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measures sixteen feet six inches in circumference. Hawarden Castle park comprises about two hundred and fifty acres, exclusive of Warren Plantations and Bilbery Wood. It is divided by a ravine which passes the ancient castle. At the bottom of the ravine flows Broughton brook, its waters tinged with iron.

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Mr. Yates, at the old castle, gave an outline of its history. It was built, he said, by the Normans, on the site of an ancient British fortification, soon after their occupation of Chester. It was occupied by the Chester palatinate barons of Montalt, whose descendant in the female line is the present Viscount Hawarden, now Earl de Montalt (created 1886). The Montalts were seneschals of Chester and lords of Mold. In 1281 the castle was stormed and taken by Prince Llewelyn ap Griffith, who captured in it Roger de Clifford, justiciary of Chester and North Wales. This event brought down King Edward I., and ended in the subjugation of Wales, and the annexation of the Principality to England. the Montalt family the castle passed to Isabella, queen of Edward II.; and afterwards, in 1337, to Montacute, earl of Salisbury. In 1411, and again in 1420, it reverted to the Crown, and finally, in 1454, it passed to the Stanley family, who held it for nearly two hundred years. During the Civil War it was held for the king, captured by the Parliament, retaken by the Royalists, but finally surrendered to and ordered to be dismantled by the Parliament in 1645. On the attainder of James, the Royalist Earl of Derby, it was sold by the commissioners for the sale of delinquents' estates to Sergeant (afterwards Chief Justice) Glynne. In 1723, Sir John Glynne, baronet, the grandson of the chief justice, came to Hawarden, married one of the co-heiresses of the Ravencrofts, of Broad Lane House, the site of the

present residence, and settled there. He diverted the ancient public roadway (which ran by the old castle), enclosed the house and castle ruins with the present park walls, and planted the woods. He took great interest in all the county affairs of Flintshire. He was the great-grandfather of Mrs. Gladstone, and was member of Parliament for Flintshire, and afterwards for the Flintshire Boroughs. His election addresses are dated from Broad Lane House. Parts of the old building still remain in the present residence, now called Hawarden Castle. The present castle ruins are the remains of the fortress rebuilt in the time of King Edward I. The keep is the principal part left standing.

From the summit of the old castle at Hawarden a magnificent view is obtained of the Welsh march, from Flint in the north-west almost to Shrewsbury (so often harried by the Welsh) in the south-west. Six miles away lies Chester, from which the historic Dee flows in a straight course to the sea, passing within a mile and a half of the castle. To the north the rising ground beyond Liverpool is visible. East of Chester, Beeston Hill stands out prominently, with its picturesque castle, and Peckforton, the seat of Lord Tollemache. To the south the Wrekin is plainly visible thirty miles away; and on the west rise the Welsh hills, the first groups of the Snowdon range. Along the march there is no spot of ground without its history of fierce and deadly fighting between the Welsh and the lords marchers. The Norman barons built towns and castles on the land they conquered, and, beside the more important border castles, there are numerous traces to be still seen of the lesser works.

The members on leaving the castle proceeded to the pretty bridge crossing the moat, the leader pointing out the favourite walk of Mr. Gladstone. Then proceeding

towards the modern castle he gave a short description of it en route. The house was originally a red brick square house, of no considerable size. It was built towards the middle of the eighteenth century by Sir John Glynne, as stated above. Subsequently, at different dates, additions were made. The brick walls were faced with the stone of the district, additional wings were added, four turrets built, and the entire building was castellated. A block was added to the north-west angle, on the ground floor of which is Mr. Gladstone's study. Mr. Gladstone built an octagonal fire-proof chamber, communicating direct with his own room by means of a narrow stone passage blocked by a heavy fire-proof door, but in other respects standing distinct from the main building. In place of the old wooden entrance, erected for temporary use over sixty years ago, a new stone porch has been built. Close by, and forming one side of the castle yard, is an interesting building, an old manor house of considerable antiquity. The rooms of the modern castle are spacious and numerous. There are a few noted pictures by Vandyke, Millais, Holl, and Herkomer. The most interesting apartment is Mr. Gladstone's study, appropriately called the Temple of Peace. The ground floor rooms on the south and west open out on to a flower garden, round which Mr. Gladstone often walks. A fine magnolia, which has reached to the top of the house and which blooms luxuriantly, testifies to the mildness of the climate.

After leaving Hawarden the members visited the curious old House of Correction, and took a passing glance at St. Deniol's Hostelry.

Monday, August 3rd, 1896.

ARBOR LOW AND HARTINGTON.

On Bank Holiday, the members of the Society visited Arbor Low and Hartington. From Parsley Hay station. they drove to Arbor Low, where

Mr. George C. Yates, F.S.A., the leader of the excursion, read a paper. The name Arbor Low, he said, is not without interest. The termination "low," of course, is not part of the name, but is equivalent to tumulus, barrow, or hill, Arbor or Arbe, as it is variously pronounced, is evidently the same word as "Abury," the great sanctum of our country; one of the greatest megalithic monuments in the world. The area of the Arbor Low circle, which is formed by about thirty or forty rough blocks of limestone of various shapes and sizes, ranging from six feet to eight feet in length by about three or four feet in breadth at the widest part, is about one hundred and sixty-seven feet in diameter, and the stones, instead of standing upright, as is the case with similar remains in other parts of the country, lie horizontally on the ground. Within the circle are some smaller scattered stones, and in the centre three larger ones, which may perhaps have formed a dolmen, or sepulchral chamber. The width of the fosse is about eighteen feet; the height of the bank or vallum on the inside is from eighteen to twenty-four feet. The vallum is chiefly formed of the earth thrown out of the ditch, with a little from the ground which immediately surrounds the exterior of the vallum, thus adding to its height and to the imposing appearance it presents to anyone approaching it from a distance. There are two entrances, each of the width of ten or twelve yards and opening towards the north and south. On the east side

of the southern entrance is a large barrow, which was first explored in 1770 by the then occupier of the farm, secondly in 1782, by Major Roorke; and thirdly in 1824, by Mr. William Bateman, but none of these gentlemen succeeded in discovering the interment. At length, in 1845, Mr. Thomas Bateman was more fortunate. He began by cutting a trench across the barrow from the south side. In the operation a shoulder-blade and antlers of red deer were discovered, and also a number of bones of the water rat. On reaching the highest part of the tumulus, which was elevated about four yards above the natural soil, a large flat stone was discovered, about five feet in length by three feet in width, lying in a horizontal position about eighteen inches above the natural floor. This stone was cleared, when a small six-sided cist was exposed, constructed of ten limestone blocks, which were placed on one end, and having a floor of three similar stones. The chamber was quite free from soil, the cover having prevented the entrance of earth and protected the contents, which were a quantity of calcined human bones, strewed about the floor of the cist, amongst which were found a rude kidney-shaped instrument of flint, a pin made from the leg bone of a small deer, and a piece of spherical iron pyrites. At the west end of the cist were two ornamented but dissimilar urns of coarse clay. One had fallen to pieces, but has since been restored, and is of an elegant form; the other was taken out quite perfect, and is of much ruder design and workmanship. addition to these urns a piece of the ornamented upper edge of another vase, quite unlike the others, was found. The floor of the chamber was laid upon the natural soil, and the cist was strewed with rats' bones, both within and without. The pin had probably been used as a brooch, while the flint and iron pyrites, which have been

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