THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 219
paintings forming a reredos. Mr. Giles described these paintings to the
party.
Lunch was taken, by kind permission of Miss Tamplin, in her garden,
and our hostess most generously provided cool drinks and tea and coffee,
which were most welcome in the blazing heat of this midsummer day.
On leaving, the Hon. Secretary expressed the grateful thanks of the party
to Miss Tamplin for her hospitality.
The 15th century "Monks Barn," a country retreat of the West-
minster monks in olden times, was inspected from the outside. The
building is empty and now undergoing repair, so the interior was not
available for inspection.
The various conveyances next took the visitors to Wicken Bonhunt,
where the former Chapel of St. Helen, now a barn, was inspected. This
little edifice may probably have been a private chapel attached to the
manor. It dates from Norman times, and exhibits in the N.W. angle
internally a Transitional Norman capital and shaft ; over the much later
north doorway is a fragment of Early English dog-tooth moulding.
Brick House was next visited, and the garden inspected. The house
is Jacobean, of mellow red bricks, with many gables back and front ;
built about the year 1600, it bears above the doorway a shield with the
arms of Bradley.
Regaining the conveyances, the party proceeded to Arkesden, where
the fine restored church was visited and where the Rev. H. J. Stares,
rural dean, welcomed us and gave a short description of the edifice. The
village memorial to the fallen in the Great War consists of a monolith
of natural conglomerate—Hertfordshire pudding stone—in which a
polished grey granite slab is inserted, bearing the names of the fallen.
The rectory garden was visited by invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Stares.
Returning to Newport, tea was taken at the Paragon Cafe: later a
formal meeting of the Club was held here, Mr. C. Hall Crouch, in the
absence of a Past President, being voted to the Chair, when two certificates
of nomination for membership were read and votes of thanks accorded
to Mr. and Mrs. Hatley for their organisation of the day's meeting.
After tea the party split into sections, some visiting Mr. Giles' studio,
others plant-hunting on the Boulder Clay hills to the west of Newport,
others visiting the water-meadows to the east of the town.
It was past 7 o'clock when all were again reunited and the homeward
journey begun. The coach party returned to town by a circuitous route
by way of Clavering, the Hadhams, Stanstead Abbots, Hoddesdon,
Cheshunt and Waltham Abbey.
Notwithstanding the somewhat limited opportunity for botanical
collecting on the occasion, Miss Prince was able to note no fewer than
125 plants in flower during the day. Her list included Chelidonium
majus, Fumaria Vaillantii, Viola arvensis, Silene inflata, Lychnis Floscuculi,
Euonymus europaeus, Medicago sativa, Vicia sativa, Rosa canina, R.
arvensis, Scandix Pecten veneris, Galium verum, Sherardia arvensis, Cen-
taurea Cyanus, Anagallis arvensis, Lithospermum arvense, Plantago media,
Chenopodium Bonus Henricus, Urtica urens, Orr/iis latifolia, Iris Pseud-
acorus and Cynosurus echinatus.