siiutli Hinksev Parisli 70- 73
Between tlie Hinksevs j^
Storv Nortli Hinksev Si -95 North Hinksev Church 95 - 98 Ordnance Map of the district tn f.ice i)<) Rambles with .Matthew .Vrnold 99 - loi do. do. Route 1 100 do. do. Route 2 loi 106 do. do. Route 3 106- 112 do. * do. Route 4 113- '^5 do. do. Route 5 115 124 do. do. Route () 124 12S index 1^9 130 V^ ILLUSTRATIONS. Photographs by Henry W. Taunt, Oxford. Portrait of Arnold Frontispieec. Interior of St Lawrence Ch. Xew Hinksey. 03 The Scholar Gipsy. Path to South Hinksey 00 Tli(>y call yoM SlH-iihcrd.' (i .\ew Hinksey from -lacob's Ladder. 07 Only the wliilo sheep.' ...... 7 St Lawi'ence South Hinksey. 08 .\u(l the ('y<' travels down,' ,.. 8 Piscina, South Hinksey Clinreh. 09 riic Sclidiar (iipsy (( Uaii vill»-'s ) 1(1 Phe Hooded G. \V. K 71 In my Imat I lie.' I'i .leiiiiy Hunting's Parlour 7.'! .Vt Hab-lock-hythe,' 14 ' That sweet City with her The Kytield Klin in .\lay ' ,.. 14 dreaming Spires.' 74 The abandoned lasher pass.' ... \i'> End of the Village North Hinksey. 80 Where at her door.' IG Xoitli Hinksey (tieen. 8] On the skirts of Barley Wood.' IS Causeway to North Hinksey. 82 Tow'nl Hinksev and its wintry Causeway to Nortli Hinksey. SiJ rid ' They call you. Shepherd.' The Scholar-Sipsy, 'mr'r< —••-..,: Only the white sheep ' Go, for they call you, shepherd, from the hill: Go, shepherd, and untie the wattled cotes! No longer leave th}- ^\•istful flock unfed. Nor let thv bawling fellows rack their throats, Nor the cropp'd herbage shoot another head. But when the fields are still. And the tired men and dogs all gone to rest, And only the white sheep are sometimes seen Cross and roeross the strips of moon-blanch'd green, Come, shepherd, and again begin the qu( ^t ' THi; SCHOLAR-GIl'SV 'And the eye travels down to Oxford's Towers.' THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY Here where the reaper was at work of late— In this high field's dark corner, where he leaves His coat, his basket, and his earthen cruse, And in the sun all morning binds the sheaves, Then here, at noon, comes back his stores to use— Here will I sit and wait, While to my ear from uplands far awa\' The bleating of tlie folded flocks is borne, \Mth distant cries of reapers in the c^orn— VU the live rnurmur of a summer's dav. Screen'd is this nook o'er the high, half-reap'd field, And here till sun-down, shei)herd! will I be Through the thick corn the scarlet po]jpies peep, And round green roots and yellowing stalks I see Pale pink convohulus in tendrils creep : And air-swept lindens yield Their scent, and rustle down their perfumed showers Of bloom on the bent grass where I am laid, And bower me from the August sun with shade: .Vnd the e\'e travels down to ().\ford's towers. TtU-: SCHOL.\t^-GIPSY ^•IbJE SC1f3©XB1R=(55lPSL). **Zbcxc was vers lately a laD in tbe University of Oi'forO, wbo was bv bis poverty force& to leave bis studies Ibere; anJ) at last join bimscif to a company ot vagabond gipsies. among tbese extravagant people, b^ tbe insinuating subtilte of bis carriage, be quichig got so niucb of tbeir love anO esteem as tbat tbe^ Discovered to bim tbeir masters. Bfter be baD been a prettg wbile ejerciseJ) in tbe traDe, tbere cbanceD to riDe bg a couple of Scbolars, wbo baD formerly been of bis acquaintance. XTbeg quichl^ spieD out tbeir olD frieiiD among tbe gipsies; anC) be gave tbem an account of tbe necessity wbicb Drove bim to tbat \M]\b of life, anD tolD tbem tbat tbe people be went vvitb were not sucb imposters as tbeg were taf^en for, but tbat tbeg baD a traditional hinJ) of learning among tbem, anD coulD Do wonDcrs bg tbe power of imagination, tbeir fancg binding tbat of otbers; tbat bimeclf baO learned mucb of tbeir art, aiiD vvben be baD compasseD tbe vvbole secret, be intenDcD, be saiD, to leave tbeir company, anD give tbe vvorlD an account of vvbat be baD learned." (Glanvil. 1661.) THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY ii And near me on the grass lies Glanvil's book— Come, let me read the oft-read tale again ! The story of the Oxford scliolar poor, Of pregnant parts and quick inventive brain. Who, tired of knocking at preferment's door, One summer-morn forsook His friends, and went to learn the gi])Sv-lore, And roam'd the world with that wild brotherhood, And came, as most men deem'd, to little good. But came to Oxford and his friends no more. But once, years after, in the country-lanes, Two scholars, whom at colk'go erst he knew, Met him, and of his way of life enquired ; \\'hereat he answer'd, that the gipsy-crew, His mates, had arts to rule as they desired The workings of men's brains, And thev can bind them to what thoughts they will. "And I," he said, "the secret of their art, When full)' learn'd, will to the world impart; But it needs heaven-sent moments for this skill." TH1-: SCHOLAR-GIPSY In my boat I lie l^oor'd to the -cool bank. THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY 13 This said, he left them, and return'd no more.— But rumours hung about the country-side, That the lost Scliolar long was seen to stray. Seen by rare glimpses, pensive and tongue-tied, In hat of antique sliape, and cloak of grev, The same the gipsies wore. Shepherds had met him on the Hurst in spring ; At some lone alehouse in the Berkshire moors. On the warm ingle-bench, the smock-frock'd boors Had found him seated at their enteriiiu. But, 'mid their drink and clatter, he \\'Ould fl\'. And I mvself seem half to know thy looks. And put the shepherds, \\ anderer! on th\' trace ; And bovs who in lone wheatfields scare the rooks I ask if thou hast pass'd their quiet place ; Or in m\' boat I lie Aloor'd to the cool bank in the summer-heats, 'Mid wide grass meadows which the sunshine fills, And watched the warm, green-muffled Cumnor hills. And wonder if thou haunt'st their shv retreats. THE SCHOI..\R-GIPS^ At Bab-lock-hythe. The Fyfield Elm in f/layJ THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY For most, I know, thou lov'st retired ground ! Thee at the ferry Oxford riders blithe. Returning home on summer-nights, have met Crossing the stripling Thames at Bab-lock-hythe, Trailing in the cool stream thy fingers wet, As the punt's rope chops round ; And leaning backward in a pensive dream, And fostering in thy lap a heap of flowers Pluck'd in shy fields and distant Wychwood bowers, And thine eves resting on the moonlit stream. And then they land, and thou art seen no more ! — Maidens, who from the distant hamlets come To dance around the Fyfield elm in May, Oft through the darkening fields have been thee roam, Or cross a stile into the public wa\'. Oft thou hast given them store Of flowers—the frail-leaf'd, white anemony. Dark bluebells drench'd with dews of summer eves. And purple orchises with spotted lea\"cs-- But none hath words she can report of thee. THIi SCHOI..A.R-GIPSY The abandon'd lasher pass. Where at her open door the housewife. THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY 17 And, above Godstow Bridge, when hay-time's here In June, and many a scythe in sunshine flames, Men -who through those wide fields of breezy grass W^here black-wing'd swallows haunt the glittering Thames, To bathe in the abandon'd lasher pass, Have often pass'd thee near Sitting upon the river bank o'ergrowii; Mark'd thine outlandish garb, thy figure spare. Thy dark vague eyes, and soft abstracted air— But, when they came from bathing, thou wast gone ! At some lone homestead in the Cumnor hills, Where at her open door the housewife darns. Thou hast been seen, or hanging on a gate To watch the threshers in the mossv barns. Children, who early range these slopes and late For cresses from the rills. Have known thee eying, all an April-day, The springing pastures and the feeding kine ; And mark'd thee, w^hen the stars come out and shine, Through the long dewy grass move slow^ away. THI'; SCH()I..\R- On the skirts of Bagley WoodJ 'Tow'rd Hinksey and its wintry ridge.' THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY 19 In autumn, on the skirts of Bagley Wood— W-'here most the gipsies by the turf-edged way Pitch their smoked tents, and every bush you see With scarlet patches tagg'd and shreds of grey. Above the forest-ground called Thessaly— The blackbird, picking food. Sees thee, nor stops his meal, nor fears at all; So often has he known thee ]:)ast him stray, Rapt, twirling in thy hand a wither'd spra}'. And waiting for the spark from heaven to fall. And once, in winter, on the causeway chill Where home through flooded fields foot- travellers go Have I not pass'd thee on the wooden bridge. Wrapt in thy cloak and battling with the snow. Thy face tow'rd Hinksey and its wintry ridge ? And thou hast climb'd the hill. And gain'd the white brow of the Cumnor range; Turn'd once to watch, while thick the snow- flakes fall. The line of festal light in Christ-Church hall— Then sought thy straw in some sequester'd grange. THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY ' Some country-nook, where o'er thy unknown grave Tall grasses and white flowering nettles wave, Under a dark, red-fruited yew-tree's shade J THE SCHOLAR-C;iPSY 2 1 But what—I dream! Two hundred \'ears are flown Since first thy story ran through Oxford halls, And the grave Glanvil did the tale inscribe That thou wert wander'd from the studious walls To learn strange arts, and join a gipsy-tribe: And thou from earth art gone Long since, and in some quiet churchyard laid— Some c()untr\-no()k', where o'er tli\' unknown grave Tall grasses and white flowering nettles wa\'e, Under a dark, red-fruited \ew-tree's shade. -No, no, thou hast not felt the lap^e of hours! For what wears out the life of mortal men ? 'Tis that from change to change their being rolls ; 'Tis that repeated shocks, again, again, Exhaust the energx' of strongest souls And numb the elastic powers. Till having used our nerves with bliss and teen, .Vnd tired upon a thousand schemes our wit. To the just-i)ausing Genius we remit Our worn-out life, and are—what we ha\e been. THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY '>Vaiting—(for Spring). THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY 23 Thou hast not lived, why should'st thou perish, so ? Thou hadst one aim, one business, one desire; Else wert thou long since number'd with the dead ! Else hadst thou spent, like other men, thy fire The generations of thy peers are fled, And we ourselves shall go: But thou possessest an immortal lot. And we imagine thee exempt from age And li\"ing as thou liv'st on (ilanvil's page, Because thou hadst—what we, alas ! have not. For earl}' didst thou leave the world, with powers I'resh, undiverted to the world without, Firm to their mark, not spent on other things; Free from the sick fatigue, the languid doubt, Which much to have tried, in much been baified, brings. O life unlike to ours ! \\'ho fluctuate idly without term or scope. Of whom each strives, nor knows for what he strives. And each half lives a hundred different li\ es ; \\'ho wait like thee, but not, like thee, in hope. THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY ' Ahl do not we await it too. THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY Thou waitest for the spark from heaven ! and we, Light half-believers of our casual creeds, Who never deeply felt, nor clearly will'd. Whose insight never has borne fruit in deeds, Whose vague resolves never ha\"e been fulfiU'd ; For whom each vear we see Breeds new beginnings, disappointments new ; Who hesitate and falter life awa\', And lose to-morrow the ground won to day— Vh! do not we, wanderer! await it too.-' Yes, we await it I—but it still delays, And then we suffer! and amongst us one, \\'fio most has suffer'd, takes dejectedlx His seat upon the intellectual throne ; And all his store of sad experience he Lays bare of wretched days; Tells us his misery's birth and growtli and signs. And how the dxing spark of hope was fed. And how the breast was soothed, and how the head. And all his hourlv varied anodvnes. S C 00 .J X. THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY 27 This for our wisest! and we others pine. And wish the long unhappy dream w^ould end, And waive all claim to bliss, and try to bear; With close-lipp'd patience for our only friend. Sad patience, too near neighbour to despair— But none has hope like thine ! Thou through the fields and through the woods dost stray. Roaming the country-side, a truant boy. Nursing thy project in unclouded joy. And every doubt long blown by time away. O born in days when wits were fresh and clear. And life ran gaily as the sparkling Thames; Before this strange disease of modern life. With its sick hurry, its divided aims, Its heads o'ertaxed, its palsied hearts, was rife— Fly hence, our contact fear ! Still fly, plunge deeper in the bowering wood I Averse, as Dido did with gesture stern From her false friend's approach in Hades turn. Wave us away, and keep thy solitude ! THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY ' Crow old at last.' THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY 29 Still nursing the unconquerable hope. Still clutching the inviolable shade. With a free, onward impulse brushing through, By night, the silver'd branches of the glade- Far on the forest-skirts, where none pursue. On some mild pastoral slope Emerge, and resting on the moonlit pales Freshen thy flowers as in former years With dew, or listen with enchanted ears. From the dark dingles, to the nightingales ! But fl\' our paths, our feverish contact fly ! For strong the infection of our mental strife. Which, though it gives no bliss, yet spoils for rest; And we should win thee from thy own fair life. Like us distracted, and like us unblest. Soon, soon thy cheer would die. Thy hopes grow timorous, and unfix'd thy powers, And thy clear aims be cross and shifting made ; And then thy glad perennial youth would fade. Fade, and grow old at last, and die like ours. 10 V- o s; w 3 IJ) (0 ^ 'o £ o C >i:.^ u 10 i~ :«i o 10 c •X. THE SCHOLAR-GIPSY 31 Then fly our greetings, fly our speech and smiles! —As some grave Tyrian trader, from the sea. Descried at sunrise an emerging prow^ Lifting the cool-hair'd creepers stealthily. The fringes of a southward-facing brow Among the .T^gaean isles; And saw the merry Grecian coaster come. Freighted with amber grapes, and Chian wine. Green, bursting figs, and tunnies steep'd in brine— And knew the intruders on his ancient home. The young light-hearted masters of the waves— And snatch'd his rudder, and shook out more sail; And dav and night held on indignantly O'er .the blue Midland waters with the gale. Betwixt the Svrtes and soft Sicilv, To where the Atlantic raves Outside the western straits; and unbent sails There, where down cloudy .cliffs, through sheets of foam. Shy traffickers, the dark Iberians come; And on the beach undid his corded bales. The Country side. « •ih\JW\5,«r ' -V Moxoi.v, to coni„ie„io,-(ite ilic author's friend, ARTHUR HCGH CLO, ..H, K7/O died at Floi-ctce, iS(>i. THYRSIS The Old Witches' Elm, North Hinksey. SEE IHE LEGEND P. 92. Tfiy rsis. ' Nothing keeps the same. How changed is here each s])ot man makes or fills In the two Hinksexs nothing keeps the same ; The village street its haunted mansion lacks, And from the sign is gone Sibylla's name, And from the roofs the twisted chimney- stacks— Are ye too changed, ye hills? Se(% 'tis no foot of unfamiliar men To-night from Oxford up your pathway- strays ! Here came I often, often, in old davs — Th\'rsis and I: we still had Tin rsis then. THYRSIS < ti^M: ' Here with the Shepherds and the silly sheep: THYRSIS 39 Too rare, too rare, grow now my visits here, But once I knew each field, each flower, each stick ; And with the country-folk acquaintance made By barn in threshing-time, by new-built rick. Here, too, our shepherd-pipes we. first assay'd. Ah me ! this many a vear My pipe is hjst, my shepherd's holida_\' ! Needs must I lose them, needs with heavy heart Into the world and wave of men depart: But Tli\rsis of his own will went a\va\'. It irk'd him to be here, he could not rest. He loved each simple jo\ the countrx yields. He loved his mates : but \ et he could not keep, Vnr that a shadow lour'd on the fields. Here with the shepherds and the silly sheej). Some life of men unblest He knew, which made him droop, and hll'd his head. He went : his piping took a troubled sound Of storms that rage outside our happy ground ; He could not wait their passing, he is dead. "a 5 5 lO 10 10 ~^ >, . a •s, •X. THYRSIS 41 So, some tempestuous morn in early June, When the year's primal burst of bloom is o'er, Before the roses and the longest day— \\'hen garden-walks and all the grassy floor \\'ith blossoms red and white of fallen Ma}' And chestnut-flowers are strewn— So have I heard the cuckoo's parting cry. From the wet field, through the vext garden- trees. Come with the \-olle}'ing rain and tossing breeze : Tlic bloom is ii^ituc, and iciili the bloom i^o I! Too quick despairer, wherefore wilt thou go? Soon will the high Midsummer ])omps come on, Soon will the musk carnations break and swell, .Soon shall we have gold-dusted snapdragon. Sweet-william with his homely cottage-smell. And stocks in fragrant blow : Roses that down the alleys shine afar, And ()i)en, jasmine-muffled lattices. And groujis under the dreaming garden-trees, Vnd the full moon, and the white evening-star. 00 c "5. s 1., c X X. THYRSIS 43 He hearkens not! light comer, he is flown ! What matters it? next year he will return. And we shall have him in the sweet spring- days, With whitening hedges, and uncrumpling fern. And blue-bells trembling by the forest-ways. And scent of hay new-mown. But Thyrsis never more we swains shall see : See him come back, and cut a smoother reed. And blow a strain the world at last shall heed— For time, not Corydon, hath conquer'd thee ! Alack, for Corydon no rival now !— But when Sicilian shepherds lost a mate. Some good survivor with his flute would go, Piping a ditty sad for Bion's fate ; And cross the unpermitted ferry's flow, xA-nd relax Pluto's brow% And make leap up with joy the beauteous head Of Proserpine, among whose crowned hair Are flowers first open'd on Sicilian air, And flute his friend, like Orpheus, from the dead. THYRSIS Wlial irhitr. it hut ,'nirfil,' fri'illuru What sedned brooks an' Thames's tributaries THYRSIS 45 O easy access to the hearer's grace When Dorian shepherds sang to Proserpine I For she herself had trod Sicilian fields. She knew the Dorian water's gush divine. She knew each lily white which Enna }'ields, Each rose with blushing face : Siie loved the Dorian pipe, the Dorian strain. But ah, of our poor Thames she never heard ! Her foot the Cumnor cowslips never stirr'd ; And we should tease her with our plaint in vain ! Well! wind-dis[)ersed and vain the words will be. Yet, Tlnr^is, let me give my grief its hour In the old haunt, and lind our tree-te)pp'd hill ! \Mio, if not I, for (guesting here hath power? I know the wood which hides the daffodil, I know the Fylield tree, I know what white, what purple fritillaries The grassv harvest of the river-fields. Above bv Eynsham, down by Sandford, \ ields. And what sedged brooks are Thames's tributaries ; o 00 •X. •X. ^m THYRSIS 47 I know these slopes ; who knows them if not I ?— But many a dingle on the loved hill-side. With thorns once studded, old, white-blossom'd trees. Where thick the cowslips grew, and far descried High tower'd the spikes of purple orchises, Hath since our day put by The coronals of that forgotten time ; Down each green bank hath gone the ploughboy's team. And only in the hidden brookside gleam Primroses, orphans of the flowery prime. Where is the girl, who by the boatman's door. Above the locks, above the boating throng, Unmoor'd our skiff when through the Wytham flats. Red loosestrife and blond meadow-sweet among And darting swallows and light water-gnats. We track'd the shy Thames shore ? Where are the mow^ers, who, as the tiny swell Of our boat passing heaved the river-grass. Stood with suspended scythe to see us pass ?— They all are gone, and thou art gone as well ! THYRSIS ••:^:^mm-:;::,r^'.. -••* ,"^*«.?#-':-'-^<'. -^^ V '. i-s. »-/!^>jf»,••••'»< . ^Ll ^-^::4^iSKJil^: ^^n^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^i /4/7d /o/7g the way appears. THYRSIS 49 Yes, thou art gone ! and round me too the night In ever-nearing circle weaves her shade, I see her veil draw soft across the dav, I feel her slowly chilling breath invade Tlie cheek grown thin, the brown hair sprent with grev ; I feel her finger light Laid j)ausefullv upon life's headlong train :— The loot less prompt to meet the morning (lew, The heart less bounding at emotion new, .Vnd hope, once crush'd, less quick to sj)ring again. Vnd long the wa}' ap])ears, whicli s(>em'd so short To tlie less practised e}"e of sanguine xouth : .Vnd high the mountain-tops, in cloudy air, The mountain-to|)S wliere is tlie throne of rrutli. To])S in life's morning-sun scj bright and bare ! L'nbreachable the fort Of the long-batter'd world uplifts its wall; .Vnd strange and \ain the earthly turmoil grows, And near and real the charm of thy re])ose. And niuht as welcome as a fritMid would fall. THYRsIS Back'd by the Sunset The Tree. THYRSIS 51 But hush ! the upland hath a sudden loss Of quiet !— Look, adown the dusk hill-side, A troop of Oxford hunters going home, As in old days, jovial and talking, ride ! From hunting with the Berkshire hounds they come. Quick! let me fl}', and cross Into yon farther field !—'Tis done ; and see, Back'd by the sunset, which doth glorifv The orange and pale violet evening-sky, Bare on its lonelv ridge, the Tree ! the Tree I I take the omen ! Eve lets down her veil, The white fog creeps from bush to bush about, The west unflushes, the high stars grow bright, And in the scatter'd farms the lights come out. I cannot reach the signal-tree to-night, Yet, happy omen, hail! Hear it from thy broad lucent Arno-vale (For there thine earth-forgetting eyelids keep The morningless and unawakening sleej) Under the flowery oleanders pale). 5 "5. 3 lo oo I- X X THYRSIS 53 Hear it, O Thyrsis, still our tree is there !— xA.h, vain ! These English fields, this upland dim, These brambles pale with mist engarlanded. That lone, sk\-pointing tree, are not for him ; To a boon southern country he is fled, And now in happier air Wandering with the great Mother's train divine (And purer or more subtle soul than thee, I trow, the mighty Mother doth not see) Within a folding of the Vpennine, Thou hearest the immortal chants of old ! Putting his sickle to the perilous grain In the hot cornlield of the Phrygian king, l'^)r thee the Lit\erses-song again Young Daphnis with liis silver voice doth smg : Sings his Sicilian fold, His sheep, his hapless love, his blinded eyes— .Vnd how a call celestial round him rang, .Vnd heavenward from the fountain-brink he sprang. And all the marvel of the golden skies. lO S 00 X THYRSIS. 55 There thou art gone, and me thou leavest here Sole in these fields ! } et will I not despair. Despair 1 will not, while I yet descry ' Neath the mild canopy of English air That lonely tree against the western sky. Still, still these slo])es, 'tis clear, Our Gii)S}-Scliolar haunts, outliving thee ! Fields where soft sheep from cages pull the hay. Woods with anemonies in flower till May, Know him a wanderer still : tlien whv not me ? A fugitive and gracious light he seeks, Sli\- to illumine : and I seek it too. This does not come with houses or with gold, With place, with honour, and a flattering crew'; 'Tis not in the world's market bought and sold— But the smooth-slipping weeks Drop bv, and leave its seeker still untired : Out of the heed of mortals he is gone. He wends unfollow'd, he must house alone : Yet on he fares, bv his own heart inspired. o S (J -a 3 X X THYRSIS 57 Thou too, O Thyrsis, on like quest wast bound ; Thou wanderedst with me for a little hour ! Men gave thee nothing; but this happy quest. If men esteem'd thee feeble, gave thee power. If men procured thee trouble, gave thee rest. And this rude Cumnor ground, Its fir-topped Hurst, its farms, its quiet fields. Here cam'st thou in thy jocund youtiiful time, Here was thine height of strength, thy goldin prime ! And still the haunt beloved a virtue vields. What thougli the music of thy rustic flute Kept not for long its happy, country tone ; Lost it too soon, and learnt a stormy note Of men contention-tost, of men who groan, Wdiich task'd th}' pipe too sore, and tired thy throat— It fail'd, and thou wast mute ! Yet hadst thou alway visions of our light. And long with men of care thou couldst not stay And soon th}' foot resumed its wandering way. Left human haunt, and on alone till night. THYRSIS Our tree yet crowns the hilL THYRSIS 59 oo rare, too rare, grow now my \'isits here! 'Mid city-noise, not, as wdth thee of yore, Th} rsis ! in reach of sheep-bells is my home. —Then through the great town's harsh, heart- w(\arying roar. Let in th\' \'oice a whisper often come, To chase fatigue and fear : Uliv fdiutest thou ? I -icandevd till I died. Roam on ! The liijht -ice sought is shining still. Dost thou ask prooj ? Our tree yet cvo'icus the hill. Our Scholar iravels vet the loved hill-side. "^y-r-'.'j" ^ Our Tree/ part 2. New Hinksey aqd 3^"^^ Hin^^^^y- Soulh piirik^CLj Church. The Palh between the HinM^y^- The ^\or^ of Ihe Hirjksey^. l^lorth Idinkp^y- t^orth Hinksey Church. F^ambles with Mallhew J\rr\o{d. "T-"*""7'f - '^jt^ o; O 0) > O G o o u o o nJ a o T3 u O u-< X O The Church of St. Lawrence, New Hinksey: now destroyed. Kew Hinksey and South Hinksey, ' How e'lan'i'ed is liere each spoi man inalces or tills.' O the Siiuth West of O.xford, over the RI\er into I^erkshire, but only a short mile from the outskirts of the Citv, lie T the prettv Villai_;c.s of North and South Hinksev, in earlv da\s both of them appendages to the f;;reat Abbev of Abingdon. These two okUworld Villages are still niuch as thev were ; un touched bv the extending arms of the I niversitv Citv ; although a New Hinksey has sprung up on the side of tiie Abingdon Road. With their ancient Churches, cottages dotted here and there bv sinuous grass-grown roads, and pleasant paths amid fields which make a rambling visit most pleasurable, whether in Spring when the corn is growing green and beautiful ; or in Summer when towering up, it half hides the hawthorn margin with its waving ears of promised harvest ; or in .Autumn when the great shocks stand near together, mellow and golden, on the stubble between ; while even in Winter, when the frost has hardened the sods and 64 dried the muddy ways into a rugged road, or a sprinkling of snow- has partly concealed the ruts which the Autumn wagons have made ; even then there are beauties which these Milages and their paths exhibit, and make them the popular walk which at all times they are. But in wet weather the tracks are not nice, and the paths that lead from one village to the other should be avoided, or, if traversed, the stoutest pair of mud-proof boots should be donned, and precautions taken to ensure comfort when ' trapesing * along the miry and slippery field-ways. In a sw-eet Summer evening these Milages and paths are very pleasant; during many a ramble has the old, old story that is ever new been gently whispered in their prettv meandering ways ; and many a troth has been plighted which has been fol lowed by a happy wedding ; setting in defiance the sorrows of life, and binding two hearts together in one eternal union. And how sweet it is, even when one is left, as our poet .A.rnoId was, to traverse again the old up-and-down ways, and dream of the past—of those times when heart responded to heart and eye to eye ; while the grassv paths which then were glorious and bright, springing under the feet of friendship, are still the same old delightful wavs—nothing changed beyond the changes which nature is always making, from those davs and walks which were then so pleasant. We look on such rambles as these, but not with regret ; as we grow older our friends one bv one leave us, we do not make new ones so rapldlv as in vouthful davs, and our circle quietly grows less; then these old remembrances of happy walks in pleasant company are very delightful to think over when we are perhaps traversing the old paths as we did in days of aiild lang sync. Not a single one of our old schoolfellows and companions, with whom the writer spent inan}' a joyous Saturday in rambling round these Hinksevs, is alive now to read the story -we have collected ; vet we hope it will give plea sure to the present and many a future generation. From Carfax, the centre of Oxford, there are two distinct ways of reaching the Hinkseys, and the decision must be as to w^hich shall be first visited. We, in this little book, have chosen the Southern way as being the best ; so taking the tram at the Town Hall (every half hour), we pass down St. Aldate's, by the grand old front of Ch. Ch. and through the narrow ways beyond, in due course reaching Folly Bridge. Before reaching this, the visitor will have entered the county of Berks, the boundary in olden times being an arm of the River which is now entirely filled up, which crossed under the street just where it is lowest, about a hundred yards this side of the Bridge. The whole of Folly Bridge and its streams are in Berkshire, and in years gone by, where the houses of Isis Street and Thames Street stand, was 65 the older main River ; old Folly Bridge was nearer Oxford than the present one, and Friar Bacon's study stood on the north side of the present bridge, spanning the road near where the little toll house now stands. Folly Bridge dates from early times, and was originally named Grand-pont or South Bridge, most of the present St. Aldate's bearing the suggestive name Grand-poole ; it was probably first built by Robert D'Oyley, and even now^ there are traces of its early arches under the farther part of the Bridge, near Salter's workshops, and Grandpont House. Years ago, when it first came, in 1844, the Great Western Railway had its terminus close here among the houses on the right, down Western Road ( the ' Great ' is now omitted) : it was then a branch line to Didcot only. Very few trains ran during the day, and those very slow ones ; the third-class carriages were simply like cattle trucks, all open to sun and rain, and the engines little bigger than contractors' engines are now. The Church of St. Matthew stands nearly on the site of the old Station. From Folly Bridge the road is on a causeway which had, it is said, more than 40 arches through it. A number of these existed until within the last few years, before O.xford extended itself to reach New Hinksev ; anel then the walk to Hinksev began at and traversed Hinksey-stcp ground, the last field before reaching the new village, now partly a recreation ground. New Hinksey has few attractions for the visitor. It is a pleasant enough little place in Summer, but in Winter, if there is a very heavy flood, the water at times pours through its Streets like a River. It has already a history in its Churches ; althou<:^h the \'illage has existed but 60 years, yet it has had two Churches, one of which, dedicated to St. Lawrence, was built, outlived its usefulness, and was pulled down a few years ago. Fortunately "^ve had preserved a negative of its interior, taken some thirty years since, a print from \vhich heads this chapter, and will give an idea of what it was like. Both the architect, E. G. Bruton, and the chief donor. Archdeacon Clerke, are Lake ; while to the East is the village of New Hinksev, just passed. To the West is the old village, hiding among the trees, and behind it in the distance, up the valley, is Arnold's Tree. In our boyhood the whole of the Lake and all around w^ere fields, just like those west of the Bridge ; there was only the old farm at New Hinksey, which dates from before the Conquest : and of the suburb of Grandpont there was only one house. When the Rail way first came to Oxford, it ran along where the Grandpont houses are now, to the Station, just beyond the White House Lane. In this suburb of Oxford there are now over 2,000 inhab itants, three new Churches have been built ; this one, nestling pleasantly behind its A'icarage, shows itself across the Lake, while the G.W.R. itself has grown here from a little branch line on the east side of the Lake, to an important main one passing on the west side, and from the newer Oxford station it has arms stretching North and West for hundreds of miles. The Railway here is the boundary of the City until Hog-Acre-Ditch is reached. The City reservoir was originally made in digging gravel for ballasting these North lines; it w^as extended little by little until it grew to its present dimensions, but in early days it was a happy-hunting-ground for we boys, who used to dabble in the shallow water, and catch the sticklebacks and minnows wdiich w^ere swimming in it, or watch the gravel being taken away in trucks drawn by a little toy-like engine. When the Railway had done with it, it was bought by the Water Com pany, and utilized for the new V\'ater- w'orks for the Citv. The path West ward of Jacob's Ladder Bridge is but little altered ; the bridges over Hinksey stream then were only one plank wide, there were the same ditches on each side, Tne F^atn to Soutti Hinksey. and the sharp turn at the end to the little Village of South Hinksev. Here, as Arnold sings :— ' In the two Hinkseys nothing keeps the same.' But the alterations have not been many of late years. The little stream, it seemed larger then, which will be found entering the Village from Chilswell Valley, years ago ran right along the •X} •n H-1 o o .id c 5 mf 'sj'mm I ^^SL'— ^i- U ' i t i 1 It 0) (/) G 3 O (/5 x; o u x: O a) o G i-l •-> CO 69 road at this end of the \'illage, with only the slightly raised foot-path, and in Winter often overflowed. The Inn in those days had a portrait of General Elliot, the hero of the last siege of Gibraltar, for its sign, with a soldier on each side ; but the weather has fairly eaten the portrait away : its gardens were as now a rendezvous on pleasant summer evenings, when its arbours were often thronged; there were one or two thatched Cottages between it and the next farm, tenanted by one of the Faulkners, who was then the principal farmer of the village. The village was the birthplace of John Piers, afterwards Archbishop of York. At the turn of the road is another Cottage or two, another Inn, with the Cross Keys on its signboard. The older Inn bearing this sign stood on the other side of the road, and was kept by the Sib^'lla Kerr immortalized by Arnold : — And from the sia;n is <:;one Sibylla's name. Here the road to the left leads to the old Church, the one to the ri XI x: o cn oo > o -a o o x: H traflic suspended for over a week, communication being carried on by vehicles of every conceivable kind from Radley Station to Oxford, and vice versa. .About 1840 and some years after there was great agitation against St. John's College, who were intent on closing Bagley W ood. The parishioners of Hinksev and Sunningwell claimed the right of cutting the underwood and to have access to the W ood, as their forefathers had done from the earliest times. Their cause was advocated by two Oxford citizens, Pratt and Albutt, and meetings were held and resolutions passed, but the \\ ood was eventually closed. Pratt insisted on his right to traverse the wood, and did so with the splendid dogs which always accompanied him. On one occasion a new^ keeper threat ened to shoot them. Pratt at once covered the keeper with his gun, shouting out, "You shoot my dogs and I'll shoot you." Dr. Adams, the St. John's Bursar at the time the enclosure be gan, who was said to be the chief mover in the enclosing, was afterwards found dead in the Wood ; this was looked upon by many as Nemesis for taking the Wood away from the poor Wl- lagers. As a lad, the Editor was very conversant with most parts of the Wood, which was then open to all -who chose to traverse it. It is a great pity it was ever closed. This side of Bagley Wood is fast being absorbed by the erection of villa residences, and the wood, which extended close to the hill road sixty years ago, is already grubbed up for some little distance. Lilies of the \'alley grow wild over many a rood of this forest, and a mass of single daffodils deck the sylvan shade in more than one part, while primroses and anemonies are in numerable. " Some of my most delightful remembrances of Oxford and its neighbourhood," says Dr. Arnold, "are connected with the scenery of the late autumn. Bagley Wood in its golden decline and the green of the meadows reviving for a while under the influence of a Martinmas summer, and then finally fading off into its winter brown." Years ago a prettv walk leading out from the road behind South Hinksey Church, led up to "Jenny Bunting's Parlour." This really was the quarry from which stone was dug for the building of All Souls' College, and fifty years ago the \'allev leading up to it was a favourite walk for Oxford people ; being a very pretty glen with a tiny stream trickling down the centre, overgrown with reeds and water-plants, and ending in a copse or little w^ood. This A'alley, one of those loved by Arnold, has for years been used as the Rifle-range for the City \'olunteers, and therefore closed to the public. There are still a few traces of the Parlour, but all overgrown. The story told was, that it had been tenanted years before by a witch, or wise woman, named Jennv Bunting, whose ghost still haunted the place, and took / J under its protection all true lovers who made their vows there ; but drove away any who were false. By some she was said to have been a gipsv separated from her tribe for marrying for love out of it ; and after the death of her husband she lived here a solitary life. The legend seems to be nearly forgotten, but was often told when picnic parties made this their rendezvous. Can this be a sequel to the story of the Scholar Gipsy ? Jenny Bunting's Parlour. 1/1 I 'u X 0) w G X o x; o n u O X O The fath between the Hinkseys, "Not one, liiit many a sylvan scene is here discinsed." r^ROM South Hinksey, at the end of the Village, a field-road 1 runs North-West, turning sharply to the right when the stream let which runs down from Chilswell is met. This road lasts only for a short distance, and then the path begins which leads straight on through the fields. All along these fields there should be a series of charming views of Oxford's Towers and Spires, but nearly every one now shows the intrusive Gasometers thrusting themselves into the front of the picture. The Farm on the left above, on the rising ground, is Hinksev Hill Farm, and from here nearly all the older celebrated pictures of Oxford have been taken, but to-day they are not so beautiful as in former davs, although there are more ' Towers and Spires.' A writer in the 17th Cent, says : " From this point, sufficiently elevated to command the whole Citv, the beautiful series of buildings fall into a most picturesque composition, the foreground being a fertile and richly wooded track, with the silvery Thames winding through it, while the line of softly swelling uplands make an admirable background to the Spires and Towers, and completes the picture, which once seen is never forgotten." This walk across the fields continues until it reaches North Hinksev, a distance of nearly a mile. There is a stile or two to be surmounted, a spring or two to step over, and in Autumn often a mild-faced group of cows, grazing in the laziest manner in the fields ; but these trifles are so easily passed that no one need notice them for one moment. The end, too, of the O.U. O.T.C. Rifle range is seen, with the side way leading up to It, and eventually the path reaches the last stile, over which is North Hinksev Green, and the site of the Ruskin Road, for this A'illage, please refer to the chapter on North Hinksev, which will be found beginning at page 81. And here between the villages, as a rest upon the greensward in summer, is perhaps the best place to introduce The Story of tlie Hinkse} s. The storv of both these villages is bound up together, and begins with the gift of them bv Ceadwalla, King of the West Saxons, to the Abbey of Abingdon, between 685 and 688, which was confirmed by Cenwulf or Kenwulph, in S21. There is a long account in the Abingdon Chronicles of the conversion of Ceadwalla, under the date 689, which tells us how he went to Rome, and was baptized by Pope Sergius, and died there within a few days, his body being buried at the entrance of the old Church of St. Peter. The following epitaph was set over his tomb :— " Honour, wealth, issue, kingdoms vast, triumphs. Spoils, nobles, cities, camps, and home's own shrine ; All that his own or father's might amassed, Cedwall, the strong in battle, left for God ; That — a king —• as pilgrim guest might see, St. Peter's self, and seat, cleansed in whose font Of its pure waters happily to drink. Plucking renown, and seizing endless life Where deathless glory beams on all around. Converted -— he exultinglv converts His savage ways and name, while vet his own Pope Sergius — as father — Peter calls. New born and pure, him, Christ's life-giving grace To heaven's arc incontinent transports. Kingly his faith. Godlike Christ's clemency, Whose Avondrous counsels none may ever sound. For, coming safe from Britain's far-off shore, Past many peoples, over seas, and roads To the famed fane of Romulus — he gazed On Peter's see — bearing his mystic gifts, From thence, white-robed, to join Christ's deathless flock. The tomb his body holds, his soul grasps heaven. Judge him the show of sceptres to have changed, Than lowly born have mounted to the throne." * Then we come to the confirmation of the lands to Abingdon, bv the Charter of Edwi, in 955, the scribe of which tells us in a note on the margin, " also the same year Edwi gave to God and the Blessed A'irgin Mary, and to the house of Abingdon and the Monks perpetually serving there, Henges-ige, Seofecan-wyrth, Wihtham, and confirmed the same by this charter." And this is the text of this charter. Zbc Charter of Iking lEDwi as to Ibengstessie 21.S). 955. ( In the name of ) our Lord Jesus Christ who ruleth for ever. To almost every one who gives wise thought to the matter, it is manifest that with the dangers of our present life hanging over us, and with our increasing care for the things which perish, human knowledge, like the morning dew, is dispersed and becomes forgotten, unless by some certain means a record is made. For as the .Apostle (Paul), inspired with the voice of the Thunderer, * Translation by Rev. J. P. Conway O.P, // says : " The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ( II. COR. IV. i8.) "Like as a shadow swiftly glides from sight. Now things which are corporeal disappear ; But in this vision, all who view aright Will see eternal Glorv shine more clear." Therefore I Eadwig, governor and ruler of the English people and all of the Britannic land, grant freely and to hold perpet ually to one of my Abbots, on whom the name of .FLthelwold> by established assent is bestowed, as also the humble community who reside beneath his rule :- A certain piece of land by estimation 20 hides : this how ever (situate) in these places, (namely) w^hen (the place) is commonly known, as at Hengetes-ige, and at Seofecan-wyrthe, and at Wihtham, so that the aforesaid land shall belong for ever to that Monastery which is situate in the \ ill, which is called Abbandun, together with all of those things which are acknow ledged to belong to the said land, (such as) fields, pasture, meadows, or woods, whether they be large or very small. And the aforesaid lands shall be free of all services, e.xcept ( .A.rmy ) expedition, bridge ( building ) and maintenance of fortifications. But if any man with rash follv shall attempt bv action at law to set aside this my benefaction, let him be cast down with heavy chains about his neck amidst the crowd of black and flame- vomiting demons, unless he shall first with penitential tears and groans have made full amendment. It is declared that the above, that is the aforesaid land, is surrounded by these boundaries : — Boundaries of Hengestes-ige. These are the landmarks of this demesne land ( burlandes) of Abingdon which is continuous ( gadertang) ( but ) under these names, that is (to say) Hengestes-ige, Seofecan-wyrthe and Wihtham. First at (the) Maids'ford. Then (along) .Mid-stream (of the Thames) to Stone-ford. Fourth (from) .Mid-stream outside Cvta's island to the land- streamlet. From the land-streamlet to the ' shackling field. ' Then on the high-way to the uppermost lea. Then to the Priest's lea. Then to Cat-lea. Then to Cvbba's stone. From the stone to three boundaries. Then within the 'rough lea ' to Broga's gate. Then to Sundra's ' Edisc,' to the great Thorn (bush). 7« From the Thorn-bush to Cote's hollow. Then to Tidda's Comb. From the Comb to Teta's hill. From Teta's hill to the upper way. Along the Combe to the hedge. From the hedge to the path, ' stump of a tree.' Thence to the Plum lea. Thence to Frithel's byrg. Thence to vdvr-lea. From ydyr lea to the stone. Thence to Thames at the Eanflaede landing stage. Then amid stream till it cometh back to Maids'ford. It would be most interesting if we could onlv trace out these boundaries, but that is now practically impossible. The property held under these charters by the Abbots of Abingdon was enormous. It probably included the Berkshire frontage of the Thames from Kennington in the South, to beyond Bablock Hythe in the West, a distance of over 15 miles, embracing the whole of the large track encircled in the great bend of the Ri^•el, and including the \'ills of Cumnor, Wytham, Eaton, Botley, Seacourt or Seckworth, both the Hinkseys and Wootton. The charter is witnessed by the following most influential people, beginning with Edwi himself, each of whom put his signature to the deed, and subscribed it with their fingers on the Cross of Christ, and confirmed it with their tongues, after the manner of the English. Thus they laid God's curse of all Saints and all Christian folks on whosoever undid anything that there was done. ^ I Edwig, King of the English, have unchangeably consented. (A.b, 9.-)r)-l)."')9,) •J^ I Eadgar, brother of the same King, have consented. (Succeeded A.D. 959,) •J^ I Oda, Archbishop, have impressed (this) with the sign of the Holy Cross. (Ac, 054. Ob. 959.) ^ I Alfsinus, Prelate, (cr. ]]i). of Winchester 95L trans to Canter bury 959.) •J^ I Cenwald, Bishop, have confirmed (this), (cr. Bp. ol'Worcester 929. ob. post 957.) •J^ I Oskytel, Bishop, have affixed my signature, (cr. Bishop of Dorchester 950. trs to York 958.) •J^ I Osulf, Bishop, have corroborated (this), (cr. Bishop of Ramsbury e. 950. ob. 970.) •J^ I Bvrhtelm, Bishop, have consented. (cr. Bishop of London 951.^ ob. i) ^ I Alfwold, Bishop, have not disapproved, (er. J]p. of Creditcn 95:]. ob. 972,) ^ I Awulf, Bishop, have concurred. ( V Bishop of Elmhain c. 950.). 79 •J< I Dunstan, Abbot, have subscribed. (Abbot of (Uastfinbui-y c. 945, Bp. of Worcester A.D. 957,) >^ I .Ethelwold, Abbot, have acquiesced. (Abbot of Abinii'dnii 947. Bp. of Winchester A.D. 00:].) •J^ I .Ethelstan, Earl, and 6 other Earls' names follow. >^ I .Elfsige, Thane, and fourteen other names of Thanes follow. The Charter of Cenwulf was given at the roval Town of Suthtun, (probably Sutton Courtenay). The different spellings of Hengestes-sie, Hengestes-eig, &c., would leave us to conclude the place-name sprang from Hengest-eye, viz. Horse Island or Horse man's Island, which is its meaning, but whether Hengest was the owner's name and what Hengest it was, there is no information. A note at the end of a Charter of King Edgar, relating to Cumnor and dated (A.D. 968) runs: "Now Wihtham, Seovecurt, Hensteseie, Eaton, were members of Cumnor in the time of Edgar King of England, having 25 Cassates and Hides. But now Hensteie is a member of Berton, Wihtham, and Seovecurt, having been given to Knights, and Eaton having been taken away alto.tjether." In a list of the revenues of the Abbev, and their allocation to different departments, it is incldentlv noted that 20/- from the produce of the land at Henstes-ela was appropriated to the require ments of the camerarius or chamberlain of the Abbey. The date of the computation is about A.I). 1184. In c. 1250. Both the Hinkseys were held bv the Abbot of Abingdon, with Le Berton ( The Barton, Abingdon ), Comenore ( Cumnor), Radelev, Boteley, Swyneford, La Dene, (Dean Court) and Wootton in his demesne, (private estate). Both the Hinksejs were in the Hundred of Hormer, and belonged to the .Manor of Cumnor, to whom they were obliged to show their dependence by gifts, as well as suit and service in Cumnor Court, to the Abbot. A survival of this service has no doubt existed to our own time in the payment of the Sixpence called ' smoke-money ' once paid bv the \'illage to Cumnor ; this may be the same as the sl.xpence 'Pentecostal money' paid years ago by each parish to Cumnor, but the payment is not now made. In 1546, bv a deed of exchange, says Lysons, King Henry MIL accepted two closes in the Parish of St. Thomas, Oxford, with the site of Rew'Iev, and £.301, from George Owen, the royal physician, as payment for the Lordship, Manor and Rectorial tythes of Cumnor, and the same deed includes the lands, tenements and tvthes in both the ' HInxevs,' which before belonged to the Abbey of .Vblngdon. The Manor, at the dissolution, was granted to George Owen, the King's physician, and Sir T. .\. Bridges, and conveyed by them in 1547 to Sir John Williams and Sir John Gresham. Later it belonged to the family of Perrott. Now it belongs to the ho Harcourt family of Nuneham, having been purchased by Earl Harcourt. North Hinksey w^as for manv years held to be a hamlet of Cumnor, until .Montagu, second Earl of Abingdon, endowed the Chapel with the vicarial tvthes, and made it into a separate Parish. The principal landowners of these Hinkseys now^ are the Earl of Abingdon, the Rt. Hon. Lew^is Harcourt, of Nuneham, and Brasenose College ; the farms are let to tenants, who seem to work them successfully, and the villages are very small and particularly quiet. The end of the Village. North Hinksey. North Hinkse'/ Green. Korth Hinksey. " A]id fjuiet fields and farms, and by the stream That flows by <;'i'ay-to\ver'd Oxfor.l, wlici-e yet men deem Thy Thyrsis sti-ays." For those who prefer visiting North Hinksev only, the prettiest and most interesting of these \'Illages, the Tram from Carfax to the Station should be taken, and then follow the Biitley Road, passing beneath the G.W.R. and over the new Bridge -which crosses the River at Osney Town. The old bridge, its predecessor, was undermined by the stream and fell, carrying with it unfortunately into the River a child or two, one of whim was drowned. There is a new Church bv the side of the road, dedicated to St. Frideswide, and then another bridge is crossed, whicli Is the centre one of the Seven bridges, from which this road takes Its name. The first Street to the left, just after crossing this bridge, is ' Ferry Hinksey Road,' which leads to the Causeway and then to the P>rry we require to cross to get to the little village of North Hinksey. This new road Is at first very rough and dirtv, but before this part was built upon, only a \ ery few years ago, the wav here was along a pleasant causewa\' between deep ditches shaded by willows; as it is now further on. The late Col. E. W. Harcourt, of Nuneham, began to lay out some of his property at North Hinksey as a building estate, and a pretty site it is, and to make it easily accessible he made a road along side the path for some distance, and then carried it over the streams by two or three bridges ; one of which, a substantial stone structure, still crosses the river close below Hinksey Church, but one of the others, of w^ood only, has rotted away. After this the new^ road turns off ; the old, pleasant, picturesque causew^ay is still used, the ditches in Summer are filled with flowering water plants, while over the twisted streams into which Father Thames in this part of his course near Oxford divides himself, are quaint little wooden bridges, more substantial no\v, but in days gone by were just one plank with a rail on either side ; the last stream which washes the \'illage is crossed bv the Ferry. The Ferry path to Hinksey dates from a great many years back. Old Anthony Wood speaks of an agreement between " the Abbot and Convent of Osney and the ferryman of Hinxsey Hith (6th. Ed.4. - 1476) for the making of a foot and a hors-wav from near Osney Bridge to the \'illage of Hin.xsev." This was long before Lord Williams made what is called the Botley or Sc\ en Bridges Road ; and he also tells us that " joyning to Osney Bridge on the left hand as we go to Botley is a gate, which leadeth to a walk enclosed on both sides with ditches and trees." "This" says he, "I thought at first was the way to Hlnxsev and since cut off and the way made lower." He also tells us that when Osney made a way to Hinksey Ferry, they made use of (the gravel) from Gloucester Green. Notice a t t h e ":\ first bridge the pic ture made by the causeway and River, with the Church in the dis tance ; if a few^ branches were cleared away this would be even more noticeable, but in Summer the Church is consider ably hidden by the foliage ; there are The Causeway to North Hinksey. also some peeps of Oxford to be seen from the path, but the railway buildings detract from these. The path is prettily shaded with Pollard Willows, In all their quaint forms here, some with hollow boles or filled with touchwood within, some >s I/) G X O a u 0) 84 with fresh roots reaching all down the hollow stem, or split intc two or more parts, crooked, and bent, and twisted in every con ceivable way ; yet still sending out vigorous boughs above, covered with the greenest of foliage ; then the Ferry is reached, an adjunct to the Inn of this village, which bears the sign of ' The Fishes.' The Ferry boat is held in position by a rope stretched from bank to bank, w h i c h passes through run ners standing up from the side of the boat, and the ferrv-man or ferry- lass pulls on this and so draws the punt The Ferry, North Hinksev. .1 ' " across the stream. The old Inn, which in those davs was one ' Fish ' only, stood under the fine W^alnut tree on the right hand ; it was a pretty, rather low, thatched building, but in flood times its ground floor was quickly under water, so a new house has been built on higher ground and the older one removed. The \\'alnut tree still stands, and vear by year bears a fine crop of its liuttv fruit. In cross ing the River the City of Oxford is left behind, and also the County of Oxfordshire ; this most westerly stream of the River here forming the boundary of both, so now the visitor is in the Royal County of Berks. But there is, we believe, a little bit of ground on the village side of the River belonging to Oxford, one of the boundary stones stands upon it ; and this or some other encroachment of the Milage obliges the owner to provide an i8-gallon cask of best beer every time the boundaries of the Citv are beaten, as refreshment for the Mayor and those of the corporation who assist. But somehow, on the last occasion of the beating of the bounds, this important function w^as omitted. When North Hinksey Is fairly reached, perhaps the better wav to see it is first to visit the Green, the scene of the ' Ruskin Hinksev Diggings,' as the Philistines called them ; near the site of the old Haunted House with the blood-curdling legend, now nearly forgotten. Those who have travelled from South Hinksev with the earlier part of our guide will join us there. Turn to the left immediately when outside the Inn gate, and a few yards introduces the first picture. We presume it to be 85 Summer, and- fairly dry, otherwise the mud of these roads and paths is some what deep, and exceedingly stodgy, of such a greasy nature also that a firm foot-hold of nails in one's boots, is required for rea sonable safety. Summer time alters all this fortunately, for the Milage is not yet touched ^ j^^ ^wing Gate, North Hinksey. with the march of modern improvements, and remains just as it was in the days of our forefathers, with a swnng gate right across the road by a pretty cottage, close to a depression which fills up with water after every storm, and then stays there for days. Here the Green begins with its old Pollard »;rees, and picture after picture form as we pass along. How lovely, quiet and deserted the place seems on a week day, when its few inhabitants are away labouring in the fields, scarce a sound then except the song o f the birds in the old pollard elms or hedges ; or the gabble of the Geese and Ducks which roam about the Green, as if every thing belonged to them, and no out sider had any right to cross their On the Green, North Hinksey. domain. The children are all in School, or helping their parents where the sw^eet-smelling hay is being fast gathered in, and the onlv denizen of the \'illage Is the evidently " oldest inhabitant, " who has done his life's toil and is now enjoying his old age pension, dreamily passing the time in the sunshine leaning over the cotta'i'e gate, as he awaits the return of those who help to provide his scanty crust. The hard road finishes at the end of the Green, but the deep 86 ruts in the turf of the lane beyond, reaching almost to the hubs of the wheels, tell the story of weighty loads from the fields be yond to the farm in the \'illage. Here was the scene of the " Hinksey Diggings," as it was irreverently termed, of Ruskin's pupils and followers, who taking their cue from their Mentor, Philosopher, and Friend, that one of the right things to do was the making and beautifying of the roads of \'illages, gathered here, under the direction of the Artist's gardener, and with picks and spades, planks and wheelbarrows, dug, moiled, toiled, 1 e X- e 1 1 e d and straightened, doing their best to add to the utilitx' and picturesqueness of this prettv spot ; to the great amuse ment of many of their fellow stu dents and friends, who used to visit the place and look on : not believing 7/,g Roadway before the digging begun. In blistering tlicir hands at such rough employment, or that \'arsitv Undergraduates were the right folk to take up amateur road-making. Of course chaff flew about on every side, so that the workers had to endure the additional hardship (?) of both moral and physical training at the same time. While the hobby lasted, those who took it up xvere xerv enthusiastic ; but the enthusiasm soon expended itself, the work was given up, and the road through the Green soon became grass- covered and ruttv again; nature once more resumed her swa\. The surve\ fir sent by the owner is said to have reported " The xoung nien have done no mis chief to speak of " ; and so It ended. The Roadway nou). oo 0) G 3 <\) G X x: oi-< .id B T3 O .id 1/1 3 Pi 88 From the Library Edition of Ruskin's works we cull the following : Of the so-called ' aesthetic ' movement, Ruskin had an utter loathing. It w^as perhaps to dissociate himself from (it), that he embarked upon the road-digging experiment, which in the great world attracted more attention than any of his other work at Oxford. Ruskin taught in his lectures that the Fine Arts require, as a condition of their perfection, a happy country life. He taught that manual labour is a condition of a completely healthy and rounded human existence, and practised what he preached; for digging, he tells us, was one of his favourite pursuits. Just as he illustrated Greek art bx' getting his pupils to examine actual coins, so he desired to make them discover what the work of a day labourer really was; and by some practical piece of serviceable toil, to come into personal contact with the conditions of rural life. He was especially fond of the w-alk to Ferry Hinksey ; the sweetest of all our old xillage Churches, the haunted ground too of Matthew Arnold's Scholar-Gipsy, and here some cottages bordered on a piece of green, and the carts coming across the green for xvant of a road, cut it up into ruts. It was here Ruskin obtained permission to make a new road for the carts to use,, and so leave the green in fair order, and thither a gang of undergraduates in flannels, with spades, picks, and barrow^s, went day by day, while the Professor came forth sometimes and applauded them at their task. This extract from the letter Ruskin xvrote to Dr. Acland for permission, gives his own account of the scheme. Heme Hill. 28th ^^ov., ' 73. My Dear Acland, I have not courage to write directly to Mr. Harcourt ,,, but if you xvill kindly see him ... and introduce the matter to him I do not doubt his kind consent. Ill the first place, 1 xvant to show my Oxford drawing class my notion of what a country road should be. I am always groxvling about rails, and I xvant them to see xvhat I xvould have instead ; beginning xvith quite a by-road through villages. Xoxv I don't know in all England a lox'elier site of road than the lane along the foot of the hills past Ferry Hinksey, and T xvant Mr. Harcourt's leave to take up the bit of it immediately to the South of the village, and bring it this spring into the prettiest shape I can. I want to lex'el one or two bits where the xvater lodges ; to get the ruts out of the rest, and soxv the banks with the xvild floxvers that should groxv on them ; and this T xvant to do xvith delicate touching, putting no rough workmen on the ground, but keeping all loveliness it has. This is my first, not my chief object. My chief object is to let my pupils feel the pleasure of useful muscu lar xvork, and especially of the various anil amusing work involved in getting a human pathway, I'iglitly made, through a lovely country,, and rightly adorned. Now that country road luider tl.e slope of the hill, with its. a X o o 5 cd .id rt a rJ O .id in 3 9° irregular line of treas sheltering yet not darkening it, is capable of being made one of the loveliest things in this English world by only a little tenderness and patience, in easy labour. "We can get all stagnant xvater carried away of course, and xve can make the cottages more healthy; and the walk, within little time and slight strength from Oxford, far more beautiful than any College gardens can be. So I have got one or two of my men to promise me they will do what xvork is necessary with their own shoulders. I will send down my own gardener to be at their command, with what under work may here and there be necessary, which they cannot do with pleasure to themselves, and I xvill meet whatever expenses is needful for cartage and the like; and all that I ask of Mr. Harcourt is permission to make the road sound, to carry the drains under it and away, and trim the banks to my mind. But all depends on the place remaining, at least for this summer, as it is noxv ; the quietude to it, and entirely rustic character of its exquisite little Church, and beauti fully placed cottages, being the necessary condition of showing what a pure country scene may be made, by the actix'e care of gentle minds and delicate hands. 1 had more to say, but my paper says, I suppose rightly, better not, except, I am Ever your lox'ing friend, John Ruskin. Ruskin had started the scheme in the spring term by getting some Balliol men, xvho were to take it up, to breakfast at Corpus Christi College. The first of the diggers' breakfasts xvas on Mar. 24, ' 74. " The breakfast took place in the common room, and w^e xvent," says Mr. W^edderburn, " to Ruskin's rooms after it. He was to go abroad at once xvhile xve started the xx^ork. The work xvas started under Ruskin's old gardener, Daxdd Doxvns. Ruskin xvas abroad until October term, then he came and superintended the work, his first visit being on Oct. 27. The spade xvork xvas over by this time, but the stones had to be broken for the road, and we found stone-breaking none too easy. Downs taught us> but xx-e broke a good many hammers in learning. Ruskin took his turn at this part of the work." Such xvas Ruskin's experiment. " The xx^orld ( says Kitchin ) naturally laughed. There xvere facetious letters in the London papers, fancy pictures of ' Amateur navxies at Oxford ' in the illustrated papers, a sketch of the Professor of Fine Art xvith pick and shox'el as ' President of the Amateur Landscape Gardening Society. ' To xvalk ox'er to Hinksey and laugh at the diggers xx'as a fashionable afternoon amusement. There was a deal of levelling to be done, and a bank to be cut axvay. The Scoffers ( Dons included) used to come and stand on the top of the bank, while xve dug. " At this time Ruskin xvas in Italy ; he himself took the ridicule good naturedly. The road his pupils made is, he is heard to admit, about the xvorst in the three kingdoms, and for any level places in it he used to give the credit to his old gardener, whom he summoned to Oxford, to act as Professor of Digging. But 91 the experiment was by no means barren, and Ruskin's road dig ging gave a real stimulus to ' the gospel of labour. ' Another of Ruskin's letters savs : - Genoa. 5 April, '74. "Assuming that Mr. Harcourt's permission for our work will be granted, I set down as clearly as I can what it seems our little company will be wise and happy in doing. When, after crossing the Perry, you turn to the left in the lane under the hills, you come presently to a place xvhere the road is depressed, in front of a cottage which has beautiful old steps going up to its door; and this depression in the road is usually full of stagnant x\'ater, or otherxvise offensive. I xx'ant this to be first filled up and levelled, and the road made good over it, with a drain beneath to carry the hill drainage clear. In doing this I should like you to pet those cottage steps, and if possible run a little bit of garden ground, xvith a daisy or txvo, or the like, along the front of the cottage as far as they project. You must appoint one among you to be a general guardian of innocent xveeds and moss. What shall we call him 'i You will find out some pretty Latin and dignified name for him if you debate this point. I can't stop to think to-day, and besides am always doubtful of my crazy Latin. But this office should be charged xvith the care of the moss on those steps, and the recommendation of them also to the care of the cottage inhabitant. Minute prizes, offered to the children of any family, for well-kept doorstops, would I think be a legitimate use of brilies. This part of the road being set to rights, when you go a little further you come to a much larger dei)rcssioii; in a space of land about as large as the s([uare before the Duomo of Torcello, but triangular, not square, and xvith cottages on all sides of it. This space I xvant filled and turfed over. Which being done, a pretty little piece of grazing ground xvill bo obtained for the geese and the donkeys of the neighbourhood. Without being desirous of ex[)i'essing too strong a fellow-feeling for tho.se animals, it seems to me wholly desir able that the village green .should be kept clean and sweet for them. Proceeding further, the length of the lane xvill be found traversed by ruts of depths xvhich, it seems to me, only the cart wheels of centuries could have cut. Supjiosing that, xvhen our work is once begun, it should enlist xvider sympathizers, and our little company become larger; any force of men might be i)ut, this term, upon the road work required here; making the surface even, the breadth definite, tlie substance secure; and planting xvith any transportable common flowers, the banks developed by the levelling. I think you will And Downs a thoroughly good foreman of any labourers you have to employ for xvork too disagreeable for your own hands ; he xvill also l)e useful for some practical suggestions, and entirely eager to carry out your orders. He has also carte-blanch to meet any expense necessary, for cartage and materials. You xvill each buy your own s[)ade and pickaxe of the weight you like; and take care of these tools as you would of pet rifles." 9^ There are no traces of the xvork left noxv, except xvhere the high bank, along xvhich the path runs, shoxvs by the loxver level of the road, the depth of the "Diggings." Most of the workers xvere Balliol men, and it is a fair question xvhether their training in the pure fresh air did not clear their brains for classic studies, and thus helped to raise the standard of their College to the high position it then occupied. Sex-eral of their number xvho noxv fill lofty stations in the government of the Country, may doubtless look back xvith quiet amusement at our photographs of them- selx'es and their almost-forgotten xvork. It was only by a ruse that xve secured the pictures, but are glad they xvere successful. The poet Arnold xvrites The Village street its haunted mansion lacks. And from the roofs (is gone) the twisted chimney stacks. And here is the place to tell the legend of the \ il- lage, noxv nearly forgotten, or only perhaps partly remembered by the oldest of the \'il- lagers. There i s only a trace of the old grass - covered mounds and hol- loxvs left n o x\', xvhere the haunted mansion stood, al though the stones ay the old Mansion. of the foundations of it still exist beloxv the surface of the turf, xvhile the Old W itches' Elm, xvhich grew by it and has braxed the storms of so many years, as these x-ery xvords are being xvritten, is King, torn up and sundered into two parts, in the marshy grass growing close to xx'here it stood. But bx' our photographs xve are enabled to take the eye back to the past, xvhen it stood boldly up, and rexealed the fearful rending to xvhich it had been subject. We xvill tell the story as it xvas related to us, and xvas ex-identlx' knoxvn to Arnold. How many years had passed since the Haunted house xvas built there seems to be no record, but probably, like the old Tvthe Barn and the ancient Church, it xvas the pious xvork of the Monks of Abingdon Abbex% xvho then oxvned all these \'illages and the lands for miles around, the grant of the Saxon King Ceadxvalla, and confirmed to them by Coenxvulf and Edwig ; it xvas then part of Cumnor, and xvas held by them until the dissolution. Eventually it came into the hands of Sir John 93 Williams, of Thame, passing later to the Earls of .Abingdon, and the Harcourts of Nuneham. The last tenant of the old house xvas .Mark Scragg or Scroggs, and he it xvas xvho was the principal of the xveird story a couple of centuries ago. Scragg xvas a miser, xvho to augment his hoards was said to have sold himself to His Satanic Majesty ; one of the strange features of the bond being that he xvas bound to proxide for the xvants of three xvise xvomen or witches, xvho on their part xvere to assist him in carrying out his schemes and make them successful. In everx' xvay he seemed to prosper, except that he had no wife, nor chick, nor child, nor xery near relations, to xvhom he could leaxe the xast hoards he accumulated ; and those relatixes he had disliked and deserted him, in spite of his xvealth. At length the time drew near when his terrible master xvould claim him bodx' and soul, and then he xvorked out a deep- laid scheme to be rid of his bond and its consequences. For some time he w as successful, he kept Satan at bax', and disposed of the witches by imprisoning them in a holloxv tree close bx', on xvhich he laid a spell to prevent them from communicating xvith their master or enabling him to find them. Scragg remained in safety so long that at last he felt himself secure, and actually one day xentured out of the charmed circle in xvhich he had in trenched himself ; but xvhen clearly out he xvas at once pounced upon and seized bx' the Devil, who attempted to carry him off b\' xvax' of the chlmnex-, but failed, as the outlet was not sufficient for the passage of the man's body. In the struggle the chimney xvas twisted in the upper part, and remained so for manv a long year, xvhile Satan, finding he could not carry off the man's body, tore him asunder and took off his soul, dashing the mutilated remains of the miser upon the hearth beneath. The death of Scragg dlssolx-ed the spell which bound the xvitches ; they split up the tree in xvhich they xvere confined, from bottom to top with a great noise, and effected their escape. The great up roar of it all aroused the neigh- h o u r h o o d, the miser's body was at length found, and after enquiry into the mx'sterx', it xvas buried beneath the xvall of the Church, neither outside nor The old Witches' Elm. 94 Inside the sacred edifice ; xvhile the story goes that it xvould often be seen searching for its lost soul, with groans and hideous cries, until at last the haunted mansion xvas pulled doxvn and its xery stones removed. None of the miser's hoard was ever discox-ered, and the xvise xvomen had disappeared nexer to be again heard of in these parts. The remains of the tree, until this present xvinter, were left to mark the site, a younger centre had grown up xx^ithin it, but this ex'en had groxvn so old that only a few shoots lately had sent forth leax'es and foliage. Now that is gone, as xve haxe alreadx* noticed ; and in a few xears x'erx' few x'illagers xvill ex-en recollect it. The ghost no longer haunts the spot, and the x'ery legend is in danger of be ng en tirely forgotten. Posslblx', after all, the old man xvas brutallx' murdered for his hoard, and the xx-eird story xvas started b\' some xvho knew the truth, and xx^ere interested in its concealment. There seem to be no records on xvhich xve can relv, to throw any further light on the matter, and xve are compelled to present it as it was related to us fift\' xears ago. Ox'er the stile is the path to South Hinksey, the de scription of which xvill be found earlier in the book, while on the hill Is the Conduit House, formed bv Otho Nicholson, in 161O, to S U p p 1 X' Oxford xvith pure water, not the or namental structure which once stood on Carfax and no'\v The ConduU House. graces Mr. Harcourt's Park at Nuneham, but the useful stone building xvhich covers the collecting tank into xvhich the xvater flowed from the hills aboxe, from xvhence it xvas conveyed in pipes to the Carfa.x structure in Oxford, and then distributed to the various Colleges and private houses; follow Ing therein the wisdom shoxvn bx' the monks of Osne\' hundreds of \ears previ ously, xvhich Abbe\ this spring supplied with xvater. The xvater does not flow through noxv, although it is only a xery few years since the supply xvas cut off, and some of the heavy leaden pipes removed. The baby stream floxvs doxvn the side of the hill by the hedge and across the Green to the River beyond. The spring will probably be some day utilized as a xvater supply for 95 Hinksey itself, as the Conduit House and site have been ( Feb., 1909) sold to .Mr. Harcourt, of Nuneham, by the Oxford City Council, for £450. And thus ends the City's connection xvith these springs, xvhich began in 1610. Now pass back through the \'Illage to the Church. St. Icawrence's Church, Korth Hinksey. It is not often that the two Churches in twin \'illages are dedicated to the same Saint, as this and the one at South Hinksey are, xvhile at New Hinksey the patron Saint of the older Church xvas also St. Laxvrence. St. Laxvrence's at North Hinksev stands on a little grassy knoll at the north-western end of the village. It is a charmingly picturesque edifice, containing Chancel, Nave in two sections, and Western Tower ; xvhile standing out in front is the 14th Century Cross, without a head of course, but part of that i s still i n existence, and from it a d e s I g n h a s been made which may some day be carried out as a restcjratlon. The Chancel is said to \\ti\L- been re-bullt or much altered bv the family of the F y n more s, whose tombs are on its walls, about the beginning of the 17th Centurx', o r earlier. Close be neath the small 14th Cent, xvindow seen behind the Cross is a ( blocked up ) little Leper xvindow of a ver\ earlx' date; its mouldings are of e a rl y N O r m a n S. ooor of North Hinksey Ch. character ; there are few, II anv, so early in E.nglish Churches, and this one has been sometimes regarded as a stray window from •a rt o x: a o o i-i 3 o ft) C X O 97 the east part of the Chancel. Then notice the small and loxver part of the Nave, which is peculiar ; but this may have been caused by the construction in early days of a centre shingled Toxver, between the Nave and a former Apse, or Chancel, as in other Norman Churches in the neighbourhood, xvhich, having given xvay, xvas removed, and the Nave lengthened in this rough- and-ready xvay instead of rebuilding the Toxver. The three-light triangular-headed xvindow has its felloxv at Cumnor ; the Nave xvalls are Norman, but the Tower is 14th Century ; a blocked Norman door can be traced on the North side of the Nave, and a small Priest's door in the North Chancel xvall, also blocked. The projection there contained the rood-loft stairs, of xvhich a step or two remain. Beneath the rough-looking Porch is a fine Norman Door way, having dripstone heads outside of early character and very quaint, then five rows of zig-zag ornament, inside them a roxv of beak heads, and then an inner roll-moulding; the cushion caps and shafts by the side are nearly plain, but there are remnants of the red colouring xvith xvhich thev xvere covered. Notice hoxv the Churchyard has risen since it xvas made, all the way into the Church is doxvn, down ; this xvas not so xvhen the Church xvas built, but is often seen in earl\' Churches. The Interior of the Nax'e is plain, the Chancel Arch is a restoration, and the architect has designed some curi ous birds, xvith out stretched wings and beaks, to replace what xvere no doubt the original beak- heads ; of the two small side Arches The Chancel Arches, Noith Hmt^se^. only one Is said to be original, and this even Is doubtful ; still they are more In keeping xvith Norman xvork than the centre one. This style of Chancel Arch is not uncommon In Sussex. The large square pews hax-e been remoxed. In the South xvall by the Pulpit are txvo aumbries, open ; xvhile behind the Pulpit is a double Piscina, or Credence-table and Piscina ; the round top of the moulding of the upper .\rcli Is ornamented with early ball-floxvers, the bottom Arch Is quite plain. It is just possible to make them out. There Is a stone st.inding near the Tower .Arch xvhich may be the socket-stone of 98 a Cross. There are two or three tombs, the one of xvhich ha\ Ing the inscription beginning: " Reader, look at thy feet, honest and loyal men are sleeping under them, " is to William Finmore (fellow- of St. John's), " xvho in the veare of our Lord 1646, xvhen Loyalty and the Church fainted, lav doxvn and died. Go, Reader, and prepare to folloxv. " Another is the tomb of Thomas Willis, who died in the Roxal cause at the siege of Oxford August, 1643. At the farm near the Church is one of the ancient Monk's Barns of Abingdon Abbey, /Vionk's Barn. North Hinksey. picturesquely thatched in the old stxle ; xvith thatched cow-cribs in the xard below, xx-hile on the hill abox-e are a couple of new- houses, built in red and xvhite, very comfortable to live in possiblx', but incongruous in their glaring colour with their charming rural surroundings. There are txx'O xx'ax's back to Oxford : tired folk xvill go back across the Ferrx' and up the causewax', rex'ersing the journey suggested bv the first part of this chapter, or a way further round is to take the path through the Churchyard, past the School and through the Glebe Fields, xvhich is x'erx' pleasant in Summer, and leads to Botley. Some quarter of a mile on, just before reaching Botlex', in the hollow-xvay xvill be found the remnants of a fair-sized house, noxv divided into cottages, close to xvhich is the base of a cross by the side of the road. Enter the farm gate by the cross, and turn short round to the cottage ; in the upper room is a fine ornamental ceiling, xvith pendant grapes orna ment, as xvell as a fireplace xvith a moulded mantelpiece and remains of pargetting aboxe ; most probably of Henry MI. time. The Cottagers xvill not refuse your request to see them, but acknowledgment should be made for the trouble gixen. Botlex' \'illage has not much of note ; its old Mill below the first bridge is picturesque on the side away from the bridge, and there is a very old record of it. The burning of this Mill, etc. xvas the limit of the Puritan misdeeds in their attack on Oxford in the Civil xvar. From here the Se\en-brIdge-road extends to Oxford. One inch Ordnance map to illustrate Rambles with Matthew Arnold. "Rambles with Matthew HrnoM, " Hills where Arnold wander'd, and all sxveet June meadows, from the troubling xvorld withdrawn." Matthew Arnold as a poet is deep and scholarly, yet how sxveet, home-like, and true to nature are many of his beautiful, concise descriptions. Only a fexv words, a light touch here and there from a master hand, and the picture is complete, vet sketched so faithfully that it is ample to show the Student the very spot where the poet formed his lines, xvith the- scene as an open book before him. " The greatest number of the poets, ex-en those xvho belong to Oxford, have not written of their Alma Mater ; and exen the Oxford Professors of Poetry as a xvhole have added but little to the poesy of Oxford, xvith the exception of Arnold. He, it is true, makes rich amends for many omissions. He shed a lustre on the Professorship of Poetry at Oxford similar to that which Wordsworth and Tennyson shed on the Poet Laureateship. ' The Scholar Gipsy ' and ' Thyrsis ' are, and are likely to remain, the two great Oxford Poems, and to all Oxford men, the pleasant upland country on the Berks side of the Thames, xvithin the great loop of the River, must exer be associated xvith Arnold's name. " Two only of Arnold's poems illustrate scenes round Oxford. " The Scholar Gipsy " embodies the story of the after-life of a poor Unix-ersity Student, xvho saddened by his xvant of social success left his Alma Mater, threw in' his lot xvith a tribe of Romani, and lix-ed their free and unfettered life ; xvhile " Thyrsis" is his lament for the loss of his dear friend and companion, Arthur Hugh Clough, xvho died at Florence, 1861. The scenes in both poems are mainly amid the fields, and villages, and hills xx'hich border Oxford on the West and South-W^est. From the crest of the Hinksey Hills is perhaps the most charming and comprehensive of all the sex'eral points of xantage from xvhence a view of the whole of the City can be obtained, and from here the earliest of all the knoxvn pictures of Oxford, that by Hoefnagle in the 15th Century, xvas draxvn. Turner also drexv his charming picture from these Western Hills, xvhile our own birds-eyes seem to be the only successful photographs from this elevation in existence. Here, as Arnold sings, " The ej-e travels down to Oxford's Towers." How charming the City appears from this point. Each tower, lOO and spire and prominent building stands out distinct in the afternoon light; from the old square Castle Tower on the left to W^olsey's graceful hall on the right ; xvhile the great dome of the Radcliffe in the centre, xvith the tall spires of All Saints' and St. Mary's in close attendance, the croxvned Tom Tower and other buildings of Christ Church, and the many classic structures between, breathe the poet's idea :- " Lovely at all times she lies, " It is by the courtesy of Messrs. Macmillan xve are enabled to present Arnold's two poems in full, illustrating them xvith our photographs. This firm had already published them in a separ ate volume, xvith etchings by E. H. New. To those visiting the scenes mentioned by Arnold, the one-inch Ordnance Map xvill be found most useful. On this the route xvhich is to be taken should be looked out beforehand ; and if a friend xvho knoxx'S the Country xvell can be pressed into the pleasant task of guide, the rambles may be as enjoyable as described by the Poet. It is very easy among these charming solitudes to ramble some miles out of the right path without the map, and particularly toxvards ex-ening to meet no one to point out the proper xvay. The field roads are too rough to drive, and in places even to cycle, although this latter mode and xvalking combined may get over the ground quickly in Summer, but there is really more pleasure to be derix'ed from a ramble with a pleasant com panion than any other xvay of traxelling these pleasant field- paths and rough tracks ; and more than one afternoon can be profitably spent in xisiting the scenes. The following itinerary xvill be found of serxice. Route 1. Walk—To South Hinksey, then walk across the fields to North Hinksey and home by the Ferry, or alternately along the holloxv xvay to Botley and home by Seven Bridges Road. This route xvill be found xvritten up and included in ' The Hinkseys ; ' in summer it is a xery pretty xvalk and xvorth trax'er- sing, but in xx-et xx-eather all these field xvavs are too dirty for pleasure, in spite of the very pretty scenes en route, and the glorious views of the University-City. Routs 2. Walk—South Hinksey, Chilswell, The Tree, Boars Hill and ' The Fox,' back by road, through the fields to Hinksey and by the causeway to New Hinksey, and the Abingdon Road again. Route 3. Walk—Through Hinksey and by road as far as ' The Fox,' then across the fields to Sunningwell, from thence to Bay- xvorth, and through Bagley Wood to Kennington, home by the Toxving-path or through Iffley. Route 4. Walk—To North Hinksey, then up the hills past the Conduit House, past Cumnor Hurst, back by road througK Botley, or through the xvoods to Boars Hill. lOI Route 5. Walk—By Road to Cumnor and fields to Bablock Hythe, back through fields to Dean Court, home by Botlev Road. Route 6. Drive or Bicycle—By Road to Cumnor Hill and Chaxvley, past Cumnor Hurst and Bcsselsleigh to the Fvfield Kim, then back through Wootton, Boar's Hill and home by Hinksey Road. Route 2. South Hinksey, Chilswell, Arnold's tree, Boar's Hill and The Fox, back by road. Folloxv Route 1 as far as South Hinksey, but at the Western end of the village, instead of taking the turn xvhich leads to North Hinksey, follow the little stream xvhich is here met xvith and wind up the \"alley by the field-road path. This is rather rough at starting, but groxvs a little smoother as the hill is breasted, and at the top along the greensward is pleasant and easy xvalking. Don't forget to look back xvhen you get up the Hill, and again before you begin to descend ; the first exhibits a distant scene across the Thames \'allex' to the hills on the East side of the Citv, and the next a prettx' x'ista down the ' Happy \'alley ' past the xvood. Here, on the hill, is a faxourite rendezx'ous on Good Fridax' ; a dax' on which it is more generalK- fine than xvet round Oxford : and this seems to be a remnant of a long-standing custom of centuries ago, xvhen a Calvary xvas said to have been set up there. Now there are onlv the remains of the fair. It is probable xvhen Chilswell ( or Chlldswell ) xvas the favourite spot for females xvlshing for Chil dren, to offer up Pra\er for the desired boon, that this xvas the place to xvhich a pilgrimage of thankfulness xvas afterwards made xvhen the xvished-for boon was granted, and thus the name of ' The Happy \ allex' ' which It has recelxed. The \'alley and xvood is said to resemble that at Waterloo, but on a smaller scale. At the end of the greensward the path descends to the little streamlet, but straight on in the distance Arnold's Tree crowns the broxv of the Hill. The path xvinds along the \'alley by the stream, and soon reaches Chllsx\ell I'arm, the xvell being said by some to be marked by the old Pollard Kim, which has seen its best days, by the fence of the farm yard ; but other data places i t eastwards from the farm. There are no remains of the little Chapel, but the old stone- built barn appears to be monkish ^'^'"^'^- CmltweU F^ir-n, I02 Noxv for its records. In Domesday book xx-e are told: "In Sudtone hundred Aixvold the chamberlain holds of the King Chersville : Edditha the Queen held it. It paid as for five hides, noxv for one hide ; land for two ploxvs : there are in domain four x'illeins, six cottars xx-ith one ploxvs, nine slax'es, a fishery of forty pence, and fifty-nine acres of meadoxv. It xvas and is xvorth four pounds.'' And xvith this its story ends as far as re cords are concerned; but Hearne the antiquarian, from an old chronicle, has left this. "In the year of our Lord 82T, there xvas a terrible battle betxx-een Egbert the King of the West Saxons and Ceolxvulf King of the Mercians, between Abingdon and Oxford, at a place called Cherrunhul, Egbert being the xictor. There is no place ansxx-ering to this except Chilsxvell Farm, at the xvest end of a great field commonly called Hinksey field on the xvest side of Foxeombe Hill, xvhich from some remains of mili tary xx'orks thereabouts and froi'n the name I take to be the place noted in the fragment. -At this place, xvhich xvas formerly part of Baglex- Wood, xvas once a small Abbey, as I learn, built by one of the nobles of Cissa King of the South Saxons, but afterw-ards translated to Seukesham." In another place Hearne refers to the same tale and then adds : " Dr. Leonard Hutton is pleased to take notice of this xvell, called Childsxvell, saying It had a particular virtue—especially if the xvomen addressed them- selx'es to the chaplains that officiated in the Chapel near, of xvhich I hax-e often heard mention and it is said the remains xx-ere there lately ( c. 1690). The xvell is about a furlong East of the Farm. I think the xvell takes its name from Cissa, a petty King of the West Saxons in the time of Cenwine. Cissa xvas ox-erlord of Wiltshire and Berks, and uncle to Heane. This Heane, resolx-ing to build a house of dex-otion, chose in 575 Chilsw-ell for the spot, the Abbev being afterw-ards removed to Abingdon." This Is the legendary historx', but the xvell has lost its reputation, the Chapel no longer exists, and the devoted Chaplains are all gone to dust; so xve xvill leaxe Childsxvell and mount the hill across the big field to Arnold's Tree. Arnold thus describes the scene :- " Runs it not here, the track by Childsxvorth farm. Past the high xvood, to xvhere the elm-tree crowns. The signal elm that looks on llsley Doxvns, The vale, the three lone xveirs, the youthful Thames." "See Backed by the sunset xvhich doth glorify The orange and pale xlolet exening skx'. Bare on its lonely ridge, the Tree ! The Tree ! " " Hear it, O Thyrsis, still our tree is there. Ah, vain! These English fields, this upland dim. These brambles pale with mist engarlanded. That lone, sky-pointing tree, are not for him." " Too rare ! too rare I grow now my x-isits here, 'Mid City noise, not as xvith thee of yore, Thyrsis, in reach of sheep-bells is my home. Then through the great toxvn's harsh, heart-wearving roar, Let in thy x-oice a whisper often come. To chase fatigue and fear." "Why faintest thou our tree yet erown-; the hill," The ' track ' leads straight up the big field ox-er ridge and furroxx-, the latter somewhat moist at times. This field for some few years xvas used by the Oxford University Golf Club as their course, but they have lately remox-ed to the other side of Bagley ^Vood. As the hill is breasted 'the Tree' is partly hidden, but at the top, those xvho xvish to approach it can easily do so by making a short detour to the left before passing out of the meadow-. Arnold's Tree is an Oak and not an Elm, but it has always been trimmed in the fashion which Elms often are, and at a short distance few could tell the difference. It is generally termed ' The Umbrella Tree,' and is seen from many parts of the Cowley Road, Headington Hill, and the higher ground on the East ^Ide of O.xford. Once noticed it will not be easily forgotten. There are charminfT scenes froin its x-lclnltv both to the east and north over the Thames \ alley, w-hlle w-estw-ard lies the \ ale of White Horse, and beyond the xallex' the Berkshire Hills xvith llsley Doxvns stretch many a mile along the horizon. On Wootton Heath, to the South of 'the Tree,' or 'Boar's Hill Heath,' as it Is now- termed, a number of modern \'illas, xvith a large Mansion, haxe sprung up of late years, xvhere in Arnold's time not a sign of life xvould be seen, and lately one of these new houses has been built xvithin about 300 yards from the Tree itself. bx-entuallv xve presume its destiny xvill be to stand on some lawn adjacent to a Mlla residence, then in years to come, its legend forgotten, it will be removed because it casts some shadow over the house xvhich has usurped its vicinity. Dur- in<7 the rejoicings after the relief of .Mafeklng some patriotic soul climbed ' the Tree ' and tying a long pole to its highest branches hoisted a Union Jack, the remains of which were still visible when one of our scenes was photographed. -V series of pictures of 'the Tree' are Included in our illustrations of ' Thyr-Is." This hill, with It^ capping of iron sand. Is one uf the outliers springing up above the Thames \'alley, and a <-])< a o o X o o 6) w u O X O "rt 105 along the side of the path beyond 'the Tree' is a shallow Quarry from xvhich iron sand has been dug. It is ow-ing to this capping that the hill has retained its height, the sand having resisted the denudation by xvatery agency xvhich is everyxvhere traceable over all the district, and to xvhich xve owe the many pretty \'alleys we are traversing, which open to the Thames. The path onwards after a short distance drops doxvn Into one of these denudations, xvhich is sometimes called ' The Devil's Dyke,' and then up again as sharply as it xvent down. It soon reaches the road from Picket's Heath farm, and here are three routes xvhich can be taken. The road south goes to join the Boar's Hill road to Oxford, the other way it goes by Picket's Heath farm, then through Hen Wood, and by the field way to North Hinksey ( reversing Route 4 )—a very pretty ramble xvith a xvhole series of birds-eye view-s of Oxford: but the path xve have folloxved turns at an angle to the right, to the old xillage of Boar's Hill. This, a conglomeration of old and nexver cottages, has but little interest, but xvhen the letter box is reached, about half way down the village, turn to the left, over the stile, and folloxv the path through the edge of the spinney and along the Oak palings xvhich leads across to the Foxc(jmbe Hill road, close abox-e the Fox Tax-ern. Doxvn the x-alley on a clear dav the x-Iew Is extended, the eye trax-els ox-er the trees and fields and woodlands which inake up the \'ale of White Horse, to the long range of the Berkshire Hills closing in the horizon, until at the extreme distance the White Horse Hill and the clump called Faringdon Folly can be made out. There are few scenes more charming than this anywhere near O.xford, and in the rich colouring of a summer evening it gixes the xery rendering of a peaceful Eng lish landscape, or, xvhen autumn Is spreading Its gold ox-er the fields, a glorious glimpse of prosperitx'. Close by the end of the path on the side of the road, stands the 'Fox' Taxern, a place for teas and pleasure parties from Oxford and Abingdon, xvhich has been In exist ence from the 17th Century. 1' r o m here now a Char- a-banc runs into Oxford three times ev e r \' x\' e e k d a x' , taking passengers at a i/= fare, a great con\-enience to those tired by The 'Fox.' Foxeombe Hill. io6 their tramp up the Hills. On the opposite side of the road at the 'Fox' is a picturesque brick yard, and doxvn in the ^'alley before the cross roads are reached are the Abingdon Water Works, xvhich, by means of a syphon half a mile in length, obtains xvater from the coral rag and calcareous grit of the Oolite formation ox'erlying the Oxford clay, the xvater being then conx-eyed by pipes to Abingdon, xvhere the pressure is sufficient to supply the Toxvn. From the ' Fox ' toxvards Oxford the road still rises; on the south side is the Boar's Hill Hydro as it is called, a health resort xvhich receives visitors, and pleasantly faces doxx^n the valley, and in other houses summer apartments are to be obtained in this salubrious neighbourhood, xvhich is groxx^Ing fast and promising to be a grand lung for Oxford. Here the damp and depression often found bx' residents in the Thames ^"alley can be easily and profitably lost ; sites for building are being offered all round on very reasonable terms, and houses are springing up xvhere a fexv years ago not a sign of one could be seen. This is still more the case farther on, xx-here on both sides of the road, bx- the old Brick Kilns, quite a village has grown up xvith actually its Post Office and Stores. W^hen Bagley Wood is reached these end, the old forest still stretching to the road in places, xx-hile half a mile farther on is the old handing post at the turn of the main road to Abingdon and Oxford, into which our road runs. Another quarter of a mile doxx^n the hill, the field path to South Hinksey and Jacob's Ladder turns out oxer the stile to the left; from here is one of the birds-eye xiexvs of Oxford, but a mass of the middle distance xvithin the last fifty years has been filled up xvith the new houses and streets of the Grand pont and Nexv Hinksey districts. The road continues doxvn the hill, ox-er the railxvay, then through the little hamlet of Cold Harbour xvhich is just one mile from the City. See also the next section. Route 3. Route 3. If xvalking. Route 1 can be followed to South Hinksey Church, then either the road or the path athxvart the field can be taken, crossing the little spring and up the hill, and through the one field to the stile on the Abingdon road. A fine viexv of Oxford is seen from this point, but it is not equal in beauty to xx-hat it xvas years ago, before the modern houses and chimneys were erected. An alternate route from Oxford to this point, convenient to those driving or bicycling, is to keep to the Abingdon road (if xx'ished the Char-a-banc can be taken to the ' Fox' itself ) past Cold Harbour ( Col-d-Arbe ?)—xx^hether the name of a farm on the old Roman trackxvay is not certain, but there is little doubt this road folloxvs the track of the Roman Portway, which en tering Oxford from the north by the Banbury road crossed the T5 rt O K c o Xi tlfl c '.S w: ft) x: a o -o O X O io8 Town and then the Ox-ford at or near xvhere Folly Bridge now stands, which gave the City its name. The road crosses Hinksey stream after the turn, close to the Railway bridge, then mounts the hill, and soon arrixes at the stile from xx-hich is the xiexv of the City. Both routes noxx' join the road, continuing up the hill past new x-illa residences, xvhich are extending themselx-es also along this road, and at the end of another four hundred yards the old handing-post is reached. Here the main road turns to the left through Baglex- Wood ; take the one straight on. Ox-er the gate on the right hand xvill be seen the end of the \'allex- in xvhich is Jenny Bunting's parlour, xx-ith the Chilsxvell and Hinksey hills beyond ; a farm road a little farther on leads to Chilsw-ell, but the prettiest xva\- to this is the field xvalk, Route 2. The road is still bordered by Bagley Wood until the old Brick Kilns are reached ; here a nexv village has sprung up xvithin the last fexv years, and where there xvere onlx- half a dozen one- storied cottages txx-enty xears ago, there are noxv quite a number of houses and x-illas Jotting both sides of the road. Beyond are fields again, to the left the road to Bayw-orth and Sunningwell turns off, xvhile bexond the golf course to the right Arnold's Tree is seen on the rising ground on the other side of the depression and the xvood. Then a large mansion xvith a high toxver ( Earl of Berkeley), several more large x-illas, the Boar's Hill Hydro, and the little Inn is reached, the latter standing back from the road as it descends into the xale. The pathw-av to Sunningw-ell opens opposite the ' Fox,' just abox-e the brickxard, and leads ox-er the hill. At the farther end of the brickyard look back : there are txvo pictures, one of the x-ard itself and the distance beyond, and one of the 'Fox' with a pretty broken foreground. Beyond the brickyard take the straight onw-ard path (the left-hand one goes to Bayw-orth), then doxvn the hill the square tower of Sunningw-ell Church xvill be seen among the trees, and the little xillage is soon reached. There are some pretty cottages by the pond, and a larger house or txvo ; but the most interesting feature of all is the graceful Church with its heptagonal porch at the xvest end, the finest x-iew- of xx-hich is by the blacksmith's shop. Sunningw-ell seems to be first mentioned as Sunnigxvellan in the Abingdon Abbey Chronicle, in the Charter of King Kenxx-ulf, of 8ii, and again in his Charter of 821, xvhen it is called Suniggaxx-elle ; in both the name is the same as it now bears. With sex-eral other places it xvas glx-en by Kenxvulf at this early date to Abingdon Abbe\', and continued in their possession until the dissolution of the Abbey in 1538 ; a period of some seven centuries in all. But it is little mentioned in the Chronicles. It w-as remote from the town and buried in the quietness of the country; only xvhen Edw-ard III., in 1327, gave special protection 109 to Abingdon Abbey, after the riots, in xvhich much damage xvas done, Sunningw-ell xvas included in the places mentioned. Sun ningwell derives its name from the xvell ( or pond ) opposite the Church, formed by the springs of the little river Stert, xvhich rises at Bax'worth a short distance up the \ alley. In olden times it xx-as the custom on a certain dax- of the year for a Church procession to be held, xvhen a Gospel xvas read and the xvells and springs xx-ere blessed ; this continued at Sunningxvell as late as 1688, one of the latest places of xvhich xve have anv record. The Church has Nax-e, Chancel, dan South Tran sept, the base of the Toxver on the north side forming the other Transept. The xvalls are partly E.K., the Chancel xvith the East WIndoxv Is early Dec. the Transepts, the Toxver and Naxe, XV ith the other wi n d o XV s. Per p. The Porch is a unique gem of Elizabethan xvork, with Gothic door and Windows, but having a series of Ionic columns at each angle. It Is cenerally said to be octagonal, but this is not the case ; it has only seven sides. The Porch, SunningweU Church. and probably is the only heptagonal Porch in Kngland. It has lately been stayed with beams fastened together on the inside, and xvith iron bands on the I'l.xterlor, to save it from giving way, as it threatened to do. It was said to be built by Bishop Jewel ( 1522-1571 ), whcj xvas Curate here, but xvhether after he was Bishop of Salisbury is not known with certainty. The Interior of the Church is Interesting, The Nave has an open roof with heavy supported cross beams, the Chancel '1' .\rch Is plain, but am on>' other charms are the beautiful and no xx^ell-preserx-ed poppy heads xvhich grace each seat. In the Chancel is a Dec. Piscina xvith a Credence close bv, and the txvo are connected by a little side Arch in the parting. The fine Communion table, xvith massive carxed legs, xvas given by Bishop Jexvel. In the Chancel is the grax-e of Samuel Fell, Dean of Ch. Ch., xx'ho is said to haxe died of grief on hearing of the execution of Charles I., Feb. 2, 1649. There is also a monument to Hannibal Baskerx-ille, Lord of the Manor of Bayxvorth, 1688. The Toxx'er is battlemented, xvith pinnacles at each corner, and appears to stand clear of the Church, bvit the loxver part of it forms the North Transept or Chapel. Hearne mentions that the Children here on Shrove Tuesdax- used to go round the xillage in the dusk of the evening and say these verses :- " Beef and bacon' s out of season I xvant a pan to parch my pease on. which thex- repeateci sexeral times, and then throw stones at all people's doors, xvhich makes people generally shut their doors that exening." From Sunningwell take the road eastxvard xvhich leads to Bayxx^orth and Oxford. A pretty half-timbered house stands on the right xvhen leaving the xillage ; its xveather-x-ane has on one side an open hand, at the other end of the rod being a small plume of Feathers. It is a pleasant tree-shaded road to Bay xvorth, by its side runs the rippling Stert, here xery small. This stream is supposed to hax-e its rise in the miraculous spring xvhich first rose through the prayer of Aben ; and after leax'ing Sunningxvell it makes its xvax- to Abingdon, and there passes be neath the ' Stert street,' and under St. Nicholas' Church, through a long series of arches into the Thames. At Bayworth leave the road, and crossing the stile take the path across the fields to Bagley Wood, by the pretty group of cottages at the turn. A few xards brings us to the site of some large building or buildings, the mounds only of xvhich remain ; this tradition accepts as the original site of the Abbey of Abingdon. It covers a large rectangular space, and round it xvas possibly a moat, xx-hich would be fed from the spring. Tradition says that the name of Abingdon xvas derixed from Abba or Aben, a noble Briton, who, escaping from the massacre of Hengest at Stonehenge, concealed himself in the xvood here, living upon herbs and roots. But having no xvater, he besought God in Prayer, and a spring which still runs, miraculously burst forth from the ground, xvhen many people, hearing of his sanctity, came to him for counsel and became his followers. A Chapel xvas built, and in memory of him the place xvas called Abendune or hill of Aben. Here was be gun the building of the Abbey, but the legend, perhaps too frequent Ill to be accepted, runs that the buildings put up one dav fell doxvn the next, and that Heane, the founder, being perplexed, sought advice from a Hermit xvho lived at ' Borshill,' near bv, xvho told him the place xvas not pleasing to God, but that in a vision he had been show-n that the Abbey xvas to stand at the other end of the little stream that rose there, xvhere it xvas lost in the big river. This led Heane to the site afterxvards occupied bv the abbey at .\bingdon; where, xvhen the buildings xx^ere begun, they grexv so fast as to lead to the idea of their being raised by miracle. The x\-alk continues across the meadoxvs, leaving the farm to the right, and crossing the little spinney the Abingdon road is reached, just beyond the third milestone from Oxford. When through the spinney cross the main road and take the side road through the xvood, xvhich leads to Kennington. Even here \'illa residences are springing up, as thex- are In every pretty spot round Oxford. This Road is very pleasant in summer, particularly in the evenings when the nightingales are singing, and Bagley xx^ood has been noted for its nightingales for many a long year. The hamlet of Little London is ne.xt reached, xvith new- houses again, and then the old village of Kennington, men tioned as early as 956, xvhen Edwig gaxe it to his faithful Priest Byrthelm, and of course it found its xvax- into the possession of the Abbey of .\bingdon, xvho ex-entually held all the land around here. Domesday book gives a xerx- quaint description of it: " The Abbat of Abingdon holds of Warin si.x hundred acres in Sonningxvell and Clicntomi." " AKvin holds a hundred and txventy acres in Coictiinc. Six English held it, and they could not go axvay from the Church. Land for six plow-s, and pax- xvith other hides. There are three ploxvs: seven x illeins, eighteen cottars hold one hide. There are fixe slaxes ; a hundred and ten acres of meadoxv. (The xvhole) xvorth £.12, nox\- £.10." The Church, built in 1828, is modern Norman, and without interest ; the one before It fell doxvn. A few remains of an ancient Church or Chapel are contained in the rockery of the large farm-house, xvhose Jacobean archxvax- can be seen from the road. They are of the Dec. period, probably the xvork of some Abbot of Abingdon w-hose taste in architecture xvas aboxe the common run. In the same house is also a room with a good Tudor ceiling, the beams haxing an ornament in plaster-work of pomegranates, the badge of Catherine of Aragon. The road through the x-illage leads to Oxford, but at the ' Tandem' leaxe it and cross the railxvay bridge xvhich goes over the G.W.R. to the rixer close bx- Rose Island ; so xvell knoxvn for its little Inn, a pleasant rendezx-ous for picnics. Near it, on the rix-er, more than once or txvice, sheep haxe been roasted on the ice; for this during the last hard frost xvhich bound the river, a pig hunt xvas sub stituted, but pigs do not easily traverse ice, and it xvas not a success, although mittens were tied on the pigs' feet. II. The reach here is a favourite sailing ground, and the island for a long time has been the head-quarters of the Oxford Sailing Club, xvho hold their matches here ; at the top of the reach the Thame branch of the G.W.R. crosses the rix-er, and txvo or three fields above is Iffley Lock. But these fields hax-e their mede of interest, for they are the home of the Fritillaries, one of the floxvers noted by Arnold. " 1 know what xvhite, what purple fritillaries. The grassy harvest of the river-fields, Aljove by Jlynsham, doxvu by Sandford yields." A few years ago they grew in thousands here ; so thick xvere they that their numbers formed beds of bright colour in the meadoxx^s, but since xxild floxx^ers became fashionable, they haxe been ruthlessly torn up, even before the buds are fairly opened, by men xx^ho make a market of their beauty in the Oxford streets. It is not hox\-ever these people xvho are most to blame, but their thoughtless patrons,—many of xvhom boast a University standing—for xx'ere there no demand, the supply xvould cease, and Fritillaries xvould again bloom in their natix^e fields, and again form a blaze of brilliant colour against the green background of the tender grass. Exen noxv at times these fields are rich xvith colour xvhere masses of yellow King-cups grow xvith their feet in the marshy soil ; xvhile the ditches betxveen are in early spring bright w-ith the prettx' pink flow-ers of the W^ater \'iolet. The curious legend also of the upper meadow, knoxvn as " Beri .Meadow," xvill be found in the little illustrated booklet " Iffley Mill and its Story," xvhich all w-ho take an interest in the beauties of the Thames should see ; it contains the story of the charming old .Mill, and its destruction by fire. May 20, 1908. From Iffley Lock there are tw-o xvays into Oxford, by the towing path past the scene of the May races on the river ; or over the Lock and Mill-bridge into the xillage, and thence by road to Magdalen Bridge. An omnibus runs ex-ery half-hour from Iffley turn into the City. i?i-'.-H«!r.,'v - "4-. •-'•'•'. -:'.h'-!Zj' /ffley Mill from below. ^^3 Route 4. To North Hinksey, past the Church on the right, and the Conduit House on the left ; up the hills to Cumnor Hurst and Chaxvley, and home by Botley, or through the xvoods to join No. 2. Route at Boar's Hill. The first part of this route xvill be found in the chapter on North Hinksey (p. 8i ), but if this village has been already seen, when the Ferry is crossed and you leave the Inn, turn to the right and make for the Church. By the side of the Churchyard a road xvinds up to the hill through a prettily xvooded park-like scene, in tended by the late Colonel Harcourt to be one of the IUUL'S of Oxford, and noxv in course of dexelopment. Bv the top house there is a xvay which leads to the Conduit House, but there is little to see, and our photograph (p. 90) xvill glx-e all the idea of it required. Follow the road up the hill, this ends at the old stonepit, the probable source of the stones in Hinksev causew-av, and xx-hen you reach the trees abox-e, turn round, and one of the most charming of all the xiews of the Unix-ersitv Citv Is seen. 'Lovely at all times siie lies.' sings Arnold ; but it requires the afternoon light xvith a fairly clear atmosphere to view- this lovely scene to the best adxantage. By the near trees the Cit\- is dixided into three parts, the centre picture containing the older City with Its towers and spires, beautifully grouped against the background of hills, xvhich at this height rise sufficIentK' to o\crtop exen St. Marx-'s spire ; this xvill now be seen to be the highest of all the Oxford build ings. The tw^o great gasometers are eyesores In this lovely picture xvith their glaring white mechanical forms ; If thev xvere painted green instead oi xvhite the\ xvould be far less prominent, and besides, a few Lombardv Poplars planted round them would effect ually break up their crude shape and take away their hideousnes'-. It is a pitv that all these glorious xiews nf O.xford should be disfigured by them, when they could so easily be hidden. In the second picture Shotover Hill rises prominently over the part of the Citv to the right which Is formed bx- the new tow-n on the Coxvlev side of .Magdalen Bridge, The third scene, to the left of the grouping of trees on the hill, is formed by North Oxford, a mass of brick-built houses xvith lower hills behind, but no prominent objects are seen as In the centre scene. Trees are everyw-here, on the hills, in the \alley, intermingled w-ith the houses and o\ei topping them ; and the freenerv helps to reliex-e the garish colour of the brick houses. From this height manv of the excrescences are hidden or softened bv distance, the modern chimneys and factories do not appear as thex- do from a low-er standpoint, and xvere the gasometers banished or hidden these birds-eye views of the City xv(^uld be as lox-elv as th('y were in the days gone by. The path continues tn mount the hill, which here Is 200 feet above the river, but the Hurst hill beyond is again 140 feet 114 above xvhere we are standing, reaching at its summit the height of 520 feet. Don't forget to look back now and then as you mount the hill; the details of the scenes somewhat alter, but all these views of Oxford are worth attention, and one of the most charming of them all is from close below the summit of Cumnor Hurst itself; a distant one of course, but a pretty gem in its rich setting of trees and hills, and on a par with another one from the old Oxford Road to Eynsham, above Seacourt Farm. It is these charming peeps of Oxford that mainly makes this walk so attractive, but there are other pleasant features, as there always are in rambling along field paths. Even the very hedges are beautiful, particularly in Summer ; and the wild flowers that grow alongside the path will make quite a bouquet if properly arranged. There is a stile or two of course ; they are essential where fields are grass and cattle are fed ; because folk often for get to shut gates, and in that way cause trouble to farmers ; but even the stiles serve to rest upon for a moment, and a hill like this is inclined to test the lungs, although the beautiful pure air which makes its way up from the Severn Sea and along the Vale well repays the toil of climbing, and clears the brain from the depressing feeling often experienced in Oxford. When the field in front of the Hurst Hill is reached the way divides, going to left and right, the first again dividing, the field road by the hedge going to Chilsxx'^ell farm ; but the prettier walk is the path through part of Hen Wood, across the field. Those going to the Hurst will take the right hand turn (see after). Hen wood is supposed to derive its name from Heane the founder of Abingdon Abbey. The road through Hen xvood leads to Boiir's Hill; it is, like all wooded roads, very broken and rough, but yet charming ; the birds are singing in the trees, and later in the summer the fir trees form a contrast to the nut bushes and beeches, the bracken ferns here in their season are glorious, and remind one of the Nexv Forest xvith their ' uncrumpling' fronds. By the ^vay, it is not ex'ery one xvho knoxx^s the country stofy hoxx^ these ferns in autumn gix-e a fine representation of " King Charles in the Oak. " Pull one, and cut the stem of it through diagonally toxvards the bottom. ' There ! ' the village children xvill ask you ' do you see the Oak ? ' ' W^ell ! it is plain in its out lines formed by the darker fibres in the centre.' ' And noxv, xvhere is King Charles ? ' ' Can you not see him ? ' ' No I — xvell, neither could his pursuers xvhen he w^as hidden in the Oak.' Keeping to the track no notice need be taken of the "Trespass boards." Fifty years ago they xvere not here, and we boys roamed the xvoods at our xvill. But even here at the upper end of the xvood are the ever-groxving nexv villas, and possibly in time the track through the xvood xvill be stopped up, or some attempt made to close it, like many another has been round II' Oxford, to the great shame of those xvho have done so. At the bend of the road, beyond Picket's Heath farm, turn to the left (the road straight on leads to Wootton ) ; in a short distance the village of Boar's Hill is reached xvhere the path from Chilswell crosses: this, or the path across to the 'Fox,' or the road across Boar's Hill Heath, can be taken as the xvay back to Oxford. At Picket's Heath farm xve reach the highest ground in all these 'Rambles'; here the hill is 535 feet above the sea, actually 15 feet above Cumnor Hurst. If the other xvay is taken, Cumnor Hurst is across the field ; an Irregular path leads up to the clump through the Furze. The Hurst itself has sexen Fir trees and one Elm, with its summit enclosed in axvire fence. Atone time there were nine Firs, but two have been blow-n down. There are very t^umnor Hurst. extensixe xiews all round ; to the east is a distant viexv of Oxford, framed in the higher ground of the hills on either side, as already noticed. To the south is the x\-ood and hill forming Hen Wood, with the xallev beyond stretching along for many miles until closed by the line of the Berkshire Hills ; a charming landscape of rural loveliness. To the west the xillage of Cumnnr peeps out amid the trees, half hidden In their luxuriance; the toxver of the Church can just be made out and that is all. Then be yond is the Thames valley xvith ' the three lone xveirs ' and the higher ground behind It, xvhile perched close above the road at Chaxvlex" are a couple of villas, xvhich look too nexv for so charming a situation, as if they xvere a little too Intrusi\e. The field road this w-ax' leads to Chawlex-, and xvith a bend or two past the cottages the Cumnor-Oxford road Is reached. This can be traversed doxvn the long curving hill returning, the distance to Oxford being about 2! miles; or the journe\ can be extended to Cumnor, as In RoutG No. 5. Route 5. Walk to Cumnor, then by the fields to Bablock Hythe, and back home through fields to Dean Court. Take the Se^•en Bridges RoaJ. to lii itle\'. and follow the road round until the parting of the xvays half a mile bevond, then the road up the hill ( the lower ro.ul le.iJs to Kynsham). .More o ft) x: a o x; o l_ 3 o o G a 3 o 11'/ new villas here; they are groxving, still growing, all around Oxford. When about half-xvay up the hill, just past the first xilla on the right, pause and look ox-er the x-alley. To the right it is closed in bv Beacon Hill just aboxe Eynsham Bridge, and from here the camp thrown up on the hill itself Is plainlx- xisible. We do not quite knoxv xx-here the battle xvhich xvas fought by Cealxvyn and Cuthxx^ulf against the British tribes about 571 took place, but this xvas doubtless one of the "strongest garrisons" taken from them. Here also is the place to note the curious Geological feature of the vallex' below which in all probabilitx- w-as the earlx- course of the Thames, xvhen it xvas a larger rixer than now ; or xx-hen the land of England xvas sunk, so that a tidal sea made its xvav betxveen the hill on xx-hich xve are stand ing and the Wytham Hills bevond. By xvhat means or xvhen the rix-er altered from this to its present course is not knoxvn ; but the curious features remain and aie interesting. The x-alley is xery loxelx- ; xve shall traxerse it on the way back. The hill rises until Chawlev is reached, on the right Is Cumnor Hurst (see route 4),dug into considerably by the brick fields, which are extensive. At the turn the right-hand road leads to Cumnor, and when the village is reached the first object of interest is the Church, xvhich presents itself as a Dec. Chancel and North Aisle, xvith a Perp. Clerestory to the Nave, but a Trans. Norman or very Early English Tower at the xvest end. It stands on a rising mound above the road, and its details are perhaps better made out by a xvalk round it before going inside. The path leads by the North Aisle, which has two-light Dec. windows, and passing round Eastxvard the Chancel xvalls are probably E. E.; a Lancet xvindow- xvill be noted on the north side near the Naxe, xvith a Priests' door near but blocked up. The East xvindoxv is Dec. and has three lights, xvith hood- mould, and there are tw-o other Dec. xvlndoxvs inserted in the South w-all of the Chancel. The South Chapel or Transept is also Dec. and in its West xvall is a window- w-ith triangular head, corresponding to that at North Hinksey. In the Nave close by on the outside are the remains of a Dec. Corbel-table xvith masks, aboxe being the Perp. Clerestory. The West door of the Toxver is round headed, vet has side shafts and stiff-leaved carving on its caps ; the xvindoxv abox-e has a pointed arch. The Tower Is of three stories, xvith later battlements and corner buttresses. The interior is very interesting, it has an early arch to the Chancel, supported on tw-o fine Corbels with E. E. foliage, the Nave arcade being of three arches, one pier round, the others octagonal, xvhile the Toxver Arch is a large and fine example of late'Transitional, xvith E. E. mouldings, but fluted Norman caps to the shafts; the xvlnding stair to the Tower Is worth nntlce. The roof is plain, supported on corbels, xvhile In the Chancel are some good stalls xvith fine Poppy Heads; two in particular are ,.rth"close examination, one having the emblem of the Crucifixion w ii8 and another a figure in Armour on a dragon, St. Michael or St. George. There is also a fine Elizabethan monument to Anthony Foster, his xvife and children, xvhich does not give him the sad character that Sir Walter Scott does in "Kenilxvorth," but speaks of him as a xvorthx- and clex^er man. The Pulpit and reading pew are of Oak. Close by, in the South Chapel, is an old chained Bible, dated 1611, noxv preserved in a glass case; there is also in the East xvall of this chapel a fine Decorated Piscina, and txvo bracket heads for lights, xvhile filling the south end are txx'o fine sepulchral recesses xvith Dec. canopies, and stone tombs, said to haxe been those of .Abbots of Abingdon By the Chancel is the monument to Sir W^m. Hunter, the Historian of India, and at the West end of the North Aisle is a statue of Oueen Elizabeth, rescued and restored by the „ ^, , late Rev. S. N. Y. Chained Bible, Cumnor Church. Griffith, for some years ^'icar of Cumnor. This statue used to stand In the plensaiitrie at Medley, xvhen the house xvas kept as a Manor, but the statue afterwards found its way to Wytham, xvhere it xvas neglected until placed here. The old MIcar also collected the dates, c^c. of the Church, xvhich xvill be found at the end of the .Aisle, xvith one or two scenes in connection xvith the Place. Cumnor (the broxv of Cumen) xvas given to the Abbey of Abingdon at a very early date. It formed part of the immense estate "ranted them by Ceadwalla, and confirmed by more than one later monarch ; eventually it formed the Abbot's oxvn demesne .id o x: ft) ft) O rt o G a 3 o I20 or prix'ate estate, and xvas used as his country seat until the dissolution ; xvhen it passed to George Oxven, the King's physician. Practically its history is in the earlier chapter, xvith Hinksey. Close by the Church xvas Cumnor Place, the site of which is still marked by the mound of the house in the field to the xx-est of the Church ; of this house the romantic story of Amy Robsart and the Earl of Leicester, told by Sir Walter Scott in "Kenilxvorth," and the poem of Mickle, on xvhich ' the wizard ' based his story, has sent many a xisitor to this spot. But Sir Walter's story is not all gospel, although, like all his novels, it is deeply interesting ; parts of it are truth-like pictures, xet must not be taken for the real history of the accident, and the narratix-e is entirely xx'rong in point of date and in many details. Both the story and Mickle's poem are to be found in " Kenilxx-orth," and should be referred to bx- all x-isitors to Cumnor. Our picture of the Place gix-es an idea of its appearance. It xvas built in the form of a quadrangle of about sex-entv feet in length bx- fifty in breadth, of Gothic xx'ork of the 14th Century ; and had a prix-ate Chapel contained xvithin its xvalls. The principal entrance xx^as under an archway on the north side, xvith rooms on either side of it, and the long gallerx- so often mentioned extended the xvhole length of that side of the building. At the xx^est end of the gallery xvas the flight of stone steps doxx^n xx'hich the unfortunate Amy fell. There are txvo or three xiexvs of the building extant, this one of W^hittock's, dating 1810, being perhaps the best, but they all practically agree. The remains were eventually taken doxvn and the stones remoxed to Wytham, xvhere they were used by Lord Abingdon to re-build the Church about 1811. (See Godstow, c&c, by H. W. Taunt, for full details of Wytham.) Doxvn the xillage, beyond the Pond, xvas the old Inn mentioned in "Kenilxvorth," 'The Bonny Black Bear,' pulled doxx-n 1847. ^^ stood nearer the Church than the present tavern, xvhich has been rebuilt, and some sixty years since the last remnant of the older one, the date cut in the mantelpiece over the old fireplace, xvas taken axx^ay. Nothing reaPy remains of Cumnor Place, except the mound in the field behind the Church, and a blocked-up doorway in the Churchyard xx^all. The road xvhich runs by the Inn leads on to Eaton and Bablock Hythe, the latter one of the spots mentioned by Arnold in his "Scholar-Gipsy,"but to those who " Ramble" there is a much prettier xvay to the old Ferry. Go back a short distance to the turn and take the other road xvhich goes on doxvn the hill to Eynsham, then at the tree, a short distanc- on, take the turn to the left, and folloxv the road until it turns again into a lane at the end ; pass doxvn the lane to the Long Leys as it is called, xvhich is the bridle xvay to the Ferry. Before reaching the Leys, at a corner is a charming view- of the valley, xvith Eynsham Hall amid the trees on the further rise, and the Thames meandering through the fields beloxv the higher ground on xvhich xve stand. m ft) ft) [L, 10 ft) a rt x: H "o ft) x: 10 ft) x: ft) x: >s .i«i O _o 3 rt to ft) a rt x: H u ft) a a 12: This lane is rough, but just ridable to a bicyclist ; after xvet xx-eather the Leys are onlv just passable, even to a rambler, although a harder path extends all doxvn the centre. In summer the way is a very pleasant one, the springing turf on either side is very dainty to the feet, and at the bottom along the spinney there is such a x-ariety of xvild floxvers as is scarcely ever found together. W^hen the bottom of the Levs is reached, in the corner shaded by the trees is the ' Physic w-ell,' a pretty spot, but xve hax-e not been able to gather its history. Right through the spinney the path runs, and here the birds seem ex-er to be sing ing in chorus as xve pass along ; once through the bottom gate xve are in the Hythe lane, and quickly at Bablock Hvthe Ferry and the ' Stripling Thames.' The name ' Hvthe ' xvould seem to indicate the existence of this Ferry-xvharf as far back as Saxon times, but xvhether this is so or not xve have no records; there is little doubt of its being a rix-er-crossing for manx' a long year, and noxx^ it is the last of the old Ferries on the main rixer. The big Ferry boat is still used for crossing, and takes xvagons and horses or carts, as w-ell as foot passengers; it is guided by a chain stretched from bank to bank, on xx-hich the ferryman pulls to get it across the stream. An agitation is noxv going on for a bridge in place of the ferry. The Thames here runs betxveen loxx^ banks and rich meadow-s, in places shaded bx- aspen trees, and although the place is no more than fixe miles from Oxford through Cumnor by road, It is no less than a dozen miles from the same Citx- as the stream runs. The rix-er floxvers noticed by Arnold max- all be found in the xvater meadoxvs here, but xve rather xvonder he nex-er noticed the great white Water Lilies, xvhich groxv so luxu riously in these reaches and form one of the glories of the stream. Back to Cumnor again, past the Church and up the road xve came into it from Oxford ; betw-een the last txvo houses of the x-illage is a stile xvith a path, this is the field track to Dean Court. There are quiet beauties to notice on the down-hill path, to-day the larks are sirging abox-e us, it seems in numbers ; the sun is popping in and out betxveen the silx-er-lined clouds, xvhich float ox-er our heads and the Wytham hills on the other side of the x-alley, xvhich with their xvoods form the background of the picture. The path leads doxvn into the bottom, running first along the side of a copse all resplencient xvith blossom ; then through part of, and by the side of another ; along a field and then by another spinney, but ex-er trending to the bottom of the hill. It is here the 'Cumnor Cowslips' grow, dotting the fields all over xvith their bright yelloxv blossoms, xvhile up along the hill by our side are the telegraph posts, xvhich show the course of the main road xve trax-ersed earlier on our xvay to Cumnor. This is a very charming rural xvalk, so peaceful and so still, not a sound except that of song-birds and no discordant note anywhere ; the spot seems entirely shut away from the noise of the xvorld in x: •OX) 0) ul ft) X o w, 3 x: O 0) o c ft) u '^ rt CO 124 every direction. Yet once, more than half a century ago, in this very quiet and retired spot, xve bv accident came across a strange and excited throng, gathered here on the occasion of a prize-fight, betxveen txvo combatants both bearing the name of Green. We recollect, although very young, turning back in dis may and disgust at the cries and language xx-hich xvere being used, and horrified at the sight of one of the men xvith blood pouring doxx-n his face ; but can gix-e but little idea of xvhat was taking place beyond the fact; the names were told us years after. The path through these pleasant fields comes to an end all too soon; xve leaxe them b}- a short w-ay ox-er a little bridge w-hich leads on to the Eynsham road at the farm and hamlet, where the milestone tells the tale that txx-o miles xvill take us back to Oxford again. The name 'Dean Court' is quaint, and seems to be 'a vallex- manor.' 'La Dene' is mentioned in c. 1550, xx-ith Cumnor, Wvtiiam, &c., as part of the personal property of the Abbot of the great Abbey xvhich owned all this district; and the Abbot, no doubt, xx-as as great a personage as the King himself, in the eyes of all the dependents and hinds xvho tilled the fields. Noxv the Monastery has passed away, and xvith it both the Abbot and the Monks, the Hinds and the serving-men; the property has seen many a change and many an oxxmer, but the glorious x-alley fields remain, and form one of the most pleasant xvalks near our natix-e city. Route 6. Drive (or bicycle ) by road via Cumnor Hill and Bcsselsleigh to the Fyfield Elm, back through Wootton, Boar's Hill and Hinksey Road. This is our longest route, the distance to Fyfield being about 9 miles, and back some 10 miles. The way is by the Sexen Bridges road and Cumnor Hill, as in Route 5, but xvhen the turn to Cumnor is reached keep straight along the Faringdon road. Look back across to Cumnor Hurst betxx-een the 3rd and 4th milestones the hill here stands up and shoxvs its scarred face xvhere the brick earth has been dug axvay; beyond it is W^ootton, and Foxeombe Hill. There is nothing noticeable for some distance ; the turn to Bcsselsleigh brings us to the 'Greyhound,' a capital little Inn on the road-side, quiet and fairly furnished xvith most things xvanted, just the place for a call on the xvax-, or for Tea when coming back, and then shortly the Church is seen behind the quiet Church yard amid its surrounding trees. It is a picturesque little Perp. edifice, xvith chancel and nave all under one roof, a little bell-cot at the w^est end xvith txvo bells, and it has three txvo-light Perp. windows in the side xvalls. There is no Chancel arch, but the Chancel is divided from the Na\-e by a xvooden screen of the time of James I. The East and West xvindoxvs are early Dec, each of three lights xvithout tracery, but the East xvindoxv has an x: ft) (/I 10 ft) CQ -if G 3 xO: t^ ft) i_ O ft) x: H 126 elegant inner arch of a cinquefoil form ; and like the Hinksey Churches It is dedicated to St. Laxvrence. The property w-as held by the Besils, one of xvhom, Sir Peter Besils, in 1424, bequeathed lands for the maintenance of the bridges and causexvav at Abingdon, and up to 1516 the manor belonged to this family, who had held it from Saxon times. It afterxvards passed bx- marriage to the Fettiplaces, a xvell-knoxvn Oxfordshire family, and from them by purchase to the Lenthalls, one of xvhom xvas Speaker to the Long Parliament. This familx- still holds the manor. The house lies back in the park, but has not many attractions. Keep straight on xvhen the roads di\erge; the left one leads to Wantage. Our road soon passes through a pretty xvo ' Roam on. The light we sought is shining still, Dost thou ask proof '? Our tree yet crow-ns the hill, Our Scholar trax-els vet the loved hill side. ' Wootton Church from the road. INDEX. Aben .... 110. Cold Harbour 106, Abingdon . . . no, Conduit House 94, 100, 113, Abingdon Abbev 0:\, 70, 75, 70. 77, Cumnor Cowslips 45, 122, [78, 79, 92,98, 102, 108, 110, 111, Cumnor 7S, 79, SO [118,124, 92, 101. 115, [117, 120. 122, 124, Abingdon, Earl of . SO, 0:\, Cumnor Hurst 13, 57, 100, 101, 113, Abingdon Road . 106, 128, [114. 115, 117, 124, Abingdon Water Works . 106, Cumnor Hills 13, 17, 19, 101. 124, Acland, Dr 88, Daphnis , 53, ^gsean Isles ... 31, Dean Court . ','9 . 101, 115, 124, Amy Robsart . . 118, 120, Devil's Dyke , 105, Anskill .... 70, Eaton 7S 79, 1-20, Arnold, Matt 72, 88, 92, 99, 120, 122. Edwi (Charter,) 7 0 7! , 92, Arnold's Tree :!7, 5:). .•).-). 50, 00. Edward III [100-1-2-3-5-8 12.S, . los. Arno Yale , . , . 51, ligbert 102, Atlantic . . . . 31. Elliot, Gen. 69, Elizabeth. Queen . , Bablock Hythe 15, 101, 115, 120, 122, 118, Ethehvold . Bagley Wood 19, 70, 72, 100-3-6-8-10, 77, Eynsham Hall , Balliol College men . 90 92, 1-20, Eynsham 45, 115, Bayxvorth . 100, los, 109, 110, 117, Faulkner's Farm. , Berton ( The Barton ) . 79, (•.9, Faringdon Folly , Beri Meadoxv . . . 112, 105, Fell, Dr. Samuel Berkshire floors . . 13, 110, Ferry (or Xoitli) Hinksey 81to9s, liesils. Sir Peter . . 126. Fettiplace family . , 126. Besselsleigh . 101, 124, 126, Folly IJrid.iic . 64, 65, 70, 108, Boar's Hill 100, 101, 103, 105, 114, Foster, .\nthony . . lis, 1.128, Foxeombe Hill . 102, 124, 12S, Bonny Black Bear . . 120, 'Fox,' The, 100, 105, 106, 115, Botley, (or Seven Bridges) Road [81, 82, 98, 100, 115, Friar Bacon's Study , . 65, Botley . . 78, 98, 100, 113, Fritillaries . 45, 112, Brazenose College . . 80, Fyfield . . 126, Bridges, Sir T. A . . 79, Fj-field Elm . 1 5, 4 5, 101, l-2(i. Carfax . . . . 64, 94, Glanvil 10. 11. 21 . 2.'!, Catherine of Aragon . Ill, Gloucestei' Green . S2, Ceadwalla . . 76, 92, US. Godstow Jiridge . . 17, Cealwyii . . . . 117, Golafre, Sir John . . 12(i. Cenxvulf. (or K.) 75, 92. 102, 108, Grandpont . (iCi, Chawley . 101, 113, 115, 117, Great Western Rly 65 . 66 , 7( , SI, Chilswell Yalley 66, 69, 75, 101, Gresham, Sir .lohn . 79, Childswortli or Chilswell Farm 37, ' (ireyhound,' The, 1! 'sse Isle igh 124. [75. 101. 102, HIS, 114, Happy Yalk'y . . 101, Ch. Ch. Hall . . . 19. Harcourt, Hon. hew is SO 9.",. 95, Clough, Hugh 99, Harcourt, Col. 82, SS. II'!, Haunted House A'th Hinksey 84, 92, Picket's Heath Farm 105, 115, 128, Heane . Ill, 114, Piers, John (Arehbp York) 69, Hen Wood 105, 114, 1-28, Poems. ' Scholar Gij)sy ' 5, to 32, 99, Henry Till . . 79, Poems. 'Thyrsis' 33, to 60, 99, Hinksey boundaries 78, Prize fight , . . 124, Hinksey Hills 99, Radley , , , . 79, Hinksey Hill Farm 75, Rambles with .Matthew Arnold Hinkst'vs, story of 75 to 80, [99tol2S, Hinksey, Xortli 63. 69, 75, 79, 80, Rome 76, [81, 98, 100, Roman Road, The Portway 106, Hinksey, New . 63, 65, 66, Rose Island, Kennington 111, Hinksey, A'orth, Path to S2, 84, 94, Routes 100, 101, 106, 113, 115, 124, Hinkseys, Path between 75 to 80, Ruskin Road 75, 84, 86 to 92, Hinkseys ( Txvo) 35, 64, 75, 76, 78, 79, Sandford . . . 45, 112, Hinksey ridge . . , 19, ScDtt, Sir Walter , 118, 1-20, Hinksey South 4, 6, 63, 69, 70, 72, Seacourt or Seckw-orth 70, 76, 77, [100, 106, [78, 79, 102, Hinksey Stream 06, 70. 108, Sergius, Pope , . . 76, Hoefna.yle's picture . 99, Seven HrdgesRd 81, 82, 98,100,115, Hog acre ditch , 66, Shotover Hill . . . 113, Hormer Hundred . 79, Sibylla Kerr , . 35, 09, Hunter, Sir W, . 118, Sicily 31, Iffley Mill . 112, Signal Elm . . , . 37, Iffley 70, 100, 112, St. John's Ch. New Hinksey 65, llsley Doxvns 37, 103, St. John's College . . 72, Jacob's Ladder (i5, 106, St. Laxvrence's Ch. New Hinksey 65, Jenny Bunting's Parlour 72, 73, 108, S, Laxvrence's Ch.S. Hinksey 69, 70, Jewel, Bishop . . 109, St. Laxvrence's Ch. North Hinksey Kennington . . 100, 111, [ 95 to 98, King Charles in the Oak 114, S, kawrences's Ch Besselsleigh 126, Langford (Hinksi'y) Mill 70, Stert River . , . 110, Legend of North Hinksey 92, 93, Sunningxvell 72, 100, lOS, 109, 110, Little London UK I Suthton (Sutton) , . 79 Lityerses Song Sw-yneford (Swinford) . 79, Long Leys, The . 120, 122, Thames 17, 27, 37, 45. 47, 78, 82, Lysons Hei-ks . . . 79, [101-2-3-5-6, 115, 117, 120, 122. Monk's Barn, North Hinksey 9S, Tlu's.saly , . . 19, Ordnance Map facing . 99, Osney ... 81, 82, 94, Tow-le, John , , . 70, Otho Nicholson , , 94, Tubney .... 126. Owen, George . . 79, 120, Turner's picture . . 99, Oxford . . 11, 35 99 106, Yale (of White Horse) 37, 103. 105, Oxford St. Thomas' . . 79, Wantage, Road to . . 126, Oxford's Towers and Spires 9, 37, Waterw-orks (City) . (;5, 00, [75, 99, 113, 115, Williams (Lord), Sir John 79, 82, 93, Part 2. Rambles . 61, to 128 Wootton 7S, 79, 115, 124, 1-26, 128, Pentecostal :Money . . 79, Wootton Heath . . . 103, Perrott Family . • 79, Wychwood . . . .15, Phvsic Well . U22. Wytham , 47, 76, 7S, J-Jo, ip) BY HENRY W. TAUNT, F.R.G.S. Many years Photographer to the Oxford Architectural ana Historical Society. PUBLISHED BY HENRY W. TAUNT & CO,, OXFORD. Sold of all Booksellers. Taunt's Illustrated Map and Guide to the River Thames from Thames Head to London, with .Map in Sections, two inches to a mile, from direct Surveys hy the Author, combined with Guide giving every information re(|uired hy the Tcmrist, the Oarsman, and the Angler ; us well .as to the Canals and Rivers in connection. Illustrated l)y over a hiindi-ed Photograi)hs, Ten thousand Copies sold. Seventh Edition in Preparation. A copy of this Guide has been accepted by H.M. The King. "With T.-iiint's M;iii and (iuidc any Oarsman can find In-; way do^vvn tlic 'I'lianic^^ a^ ca-iily and coinli'rtably a« if lie had liccn tiorn on i nc ot its yiccn Imnk-^. It is really a handsomely 'X' Taunt's Pocket Map and Guide to the Thames. 16mo.. Oblong. Two-and-Sixpence, Twelfth Thousand. "We have notliin<.' but the most coiilial i>!aisi' i<,r Mr Taunt's delitrhtful, useful and artistic Ouidcs. " "Taunt's IMaji and Ouide to the Thames is invahiahle." Iffley Mill and its Story, Illustrated, i)y Henry W, Taunt, l',l!,(;.s. 3rd. Edition enlarged and extra illustrations. Demy Svo. Sixpence. The first Edition sold out the day il was pui»lisliod. ••To the many thousands of ]ier-ons intiTcstcd this narrative ot the history and ow-ncishii, 1,1 the >Iill for «0(l years, is a \aliialilc s,,uvcnir." Oxlonl Times. ••.Arr. Taunt deals fully willi the historical associations of the j.laec as well as its ]iictiires(|u,. surroundin-s, and excellent plioto-raiilih^ illustrations add to the uitiTest of the liiocliurc." Soutli P.ucks Free I'ress. Companion to Ittley .Mill. Just Published. Iffley Manor, Church and Village, by Henry W. Taunt, fully illustratx'd. Demy Svo. Sixpence. The History and descripton of the very fine Noriii.ni Church, the story of the Manor, and Kectory, xvith the .May-day festivities \-c., all ifully illusi rated from direct photograj)h.s. ".\ comiiletc Ouide to Itfley, with its eomp'inion ot "Iffley Mill." ".\ visit to Iffley IS made doubly intcrcstin.. by Mr. Taunts vcrx i.rett> and coniiirehcnsive little liook." Blenheim Palace and 'Woodstock. What to see and hoxv to see it, by Henry W. Taunt. (Under the direct sanction of His Grace The Duke of Marlborough.) A descriptive and historical guide, with Plan, and a number of Illustrations. Svo. Paper Sixpence. " The letterpress is full of interest and useful to visitors, but of still greater interest is the many photographs -with which it is artistically and lavishly illustrated. It makes an excellent souvenir as well as a useful handbook." Oxford Times. Blenheim Palace, 'Woodstock &c. Their story and some of the Scenes around them. Contains beside the above, historical reminiscences of Royal Woodstock Palace and Park from earliest times, the Story of the Dukes of Marlborough, xvith an extended account of the great Duke and his battles, illustrated, the Roman Villa, &c. With Frontispiece of His Grace the Duke of Marlborough, K.G. Svo. Cloth Gilt. 3 plans, 50 illustrations, One-and-Sixpence. Just published. See opinioTis of the press &c., iiext page. The Rollright Stones. The Stonehenge of Oxfordshire, •with its Folk-lore, and full descripton and guide to the neighbourhood, with some account of the Ancient Druids, and their Sagas rendered into English, by Henry W. Taunt, F.R.G.S. Demy Svo. Cloth lettered, Plan, Eleven full page Photographic illustrations, and Ten smaller ones. 72 pp. One-and-Sixpence. 'The latest and in some respects the most important and interesting of the valu able series of historical and antiquarian Guide Books prepared by Mr. Taunt, who has done his work with his usual thoroughness." Oxford Times. "This very interesting book should be read by all Druids, especially those who are students of our ancient predecessors. It is profusely and beautifully illustrated. The Druid See 'next page also. The Rollright Stones. Cheap Edition, Paper, with fewer illustrations One Shilling. Dorchester (Oxon ) and its Abbey Church, with a complete guide to the neighbourhood, by Henry W. Taunt, F.R.G.S. Illustrated xvith Plan and original Photographs. Demy Svo. 2nd. Ed. One Shilling. "Mr. Henry W. Taunt our well known Antiquary, has laid all lovers of Historical objects under fresh and greater obligations, by the production of his excellent little book, "Dorchester and its Abbey." The book will have many appreciative readers. Oxford Chronicle "The first edition was praised and sold out, but the second edition is even better than the earlier one. It has more details, more pictures, and is the very book every one who visits Dorchester Abbey and this neighbourhood requires." Notes & News, Princes RisborOUgh and round it, including. Monks Risborough, White l.ieaf Cross, the Kimbles, Ellesborough, Hampden, Horsendon, Suinderton, Bledlow, Chinnor, Lacey Green, Culverton, J^oosley Row, Hughendon, West Wycombe, &e. Illustrated. i)y HENRY W. TAUNT F,R,G,S! " A l»retty Corner of Leafy Bucks," OPINIONS of the PRESS. From the Daily Telegi-aph, (Jet. 22nd, VJ09. Blenheim and Woodstock. The Rollright Stones. (OXFORD: T.XUNT, Is, fid, net each,) All visitors to Oxford are acquainted with Mr. Henry W. Taunt's excellent photographs, xvhich, before the advent of the cheap jiicture- postcards, were the favourite souvenirs of Eights Week taken home by "sisters, cousins, and aunts." The smaller ccmipany of enthusiasts who are interested in archyeology, however, know that Mr. Taunt's skill is by no means confined to his camera, and that he is a xvell- knoxvn local authority upon the history, not only of the Cniveisity town, but of all the most attractive villages along the Thames Yalley. And when he combines his art as a photographer with his erudition as an archjeologist, he may be relied upon to furnish his readers with volumes of genuine charm and permanent value. The two neat books beft)re us are admirable examples of his literary and artistic sicill. They are beautifully produced, with a profusion of good photographs, and the letterpress is bright and soundly informative. The first of the two volumes deals with the historic associations of Blenheiui and Woodstock, and would serve as an ideal guide-book to the intending visitor. The views in Blenheim Park are particularly good, and some of the interiors are full of rich detail. The second volume carries us back to the twilight of British history, giving ii clear and yet learned account of the famous Rollright Stones, " the Stonehenge of Oxfordshire," which lie about three miles nortli of Chipping Norton, and are the inevitable subject of much quaint and curious lore, .Mr, Taunt gives a ground plan nf the old Druidic circle, and an explanation of its origin, illustrated with i)hoto- graplis of all the principal groups. He even Includes translations from the old Sagas, admirably rendered into modern English verse. There can be no doubt that tliese well-etiuipped volumes will en.joy a great vogue in the neighbourhood to whoso service they are designed. Fri»u the Oxfm-d Times, Aug. 14th. V.>l)0. "In this book .Mr. Taunt tells the story of Blenheim and Woodstock, in a lively, interesting manner that makes it attractive. There is an historicaTaccount, a description of the Palace and the contents of the State Uooms, a -round plan of the Palace, the rare old ballad of "The Life and Death of Fair Rosamund," a description of the park, an account of old Woodstock and the glovemaking xvhich is its chief industry, a chapter, with portraits, on the Dukes of .Marlborough, and a di'sci-iption, with ground plan and illustration of the tesselatcd paving, of the flimian Villa at Norl hieigh. The letterpress is full of int.-rest but it is probably the illustrations that will make the book most popular, for some (if them are unique. .\n excellent up-lo-date portrait of the present Duke, from a photo by Lafayette, forms the fnintrspiece; among the num(>rous illust rations, are old and new views ot Woodstock bits of the park, the High Lodge, th(> east, south and west "•'""'1 *;» the Palace, several vi<"ws of the interior, old Woodstock Palac<' in I/0(», tvpies.ntations of the liattle of Blenheim,'etc. ^^> ,^=''V'''r''';,';'' . ih book to all who are int.-lesfed either in the pla.-e or th." family thiough whom it has become famous," PROM HIS GUACK THE Di KK OK .MARLBOROI (JH, Blenheim Palac- Dear .Mr. Taunt, --^'t''- S^'Pf*'"'''^'' l^^^' You ar.> indeed kind to send me a copy of yoiir book .... Blenheim and W..o Do-wn the River to Nuneham and Abingdon, Small Svo. By Henry W. Taunt. Map, Plan and Illustrations. Eightpence. "Mr. Taunt's charming little Guide "Down the River to Nuneham and Abingdon," is an earnest of what the larger one will be." Sunday Times. "This is another of the delightful handbooks to river scenery by Mr, Taunt, and is illustrated with photographic views. Every visitor will do well to secure this chatty account of the scenery and antiquarian features." Oxford Times. Kirtlington, Oxon. Ancient Kirtlington. St. Mary's Church, The Park and House. Royal Kirtlington, th'e Manors and their owners. The Village xvith some scenes of Country Life. Illustrated with Camera and Pen by Henry W. Taunt, F.R.G.S. Demy Svo. 2nd Edition. Fancy Cover. One Shilling. "Mr, Taunt is always springing welcome surprises upon his Oxfordshire friends, and has now brought home to his readers the interesting village of Kirtlington, Style and study have vied with each other for supremacy and the result is a most tasteful and interesting publication." Oxford Times. "There is no need to tell over again the story of Kirtlington which Mr. Taunt has lately told in the capital little handbook which he wrote and illustrated with photographs The Church also has been exhaustively written of, and the photograph of the fresco on the North wall, is the best thing in the book," Zoe in Oxford Times, Magdalen To'wer on May Morning. By Henry W. Taunt, 4th Ed. just published, enlarged, with nex\' scenes. The story of the singing on Magdalen Tower, with Music, Latin Hymn, and Translation, Pally Illustrated with direct Photographs, SvO. Sixpence. ' Another edition is to hand of Magdalen Tower on May-morn, one of the. interest ing booklets of Mr, Taunt, It is the most complete record published of the May- morning ceremony." Oxford Times, " Magdalen Tower on May-morning is a charmingly illustrated brochure on the delightful old custom of welcoming May in with a chorus of praise at 5 a,m. from the top of Magdalen Tower, Oxford." Penny Illustrated Paper, "The brochure is interesting and complete." Oxford Chronicle. The Boar's Head at Queens College Oxford, on Xmas Day, with the authorized words and music, illustrated with Photographs, by Henry W. Taunt, F.R.G.S. Small Svo. 2nd Edition with additions. Sixpence. " Mr Taunt is indefatigable in collecting the records of ancient customs and illustrating them, weaving their stories into charming little brochures like his "Boar's Head Ceremony at Queens College," which is in every way complete," Just Published The Oxford Poems of Matthew Arnold. (The Scholar Gipsy,' and 'Thyrsis, .Illustrated to which are added The Hinkseys near oLforcL with the story of Ruskin's Road makers, and Rambles with MattheW Arnold, with Guides to the Country the poems illustrate. Portrait Ordnance Map, and 76 Photographs, by Henry VV. Taunt, F.R.GS' Demy Svo. Three and Sixpence. Comets Historical and Marvellous, With the story of Halley's Comet and its numerous appearances from the earliest ages to the present time, by P. De. Regis, and Henry W. Taunt, Illustrated. Demy Svo Sixpence. "The story of the Comets makes facinating reading and the artistic iUus- 1 rat ions add both to the interest and value of the httle book," Oxford Times. The Four Noses at Brasenose College, Oxford, by H. Hurst B.A. with Photographic frontispiece. Published by Henry W. Taunt & Co., O.xford. 12mo. Sixpence. "An interesting story of the very curious Noses of B.N.C. with a very capital Photograph of. them for the frontispiece." Fairford Church with its celebrated ^Vindows, Lechlade and the district round them, by Henry W. Taunt, F.R.G.S. Third Edition enlarged. Small Svo. with Plan of Windows and Nine Photographic Illustrations, One Shilling. "A more useful guide to this neighbourhood cannot be imagined." Abingdon, Ancient and Modern. The story of its Abbey and Cross, the Town and Churches, Christ's Hospital, the Bridges &c. A complete guide to Ancient and Modern Abingdon, by Henry W. Taunt, xvith Plan and Illustrations. Ready. Small Svo. One-aud-Sixi)OHce. "Those persons—their name is legion—who have used the illustrated books of that warrantable artist, Mr. Taunt of Oxford, in their voyages on the Thames, will have noted that he is not only a sun-painter, a philosopher and friend, but also strongly imbued with antiquarian tastes. It will be good news to them to learn that Mr. T.aunt has almost ready for the press a careful, chatty, and well-illustrated work on " Ancient and Modern Abingdon." This sleepy but beautiful old town, with its ruined abbey, its Chri.st's Hospital, and its many ancient buildings, is fragrant with legends and traditions, and ot these Mr. Taunt has collected a great number Having seen an advance copy of the work, I pronounce it worthv and entertaining." Country Life. Goring, Streatley and the Neighbourhood, including the Thames from Wallingford to Reading, Cheap Edition with gen. ral Map and three River Maps, Photographic frontispiece and other illustrations. Complete Guide, by Henry W. Taunt. Small Svo. Cloth lettered, 122 pp, Two Shillings nett. "A book which to the utility of a Tourist's Handbook adds many attractions which such publications usually lack, Reading Mercury, "Mr, Taunt is well known as a guide philosopher and friend in all things con.'ern- ing the River, His work on Goring, Streatley .tc, is an authority on the subject, ,nnd its success has induced him also to issue this cheap edition, which will he hkely to induce many of those -n-ho read it to visit the delightful spots about whi.-h lit- "'ri'''^ Oxford limes. New 3^J'>2S of Historical Hsir]dbook^, Illustrated. The River Thames from Oxford to Wallingford, with the Towns and Yillages on its banks, including Abingdon, Dorchester Szc. I5y lI(Miry W. Taunt, F.R.G.S. Illustrated with Maps and Photographs. Sv.i. Cloth Gilt. 180 pp. 3 Maps and Plans, 28 Illustrations. Six Shillings. The River Thames through the Chiltern Country Wallingford to Reading, including Goring, Streatley, and the Neighbourhood. My Henry W, Taunt, i'.i;.<;.s. lUustrat.'d with Maps and Photographs. Second Edition. Svo, Cloth Gilt. 12-") pp. 3 iMaps, 30 Photographic Illustrations. Six Shillings. The River Thames, Staines to Henley and Reading, includ ing Windsor, .Maidenhead, Markiw LSIC. By Henry W. Taunt, F.R.G.s. Illustrated with Maps and Photographs. Svo. Cloth (iilt. G .Maps and I'lans. :\7 Illustrations. Six Shillings. These three books make a complete Thames Historical Guide from Oxford to Staines. " W^hen you want to know anything about a place, procure one of Taunt's Guides. He is one of the most painstaking of Collectors, a genuine .Xntiquarian, and the folk lore of a district seems to come to him without any difficulty. We were delighted with his n.'w books, well written, printed, and illustrated in such a way as to make them worth double the modest price at which they are issued," Telegraph, t^cw Illustrated Photograph pook^. One Shilling each nett. I'.acli with a .'oiicise (Juide, ( some with Plans,) and a number of Scenes of 111.' pla.-e and district, in Orn. Gilt blocked ('overs. Demy oblong, by Henry W. Taunt, I'.u.ti.s, Blenheim Palace and ^Voodstock, with some S.-.MU'S in the I'ark &c, 2S Illustrations. 2nd. l<]dition with additions. Charlbury Oxon, and round it, including Cornbui-y l*ark, Dit.-hley c'<:c. 21 Illustrations, Chipping Campden, Glo'stershire, .\ Gem .if the Cotswolds. 27 Illustrations. Beaulieu Abbey and round it, with some sc.'ncs in the N.'w Forest Original and S..|ec,e.l, to a.M-on„,any the several .sets of Photographic La..t.M-n Slid..s. By Henry NY. Taunt. Paper, Sixpence ...ch. No. I Lantern Readings contains, Ho.ikey-beak th.' Uav.'u, that Kaven wasn't good. ( rhvme ) .Misa.lv.'iitures at .Margit, n.'w edition, (rhyme.) The Oxford Bulling.lon (iii.irds, (rhyme,) A capital ship for an ocean trip, (rhyme.) The Ser.Miad.'rs Symphony. ( rhyme.) No. 2 Lantern Readings contains, A Terrible Adventure in Rhineland. (prose.) The Slav.''s Dream. ( Longfellow.) N.'W Nursery llhynies for the Bairns. Little Tom Noddy. There was a .-rooked Man. Three Blind Mice. Tw.)-and-twenty little Boys, The Man with the n.ise. A Wonderful Pie. A Tam-o-shanter dog. Polly put th.' k.'ttle on. Th.' W.mderfiil One-hoss Shay, (Wendell Holin.'s.; The Coin.'t an.l the Ivirtli. (rhyme.) Our Trip to the Figi Islands, (prose.; No. 3 Lantern Readings contains, Johnny Todd's extra.ir.linary adventures in Dreamland, and the curi.His jieojile ho met. (prose.) .\n hour in Pictur.'s.iu." Cornwall, (prose,) mtjstly beaiitiful s.'enes r.iund the Lizard, Falmouth and Kyiiance, No. 4 Lantern Readings contains, .lummy and Jappio in Fairjland, and their many .adventures before th.' ha])|)y wcd.ling of Princess Osmunda to I'rince Goodh.'art. (prose) The Laird of Dunlavin's Musicians, (prose) The Four Ag.'s .if Life, (rhyme) No. 5 Lantern Readings contains, Blankets while y.iu wait, Illustrated. From Sheep's back to Ducal be.l.'lothes in a day. (prose) .M.'i-rie |.]!iglaiid and its h'.'stiviti.'S, (pros.') des.-ript iv.' .if many scen.'s in Fnglish C.uintry Life, mostly instantaneous phot.igraphs. No. 6 Lantern Readings contains. 1000 years of Fnglisii Church Ai-.-hitectur.'. I'art 1. Saxon, .Xoriiiaii, Trans, Norman, .•,()90 to 1200, No. 7 Lantern Readings contains. d.i. d.). Part 2, Farlr I'^nglish, D.'.'.irat.'d, Transitional, c.\iOO to l.':S(l, No. 8 Lantern Readings contains. do. do. Part 3, Perp.'ndiciilar, I.N'iiaisauc.', .M.il.'rn, .',1380 to present tim.'. The Sets of beautiful Phot.igrapliic Slides for tli.-se H.^ulings are all manufa.'tured and imblislicl by Henry W. Taunt A'- Co,, (Kloril, Other Readings in Preparation. New Book ir| Preparation, Profusely Illustrated. OxfoFd, Past and present, OL.D CASTLE TOW its Story for a Thousand Years. hy HENRY W. TAUNT, F,R.G.5 &C Photographer for many years to the Oxford Architectural ar,d Hisvorical Society, and Author of the well-kno'wn Guides to the Thames &c., This book will embody ali the best of a number of large collections of Oxford, into Demy 4to volumes of some 230 pages each, ranging from A.D. 912 to the present time, and Illustrated by 500 tc 600 Photographic Illustrations, including a number of full size plates, as well as maps and plans &c. They will be ornamentally bound so as to form a charming gift book and the price to Subscribers will be One Guinea per vol. Prospectus free. .Mnv !(>(• he fcntoured ivith voitr name iis RIVERA WORKS, COWLEY ROAD, OXFORD. Five minutes walk beyond the Tram Terminus, at the big Aspen Tree. YOU are cordiall'y invited to pay us a Visit.