An Excursion organised by the Maidenhead and Taplow Field Club and Thames Valley Antiquarian Society in conjunction with our Society was made to Silchester on Thursday, September 3rd. The party numbered between 50 and 60, and included the following Dr. Playne (President of the Field Club), Mr. James Rutland (Hon. Sec.), Sir George Young, the Rev. W. A. Hill, the Rev. R. P. Newhouse, Messrs. R. Sawyer, Goolden, Gardner, Arrowsmith, Mr. and Mrs. Wethered, Messrs. R. Silver, J. Silver, F. Brown, W. Walker, Lodge, Mrs. Rolls, Mr. and Mrs. Shave, Mrs. Farr, Mrs. Nicholson, etc.; Rev. J. M. and Mrs. Guilding, the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, Mrs. Simonds, Mr. J. H. Cooper, Mrs. Slocombe, Mr. F. H. Sparrow, and several ladies; also Mr. J. L. Waldron, of Ramsbury.

The party first visited the Amphitheatre which is thus described in the excellent descriptive paper on Silchester which had been prepared by Mr. Rutland:-"The Amphitheatre is oval in form, similar to that of Dorchester, the diameter being 150 by 120 feet; Dorchester, 219 by 138 feet; Cirencester, 148 by 134 feet; and Richborough, 200 by 166 feet. Its superficial area is 1,800 feet or 2,000 feet. The bank consists of a mixture of clay and gravel, and is 50 feet wide at the bottom and about 12 feet at the top. The seats were ranged in five rows, which were visible about 100 years ago. The terraces were 6 feet deep, probably faced with masonry and covered with wood, and very probably the whole building was covered with wood. The principal entrances being north and south (Vomitoria) are still visible. The cavea, or den, was on the south side, where the wild beasts were kept before they were led into the arena to combat with the criminals who were condemned to die. This was also sometimes the place for public execution, shows, the athletic games, and where the naked gladiator or prize fighters used to exhibit their skill. The Rev. Mr. Bingham supposes that 10,000 persons might be seated on the sides of this amphitheatre. He also says that upon investigation he discovered that the arena had been covered with sand, to the depth of two or three feet, in order to keep the wrestlers from receiving injury by the falls they sustained. At times the arena was filled with water." Some of the party also visited the church, which has a finely timbered roof, a piscina, and a noteworthy altar tomb, the edifice dating back to the twelfth century, and being probably one of the earliest sites for Christian worship in the country.

Re-assembling at the Little Museum, the visitors were informed by Mr. M. STEPHENSON of the recent works conducted under the auspices of the Society of Antiquaries, after which he conducted the party over the excavations now in progress to the west of the Forum, and among other things pointed out a square of tesseræ in situ recently uncovered, which, he explained, it is intended to take up and place in the Silchester Section of the Reading Museum, it being, he said, the best piece of tesseræ yet discovered at Silchester. Near by were the exposed foundations of another house, where the burnt remains of coins and building materials were found, and as shewing the intense heat to which they had been exposed presumably at the time of the supposed destruction of the City by fire, it was stated that even the coins became a mass of powder on being simply touched. There were at this point traces of an earlier building than the one on the ordinary level, and it was expected that further excavation would throw more light on this unusual circumA little to the south of this position, the best bit of foundation yet disclosed was shewn, revealing the remains of what are supposed to have been a row of shops on the street front. A common corridor behind led down to a room containing a heating apparatus, with furnace, &c., in good condition, and the method of warming the apartments could be well defined. A feature of the plan appeared to be that the smoke was carried away by a common chimney stack much as with us in the present day. The ashpit belonging to the furnace was indicated. Beyond the shop was

stance.

apparently a summer apartment, inasmuch as it was without any heating arrangements, whilst another small room, seemingly detached, presented the curious feature of the wall resting on the floor of the room.

After Dr. PLAYNE, in the name of those present, had cordially thanked Mr. Stephenson for the information he had given them, the party proceeded to the "Crown" Inn, Silchester Common, where they partook of a meat tea. Before separating, the Rev. P. H. DITCHFIELD Congratulated Mr. Rutland on the success which had attended his arrangements, and expressed a hope that the two societies might again join forces in a future excursion.

The visitors returned to Reading via Mortimer and Grazeley.

Conference of Archæological Societies.

The second Congress of Archæological Societies in union with the Society of Antiquaries was held in London on July 15th. The Report of the Parish Registers and Records' Committee, and the subject of an Archæological Survey of England by counties or districts were discussed. It was announced that maps of Cumberland, Westmoreland and Surrey were in preparation, and it was hoped that one of Berkshire will shortly be undertaken. The question of the desirability of constructing models of ancient monuments was discussed at some length, and a fine series of such models, under the direction of the Inspector of Ancient Monuments, was exhibited. Several resolutions were passed and the Standing Committee appointed, consisting of: The Officers of the Society of Antiquaries; E. P. Loftus Brock, Esq., F.S.A.; Rev. J. C. Cox, LL.D., F.S.A.; W. Cunningham, Esq., F.G.S.; Rev. P. H. Ditchfield; Chancellor Ferguson, F.S.A.; G. L. Gomme, Esq., F.S.A. ; H. Gosselin, Esq.; R. Nevill, Esq., F.S.A.; G. Payne, Esq., F.S.A.; and Earl Percy, V.P.S.A.

Hurley.

(No. II.)

By Rev. F. T. Wethered, M.A.

[ERRATUM.-On page 28 of the Journal for July, 1891, instead of (line 23) "because their wood aforesaid parties," (line 31) read "on the ground that you so wickedly ravage and destroy their forest without their (knowledge) and consent: wherefore I charge you and ' super feoda vestra' enjoin and warn you not to hinder them henceforth from their water or in their forest outside your hedges without the approval of the Prior or his Monks to take aught: albeit whatever for your own houses' dilapidations may be needful for you, and for your fences, I enjoin that you have what is needful for you with the approval of the Prior and his Monks."]

"Osmund the Good, Count of Seez in Normandy, afterwards Earl of Dorset, and Lord High Chancellor of England, and at last Bishop of Sarum consecrated (sic) this Church of Hurley A.D. 1086, and died December 4th, 1099, in the reign of William Rufus." So runs the legend on a metal plate, of modern date, fastened on to the outer wall of the old Refectory facing the Church. But there is no authority at all for fixing A.D. 1086 as the precise year in which the Church was consecrated-or, rather, dedicated. The Charter which I have lately had transcribed from the original in Westminster Abbey, makes it quite certain that the foundation of the Benedictine Monastery at Hurley, the endowment of the Church (by Tithes), and the Dedication of it to the Blessed Virgin Mary took place on one and the self same day : but, in Doomsday, which was completed in 1086 A.D., no mention whatever occurs of the existence of any monastery here; so that it is (as already pointed out by me in my last paper) quite sufficiently apparent that the dedication of Hurley Church did not take place until after Doomsday was finished; and whereas William the Conqueror, who had originally given the Manor to Geoffrey de Mandeville, died on September 9th, 1087, the date of the Hurley Charter was on some day either in 1086 (after Doomsday was complete), or in 1087 on some day previous to the death of King William I. There is nothing at all unusual in no date being affixed to ancient Charters.

And, then, another plate on the Refectory wall has the following inscription: "I, Maud, daughter of King Henry, and Governess of the English, do give and grant to Gaufred de Mandeville, for his service, and to his heirs after him hereditarily, the Earldom of Essex ; and that he have the third penny of the Sheriff's Court, issuing out of all pleas as an Earl ought to receive from his country in all things. This is the antientist charter that Mr. Camden ever saw." Geoffrey II. here referred to was grandson to Geoffrey I. He was standard bearer of England in the times of the Empress Maud and of King Stephen: he had a sister (Beatrice) and married Roesia, sister to Aubrey de Vere, first Earl of Oxford. This Geoffrey (II)* and his wife granted part of the revenues of their chaplain, &c., to Hurley; and William, their son, confirmed his father's gifts. Geoffrey (II) died at the siege of Burwell. On a stone mural slab (also affixed to the South wall of the Refectory) is cut the following: "The priory of St. Mary's, Hurley, founded in the reign of William the Conqueror, by Geoffrey de Mandeville and his wife Leceline A.D. 1086, a cell to Westminster." It will at once be evident that these inscriptions refer to two different members of the Mandeville family. It is uncertain as to the exact Magneville, Manneville or Mandeville in Normandy from which the founder of our Monastery took his name. It is popularly reported that, having greatly assisted the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, he received the Manor of Hurley from his Royal Patron in consideration of his chivalry; but the surmise that he fought at all at the battle of 1066 and received his manors for his prowess rests on no authority. It is true that a French Rhyme of the 14th century, apparently made from the Doomsday Survey, begins a list of the Norman Conquerors by

Maundeville et Daundeville

Ownfravigle et Downfrevile,

but this gives no real authority for the legend referred to. De Lisle puts down the family as from Manneville near Trevières, but it is thought on competent authority to be just as likely that the Manneville near S. Valery en Caux, just off the road to Dieppe, is the place of our founder's family origin, since that district contains several Doomsday names. Geoffrey, the elder, signs a fair amount of Charters, A.D. 1119 being probably the latest date of the signaHe seems to have come in for a large share of lands which the Conqueror had annexed from the vanquished Saxons, viz., some forty manors in Essex; some twenty-six in Suffolk; some nineteen

tures.

* Geoffrey de M. (II) was the founder of Walden Abbey.