THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
49
screen. The late Norman W. Tower, at present finished with an ugly
lath-and-plaster parapet, is in bad repair. The four square-headed
windows, with quatrefoil tracery, in the north wall are the original XIVth
century ones. The vicar drew attention to a scratch-dial on one of the
buttresses to the south wall, and to some initials and sgraffiti of mediaeval
date on one of the pillars of the nave-arcade ; and also to the interesting
angle piscina in the S. aisle of the nave.
Mr. Hills added some remarks on the heraldry of the windows in the
north wall, the mediaeval glass in which shows the coats of Edward Mor-
timer, Earl of March (died 1381) and of France and England.
After an inspection of the church, a visit was paid to the nearby Dove-
house belonging to Great Bardfield Hall : this dates from the 17th or early
18th century and is of special interest since it retains the central pole with
revolving frame and vertical ladder by which access was obtained to any
one of the seven hundred and fifty nesting-holes. Unhappily, the Dove-
house is now in an advanced stage of dilapidation and will soon be a ruin.
Owing to the long programme before the visitors, it was reluctantly-
decided to abandon an inspection of the Village Cage and the "Gibraltar"
Tower windmill and to proceed directly to Finchingfield.
Arrived at Spains Hall, the party was met and welcomed by Mr. A. W.
Ruggles-Brise and Mrs. Ruggles-Brise, the former of whom gave a resume
of the history of the mansion. An inspection was made of the principal
rooms ; in the great hall there were laid out a series of interesting relics and
a large-scale plan of the estate by Thos. Pope, dated 1618, which were
explained by Mr. J. G. Covernton, in the absence of our host who was
compelled to leave to keep another engagement.
Spain's Hall was built circa 1570 and is a fine example of Elizabethan
brickwork. The original moulded ceiling beams of the large Hall, and
the wall-panelling of many of the rooms, were justly objects of admiration
to the visitors.
Lunch was taken in the grounds, coffee being most kindly supplied by
our hosts, and some time was spent in rambling about the grounds and
inspecting the various outbuildings, the seven fishponds and other items
of interest. An aged lime tree with remarkable pendulous branches, and
covered with mistletoe, attracted curious attention ; the suggestion was
hazarded that it was a drooping variety which had been much cut back.
At 2.15 o'clock the honorary secretary's whistle called the scattered
groups of visitors together, and a ramble across country was begun to
view the local "Bardfield Oxlips" which were coming into flower in their
myriads in Almonds Grove, although considerably belated by reason of the
cold season. Daphne laureola, Viola Riviniana, Viola odorata alba and
Scilla non-scripta were noticed in flower in and about the wood.
In an adjoining field, Mr. Covernton and his wife have recently ex-
cavated the scanty foundations of a Romano-British villa and this dis-
covery was personally demonstrated to the visitors by Mr. Covernton
on the site. He considered that the remains indicated a small villa, pro-
bably of the end of the second, or the beginning of the third, century of
our era. A coin of Constantine II. and other coins mostly of the Con-
stantine period, a fragment of a fibula of Continental pattern of end of 1st
century date, a quern of Herts, conglomerate, fragments of frescoed stucco,
roofing and other tiles, a large jar (dolium) in fragments, and oyster shells
D