,,the ,,pilgrims' ,,way ,,from ,,winchester ,,to ,,canterbury ,illustration ,,the ,,pilgrims' ,,way ,,from ,,winchester ,,to ,,canterbury ,,by ,,julia ,,cartwright ,illustration ,,illustrated ,,by ,a4 ,h4 ,,hallam ,,murray ,,new ,,york ,e4 ,p4 ,,dutton ,,and ,,company #aiaa ,from every shire's ende ,of ,engelond1 to ,caunterbury they wende1 ,the holy blissful martyr for to seeke1 ,that them hath holpen when that they were sicke4 ,,all ,,rights ,,reserved ,illustration3 ,,the ,,approach ,,to ,,winchester ,,from ,,the ,,south ,,preface ,this account of the ,way trodden by the pilgrims of the ,middle ,ages through the ,south of ,england to the shrine of ,st4 ,thomas of ,canterbury originally appeared in the ,art ,journal for #ahib1 with illustrations by ,mr4 ,a4 ,quinton4 ,it was published in the following year as a separate volume1 and reprinted in #ahie and #aija4 ,now by the courtesy of ,messrs4 ,virtue's representatives1 and in response to a continued demand1 it appears again in a new and revised form1 with the additional attraction of illustrations from original drawings by ,mr4 ,hallam ,murray4 ,during the twenty years which have elapsed since these pages were first written1 a whole literature has grown up round the ,pilgrims' ,way4 ,not only have scholarly papers on separate sections of the road appeared in the ,journals of ,archological ,societies1 but several valuable works on the subject have been issued by writers of authority4 ,mr4 ,h4 ,snowden-,ward has written a book on ,the ,canterbury ,pilgrimages1 in ,messrs4 ,a4 ,c4 ,black's ,pilgrimage ,series1 in which he deals at length with the life and death1 the cult and miracles of ,st4 ,thomas1 and the different routes taken by pilgrims to his shrine4 ,mr4 ,palmer has described a considerable portion of the ,way in his treatise on ,three ,surrey ,churches1 and only last autumn ,mr4 ,elliston-,erwood published an excellent little guide-book called ,the ,pilgrims' ,road1 for the use of cyclists and pedestrians1 in ,messrs4 ,warne's ,homeland ,pocket-book ,series4 ,but the most thorough and systematic attempt to reconstruct the route taken by pilgrims from ,winchester to ,canterbury has been made by ,mr4 ,belloc in his admirable work1 ,the ,old ,road4 ,the author himself walked along the ancient track1 and succeeded in filling up many gaps where the road had been lost1 and in recovering almost the whole of the ,way1 yard by yard from the capital of ,hampshire to the capital of ,kent4 ,this intimate knowledge of the road and its characteristics have led him to make several alterations in the line of the ,way marked on the ,ordnance ,map1 which had hitherto served as the basis of most descriptions4 ,but as ,mr4 ,belloc himself recognises1 it is clear that pilgrims often left the original road to visit churches and shrines in the neighbourhood4 ,thus1 in several places1 new tracks sprang up along the downs to which local tradition has given the name of the ,pilgrims' ,way1 and which it is not always easy to distinguish from the main road4 ,like ,bunyan's pilgrims1 when they came to the foot of the hill ,difficulty1 one turned to the left hand1 and the other to the right1 but the narrow way lay right up the hill4 ,in this edition of my book some obvious errors have been corrected1 and certain doubtful points have been cleared up with the help of experience gained by other workers in the same field4 ,but1 as a rule1 my object has been not so much to draw attention to the actual road as to describe the antiquities and objects of interest which arrest the traveller's notice on his journey4 ,from whatever side we approach it1 the subject is a fascinating one4 ,all of these different studies1 varied in aims and scope as they may be1 bear witness to the perennial interest which the ,pilgrims' ,way inspires4 ,the beauty of the country through which the old road runs1 its historic associations and famous memories1 the ancient churches and houses which lie on its course1 will always attract those who love and reverence the past1 and will lead many to follow in the footsteps of the medival pilgrims along the ,way to ,canterbury4 ,,julia ,,cartwright4 ,,ockham1 ,nov4 #a1 #aiaa4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,river ,,itchen ,,where ,,it ,,leaves ,,the ,,town4 ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,the ,,pilgrims' ,,way #a ,,ii4 ,,winchester ,,to ,,alton #bj ,,iii4 ,,alton ,,to ,,compton #dd ,,iv4 ,,compton ,,to ,,shalford #fc ,v4 ,,shalford ,,to ,,albury #ge ,,vi4 ,,shere ,,to ,,reigate #hg ,,vii4 ,,reigate ,,to ,,chevening #ajc ,,viii4 ,,otford ,,to ,,wrotham #abe ,,ix4 ,,wrotham ,,to ,,hollingbourne #acg ,x4 ,,hollingbourne ,,to ,,lenham #aec ,,xi4 ,,charing ,,to ,,godmersham #afg ,,xii4 ,,chilham ,,to ,,harbledown #ahb ,,xiii4 ,,harbledown ,,to ,,canterbury #aic ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,martyr',s ,,shrine #bjc ,,index #bag ,,note ,,on ,,the ,,binding ,the ,canterbury ,bell and the ,badges1 represented on the cover of the book1 were worn by the ,pilgrims on their return from the ,shrine of ,st4 ,thomas4 ,the ,badges were made of lead4 ,illustration3 ,,near ,,wrotham ,,water4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,coloured ,,plates ,,the ,,norman ,,tower ,,and ,,south ,,transept1 ,,winchester ,,cathedral ,frontispiece ,,facing ,,page ,,winchester ,,cathedral ,,from ,,the ,,north #cb ,,chawton ,,house #ej ,,the ,,mote1 ,,ightham #acf ,,aylesford ,,bridge #adf ,,cottage ,,at ,,boarley1 ,,near ,,boxley #aeb ,,charing #agj ,,canterbury ,,cathedral ,,from ,,the ,,south-,,west #aib ,,half-,,tones ,,facing ,,page ,,winchester ,,cathedral1 ,,south ,,aisle ,,of ,,choir #be ,,king',s ,,gate1 ,,winchester1 ,,from ,,the ,,close #bh ,,loseley #fg ,,the ,,hospital1 ,,guildford #gb ,,old ,,yews ,,and ,,oak ,,in ,,eastwell ,,park #agf ,,the ,,west ,,gate1 ,,canterbury #aid ,,mercery ,,lane1 ,,canterbury #aii ,,the ,,martyrdom1 ,,canterbury ,,cathedral #bje ,,line ,,blocks ,,on ,,the ,,way ,,between ,,kemsing ,,and ,,otford ,title-page ,,the ,,approach ,,to ,,winchester ,,from ,,the ,,south v ,,the ,,river ,,itchen ,,where ,,it ,,leaves ,,the ,,town ix ,,near ,,wrotham ,,water xi ,,st4 ,,cross ,,and ,,st4 ,,katherine',s ,,hill #a ,,doorway ,,in ,,canterbury ,,cloisters ,,through ,,which ,,becket ,,passed ,,on ,,his ,,way ,,to ,,vespers #h ,,st4 ,,cross ,,from ,,the ,,meadows #ac ,,the ,,entrance ,,to ,,st4 ,,cross ,,hospital #ae ,,box ,,hill #ah ,,the ,,cathedral ,,from ,,the ,,south #bj ,,roof ,,of ,,strangers' ,,hall1 ,,winchester #ba ,,the ,,west ,,gate1 ,,winchester #bc ,,on ,,the ,,river ,,itchen1 ,,winchester #bg ,,thatched ,,cottage1 ,,martyr ,,worthy #cd ,,chilland ,,farm1 ,,near ,,itchen ,,abbas #cf ,,new ,,alresford #dj ,,the ,,hog',s ,,back #dd ,,jane ,,austen',s ,,house1 ,,chawton #dg ,,farnham ,,castle #ec ,,crooksbury ,,from ,,newlands ,,corner #ee ,,compton ,,village #fc ,,compton ,,church #fe ,,st4 ,,katherine',s1 ,,guildford #gj ,,st4 ,,martha',s ,,chapel #ga ,,the ,,hog',s ,,back #gc ,,st4 ,,martha',s ,,from ,,the ,,hog',s ,,back #ge ,,st4 ,,martha',s ,,from ,,chilworth #ha ,,albury ,,old ,,church #he ,,the ,,mill1 ,,gomshall #hg ,,shere #hi ,,crossways ,,farm1 ,,near ,,wotton #ia ,,wotton #ic ,,box ,,hill ,,and ,,dorking ,,church ,,spire #ie ,,the ,,white ,,horse1 ,,dorking #if ,,between ,,dorking ,,and ,,betchworth ,,looking ,,west #ig ,,on ,,the ,,way ,,above ,,betchworth #ajj ,,windmill ,,on ,,reigate ,,common #ajc ,,reigate ,,common #aje ,,looking ,,east ,,from ,,gatton ,,park #ajh ,,gatton ,,town ,,hall #aaj ,,merstham ,,church #aac ,,the ,,white ,,hart1 ,,godstone #aae ,,old ,,house ,,in ,,oxted #aaf ,,oxted ,,church #aag ,,brasted #abj ,,chevening ,,church #abc ,,otford ,,church #abe ,,the ,,porch1 ,,kemsing ,,church #acc ,,wrotham ,,church #ace ,,wrotham1 ,,looking ,,south #acg ,,the ,,bull1 ,,wrotham #aci ,,trottescliffe #adj ,,ford ,,place1 ,,near ,,wrotham #ada ,,the ,,friary1 ,,aylesford #add ,,kits ,,coty ,,house #adg ,,looking ,,west ,,from ,,above ,,boxley ,,abbey #adi ,,hollingbourne ,,house #aee ,,market-,,place1 ,,lenham #afc ,,in ,,charing ,,village #afg ,,the ,,palace1 ,,wrotham #aha ,,chilham #ahb ,,on ,,the ,,village ,,green1 ,,chartham #ahg ,,st4 ,,nicholas'1 ,,harbledown #aic ,,site ,,of ,,the ,,shrine ,,of ,,st4 ,,thomas1 ,,canterbury ,,cathedral #bji ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,cross ,,and ,,st4 ,,katherine',s ,,hill4 ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,pilgrims' ,,way ,three hundred and seventy years have passed since the shrine of ,st4 ,thomas at ,canterbury was swept away1 and the martyr's ashes were scattered to the winds4 ,the age of pilgrimages has gone by1 the conditions of life have changed1 and the influences which drew such vast multitudes of men and women to worship at the murdered ,archbishop's tomb have long ago ceased to work on the popular mind4 ,no longer does the merry cavalcade of ,chaucer's lay ride forth in the freshness of the spring morning1 knight and merchant1 scholar and lawyer1 ,prioress and ,wife of ,bath1 yeoman and priest and friars1 a motley company from all parts of the realm1 ready to wenden on their pilgrimage with full devout courage to ,canterbury4 ,the days of pilgrimages are over1 their fashion has passed away1 but still some part of the route which the travellers took can be traced1 and the road they trod still bears the name of the ,pilgrims' ,way4 ,over the ,surrey hills and through her stately parks the dark yews which lined the path may yet be seen4 ,by many a quiet ,kentish homestead the grassy track still winds its way along the lonely hill-side overlooking the blue ,weald1 and1 if you ask its name1 the labourer who guides the plough1 or the waggoner driving his team1 will tell you that it is the ,pilgrims' ,road to ,canterbury4 ,so the old name lives1 and the memory of that famous pilgrimage which ,chaucer sang has not yet died out of the people's heart4 ,and although strangers journey no longer from afar to the martyrs shrine1 it is still a pleasant thing to ride out on a spring or summer morning and follow the ,pilgrims' ,way4 ,for the scenes through which it leads are fair1 and the memories that it wakes belong to the noblest pages of ,england's story4 ,in those old days the pilgrims who came to ,canterbury approached the holy city by one of the three following routes4 ,there was first of all the road taken by ,chaucer's pilgrims from ,london1 through ,deptford1 ,greenwich1 ,rochester1 and ,sittingbourne2 the way trodden by all who came from the ,north1 the ,midlands1 and the ,eastern ,counties1 and by those foreigners who1 like ,erasmus1 had first visited ,london4 ,but the greater number of the foreign pilgrims from ,france1 ,germany1 and ,italy landed at ,sandwich ,haven or ,dover1 and approached ,canterbury from the south2 while others1 especially those who came from ,normandy and ,brittany1 landed at ,southampton and travelled through the southern counties of ,hampshire1 ,surrey1 and ,kent4 ,many of these doubtless stopped at ,winchester1 attracted by the fame of ,st4 ,swithun1 the great healing ,bishop2 and either here or else at ,guildford1 they would be joined by the pilgrims from the ,west of ,england on their way to the ,shrine of ,canterbury4 ,this was the route taken by ,henry ,,ii4 when1 landing at ,southampton on his return from ,france1 he made his first memorable pilgrimage to the tomb of the murdered ,archbishop1 in the month of ,july1 #aagd4 ,and this route it is1 which1 trodden by thousands of pilgrims during the next three centuries1 may still be clearly defined through the greater part of its course1 and which in ,surrey and ,kent bears the historic name of the ,pilgrims' ,way4 ,a very ancient path it is1 older far than the days of ,plantagenets and ,normans1 of shrines and pilgrimages4 ,for antiquarian researches have abundantly proved this road to be an old ,british track1 which was in use even before the coming of the ,romans4 ,it may even have been1 as some writers suppose1 the road along which caravans of merchants brought their ingots of tin from ,cornwall to be shipped at what was then the great harbour of ,britain1 the ,rutupine ,port1 afterwards ,sandwich ,haven1 and then borne overland to ,massilia and the ,mediterranean shores4 ,ingots of tin1 buried it may be in haste by merchants attacked on their journey by robbers1 have1 it is said1 been dug up at various places along this route1 and ,british earthworks have been found in its immediate neighbourhood4 ,the road was1 there can be no doubt1 used by the ,romans2 and all along its course remains of ,roman villas1 baths1 and pavements have been brought to light1 together with large quantities of ,roman coins1 cinerary urns1 and pottery of the most varied description4 ,in medival days this tin road1 as ,mr4 ,grant ,allen calls it1 still remained the principal thoroughfare from the ,west to the ,east of ,england4 ,it followed the long line of hills which runs through the north of ,hampshire1 and across ,surrey and ,kent1 that famous chalk ridge which has for us so many different associations1 with whose scenery ,william ,cobbett1 for instance1 has made us all familiar in the story of his rides to and from the ,wen4 ,and it lay outside the great trackless and impassable forest of ,anderida1 which in those days still covered a great part of the south-east counties of ,england4 ,dean ,stanley1 in his eloquent account of the ,canterbury pilgrimage1 describes this road as a byway1 and remarks that the pilgrims avoided the regular roads1 probably for the same reason as in the days of ,shamgar1 the son of ,anath1 the highways were unoccupied1 and the traveller walked through byways4 ,but the statement is misleading1 and there can be little doubt that in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries this road was1 if not the only means of communication between ,west and ,east1 at least the principal thoroughfare across this part of ,england1 and was as such the route naturally chosen by pilgrims to ,canterbury4 ,certain peculiarities1 it is interesting to notice1 mark its course from beginning to end4 ,it clings to the hills1 and1 wherever it is possible1 avoids the marshy ground of the valleys4 ,it runs1 not on the summit of the downs1 but about half-way down the hill-side1 where there is shelter from the wind1 as well as sunshine to be had under the crest of the ridge4 ,and its course is marked by rows of yew trees1 often remarkable for their size and antiquity4 ,some of these are at least seven or eight hundred years old1 and must have reared their ancient boughs on the hill-side before the feet of pilgrims ever trod these paths4 ,so striking is this feature of the road1 and so fixed is the idea that some connection exists between these yew trees and the ,pilgrims' ,way1 that they are often said to have been planted with the express object of guiding travellers along the road to ,canterbury4 ,this1 however1 we need hardly say1 is a fallacy4 ,yews are by no means peculiar to the ,pilgrims' ,way1 but are to be found along every road in chalk districts4 ,they spring up in every old hedgerow on this soil1 and are for the most part sown by the birds4 ,but the presence of these venerable and picturesque forms does lend an undeniable charm to the ancient track4 ,and in some places where the line of cultivation gradually spreading upwards has blotted out every other trace of the road1 where the ploughshare has upturned the sod1 and the hedgerows have disappeared1 three or four of these grand old trees may still be seen standing by themselves in the midst of a ploughed field1 the last relics of a bygone age4 ,illustration3 ,,doorway ,,in ,,canterbury ,,cloisters ,,through ,,which ,,becket ,,passed ,,on ,,his ,,way ,,to ,,vespers4 ,the murder of ,becket took place on the #bith of ,december1 #aagj4 ,at five o'clock on that winter evening1 as the ,archbishop was on his way to vespers1 the ,king's men1 ,reginald ,fitz ,urse and three knights who had accompanied him from ,saltwood ,castle1 rushed upon him with their swords and murdered him in the north transept of his own ,cathedral4 ,the tragic circumstance of ,becket's end made a profound impression on the people of ,england1 and universal horror was excited by this act of sacrilege4 ,whatever his faults may have been1 the murdered ,archbishop had dared to stand up against the ,crown for the rights of the ,church1 and had died rather than yield to the ,kings demands4 ,for the name of ,jesus and the defence of the ,church ,i am ready to die1 were his last words1 as he fell under the assassins' blows4 ,when he landed at ,sandwich1 on his return from ,france1 the country folk crowded to meet him and hailed him as the father of orphans and deliverer of the oppressed1 crying1 ,blessed is he that cometh in the name of the ,lord4 ,his journey to ,canterbury was one long triumphal procession4#a ,the poor looked to him as their champion and defender1 who had laid down his life in the cause of freedom and righteousness4 ,henceforth ,thomas became a national hero1 and was everywhere honoured as the ,martyr of the ,english4 ,the popular belief in his holiness was confirmed by the miracles that were wrought in his name from the moment of his death4 ,a violent storm broke over the ,cathedral when the fatal deed was done1 and was followed by a red glow1 which illuminated the choir where the dead man's body was laid before the altar4 ,the next day the monks buried the corpse in a marble tomb behind ,our ,lady's altar in the under-croft4 ,for nearly a year no mass was said in the ,cathedral1 no music was heard1 no bells were rung2 the altars were stripped of their ornaments1 and the crucifixes and images were covered over4 ,meanwhile1 reports reached ,canterbury of the wonderful cures performed by the martyred ,archbishop4 ,on the third day after the murder1 the wife of a ,sussex knight1 who suffered from blindness1 invoked the blessed martyr's help1 and was restored to sight4 ,and on the very night of the burial the paralytic wife of a citizen of ,canterbury was cured by a garment which her husband had dipped in the murdered saint's blood4 ,these marvels were followed by a stream of devout pilgrims who came to seek healing at the martyr's tomb or to pay their vows for the mercies which they had received4 ,a monk was stationed at the grave to receive offerings and report the miracles that were wrought to the ,chapter4 ,at first these wonders were kept secret1 for fear of the ,king1 and of ,becket's enemies1 the ,de ,brocs1 whose men guarded the roads to ,canterbury4 ,the doors of the crypt were kept bolted and barred1 and only the poor in the town and the neighbouring villages crept to the tomb4#b ,but on ,easter ,day1 #aaga1 the crowds rushed in to see a dumb man who was said to have recovered his speech2 and on the following ,friday the crypt was thrown open to the public4 ,from that time1 writes ,benedict1 the monk of ,canterbury1 the scene of the ,pool of ,bethesda was daily renewed in the ,cathedral1 and numbers of sick and helpless persons were to be seen lying on the pavement of the great church4#c ,these great miracles are wrought1 wrote ,john of ,salisbury1 an intimate friend of ,becket1 who became ,bishop of ,chartres in #aagf1 and was an able statesman and scholar1 in the place of his passion and in the place where he lay before the great altar before his burial1 and in the tomb where he was laid at last1 the blind see1 the deaf hear1 the dumb speak1 the lame walk1 lepers are cleansed1 and1 a thing unheard of since the days of our fathers1 the dead are raised to life4#d ,from all parts of ,england the sick and suffering now crowded to ,canterbury1 telling the same marvellous tale1 how ,thomas had appeared to them robed in white1 with the thin red streak of blood across his face1 bringing healing and peace4 ,in towns and villages1 in castles and cottages1 throughout the kingdom1 writes another contemporary chronicler1 every one from the highest to the lowest wishes to visit and honour his tomb4 ,clerks and laymen1 rich and poor1 nobles and common people1 fathers and mothers with their children1 masters with their servants1 all come hither1 moved by the same spirit of devotion4 ,they travel by day and night in winter and summer1 however cold the weather may be1 and the inns and hostelries on the road to ,canterbury are as crowded with people as great cities are on market days4#e ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,cross ,,from ,,the ,,meadows4 ,on the #bast of ,february1 #aagc1 ,pope ,alexander ,,iii4 pronounced the decree of canonisation1 and fixed the ,feast of ,st4 ,thomas of ,canterbury on the day of the ,archbishop's martyrdom4 ,in ,july1 #aagd1 ,king ,henry ,,ii41 moved by the reports which reached him in ,normandy of the popular enthusiasm for ,becket1 and fearing the effects of the divine wrath1 came himself to do penance at the martyr's tomb4 ,three months after the ,king of the ,english had given this public proof of his penitence and obtained release from the ,church's censures1 the glorious choir of ,conrad was destroyed by fire1 on the night of ,september #e1 #aagd4 ,the rebuilding of the church1 which was largely assisted by offerings at ,becket's tomb1 was not finished until #abbj1 when the ,saint's body was removed to its final resting-place in the new apse at the ,east end of the ,chapel of the ,blessed ,trinity1 where the ,archbishop had said his first mass4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,entrance ,,to ,,st4 ,,cross ,,hospital4 ,on ,tuesday1 ,july #g1 an immense concourse of people of all ranks and ages assembled at ,canterbury4 ,the city and villages round1 writes an eye-witness1 were so filled with folk that many had to abide in tents or under the open sky4#f ,free hospitality was given to all1 and the streets of ,canterbury literally flowed with wine4 ,a stately procession1 led by the young ,king ,henry ,,iii4 and the patriot ,archbishop ,stephen ,langton1 entered the crypt1 and bore the ,saint's remains with solemn ceremonial to their new resting-place4 ,here a sumptuous shrine1 adorned with gold plates and precious gems1 wrought by the greatest master of the craft that could be found in ,england1 received the martyr's relics1 and the new apse became known as ,becket's ,crown4 ,the fame of ,st4 ,thomas now spread into all parts of the world during the next two centuries1 and the ,canterbury pilgrimage was the most popular in ,christendom4 ,the #gth of ,july was solemnly set apart as the ,feast of the ,translation of ,st4 ,thomas1 and henceforth the splendour of this festival threw the anniversary of the actual martyrdom into the shade4 ,the very fact that it took place in summer and not in winter naturally attracted greater numbers of pilgrims from a distance4 ,and on the jubilees or fiftieth anniversaries of the ,translation1 the concourse of people assembled at ,canterbury was enormous4 ,besides the crowds attracted by these two chief festivals1 pilgrims came to ,canterbury in smaller parties at all seasons of the year1 but more especially in the spring and summer months4 ,each year1 as ,chaucer sings1 when the spring-time comes round1 ,when that ,aprille with his showers sweete ,the drought of ,marche had pierced to the roote4444 ,when ,zephyrus eke with his sweete breathe ,inspired hath in every holt and heathe ,the tender croppes 444 ,and small fowls maken melodie1 ,that sleepen all the night with open eye1 ,then longen folk to go on pilgrimages1 ,and palmers for to seeken strange 'strands' 444 ,and specially1 from every shire's ende ,of ,engelond1 to ,caunterbury they wende1 ,the holy blissful martyr for to seeke ,that them hath holpen when that they were sicke4 ,illustration3 ,,box ,,hill4 ,the passage of these caravans of pilgrims could not fail to leave its mark on the places and the people along their path4 ,the sight of these strange faces1 the news they brought1 and the tales they told must have impressed the dwellers in these quiet woodlands and lonely hills4 ,and traces of their presence remain to this day on the ,surrey downs and in the lanes of ,kent4 ,they may1 or may not1 have been responsible for the edible variety of large white snails1 ,helix pomatia1 commonly called ,roman snails1 which are found in such abundance at ,albury in ,surrey1 and at ,charing in ,kent1 as well as at other places along the road1 and which the ,norman ,french pilgrims are traditionally said to have brought over with them4 ,but the memory of their pilgrimage survives in the wayside chapels and shrines which sprung up along the track1 in the churches which were built for their benefit1 or restored and decorated by their devotion1 above all in the local names still in common use along the countryside4 ,pilgrims' ,lodge and ,pilgrims' ,ferry1 ,palmers' ,wood1 ,paternoster ,lane--these1 and similar terms1 still speak of the custom which had taken such fast hold of the popular mind during the three hundred and fifty years after the death of ,becket1 and recall the long processions of pilgrims which once wound over these lonely hills and through these green lanes on their way to the martyr's shrine4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,cathedral ,,from ,,the ,,south4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,winchester ,,to ,,alton ,illustration3 ,,roof ,,of ,,strangers' ,,hall1 ,,winchester4 ,few traces of the ,pilgrims' ,way are now to be found in ,hampshire4 ,but early writers speak of an old road which led to ,canterbury from ,winchester1 and the travellers' course would in all probability take them through this ancient city4 ,here the foreign pilgrims who landed at ,southampton1 and those who came from the ,west of ,england1 would find friendly shelter in one or other of the religious houses1 and enjoy a brief resting-time before they faced the perils of the road4 ,the old capital of ,wessex1 the home of ,alfred1 and favourite residence of ,saxon and ,norman kings1 had many attractions to offer to the devout pilgrim4 ,here was the splendid golden shrine of ,st4 ,swithun1 the gentle ,bishop who had watched over the boyhood of ,alfred4 ,in ,a4,d4 #iga1 a hundred years after the ,saint's death1 his bones had been solemnly removed from their resting-place on the north side of the ,minster1 where he had humbly begged to be buried so that the sun might not shine upon him1 and laid by ,edgar and ,dunstan behind the altar of the new ,cathedral which ,bishop ,ethelwold had raised on the site of the ancient church of ,birinus4 ,this was done1 says the chronicler ,wulfstan1 although the ,saint himself protested weeping that his body ought not to be set in ,god's holy church amidst the splendid memorials of the ancient fathers1 a legend which may have given rise to the popular tradition of the forty days' rain1 and the supposed delay in the ,saint's funeral4 ,from that time countless miracles were wrought at the shrine of ,st4 ,swithun1 and multitudes from all parts of ,england flocked to seek blessing and healing at the great church which henceforth bore his name4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,west ,,gate1 ,,winchester4 ,under the rule of ,norman and ,angevin kings1 the venerable city had attained the height of wealth and prosperity4 ,in those days the population numbered some #bj1jjj1 and there are said to have been as many as #agc churches and chapels within its wall4 ,in spite of the horrors of civil war1 which twice desolated the streets1 in the time of ,stephen and ,henry ,,iii41 the frequent presence of the court and the energy of her prince-bishops had made ,winchester a centre of religious and literary activity4 ,and1 although after the death of ,henry ,,iii41 who throughout his long life remained faithful to his native city1 royal visits became few and far between1 and the old capital lost something of its brilliancy1 there was still much to attract strangers and strike the imagination of the wayfarer who entered her gates in the fifteenth century4 ,few medival cities could boast foundations of equal size and splendour4 ,there was the strong castle of ,wolvesey1 where the bishops reigned in state1 and the royal palace by the ,west gate1 built by ,king ,henry ,,iii41 with the fair ,gothic hall which he had decorated so lavishly4 ,there was the ,hospital of ,st4 ,cross1 founded by the warrior-bishop1 ,henry de ,blois1 and the new ,college of ,st4 ,mary1 which ,william of ,wykeham1 the great master-builder1 had reared in the meadows known as the ,greenery1 or promenade of the monks of ,st4 ,swithun4 ,another venerable hospital1 that of ,st4 ,john's1 claimed to have been founded by ,birinus1 and on ,morne ,hill1 just outside the ,east gate1 stood a hospital for lepers1 dedicated to ,st4 ,mary ,magdalene4 ,there1 conspicuous among a crowd of religious houses by their wealth and antiquity1 were the two great ,benedictine communities of ,st4 ,swithun and ,hyde4 ,and there1 too1 was the grand ,norman church which the ,conqueror's kinsman1 ,bishop ,walkelin1 had raised on the ruins of ,ethelwold's ,minster1 with its low massive tower and noble transepts1 and the long nave roofed in with solid trees of oak cut down in ,hempage ,wood4 ,three centuries later1 ,william of ,wykeham transformed the nave after the latest fashion of architecture1 cut through the old ,norman work1 carried up the piers to a lofty height1 and replaced the flat wooden roof by fine stone groining4 ,but the ,norman tower and transepts of ,bishop ,walkelin's church still remain to-day almost unchanged4 ,illustration3 ,,winchester ,,cathedral1 ,,south ,,aisle ,,of ,,choir4 ,so great was the concourse of pilgrims to ,st4 ,swithun's shrine in the early part of the fourteenth century1 that ,bishop ,godfrey ,lucy enlarged the eastward portion of the church1 and built1 as it were1 another church1 with nave1 aisles1 and ,lady ,chapel of its own1 under the same roof4 ,the monks had no great love for the lower class of pilgrims who thronged their doors1 and took good care to keep them out of the conventual precincts4 ,they were only allowed to enter the ,minster by a doorway in the north transept1 and1 once they had visited the shrine and duly made their offerings1 they were jealously excluded from the rest of the church by those fine ironwork gates still preserved in the ,cathedral1 and said to be the oldest specimen of the kind in ,england4 ,illustration3 ,,on ,,the ,,river ,,itchen1 ,,winchester4 ,towards the close of the century1 in the reign of ,edward ,i41 the fine old building still known as the ,strangers' ,hall was built by the monks of ,st4 ,swithun at their convent gate1 for the reception of the poorer pilgrims4 ,here they found food and shelter for the night4 ,they slept1 ate their meals1 and drank their ale1 and made merry round one big central fire4 ,the hall is now divided1 and is partly used as the ,dean's stable1 partly enclosed in a ,canon's house1 but traces of rudely carved heads1 a bearded king1 and a nun's face are still visible on the massive timbers of the vaulted roof1 blackened with the smoke of bygone ages4 ,in the morning the same pilgrims would wend their way to the doors of the ,prior's lodging1 and standing under the three beautiful pointed arches which form the entrance to the present ,deanery1 would there receive alms in money and fragments of bread and meat to help them on their journey4 ,illustration3 ,,king',s ,,gate1 ,,winchester1 ,,from ,,the ,,close4 ,the route which they took on leaving ,winchester is uncertain4 ,it is not till we approach ,alton that we find the first traces of the ,pilgrims' ,way1 but in all probability they followed the ,roman road which still leads to ,silchester and ,london along the valley of the river ,itchen4 ,immediately outside the city gates they would find themselves before another stately pile of conventual buildings1 the great ,abbey of ,hyde4 ,this famous ,benedictine house1 founded by ,alfred1 and long known as the ,new ,minster1 was first removed from its original site near the ,cathedral in the twelfth century4 ,finding their house damp and unhealthy1 and feeling themselves cramped in the narrow space close to the rival monastery of ,st4 ,swithun1 the monks obtained a charter from ,henry ,i4 giving them leave to settle outside the ,north gate4 ,in the year #aaaj1 they moved to their new home1 bearing with them the wonder-working shrine of ,st4 ,josse1 the great silver cross given to the ,new ,minster by ,cnut1 and a yet more precious relic1 the bones of ,alfred the ,great4 ,here in the green meadows on the banks of the ,itchen they reared the walls of their new convent and the magnificent church which1 after being in the next reign burnt to the ground by fire-balls from ,henry of ,blois' ,castle at ,wolvesey1 rose again from the flames fairer and richer than before4 ,here it stood till the ,dissolution1 when ,thomas ,wriothesley1 ,cromwell's ,commissioner1 stripped the shrine of its treasures1 carried off the gold and jewels1 and pulled down the abbey walls to use the stone in the building of his own great house at ,stratton4 ,we intend1 he wrote to his master1 after describing the riches of gold and silver plate1 the crosses studded with pearls1 chalices1 and emeralds on which he had lain sacrilegious hands1 both at ,hyde and ,st4 ,mary to sweep away all the rotten bones that be called relics2 which we may not omit1 lest it be thought we came more for the treasure than for the avoiding of the abomination of idolatry4 ,considerable fragments of the building still remained4 ,in ,milner's time the ruins covered the whole meadow1 but towards the end of the last century the city authorities fixed on the spot as the site of a new bridewell1 and all that was left of the once famous ,abbey was then destroyed4 ,the tombs of the dead were rifled4 ,at every stroke of the spade some ancient sepulchre was violated1 stone coffins containing chalices1 croziers1 rings1 were broken open and bones scattered abroad4 ,then the ashes of the noblest of our kings were blown to the winds1 and the resting-place of lfred remains to this day unknown4 ,a stone marked with the words1 lfred ,rex1 ,,dccclxxxi41 was carried off by a passing stranger1 and is now to be seen at ,corby ,castle1 in ,cumberland4 ,to-day an old gateway near the church of ,st4 ,bartholomew and some fragments of the monastery wall are the only remains of ,alfred's new ,minster4 ,from this spot an ancient causeway1 now commonly known as the ,nuns' ,walk1 but which in the last century bore the more correct title of the ,monks' ,walk1 leads alongside of a stream which supplied ,hyde ,abbey with water1 for a mile and a half up the valley to ,headbourne#g ,worthy4 ,the path is cool and shady1 planted with a double row of tall elms1 and as we look back we have beautiful views of the venerable city and the great ,cathedral sleeping in the quiet hollow1 dreaming of all its mighty past4 ,above1 scarred with the marks of a deep railway cutting1 and built over with new houses1 is ,st4 ,giles' ,hill1 where during many centuries the famous fair was held each ,september4 ,foreign pilgrims would gaze with interest on the scene of that yearly event1 which had attained a world-wide fame1 and attracted merchants from all parts of ,france1 ,flanders1 and ,italy4 ,the green hill-side from which we look down on the streets and towers of ,winchester presented a lively spectacle during that fortnight4 ,the stalls were arranged in long rows and called after the nationality of the vendors of the goods they sold4 ,there was the ,street of ,caen1 of ,limoges1 of the ,flemings1 of the ,genoese1 the ,drapery1 the ,goldsmiths' ,stall1 the ,spicery1 held by the monks of ,st4 ,swithun1 who drove a brisk trade in furs and groceries on these occasions4 ,all shops in the city and for seven leagues round were closed during the fair1 and local trade was entirely suspended4 ,the mayor handed over the keys of the city for the time being to the bishop1 who had large profits from the tolls and had stalls at the fair himself1 while smaller portions went to the abbeys1 and thirty marks a year were paid to ,st4 ,swithun's for the repair of the great church4 ,the ,red ,king first granted his kinsman1 ,bishop ,walkelin1 the tolls of this three days' fair at ,st4 ,giles' feast1 which privilege was afterwards extended to a period of sixteen days by ,henry ,,iii4 ,the great fair lasted until modern times1 but in due course was removed from ,st4 ,giles' ,hill into the city itself4 ,as the city grew stronger and the fair weaker1 writes ,dean ,kitchin1 it slid down ,st4 ,giles' ,hill and entered the town1 where its noisy ghost still holds revel once a year4 ,illustration3 ,,winchester ,,cathedral ,,from ,,the ,,north ,leaving these historic memories behind us we follow the ,monks' ,walk until we reach ,headbourne ,worthy1 the first of a group of villages granted by ,egbert1 in #hbe1 to ,st4 ,swithun's ,priory1 and bearing this quaint name1 derived from the ,saxon woerth--a homestead4 ,the church here dates from ,saxon times1 and claims to have been founded by ,st4 ,wilfred4 ,the rude west doorway and chancel arch are said to belong to ,edward the ,confessor's time4 ,over the west archway1 which now leads into a fifteenth-century chapel1 is a fine sculptured bas-relief larger than life1 representing the ,crucifixion and the ,maries1 which probably originally adorned the exterior of the church4 ,but the most interesting thing in the church is the brass to ,john ,kent1 a ,winchester scholar1 who died in #adcd4 ,the boy wears his college gown and his hair is closely cut1 while a scroll comes out of his lips bearing the words3 ,misericordiam ,dni inetum cantabo4 ,next we reach ,kingsworthy1 so called because it was once ,crown property1 a pretty little village with low square ivy-grown church-tower and lych-gate1 and a charming old-fashioned inn standing a little back from the road4 ,illustration3 ,,thatched ,,cottage1 ,,martyr ,,worthy4 ,the third of the ,worthys1 ,abbotsworthy1 is now united to ,kingsworthy4 ,passing through its little street of houses1 a mile farther on we reach ,martyrsworthy1 a still smaller village with another old ,norman church and low thatched cottages1 picturesquely placed near the banks of the river1 which is here crossed by a wooden foot-bridge4 ,but all this part of the ,itchen valley has the same charm4 ,everywhere we find the same old farmhouses with mullioned windows and sundials and yew trees1 the same straggling roofs brilliant with yellow lichen1 and the same cottages and gardens gay with lilies and phloxes1 the same green lanes shaded with tall elms and poplars1 the same low chalk hills and wooded distances closing in the valley1 and below the bright river winding its way through the cool meadows4 ,the ,itchen--the beautiful ,itchen valley1 exclaims ,cobbett1 as he rides along this vale of meadows4 ,there are few spots in ,england more fertile1 or more pleasant1 none1 ,i believe1 more healthy4 ,the fertility of this vale and of the surrounding country is best proved by the fact that1 besides the town of ,alresford and that of ,southampton1 there are seventeen villages1 each having its parish church1 upon its borders4 ,when we consider these things1 we are not surprised that a spot situated about half-way down this vale should have been chosen for the building of a city1 or that that city should have been for a great number of years the place of residence for the kings of ,england4 ,illustration3 ,,chilland ,,farm1 ,,near ,,itchen ,,abbas4 ,towards ,itchen ,abbas--of the ,abbot--the valley opens1 and we see the noble avenues and spreading beeches of ,avington ,park1 long the property of the ,dukes of ,chandos1 and often visited by ,charles ,,ii4 while ,wren was building his red-brick palace at ,winchester4 ,here the ,merry ,monarch feasted his friends in a banqueting-hall that is now a greenhouse1 and a room in the old house bore the name of ,nell ,gwynne's closet4 ,in those days it was the residence of the notorious ,lady ,shrewsbury1 afterwards the wife of ,george ,brydges1 a member of the ,chandos family1 the lady whose first husband1 ,francis1 ,earl of ,shrewsbury1 was slain fighting in a duel with ,george ,villiers1 ,duke of ,buckingham1 while the ,countess herself1 disguised as a page1 held her lover's horse4 ,the river winds through the park1 and between the over-arching boughs of the forest trees we catch lovely glimpses of wood and water4 ,in the opposite direction1 but also close to ,itchen ,abbas1 is another well-known seat1 ,lord ,ashburton's famous ,grange1 often visited by ,carlyle4 ,here the dark tints of yew and fir mingle with the bright hues of lime and beech and silver birch on the banks of a clear lake1 and long grassy glades lead up to wild gorse-grown slopes of open down4 ,still following the river banks we reach ,itchen ,stoke1 another picturesque village with timbered cottages and mossy roofs4 ,a little modern church1 with high-pitched roof and lancet windows having a curiously foreign air1 stands among the tall pines on a steep bank above the stream4 ,but here our pleasant journey along the fair ,itchen valley comes to an end1 and1 leaving the river-side1 we climb the hilly road which leads us into ,alresford4 ,new ,alresford1 a clean1 bright little town1 with broad street1 planted with rows of trees1 boasts an antiquity which belies its name1 and has been a market-town and borough from time immemorial4 ,like its yet more venerable neighbour1 ,old ,alresford1 it was given by a king of the ,west ,saxons to the prior and monks of ,st4 ,swithun at ,winchester1 and formed part of the vast possessions of the monastery at the ,conquest4 ,both places took their name from their situation on a ford of the ,arle or ,alre river1 a considerable stream which joins the ,itchen below ,avington1 and is called by ,leland the ,alresford river4 ,in the eleventh century ,new ,alresford had fallen into decay1 and probably owes its present existence to ,bishop ,godfrey ,lucy1 who rebuilt the town1 and obtained a charter from ,king ,john restoring the market1 which had fallen into disuse4 ,at the same time he gave the town the name of ,new ,market1 but the older one survived1 and the ,bishop's new title was never generally adopted4 ,the same energetic prelate bestowed a great deal of care and considerable attention on the water supply of ,winchester1 and made the ,itchen navigable all the way from ,southampton to ,alresford4 ,in recognition of this important service1 ,bishop ,lucy received from ,king ,john the right of levying toll on all leather1 hides1 and other goods which entered ,winchester by the river ,itchen through this canal1 a right which descended to his successors in the see4 ,south-west of the town is the large pond or reservoir which he made to supply the waters of the ,itchen4 ,this lake1 which still covers about sixty acres1 is a well-known haunt of moor-hens and other waterfowl1 and the flags and bulrushes which fringe its banks make it a favourable resort of artists4 ,old ,alresford itself1 with its gay flower-gardens1 tall elms1 pretty old thatched cottages grouped round the village green1 may well supply them with more than one subject for pen and pencil4 ,illustration3 ,,new ,,alresford4 ,new ,alresford was at one time a flourishing centre of the cloth trade1 in which the ,winchester merchants drove so brisk a trade at ,st4 ,giles' ,fair4 ,the manufacture of woollen cloth was carried on till quite recent times1 and ,dean ,kitchin tells us that there are old men still living who remember driving with their fathers to the fair at ,winchester on ,st4 ,giles' day1 to buy a roll of blue cloth to provide the family suits for the year4 ,but ,new ,alresford shared the decline as it had shared the prosperity of its more important neighbour1 and suffered even more severely than ,winchester in the ,civil ,wars1 when the town was almost entirely burnt down by ,lord ,hopton's troops after their defeat in ,cheriton fight4 ,the scene of that hard-fought battle1 which gave ,winchester into ,waller's hands and ruined the ,king's cause in the ,west of ,england1 lies a few miles to the south of ,alresford4 ,half-way between the two is ,tichborne ,park1 the seat of a family which has owned this estate from the days of ,harold1 and which took its name from the stream flowing through the parish1 and called the ,ticceborne in ,anglo-,saxon records4 ,in modern times a well-known case has given the name of ,tichborne an unenviable notoriety1 but members of this ancient house have been illustrious at all periods of our history1 and the legend of the ,tichborne ,dole so long associated with the spot deserves to be remembered4 ,in the reign of ,henry ,i41 ,isabella1 the wife of ,sir ,roger ,tichborne1 a lady whose long life had been spent in deeds of mercy1 prayed her husband as she lay dying to grant her as much land as would enable her to leave a dole of bread for all who asked alms at the gates of ,tichborne on each succeeding ,lady ,day4 ,sir ,roger was a knight of sterner stuff1 and seizing a flaming brand from the hearth he told his wife jestingly that she might have as much land as she could herself walk over before the burning torch went out4 ,upon which the sick lady caused herself to be borne from her bed to a piece of ground within the manor1 and crawled on her knees and hands until she had encircled twenty-three acres4 ,the actual plot of ground still bears the name of ,lady ,tichborne's ,crawles1 and there was an old prophecy which said that the house of ,tichborne would only last as long as the dying bequest of ,isabella was carried out4 ,during the next six centuries1 nineteen hundred small loaves were regularly distributed to the poor at the gates on ,lady ,day1 and a miraculous virtue was supposed to belong to bread thus bestowed4 ,the custom was only abandoned a hundred years ago1 owing to the number of idlers and bad characters which it brought into the neighbourhood1 and a sum of money equal in amount to the ,dole is given to the poor of the parish in its stead4 ,whether any of our ,canterbury pilgrims stopped in their course to avail themselves of the ,tichborne ,dole we cannot say1 but there was a manor-house of the ,bishops of ,winchester at ,bishop ,sutton1 near ,alresford1 where they would no doubt find food and shelter4 ,nothing now remains of the episcopal palace1 and no trace of its precincts is preserved but the site of the bishop's kennels4 ,after crossing the river at ,alresford the pilgrims turned north-east1 and according to an old tradition their road led them through the parish of ,ropley1 a neighbouring village where ,roman remains have been discovered4 ,a little further on the same track1 close to ,rotherfield ,park1 where the modern mansion of ,pelham now stands1 was an ancient house which bore the name of ,pilgrims' ,place1 and is indicated as such in old maps4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,hog',s ,,back4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,alton ,,to ,,compton ,a few miles to the right of the road is a place which no pilgrim of modern times can leave unvisited--,selborne1 ,white's ,selborne1 the home of the gentle naturalist whose memory haunts these rural scenes4 ,here he lived in the picturesque house overgrown with creepers1 with the sunny garden and dial at the back1 and the great spreading oak where he loved to study the ways of the owls1 and the juniper tree1 which1 to his joy1 survived the ,siberian winter of #aggf4 ,and here he died1 and lies buried in the quiet churchyard in the shade of the old yew tree where he so often stood to watch his favourite birds4 ,not a stone but what speaks of him1 not a turn in the village street but has its tale to tell4 ,the play-stow1 or village green1 which ,adam de ,gurdon granted to the ,augustinian ,canons of ,selborne in the thirteenth century1 where the prior held his market of old1 and where young and old met on summer evenings under the big oak1 and sat in quiet debate or frolicked and danced before him2 the farmhouse which now marks the site of the ancient ,priory itself1 founded by ,peter de ,rupibus1 ,bishop of ,winchester1 in #abcb--;he has described them all4 ,how the good ,canons grew lazy and secular in their ways after a time1 how ,william of ,wykeham found certain of them professed hunters and sportsmen1 and tried in vain to reform them1 and how the estates were finally handed over to the new college of ,st4 ,mary ,magdalene at ,oxford1 by its founder1 ,william of ,waynflete--,gilbert ,white has already told us4 ,the ,hanger1 with its wooded slopes1 rising from the back of his garden1 and that noble chalk promontory of ,nore ,hill1 planted with the beeches which he called the most lovely of all forest trees1 how familiar they seem to us6 ,still the swifts wheel to and fro round the low church-tower1 and the crickets chirp in the long grass1 and the white owl is heard at night1 just as when he used to linger under the old walls and watch their manners with infinite care and love4 ,illustration3 ,,jane ,,austen',s ,,house1 ,,chawton4 ,one of the rocky hollow lanes which lead towards ,alton will take us back into the road1 and bring us to ,chawton1 a village about a mile from that town4 ,the fine ,elizabethan manor-house at the foot of the green knoll1 and the grey church peeping out of the trees close by1 have been for centuries the home and burial-place of the ,knights4 ,on the south side of the chancel a black and white marble monument records the memory of that gallant cavalier1 ,sir ,richard ,knight1 who risked life and fortune in the ,royal cause1 and was invested with the ,order of the ,royal ,oak by ,charles ,,ii4 after the ,restoration4 ,but it is as the place where ,jane ,austen1 in ,george ,eliot's opinion1 the greatest artist that has ever written1 composed her novels1 that ,chawton is memorable4 ,the cottage where she lived is still standing a few hundred yards from the great house1 which was the home of the brother and nieces to whom she was so fondly attached4 ,she and her sister1 ,cassandra1 settled there in #ahji1 and remained there until ,may1 #ahag1 when they moved to the corner house of ,college ,street1 ,winchester1 where three months afterwards she died4 ,during the eight years spent in this quiet home1 ,jane ,austen attained the height of her powers and wrote her most famous novels1 those works which she herself said cost her so little1 and which in ,tennyson's words have given her a place in ,english literature next to ,shakespeare4 ,sense and ,sensibility1 her first novel1 was published two years after the move to ,chawton4 ,persuasion1 the last and most finished of the immortal series1 was only written in #ahaf1 a year before her death4 ,seldom1 indeed1 has so great a novelist led so retired an existence4 ,the life at ,chawton1 so smooth in its even flow1 with the daily round of small excitements and quiet pleasures1 the visits to the great house1 and walks with her nieces in the woods1 the shopping expeditions to ,alton1 the talk about new bonnets and gowns1 and the latest news as to the births1 deaths1 and marriages of the numerous relatives in ,kent and ,hampshire1 are faithfully reflected in those pleasant letters of ,jane ,austen1 which her great-nephew1 ,lord ,brabourne1 gave to the world4 ,there is a good deal about her flowers1 her chickens1 her niece's love affairs1 the fancy work on which she is engaged1 the improvements in the house and garden--,you cannot imagine1 she writes on one occasion1 it is not in human nature to imagine1 what a nice walk we have round the orchard6--but very little indeed about her books4 ,almost the only allusion we find to one of her characters is in #ahaf1 when she writes to ,fanny ,knight of ,anne ,elliot in ,persuasion4 ,you may perhaps like the heroine1 as she is almost too good for me6 ,anything like fame or publicity was positively distasteful to her4 ,she owns to feeling absolutely terrified when a lady in town asked to be introduced to her1 and then adds laughingly1 ,if ,i am a wild beast ,i cannot help it1 it is not my fault6 ,curiously enough1 the ,pilgrims' ,way1 in the later course of its path1 brings us to ,godmersham1 that other and finer home of the ,knights on the ,kentish ,downs1 a place also associated with ,jane ,austen's life and letters1 where she spent many pleasant hours in the midst of her family1 enjoying the beauty of the spot and its cheerful surroundings4 ,but ,chawton retains the supremacy as her own home1 and as the scene of those literary labours that were cut short1 alas6 too soon4 ,what a pity1 ,sir ,walter ,scott exclaimed1 after reading a book of hers1 what a pity such a gifted creature died so early6 ,illustration3 ,,chawton ,,house ,from ,chawton it is a short mile to ,alton1 famous for its breweries and hop gardens1 and its church door1 riddled with the bullets of the ,roundheads4 ,our way now leads us through the woods of ,alice ,holt--,aisholt--the ,ash wood2 like ,woolmer1 a royal forest from ,saxon times4 ,alice ,holt was renowned for the abundance of its fallow deer1 which made it a favourite hunting ground with the ,plantagenet kings1 and on one occasion ,edward ,,ii41 it is said1 gave one of his scullions1 ,morris ,ken1 the sum of twenty shillings because he fell from his horse so often out hunting1 which made the king laugh exceedingly4 ,here1 too1 after the battle of ,evesham1 ,edward1 ,prince of ,wales1 defeated ,adam de ,gurdon1 one of ,simon de ,montfort's chief followers4 ,he is said to have challenged the rebel baron to a single combat1 in which ,gurdon was wounded and made prisoner1 but the victor spared his life and afterwards obtained a royal pardon for his vanquished foe4 ,a wild rugged tract of country1 ,alice ,holt was a chosen haunt of robbers and outlaws1 the terror of the wealthy ,london merchants who journeyed to ,st4 ,giles' ,fair at ,winchester1 and in the fourteenth century the wardens of the fair kept five mounted serjeants-at-arms in the forest near ,alton1 for their protection at that season4 ,soon after leaving ,alton the pilgrims would catch their first sight of the river ,wey1 which rises close to the town4 ,along the banks of this stream1 flowing as it does through some of the loveliest ,surrey scenery1 their road was now to lie1 and not until they crossed ,st4 ,katherine's ferry1 at ,guildford1 were they finally to lose sight of its waters4 ,the river itself1 more than one writer has suggested1 may owe its name to this circumstance1 and have been originally called the ,way river from the ancient road which followed the early part of its course4 ,illustration3 ,,farnham ,,castle4 ,leaving ,froyle ,park1 ,sir ,hubert ,miller's fine ,jacobean house1 on our left1 we pass ,bentley ,station1 and1 still following the river1 join the ,portsmouth road just before entering ,farnham4 ,this town1 which takes its name from the commons overgrown with fern and heather still to be seen in the neighbourhood on the ,surrey side1 is now surrounded with hop gardens4 ,it was among the earliest possessions of the ,bishops of ,winchester1 and formed part of the land granted to ,st4 ,swithun1 in #hfj1 by ,alfred's elder brother1 ,ethelbald1 ,king of ,wessex4 ,the ,castle-palace1 which still looks proudly down on the streets of the little town1 was first built by that magnificent prelate1 ,henry of ,blois1 but little of the original building now remains except the offices1 where some round ,norman pillars may still be seen4 ,farnham ,castle was partly destroyed by ,henry ,,iii4 during his wars with the barons1 and suffered greatly at the hands of the rebels in the time of ,charles ,i41 but was afterwards rebuilt by ,bishop ,morley4 ,queen ,elizabeth paid frequent visits here1 and on one occasion1 while dining in the great hall with the ,duke of ,norfolk1 who was suspected of planning a marriage with ,mary ,queen of ,scots1 pleasantly advised the ,duke to be careful on what pillow he laid his head4 ,the lawn1 with its stately cedars and grass-grown moat1 deserves a visit1 but the most interesting part of the building is the fine old keep with its massive buttresses and thirteenth-century arches1 commanding a wide view over the elm avenues of the park1 and the commons which stretch eastward on the ,surrey side4 ,prominent in the foreground are the picturesque heights of ,crooksbury1 crowned with those tall pines which ,cobbett climbed when he was a boy1 to take the nests of crows and magpies4 ,farnham1 it must be remembered1 was the birthplace of this remarkable man1 and it was at ,ash1 a small town at the foot of the ,hog's ,back1 that he died in #ahce4 ,all his life long he retained the fondest affection for these scenes of his youth4 ,in #ahbe he brought his son ,richard1 then a boy of eleven1 to see the little old house in the street where he had lived with his grandmother1 and showed him the garden at ,waverley where he worked as a lad1 the tree near the ,abbey from which he fell into the river in a perilous attempt to take a crow's nest1 and the strawberry beds where he gathered strawberries for ,sir ,robert ,rich's table1 taking care to eat the finest6 ,among these hills and commons1 where he followed the hounds on foot at ten years old1 and rode across country at seventy1 we forget the political aspect of his life1 his bitter invectives against the ,poor-laws and ,paper-money1 the ,national ,debt and the ,system1 and think rather of his keen love of nature and delight in the heaths1 the sandy coppices1 and forests of ,surrey and ,hampshire4 ,and now he sleeps in the church of ,farnham1 where he desired to be buried1 in the heart of the wild scenery which he loved so well4 ,illustration3 ,,crooksbury ,,from ,,newlands ,,corner4 ,just under ,crooksbury1 that grand scene of ,cobbett's exploits1 lies ,moor ,park1 the retreat of ,sir ,william ,temple in his old age1 which seemed to him1 to quote his own words1 the sweetest place1 ,i think1 that ,i have ever seen in my life1 either before or since1 at home or abroad4 ,there we may still see the gardens which the statesman of the ,triple ,alliance laid out after the fashion of those which he remembered in ,holland1 where he enjoyed the companionship of his beloved sister1 ,lady ,giffard1 and where his heart lies buried under the sundial4 ,here ,swift lived as his secretary1 and learnt from ,king ,william ,,iii4 how to cut asparagus2 here he wrote the ,tale of a ,tub1 and made love to ,mrs4 ,hester ,johnson1 ,lady ,giffard's pretty black-eyed waiting-maid4 ,the memory of that immortal love-story has not yet perished1 and the house where she lived is still known as ,stella's ,cottage4 ,here1 too1 just beyond ,moor ,park1 on the banks of the ,wey1 are the ruins of ,waverley ,abbey1 the first ,cistercian house ever founded in ,england1 often described as le petit ,cteaux1 and the mother of many other abbeys4 ,the more distinguished pilgrims who stopped at ,farnham would taste the hospitality of the monks of ,waverley1 and ,henry ,,iii4 was on one occasion their guest4 ,the ,abbot of ,waverley1 too1 was a great personage in these parts1 and his influence extended over several parishes through which the pilgrims had to pass1 although the privileges which he claimed were often disputed by the ,prior of ,newark1 the other ecclesiastical magnate who reigned in this part of ,surrey4 ,pilgrims of humbler rank would find ample accommodation in the ancient hostelries of ,farnham1 which was at that time a place of considerable importance1 and returned two members to ,edward ,,ii4's ,parliament4 ,their onward course now lay along the banks of the ,wey until they reached the foot of the narrow1 curiously shaped chalk ridge known as the ,hog's ,back4 ,here1 at a place called ,whiteway ,end1 the end of the white chalk road1 two roads divide4 ,both lead to ,guildford1 the one keeping on the crest of the ridge1 the other along its southern slope4 ,the upper road has become an important thoroughfare in modern times1 and is now the main road from ,farnham to ,guildford2 the lower is a grassy lane1 not always easy to follow1 and little used in places1 which leads through the parishes of ,seale1 ,puttenham1 and ,compton1 the bright little villages which stud the sides of the ,hog's ,back4 ,this green woodland path under the downs was the ancient ,british and ,roman track along which the ,canterbury pilgrims journeyed1 and which is still in some places spoken of by the inhabitants as the ,way4 ,other names in local use bear the same witness4 ,beggar's ,corner and ,robber's or ,roamer's ,moor are supposed to owe their appellations to the pilgrims3 while the ivy-grown manor-house of ,shoelands1 bearing the date of #afaf on its porch1 is said to take its name from the word to shool1 which in some dialects has the same meaning as to beg4 ,another trace of the ,pilgrimage is to be found in the local fairs which are still held in the towns and villages along the road1 and which were fixed at those periods of the year when the pilgrims would be either going to ,canterbury or returning from there4 ,thus we find that at ,guildford the chief fair took place at ,christmas1 when the pilgrims would be on their way to the winter festival of ,st4 ,thomas1 and was only altered to ,september in #acab1 by which time the original day of the ,saint's martyrdom had ceased to be as popular as the summer feast4 ,again the great fair at ,shalford was fixed for the ,feast of the ,assumption1 the #aeth of ,august1 so as to catch the stream of pilgrims which flowed back from ,canterbury after the ,feast of the ,translation in ,july1 and the seven days' fair there1 that went by the name of ,becket's fair4 ,fairs soon came to be held not only at towns such as ,farnham1 ,guildford1 and ,shalford1 but at the small villages along the ,pilgrims' ,road4 ,there was one in the churchyard at ,puttenham1 and another at ,wanborough1 a church on the northern side of the hill1 which belonged to ,waverley ,abbey1 where the offerings made by the pilgrims formed part of the payments yearly received by the ,abbot1 while a third was held on ,st4 ,katharine's ,hill during five days in ,september4 ,even the churches along the road often owed their existence to the ,pilgrimage4 ,the church of ,seale was built early in the thirteenth century by the ,abbots of ,waverley1 and that of ,wanborough was rebuilt by the same ,abbots1 and was again allowed to fall into decay when the days of pilgrimages were over4 ,both the sister chapels of ,st4 ,katharine and ,st4 ,martha1 we shall see1 owed their restoration to the pilgrims' passage1 and many more along the ,way were either raised in honour of ,st4 ,thomas1 or else adorned with frescoes and altar-pieces of the ,martyrdom4 ,along this pleasant ,surrey hill-side the old ,canterbury pilgrims journeyed1 going from church to church1 from shrine to shrine1 and more especially if their pilgrimage took place in summer1 enjoying the sweet country air and leafy shades of this quiet woodland region4 ,they lingered1 we may well believe1 at the village fairs1 and stopped at every town to see the sights and hear the news2 for the pilgrim of medival days was1 as ,dean ,stanley reminds us1 a traveller with the same adventures1 stories1 pleasures1 pains1 as the traveller of our own times1 and men of every type and class set out on pilgrimages much as tourists to-day start on a foreign trip4 ,some1 no doubt1 undertook the journey from devotion1 and more in a vague hope of reaping some profit1 both material and spiritual1 from a visit to the shrine of the all-powerful ,saint1 while a thousand other motives--curiosity1 love of change and adventure1 the pleasure of a journey--prompted the crowds who thronged the road at certain seasons of the year4 ,chaucer's company of pilgrims we know was a motley crew1 and included men and women whose characters were as varied as their rank and trade4 ,with them came a throng of jugglers and story-tellers and minstrels1 who beguiled the way with music and laughter as they rode or walked along1 so that every town they came through1 what with the noise of their singing1 and with the sound of their piping1 and with the jangling of their ,canterbury bells1 and with the barking of the dogs after them1 they made more noise than if the king came there with all his clarions4 ,in their train1 too1 a crowd of idle folk1 of roving pedlars and begging friars and lazy tramps1 who were glad of any excuse to beg a crust or coin4 ,the presence of these last was by no means always welcome at the inns and religious houses on the road1 where doubtful characters often craved admittance1 knowing that if the hand of justice overtook them they could always find refuge in one of those churches where the rights of sanctuary were so resolutely claimed and so jealously defended by the ,abbot of ,waverley or the ,prior of ,newark4 ,illustration3 ,,compton ,,village4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,compton ,,to ,,shalford ,following the ,pilgrims' ,way along the southern slopes of the ,hog's ,back1 we cross ,puttenham ,heath1 and reach the pretty little village of ,compton4 ,here1 nestling under the downs1 a few hundred yards from the track1 is a beautiful old twelfth-century church1 which was there before the days of ,st4 ,thomas4 ,this ancient structure1 dedicated to ,st4 ,nicholas1 still retains some good stained glass and boasts a unique feature in the shape of a double-storied chancel4 ,the east end of the church is crossed by a low semicircular arch enriched with ,norman zigzag moulding1 and surmounted by a rude screen1 which is said to be the oldest piece of wood-work in ,england4 ,both the upper and the lower sanctuaries have piscinas1 and there is an ,early ,english one in the south aisle4 ,the massive bases of the chalk pillars1 the altar-tomb north of the chancel--probably an ,eastern sepulchre--and a hagioscope now blocked up1 all deserve attention1 as well as the fine ,jacobean pulpit and chancel screen1 which is now placed under the tower arch4 ,illustration3 ,,compton ,,church4 ,illustration3 ,,loseley4 ,a mile to the west of this singularly interesting church is ,loseley1 the historic mansion of the ,more and ,molyneux family4 ,this manor was ,crown property in the reign of ,edward the ,confessor1 and is described in ,domesday ,book as the property of the ,norman ,roger de ,montgomery1 ,earl of ,shrewsbury1 on whom it was bestowed by the ,conqueror4 ,after passing through many hands it was finally bought from the ,earl of ,gloucester1 early in the sixteenth century1 by ,sir ,christopher ,more1 whose son1 ,sir ,william1 built the present mansion4 ,the grand old house with its grey-stone gables and mullioned windows is a perfect specimen of ,elizabethan architecture4 ,the broad grass terrace along the edge of the moat1 the yew hedges with their glossy hues of green and purple1 the old-fashioned borders full of bright flowers1 and the low pigeon-houses standing at each angle1 all remain as they were in the reign of ,james ,i41 and agree well with ,lord ,bacon's idea of what a pleasance ought to be4 ,within1 the walls are wainscoted with oak panelling throughout1 and the ceilings and mantelpieces are richly decorated4 ,the cross and mulberry tree of the ,mores1 with their mottoes1 may still be seen in the stained-glass oriel of the great hall1 and on the cornices of the drawing-room4 ,here too is a fine mantelpiece1 carved in white chalk1 which is said to have been designed by ,hans ,holbein4 ,many are the royal visitors who have left memorials of their presence at ,loseley4 ,queen ,elizabeth had an especial affection for the place1 and was here three times4 ,the cushioned seats of two gilt chairs were worked by her needle1 and there is a painted panel bearing the quaint device of a flower-pot with the red and white roses of ,york and ,lancaster1 and the fleur-de-lis1 with the words ,rosa ,electa and ,felicior ,phoenice1 a pretty conceit which would not fail to find favour in the eyes of the ,virgin ,queen4 ,the hall contains portraits of ,james ,i4 and his wife ,anne of ,denmark1 painted by ,mytens in honour of a visit which they paid to ,loseley in the first year of this monarch's reign2 and the ceiling of his ,majesty's bedroom is elaborately patterned over with stucco reliefs of ,tudor roses and lilies and thistles4 ,a likeness of ,anne ,boleyn1 and several fine portraits of members of the ,more family1 also adorn the walls1 and there is a beautiful little picture of the boy-king1 ,edward ,,vi41 wearing an embroidered crimson doublet and jewelled cap and feather1 painted by some clever pupil of ,holbein in #aedg4 ,this portrait was sent in #ahij to the ,tudor ,exhibition1 which also contained many historical documents relating to different personages of this royal line1 preserved among the ,loseley manuscripts4 ,there are warrants signed by ,edward ,,vi41 the ,lord ,protector1 by ,queen ,elizabeth and the ,lord of her ,council1 including ,hatton the ,lord ,chancellor1 ,cecil1 ,lord ,burghley1 ,lord ,effingham1 and ,lord ,derby4 ,there is one of #aedj1 signed by ,henry ,,viii41 commanding ,christopher ,more1 ,sheriff of the ,county of ,sussex1 to deliver certain goods forfeited to the crown to ,katheryn ,howarde1 one of our quene's maidens1 and another1 signed by ,elizabeth in the first year of her reign1 commanding ,william ,more to raise and equip one hundred able men1 for the defence of ,england against foreign invasion4 ,there is also a curious sumptuary proclamation by ,queen ,elizabeth respecting the dress and ornaments of women1 and1 what is still more rare and interesting1 a warrant from ,lady ,jane ,grey1 dated ,july #ai1 ,i4 ,jane1 and signed ,jane the ,quene4 ,among the more private and personal papers is an amusing letter from ,robert ,horne1 ,bishop of ,winchester1 giving ,mr4 ,more1 of ,loseley1 advice as to stocking the new pond with the best kind of carp1 thes be of a little heade1 broade side and not long2 soche as be great headed and longe1 made after the fashion of an herring1 are not good1 neither will ever be4 ,another from ,bishop ,day informs ,sir ,william ,more1 in #aeif1 that he intends to fish the little pond at ,frensham2 while one to the same gentleman from ,alexander ,nowell1 ,dean of ,st4 ,paul's1 thanks him for his exertions to recover a stolen nag on his behalf4 ,the treasures of ,loseley1 in fact1 are as inexhaustible as its beauty4 ,a pleasant walk through the forest trees and grassy glades of the park leads us back to ,compton village and the green lanes through which the ,pilgrims' ,way now wanders4 ,skirting the grounds of ,monk's ,hatch1 with their pine-groves and rose-gardens lying under the chalk hanger1 the old road passes close to ,limnerslease1 the ,surrey home of ,george ,frederic ,watts4 ,to-day thousands of pilgrims from all parts of the world seek out this sylvan retreat where the great master spent his last years1 and visit the treasures of art which adorn its galleries1 and the fair chapel and cloister that mark the painter's grave4 ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,katherine',s1 ,,guildford4 ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,martha',s ,,chapel4 ,from ,compton a path known as ,sandy ,lane leads over the hill past ,braboeuf ,manor1 and the site of the old roadside shrine of ,littleton ,cross1 and comes out on the open down1 close to the chapel of ,st4 ,katherine4 ,this now ruined shrine1 which stands on a steep bank near the road1 was rebuilt on the site of a still older one in #acag1 by ,richard de ,wauncey1 ,rector of ,st4 ,nicholas1 ,guildford1 and was much frequented by pilgrims to ,canterbury4 ,so valuable were the revenues derived by the parson from their offerings that the original grant made to ,richard de ,wauncey was disputed1 and for some years the ,rector of ,st4 ,mary stepped into his rights4 ,but in #acbi the ,rector of ,st4 ,nicholas succeeded in ousting his rival1 and the chapel was re-consecrated and attached to the parish of ,st4 ,nicholas4 ,an old legend ascribes the building of this shrine and of the chapel on ,st4 ,martha's ,hill to two giant sisters of primval days1 who raised the walls with their own hands and flung their enormous hammer backwards and forwards from one hill to the other4 ,unlike its more fortunate sister-shrine1 ,st4 ,katherine's chapel has long been roofless and dismantled1 but it still forms a very picturesque object in the landscape1 and the pointed arches of its broken windows frame in lovely views of the green meadows of the winding ,wey1 with the castle and churches of ,guildford at our feet1 and the hills and commons stretching far away1 to the blue ridge of ,hindhead4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,hospital1 ,,guildford4 p4 #gb ,the ancient city of ,guildford owes its name and much of its historic renown to its situation on the chief ford of the river ,wey1 which here makes a break in the ridge of chalk downs running across ,surrey4 ,guildford is mentioned in his will by ,king ,alfred1 who left it to his nephew ,ethelwold1 and became memorable as the spot where another ,alfred1 the son of ,knut and ,emma1 was treacherously seized and murdered by ,earl ,godwin1 who1 standing on the eastern slope of the ,hog's ,back above the city1 bade the young prince look back and see how large a kingdom would be his4 ,for seven centuries1 from the days of the ,saxon kings to those of the ,stuarts1 ,guildford remained ,crown property1 and the ,norman keep which still towers grandly above the city was long a royal palace4 ,the strength of the castle and importance of the position made it famous in the wars of the barons1 and the ,waverley annalist records its surrender to ,louis ,,viii4 of ,france1 when he marched against ,king ,john from ,sandwich ,haven to ,winchester4 ,to-day the picturesqueness of the streets1 the gabled roofs and panelled houses1 and even more the situation of the town in the heart of this fair district1 attract many artists1 and make it a favourite centre for tourists4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,hog',s ,,back4 ,in medival times ,guildford was a convenient halting-place for pilgrims on their way from the south and west of ,england to the shrine of ,st4 ,thomas4 ,many of these1 however1 as the shrewd parson of ,st4 ,nicholas saw1 when he thought it worth his while to buy the freehold of the site on which ,st4 ,katherine's chapel stood1 would push on and cross the river by the ferry at the foot of the hill1 which still bears the name of the ,pilgrims' ,ferry4 ,on landing they found themselves in the parish of ,shalford1 in the meadows where the great fair was held each year in ,august4 ,when the original charter was granted by ,king ,john1 the fair took place in the churchyard1 but soon the concourse of people became so great that it spread into the fields along the river1 and covered as much as one hundred and forty acres of ground4 ,shalford ,fair seems1 in fact1 to have been the most important one in this part of ,surrey1 and no doubt owed its existence to the passage of the ,canterbury pilgrims4 ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,martha',s ,,from ,,the ,,hog',s ,,back4 ,,chapter ,v ,,shalford ,,to ,,albury ,the line of the ,pilgrims' ,way may be clearly followed from the banks of the ,wey up the hill4 ,it goes through ,shalford ,park1 up ,ciderhouse ,lane1 where the ancient ,pesthouse or refuge for sick pilgrims and travellers1 now called ,ciderhouse ,cottage1 is still standing1 and leads through the ,chantrey ,woods straight to ,st4 ,martha's ,chapel4 ,the district through which it takes us is one of the wildest and loveliest parts of ,surrey4 ,very few prettier rides in ,england1 remarks ,cobbett1 who repeatedly travelled along this track1 and the beauty of the views all along its course will more than repay the traveller who makes his way on foot over the hills from ,guildford to ,dorking4 ,one of the most extensive is to be had from ,st4 ,martha's ,hill1 where the prospect ranges in one direction over ,south ,leith ,hill and the ,south ,downs far away to the ,weald of ,sussex and the well-known clump of ,chanctonbury ,ring2 and on the other over the commons and moors to the crests of ,hindhead and the ,hog's ,back2 while looking northward we have a wide view over the ,surrey plains and the valley of the ,thames1 and ,windsor ,castle and the dome of ,st4 ,paul's may be distinguished on clear days4 ,the ancient chapel on the summit1 which gives its name to ,st4 ,martha's ,hill1 was originally built in memory of certain ,christians who suffered martyrdom on the spot1 and was formerly dedicated to all holy martyrs1 while the hill itself was known as the ,martyrs' ,hill1 of which1 as ,grose remarks1#h the present name is supposed to be a corruption4 ,in the twelfth century it became peculiarly associated with the ,canterbury pilgrims1 and a new chancel was built for their use1 and consecrated to ,st4 ,thomas ,becket in the year #aahf4 ,in #abfb this chapel was attached to the ,priory of ,newark1 an ,augustinian convent near ,ripley1 dedicated to ,st4 ,thomas of ,canterbury by ,ruald de ,calva in the reign of ,richard ,coeur de ,lion4 ,the ,prior already owned most of the hill-side1 and the names of ,farthing ,copse and ,halfpenny ,lane1 through which the pilgrims passed on their way to ,st4 ,martha's ,chapel1 remind us of the tolls which he levied from all who travelled along the road4 ,we have already seen how in the earlier portions of the ,way the ,prior of ,newark disputed the rights of the ,abbot of ,waverley4 ,here he reigned supreme4 ,a priest from ,newark ,priory served ,st4 ,martha's ,chapel1 and is said to have lived at ,tyting's ,farm1 an old gabled house with the remains of a small oratory close to the ,pilgrims' ,way4 ,in latter days a colony of monks from ,newark settled at ,chilworth1 where the present manor-house contains fragments of monastic building1 and the fishponds of the friars may still be seen near the terraced gardens4 ,during the troubled times of the ,wars of the ,roses the ,chapel of ,st4 ,martha fell into ruins1 and owed its restoration to ,bishop ,william of ,waynflete1 who in #adfc granted forty days' indulgence to all pilgrims who should visit the shrine and there repeat a ,pater ,noster1 an ,ave1 and a ,credo1 or contribute to its repair4 ,after the dissolution of the monasteries both ,newark ,priory and ,st4 ,martha's shrine fell into ruins1 and the chapel was only restored of late years4 ,at ,chilworth1 south of ,st4 ,martha's ,hill1 lies the once fair valley which has been defaced by the powder-mills1 first established there three centuries ago by an ancestor of ,john ,evelyn1 and now worked by steam4 ,this is the place which ,cobbett denounces in his ,rural ,rides with a vigour and eloquence worthy of ,mr4 ,ruskin himself3 ,this valley1 which seems to have been created by a bountiful ,providence as one of the choicest retreats of man1 which seems formed for a scene of innocence and happiness1 has been by ungrateful man so perverted as to make it instrumental in effecting two of the most damnable of purposes1 in carrying into execution two of the most damnable inventions that ever sprang from the mind of man under the influence of the devil6 namely1 the making of gunpowder and of bank-notes6 ,here1 in this tranquil spot1 where the nightingales are to be heard earlier and later in the year than in any other part of ,england2 where the first budding of the buds is seen in spring2 where no rigour of season can ever be felt2 where everything seems formed for precluding the very thought of wickedness2 here has the devil fixed on as one of the seats of this grand manufactory2 and perverse and ungrateful man not only lends his aid1 but lends it cheerfully4 ,to think that the springs which ,god has commanded to flow from the sides of these happy hills for the comfort and delight of man--to think that these springs should be perverted into means of spreading misery over a whole nation6 ,one of these inventions of the devil has been removed4 ,the paper-mills which made the bank-notes in ,cobbett's time are silent now1 but the powder-mills are in full activity1 and ,chilworth1 with its coal-stores and railway-crossing1 has a blackened and desolate look which not all the natural beauties of its surroundings can dispel4 ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,martha',s ,,from ,,chilworth4 ,once more upon the hills1 we can follow the line of yews which are seen at intervals along the ridge from ,st4 ,martha's ,chapel by ,weston ,wood and the back of ,albury ,park1 turning a few steps out of our path to visit ,newland's ,corner1 the highest point of ,albury ,downs1 and one of the most beautiful spots in the whole of ,surrey4 ,the view is as extensive as that from ,st4 ,martha's ,hill1 and is even more varied and picturesque4 ,over broken ridges of heathery down and gently swelling slopes1 clad with beech and oak woods1 we look across to ,ewhurst ,mill1 a conspicuous landmark in all this country1 and farther westward to the towers of ,charterhouse and the distant heights of ,hindhead and ,blackdown2 while immediately in front1 across the wooded valley1 rises ,st4 ,martha's ,hill1 crowned by its ancient chapel4 ,here we can watch the changes of sun and shower over the wide expanse of level country1 and see the long range of far hills veiled in the thin blue mists of morning1 or turning purple under the gold of the evening sky4 ,some of the oldest and finest yew trees in all ,surrey are close to ,newland's ,corner--the ancient yew grove there is mentioned in ,domesday--and their dark foliage offers a fine contrast to the bright tints of the neighbouring woods and to the snowy masses of blossom which in early summer clothe the gnarled old hawthorn trees that are studded over the hill-side4 ,we can follow the track over the springy turf of the open downs and up glades thick with bracken1 till it becomes choked with bushes and brambles1 and finally loses itself in the woods of ,albury4 ,here1 in the middle of the ,duke of ,northumberland's park1 is the deep glen1 surrounded by wooded heights1 known as the ,silent ,pool4 ,a dark tale1 which ,martin ,tupper has made the subject of his ,stephen ,langton1 belongs to this lonely spot4 ,king ,john1 tradition says1 loved a fair woodman's daughter who lived here1 and surprised her in the act of bathing in the pool4 ,the frightened girl let loose the branch by which she held1 and was drowned in the water2 and her brother1 a goat-herd1 who at the sound of her scream had rushed in after her1 shared the same fate4 ,and still1 the legend goes1 at midnight you may see a black-haired maiden clasping her arms round her brother in his cowhide tunic under the clear rippling surface of the ,silent ,pool4 ,a little farther on is the old church of ,albury--,eldeburie1 mentioned in ,domesday1 and supposed to be the most ancient in ,surrey4 ,the low tower1 with its narrow two-light windows1 probably dates back to very early ,norman times1 but the rest of the church is considerably later4 ,the south chapel was richly decorated by ,mr4 ,drummond1 who bought the place in #ahai1 and is now used as a mortuary chapel for his family4 ,albury formerly belonged to the ,dukes of ,norfolk4 ,the gardens were originally laid out by ,thomas ,howard1 ,earl of ,arundel1 the accomplished collector of the ,arundel marbles1 and whose fine portrait by ,vandyck was exhibited at ,burlington ,house in the winter of #ahia4 ,his friend and neighbour1 ,mr4 ,evelyn1 helped him with his advice and taste1 and designed the grotto under the hill1 which still remains4 ,such a ,pausilippe1 remarks the author of ,the ,sylva1 is nowhere in ,england besides4 ,but the great ornament of ,albury is the famous yew hedge1 about ten feet high and a quarter of a mile long1 probably the finest of its kind in ,england4 ,so thick are the upper branches of the yew trees that1 as ,william ,cobbett writes1 when he visited ,albury in ,mr4 ,drummond's time1 they kept out both the rain and sun1 and alike in summer and winter afford a most delightful walk4 ,the grand terrace under the hill1 thirty or forty feet wide1 and a quarter of a mile long1 of the finest green-sward1 and as level as a die1 particularly delighted him2 and the careful way in which the fruit trees were protected from the wind1 and the springs along the hill-side collected to water the garden1 gratified his practical mind4 ,take it altogether1 he goes on1 this certainly is the prettiest garden that ,i ever beheld4 ,there was taste and sound judgment at every step in the laying out of this place4 ,everywhere utility and convenience is combined with beauty4 ,the terrace is by far the finest thing of the sort that ,i ever saw1 and the whole thing altogether is a great compliment to the taste of the times in which it was formed4 ,the honest old reformer's satisfaction in these gardens was increased by the reflection that the owner was worthy of his estate1 seeing that he was famed for his justice and kindness towards the labouring classes--who1 ,god knows1 have very few friends amongst the rich2 and adds1 that he for one has no sympathy with the fools who want a revolution for the purpose of getting hold of other people's property4 ,there are others who like pretty gardens as well as ,i1 and if the question were to be decided according to the laws of the strongest1 or1 as the ,french call it1 droit du plus fort1 my chance would be but a very poor one4 ,illustration3 ,,albury ,,old ,,church4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,mill1 ,,gomshall4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,shere ,,to ,,reigate ,the ,pilgrims' ,way ran through ,albury ,park1 passing close to the old church and under the famous yew hedge1 and crossed the clear trout stream of the ,tillingbourne by a ford still known as ,chantry ,ford4 ,here a noble avenue of lime trees brings us to ,shere church1 a building as remarkable for the beauty of its situation as for its architectural interest4 ,the lovely ,early ,english doorway1 the heavy transitional arches of the nave and the fourteenth-century chancel are still unhurt1 and among the fragments of old glass we recognise the flax-breaker1 which was the crest of the ,brays1 one of the oldest families in the county1 who are1 we rejoice to think1 still represented here4 ,shere itself is one of the most charming villages in all this lovely neighbourhood4 ,for many years now it has been a favourite resort of artistic and literary men1 who find endless delight in the quiet beauty of the surrounding country4 ,subjects for pen and pencil abound in all directions2 quaint old timbered houses1 picturesque water-mills and barns1 deep ferny lanes shaded by overhanging trees1 and exquisite glimpses of heather-clad downs meet us at every turn4 ,fair as the scene is1 travellers are seldom seen in these hilly regions2 and so complete is the stillness1 so pure the mountain air1 that we might almost fancy ourselves in the heart of the ,highlands1 instead of thirty miles from town4 ,here it was1 in the midst of the wild scenery of these ,surrey ,hills1 that a sudden end closed the life of a great prelate of our own days1 ,samuel ,wilberforce1 ,bishop of ,winchester4 ,a granite cross at ,evershed's ,rough1 just below ,lord ,farrer's house at ,abinger ,hall1 now marks the spot where his horse stumbled and fell as he rode down the hill towards ,holmbury on that summer afternoon4 ,illustration3 ,,shere4 ,illustration3 ,,crossways ,,farm1 ,,near ,,wotton4#i ,about a mile beyond ,abinger we reach the home of ,john ,evelyn1 and see the grey tower of the church where he is buried4 ,this is ,wotton--the town of the woods1 as he loved to call it--sweetly environed with venerable woods and delicious streams2 ,wotton where1 after all his wanderings and all the turmoil of those troublous times1 ,evelyn found a peaceful haven wherein to end his days4 ,there are the terraces1 the fountains and groves1 in which he took delight2 there1 too1 are the pine-woods which he planted1 not only for ornament1 and because they create a perpetual spring1 but because he held the air to be improved by their odoriferous and balsamical emissions4 ,not only these trees1 but the oak and ash1 and all the different species which he studied so closely and has written about so well1 were dear to him as his own children1 and he speaks in pathetic language of the violent storm which blew down two thousand of his finest trees in a single night1 and almost within sight of his dwelling1 and left ,wotton1 now no more ,woodtonn1 stripped and naked1 and almost ashamed to own its name4 ,methinks that ,i still hear1 and ,i am sure that ,i feel1 the dismal groans of our forests1 when that late dreadful hurricane1 happening on the #bfth of ,november1 #agjc1 subverted so many thousands of goodly oaks1 prostrating the trees1 laying them in ghastly postures1 like whole regiments fallen in battle by the sword of the conqueror1 and crushing all that grew beneath them4 ,evelyn's descendants have bestowed the same care on the woods and plantations1 and in spite of the havoc wrought by wind and tempest1 ,wotton is still remarkable for the beauty of its forest-trees and masses of flowering rhododendrons4 ,illustration3 ,,wotton4 ,the red-brick house has been a good deal altered during the present century1 but is still full of memorials of ,evelyn4 ,his portrait1 and that of his wife and father-in-law1 ,sir ,richard ,browne1 are there1 and that of his angelic friend1 ,mistress ,blagge1 the wife of ,godolphin1 whose beautiful memory he has enshrined in the pages of the little volume that bears her name4 ,the drawings which he made on his foreign travels are there too2 and better still1 the books in which he took such pride and pleasure1 carefully bound1 bearing on their backs a device and motto which he chose1 a spray of oak1 palm1 and olive entwined together1 with the words1 ,omnia explorate2 meliora retinete4 ,but the most precious relic of all is the ,prayer ,book used by ,charles ,i4 on the morning of his execution4 ,it was saved from destruction by a devoted loyalist1 ,isaac ,herault1 brother of a ,walloon minister in ,london1 and afterwards given by him to ,evelyn's father-in-law1 ,sir ,richard ,browne4 ,the fly-leaf bears a ,latin inscription with this note3--,this is the ,booke which ,charles the ,first1 ,martyr beatus1 did use upon the ,scaffold1 ,,xxx ,jan41 #afdi1 being the ,day of his glorious martyrdom4 ,the exact course of the ,pilgrims' ,way here is uncertain4 ,after leaving ,shere church it disappears1 and we must climb a steep lane past ,gomshall station1 to find the track again on ,hackhurst ,downs4 ,the line of yews is to be seen at intervals all along these downs1 and as we descend into the valley of the ,mole1 opposite the heights of ,box ,hill1 we pass four venerable yew trees standing in a field by themselves4 ,one of the group was struck by lightning many years ago1 but still stretches its gaunt1 withered arms against the sky1 like some weather-beaten sign-post marking the way to ,canterbury4 ,illustration3 ,,box ,,hill ,,and ,,dorking ,,church ,,spire4 ,the town of ,dorking lies in the break here made in the chalk hills by the passage of the river ,mole2 ,milton's sullen ,mole that windeth underground1 or1 as ,spenser sings in his ,farie ,queen1-- ,mole1 that like a mousling mole doth make ,his way still underground1 till ,thames he overtake4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,white ,,horse1 ,,dorking4 ,the ,mole owes its fame to the fact that it is so seldom seen1 and several of the swallows or gullies into which it disappears at intervals along its chalky bed are at ,burford1 close to ,dorking4 ,the ponds which supplied the perch for that water-sousie which ,dutch merchants came to eat at ,dorking1 are still to be seen in the fields under ,redhill1 and near them many an old timbered house and mill-wheel well worth painting4 ,illustration3 ,,between ,,dorking ,,and ,,betchworth ,,looking ,,west4 ,to-day ,dorking is a quiet1 sleepy little place1 but its situation on the ,stane ,street1 the great ,roman road from ,chichester to ,london1 formerly made it a centre of considerable importance1 and the size and excellence of the old-fashioned inns still bear witness to its departed grandeur4 ,whether1 as seems most probable1 the old road ran under the wall of ,denbies ,park1 and across the gap now made by the ,dorking lime works1 or whether1 as the ,ordnance map indicates1 it crossed the breezy heights of ,ranmore ,common1 pilgrims to ,canterbury certainly crossed the ,mole at ,burford ,bridge about half a mile from the town4 ,the remains of an ancient shrine known as the ,pilgrims' ,chapel are still shown in ,westhumble ,lane4 ,the path itself bears the name of ,paternoster ,lane1 and the fields on either side are called the ,pray ,meadows4 ,from this point the path runs along under ,boxhill1 the steep down that rises abruptly on the eastern side of ,dorking1 and takes its name from the box-trees which here spring up so plentifully in the smooth green turf above the chalk4 ,boxhill is1 we all know1 one of the chief attractions which ,dorking offers to ,londoners4 ,the other is to be found in the fine parks of ,deepdene and ,betchworth1 immediately adjoining the town4 ,the famous gardens and art collections of ,deepdene1 and the noble lime avenue of ,betchworth1 which now forms part of the same estate1 have often been visited and described4 ,the house at ,deepdene is now closed to the public1 but the traveller can still stroll under the grand old trees on the river bank1 and enjoy a wealthy variety of forest scenery almost unrivalled in ,england4 ,a picturesque bridge over the ,mole leads back to the downs on the opposite side of the valley1 where the old track pursues its way along the lower slope of the hills1 often wending its course through ploughed fields and tangled thickets and disappearing altogether in places where chalk quarries and lime works have cut away the face of the down4 ,but on the whole the line of yews which mark the road is more regular between ,dorking and ,reigate than in its earlier course1 and at ,buckland1 a village two miles west of ,reigate1 a whole procession of these trees descends into the valley4 ,illustration3 ,,on ,,the ,,way ,,above ,,betchworth4 ,all this part of the road is rich in ,roman remains4 ,of these one of the most interesting was the building discovered in #ahge1 at ,colley ,farm1 in the parish of ,reigate1 just south of the ,way4 ,not only were several cinerary urns and fragments of ,roman pottery dug up1 but the walls of a ,roman building were found under those of the present farmhouse4 ,some twenty years ago a similar building was discovered at ,abinger1 also in the immediate vicinity of the track1 but unfortunately it was completely destroyed in the absence of the owner1 ,sir ,thomas ,farrer4 ,another ,roman house came to light in #ahac1 at ,bletchingley1 and one chamber1 which appeared to be a hypocaust1 was excavated at the time4 ,lastly1 considerable ,roman remains have been discovered and carefully excavated by ,mr4 ,leveson-,gower in the park at ,titsey4 ,of these the most important are a ,roman villa1 which was thoroughly excavated in #ahfd1 together with a group of larger buildings1 apparently the farm belonging to the ancient house4 ,these are only a few of the principal links in the chain of ,roman buildings which lie along the course of this ancient trackway1 and which all help to prove its importance as a thoroughfare at the time of the ,roman occupation4 ,another point of interest regarding this part of the ,pilgrims' ,way is its connection with ,john ,bunyan4 ,when his peculiar opinions and open-air preachings had brought him into trouble with the authorities1 he came to hide in these ,surrey hills1 and earned his living for some time as a travelling tinker4 ,two houses1 one at ,horn ,hatch1 on ,shalford ,common1 the other at ,quarry ,hill1 in ,guildford1 are still pointed out as having been inhabited by him at this time2 and a recent writer#aj has suggested that in all probability the recollections of ,pilgrimage days1 then fresh in the minds of the people1 first gave him the idea of his ,pilgrim's ,progress4 ,certainly more than one incident in the history of the road bears a close resemblance to the tale of ,christian's adventures4 ,thus1 for instance1 the swampy marshes at ,shalford may have been the ,slough of ,despond1 the blue ,surrey hills seen from the distance may well have seemed to him the ,delectable ,mountains1 and the name of ,doubting ,castle actually exists at a point of the road near ,box ,hill4 ,lastly1 the great fair at ,shalford corresponds exactly with ,bunyan's description of ,vanity ,fair1 no newly erected business1 but a thing of ancient standing1 where the ware of ,rome and her merchandise is greatly promoted 444 only our ,english nation have taken a dislike thereat4 ,in the days when ,bunyan wrote1 the annual fair had degenerated into a lawless and noisy assembly1 where little trade was done1 and much drinking and fighting and rude horseplay went on1 as he may have found to his cost4 ,the wares of ,rome1 in fact1 were commodities no longer in fashion1 and soon the fair itself came to an end and passed away1 like so many other things that had been called into being by the ,canterbury ,pilgrimage4 ,illustration3 ,,windmill ,,on ,,reigate ,,common4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,reigate ,,to ,,chevening ,although the town of ,reigate lies in the valley1 it certainly takes its name from the ,pilgrims' ,road to ,canterbury4 ,in ,domesday it is called ,cherchfelle1 and it is not till the latter part of the twelfth century that the comparatively modern name of ,rigegate1 the ,ridge ,road1 was applied1 first of all to the upper part of the parish1 and eventually to the whole town4 ,in those days a chapel dedicated to the memory of the blessed martyr1 ,st4 ,thomas1 stood at the east end of the long street1 on a site now occupied by a market-house1 built early in the last century1 and part of the ancient foundations of this pilgrimage shrine were brought to light when the adjoining prison was enlarged some eighty or ninety years back4 ,another chapel1 dedicated to ,st4 ,laurence the ,martyr1 stood farther down the street2 and a third1 the ,chapel of ,holy ,cross1 belonged to the ,augustine ,canons of the ,priory founded by ,william of ,warrenne1 ,earl of ,surrey1 in the thirteenth century4 ,in ,saxon days ,reigate1 or ,holm ,castle1 as it was then termed1 from its situation at the head of the valley of ,holmesdale1 was an important stronghold1 and the vigour and persistence with which the incursions of the ,danes were repelled by the inhabitants of this district gave rise to the rhyme quoted by ,camden-- ,the ,vale of ,holmesdale ,never wonne1 ne never shall4 ,illustration3 ,,reigate ,,common4 ,at the ,conquest the manor was granted to ,william of ,warrenne1 and from that time the castle became the most powerful fortress of the mighty ,earls of ,surrey4 ,in the days of ,john it shared the fate of ,guildford ,castle1 and was one of the strongholds which opened its gates to ,louis ,,viii41 ,king of ,france1 on his march from the ,kentish ,coast to ,winchester4 ,the ,fitzalans succeeded the ,warrennes in the possession of ,reigate1 and in the reign of ,edward ,,vi41 both the castle and the ,priory were granted to the ,howards of ,effingham4 ,queen ,elizabeth's ,lord ,high ,admiral1 the victor of the ,invincible ,armada1 lies buried in the vault under the chancel of ,reigate ,church4 ,in ,stuart times the castle gradually fell into decay1 until it was finally destroyed by order of ,parliament1 during the ,civil ,war1 lest it should fall into the ,king's hands4 ,now only the mound of the ancient keep remains1 and some spacious subterranean chambers which may have served as cellars or dungeons in ,norman times4 ,the ,priory has also been replaced by a modern house1 and is the property of ,lady ,henry ,somerset1 the representative of the ,earl ,somers1 to whom ,william ,,iii4 granted ,reigate in #afig4 ,reigate is frequently mentioned in ,cobbett's ,rural ,rides1 and it was the sight of the ,priory that set him moralising over monasteries and asking himself if1 instead of being1 as we take it for granted1 bad things1 they were not1 after all1 better than poor-rates1 and if the monks and nuns1 who fed the poor1 were not more to be commended than the rich pensioners of the ,state1 who feed upon the poor4 ,close to this ancient foundation is the hilly common known as ,reigate ,park1 a favourite haunt with artists1 who find endless subjects in the fern-grown dells and romantic hollows1 the clumps of thorn-trees with their gnarled stems and spreading boughs1 their wealth of wild flowers and berries4 ,the views over ,reigate itself and the ,priory grounds on one side1 and over the ,sussex ,weald on the other1 are very charming2 but a still finer prospect awaits us on the ,north ,downs on the opposite side of the valley1 where the ,pilgrims' ,road goes on its course4 ,the best way is to climb ,reigate ,hill as far as the suspension bridge1 and follow a path cut in the chalk to the summit of the ridge4 ,it leads through a beechwood on to the open downs1 where1 if the day is clear1 one of the finest views in the whole of ,england--in the whole world1 says ,cobbett--breaks upon us4 ,the ,weald of ,surrey and of ,sussex1 from the borders of ,hampshire to the ridge of ,east ,grinstead1 and ,crowborough ,beacon1 near ,tunbridge ,wells1 lies spread out at our feet4 ,eastward1 the eye ranges over the ,weald of ,kent and the heights above ,sevenoaks2 westward the purple ridge of ,leith ,hill and the familiar crest of ,hindhead meet us2 and far away to the south are the ,brighton downs and ,chanctonbury ,ring4 ,illustration3 ,,looking ,,east ,,from ,,gatton ,,park4 ,the line of yew trees appears again here1 and after keeping along the top of the ridge for about a mile1 the ,pilgrims' ,way enters ,gatton ,park1 and passing through the woods near ,lord ,oxenbridge's house1 joins the avenue that leads to ,merstham4 ,gatton itself1 which1 like ,reigate1 takes its name from the ,pilgrims' ,road--,saxon1 ,gatetun1 the town of the road--was chiefly famous for the electoral privileges which it so long enjoyed4 ,from the time of ,henry ,,vi4 until the ,reform ,bill of #ahcb1 this very small borough returned two members to ,parliament4 ,in the reign of ,henry ,,viii4 ,sir ,roger ,copley is described as the burgess and sole inhabitant of the borough and town of ,gatton1 and for many years the constituency consisted of one person1 the lord of the manor4 ,at the beginning of the present century there were only eight houses in the whole parish1 a fact which naturally roused the ire of ,william ,cobbett4 ,before you descend the hill to go into ,reigate1 he writes in one of his ,rural ,rides1 you pass ,gatton1 which is a very rascally spot of earth4 ,and when rainy weather detained him a whole day at ,reigate1 he moralises in this vein--,in one rotten borough1 one the most rotten too1 and with another still more rotten up upon the hill1 in ,reigate and close by ,gatton1 how can ,i help reflecting1 how can my mind be otherwise than filled with reflections on the marvellous deeds of the collective wisdom of the nation8 ,these privileges doubled the value of the property1 and when ,lord ,monson bought ,gatton ,park in #ahcj1 he paid a hundred thousand pounds for the place2 but the days of close boroughs were already numbered1 and less than two years afterwards the ,reform ,bill deprived ,gatton of both its members4 ,the little town hall of ,gatton1 where the important ceremony of electing two representatives to serve in ,parliament was performed1 is still standing1 an interesting relic of bygone days1 on a mound in the park1 almost hidden by large chestnut trees4 ,illustration3 ,,gatton ,,town ,,hall4 ,gatton ,house is chiefly remarkable for the marble hall built by the same ,lord ,monson in imitation of the ,orsini ,chapel at ,rome1 and adorned with rich marbles which he had brought from ,italy4 ,the collection of pictures1 formed by the same nobleman1 contains several good ,dutch and ,italian pictures1 including the ,vierge au bas-relief1 a graceful ,holy ,family1 which takes its name from a small carved tablet in the background4 ,it was long held to be an early work by the great ,leonardo da ,vinci1 and was purchased by ,lord ,monson of ,mr4 ,woodburn for #d1jjj1 but is now generally attributed to his pupil1 ,cesare da ,sesto4 ,like so many of the churches we have already mentioned1 like ,seale and ,wanborough1 and the chapels of ,st4 ,katherine and ,st4 ,martha1 like the old church at ,titsey and the present one at ,chevening1 ,gatton was originally a ,pilgrims' church4 ,now it has little that is old to show1 for it was restored by ,lord ,monson in #ahca1 and adorned with a variety of treasures from all parts of the ,continent4 ,the stained glass comes from the monastery of ,aerschot1 near ,louvain1 the altar-rails from ,tongres1 the finely carved choir-stalls and canopies from ,ghent1 and the altar and pulpit from ,nuremberg4 ,like most of the medival wood-work and glass which has come to ,england from that ,quaint old town of toil and traffic1 ,quaint old town of art and song1 these last are said to have been designed by the great master of the ,franconian city1 ,albert ,drer4 ,illustration3 ,,merstham ,,church4 ,the ,pilgrims' ,way1 as has been already said1 runs through ,gatton ,park1 and brings us out close to ,merstham1 and through lanes shaded with fine oaks and beeches we reach the pretty little village1 with its old timbered cottages and still older church buried in the woods4 ,local writers of the last century frequently allude to the ,pilgrims' ,road as passing through this parish1 although its exact course is not easy to trace4 ,it seems1 however1 certain that the track passed near ,lord ,hylton's house1 and south of the church1 which stands close by4 ,in medival times1 ,merstham formed part of the vast estates held by the monks of ,christ ,church1 ,canterbury1 and was bestowed upon them by ,athelstan1 a son of ,ethelred the ,unready1 in the tenth century4 ,there was a church here at the time of the ,norman ,conquest1 but the only portion of the present building dating from that period is a fine old square ,norman font which1 like several others in the neighbourhood1 is of ,sussex marble4 ,of later date1 there is much that is extremely interesting4 ,the tower and the west door are ,early ,english1 and the chancel arch is adorned with curious acanthus-leaf mouldings1 while the porch and chancel are ,late ,perpendicular4 ,after passing ,merstham ,church the track is lost in a medley of roads and railway cuttings1 but soon the line of yews appears again1 climbing the crest of the hill1 and can be followed for some distance along ,white ,hill1 or ,quarry ,hangers1 as these downs are commonly called4 ,the next object of interest which it passes is the ,war ,camp1 or ,cardinal's ,cap1 as it is sometimes termed1 an old ,british earthwork on the face of the chalk escarpment4 ,then the path turns into a wood1 and we leave it to descend on ,godstone4 ,this is a fascinating spot for artists4 ,the low irregular houses are grouped round a spacious green and goose-pond1 shaded by fine horse-chestnuts1 and there is a charming inn1 the ,white ,hart or ,clayton ,arms1 with gabled front and large bay-windows of the good old-fashioned type4 ,a beautiful village1 wrote ,cobbett1 ninety years ago1 chiefly of one street1 with a fine large green before it1 and with a pond in the green2 and he goes on to speak of the neatness of the gardens and of the double violets1 as large as small pinks1 which grew in the garden of this same inn1 and of which the landlady was good enough to give some roots4 ,happily for his peace of mind1 he adds1 ,the vile rotten borough of ,bletchingley1 which lies under the downs close by1 is out of sight4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,white ,,hart1 ,,godstone4 ,illustration3 ,,old ,,house ,,in ,,oxted4 ,from ,godstone it is a pleasant walk over the open commons1 along the top of the ridge1 looking over the ,weald of ,sussex and across the valleys of ,sevenoaks and ,tunbridge to the ,kentish hills4 ,once more we track the line of the ,pilgrims' ,way as it emerges from the woods above the ,godstone quarries and1 passing under ,winder's ,hill and by ,marden ,park1 reaches a wood called ,palmers ,wood4 ,the name is significant1 more especially since there is no record of any owner who bore that name4 ,here its course is very clearly defined1 and when1 in the autumn of #ahij1 pipes for carrying water out of the hill were laid down1 a section of the old paved road was cut across4 ,a little farther on1 at ,limpsfield ,lodge ,farm1 just on the edge of ,titsey park1 it formed the farm road till #ahge4 ,at this point the path was ten feet wide1 and the original hedges remained4 ,before entering the park of ,titsey1 the way runs through part of ,oxted parish1 where a spring still bears the name of ,st4 ,thomas's ,well1 and then reaches ,titsey ,place4 ,illustration3 ,,oxted ,,church4 ,few places in this part of ,surrey are more attractive than this old home of the ,greshams4 ,the purity of the air1 praised by ,aubrey long ago for its sweet1 delicate1 and wholesome virtues1 the health-giving breezes of the surrounding downs and commons1 the natural loveliness of the place1 and the taste with which the park and gardens have been laid out1 all help to make ,titsey a most delightful spot4 ,its beautiful woods stretch along the grassy slopes of ,botley ,hill1 and the clump of trees on the heights known as ,cold-harbour ,green is #hha feet above the sea1 and marks the loftiest point in the whole range of the ,north ,downs4 ,wherever the eye rests1 one ridge of wooded hill after the other seems to rise and melt away into the soft blue haze4 ,nor is there any lack of other attractions to invite the attention of scholar and antiquary4 ,the place is full of historic associations4 ,a whole wealth of antiquities1 coins1 urns1 and pottery1 have been dug up in the park1 and some remains of ,roman buildings were discovered there a few years ago1 close to the ,pilgrims' ,way4 ,after the conquest ,titsey was given to the great ,earls of ,clare1 who owned the property at the time of the ,domesday ,survey4 ,in the fourteenth century it belonged to the ,uvedale family1 and two hundred years later was sold to ,sir ,john ,gresham1 an uncle of ,sir ,thomas ,gresham1 the illustrious merchant of ,queen ,elizabeth's court1 and the founder of the ,royal ,exchange4 ,a fine portrait of ,sir ,thomas himself1 by ,antonio ,more1 now hangs in the library of ,titsey ,place4 ,unfortunately the ,greshams suffered for their loyalty to ,charles ,i41 and after the death of the second ,sir ,marmaduke ,gresham in #agdb1 a large part of the property was sold4 ,his son1 ,sir ,john1 succeeded in partly retrieving the fortunes of the family1 and rebuilt and enlarged the old manor-house1 which had been allowed to fall into a ruinous state4 ,but the ,tudor arches of the east wing still remain1 as well as much of the fine oak panelling which adorned its walls2 and the crest of the ,greshams1 a grasshopper1 may still be seen in the hall chimney-piece4 ,the present owner1 ,mr4 ,leveson-,gower1 is a lineal descendant of the last baronet1 and inherited ,titsey from his great-grandmother ,katherine1 the heiress of the ,greshams4 ,the fourteenth-century church was unluckily pulled down a hundred years ago1 because ,sir ,john ,gresham thought it stood too near his own house1 but an old yew in the garden and some tombstones of early ,norman date still mark its site4 ,the course of the ,pilgrims' ,way through the ,park is clearly marked by a double row of fine ash trees1 and the flint stones with which the road itself is paved may still be seen under the turf4 ,further along the road is a very old farmhouse1 which was formerly a hostelry1 and still bears the name of the ,pilgrims' ,lodge4 ,from ,titsey the ,way runs along the side of the hills1 under ,tatsfield ,church1 which stands on the summit of the ridge1 and about a mile above the pretty little towns of ,westerham and ,brasted4 ,here the boundary of the counties is crossed1 and the traveller enters ,kent4 ,soon we reach the gates of ,chevening ,park1 where1 as at ,titsey1 the ,pilgrims' ,way formerly passed very near the house1 until it was closed by ,act of ,parliament in #aghj4 ,illustration3 ,,brasted4 ,the manor of ,chevening1 originally the property of the ,see of ,canterbury1 was held in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the family of ,chevening1 from whence it passed to the ,lennards1 who became ,barons ,dacre and ,earls of ,sussex4 ,in the last century it was bought by ,general ,stanhope1 the distinguished soldier and statesman1 who1 after reducing the island of ,minorca1 served ,king ,george ,i4 successively as ,secretary of ,state and ,first ,lord of the ,treasury4 ,inigo ,jones built the house for ,richard ,lennard1 ,lord ,dacre1 early in the seventeenth century1 but since then it has undergone such extensive alterations that little of the original structure remains1 and the chief interest lies in a valuable collection of historical portraits1 including those of the ,chesterfields1 ,stanhopes1 and the great ,lord ,chatham4 ,the last-named statesman1 whose daughter ,hester married ,charles1 ,lord ,stanhope1 in #aggd1 was a frequent visitor at ,chevening1 and is said to have planned the beautiful drive which leads through the woods north of the house to the top of the downs4 ,the little village of ,chevening lies on the other side of the park1 just outside ,lord ,stanhope's gates and close to the old church of ,st4 ,botolph1 which was one of the shrines frequented by the pilgrims on their way to ,canterbury4 ,there are some good ,early ,english arches in the nave and chancel1 and a western tower of ,perpendicular date4 ,the south chapel contains many imposing sepulchral monuments to the different lords of the manor4 ,amongst them are those of ,john ,lennard1 who was sheriff of the county and held several offices under the crown in the reigns of ,henry ,,viii4 and ,elizabeth1 and of his son ,sampson1 who with his wife ,margaret1 ,lady ,dacre in her own right1 reposes under a sumptuous canopy of alabaster surrounded by kneeling effigies of their children4 ,there is also a fine black marble monument to the memory of ,james1 ,earl of ,stanhope1 the prime minister of ,george ,i41 who was buried here with great pomp in #agba4 ,he was actually in office at the time of his death1 and was taken ill in the ,house of ,lords1 and breathed his last the next day4 ,but the most beautiful tomb here is ,chantrey's effigy of ,lady ,frederica ,stanhope sleeping with her babe in her arms1 and an expression of deep content and peace upon her quiet face4 ,illustration3 ,,chevening ,,church4 ,storms may rush in1 and crimes and woes ,deform the quiet bower2 ,they may not mar the deep repose ,of that immortal flower4 ,illustration3 ,,otford ,,church4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,otford ,,to ,,wrotham ,we have followed the ,pilgrims' ,way over ,hampshire ,downs and ,surrey hills and commons1 through the woods which ,evelyn planted1 and along the ridge where ,cobbett rode4 ,we have seen the track become overgrown with tangled shrubs and underwood1 and disappear altogether in places4 ,we have lost the road at one point in the fields1 to find it again half a mile further2 we have noted the regular lines of yews climbing up the hill-side1 and the lonely survivors which are left standing bare and desolate in the middle of the corn-fields4 ,the part of the ancient road on which we are now entering differs in several important respects from its earlier course4 ,from the time the ,pilgrims' ,way enters ,kent its track is clearly marked4 ,already we have followed its line through ,titsey and along the downs as far as ,chevening1 where the path1 now closed1 may be traced through ,lord ,stanhope's ,park4 ,a group of magnificent old yew trees arrests our attention just beyond ,chevening1 before the road from ,sevenoaks to ,bromley is crossed4 ,then the ,way descends into the valley of the ,darent1 an excellent trout-stream which flows north through this chalk district to join the ,thames near ,dartford1 and after crossing the ford over that river1 regains the hills at ,otford4 ,from this place it runs along under the hill in one unbroken line all the way to ,eastwell ,park1 between ,ashford and ,canterbury4 ,it is a good bridle-way1 somewhat grass-grown in places1 in others enclosed by hedges1 and still used by farmers for their carts4 ,before toll-bars were abolished there was a good deal of traffic along this part of the ,pilgrims' ,road1 which1 running as it does parallel with the turnpike road along the valley to ,ashford1 was much used as a means of evading the payment of toll4 ,this cause is now removed1 and excepting for an occasional hunting-man who makes use of the soft track along the hill-side1 or a camp of gipsies sitting round their fire1 waggoners and ploughmen are the only wayfarers to be met with along the ,pilgrims' ,road4 ,but the old name still clings to the track1 and as long as the squires of ,kent have any respect for the traditions of the past1 any particle of historic sense remaining1 they will not allow the ,pilgrims' ,way to be wiped out4 ,in actual beauty of scenery this portion of the ,way may not equal the former part4 ,we miss the wild loveliness of ,surrey commons1 the rare picturesqueness of the rolling downs round ,guildford and ,dorking1 but this ,kentish land has a charm of its own1 which grows upon you the longer you know it4 ,these steep slopes and wooded hollows1 these grand old church towers and quaint village streets1 these homesteads with their vast barns of massive timber and tall chimney-stacks overshadowed with oaks and beeches1 cannot fail to delight the eyes of all who find pleasure in rural scenes4 ,and all along our way we have that noble prospect over the wide plains of the dim blue ,weald1 which is seldom absent from our eyes1 as we follow this narrow track up and down the rugged hill-side4 ,in historic interest and precious memorials of the past1 this part of the ,pilgrims' ,way1 we need hardly say1 is surpassingly rich4 ,endless are the great names and stirring events which these scenes recall3 battlefields where memorable fights were fought in days long ago1 churches and lands that were granted to the ,archbishops or ,abbots of ,canterbury before the ,conquest1 manor-houses which our kings and queens have honoured with their presence in the days of yore4 ,all these things1 and many more of equal interest and renown1 will the traveller find as he follows the ,pilgrims' ,way along the chalk hills which form the backbone of ,kent4 ,the first resting-place which the pilgrims would find on this part of their route would be the ,archbishop's manor-house at ,otford4 ,there were no less than fifteen of these episcopal residences in different parts of ,kent1 ,surrey1 and ,sussex1 and of these1 three lay along the ,kentish portion of the ,pilgrims' ,way4 ,the palace at ,otford possessed an especial sanctity in the eyes of wayfarers journeying to the shrine of ,st4 ,thomas1 as having been a favourite residence of the martyred ,archbishop himself4 ,the manor was originally granted to the ,see of ,canterbury in #gia1 by ,offa1 king of ,mercia1 who defeated ,aldric1 king of ,kent1 at ,otford in #ggc1 and conquered almost the whole province4 ,more than two hundred years later1 ,otford was the scene of another battle1 in which ,edmund ,ironside defeated the ,danes under ,knut1 and to this day bones are dug up in the meadow which bears the name of ,danefield4 ,from the tenth century the ,archbishops had a house here1 and ,otford is described in the ,domesday ,survey as ,terra ,archiepi ,cantuariensis4 ,so it remained until ,cranmer surrendered the palace1 with many other of his possessions1 to ,henry ,,viii4 ,the medival ,archbishops seem to have had an especial affection for ,otford1 and spent much of their time at this pleasant country seat4 ,archbishop ,winchelsea entertained ,edward ,i4 in #acjj1 and was living here at the time of his death thirteen years later1 when his remains were borne by the ,king's command to ,canterbury1 and buried there with great state4 ,simon ,islip enclosed the park1 and ,archbishop ,deane repaired the walls2 but the whole was rebuilt on a grander scale by ,warham1 who spent upwards of thirty thousand pounds upon the house1 and received ,henry ,,viii4 here several times in the first years of his reign4 ,after ,otford had become ,crown property1 the ,archbishop's manor-house passed into the hands of the ,sydneys and ,smyths1 who dismantled the castle1 as it was then commonly called1 and allowed the walls to fall into ruin4 ,two massive octagonal towers of three stories1 with double square-headed windows1 and a fragment of a cloister1 now used as farm stables1 are the only portions remaining4 ,these evidently formed part of the outer court1 and are good specimens of fifteenth-century brickwork4 ,the tower was considerably higher a hundred years ago1 and ,hasted describes the ruins as covering nearly an acre of ground4 ,the stones of the structure were largely used in the neighbouring buildings1 and the ,bull ,inn contains a good deal of fine oak wainscoting1 and several handsome carved mantelpieces1 which originally belonged to the castle4 ,two heads in profile1 carved in oak over one of the fireplaces1 are said to represent ,henry ,,viii4 and ,katherine of ,aragon4 ,a bath1 or chamber1 paved and lined with stone1 about thirty feet long1 and ten or twelve feet deep1 not far from the ruins1 still bears the name of ,becket's ,well4 ,tradition ascribes the birth of the spring which supplies it to ,st4 ,thomas1 who1 finding no water at ,otford1 struck the hill-side with his staff1 and at once brought forth a clear stream1 which since then has never been known to fail4 ,another legend tells how the ,saint one day1 being busie at his prayers in the garden at ,otford1 was much disturbed by the sweete note and melodie of a nightingale that sang in a bush beside him1 and in the might of his holinesse commanded all birds of this kind to be henceforth silent1 after which the nightingale was never heard at ,otford4 ,but with the decay of the palace and the departure of the ,archbishops1 the spell was broken2 and the ,protestant ,lambarde1 when he was at ,otford1 takes pleasure in recording how many nightingales he heard singing thereabouts4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,porch1 ,,kemsing ,,church4 ,from ,otford the ,pilgrims' ,way runs along the edge of the hills about half a mile above the villages of ,kemsing and ,wrotham1 and passes close to ,st4 ,clere1 a mansion built by ,inigo ,jones1 where ,mrs4 ,boscawen1 the witty correspondent of ,mrs4 ,delany and the friend of ,johnson and ,boswell1 was born4 ,kemsing still retains its old church and well1 both consecrated to the memory of the ,saxon ,princess1 ,st4 ,edith1 whose image in the churchyard was1 during centuries1 the object of the peasants' devout veneration4 ,some seelie bodie1 writes ,lambarde1 who visited these shrines in ,queen ,elizabeth's reign1 and delights in pouring contempt on the old traditions of these country shrines1 brought a peche or two1 or a bushelle of corne1 to the churche after praiers made1 offered it to the image of the saint4 ,of this offering the priest used to toll the greatest portion1 and then to take one handful or little more of the residue 7for you must consider he woulde bee sure to gaine by the bargaine71 the which1 after aspersion of holy water and the mumbling of a fewe words of conjuration1 he first dedicated to the image of ,saint ,edith1 and then delivered it backe to the partie that brought it2 who departed with full persuasion that if he mingled that hallowed handfull with his seede corne1 it would preserve from harme and prosper in growthe the whole heape that he should sowe1 were it never so great a stacke4 ,illustration3 ,,wrotham ,,church4 ,wrotham was the site of another of the ,archbishops' manor-houses1 and rivalled ,otford in antiquity1 having been granted to the ,see of ,canterbury by ,athelstan in #ifd4 ,wrotham was never as favourite a residence with the ,archbishops as ,otford1 but they stopped here frequently on their progresses through ,kent1 until1 in the fourteenth century1 ,simon ,islip pulled down the house to supply materials for the building of his new palace at ,maidstone4 ,a terrace and some scanty remains of the offices are the only fragments now to be seen at ,wrotham1 but the charming situation of the village in the midst of luxuriant woods1 and the beauty of the view over the ,weald from ,wrotham ,hill1 attract many visitors4 ,the church has several features of architectural interest1 including a handsome rood-screen of the fourteenth century1 and a watching-chamber over the chancel1 as well as a curious archway under the tower1 which was probably used as a passage for processions from the ,palace4 ,it contains many tombs and brasses1 chiefly of the ,peckham family1 who held the manor of ,yaldham in this parish for upwards of five hundred years4 ,below the church is ,wrotham ,place1 a fine old ,tudor house with a corridor and rooms of the fifteenth century1 and a charming garden front bearing the date #aefj4 ,fairlawn1 the ancestral home of the ,vanes1 also lies in a corner of ,wrotham parish1 and a terrace1 bordered with close-clipped yew hedges1 and surrounded by sunny lawns1 where peacocks spread their tails over the grass1 is still pointed out as a favourite walk of that stout old regicide1 ,sir ,harry ,vane4 ,ightham1 with its famous ,mote1 so perfect a picture of an old ,english house1 is close by1 within a walk of ,wrotham station1 but lies1 unluckily1 on the opposite side from the line of hills along which our path takes us4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,mote1 ,,ightham ,illustration3 ,,wrotham1 ,,looking ,,south4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,wrotham ,,to ,,hollingbourne ,the ,pilgrims' ,way continues its course over ,wrotham ,hill and along the side of the chalk downs4 ,this part of the track is a good bridle road1 with low grass banks or else hedges on either side1 and commands fine views over the rich ,kentish plains1 the broad valley of the ,medway1 and the hills on the opposite shore4 ,the river itself glitters in the sun1 but as we draw nearer the beauty of the prospect is sorely marred by the ugly chimneys and dense smoke of the ,snodland limestone works4 ,at one point on the downs1 close to the ,vigo ,inn1 a few hundred yards above our road1 there is a very extensive view over the valley of the ,thames1 ranging from ,shooters' ,hill to ,gravesend1 and far away out to sea4 ,in the daytime the masts of the shipping in the river are clearly seen4 ,at night the ,nore lights twinkle like stars in the distance4 ,the height of these downs is close on #gjj feet1 that of ,knockholt is #ghc feet4 ,on the other side of the ,medway the chalk range is considerably lower1 and the highest points are above ,detling1 #feg feet1 ,hollingbourne1 #fjf feet1 and ,charing1 #fdj feet4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,bull1 ,,wrotham4 ,the ,way now runs past ,pilgrims' house1 formerly the ,kentish ,drovers' ,inn1 above the old church and village of ,trottescliffe 7,trosley7 and the megalithic stones known as ,coldrum circle1 one of the best preserved cromlechs along the road4 ,further on a short lane leads south to ,birling ,place1 the ancient home of the ,nevills1 who have owned the estate since the middle of the fifteenth century1 while in a group of old farm buildings at ,paddlesworth 7formerly ,paulsford7 we find the remains of a ,norman ,pilgrims' ,chapel1 with a fine ,early ,english arch4 ,the track now crosses a large field and enters ,snodland1 an old town containing many ,roman remains1 and an interesting church1 but sadly disfigured by cement works and paper factories4 ,illustration3 ,,trottescliffe4 ,here the pilgrims left the hills to descend into the valley below4 ,twice before1 at ,shalford and ,dorking1 they had crossed the rivers which make their way through the chalk range2 now they had reached the third great break in the downs1 and the broad stream of the ,medway lay at their feet4 ,they might1 if they pleased1 go on to ,rochester1 three miles higher up1 and join the road taken by the ,london pilgrims along the ,watling ,street to ,canterbury--the route of ,chaucer's pilgrimage4 ,but most of them1 it appears1 preferred to follow the hills to which they had clung so long4 ,illustration3 ,,ford ,,place1 ,,near ,,wrotham4 ,the exact point where they crossed the river has been often disputed4 ,according to the old maps it was by the ford at ,cuxton1 where the river was shallow enough to allow of their passage4 ,from ,bunker's ,farm1 immediately above ,birling1 a road diverges northwards to ,cuxton and ,rochester1 and was certainly used by many of the pilgrims4 ,at ,upper ,halling1 on this track1 we may still see the lancet windows of a pilgrims' shrine formerly dedicated to ,st4 ,laurence1 which have been built into some cottages known as ,chapel houses4 ,the ,bishops of ,rochester1 who held this manor from ,egbert's days1 had a right fair house at ,lower ,halling1 on the banks of the ,medway1 with a vineyard which produced grapes for ,king ,henry ,,iii4's table4 ,this pleasant manor-house on the river was the favourite summer residence of ,bishop ,hamo de ,hethe1 who built a new hall and chapel in the reign of ,edward ,i41 and placed his own statue on a gateway which was still standing in the eighteenth century4 ,another interesting house1 ,whorne ,place1 lies a little higher up1 on the banks of the ,medway1 where the grass-grown track leading from ,bunker's ,farm joins the main road to ,cuxton and ,rochester4 ,this fine brick mansion formerly belonged to the ,levesons1 and the quarterings of ,sir ,john ,leveson and his two wives are to be seen above the central porch4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,friary1 ,,aylesford4 ,in the thirteenth century a great number of pilgrims seem to have stopped at ,maidstone1 where1 in #abfa1 ,archbishop ,boniface built a hospital for their reception on the banks of the ,medway4 ,the funds which supported this hospital1 the ,newark--,new-work1 ,novi operis1 as it was called--were diverted by ,archbishop ,courtenay1 a hundred and forty years later1 to the maintenance of his new college of ,all ,saints1 on the opposite side of the river1 but a remnant of the older foundation is still preserved in the beautiful ,early ,english ,chancel of ,st4 ,peter's ,church1 which was originally attached to ,boniface's hospital1 and is still known as the ,pilgrims' ,chapel4 ,by the time that ,archbishop ,courtenay founded his college1 the stream of pilgrims had greatly diminished1 and the hostel which had been intended for their resting-place was rapidly sinking into a common almshouse4 ,maidstone1 too1 no doubt1 lay considerably out of the pilgrims' course1 and the great majority naturally preferred to cross the ,medway by the ferry at ,snodland4 ,others again might choose ,aylesford1 which lay a mile or two below4 ,at this ancient town1 the ,eglesford of the ,saxon ,chronicle1 there was a stone bridge across the river1 and a ,carmelite ,priory founded in #abdj by ,richard de ,grey1 on his return from the ,crusades1 where the pilgrims would be sure to find shelter4 ,but even if they did not cross the ,medway at this place1 where the old church stands so picturesquely on its high bank overhanging river and red roofs1 the pilgrims certainly passed through the parish of ,aylesford4 ,for on the opposite banks of the ferry at ,snodland the familiar line of yew trees appears again1 ascending the hill by ,burham church1 and runs through the upper part of ,aylesford parish1 close to the famous dolmen of ,kits ,coty ,house4 ,this most interesting sepulchral monument1 ,kd-coit--,celtic for the ,tomb in the ,wood--consists of three upright blocks of sandstone about eight feet high and eight feet broad1 with a covering stone of eleven feet which forms the roof1 and is one of a group of similar remains which lie scattered over the hill-side and are locally known as the ,countless ,stones4 ,we have here1 in fact1 a great cemetery of the ,druids which once extended for many miles on both sides of the river4 ,deep pits dug out in the chalk1 filled with flints and covered with slabs of stone1 have been discovered on ,aylesford ,common1 and a whole avenue of stones formerly connected this burial place with the cromlechs at ,addington1 six miles off4 ,here1 if the old legend be true1 was fought the great battle which decided the fate of ,britain1 and gave ,england into the hands of the ,english4 ,for at this place1 the old chroniclers say1 about the year #dee1 the ,saxon invaders stopped on their march to the ,castle of ,rochester1 and turning southwards met the ,britons in that deadly fray1 when both ,kentigern and ,horsa were left dead on the field of battle4 ,ancient military entrenchments are still visible on the hill-side near ,kits ,coty ,house1 and a boulder on the top was long pointed out as the stone on which ,hengist was proclaimed the first king of ,kent4 ,about a mile from this memorable spot1 in the plains at the foot of the downs1 was a shrine which no pilgrim of medival days would leave unvisited1 the ,cistercian ,abbey of ,boxley1 then generally known as the ,abbatia ,s4 ,crucis de ,gracias1 the ,abbey of the ,holy ,rood of ,grace4 ,illustration3 ,,aylesford ,,bridge ,illustration3 ,,kits ,,coty ,,house4 ,not only was ,boxley1 next to ,waverley ,abbey1 the oldest ,cistercian house founded on this side of the ,channel1 the filia propria of the great house of ,clairvaux1 but the convent church rejoiced in the possession of two of the most celebrated wonder-working relics in all ,england4 ,there was the image of ,st4 ,rumbold1 that infant child of a ,saxon prince who proclaimed himself a ,christian the moment of his birth1 and after three days spent in edifying his pagan hearers1 departed this life4 ,this image could only be lifted by the pure and good1 and having a hidden spring1 which could be worked by the hands or feet of the monks1 was chiefly influenced by the amount of the coin that was paid into their hands4 ,and there was that still greater marvel1 the miraculous ,rood1 or winking image1 a wooden crucifix which rolled its eyes and moved its lips in response to the devotees who crowded from all parts of ,england to see the wondrous sight4 ,the clever mechanism of this image1 said to have been invented by an ,english prisoner during his captivity in ,france1 was exposed by ,henry ,,viii4's commissioners in #aech1 who discovered certayn ingyns of old wyer with olde roten stykkes in the back of the same1 and showed them to the people of ,maidstone on market-day1 after which the ,rood of ,grace was taken to ,london and solemnly broken in pieces at ,paul's ,cross4 ,the ,abbey of ,boxley owned vast lands1 and the ,abbots were frequently summoned to ,parliament1 and lived in great state4 ,among the royal guests whom they entertained was ,king ,edward ,,ii41 whose visit was made memorable by the letter which he addressed from ,boxley ,abbey to the ,aldermen of the ,city of ,london1 granting them the right of electing a ,lord ,mayor4 ,at one time their extravagance brought them to the verge of ruin1 as we learn from a letter which ,archbishop ,warham addressed to ,cardinal ,wolsey2 but at the dissolution the ,commissioners could find no cause of complaint against the monks1 excepting the profusion of flowers in the convent garden1 which made them comment on the waste of turning the rents of the monastery into gillyflowers and roses4 ,the foundations of the church where the ,cistercians showed off their sotelties may still be traced in the gardens of the house built by ,sir ,thomas ,wyatt on the site of the abbey4 ,here some precious fragments of the ruins are still preserved4 ,the chapel of ,st4 ,andrew1 which stood near the great gateway1 has been turned into cottages1 and the noble guesten-house1 where strangers were lodged1 is now a barn4 ,the old wall remains to show the once vast extent of the ,abbey precincts4 ,now these grey stones are mantled with thick bushes of ivy1 and a fine clump of elm trees overshadows the red-tiled roof of the ancient guest-house in the meadows1 but we look in vain for poor ,abbot ,john's gillyflowers and roses4 ,illustration3 ,,looking ,,west ,,from ,,above ,,boxley ,,abbey4 ,between ,boxley ,abbey and ,maidstone stretches the wide common of ,penenden ,heath1 famous from time immemorial as the place where all great county meetings were held4 ,here the ,saxons held their gemotes1 and here in #ajgf1 was that memorable assembly before which ,lanfranc pleaded the cause of the ,church of ,canterbury against ,odo1 ,bishop of ,bayeux1 ,earl of ,kent1 the ,conqueror's half-brother1 who had defrauded ,christ ,church of her rights1 and laid violent hands on many of her manors and lands4 ,not only were the ,kentish nobles and bishops summoned to try the cause1 but barons and distinguished ecclesiastics1 and many men of great and good account1 from all parts of ,england and ,normandy1 were present that day4 ,godfrey1 ,bishop of ,coutances1 represented the ,king1 and ,agelric1 the aged ,bishop of ,chester1 an ancient man well versed in the laws and customs of the realm1 was brought there in a chariot by the ,king's express command4 ,three days the trial lasted1 during which ,lanfranc pleaded his cause so well against the rapacious ,norman that the see of ,canterbury recovered its former possessions1 and saw its liberties firmly established4 ,the village and church of ,boxley 7,bose-leu in ,domesday71 so called from the box trees that grow freely along the downs1 as at ,box ,hill1 are about a mile and a half beyond the ,abbey1 and lie on the sloping ground at the foot of the hills1 close to the ,pilgrims' ,way4 ,old houses and timbered barns1 with lofty gables and irregular roofs1 are grouped round the church1 which is itself as picturesque an object as any1 with its massive towers and curious old red-tiled ,galilee porch4 ,next we reach ,detling1 a small village1 prettily situated on the slope of the hills1 with a church containing a rare specimen of medival wood-work in the shape of a carved oak reading-desk1 enriched with pierced tracery of the ,decorated period4 ,we pass ,thurnham1 with the foundations of its ,saxon castle high up on the downs1 and then enter ,hollingbourne4 ,as ,boxley reminds us of the box trees on the hill-side1 and ,thurnham of the thorn trees in the wood1 so ,hollingbourne owes its name to the hollies on the burn or stream which runs through the parish4 ,william ,cobbett1 whose memory has followed us all the way from the ,itchen valley1 describes how he rode over ,hollingbourne ,hill on his return from ,dover to the ,wen1 and from the summit of that down1 one of the highest in this neighbourhood1 looked down over the fair ,kentish land1 which in its richness and beauty seemed to him another ,garden of ,eden4 ,illustration3 ,,cottage ,,at ,,boarley1 ,,near ,,boxley ,,chapter ,x ,,hollingbourne ,,to ,,lenham ,the village of ,hollingbourne lies at the foot of the hill1 and an old inn at the corner of the ,pilgrims' ,road1 now called the ,king's ,head1 was formerly known by the name of the ,pilgrims' ,rest4 ,the history of ,hollingbourne is full of interest4 ,the manor was granted to the church at ,canterbury1 for the support of the monks1 by young ,athelstan1 the son of thelred ,,ii41 in the year #ihj1 and was retained by the monastery when ,lanfranc divided the lands belonging to ,christ ,church between the priory and the see4 ,it is described in ,domesday as ,terra ,monachorum ,archiepi1 the land of the monk and the ,archbishop2 in later records as ,manorium ,monachorum et de cibo eorum1 a manor of the monks and for their food4 ,the ,priors of ,christ ,church held their courts here1 and the convent records tell us that ,prior ,william ,sellyng greatly improved the ,priory rooms at ,hollingbourne4 ,their residence probably occupied the site of the present manor-house4 ,this handsome red-brick building1 rich in gables and mullions1 in oak panelling and secret hiding-places1 was built in ,queen ,elizabeth's reign by the great ,kentish family of the ,culpepers1 who at that time owned most of the parish4 ,more than one fragment of the earlier house1 encased in the ,elizabethan building1 has been brought to light1 and a pointed stone archway of the thirteenth century1 and an old fireplace with herring-bone brickwork1 have lately been discovered4 ,many are the interesting traditions which belong to this delightful old manor-house4 ,the yews in the garden are said to have been planted by ,queen ,elizabeth on one of her royal progresses through ,kent1 when she stayed at ,leeds ,castle1 and was the guest of ,sir ,henry ,wotton at ,boughton ,malherbe4 ,according to another very old local tradition1 ,katherine ,howard1 whose mother was a ,culpeper1 spent some years here as a girl1 and the ghost of that unhappy queen is said to haunt one of the upper chambers of the house4 ,another room1 called the ,needle-,room1 was occupied during the ,commonwealth by the daughters of that faithful loyalist1 ,john ,lord ,culpeper1 ,frances1 ,judith1 and ,philippa1 who employed the weary years of their father's exile in embroidering a gorgeous altar-cloth and hangings1 which they presented to the parish church on the happy day when the king came back to enjoy his own again4 ,the tapestries1 worked by the same deft fingers1 which once adorned the chambers of the manor-house1 are gone1 and the hangings of the reading-desk in the church have been cut up into a frontal1 but the altar-cloth remains absolutely intact1 and is one of the finest pieces of embroidery of the kind in ,england4 ,both design and colouring are of the highest beauty4 ,on a ground of violet velvet1 bordered with a frieze of cherub heads1 we see the twelve mystic fruits of the ,tree of ,life--the grape1 orange1 cherry1 apple1 plum1 pear1 mulberry1 acorn1 peach1 medlar1 quince1 and pomegranate4 ,the richest hues of rose and green are delicately blended together1 and their effect is heightened by the gold thread in which the shading is worked4 ,the lapse of two centuries and a half has not dimmed the brightness of their colours1 which are as fresh as if the work had been finished yesterday4 ,a needle which had been left in a corner of the altar-cloth all those long years ago was still to be seen sticking in the velvet early in the last century1 but has now disappeared4 ,illustration3 ,,hollingbourne ,,house4 ,this goodly manor-house was only one of several seats belonging to the ,culpepers in this neighbourhood4 ,they had a mansion at ,greenway ,court1 which was burnt down in the last century1 and another of imposing dimensions where ,grove ,court now stands4 ,in the seventeenth century the ,lords ,culpeper also owned ,leeds ,castle1 that noble moated house1 a mile to the south1 which was once a royal park1 and is still one of the finest places in ,kent4 ,but the second ,lord ,culpeper died without a male heir in #afhh1 and this famous house passed by marriage into the ,fairfax family4 ,the ,hollingbourne branch of the ,culpepers died out in the course of the last century1 and at the present time no member of this illustrious family is known to exist in ,england1 although persons bearing this ancient name are still to be found in ,america4 ,the church at ,hollingbourne contains a whole series of ,culpeper monuments4 ,the most remarkable is the white marble altar-tomb1 which bears the recumbent effigy of ,elizabeth ,lady ,culpeper1 who died in #afch1 and is described in the inscription on her monument as ,optima ,foemina1 ,optima ,conjux1 et ,optima ,mater4 ,this lady was the heiress of the ,cheney family1 whose arms1 the ox's hide and horns1 appear on the shield at the foot of the tomb1 and are repeated in the stained glass of the chapel window4 ,tradition says that ,sir ,john ,cheney had his helmet struck off1 when he fought by the victor's side on ,bosworth ,field1 and fixed a bull's horns on his head in its place4 ,afterwards ,henry ,,vii4 gave him this crest1 when he made him a ,baron and a ,knight of the ,garter1 in reward for his valour on that hard-fought field4 ,a monument on the north wall of the chancel records the memory of ,john ,lord ,culpeper1 who was successively ,chancellor of the ,exchequer1 ,master of the ,rolls1 and ,privy ,councillor to ,charles ,i4 and ,charles ,,ii4 ,for equal fidelity to the king and kingdome1 says the epitaph on his tomb1 he was most exemplary4 ,he followed the last-named king into exile and remained there until the ,restoration1 when with him he returned tryumphant into ,england on the #bith of ,may1 #affj1 only to die six weeks afterwards1 to the irreparable losse of his family4 ,another descendant of the ,culpepers is buried under the altar in this church1 ,dame ,grace ,gethin1 a great grand-daughter of ,sir ,thomas ,culpeper1 and wife of ,sir ,richard ,gethin1 of ,gethinge ,grott1 in ,ireland1 whose learning and virtues were so renowned that monuments were erected in her honour both at ,bath and in ,westminster ,abbey4 ,this youthful prodigy1 who died at the age of twenty-one1 is here represented kneeling between two angels1 and holding in her hand the commonplace book which she filled with extracts from her favourite authors1 and which was afterwards published under the title of ,reliqui ,gethinian4 ,her piety was as great as her personal charms1 and the inscription on her monument records how1 being adorned with all the ,graces and ,perfections of mind and body1 crowned them all with exemplary ,patience and ,humility1 and having the day before her death most devoutly received the ,holy ,communion1 which she said she would not have omitted for ,ten ,thousand ,worlds1 she was vouchsafed in a miraculous manner an immediate prospect of her future ,blisse1 for the space of two hours1 to the astonishment of all about her1 and being1 like ,st4 ,paul1 in an unexpressible ,transport of joy1 thereby fully evincing her foresight of the ,heavenly ,glory1 in unconceivable ,raptures triumphing over ,death1 and continuing sensible to the last1 she resigned her pious soul to ,god1 and victoriously entered into rest1 ,oct4 #aath1 anno tatis #ba1 ,d'ni3 #afig4 ,her dear and affectionate ,mother1 whom ,god in mercy supported by seeing her glorious end1 erected this monument1 she being her last surviving issue4 ,soon after leaving ,hollingbourne1 the ,pilgrims' ,way enters the grounds of ,stede ,hill1 and passes through the beech-woods that spread down the grassy slopes to the village and church of ,harrietsham--,heriard's ,home in ,domesday--in the valley below4 ,an altar-tomb1 to the memory of ,sir ,william ,stede1 who died in #aegd1 and several other monuments to members of the same family1 may be seen in the south chapel of the church1 a fine building of ,early ,english and ,perpendicular work1 with a good rood-screen1 standing in an open space at the foot of the ,stede ,hill grounds4 ,the rectory of ,harrietsham was formerly attached to the neighbouring ,priory of ,leeds1 but was granted by ,henry ,,vi4 to ,archbishop ,chichele's newly founded ,college of ,all ,souls1 ,oxford1 which still retains the patronage of this living4 ,the manor was one of many in this neighbourhood given to ,odo of ,bayeux after the battle of ,hastings1 and afterwards formed part of the vast estates owned by ,juliana de ,leyborne1 called the ,infanta of ,kent1 who was married three times1 but died without children1 leaving her lands to become crown property4 ,a mile farther the ,pilgrims' ,way enters the town of ,lenham4 ,this parish contains both the sources of the river ,len--the ,aqua lena of the ,romans--which flows through ,harrietsham and by ,leeds ,castle into the ,medway1 and that of the ,stour1 which runs in the opposite direction towards ,canterbury4 ,lenham has held a charter1 and enjoyed the privileges of a town from medival times4 ,the bright little market-square1 full of old houses with massive oak beams1 and quaint corners jutting out in all directions1 hardly agrees with ,hasted's description of ,lenham as a dull1 unfrequented place1 where nothing thrives in the barren soil1 and the inhabitants1 when asked by travellers if this is ,lenham1 invariably reply1 ,ah1 sir1 poor ,lenham6 ,the picturesqueness of its buildings is undeniable1 and its traditions are of the highest antiquity4 ,the manor of ,lenham was granted to the ,abbey of ,st4 ,augustine at ,canterbury by ,cenulf1 king of ,mercia1 more than a thousand years ago1 and in the twelfth century the church was appropriated to the ,refectory of ,st4 ,augustine2 that is to say1 the rectorial tithes were made to supply the monks' dinners4 ,some fragments of the original ,norman church still exist1 but the greater part of the present structure1 the arcade of bays1 the fine traceried windows of the aisle1 and most of the chancel1 belong to the ,decorated period1 and were rebuilt after the great fire in #abig1 when not only the church1 but the ,abbot's barns and farm buildings were burnt to the ground by an incendiary4 ,so great was the sensation produced by this act of wanton mischief1 that ,archbishop ,winchelsea himself came to ,lenham to see the ravages wrought by the fire1 and fulminated a severe excommunication against the perpetrators of the wicked deed4 ,the sixteen oak stalls for the monks1 and an arched stone sedilia1 of the fourteenth century1 which served the ,abbot for his throne when he visited his ,lenham estates1 are still to be seen in the chancel4 ,here1 too1 is a sepulchral effigy let into the north wall in a curious sideways position1 representing a priest in his robes1 supposed to be that of ,thomas de ,apulderfelde1 who lived at ,lenham in the reign of ,edward ,,ii41 and died in #acbg4 ,both the western tower and the north chancel1 dedicated to ,st4 ,edmund1 and containing tombs of successive lords of ,east ,lenham manor1 are ,perpendicular in style1 and belong to the fourteenth or early part of the fifteenth century4 ,fragments of the fourteenth-century paintings1 with which the walls of the whole church were once adorned1 may still be distinguished in places4 ,among them are the figures of a bishop1 probably ,st4 ,augustine1 and of ,st4 ,michael weighing souls1 with devils trying to turn the balance in their favour1 on one side1 and on the other the crowned ,virgin throwing her rosary into the scale which holds the souls of the just4 ,the church was dedicated to ,st4 ,mary the ,virgin1 and her image formerly occupied the niche in the timbered porch which1 with the old lych-gate1 are such fine specimens of fifteenth-century wood-work4 ,the beautiful ,jacobean pulpit was given by ,anthony ,honywood in #afbb1 and is charmingly carved with festoons of grapes and vine-leaves4 ,the ,honywoods also built the almshouses1 with carved bargeboards and door-posts1 in the street at ,lenham1 and an inscription in the chancel floor records the memory of that long-lived ,dame1 ,mary ,honywood1 who before her death in #afbj saw no less than three hundred and sixty-seven of her descendants6 ,illustration3 ,,market-,,place1 ,,lenham4 ,close to the church are the great tithe barns1 built after the fire in the fourteenth century by the ,abbots of ,st4 ,augustine4 ,the largest measures #aeg feet long by #dj feet wide1 and1 saving the low stone walls1 is built entirely of oak from the forests of the ,weald4 ,the enormous timbers are as sound and strong to-day as they were six hundred years ago1 and for solidity of material and beauty of construction1 this ,kentish barn deserves to rank among the grandest architectural works of the age4 ,the monks are gone1 and the proud ,abbey itself has long been laid in ruins1 but these buildings give us some idea of the wealth and resources of the great community who were the lords of ,lenham during so many centuries4 ,they could afford to lend a kindly ear to the prayer of the poor vicar when he humbly showed the poverty with which he had to contend1 and the load of the burden that he had to bear4 ,the ,abbot1 we are glad to learn1 granted his request1 and agreed to give him a roof over his head and to allow his two cows to feed with the monks' own herds in the pastures at ,lenham1 during the months between the feast of ,st4 ,philip and ,st4 ,james and ,michaelmas4 ,illustration3 ,,in ,,charing ,,village4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,charing ,,to ,,godmersham ,from ,lenham the ,pilgrims' ,road threads its lonely way along the hill-side1 past one or two decayed farmhouses still bearing the name of the great families who once owned these manors--the ,selves and the ,cobhams2 and the view over the level country grows wider1 and extends farther to the south and east1 until we reach ,charing ,hill1 one of the highest points along this range of downs4 ,the windmill1 a few hundred yards above the track1 commands a far-spreading view over the valley1 stretching from the foot of the ridge to the ,quarry ,hills1 where the towers of ,egerton ,church stand out on its steep mound above the hazy plains of the ,weald4 ,we look down upon ,calehill1 the home of the ,darells for the last five centuries1 and across the woods and park of ,surrenden ,dering1 which has been held by the ,dering family ever since the days of ,earl ,godwin1 to the churches and villages of the ,weald4 ,beyond a foreground of swelling hill and dale we see the flat expanse of ,romney ,marsh and ,dungeness2 and then for the first time we catch a glimpse of a pale blue line of sea--that sea across which ,roman and ,saxon and ,norman all sailed in turn to land upon the ,kentish shore4 ,on clear days you can see the ,sussex downs in the far horizon beyond the ,weald1 and near ,hastings1 the hill of ,fairlight rising sharply from the sea4 ,down in the valley below1 the tall tower of ,charing ,church lifts its head out of a confused mass of red roofs and green trees1 with the ivy-grown ruins of the old palace at its feet4 ,many are the venerable traditions attached to the churches and villages which we have seen along our road through this pleasant land of ,kent1 but here is one older and more illustrious than them all4 ,here we have a record which goes back far beyond the days of ,lanfranc and of ,athelstan1 and even that king of ,mercia who gave ,lenham to the ,abbey of ,st4 ,augustine4 ,for ,charing1 if not actually given1 as the old legend says1 by ,vortigern to the ancient ,british ,church1 was at all events among the first lands bestowed on ,augustine and his companions by ,ethelbert1 king of ,kent4 ,saxon historians tell us how that this most ancient possession of the church of ,canterbury was seized by ,offa1 king of ,mercia1 in #geg1 but restored again by his successor1 ,cenulph1 in the year #ghh4 ,illustration3 ,,charing ,long before the ,conqueror's time1 the ,archbishops had a house here4 ,in ,domesday ,book1 ,charing is styled proprium manorium archiepiscopi1 being reserved by those prelates for their private use1 and from those days until the manor was surrendered by ,cranmer to ,henry ,,viii4 it remained a favourite residence of the ,archbishops4 ,in the thirteenth century the ,franciscan ,archbishop ,john ,peckham dates many letters from his house at ,charing1 and ,stratford1 as ,dean ,hook tells us1 was often there1 and found consolation in this quiet retreat for the troubles of those stormy days4 ,chichele1 ,kemp1 and ,bourchier were also frequently here4 ,stratford first obtained the grant of a three days' fair to be held at ,charing twice a year1 on the festivals of ,st4 ,george and ,st4 ,luke4 ,leland tells us that ,cardinal ,morton made great buildings at ,charing1 and the red and black brickwork still to be seen under the ivy of the farmhouse walls may be ascribed to him1 but the great gateway with the chamber and hooded fireplace above1 belongs to an earlier period1 and was probably the work of ,stratford in the fourteenth century4 ,some of the older stonework is to be found in the stables and cottages now occupying the site of the offices on the west of the court4 ,the chapel1 with its pointed arches and large windows1 which in ,hasted's time stood behind the modern dwelling-house1 was taken down eighty years ago1 but the great dining-hall1 with its massive walls and fine decorated window1 still remains standing4 ,this hall1 where archbishops sat in state1 and kingly guests were feasted2 where ,henry ,,vii4 was royally entertained by ,archbishop ,warham1 on the #bdth of ,march1 #aejg1 and where ,henry ,,viii4 stayed with all his train on his way to the ,field of ,cloth of ,gold1 is now used as a barn4 ,but in its decay1 it must be owned1 the old palace is singularly picturesque4 ,the wallflowers grow in golden clusters high up the roofless gables and along the arches of the central gateway2 masses of apple-blossom hang over the grey stone walls1 and ring-necked doves bask in the sunshine on the richly coloured tiles of the old banqueting-hall4 ,close by is the church of ,charing1 famous in the eyes of medival pilgrims for the possession of one hallowed relic1 the block on which ,st4 ,john the ,baptist was beheaded1 brought back1 an old tradition says1 by ,richard ,coeur de ,lion from the ,holy ,land1 and given by him to ,archbishop ,baldwin1 when the ,king paid his devotions at the shrine of ,st4 ,thomas4 ,this precious relic went the way of all relics in the sixteenth century1 and is not mentioned in the long list of costly vestments and frontals recorded in an inventory of ,church property taken at ,charing in #aeeb4 ,but ,charing ,church is still1 in the words of the old chronicler1 a goodly pile4 ,it is cruciform in shape1 and contains some traces of ,early ,english work1 but it is mostly of later date4 ,the windows are interesting on account of their great variety4 ,there are three narrow lancets1 several of ,transitional and ,perpendicular style1 and one large and very remarkable square-headed ,decorated window4 ,the chapel of ,our ,lady1 on the south side of the chancel1 was built1 towards the close of the fifteenth century1 by ,amy ,brent1 whose family owned the charming old manor-house of ,wickens in this parish4 ,the porch and fine tower1 which forms so marked a feature in the landscape1 was also chiefly built by the ,brents1 whose crest1 a wyvern1 is carved on the doorway1 together with a rose encircled with sun-rays1 the badge of ,edward ,,iv41 in whose reign the work was completed4 ,through this handsome doorway the ,archbishop1 attended by his cross-bearers and chaplains1 would enter from the palace-gate hard by1 and many must have been the stately processions which passed under the western arch and wound up the long nave in the days of ,morton and of ,warham4 ,a hundred years later ,charing ,church narrowly escaped entire destruction4 ,on the #dth of ,august1 #aeij1 a farmer1 one ,mr4 ,dios1 discharged a birding-piece at a pigeon roosting1 as the pigeons do to this day1 in the church tower1 and the day being extreme hot and the shingle very dry1 a fire broke out in the night1 and by morning nothing was left but the bare walls of the church1 even the bells being melted by the heat of the fire4 ,happily the parishioners applied themselves with patriotic zeal to the restoration1 and within two years the fine timber roof of the nave was completed4 ,the date #aeib1 ,e4,r4 #cd1 is inscribed on the rafter above the chancel arch1 while that of the chancel roof ,ann4 ,dom4 #afbb1 ,anno ,regni ,jacobi xviii41 appears on the beam immediately over the altar4 ,the ,pilgrims' ,way winds on through ,charing past the noble church tower and the ancient palace wall1 with its thick clusters of ivy and trailing wreaths of travellers' joy1 through the lovely woods of ,pett ,place1 the home of ,honywoods and ,sayers for some hundreds of years4 ,the track crosses the long avenue of stately limes which leads up to its gates1 and through the meeting boughs we see the red gables and tall chimneys of the old ,tudor house4 ,in the fourteenth century the owners of ,pett had a chapel of their own1 served by a priest whose name appears in the ,lambeth ,register and other records as holding the living of ,pette-juxta-,charing2 and ,geoffery de ,newcourt1 who owned this manor1 together with the adjoining one of ,newcourt1 paid the king an aid on his lands of ,pett1 when the ,black ,prince was knighted4 ,a pleasant part of the track this is dear to botanists for the wealth of ferns1 flowers1 and rare orchises which grow along the shady path2 pleasant alike in ,may1 when cowslips and violets grow thick in the grass and the nightingales are in full song1 and in ,june1 when the ripe red fruit of the wild strawberries peep out from under the moss and the hawthorns are in bloom1 but perhaps best of all in autumn1 when the beeches are crimson and the maples in the hedges are one fire of gold4 ,for the next three miles1 the way lies through the lower part of the great woods of ,long ,beech1 which stretch all over these hills1 and which from very early times belonged to the see of ,canterbury4 ,it brings us out at ,westwell1 close to another extremely interesting church1 dating from the middle of the thirteenth century1 and almost entirely of one period4 ,the graceful steeple1 nave1 chancel1 and aisles1 are all ,early ,english1 but the most striking feature is the high open colonnade which forms the rood-screen4 ,the effect of the chancel1 with its side arcade1 its groined roof1 and beautiful lancet window filled with richly-coloured old glass1 seen through these three lofty arches1 is very imposing4 ,there is another curious fragment of stained glass1 bearing the arms of ,queen ,anne of ,bohemia and of ,edward the ,confessor and his wife1 in the north aisle1 and the chancel contains six stone walls and a stone seat with a pointed arch1 which were formerly used by the monks and prior of ,christ ,church1 ,canterbury4 ,for the manor of ,westwell1 like so many others in this neighbourhood1 belonged to the see of ,canterbury before the ,conquest1 and at the division of property effected by ,lanfranc was retained by the ,priory4 ,its revenues were allotted to the supply of the monks' refectory1 ad cibum eorum1 just as the tithes of ,lenham were used to provide meals for ,st4 ,augustine's ,abbey4 ,illustration3 ,,old ,,yews ,,and ,,oak ,,in ,,eastwell ,,park4 ,half a mile above ,westwell ,church the ,pilgrims' ,way reaches the gates of ,eastwell4 ,here the track disappears for a time1 but old maps show the line which it took across the southern slopes of the park1 which extends for many miles1 and is famous for the wild beauty of its scenery4 ,the hills we have followed so long run through the upper part of the park1 and magnificent are the views of the sea and ,sussex downs which meet us in these forest glades1 where stately avenues of beech and oak and chestnut throw long shadows over the grass1 and antlered deer start up from the bracken at our feet4 ,but the lower slopes are pleasant too1 with the venerable yews and thorns and hornbeams dotted over the hill-side1 and the heights above clad with a wealth of mingled foliage which is reflected in the bright waters of the still1 clear lake4 ,the old ivy-grown church stands close to the water's edge1 and contains some fine tombs of the ,earls of ,winchelsea1 and of their ancestors1 the ,finches4 ,but the traveller will look with more interest on the sepulchral arch which is said to cover the ashes of the last of the ,plantagenets4 ,the burial registers indeed record that ,richard ,plantagenet1 the illegitimate son of ,richard ,,iii41 died at ,eastwell on the #bbnd of ,december1 #aeej1 and a well1 which goes by the name of ,plantagenet's ,well1 marks the site of the cottage where he lived in confinement after the defeat of his father on ,bosworth ,field4 ,eastwell ,house1 for some years the residence of ,h4,r4,h4 the ,duke of ,edinburgh1 was originally built by ,sir ,thomas ,moyle1 ,speaker of the ,house of ,commons in the reign of ,henry ,,viii41 but has been completely altered and modernised since it passed into the ,winchelsea family4 ,leaving it on our left1 we come out of the ,park at ,boughton ,lees1 a group of houses on a three-cornered green1 and follow in the steps of the old track to ,boughton ,aluph church1 a large cruciform building with a spacious north aisle and massive central tower1 standing in a very lonely situation4 ,boughton1 called ,bocton or ,boltune in former times1 belonged to ,earl ,godwin and his son ,harold1 before the ,conquest1 after which it was given to ,eustace1 ,earl of ,boulogne1 and formed part of ,juliana de ,leybourne's vast inheritance4 ,it took the name of ,aluph from a ,norman knight1 ,aluphus de ,bocton1 who held the manor in the reign of ,king ,john1 and became thus distinguished from the other parishes of ,boughton in the neighbourhood4 ,from the church a grassy lane1 shaded by trees1 ascends the hill to ,challock on the borders of ,eastwell ,park1 and is probably the old track of the ,pilgrims' ,way which passed between these woods and the park of ,godmersham4 ,this was formerly the property of ,jane ,austen's brother1 who took the name of ,knight on succeeding to the estate1 but it has now passed into the hands of another family4 ,until the ,dissolution the manor and church of ,godmersham belonged to ,christ ,church1 and here1 in medival days1 the priors of the convent had a fine manor-house1 where they frequently resided during the summer months4 ,the hall was pulled down in #ahaj1 and nothing of the old house is now left except a gable and doorway1 adorned with a figure of a ,prior wearing his mitre and holding his crozier in his hand1 probably intended for ,henry de ,estria1 the ,prior who rebuilt the manor-house in #abij4 ,the church of ,godmersham is remarkable for its early tower and curious semicircular apse with small ,norman lights1 which are evidently remains of an older building1 and in the churchyard are some very ancient yews1 one of which is said to have been planted before the ,conquest4 ,under the shadow of these venerable trees there sleeps a remarkable woman1 ,mary ,sybilla ,holland1 whose father was at one time ,vicar of ,godmersham1 and afterwards moved to ,harbledown1 a larger parish near ,canterbury1 a few miles further along the ,pilgrims' ,way4 ,both ,mrs4 ,holland and her distinguished brother1 the lamented ,sir ,alfred ,lyall1 retained a lifelong affection for this corner of ,east ,kent4 ,when ,lyall was far away in ,india1 ruling over millions of ,british subjects1 in the north-west provinces1 his verses tell us how passionately he yearned for his old ,kentish home4 ,ah6 that hamlet in ,saxon ,kent1 ,shall ,i find it when ,i come home8 ,with toil and travelling well-nigh spent1 ,tired with life in jungle and tent1 ,eastward never again to roam4 ,pleasantest corner the world can show ,in a vale which slopes to the ,english sea-- ,where strawberries wild in the woodland grow1 ,and the cherry-tree branches are bending low1 ,no such fruit in the ,south countree4 ,sir ,alfred died on the #ajth of ,april1 #aiaa1 at ,lord ,tennyson's house at ,farringford1 in the ,isle of ,wight1 and was buried in the churchyard of ,st4 ,michael's1 ,harbledown4 ,now brother and sister are both sleeping under the grassy sod of the ,kentish land which they loved so well1 where the nightingales sing heart-piercing notes in the silence of the early summer night4 ,shelter for me and for you1 my friend1 ,there let us settle when both are old1 ,and whenever ,i come to my journey's end1 ,there you shall see me laid1 and blend ,just one tear with the falling mould4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,place1 ,,wrotham4 ,illustration3 ,,chilham4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,chilham ,,to ,,harbledown ,the ,pilgrims' ,way skirted the wooded slopes of ,godmersham ,park for about a mile1 and then entered ,chilham ,park4 ,the park is now closed1 but the old track lay right across the park1 and in front of ,chilham ,castle4 ,the position of this fortress1 overlooking the valley of the ,stour1 has made it memorable in ,english history4 ,chilham has been in turn a ,roman camp1 a ,saxon castle1 and a ,norman keep1 and has played an eventful part in some of the fiercest struggles of those days4 ,according to a generally received tradition recorded by ,camden1 ,chilham was the scene of the battle on the river in ,csar's second expedition2 and the ,british barrow near the ,stour1 popularly known as ,julaber's ,grave1 was believed to be the tomb of the ,roman tribune1 ,julius ,laberius1 although1 as a matter of fact1 it contains no sepulchral remains4 ,in the second century ,chilham is said to have been the home of that traditional personage1 the ,christian ,king ,lucius1 and in ,saxon days of the chief ,cilla4 ,the castle was strongly fortified to resist the invasion of the ,danes1 by whom it was repeatedly attacked4 ,after the ,norman ,conquest it belonged to ,fulbert de ,dover1 whose last descendant1 ,isabel1 ,countess of ,atholl1 died here in #abib1 and is buried in the under-croft at ,canterbury4 ,then it passed into the hands of the great ,lord ,badlesmere1 of ,leeds1 who on one occasion gave ,queen ,isabel1 the wife of ,edward ,,ii41 a splendid reception here1 and afterwards astonished the peaceful citizens and monks of ,canterbury by appearing at their gates1 followed by nineteen armed knights1 each with a drawn sword in his hand1 to pay his devotions at the shrine of ,st4 ,thomas4 ,as late as the sixteenth century ,leland describes ,chilham ,castle as beautiful for pleasure1 commodious for use1 and strong for defence2 but soon after he wrote these words1 the greater part of the old house was pulled down by its owner1 ,sir ,thomas ,cheney1 ,warden of the ,cinque ,ports under ,edward ,,vi41 to complete his new mansion in the ,isle of ,sheppey4 ,the ,norman keep1 an octagonal fortress three stories high1 is the only part of the medival structure that now remains1 and can still be seen in the gardens of the new house built in #afaf by ,sir ,dudley ,digges1 ,master of the ,rolls in the reign of ,james ,i4 ,this fine ,jacobean manor-house stands well on the rising ground above the river1 and both the garden terrace and the top of the old keep afford beautiful views of the vale of ,ashford and the downs beyond the ,wye4 ,still more picturesque is the market-place of ,chilham itself4 ,on one side we have the red brick walls and white stone doorway of the castle1 seen at the end of its short avenue of tall lime trees on the other the quaint red roofs and timbered houses of the charming old square1 with the grey church tower surrounded by the brilliant green of sycamores and beeches4 ,on a bright spring morning1 when the leaves are young and the meadows along the river-side are golden with buttercups1 there can be no prettier picture than this of the old market square of ,cilla's home4 ,from the heights of ,chilham the ,pilgrims' ,way descends into the valley of the ,stour1 and after following the course of the river for a short time1 climbs the opposite hill and strikes into ,bigberry ,wood4 ,here we come suddenly upon the most ancient earthwork along the whole line of the road1 an entrenchment which ,professor ,boyd ,dawkins1 who explored it thoroughly some years ago1 has ascribed to the prehistoric ,iron ,age4 ,for most of us1 perhaps1 ,bigberry ,camp has a still greater interest as the fort which the ,britons held against the assault of the ,roman invaders1 and which was stormed and carried by ,csar's legions4 ,the memory of that desperate fight1 which sealed the fate of ,britain and her conquest by the great ,proconsul1 still lingers in the popular mind1 and the shepherd who follows his flock and the waggoner who drives his team along the road1 still talk of the famous battle that was fought here two thousand years ago4 ,after this the path crosses the valley and runs through the hop-gardens to join ,watling ,street--the road by which ,chaucer's pilgrims came to ,canterbury--at ,harbledown4 ,this is the little village on the edge of the forest of ,blean1 which has been immortalised by ,chaucer's lines-- ,wist ye not where standeth a little toun ,which that ycleped is ,bob-up-and-down1 ,under the ,blee in ,canterbury way4 ,illustration3 ,,on ,,the ,,village ,,green1 ,,chartham ,and ,bob-up-and-down is to this day a true and characteristic description of the rolling ground by which we approach ,harbledown4 ,here the ,pilgrims' ,road1 along which we have journeyed over hill and dale1 fails to rise again4 ,we climb the last hill1 and on the summit of the rising ground we find ourselves close to the lazar-house founded at ,harbledown by ,lanfranc in #ajhd4 ,the wooden houses built by the ,norman ,archbishop for the reception of ten brothers and seven sisters have been replaced by a row of modern almshouses2 but the chapel still preserves its old ,norman doorway1 and the round arches and pillars of an arcade to the north of the nave1 which formed part of the hospital church dedicated by ,lanfranc to ,st4 ,nicholas4 ,the devout pilgrim to ,st4 ,thomas's shrine never failed to visit this ancient leper-house4 ,not only did the antiquity of the charitable foundation and its nearness to the road attract him1 but in the common hall of the hospital a precious relic was preserved in the shape of a crystal which had once adorned the leather of ,st4 ,thomas's shoe4 ,many were the royal personages and distinguished strangers who paused before these old walls and dropped their alms into the poor leper's outstretched hand4 ,here1 we read in contemporary records1 ,henry ,,ii4 came on his first memorable pilgrimage to the tomb of the martyred ,archbishop1 and ,richard ,coeur de ,lion after his release from his long captivity4 ,edward ,i4 stopped at ,harbledown with his brave ,queen1 ,eleanor of ,castille1 on their return from the ,holy ,land1 and the ,black ,prince1 accompanied by his royal captive1 ,king ,john of ,france1 and that monarch's young son ,philip1 also visited the leper-house4 ,and when the ,french king visited ,canterbury for the second time1 on his return to his own kingdom1 he did not forget to stop at ,lanfranc's old lazar-house and leave ten gold crowns pour les nonnains de ,harbledoun4 ,but it is a later and more sceptical traveller1 ,erasmus1 who has left us the most vivid description of ,harbledown and of the feelings which the sight of the relic aroused in the heart of his companion1 ,dean ,colet4 ,not far from ,canterbury1 at the left-hand side of the road1 he writes1 in the record of his pilgrimage1 there is a small almshouse for old people1 one of whom ran out1 seeming to hear the steps of the horses4 ,he first sprinkled us with holy water1 and then offered us the upper leather of a shoe bound in a brass rim1 with a crystal set in its centre like a jewel4 ,gration 7,dean ,colet7 rode on my left hand1 nearer to the beggar man1 and was duly sprinkled1 bearing it with a tolerable amount of equanimity4 ,but when the shoe was handed up1 he asked the old man what he wanted4 ',it is the shoe of ,st4 ,thomas1' was the answer4 ,upon this he fired up1 and turning to me1 exclaimed indignantly1 ',what6 do these cattle mean we should kiss the shoes of every good man8' ,erasmus1 sorry for the old man's feelings1 dropped a small coin into his hand1 which made him quite happy1 and the two pilgrims rode on to ,london1 discussing the question of the worship of relics as they went4 ,to this day a maple bowl1 bound with a brass rim1 containing a piece of crystal1 is preserved in the hospital at ,harbledown1 the self-same relic1 it may be1 which was shown to ,erasmus and ,colet1 and which ,lambarde1 writing half a century later1 describes as faire set in copper and chrystall2 while an old wooden box1 with a slit in the lid for money1 and a chain attached to it1 is said to be the one into which ,erasmus dropped his coin4 ,behind the ivy-mantled tower of ,lanfranc's chapel is a clear spring which was supposed to possess healing virtues1 and is still believed by the country folks to be of great benefit to the eyes4 ,this spring still goes by the name of the ,black ,prince's ,well1 from an old tradition that the warrior of ,crecy and ,poitiers drank of its waters when he visited the hospital at ,harbledown in #aceg4 ,many1 we know1 are the memorials of this popular hero at ,canterbury4 ,only three days after he landed at ,sandwich he came1 accompanied by his royal captive1 to return thanks at ,st4 ,thomas's shrine for his victories1 and six years afterwards he founded and decorated the beautiful chantry in the ,cathedral crypt1 which still bears his name1 on the occasion of his marriage with his cousin ,joan1 the ,fair ,maid of ,kent4 ,the old legend of the ,black ,prince's ,well goes on to tell how1 when he lay dying of the wasting disease which carried him off in the flower of his life1 he thought of the wonder-working spring near ,canterbury1 and sent to ,harbledown for a draught of its pure waters4 ,but even that could not save him1 and on the #bith of ,september1 #acgf1 a stately funeral procession wound its way down the hill-side at ,harbledown1 bearing the ,black ,prince to the grave which he had chosen for himself in the ,chapel of ,our ,lady of the ,undercroft at ,canterbury4 ,at ,harbledown the pilgrims caught their first sight of the ,cathedral2 here they fell on their knees when they saw the golden angel on the top of the central tower1 and knew that the goal of their pilgrimage was almost reached4 ,here ,chaucer's goodly company made their last halt1 and for the moment the noise of singing and piping and jingling of bells gave place to a graver and more solemn mood as the motley crowd of pilgrims pressed around1 to hear this time not a ,canterbury tale1 but a sermon4 ,deep was the impression which that first sight of ,canterbury made upon ,erasmus4 ,the cold1 critical scholar becomes eloquent as he describes the great church of ,st4 ,thomas rearing itself up into the sky with a majesty that strikes awe into every heart1 and the clanging of bells which1 thrilling through the air1 salute the pilgrims from afar4 ,to-day the great cross is gone from the ,westgate1 the shining archangel no longer blesses the kneeling pilgrim from the topmost steeple1 but the same glorious vision of the great ,cathedral rising with all its towers into the sky meets the eyes of the traveller who looks down on ,canterbury from the hill of ,harbledown4 ,illustration3 ,,canterbury ,,cathedral ,,from ,,the ,,south-,,west ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,nicholas'1 ,,harbledown4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,harbledown ,,to ,,canterbury ,from ,harbledown it is all downhill to ,canterbury1 and a short mile brings us to the massive round tower of ,simon of ,sudbury's noble ,westgate1 the only one remaining of the seven fortified gateways which once guarded the ancient city4 ,many are the pilgrims who have entered ,canterbury by this gate3 kings and queens of all ages1 foreign emperors and princes1 armed knights and humble scholars1 good ,queen ,philippa and ,edward ,plantagenet1 ,henry of ,agincourt1 ,margaret of ,anjou1 ,chaucer and ,erasmus4 ,many1 too1 are the long processions which have wound down this hill-side3 newly created archbishops followed by a brilliant train of bishops and courtiers on their way to be enthroned in the chair of ,st4 ,augustine2 solemn funerals1 attended with all the pomp and circumstance1 the funeral plumes and sable trappings1 with which men honour the mighty dead4 ,through the ,westgate went forth that gay company of monks and friars1 of merchants and citizens crowned with garlands of flowers1 and making joyous minstrelsy1 as they rode out to welcome ,archbishop ,winchelsea1 who1 once a poor student in the school at ,canterbury1 now came to be enthroned in state in the presence of ,king ,edward ,i4 and all his court4 ,and this way1 too1 they bore him with much state and pomp1 eighteen years later1 from the manor-house at ,otford1 where he died1 to sleep in his own ,cathedral after all the labours and struggles1 the storms and changes of his troublous reign4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,west ,,gate1 ,,canterbury4 ,since these medival days ,canterbury has seen many changes4 ,the splendours of which ,camden and ,leland wrote have passed away1 the countless number of its churches has been reduced1 and their magnificence no longer strikes the eye of the stranger4 ,the lofty walls and their twenty-one watch-towers1 which encircled the city in a complete ring when ,chaucer's knight1 after paying his devotion at the shrine of ,st4 ,thomas1 went out to see their strength1 and pointed to his son both the perill and the doubt1 are all gone1 and the ,conqueror's mighty castle is turned into a coal-pit4 ,but the old city is still full of quaint corners and picturesque buildings1 timbered houses with carved corbels and oriel windows1 hostelries with overhanging eaves and fantastic sign-boards of wrought-iron work1 hospitals whose charters date from ,norman times1 and whose records give us many a curious peep into the byways of medival life4 ,as we draw near the ,martyr's shrine1 memories of ,st4 ,thomas crowd upon us4 ,the hill outside the ,westgate1 now occupied by the ,clergy ,orphan ,school1 is still called ,st4 ,thomas's ,hill1 and was formerly the site of a chapel founded by ,becket himself4 ,a little way up the ,high ,street we reach a bridge over the ,stour1 which winds its way through the heart of the city1 and a low pointed doorway on our right leads into ,st4 ,thomas's ,hospital4 ,this ancient ,spittle of ,east ,bridge was founded1 as a fourteenth-century charter records1 by the glorious ,st4 ,thomas the ,martyr1 to receive poor wayfaring men4 ,archbishop ,hubert ,walter increased its endowments in the twelfth century1 and ,stratford repaired the walls in the fourteenth1 and drew up statutes for its government4 ,from that time it was especially devoted to the use of poor pilgrims1 for whom twelve beds were provided1 and whose wants were supplied at the rate of fourpence a day4 ,during those days1 when the enthusiasm for ,st4 ,thomas was at its height1 alms and legacies were lavished upon ,eastbridge ,hospital1 and ,edward ,,iii4 bequeathed money to support a chaplain1 whose duty it was to say daily masses for the founders of the hospital4 ,after the days of pilgrimages were over1 this hospital was applied to various uses until ,archbishop ,whitgift recovered the property and drew up fresh statutes for its management4 ,ten poor brothers and sisters still enjoy the fruit of ,st4 ,thomas's benevolence1 and dwell in the old house built on arches across the bed of the river4 ,the low level of the floor1 which has sunk far below that of the street1 and the vaulted roof and time-worn pillars1 bear witness to its great antiquity4 ,there can be little doubt that the round arches of the ,norman crypt belong to ,st4 ,thomas's original foundation1 while the pointed windows of the chapel and ,early ,english arches of the refectory form part of ,archbishop ,stratford's improvements4 ,in this hall some portions of frescoes1 representing on the one hand the ,last ,supper1 on the other the ,martyrdom of the ,saint1 the penance of ,henry ,,ii4 at his tomb1 with the central figure of ,christ in ,glory1 have been lately recovered from under the coat of whitewash which had concealed them for more than two centuries4 ,twice a year1 we know1 at the summer festival of the ,translation of ,st4 ,thomas1 on the #gth of ,july1 and at the winter festival of the ,martyrdom1 on the #bith of ,december1 ,canterbury was crowded with pilgrims1 and a notice was placed in the ,high ,street ordering the due provision of beds and entertainment for strangers4 ,the concourse was still greater on the jubilees of the ,translation1 when indulgences were showered freely on all who visited the shrine1 and the festival lasted for a whole fortnight4 ,at the jubilee of the year #adbj1 just after the victory of ,agincourt1 no less than a hundred thousand pilgrims are said to have been present4 ,on such occasions every available corner was occupied2 the inns1 which were exceedingly numerous1 the hospitals1 and1 above all1 the religious houses1 were thronged with strangers4 ,the most favourite1 the most renowned1 of all the hostelries was the ,chequers of the ,hope1 the inn where ,chaucer's twenty-nine pilgrims took up their quarters4 ,at ,chekers of the ,hope that every man doth know4 ,this ancient inn1 which ,prior ,chillenden rebuilt about #adjj1 stood at the corner of ,high ,street and ,mercery ,lane1 the old ,merceria1 which was formerly lined with rows of booths and stalls for the sale of pilgrimage tokens1 such as are to be found in the neighbourhood of all famous shrines4 ,both ampullas1 small leaden bottles containing a drop of the martyr's blood1 which flowed perennially from a well in the precincts1 and ,caput ,thom1 or brooches bearing the saint's mitred head1 were eagerly sought after by all ,canterbury pilgrims4 ,so too were the small metal bells which are said to have given their name to the favourite ,kentish flower1 the ,canterbury bell4 ,and we read that the ,french king1 ,john1 stopped at the ,mercery stalls to buy a knife for the ,count of ,auxerre4 ,the position of the inn close to the great gate of ,christ ,church naturally attracted many visitors1 and the spacious cellars with vaulted roofs1 which once belonged to the inn1 may still be seen1 although the inner courtyard and the great chamber upstairs occupied by the pilgrims1 and known as the ,dormitory of ,hundred ,beds1 were burnt down forty years ago4 ,but the old street front1 with its broad eaves overhanging the narrow lane leading up to the great gateway at the other end1 still remains1 and renders ,mercery ,lane the most picturesque and interesting corner of the ,cathedral city4 ,the religious houses were open to all comers1 and while royal visitors were lodged in ,st4 ,augustine's ,abbey1 the convents of the ,mendicant orders were largely frequented by the poorer classes4 ,there was also the house of the ,whitefriars or ,augustinians in the eastern part of the town1 close to ,st4 ,george's ,gate1 and the hospital of ,st4 ,john in the populous ,northgate1 that faire and large house of stone1 built and endowed by ,lanfranc in the eleventh century1 besides that of ,eastbridge1 which has been already mentioned1 and many other smaller foundations4 ,but it was in the great ,priory of ,christ ,church that by far the largest number of pilgrims found hospitable welcome4 ,a considerable part of the convent buildings was set aside for their reception4 ,the ,prior himself entertained distinguished strangers1 and lodged them in the splendid suite of rooms overlooking the convent garden1 known as the ,omers or ,homers--,les ,ormeaux--from a neighbouring grove of elms4 ,this range of buildings1 including the banqueting-hall1 generally known as ,meister ,omers1 was broken up into prebendal houses after the ,dissolution1 and supplied three separate residences for members of the new ,chapter1 which gives us some idea of the size of these lodgings4 ,for ordinary strangers there was the ,guest ,hall1 near the kitchen1 on the west side of the ,prior's ,court1 which was under the especial charge of a cellarer appointed to provide for the needs of the guests4 ,prior ,chillenden1 whom ,leland describes as the greatest builder of a ,prior that ever was in ,christ ,church1 repaired and enlarged this ,strangers' ,hall early in the fifteenth century1 and added a new chamber for hospitality1 which bore the name of ,chillenden's ,guest ,chamber1 and now forms part of the ,bishop of ,dover's house4 ,finally1 without the convent precincts1 close to the court gateway1 where the beautiful ,norman stairway leads up to the ,great ,hall1 or ,aula ,nova1 was the ,almonry4 ,here the statutes of ,archbishop ,winchelsea--he who had known what it was to hunger and thirst in his boyhood1 and who remained all through his greatness the friend of the poor--provided that poor pilgrims and beggars should be fed daily with the fragments of bread and meat1 which were many and great1 left on the monks' tables1 and brought here by the wooden pentise or covered passage leading from the kitchen4 ,this ,almonry became richly endowed by wealthy pilgrims in course of years1 and early in the fourteenth century ,prior ,henry of ,estria built a chapel close by1 which was dedicated to ,st4 ,thomas the ,martyr1 and much frequented by pilgrims4 ,the ,almony was turned into a mint-yard at the ,dissolution1 and the chapel and priests' lodgings attached to it1 now belong to the ,king's ,school4 ,another privilege freely conceded by the prior and monks of this great community to pilgrims of all ranks and nationality who might die at ,canterbury1 was that of burial within the precincts of ,christ ,church1 close to the blessed martyr's shrine1 and under the shadow of the ,cathedral walls4 ,illustration3 ,,mercery ,,lane1 ,,canterbury4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,the ,,martyr',s ,,shrine ,erasmus has described the imposing effect of the great ,cathedral church on the stranger who entered its doors for the first time1 and saw the nave in all its spacious majesty4 ,the vision which broke upon the eyes of those pilgrims who1 like himself and ,dean ,colet1 visited ,canterbury in the early years of the sixteenth century1 may well have filled all hearts with wonder4 ,for then the work was well-nigh perfected4 ,the long roll of master-builders1 from ,prior ,wibert and ,de ,estria to ,chillenden and ,sellyng1 had faithfully accomplished their task4 ,prior ,goldstone1 the last but one who reigned before the ,dissolution1 had just completed the central tower1 the great labour of his predecessor ,prior ,sellyng's life1 and was in the act of building the noble ,perpendicular gateway which forms a fitting entrance to the precincts4 ,and now the great church stood complete4 ,without1 a very goodly1 strong1 and beautiful structure3 the traceries and mouldings of the windows1 the stone canopies and sculptured images of the portal1 all perfect2 the glorious towers in their might2 ,bell ,harry ,steeple1 as we see it to-day1 matchless in its strength and beauty2 and beside it1 rivalling its grace and majesty1 the ancient ,norman tower1 which bore the name of ,ethelbert1 crowned with the ,arundel spire4 ,within1 a richness and splendour to which our eyes are wholly unaccustomed3 chapels and chantries lining the great nave1 fresh from ,prior ,chillenden's work2 altars glittering with lighted tapers and gold and silver ornaments2 roof and walls bright with painting and gilding1 or decked with silken tapestry hangings2 carved images covered with pearls and gems2 stained windows throwing their hues of ruby and sapphire across the floor1 and lighting up the clouds of incense as they rose heavenward4 ,all this1 and much more1 met the pilgrims' wondering eyes4 ,no wonder they stood half amazed1 as the ,supplementary ,tale to ,chaucer's ,pilgrimage describes the gardener and the miller and the other lewd sets1 gazing up at the painted windows1 and forgetting to move on with the crowd4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,martyrdom1 ,,canterbury ,,cathedral4 ,then the show began4 ,first of all the pilgrims were led up a vaulted passage and many steps to the ,transept of the ,martyrdom1 where the wooden altar1 at the foot of which the saint fell1 remained to show the actual place of the murder1 and its guardian priest--the ,custos ,martyrum--displayed the rusty sword of ,richard le ,breton4 ,next1 descending the flight of steps on the right1 they were led into the dark crypt1 where more priests received them1 and presented the saint's skull1 encased in silver1 to be kissed1 and other relics1 including the famous girdle and hair-shirt4 ,this ,caput ,thom was one of the chief stations at which offerings were made1 and the altar on which it lay1 mentioned in the ,black ,prince's will as the altar where the head is1 marked the site of the original grave where the saint was buried by the frightened monks on the day after the murder4 ,the tomb stood in the eastern chapel of ,ernulf's crypt1 under the beautiful ,pointed arches afterwards raised by that great architect1 ,william the ,englishman1 whom ,gervase describes as small in body1 but in workmanship skilled and honest4 ,soon it acquired a miraculous virtue1 and the fame of the cures and wonders wrought there rang throughout the world4 ,it was the scene of ,henry ,,ii4's penance1 and during the next fifty years it remained the central object of interest to the crowds of pilgrims who came from all parts of ,christendom4 ,coeur de ,lion1 accompanied by ,william1 ,king of ,scotland1 knelt here on his way to the ,crusades1 to implore the martyr's blessing on his arms4 ,many were the ,crusaders from all parts of ,france and ,england who came thither on the same errand4 ,king ,john and his wife ,isabella1 who were crowned at ,canterbury ,cathedral by ,archbishop ,hubert ,walter1 at ,easter1 #abja1 offered their coronation canopies at this tomb and vast sums of money were yearly offered here until #abbj1 when the body of ,st4 ,thomas was translated1 in the presence of the young ,king ,henry ,,iii41 to the new ,shrine in ,trinity ,chapel1 immediately above the tomb in the crypt4 ,in that year the offerings at the tomb1 at the ,altar of the ,sword's ,point1 and at the new ,shrine1 reached the enormous amount of #a1jga1 a sum equal to more than #bj1jjj of money at the present time4 ,after this1 the offerings at the original tomb in the crypt diminished in number and value1 but the altar and relics of the ,caput ,thom remained an object of deep reverence until the ,reformation4 ,from the dark vaults of the subterranean church the pilgrims were led up the steps to the north aisle of the choir4 ,here the great mass of relics1 including ,st4 ,george's arm and no less than four hundred skulls1 jaws1 teeth1 hands1 and other bones1 were displayed in gold1 silver1 or ivory caskets1 and pilgrims were allowed a glimpse of the magnificent vessels and ornaments stored up under the high altar4 ,all the gold of ,midas and ,croesus1 exclaims ,erasmus1 would have been nothing by the side of these treasures6 and he confesses that he sighed to think he kept no such relics at home1 and had to beg the saint's pardon for this very unholy emotion4 ,the golden candlesticks and silken vestments of the sacristy in ,st4 ,andrew's tower1 and the saint's pallium1 which no ordinary pilgrims might see1 were also shown to ,erasmus and ,colet1 who brought with them a letter of introduction from ,archbishop ,warham4 ,after duly inspecting these precious objects1 they mounted the long flight of steps behind the high altar leading into ,trinity ,chapel2 a continual ascent1 church1 as it were1 piled upon church1 which seems to have greatly heightened the impression produced upon the awe-struck pilgrims4 ,now at last they stood within the holiest of holies4 ,there1 before their eyes1 was the goal of all their journeyings1 the object of their deepest devotion1 the ,shrine which held the body of the blessed martyr4 ,illustration3 ,,site ,,of ,,the ,,shrine ,,of ,,st4 ,,thomas1 ,,canterbury ,,cathedral4 ,the ,shrine itself1 covered by a painted canopy of wood1 rested on stone arches in the centre of the floor1 exactly under the gilded crescent which is still to be seen in the ,cathedral roof4 ,on the right was the richly carved and canopied monument of ,henry ,,iv4 and his ,queen1 ,joan of ,navarre1 with its elaborate effigies of the royal pair wearing their crowns and robes of state2 on the left the tomb of ,edward the ,black ,prince4 ,he had willed to sleep before the altar of ,our ,lady of the ,under-croft1 in the chapel adorned by his own gifts1 but the people who had loved him so well would not allow their hero to remain buried out of sight in the dark crypt4 ,so they brought him to rest by the great saint's ,shrine1 where all men could see his effigy of gilded bronze as he lay there1 clad in armour1 his sword by his side1 his hands clasped in prayer1 and read the pathetic lines which tell of his departed glories1 and bid the passing stranger pray for his soul3 ,pur ,dieu1 priez au ,celestien ,roy1 ,que mercy ait de l'me de moy4 ,his was the first tomb that was ever raised in the sacred precincts devoted to the martyr's ,shrine1 and to this day it remains there1 unhurt by the hand of time or the more cruel violence of man4 ,up the worn stone steps which still bear the marks left by thousands of feet and knees1 the pilgrims climbed1 murmuring words of prayer or chanting the popular ,latin hymns to ,st4 ,thomas3 ,tu1 per ,thom sanguinem1 ,quem pro te impendit1 ,fac nos1 ,christe1 scandere ,quo ,thomas ascendit4 ,here the ,prior himself received them1 and showed them first the corona or crown of ,becket's head1 preserved in a golden likeness of ,st4 ,thomas's face1 ornamented with pearls and precious gems1 which had been presented by ,henry ,v4 ,then1 at a given sign1 the wooden canopy was drawn up by ropes1 and the ,shrine itself1 embossed with gold and glittering with countless jewels that flashed and sparkled with light1 was revealed to the eyes of the pilgrims4 ,they all fell upon their knees and worshipped1 while the ,prior with his white wand pointed out the balass-rubies and diamonds1 the sapphires and emeralds1 which adorned the ,shrine1 and told the names of the royal persons by whom these gifts had been presented4 ,there were rings and brooches and chains without end1 golden and silver statues offered by kings and queens1 the crown of ,scotland brought back by ,edward ,i4 after his victory over ,john ,baliol1 and the regale of ,france1 that superb ruby presented at the tomb in the crypt by ,louis ,,vii41 which shone like fire1 and was as costly as a king's ransom4 ,full of awe and wonder the spectators gazed with admiring eyes on these treasures1 which for beauty and splendour were beyond all they had ever dreamt1 until the canopy slowly descended1 and the ,shrine was once more hidden from their sight4 ,then they went their way1 some to visit the convent buildings1 the noble chapter-house with its gabled roof and stained windows1 and the glazed walk of the cloisters1 glowing with bright colours and decorated with heraldic devices of benefactors to ,christ ,church painted on the bosses of the vaulting4 ,others made themselves fresh and gay1 and went out to see the city1 the ,knight and his son to look at the walls1 the ,prioress and the ,wife of ,bath to walk in the herbary of the inn4 ,but for ,erasmus and his rather inconvenient companion there was still a sight in store1 only reserved for very exalted personages1 or such as had friends at court4 ,prior ,goldstone1 a gentle and well-bred man1 not altogether ignorant1 as ,erasmus found1 of the ,scotian theology1 himself took them back into the crypt1 and lanterns were brought to illumine the dark vaults4 ,by their light the ,prior led the way into the church of ,our ,lady of the ,undercroft1 which was divided from the rest of the crypt by strong iron railings4 ,here the two friends saw what ,erasmus might well call a display of more than royal splendour4 ,for here1 surrounded by exquisitely carved stonework screens and a beautiful reredos with delicate traceries and mouldings1 richly coloured and gilt1 was the altar of ,our ,lady1 adorned with precious ornaments and twinkling with hundreds of silver lamps4 ,there in the central niche1 under a crocketed and pinnacled canopy1 stood the famous silver image of the ,blessed ,virgin herself4 ,and there was the jewelled tabernacle and frontal1 with its picture of the ,assumption worked in gold1 and the chalice and cruets in the form of angels1 and the great silver candelabra with which the ,black ,prince had enriched his favourite shrine4 ,there too were the costly gifts and jewels presented by his son1 ,richard ,,ii41 the gold brooches offered yearly by ,edward ,i41 the white silk vestments1 diapered with a vine pattern of blue1 bequeathed by the ,black ,prince1 and countless other rare and precious things1 which filled ,erasmus with envy and wonder4 ,but then1 as ill luck would have it1 the ,prior conducted his guests into the sacristy1 where on bended knees he opened a black leathern chest1 out of which he produced a parcel of ragged handkerchiefs with which ,st4 ,thomas used to wipe his face4 ,this was too much for ,dean ,colet's patience1 already sorely tried as it had been by what he had seen and heard4 ,when the gentle ,prior offered him one of the filthy rags as a present1 he shrank back in evident disgust1 and turned up his nose with an expression of contempt which filled ,erasmus with shame and terror4 ,fortunately the ,prior was a man of sense and courtesy1 so he appeared to take no notice1 and after giving his guests a cup of wine1 politely bade them farewell4 ,before this ,colet had alarmed his more timid friend by the bold way in which he had dared to question the priest who guarded the gilded head4 ,he had even gone so far as to remark aloud that the saint who was so charitable in his lifetime1 would surely be better pleased if some trifling part of these riches were spent in relieving the poor and destitute4 ,upon which the monk had glared at him with ,gorgon eyes1 and1 ,erasmus felt sure1 would have turned them out of the church forthwith1 had it not been for ,archbishop ,warham's letter4 ,but in these words of the honest ,dean we see a foreboding of the new and critical spirit that was fast undermining the old beliefs4 ,already the days of pilgrimages were numbered1 and the glories of ,st4 ,thomas were on the wane4 ,a few more years and the monks who guarded his treasures were rudely disturbed4 ,the glorious ,shrine was stripped of its priceless gems4 ,the wrought gold and precious jewels were borne away in two enormous chests1 such as six or seven men could barely lift4 ,the wonderful ruby which flashed fire in the darkness was set in a ring and worn by ,king ,harry himself on his thumb4 ,finally1 to complete the sacrilege1 the relics of the ,saint were publicly burnt and his ashes scattered to the winds4 ,only the broken pavement and the marks of the pilgrims' knees in the stone floor were left to show future generations this spot1 hallowed by the prayers and the worship of past ages4 ,,index ,abbotsworthy1 #cd ,abbott1 ,e41 ,st4 ,thomas of ,canterbury1 #aa note ,abinger1 #ij2 discovery of ,roman remains at1 #ii ,addington1 cromlechs at1 #adf thelred ,,ii41 #aec ,agincourt1 battle of1 #aih ,albury1 #ah1 #hb2 yew hedge1 #hd2 church1 #hc2 ,downs1 #hj2 view from1 #hj2 ,park1 #hj1 #hg ,alexander ,,iii41 ,pope1 #ad ,alfred1 ,king1 #ba1 #gb2 founds the ,abbey of ,hyde1 #bh ,alice ,holt forest1 #ej ,allen1 ,mr4 ,grant1 #e ,alresford1 #ce1 #ch2 ,new1 cloth trade at1 #ci2 result of the ,civil ,wars1 #dj2 ,old1 #ch ,alton1 #bh1 #ej ,anderida1 forest of1 #e ,apulderfelde1 ,thomas de1 effigy of1 #afd ,aragon1 ,katherine of1 portrait of1 #aca ,arle1 ford of the1 #ch ,arundel1 ,thomas ,howard1 ,earl of1 #hc2 collector of the ,arundel marbles1 #hc2 portrait of1 #hc ,ash1 #ed ,ashburton1 ,lord1 his famous ,grange1 #cg ,ashford1 #abg2 vale of1 #ahd ,athelstan1 #aab1 #acd1 #aec1 #afi ,atholl1 ,isabel1 ,countess of1 #ahc ,austen1 ,cassandra1 #dh ,austen1 ,jane1 #df2 her cottage at ,chawton1 #dh2 novels1 #dh2 mode of life1 #dh2 letters1 #di ,avington ,park1 #cf ,aylesford1 #add2 ,common1 #adf ,badlesmere1 ,lord1 of ,leeds1 #ahc ,baldwin1 ,archbishop1 #agb ,baliol1 ,john1 #bab ,becket1 ,st4 ,thomas1 ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 his murder1 #g-i2 championship for the rights of the ,church1 #i2 journey to ,canterbury1 #i2 miracles and cures wrought by1 #aj-ab1 #bjf2 canonisation1 #ad2 removal of his body1 #ae1 #bjf2 shrine1 #af1 #bjh-bab2 fame1 #af2 his house at ,otford1 #abi2 legends1 #aca2 relics1 #bje1 #bjg ,beggars' ,corner1 #eh ,belloc1 ,hilaire1 ,the ,old ,road1 vii ,bentley ,station1 #eb ,betchworth ,park1 #ih ,bigberry ,camp1 #ahe2 wood1 #ahe ,birinus1 church of1 #bb ,birling1 #adb2 ,place1 #ach ,bishop ,sutton1 #dc ,black ,prince1 at ,harbledown1 #ahh2 memorials of1 #aij2 death1 #aia2 tomb1 #baj ,black ,prince's ,well1 #aij ,blackdown1 #hj ,blagge1 ,mistress1 portrait of1 #ib ,blean1 forest of1 #ahf ,bletchingley1 discovery of ,roman remains at1 #ajj ,blois1 ,henry of1 #bd1 #eb ,bocton1 ,aluphus de1 #agh ,bohemia1 ,queen ,anne of1 the arms of1 #age ,boleyn1 ,anne1 portrait of1 #fg ,boniface1 ,archbishop1 #adc ,boscawen1 ,mrs41 her birthplace1 #acb ,botley ,hill1 #aah ,botolph1 ,st41 church of1 #abb2 monuments1 #abb ,boughton ,aluph church1 #agh ,boughton1 ,bocton or ,boltune1 #agh ,boughton ,lees1 #agh ,boughton ,malherbe1 #aed ,boulogne1 ,eustace1 ,count of1 #agh ,box ,hill1 #id1 #ih ,boxley1 the ,cistercian ,abbey of1 #adf2 relics1 #adg ,boxley1 #aea2 church1 #aeb ,braboeuf ,manor1 #fi ,brabourne1 ,lord1 #di ,brent1 ,amy1 #agb ,brighton ,downs1 #ajg ,browne1 ,sir ,richard1 portrait of1 #ib ,brydges1 ,george1 #cf ,buckingham1 ,george ,villiers1 ,duke of1 #cg ,buckland1 #ii ,bunker's ,farm1 #adb ,bunyan1 ,john1 #aja ,burford1 #if ,burham church1 #ade ,calehill1 #afh ,calva1 ,ruald de1 #gg ,camden1 ,w41 #ajd1 #aie ,canterbury1 routes taken by pilgrims1 #c-f1 #bj1 #bh2 number of1 #af-ah1 #aic1 #aih2 characteristics1 #aie2 the ,chequers of the ,hope ,inn1 #aih2 religious houses1 #bjj2 ,priory of ,christ ,church1 #bjj2 the ,omers or ,homers1 #bjj2 ,guest ,hall1 #bja2 the ,almonry1 #bja ,canterbury ,cathedral1 the murder of ,becket in1 #i2 the choir of ,conrad destroyed by fire1 #ad2 rebuilt1 #ad2 number of pilgrims1 #af-ah1 #aic1 #aih2 master-builders1 #bjc2 completion1 #bjd2 ,transept of the ,martyrdom1 #bje2 relics1 #bje1 #bjg2 miracles and cures1 #bjf2 number of crusaders1 #bjf2 amount of offerings1 #bjg2 the ,shrine1 #bjh-bab2 the ,church of ,our ,lady of the ,undercroft1 #bac ,challock1 #agh ,chanctonbury ,ring1 #gf1 #ajg ,chantrey1 ,sir ,f4 ,l41 his effigy of ,lady ,frederica ,stanhope1 #abd ,chantry ,woods1 #ge ,chantry ,ford1 #hg ,charing1 #ah2 height of1 #ach2 chapel1 #agj2 church1 #afh1 #aga-agc2 traditions1 #afi2 relic in1 #aga2 destroyed by fire1 #agc2 rebuilt1 #agc2 fair at1 #agj2 ,hill1 #afh2 manor1 the residence of ,archbishops1 #agj ,charles ,i41 ,king1 #ec2 ,prayer ,book used by1 #id ,charles ,,ii41 ,king1 #cf ,charterhouse #hj ,chatham1 ,lord1 his visits to ,chevening1 #abb ,chaucer1 ,g41 lines from1 #ag1 #ahf2 his pilgrims1 #fa1 #aia ,chawton1 #df ,cheney1 ,sir ,john1 #aeh ,cheney1 ,sir ,thomas1 #ahd ,chequers of the ,hope ,inn1 #aih ,cheriton battle1 #da ,chevening church1 #abb2 monuments in1 #abb2 manor1 #aba2 ,park1 #aba2 village1 #abb ,chilham ,castle1 #ahb-ahd2 manor-house1 #ahd2 ,park1 #ahb ,chillenden ,prior1 #aih1 #bja ,chilworth1 #gh2 powder-mills1 #gh-hj ,ciderhouse ,cottage1 #ge2 ,lane1 #ge ,clere1 ,st41 mansion1 #acb ,cobbett1 ,richard1 #ed ,cobbett1 ,william1 his ,rural ,rides1 #e1 #ce1 #gf1 #gh1 #ajf1 #aji1 #aeb2 his birthplace1 #ed2 at ,albury1 #hd2 ,godstone1 #aad ,cold-harbour ,green1 #aah ,colet1 ,dean1 at ,harbledown1 #ahh-aij2 his visit to ,canterbury ,cathedral1 #bjh2 in the ,church of ,our ,lady of the ,undercroft1 #bac-bae2 treatment of the relics1 #bad ,colley ,farm1 #ii2 discovery of ,roman remains at1 #ii ,compton1 #eh1 #fc1 #fi2 church1 #fc ,copley1 ,sir ,roger1 #aji ,corby ,castle1 #cj ,courtenay1 ,archbishop1 #adc ,crooksbury1 heights of1 #ed ,st4 ,cross1 ,hospital of1 #bd ,crowborough ,beacon1 #ajg ,culpeper1 ,elizabeth1 ,lady1 monument to1 #aeh ,culpeper1 ,john1 ,lord1 the tapestries and altar-cloth worked by his daughters1 #aef2 monument to1 #aeh ,culpeper1 ,sir ,thomas1 #aei ,cuxton ford1 #ada ,dacre1 ,lord1 #aba4 ,see ,lennard ,danefield1 #abi ,darent valley1 #abf ,dartford1 #abf ,dawkins1 ,prof4 ,boyd1 #ahe ,day1 ,bishop1 letter from1 #fh ,deane1 ,archbishop1 #acj ,deepdene ,park1 #ih ,denbies ,park1 #ig ,denmark1 ,anne of1 #ff2 portrait of1 #ff ,deptford1 #c ,detling1 #aeb2 height of1 #ach ,digges1 ,sir ,dudley1 #ahd ,dios1 ,mr41 #agc ,dorking1 #ie1 #ig ,dover1 #c ,dover1 ,fulbert de1 #ahc ,drummond1 ,mr41 #hc ,dungeness1 #afh ,drer1 ,albert1 #aab ,east ,grinstead1 #ajg ,eastbridge ,hospital1 #aif ,eastwell1 #agf2 church1 #agg2 ,house1 #agg2 ,park1 #abf ,edinburgh1 ,h4,r4,h4 the ,duke of1 his residence ,eastwell ,house1 #agg ,edward ,i41 ,king1 #bf1 #acj1 #adb1 #bab2 at ,harbledown1 #ahh ,edward ,,ii41 ,king1 #ej2 his visit to ,boxley ,abbey1 #adh ,edward ,,iii41 ,king1 #aif ,edward ,,iv41 ,king1 #agc ,edward ,,vi41 ,king1 #aje2 portrait of1 #fg ,edward1 the ,black ,prince1 at ,harbledown1 #ahh2 memorials of1 #aij2 death1 #aia2 tomb1 #baj ,effingham1 ,lady ,howard of1 #aje ,egbert1 ,king1 #cc ,egerton ,church1 #afh ,eleanor of ,castille1 ,queen1 #ahh ,elizabeth1 ,queen1 #ec2 her visits to ,loseley1 #ff2 to ,leeds ,castle1 #aed ,elliston-,erwood1 ,mr41 ,the ,pilgrims' ,road1 vi ,erasmus1 at ,harbledown1 #ahh-aij2 his impressions of ,canterbury ,cathedral1 #aib1 #bjc2 on the relics1 #bjg2 in the ,church of ,our ,lady of the ,undercroft1 #bac-bae ,estria1 ,prior ,henry of1 #agi1 #bjb ,ethelbald1 ,king of ,wessex1 #eb ,ethelred the ,unready1 #aac ,ethelwold1 ,bishop1 #bb ,evelyn1 ,john1 #gh1 #hd2 his home at ,wotton1 #ij2 portrait1 #ib ,evershed's ,rough1 #ij ,ewhurst ,mill1 #hj ,fairlawn ,house1 #acf ,fairlight hill1 #afh ,farnham1 #eb2 ,castle1 #eb ,farrer1 ,sir ,thomas1 #ajj ,farringford1 #ahj ,farthing copse1 #gg ,fitz ,urse1 ,reginald1 #i ,froyle ,park1 #eb ,gatton church1 #aaa2 ,house1 #aaa2 park1 #ajh1 #aab2 town hall1 #aaj ,george ,i41 ,king1 #aba ,gethin1 ,dame ,grace1 inscription on her monument1 #aei ,gethin1 ,sir ,richard1 #aei ,giffard1 ,lady1 #ef ,st4 ,giles' ,hill1 fair at1 #ca ,godmersham1 #ej2 church1 #agi2 manor1 #agi2 park1 #agh1 #ahb ,godstone1 #aad2 ,the ,white ,hart or ,clayton ,arms1 #aad ,godwin1 ,earl1 #afh1 #agh ,goldstone1 ,prior1 #bjc1 #bac ,gomshall station1 #id ,gravesend1 #ach ,greenway ,court1 #aeg ,greenwich1 #c ,gresham1 ,sir ,john1 #aai ,gresham1 ,sir ,marmaduke1 #aai ,gresham1 ,sir ,thomas1 #aai2 founder of the ,royal ,exchange1 #aai2 portrait1 #aai ,grey1 ,richard de1 founds a ,carmelite ,priory1 #ade ,grose1 ,f41 ,antiquities of ,england and ,wales1 #gg note ,grove ,court1 #aeg ,guildford1 #c1 #ea1 #eg1 #gb2 fair at1 #eh ,gurdon1 ,adam de1 #de1 #ea ,hackhurst ,downs1 #id ,halfpenny ,lane1 #gg ,halling1 ,lower1 #adb2 ,upper1 #adb ,hampshire1 #bj ,harbledown1 #agi1 #ahf2 leper-house1 #ahf2 relic in1 #ahg2 royal visitors1 #aih2 first sight of ,canterbury ,cathedral from1 #aia ,harrietsham1 #afj2 church1 monuments in1 #afa ,hastings1 #afh2 ,battle of1 #afa ,headbourne ,worthy1 #ca2 derivation of the name1 #cc2 church1 #cc ,helix pomatia1 #ah ,hengist1 proclaimed the first king of ,kent1 #adf ,henry ,i41 ,king1 #bi1 #da ,henry ,,ii41 ,king1 his penance at ,becket's tomb1 #d1 #ad1 #bjf2 visit to the leper-house at ,harbledown1 #ahh ,henry ,,iii41 ,king1 #af1 #bd1 #eb1 #eg1 #bjf ,henry ,,iv41 ,king1 monument of1 #bjh ,henry ,v41 ,king1 #baa ,henry ,,vi41 ,king1 #aji1 #afa ,henry ,,vii41 ,king1 #aeh2 his visit to ,charing1 #aga ,henry ,,viii41 ,king1 #aji1 #abi1 #acj2 portrait of1 #aca2 visit to ,charing1 #aga ,herault1 ,isaac1 #id ,hethe1 ,bishop ,hamo de1 #adb ,hindhead1 #gb1 #gf1 #hj1 #ajg ,hog's ,back1 #ed1 #eg1 #fc1 #gf ,holbein1 ,hans1 #ff ,holland1 ,mary ,sybilla1 #agi ,hollingbourne1 #aeb1 #aec2 height of1 #ach2 history1 #aec2 church1 monuments in the1 #aeh2 manor-house1 #aed2 traditions1 #aed ,holm ,castle1 #ajd4 ,see ,reigate ,holmbury1 #ij ,holmesdale1 valley of1 #ajd ,honywood1 ,anthony1 #afe ,honywood1 ,dame ,mary1 #afe ,horn ,hatch1 #aja ,horne1 ,robert1 ,bishop of ,winchester1 letter from1 #fh ,hutton1 ,w4 ,h41 ,thomas ,becket1 #i note ,hyde1 ,abbey of1 #bh2 history1 #bi2 ruins1 #cj2 desecration of tombs1 #cj ,ightham ,house1 #acf ,isabel1 ,queen1 her reception at ,chilham1 #ahc ,islip1 ,simon1 #acj1 #acd ,itchen ,abbas1 #ce1 #cg ,itchen river1 #bh1 #bi1 #ci2 valley1 #ce ,itchen ,stoke1 #cg ,james ,i41 ,king1 #fe2 his visit to ,loseley1 #ff2 portrait1 #ff ,james1 ,capt4 ,e4 ,renouard1 ,notes on the ,pilgrims' ,way in ,west ,surrey1 #aja note ,john1 ,king1 #ch1 #gc1 #agh2 legend of1 #hb2 coronation1 #bjf ,john1 ,king of ,france1 #ahh ,johnson1 ,mrs4 ,hester1 #ef ,jones1 ,sir ,inigo1 #aba1 #acb ,josse1 ,st41 shrine of1 #bi ,julaber's grave1 #ahc ,katherine's1 ,st41 ,chapel1 #fi1 #ga2 ,hill1 fair at1 #ei ,kemsing1 #acb2 church and well1 #acb ,ken1 ,morris1 #ej ,kent1 ,aldric1 king of1 #abi ,kent1 ,john1 brass to1 #cc ,kent1 ,pilgrims' ,way through1 #abf ,kingsworthy1 #cc ,kitchin1 ,dean1 on the fair at ,st4 ,giles' ,hill1 #cb1 #dj ,kits ,coty ,house1 #ade ,knight1 ,sir ,richard1 his monument in ,chawton ,church1 #df ,knockholt down1 height of1 #ach ,laberius1 ,julius1 #ahc ,lambarde1 ,w41 #aij2 at ,otford1 #acb ,lanfranc1 ,archbishop1 #aec1 #afi1 #agf2 founds a lazar-house at ,harbledown1 #ahf ,langton1 ,stephen1 ,archbishop1 #af ,leeds ,castle1 #aed1 #aeg ,leith ,hill1 #ajg ,leland1 ,j41 #agj1 #ahd1 #aie1 #bja ,len river1 #afa ,lenham1 #afa2 church1 #afb-afe2 tithe barns1 #afe ,lennard1 ,john1 his monument1 #abb ,lennard1 ,richard1 ,lord ,dacre1 #aba ,leveson1 ,sir ,john1 quarterings of1 #adc ,leveson-,gower1 ,mr41 #ajj1 #aai ,leyborne1 ,juliana de1 #afa1 #agh ,limnerslease1 #fi ,limpsfield ,lodge ,farm1 #aag ,littleton ,cross1 shrine of1 #fi ,long ,beech ,woods1 #age ,loseley manor1 #fd2 royal visitors1 #ff2 portraits1 #fg2 royal warrants1 #fg2 letters1 #fh ,louis ,,vii41 ,king of ,france1 #bab ,louis ,,viii41 ,king of ,france1 #gb1 #aje ,lucy1 ,bishop ,godfrey1 #be2 rebuilds the town of ,alresford1 #ch ,lyall1 ,sir ,alfred1 #ahj2 his verses1 #ahj2 death1 #ahj ,maidstone1 #adc ,marden ,park1 #aaf ,martha's1 ,st41 ,hill1 #hj2 chapel1 #gj1 #gf2 view from1 #gf ,martyr's ,hill1 #gf ,martyrsworthy1 #cd ,massilia1 #d ,medway river1 #adj1 #adb2 valley1 #acg1 #ach ,mercia1 ,cenulph1 ,king of1 #afi ,mercia1 ,offa1 ,king of1 #abi1 #afi ,meredith1 ,g41 ,diana of the ,crossways1 #ia note ,merstham1 #ajh1 #aab2 church1 #aac ,miller1 ,sir ,hubert1 #eb ,milton1 ,john1 his line on the ,river ,mole1 #ie ,mole river1 #ie1 #ii2 valley1 #id ,monks' ,hatch1 #fi ,monks' ,walk1 ,winchester1 #ca1 #cc ,monson1 ,lord1 #aji1 #aaa ,moor ,park1 #ee ,more1 ,antonio1 #aai ,more1 ,sir ,christopher1 #fd ,more1 ,sir ,william1 #fd ,morley1 ,bishop1 #ec ,morne ,hill1 #be ,morton1 ,cardinal1 his buildings at ,charing1 #agj ,moyle1 ,sir ,thomas1 ,speaker of the ,house of ,commons1 #agg ,mytens1 ,d41 his portraits1 #ff ,newark ,hospital1 #adc2 ,priory1 #gg ,newcourt1 ,geoffery de1 #agd ,newcourt manor1 #agd ,newlands ,corner1 #hj1 #hb ,nore1 the1 #ach ,nore ,hill1 #df ,norfolk1 ,duke of1 #ec ,north ,downs1 #ajg1 #aah ,nowell1 ,alexander1 ,dean of ,st4 ,paul's1 letter from1 #fh ,nuns' ,walk1 ,winchester1 #ca ,odo of ,bayeux1 #afa ,otford1 #abf2 manor-house1 #abi2 battles at1 #abi2 the ,bull ,inn1 #aca2 legends1 #aca ,oxted1 #aag ,paddlesworth or ,paulsford1 #ach ,palmer1 ,mr41 his treatise on ,three ,surrey ,churches1 vi ,palmers ,wood1 #ai1 #aaf ,paternoster ,lane1 #ai1 #ih ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 #gf ,peckham1 ,john1 the ,franciscan ,archbishop1 #agj ,penenden ,heath1 #aej2 memorable assembly held at1 #aej ,pett ,place1 #agd ,pette-juxta-,charing1 #agd ,pilgrims to ,canterbury1 routes taken by1 #c-f1 #bj1 #bh2 number of1 #ab1 #af-ah1 #aic1 #aih2 traces of1 #ah1 #eh2 characteristics1 #fj ,pilgrims' ,chapel1 #ih ,pilgrims' ,ferry1 #ai1 #gd ,pilgrims' ,house1 #ach ,pilgrims' ,lodge1 #ai1 #abj ,pilgrims' ,place1 #dc ,plantagenet1 ,richard1 his death at ,eastwell1 #agg ,plantagenet's ,well1 #agg ,pray ,meadows1 #ih ,puttenham1 #eh2 fair at1 #ei2 ,heath1 #fc ,quarry ,hangers1 #aad ,quarry ,hills1 #aja1 #afh ,ranmore ,common1 #ih ,redhill1 #if ,reigate1 #ii1 #ajc2 chapels1 #ajd2 hill1 #ajg2 park1 #ajf ,richard ,coeur de ,lion1 his return from the ,holy ,land1 #aga2 at ,harbledown1 #ahh2 ,canterbury1 #bjf ,richard ,,iii41 ,king1 #agg ,ripley1 #gg ,robbers' or ,roamers ,moor1 #eh ,robertson1 ,t4 ,c41 ,materials for the ,history of ,archbishop ,becket1 #ab note ,rochester1 #c1 #ada ,romney ,marsh1 #afh ,rood1 the miraculous1 or winking image1 #adh ,ropley1 #dc ,rotherfield ,park1 #dc ,rumbold1 ,st41 the image of1 #adg ,rupibus1 ,peter de1 #de ,rutupine1 ,port1 #d ,salisbury1 ,john of1 ,bishop of ,chartres1 #ab ,saltwood ,castle1 #i ,sandwich ,haven1 #c1 #d1 #gc ,sandy ,lane1 #fi ,scott1 ,sir ,walter1 on the death of ,jane ,austen1 #ej ,seale1 #eh2 church1 #ei ,selborne1 #dd ,sellyng1 ,prior ,william1 #aed1 #bjc ,sesto1 ,cesare da1 #aaa ,sevenoaks1 #ajg ,shalford1 #gd2 fair at1 #ei1 #gd2 park1 #ge ,shere1 #hh2 church1 #hg ,shoelands1 manor-house of1 #eh ,shooters' ,hill1 #ach ,shrewsbury1 ,francis1 ,earl of1 #cg ,shrewsbury1 ,lady1 #cf ,shrewsbury1 ,roger de ,montgomery1 ,earl of1 #fd ,silchester1 #bh ,silent ,pool1 #hb2 legend of1 #hb ,sittingbourne1 #c ,snails1 or ,helix pomatia1 #ah ,snodland1 limestone works1 #acg1 #adj ,snowden-,ward1 ,mr4 ,h41 ,the ,canterbury ,pilgrimages1 vi ,somers1 ,earl1 #ajf ,somerset1 ,lady ,henry1 #ajf ,south ,downs1 #gf ,south ,leith ,hill1 #gf ,southampton1 #c1 #bj1 #ce ,spenser1 ,edmund1 his lines on the ,mole1 #ie ,stane ,street1 #ig ,stanhope1 ,charles1 ,earl1 #abb ,stanhope1 ,general1 #aba ,stanhope1 ,lady ,frederica1 effigy of1 #abd ,stanhope1 ,lady ,hester1 #abb ,stanhope1 ,james1 ,earl1 monument to1 #abd ,stanley1 ,dean1 #e2 extract from his account of the ,canterbury pilgrimage1 #f2 on the characteristics of pilgrims1 #fj ,stede1 ,sir ,william1 monument to1 #afa ,stede ,hill1 #afj ,stour river1 #afb1 #aif2 valley1 #ahb1 #ahe ,strangers' ,hall1 ,winchester1 #bf ,stratford1 ,archbishop1 #aif1 #aig2 at ,charing1 #agj ,sudbury1 ,simon of1 #aic ,surrenden ,dering1 #afh ,sussex ,downs1 #afh ,swift1 ,j41 #ef ,swithun1 ,st41 ,bishop of ,winchester1 #c2 his shrine1 #ba2 removal of his bones1 #bb2 miracles wrought1 #bb2 number of pilgrims to his shrine1 #be ,tatsfield church1 #abj ,temple1 ,sir ,william1 #ef ,thames river1 #abf2 valley1 #gf1 #ach ,thomas'1 ,st41 ,hill1 #aie2 ,hospital1 #aif2 ,well1 #aag ,thurnham1 #aeb ,tichborne1 ,isabella1 #da ,tichborne1 ,sir ,roger1 #da ,tichborne ,park1 #da2 legend of the ,dole1 #da-dc ,tillingbourne stream1 #hg ,titsey ,park1 #aag2 discovery of ,roman remains at1 #ajj2 ,place1 #aag ,trottescliffe 7,trosley71 #ach ,tunbridge ,wells1 #ajg ,tupper1 ,martin1 #hb ,tyting's ,farm1 #gg ,vandyck1 ,a41 portrait by1 #hc ,vane1 ,sir ,harry1 #acf ,vigo ,inn1 #ach ,vinci1 ,leonardo da1 iii ,walkelin1 ,bishop1 his church1 #be ,walter1 ,archbishop ,hubert1 #aif1 #bjf ,wanborough1 #ei2 church1 #fj ,war ,camp or ,cardinal's ,cap1 #aad ,warham1 ,archbishop1 #adi1 #aga1 #bjh ,warrenne1 ,william of1 #ajd ,watling ,street1 #ada1 #ahf ,watts1 ,george ,frederic1 #fi ,wauncey1 ,richard de1 #fi ,waverley ,abbey1 #ef1 #ei ,waynflete1 ,bishop ,william of1 #de1 #gh ,wen1 the1 #e ,wessex1 #ba ,westerham1 #aba ,westhumble ,lane1 #ih ,weston ,wood1 #hj ,westwell1 #age2 church1 #age2 manor1 #agf ,wey1 river1 #ea1 #eg1 #gb1 #ge ,white1 ,gilbert1 his house at ,selborne1 #dd ,white ,hill ,downs1 #aad ,whiteway ,end1 #eg ,whitgift1 ,archbishop1 #aif ,whorne ,place1 #adb ,wibert1 ,prior1 #bjc ,wickens1 manor-house1 #agb ,wilberforce1 ,samuel1 ,bishop of ,winchester1 place of his death1 #ij ,william ,,iii41 ,king1 #ef1 #ajf ,william1 ,king of ,scotland1 at ,canterbury1 #bjf ,winchelsea1 ,archbishop1 #acj1 #afd2 his enthronement1 #aid2 death1 #aid2 statutes1 #bja ,winchester1 #c1 #bj2 the shrine of ,st4 ,swithun1 #ba2 number of churches and chapels1 #bb2 buildings1 #bd2 number of pilgrims1 #be2 ,nuns' ,walk1 #ca2 ,st4 ,giles' ,hill1 fair at1 #ca ,winders' ,hill1 #aaf ,windsor ,castle1 #gf ,wolsey1 ,cardinal1 #adi ,wolvesey1 castle of1 #bd1 #bi ,wotton1 #ij ,wotton1 ,sir ,henry1 #aed ,wren1 ,christopher1 #cf ,wriothesley1 ,thomas1 his treatment of the ,abbey of ,hyde1 #bi ,wrotham1 #acb2 church1 #ace2 hill1 #ace2 manor-house1 #acd2 palace1 #acf ,wulfstan1 on the removal of ,st4 ,swithun's bones1 #bb ,wykeham1 ,william of1 #bd1 #be1 #de ,wye1 the1 #ahd ,yaldham1 manor of1 #acf ,yew trees1 #f1 #hb1 #hd1 #id1 #ii1 #ajh1 #abf ,,printed ,,by ,,hazell1 ,,watson ,,and ,,viney1 ,,ld41 ,,london ,,and ,,aylesbury1 ,,england4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,w4 ,h4 ,hutton1 ,thomas ,becket1 p4 #bdi4 #b ,e4 ,abbott1 ,st4 ,thomas of ,canterbury1 i4 #bbc4 #c ,t4 ,c4 ,robertson1 ,materials for the ,history of ,archbishop ,becket1 ii4 #dg1 iv4 #ade4 #d ,op4 cit4 p4 #cbb4 #e ,anonymus ,lambethiensis4 ,materials1 ii4 #adj4 #f ,thomas ,saga1 ii4 #bjb4 #g ,hyde ,bourne4 #h ,grose1 ,antiquities of ,england and ,wales1 v4 #aaj4 #i ,meredith's novel1 ,diana of the ,crossways1 takes its name from this farm4 #aj ,captain ,e4 ,renouard ,james1 whose ,notes on the ,pilgrims' ,way in ,west ,surrey will be found to supply much valuable local information4 7,london1 ,edward ,stanford1 #ahga47 99 99 99 99 99 ,typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber3 ten gold growns ten gold crowns pg #ahh ,alresford1 #ce1 #ch2 ,new1 cloth frade at1 #ci2 ,alresford1 #ce1 #ch2 ,new1 cloth trade at1 #ci2 pg #bag