It appeared so great a pity that so excellent a design of its date (1631) should be destroyed without any record of its existence being preserved, that I went across and obtained information sufficient to make out the drawings now sent up for exhibition, of its front and side views, and also that of its small octagonal base. (That, actually, of the former mediæval one.) The case here is found to be similar to many others where the best Elevation of Old Perpendicular Pulpit at Yaxley. intentions, without wise and prudent consideration, end in melancholy results. Yaxley, like every other portion of the Queen's dominions, desired to show its rejoicings for sixty years of Her Majesty's reign, raising for such end the-for its size and position-respectable amount of nearly £80. The people, most unfortunately, hit on the plan of abolishing their very admirable old pulpit, which had served its purpose over 260 years, and replacing it with a modern one! This in a church where seats and roofs may be fairly said to groan to be repaired and made watertight. : : The three portions seen lying on the floor consist of, first, two portions, one of which is the whole sounding-board. This bears on its front the ititials of R. E., being those of Robert Edmunds, rector from 1626 to 1639. The second is the pulpit itself, bearing on its front the date 1631, and the initials of the two churchwardens, H. S. and I. P. The small third portion (small drawing) was the base of the still earlier mediæval pulpit of that date, when in the Perpendicular period its very noble and beautiful tower and spire were erected, and the earlier nave arcades were changed to that style, though overlapped by the former aisles (by no means an uncommon proceeding in this neighbourhood). The 1631 pulpit in plan was an irregular hexagon, which had been placed simply on the earlier octagonal base. This last still retains the marks of its angle-posts and mortices for its side panels and door. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH, 1898. BENJ. WINSTONE, ESQ., V.-P., IN THE CHAIR. The following members were duly elected : The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Peterborough, President, The Ashley K. Maples, Esq., Spalding. A. L. Millward, Esq., 9, Gloucester Road, Regent's Park, N. W. Thanks were ordered by the Council to be returned to the respective donors of the following presents for the library : To the Society, for "Various Collections of the Smithsonian Institu دو tion," 1898. for "Journal of the Cambrian Archæological Association," October, 1898. for "Collections, Historical and Archæological, relating to Montgomeryshire," published by the Powys-land Club, vol. xxx, pt. II, November, 1898. Mr. Andrew Oliver exhibited the remains of a sword and a small knife, which, together with the boss of a shield, were found with three skeletons at Portslade, near Brighton, in July last, in the formation of a new road. The skeletons faced to the east. After the removal of the antiquities, the human remains were examined and carefully interred in the churchyard of Portslade. The opinion of the meeting was that the exhibits belonged to the Romano-British period. Mr. Gould exhibited another photograph of the Roman pavement at Leicester, which has already been illustrated in the Journal of the Association, and read some additional details regarding it, bringing out the interesting fact that the houses recently demolished, under which the pavement was found, occupied the site of a house once the residence of John Bunyan. A paper on "Wool Church, Dorset," by Dr. Fryer, was read in the author's absence by the Rev. H. J. D. Astley. One of its principal features is the chancel arch, of thirteenth-century date, which is, perhaps, unique for that period. The unusual and effective appearance of this arch is produced by the filling up of the large arch and piercing the wall with three arches of equal width, each 10 ft. 6 ins. high and 3 ft. 6 ins. wide. These three sub-arches rest upon shafts of octagonal form, 32 ins. in circumference, without capitals, and with base moulds near the floor. The tympanum is quite plain, with no trace of decoration, although it is quite likely this was originally intended. The church also possesses a font of the fifteenth century, of special interest, as it was evidently purposely designed for its present position against the westernmost pier of the north arcade of the nave. Fragments of cresset stones have occasionally been discovered in England, but Wool Church possesses one in almost as good a condition as when it left the hands of the medieval mason. There is a tradition that the bells of Wool Church were stolen from Bindon Abbey at the Dissolution; but this is contradicted by the bells themselves, as all of them are dated, the oldest being of the year 1606. Mr. C. H. Compton read the first portion of a paper upon the Welsh Marches, which is published in this Part of the Journal, pp. 339-348. In the discussion which followed the paper, Mr. Gould observed with reference to Offa's Dyke that he himself had traced it throughout, and felt able to affirm that it was never intended as a line of fortification : a misunderstanding which was very conmmon. It was merely intended as a boundary line between England and Wales. The Chairman, the Rev. H. J. D. Astley, and others spoke upon the paper. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7ти, 1898. THOS. BLASHILL, ESQ., HON. TREASURER, IN THE CHAIR. The following members were duly elected : The Viscount Melville, Cotterstock Hall, Oundle. W. J. Piper, Esq., Leeds, Yorks. Mrs. H. Pears, Malvern Link. Mr. Bodger, of Peterborough, exhibited a silver penny of Offa, recently dug up in Castor churchyard; also a styca of Eanred, King of Northumbria, A.D. 808-848. He likewise exhibited some portions of tiles of elaborate pattern with the Tudor rose, recently discovered in pulling down the "Angel" Hotel, Peterborough. Mr. Irvine sent for exhibition careful drawings of the leaden chalice preserved in the Chapter Library at Peterborough, and some measured drawings of the coffin-lid or tombstone lately found in excavating under the diagonal buttress of the "new work" at the Cathedral. A series of twenty very beautiful sepia drawings of antiquities in Boston and the neighbourhood, executed by William Brand in 1808, were also exhibited by Mr. Bodger. Mrs. Day showed some rare examples of early printed books, includ- Mrs. Collier laid upon the table an interesting bronze medallion of The Rev. H. J. D. Astley exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Donnelly, A paper entitled "The Ancient University of Britain," was read br the author, the Rev. W. S. Lach-Szyrma. He said the question, Which is the oldest university of Britain? was one of considerable interest. Modern criticism tends to cast doubt upon the long-accepted theory that Oxford is the oldest because it derives its origin from the age of Alfred the Great, while many Cambridge men hold that their university has claims to priority. His paper dealt with a far older institution than either, for even before the birth of Alfred the Great there was in Britain a university some four hundred years old: which in the time of Alfred, after a long period of usefulness, and being a centre of light to Celtic Britain, had already passed its acme, and from political causes was verging to decay. This was the university of Llaniltyd Fawr, or Llantwit Major, as it is now called. This university was founded in the age of Theodosius II. It was burnt by Irish pirates in 440, but was restored and rebuilt by the great St. Iltyd, knight, hermit, and teacher, who established it as a seat of light in an age of profound darkness. The students numbered at one time more than two thousand, the sons of British nobles, foreign princes, and the youth of various nations, who came for study, rest, and peace from the turmoil of Western Europe in the tumultuous times of the barbarian invaders. The discipline was monastic; the culture, i the decaying culture of the old world, mingled with elements of Christianity and, perhaps, the memories of Druidic traditions and philosophy. For the archæologist Llantwit at the present day presents one of the most striking groups of British monuments- a museum, as it were, of edifices or monuments in situ forming a complete record of archæological remains for 1,400 years. These include seventeenthcentury buildings, a Tudor Town Hall, a fifteenth-century Manor House, a Columbarium of the thirteenth century, besides the Christian British remains of the seven churches and colleges, the menhir of St. Samson, the ancient crosses, and in the churchyard the pillar reared by King Howell in the ninth century, together with monastic ruins and foundations of college buildings, all grouped around the church and churchyard; and a wonderful pagan British altar pillar carved over with Celtic ornament, and with grooves for the sacrificial blood. |