172
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
alas, mutilated and headless) in the spandrils. The nave of the church, in
contrast with the chancel, is quite plain and uninteresting; the N. aisle
is modern, dating from 1826 only, the stumpy W. Tower a patchwork of
materials (brick of various periods, and Septaria from the London Clay)
of weatherworn aspect, in need of speedy repair.
Permission had been given to inspect Lawford Hall, built about 1580,
but illness of the owner had necessarily cancelled this at almost the last
moment. This unfortunate happening was the more regrettable, as the
Hall contains a quantity of ancient glass reset in the windows, one piece
of which, representing a bishop in cope inscribed "Ses. Rycarde," should
be of special interest to Essex folk. Saint Richard was a 13th century
Sussex bishop of Chichester (from 1245 to 1253) little-known outside his
own diocese, but much revered within it: to him was dedicated the
gateway-chapel (capella extra portas) of the Cistercian monastery of Strat-
ford Langthorne at West Ham.
Lunch was taken by the party picturesquely and most comfortably
reclining upon and around a large mass of straw at the opening of a fine
beech-avenue near the Hall, after which a pleasant walk across the Stour
valley to the Suffolk side followed, attention being given to the birds and
flowers met with. Of birds, forty species were observed, including Corn-
Bunting, Reed-Bunting, Yellow Wagtail, Tree-Creeper, Longtailed Tit,
Reed-Warbler, Kingfisher, Kestrel, Stock-Dove, Lapwing and Redshank;
while 130 kinds of wild-flowers were noted whilst the visitors were yet on
Essex soil, including Ranunculus sardous, Chelidonium majus, Reseda luteola,
Spergularia salina, S. rubra, Trifolium incarnatum, Vicia tetrasperma,
Conium maculatum, Crepis taraxacifolia, C. setosa, Tragopogon pratensis,
Lycopsis arvensis, Hyoscyamus niger, Salvia verbenaca, Iris Pseudacorus,
Triglochin maritimum, Scirpus maritimus, and Sclerochloa 'maritima.
Thirty-one additional forms, only noticed over the County border,
could not be listed, as being extra-territorial.
Arrived at Flatford, Willy Lott's Cottage, the Mill and the recently-
restored Manor House were in turn inspected under the guidance of the
custodian : the knowledge that our party was treading in the footsteps of
Queen Mary, who had visited these buildings only four days previously,
added to the interest aroused by these delightfully picturesque memorials
of our great East Anglian painter John Constable, now happily secure from
spoliation.
From Flatford a ramble through growing fields of wheat and barley and
by lanes and streamside brought the visitors to Dedham, where tea was
taken in the garden of a cafe. Here the party was joined by the Rev.
Canon G. H. Rendall, B.D., Litt.D., L.L.D., who later conducted us over
the Church and pointed out the salient features of this handsome building,
of which he is the worthy historian. On leaving, Mr. W. E. Glegg, one of
our vice-presidents, thanked the Canon, in the name of the party, for his
kindly exposition and a hurried visit was paid to Southfields, a former
"bay and say" weaving factory of two-storied half-timbered houses
surrounding an open courtyard, dating from the late 15th or early 16th
century. The projecting S.W. wing was the "Master Weaver's House":
this was illustrated in volume XIX of the Essex Naturalist (p. 320)