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HARLOW-SAWBRIDGEWORTH.

was expected, is said to have frustrated the conspirators, but there is every reason to believe that the whole affair existed only in the heated imagination of the witnesses. So implicitly, however, was it believed at the time, that those noble-minded patriots Russell and Sydney were tried and executed, on account of their supposed connection with an absurd plot which the whole evidence brought forward tended to disprove. The maltster, Rumbald, escaped at the time, but when, some years after, he was attending the Duke of Argyle, on his landing in Scotland, he was taken captive, and suffered the most horrible death that can be conceived. Although much wounded at the time when he was captured, a contemporary writer says, that "he was hoisted up by a pulley and hanged awhile; he was then let down, scarce fully dead, his heart plucked out and carried on the point of a bayonet by the hangman." He died, however, resolutely denying the truth of the "Rye House" plot. The only part of the mansion which now remains is an embattled gate house, built of brick and ornamented with a handsome stone Gothic doorway. The moat is quite filled up. The few chimneys left standing are very curiously constructed, and at one of the angles is a turret, to which an ancient winding staircase leads up from the interior. Until lately it was a workhouse for the poor of Stanstead Abbots, in which parish it is situated.

Burnt Mill, Harlow, and Sawbridgeworth furnish agreeable pastoral scenery to the pedestrian, but the country round is of too flat and level a character to exhibit such prospects as we are continually encountering on the roads through Surrey and Kent. The railway passenger who can proceed onward to Cambridge and see the Colleges will not, however, regret his prolongation of the tour, though a description of this famous university town, so charmingly situated on the banks of the "classic Cam," is manifestly beyond our restricted limits.

EXCURSION II.

BY RAILWAY то CHELMSFORD (COLCHESTER BRANCH)-STRATFORD-WEST HAM-ILFORD STATION-WANSTEAD-WANSTEAD HOUSE-BARKING-CHADWELL STREET

INGATESTONE - BUTTSBURY AND STOCK- CHELMSFORDGREAT WALTHAM-DUNMOW-FLITCH OF BACON-RETURN BY BISHOP'S STORTFORD TO TOWN.

A railway excursion to Chelmsford is hardly so prolific in interesting localities as some we have described, but as many who have exhausted other routes may like to try the "fresh fields and pastures new" presented by this, we shall briefly glance at the notabilities that lie within the compass of the line. The Colchester and Ipswich branch of the "Eastern Counties" diverges to the north-east just below Stratford, and the first place to which the attention of the passenger may be called is West Ham, where a brick gateway and a small arch form the remains of the ancient abbey that once stood within the parish. The church is large but destitute of architectural beauty. Nearly two miles from the Ilford station is Wanstead, where once stood the magnificent mansion of Wanstead House, demolished in a most thoughtless and barbarous manner by Viscount Wellesley, who married the wealthy heiress of the Longs' and Tilneys'. The mansion was built, in 1715, by Sir Richard Child, and the park was honored at various times by festivities in celebration of the visits of Queen Elizabeth and James I. Here also resided the Bourbon Princes in their exile. The "Infant Orphan Asylum," at Snaresbrook, was opened in June, 1843, for 500 orphans, and is a handsome structure, well adapted for the benevolent

object to which it is devoted. The old town of Barking lies to the south of the station about the same distance, and occupies an advantageous position on the east side of the river Roding. Numerous fishing vessels for the supply of Billingsgate keep up a lively traffic in the place. At Chadwell Street Ward, intersected by the line, there was, in 1659, an odd memorial erected to the late Protector, Oliver Cromwell, in the form of a whalebone arch, taken from a whale caught in Barking Reach. Eastbury House, one mile from Barking, is an ancient mansion, reported to have been a meeting-house for the conspirators whilst engaged in arranging the details of the Gunpowder Plot.

Romford, six miles from Ilford, is an important and somewhat venerable town, having a famous corn and cattle market, held every Wednesday, according to a charter granted in 1247. There are several elegant seats in the neighbourhood, but no public buildings requiring mention. A stroll of three miles north of the station to Havering-atte-Bower- the very name of which carries a pleasant intimation of its Saxon origin and woody environs-will be found worthy the pains of the pedestrian. One of our old monarchs, Edward the Confessor, had a palace here, and an old legend, in attributing to him the present appellation of the parish, gives the following explanation of an inscription recorded on his shrine in Westminster Abbey. From this it would seem that in that vague and uncertain period known to chroniclers of fairy tales as 66 once-upon-a-time," an aged pilgrim met the monarch, as he was leaving his palace, and solicited alms. The king, having no money about him, promised to remember him next time, but the pilgrim would not be refused, and, after some further importunities, he presented the mendicant with a ring, in default of the more convertible coin he had been requested to bestow. Some years after this same pilgrim was met in Judea by a party of English palmers traversing the same land, in the hope of thereby winning a pardon for some offences committed in their native country. They

recognised the pilgrim, as Ophelia would have done, “by his cockle hat and staff, and by his sandal shoon," and he gave unto them a ring, with instructions to bear it unto Edward the Confessor, and announce to him that six months after he should die. The prediction was, of course, verified, and from that time the village of Clavering became by a punning verbal transition "Have-a-ring." Being what is called "a liberty," confirmed by Edward I. and other monarchs, the county magistrates have no jurisdiction within its limits, and the tenants claim exemption from toll throughout the kingdom. It is a pleasant village on the borders of Hainault Forest, which, with Epping Forest, is reputed to comprise upwards of 80,000 acres, many of which have latterly been placed under cultivation.

Brentwood, a corruption of Burnt Wood, the forest in which it stood being consumed centuries ago by fire, is a thriving town, much increased in importance since it has been a railway station. The surrounding country assumes a more undulating character, and the neighbourhood, especially towards Billericay, becomes even picturesque. In the High Street will be seen the old prison and Assize Hall, which has recently undergone extensive repairs. The ancient chapel was dedicated to Saint Thomas à Becket, in 1227. Notwithstanding modern innovations, several buildings still remaining have an antiquity of four centuries. Lord Petre, who resides at Thorndon Hall, close by, has erected here a new Roman Catholic Chapel, which is, unquestionably, a fine ornament to the place. This nobleman's seat is at Ingrave, about two miles to the south, and has around it a fine park, with a noble avenue of trees leading to the principal entrance. In the time of Henry VII. it belonged to the Fitz-Lewis family, the last representative of which was here burned to death, with his bride, on their wedding night.

Ingatestone, five miles further, has no feature except the old Hall, and its fishponds, to distinguish it from an ordinary market town. This mansion, which is irregularly built, was

formerly the seat of the Petres, to whom are some interesting monuments in the old church. About three miles to the south are two little parishes called Buttsbury and Stock, forming one village between them. Buttsbury Church is quite a curiosity in its way, measuring only three feet by twenty, and having a square tower of flint and stone, that makes the whole edifice look in the distance like a Lowther Arcade toy. The bricks made about here, called Stock bricks," are famous all through the country.

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Chelmsford, 29 miles from London, was an old Roman station on the river Chelmer, to which it owes its name, and has a neat and bustling appearance, as the capital of the county. The County Hall, built of Portland stone, with four handsome Ionic columns, has a majestic aspect from the High Street, and here the sessions and assizes are held. A Museum, Mechanics' Institution, Assembly Rooms, and a handsome church, are all ornaments to the town.

An agreeable circuit can be made from Chelmsford through Great Waltham to Dunmow, a distance of about six miles. Great Dunmow is just the quiet old-fashioned town that a recollection of the ancient custom held within its limits would prepare us to expect. The hill on which it stands overlooks the river Chelmer and the finest tract of meadow land in the county. The celebrated Flitch of Bacon was a custom which originated in the reign of Henry III. with Robert Fitzwalter, who, with the monks of Dunmow Priory, made a grant that "he who repenteth not of his marriage, sleeping or waking, might lawfully fetch a flitch of bacon." The last application for the flitch was made in 1751, since which time the Caudle Lectures have probably interfered with a repetition of the claim. In 1837 it was revived, with some variation of the original tenure, and now the bacon is annually presented "to the married couple-labourer in husbandry and his wifewho shall have brought up the greatest part of their children, and placed them in respectable service, without any or the least parochial relief."