The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-05-20 00:00:00

DORSET FIELD CLUB AND ANTIQUARIAN

SOCIETY.

The fir 4 meeting of the Session of 'hi* club was
held at Dorchester on Tuesday. The members
assembled in the Museum at noon, and in the absence
of the preeident (Mr. Mansel.Pleydell), Nlr. CoHog, of
Bridport, was votei t the chair. There were about
50 ladle, and gentlemen present. Volume V. .4 the
" Proceedings" was distribote I am mot the members,
and it wee generally admitted to be one of the host
numbers that ha. ever been issued. It is lavishly
illuetrated with engravings, which will out the club a
good deal of money. The report of the treasurer (the
it,,. Pickard Cambridge) ehowed that the club
commenced the year with. balance of LI 6.. 51. He
had received 14s. from members, making a total of
£42 0...51. Out of this he ha I paid earl us bills,
Irving a balance of £ll itS.. 111., but We WAM
subject to various heavy payments. He mentioned
there were outstanding subscriptions to the amount of
OS 10e., some of the members irt having paid for
some yeare—three had not paid for four or fire years,
13 for three year. and 21 for the but year. 'This,
however, be hoped to receive. Although he could not
exactly state the amount of their liabilities, not having
yet received all the accounts, he believed there would
be • slight contra-balance. Tr volume before them
he thought would be found to be • very excellent one,
Some conversation arollll about the subscribers in
sonar, and some members thought it would be well '
to give notice that if they did not pay, their names
would be erased. Ultimately, it was dAtermined to
leave the matter in the hands of the treasurer.
The fiscarraay then said be Lad no formal report
to move. He mentioned he had received some books
which had been sent to the society in exchange for
their proceeding*, and amongstthem a very interest-
ing Guide to Alethoda of Insect Life, Ly Mir Ornered,
t'e c maulting Eatyinnlogiat of the Royal Agricultural
Society. He thought the eri let, we. doing a v-ry good
work. He wa, sorry to hear from the treasurer there
was likely to be an adverse brume, but that was not
t. be wondered at when they considered the very
bi.,7 expense they locum ho Vs • dune.. Bth, if
• &thistly additional subscription should become !
neownary, be bad no doubt the manben would
wilits4l7 Pay its

The fame were then re—lected, Mr. Manual-
Play&II being spin ch 'deal lent by acclamation,
Pr0f..,., Buckman eecr.oary, and the Pickard
Csanha'ge trea•urer. 'mines w. re then invited to
roune place. for next year, a, d the first mentianed wee
King-ton L ,c-y, li 'urn-out., the 1t.,. H. Went
having given a vrry kiat i drit atian to hutch ; other
place. we Di I,head, P .rtland, and Came. It w.e
determined, on the oroponition of tin commit'. e, •0
leave the arrangement Lf the tne,tinge for fo. ore
determination by the Lfficere. No fewer than • dozen
new member.' were elected, viz Rev. A. A.
Leonard, the 'Mayor of Dor+ °stet (ft Darden,
Eui.), Mr. E. R. Backe., Mr. Walter Grove., 'swain
Pier-tell, Mr. Ward, Dr. Child. (Weymouth). Rev.
'I It. P. Malan (tihapwick), Mr. B. A. H.gg (!)or
chant-0, Mies Margaret Collo., 1113. i Lieutenant C.
Hubbard.

Mr. CCNNINGTfYN then exhibited • discus, or .toaa
(poi% a v,re perfect ep- cimen. which he hal obtsiaed
at ‘larrAt. He gave the f Mowing deecrli.ti .a :
The DisCOO-1110•WetiOlg to Our modern qtpUt ...Wad ill nee
amongst to (freak. from the tame 01 the Trojan A tr. They
were m.d. .4 don, brae.. or c.,pper, varying in eh spe. .tret
and at Lehi; so pic3ning to an aeti ehape 01 nit nitt twelve
inches lung and Ore inch,. broad ; others, eircuc'er, with •
it de to toe can re settle 8.. •peconen before tp.. flit kind
wee thrown to • great dietetice by the help I • le•the,n
thong put throu,h th centre When • mild (wiped .ratert)
piece, It wee hurled direct.). from the hand ow Illustrated by the
celebrated watu• of My ro ~tetecated to the fifth century, B.C.
calls! the Dietobulue. The drawing before us Is from the
copy In Ilse TJwnlet Galery, originally found in the grounds
of II ^demo'. Tibirtine Vile n 1791. TO. thecae wee thrown
uuidiy from • retort poel aol. On this melt ma took hi,
itation, a h hie body witirely onkel, hle right low forward,
imutling hie knee, and resting pri,icipally on his Wt.

A vote of thanks bariog been accorded kir.
Cunoington, Mr. ltickus to real • piper on " The
Excarati•to (sr a taus reservoir 4 Bryanotone on the
estate of Vbc toot P trtroan," awl at the couclusion
the club pr to-tit led ts F“r•lty.gtoo Church, where Mr.
11. J. Moult; read ths (Atoning paper :
Fuenta•TON or. ONOROL

As it Is • short paper that has been rake I for, an 1 •
paper not so much on t • church, as on a particular I -attire
the church of Fordiogton St. G orge, general remelts •hall
boo. brief.. may be The site of the church was well
chosen. It etude on the highest soot in the village Yet the
, site wain .dly choen, too. the church was at down in •
great Roma o Mesh cemetery. The growth f • grsireywd
round • church Is, of course, no vernal almost, and natural.
The erection ens newly founder I chit ch in an old aaaaa yud
is uncommon, I tate It, On appreachtog the church you pose
three goo I, pare, unarm. 171, century altar-like t nobs ; one
at them bearing the well known solemn epitaph, beginning
Remember tut Death tarrieth not." The tower is worth
utter, not only as being • capital one In resign, colour, and
!velem, but as having what, as far eel know, lea peculiarity
of Pith, its north and south faces aro each In. din.
narrower than thou on the use and west. Of its eth bells lb*
third and 111th are mediaeval Legends In mottle until
rumen campus Joimenalee" and Sancta KAUAI& or. pro
noble.** I'llese tells are and to h• thou. or some of those,
referred to les Ua• dogreul couplet WU mama In Wool acid
elsewhere
Wool stream and Coombe wells—
Ferdington rogues state Buadon
The cap le probably the original one. Readefl of the third
e dtion of Hutchins mar he led to think that my honoured
father was answerable for the dreadful design of the north
aisle. I take title opf,rtunity rf denying this • then
leading architect in the Diocese mon= ivied tree
deign, winch doubtless Is •oree than any Journeyman
mama in the county could now be guilty of. On the other
hand my father first re lured ael then rem eyed the western
gallery, which he found actuary so high that there were
hat pegs Iri, the crown of the tower arch, And he revealed
to sight several curl a' bite In the church. Well, this north
aisle exists The eighteenth mute chancel eXteee. In place
of a glori .us one with timber r.rol, and stalls. and fool'? 'ft.
The nave and trancept are coiled. The interior le spoil, as •
Still it poreeses several inte big detachel features.
I en but gimp y name the Eligabethri pulpit, the rood-loft
staircue, the curl us little d w high op in the the ran-eant
AA the puce of encaustic pavement in situ, but with the
sot • erne quite gone. In my boy:loot, by the way, them
patterns were still or far rewriting that I matey d it wk.,
ih,en out arid depict thcle. Close to the pavement are laid
d arn • number of tiles which were fou ol u .eler
Bev. rat of thee, tilos are of some Interest. Not • le• of them
have the fylfot moos. Lkeldes the above bits ther,
Interesting remnant of • piaci. and arch in t e traneept, teal
two (perhaps titre ) NOM. p 4.11, One With a Cep .4 appar-
ent y later da.c, and carrying eingalarly mu le p detect arches.
1 now come to the two rally n ,tetrochy features In St.
(So gee, both at tier .outh dom., and both preserved from
an older church, and enshrined by the 15 century buildere in
their own work inure sue. Indeel, it may b noted that here
they seem t . have teen so disposal to an even unc name
degree flue appears f one thdr retaining the Moro", P et*.
although feting in very awkwarliy. The gat of the said
feature. is the If .ly Water Senn Its font-like shape is
remarkable, hut by i o means unique Tun be • much later
ore-, for hid wee, at Reding.. But, as far a. my limited
knowledge goes, the m .veable, or m suable-looking •rninge-
ment, of the one at St George's is peculiar. It woo holden
loWnd • lii,gr pm and I unottet until uncovered by my
lather I thirty-Sye years ago. The sligh• moulding and

„
• mamma an it are pethaps hardly enough to settle it, date ;
but It the it t.• b.. Norman. Pisclius ft •at d atc,anil with ...-
thing of a family likeness exist. I lclove, in mveral placos—at
&wham am ng others. But these, it seems, resemble short, fixed
attuning with he cap hollowed ; au i are titan this stoup *lee
o minute tort. I must TM,. pea. lunk to the Tympanum, close
I. the stouo, bat outside of ineteed of w.thin toe ...nth dim,
A Tympanum witiiin the south door of Tarrant itushton
Ch -roll may be noticed In passing It. Ike this one I • date,
and to a c rtaiti attend n shape, but quite &Relent in
subject. •Iftl 111.0 1.10 ,05tflIC:10:1, te turns i Can j 1.1411 (rum
the rough cut n Hutchins'. I may as well stone. ex
.irms
my belief for what it I. worth, that this Foolington
Ts mpanum is on I entolly N irrom. I alit not forget that at
the ineetint I the Archasslogical Association in lAll iaa
opinion that ut Ii much mate recent was very decidedly
eapr. me I. It was said that tin h dilates of the atone
no sent* for t •eh tecier of the etre: ig. I doubt the foot.
aid deny the Inference. As lathe stole, there is •th tory
the. it is of forel.rn even of Oriental, origin. I can Anil nn
modatian for this i Ica. It is more prevaiting, and much
mare likeli, bah I that it is of Purest,. . tilite. Al the
mine time there is • lrbditioll at Sutton P..lnto that of stone
from the cow gram- rota qmrriee on Leiden, a hill there, all
the • Wold •onahui.t Mahe, to 1:1.1V1300.4,' were c .nalnieted.
' There,' add my informant. Portland line—he weretil
finieheal—n it then' But • hether from P .rtesharn or Loddiin,
I think I shall he borne out in believing that oblite from
those Macre, Ns from Portia J. le not when Ant quarried of
by any means .'talk .r qualoy. But if it were as hard as
Imealt, what then? Would the iron hard... .4th. et or have
mete the post Nnr.rnan eor••• pt.unly, 1 Moly, p .ar.rey
Norman nasal, the Normal hauberk. the Normaat shield, the
Norman prizkepur? For in truth this carving might be the
pouf action of 11.111. lot bit of the Bayeux Tapestry.
Peery feature almost in the Tympanum mar be clearly traced
in the Tapeetry, Almost, for from my rememberance of the
latter, • d examina'ion of the I nperfart wit of the
faielmiles th .roof t which alone I ha,, •CO.I. hem,
I cannot satiety lapelf that the etrapplng of the shield to
the neck, punt inepicuous in the ftuipanurn is shown In the
tapestry. The bj ct below the hormone'. foot I have always
thought to he the end of hie sword hanging, of course, o•
the near silo of the horse. I think is still ; s et in the tapestry
I see • different object so hanging, and which may be • large
tartar or a lung mid of the girth. This, whether dazger or
girth, may he the thing if which the Noroan career here
wee thinking— just p 0.113 y. Alto the subject, !hare no new
theory to offer. Abroad—and the Atigl- -Norman was in
much harmony of th eight with the Frai.e a-Norman, with the
Frenchman, an I with the German—abroad. the 'Tympanum
mostly displays some figure or symbol of our 1,4,1, as, by the
way, we se. on the Tarsal example. IBM Item at Pordington
it Is not our Leal who in figured or rynibsiised. Ilia crom,
Indeed, is fully shown, but not himself. Yet, the horseman,
though not divine, is sainted. She aureole, however faint awl
rude, is plain e ough, Now, this is /IL ti orge's Church.
About tem yearn before one .1 th s datei assigned for its
founding AL la,rite WY beheld (men Chlrillig the Pay-
non. I see no bettor likelihood th .n the old accepted one
lb I Bee rid ris M. Gorge in the onslaught at Antioch. It
may be dojected that the enemy are in N..rman harness.
mini. nothing. E:ervone k owe that variati-in ate *tut.,
to.. owing to either differing tone or cli so, was constantly
kneed in msdisgral, nay, down to m wierti times. Many
here mast have seen the Immortal c danred print of the Pro-
digal 800 going away from home In • poet chaise. I have
called this rudely carved door-head a Tympsnum Toe b mks
mll it se. It is well. But I would in on. word point oat
that it is a widely diffenut feature fron the n rtnal Tym-
panum • anal le uncommon—l had almost said unique Ihe
regular 'Prop..% of constant occurrence especially abroad,
it • massive lintel stone, Siting into the soffit of an arch
a'ove it. This Tympanuin here is not • stone—ot is fix
stones It is not • lintel—it is an arch, however rude. I con-
clude by pointing out that there ars faint traces ,4 • resl mint
on the stone, and nee inlet that the whole wise hiders in
plaster and unknown wild .Ikhoovered by Clerk Brooke, whom
(well remember.

Haring inspected the various p dote a lot rest in
the noble old edifice, the members on Mr. Alfro.l
Pope's kind levitstioa proceeded to Me hew, so I pk r.
took of refreshments. Mr. Pope reed Afterwards the
following interesting paper on" Ilsombury It n ":-

Although no near Dorchester this grand earthwork stands
in the parish of Fordington Si. George, the ancient town of
Dorchester not extending beyond Its owu walls nor comprising
more than some 80 acres. It snores to have been the plans
amulememt and recreation if the anciett Roman inhabi-
tants of Damon:le, and like trust other =Althea.. 01 ts
hind, was placed outsi to the city wale, It is pr hibly a
nick of the time of A:ric I, who taueht and er.c •uraged the
Brit as to build teetples. hulas, and amphitteatree in infer to
introduce luxury and sof•en the fh•ree ,ouch temosa f
'het ovoid, do-icing from is* ,itbe n: table of ho ding
over 12,000. It wee rob Oily the gr at p 000 f entertainment
of the pc pie hvi.g at the ration* Roman Mellor., eerabli*hed
on the south emit, hence it may be s that our ancient
town ot rt rchester arse a ti'aw of ,0 small imp Ttailee duri•,g
the time of the Hon an Ride In Brit .in. Fir the discovery of
this work, ma monument of antiquity, we 5.-em to hare been
In-lobbed to Sir Chriaopher Wren, who, on his frequent
Journeys to the I-I and of Portland, whi tit c,ti dr .1
A hurch of Pt. Paul was being bull, wee the flea to co-I in it.
Before it. discovery by this (ammo an:Allot it h‘d alwaye
been called. Le the ,o mon ps.opl, call it now, Alonbury or
Mtmebary Ring*. Many etymol sic. of this word h lae been
given II filching any. it may bet and 'Maim 'or • Mame ' (in
the Donet dialect), a kind of earthy chalk. and • buiy,' taken
In its common sense of an earthwork, as Pout I bury, WoodbarY.
Ca burr, Sc. Banat., in his little history of D ',cluster,
oubli.hei about the year 1830, says the w .ol should
be written Maenbury,' which is derived from the Celtic
• omen,' the note se the Latin' lanie; actors, en I • ber,,.
to died.', to cenerate frOn its hot dog sp natant n oth is
tide. Mr. Warne, however, *aye it may be en canal from a
• great stone; which Is eat 1 to have formerly stool at the en-
trance, but being an obstale to the cultivation of the land
wan buried in a hole dug to receive Ito-, the sp 4. In Mae,
1879, on t, occasion of a former a hit of the Dorset Anti-
quarian Field Club to the county lose, an effort was made to
And this stone, but without success. A trench See at. to
10ft deep wan dug area., the northeru tedranco Boni enet to
west. &moth r towards the centre of the arena, but in town
of it could he seen. A roadway .ome M. to Olt. wido and
as deep, tormel I the 'slid ch.lk, weed...vent I; •- .1 from
m re recent excavations on the ',to of tilt present brewery
'semi" this roalway &AMMO to have takot • direct line to
the southern entre, cc to the town, the ciudk at the b Atom of
the way being very much pressed and coned dat,d MP if 1,0111
the cocci ttal run .111 g over it of nit. steel*. It mac be
seen that this ancient work is set on the top of a jileun
deft n ng to the north or n.rt beset, whereby the great heat
of the sun would be motined doers the greater part of th•
day. It is of I'd sheik upon • level with the ground, •Ith
out any foam round It. Tee Jambe at the entrance are some-
what worn away, and the songs and gouth-west half of ths
arena is some a x or 'even fret bel w the orizioal surface of
the around on that Ade, front which It may be gathered that
a terse portion of the chalk for forming the rides was dug out
of the otnity in the centre. Tells centre p rim has no
doubt been exceedingly elevated by Manuring and ploughing
for many years pest, and it nil be observed that the silo,
hate bean plotted down, Mr. Warne. Mayo c arena Ma,al
one time prob. ly nrcular, but hee attained its 'regent shape
from thin continual ploughing, and that th • rough. diameter
wk. 350 feet by 345 feet. Toe receptacle of the g.a I an" and
will beasts, Sc ,ii supposed to have been at the upper end,
Under the ascent to the term., there being, It is suppose%
vaults under that part of the body of he work*. Mr.
Warne, however, In his •Antient Demi,' says lie has
been =Abe to discorer any tr ces of such place. Up It
the year 1767 all the public executions to k ;thee he-c, and
it will be observe] that where the pllow• formeey et oil
the tens. Is somewhat Injured hi the tramping of met
and borers At the executmn at the famtu Mrs.
Canning for the murder if her husband, which tork
place herein the year 1705, as many an 10,000 spectator,' Ire
sa,d to bare been present, the top sides and ar.ina of the works
blob emnpletely Allot Acenrding to Dr. Siukeley, thin
amphitheatre omelets of an acre of ground and wee originellY
about 140 feet in diameter the shortest way, and rAt feet the
I o gist, thus being the largest in existence next t i that at
Verona and the Co Baum at R •ene. Tnest mea.urements do
not agree with Mr. Barite: messurements g con &hove, hilt
May be arc .11.ded for by Mr. Barnes having taken the external
diameters and Dr. Stokeley the., of the arena only. Ti,.

•• heasembee thee Death midi not. sad VW di*
Covenant el Sbe grave as mot showed halo Uwe. lee I wee se
tbou art, sad then dash be as I ue.'
.1,02 les 'lbisrelied Ars: P. SU

aitaiMal titranaterenea tenBl4 wim about two acre% tlth
7994,4719 htf.ht in."'tte ire. ID het Ohm the lova f he
Thor. to .4 t. 11601 be a many coins if
ant lq if fetre.l 11 K. 1,11160155ta etc.nlty, •el ver come of the
Utile rho .p ‘uttse . t. 211. wlb W 4 .0"
mows. n•.l Mr. P 01..1 Lioenla. haat/ the n .ly e of
erh.ch I CAll Met a y trice. Nun,r OS Mina car, hocoto',
found 0 th • site of the 1.141-en• hr....0y or mom, an I 6.1
Ina the anew el,. in 1879 t- whet 1 bay' belo-• r. tarred,
soma feet into '4t' 'tery. pr”ba.tt mud." eul wiener K '6"
were md, API • few Donee nal teeth at italipt/t, pnatthly
red •fecr.
. .

Tao luncheon al terw.rds took Otos et the Kle.t's
Ar aud w-II wee Iby Mr. EI Frost. A(•-r
lun,heou eev..ral Ins t.ra of lowest wer- discus..
end Mr. Tu•oruse II sr ly tea lin, en earl-tient paoer n
the" Fro I I Foril.to Prl4 " The p trtv brolc.l
up shortly after lir-, haring done an exoelleot ‘le)%l
work.