worn out; but the knight is conjectured to have belonged to the family of the Giffords. There are some brasses and other memorials of the Norwood family. Several defaced effigies lie in the churchyard. A new church, St. Philip's, has been erected to meet the wants of the increasing population, which at last census was 2523.

SHURDINGTON, about a mile and a half to the southwest of Leckhampton, and four miles from Cheltenham, has a good Church in the Early English style, with a lofty spire. A footpath near the church strikes across the fields, through the Crippett's farm, to a hill whence there is a fine view of Cheltenham and the Severn. The geologist will not leave this neighbourhood without taking a look into the quarries, which contain various fossils; and the antiquarian will as little think of departing without examining the British barrow on this ridge of hill marked by a clump of fir-trees. It has been opened, but neither the date nor the results of the excavation have been recorded. The stone slab, which may still be seen, is a sufficient evidence that this was the last resting-place of one of the primeval inhabitants of the county.

SUDELEY CASTLE is between seven and eight miles from Cheltenham. On his way the tourist passes through Southam, which has an ancient manor-house of the old Norman family of the De la Beres, now the property of the Earl of Ellenborough. The castle has been of considerable extent. Part of it has been restored

with much taste, and is now the residence of Mr. Dent, the proprietor. It was built in the reign of Henry VI. by Ralph le Boteler, Baron of Sudeley and Lord Treasurer of England, out of the spoils he got in the French wars-one tower being named Portman's Tower, because it was built with the ransom of a Frenchman of that name whom Le Boteler (who was also an admiral) captured at sea. The plan of the castle can be traced with tolerable ease in its ruined portions; and in the restorations care has been taken both to reproduce the original architecture as accurately as possible, and to make the internal furnishings correspond with what is known of old baronial mansions. The interior is further adorned with many valuable works of art.

The

The Chapel of the castle has been restored by Mr. Scott of London with the most perfect success. style is Perpendicular. An altar-tomb, with a fine marble effigy of Queen Catherine Parr, who is buried beneath the spot it occupies, was erected several years ago by Mr. Dent. A monument that was originally erected to her memory on this spot was destroyed in the time of the Civil Wars.

At Sudeley the tourist is within about a mile of Winchcombe, and three of Toddington Park, the seat of Lord Sudeley. (See below.)

WHITTINGTON, 5 miles east from Cheltenham, has a small Church, with an interesting Norman arch between the nave and chancel. There are two monumental effigies of knights, which, from their style of sculpture,

must be of a very early date. The recumbent effigy of a female in the costume of the time of Edward I. is in good preservation. There is also a good brass, with the engraved figures of Richard and Margaret Cotton, bearing the date 1560.

WINCHCOMBE, about 7 miles from Cheltenham and 1 from Sudeley, was anciently a place of great importance. In 787 Offa, king of Mercia, founded a nunnery here; but eleven years later his successor, Kennulph, changed it into an establishment for three hundred monks of the order of St. Benedict, and richly endowed it. In 985 the monastery was rebuilt by Oswald, Bishop of Worcester. Under its second-last abbot, Richard Kidderminster, who was a very learned man, the monastery flourished "like another university." At the Dissolution the annual revenue of the abbey Iwas valued at £759:11:9. All the buildings were

ruthlessly destroyed.

The Church is a Perpendicular structure of the time of Henry VI. Its cornices are adorned with grotesque figures, in the style of the period to which it belongs. In the interior are some curious carvings, and a piscina with the arms of the Le Botelers used in its ornamentation.

The town has some picturesque old houses. Its population is 2937, and is chiefly employed in agricultural pursuits-there being 272 farmers, 1217 agricultural labourers, and 90 shepherds, according to the last

census.

CIRENCESTER.

INNS: King's Head; Ram.

From Gloucester, 27 miles; Cheltenham, 34; London, 951.

No town in Gloucestershire has attractions for the antiquarian equal to those of Cirencester. There can be no doubt that it was one of the most important settlements of the Dobuni, it being expressly mentioned as such by Nennius. Its name, while in the possession of the original inhabitants, was Caerceri; from Corin, the early name of the small river Churn, and Caer, a city or fortified place. When the Romans took possession of the town they latinised its name, making it Corinium. Richard of Monmouth is of opinion that Corinium was built in the time of Claudius, probably by Plautius, who first subdued the British inhabitants. That Corinium was a place of great importance in the time of Constantine is evidenced by the great quantity of coins found here belonging to that emperor and his sons. Its history under the Saxons, from whom it derived its present name, is unimportant; and the changes that took place after the Norman Conquest do not call for special mention. An abbey of Black Canons of the order of St. Augustine was established here in 1117 by Henry I., and

appears to have flourished, as at the Dissolution it was worth £1057:7:1 a year. The present church dates from the beginning of the 15th century.

In the reign of Henry IV. the inhabitants put to death the leaders of an insurrection for the restoration of Richard II.,-a service which Henry rewarded by conferring peculiar privileges on the town. In the time of Charles I. Lord Chandos here met with an obstinate resistance when attempting to carry into effect a commission of array. John Lord Lovelace, when on his march, with about 70 attendants, to join the Prince of Orange, was here attacked by a strong party of militia under Beaufort, and after a sharp conflict, the followers of Lovelace were overpowered, and himself made a prisoner. Cirencester formerly possessed a castle, which, with the exception of a plain uninteresting Norman gateway bearing the name of Spital Gate, has entirely disappeared. It was created a borough by Queen Elizabeth, and although now locally under the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, it returns two members to Parliament.

The population of Cirencester at last census was 6336, and the inhabited houses 1300, showing an increase since 1851 of 240 persons and 89 houses. Some brewing and malting is done in the town, but the occupations of the people are mainly agricultural-there being 260 farmers, 1891 agricultural labourers, and 147 shepherds, in the parish.

THE CHURCH.-Commencing with the modern town,