In a wood, to the south-west of the house, is a small circumvallation, near which, according to Plot, Roman coins have been found; but none of these have descended to the present proprietor.

Contiguous to, the mansion is the parish church, an unostentatious building, with a wooden turret. In a recess, on the right of the chancel, is an effigy, in stone, rather smaller than life, the -legs crossed, and the feet resting on a dog. The figure is clothed in a loose dress, not dissimilar in general effect to modern attire, the skirts of the upper garment descending, like a coat, a little below the knees. A three-edged sword, now mutilated, is fas tened round the loins by a broad belt; and the figure is represented with one hand on the hilt, and the other on the scabbard, in the act of drawing it. The heels are armed with spurs. From the want of armour, and from the circumstance of the sword being only partly drawn, this, probably, was a knight who had dedicated his service to the war in the Holy-land, but died before he could carry his intention into effect.

SHIPLAKE, a parish joining Harpsden on the south, contains a number of rural tenements, agreeably scattered among the hills of this unequal district. The church is a respectable Gothic structure, situated on an eminence bordering on the river Thames. The tower has an embattled parapet, and is rendered highly picturesque by a profusion of ivy which has so firmly insinuated its wiry branches into the fissures of the building, that it would appear rather to impart strength than to communicate injury. The building is composed chiefly of the flint so plentifully found in the neighbourhood, and is divided by two rows of Gothic arches, aud a rude and ancient screen of oak, into a nave, chancel, and south aisle. The architecture is evidently of different periods; and the aisle on the south was, probably, the whole of the original church, as there appear the remains of a chancel in a raised platform at the east. The church contains several ancient monuments of the Blundens and Plowdens, both of which families formerly possessed consi

derable

derable estates in the neighbourhood. A plain mural tablet, likewise, contains the following inadequate memorial of the Rev. Mr. Granger, author of the Biographical History of England, who long conscientiously discharged the vicarial duties of this parish:

The Vicarage is separated from the church-yard only by a narrow and rural lane. When Mr. Granger came to the living, the house, in the words of the Terrier of the Vicarage, consisted merely of" two floors, three rooms on a floor." Mr. Granger made some additions, among which was a room for the reception of his numerous prints illustrative of the Biographical History. Many tasteful alterations have been effected by the Rev. Mr. Howman, the present vicar; and the natural beauties of the situation aid in rendering it one of the most desirable spots of residence in the county. It is impossible to view this elegant and sequestered abode without reflecting on the many hours happily dedicated, by its former possessor, to a work equally estimable to the amateur of the arts, and to the student of human character. It is equally impossible to avoid regret when we ree member the melancholy abruptness with which those literary labours were terminated. Mr. Granger was seized with apoplexy, while standing at the communion table, in the face of his congregation. He breathed for some short time after he was carried home, but never spoke. Many of his former parishioners have a vivid recollection of his simple unassuming manners, and take pleasure in bestowing the humble tribute of their praise on his genuine worth.

Beneath the ancient manor-house of Shiplake, not far distant VOL. XII.

from

from the vicarage, was a spacious crypt, with a groined roof, and two separate aisles, or avenues, distinctly marked. The shafte of the columns were very short, and the capital and base of each in complete preservation. This house was lately pulled down for the value of the materials, by a farmer of the modern school who had bargained for the estate on speculation, though without being able to fulfil the covenants of purchase, and the stone work of the crypt was disposed of as common lumber.

By Letters Patent, Edward VI. in the first year of his reign granted the vicarage to the dean and canons of Windsor. The register of this parish commences only in 1672, and does not contain any remarkable entries.

On Shiplake Hill is the seat of Lord Mark Kerr, third son of the Marquis of Lothian. This mansion and its dependent lands were long in the family of Deane, of which proprietors they were purchased by John Hanscomb, Esq. who sold them to the present noble owner. The house has been considerably augmented by Lord Mark, and commands rich views over the vale of Reading, and the more distant parts of Berkshire.

At the bottom of a pond on Binfield Heath, in this parish, have been found many oak trees, quite firm and sound, but dyed throughout as black as ebony. Several of these were discovered in the seventeenth century, and are mentioned by Plot, in his Natural History; and many have, likewise, been found within the few years lately passed. The black dye Plot supposes to have been produced by a " vitriolic humour in the earth, which joining with oak, the parent of a sort of Galls, might reasonably enough produce such an effect." The timber was probably thrown into the pond, or dyke, in which it was found, by the earliest class of agriculturists, merely for the purpose of clearing the ground intended for tillage. On the same heath is one of the geological phænomena, termed Swallows. These curious natural drains, into which the land-flood waters flow and disappear, are generally found, as in the present instance, on high lands. *

BELL-HATCH.

See Beauties, &c. for Northamptonshire, p. 210.