the reign of Henry the Eighth the Lordship of Dilwin was taxed for one knight's fee (£2). The last mention made of the manor is in the time of Queen Elizabeth, when it was held of the Crown by Knight's Service of the honour of Dilwin, but by whom does not appear. I am not aware that any mention is to be found of a Castle at Dilwin, but there was of course a Manor House. The site is still distinctly marked, and its dimensions are traced by a wide and deep moat, which throughout the greater part of its extent is still filled with water. The orchard adjoining it is called the "Court Orchard." Not a vestige of the Court itself is left. Without attaining to the dignity and strength of a regularly fortified place, it doubtless was capable of defence against any petty raid or ordinary surprise. It is situated less than a quarter of a mile from the church, and lies south-west of it.

It will be evident from the mere recital of the names, that the Lords of Dilwin were non-resident. But alongside the royal manor was that of the Hamme or Homme, where resided the family of Carpenter for 500 years down to the end of the last century. Early in that century one of the Carpenters, for his services in the wars, was made Baron Carpenter, and George, his grandson, become Earl of Tyrconnel. His son George possessed the Homme in 1785.

A considerable portion of the parish is still called "Sollers Dilwyn," from the family of Solers, or de Solariis, who came in with the Conqueror. Their seat in this county is supposed to have been at Bridge Sollers. Subsequently a Tyrrell married a Sollers, and so their lands in this parish passed into the latter family, and the principal residence-now a farmhouse-in Sollers Dilwyn is still known as "Tyrrels Court.' Chabbenore (now Chadnor) was long the seat of a family who took their name from the manor, which in the time of Henry III contained three hides and one sergeantry for service. It was then held by William de Chabbenore, of the heirs of Ralph de Thony de

vetere feoffmento of the honour of Thony. The last mention made of this family is in 1676. The number of court-houses in this parish is worthy of remark, viz., Chadnor Court, Alton Court, Tyrrell's Court, Luntley Court, Swanston Court, Newton Court, in addition to the Manor House of Dilwyn, now destroyed. I have now sketched the history of the principal estates.

Respecting eminent or public persons connected with Dilwyn; in the middle ages the De la Beres witnessed various deeds conferring lands upon the Church; their arms were emblazoned in the church of St. Mary, and Bearton (i.e. Bereton), a farm house on the northern side of the parish, doubtless formed a portion of their estate. This family was also connected with the Audleys, already mentioned, by marriage. Thomas of Chadnor was member for the county in the 25th and 26th of Edward the First. Amongst the sheriffs I find the names of William Fitzwarryne (Lord of Dilwyn); the De la Beres; and in 1729, John Tyler, of the Great House, Dilwyn. The grandmother of Southey, the poet laureate, married for her first husband a younger brother of this Mr. Tyler, who was nephew to Dr. Tyler, Dean of Hereford and Bishop of Llandaff. Thomas Carpenter was sheriff six years earlier, and William Phillips, of Newton, in this parish, seven years later. Thomas Dingley, or Dineley, the industrious antiquary, who died at Louvain towards the close of the seventeenth century, is described in his will as of Dilwyn. In the Dinely MS. now in the possession of Sir T. Winnington (?), there is a sketch of Dilwyn church, and an account of the robust health of its inhabitants, which the vicar of that day ascribed to their drinking cider.

I now turn to the Ecclesiastical History of Dilwyn : -The advowson of Dilwyn was conferred upon the Priory of Wormesley (a parish five miles distant) by Prince Edmund, Earl of Leicester. No doubt the advowson passed with the Manor of Dilwyn from Matthew de Gamages to the king, upon the forfeiture

of his estate to King John. The deed of gift is still in existence, and bears date April 11th, 1274. The Prince gave to the Priory the patronage of the benefice, the whole of the tithes, "and one acre of land which had lately belonged to Walter de Monyton, and lyes in the Manor or Dyelewe, in a field called Heuynesfield." This grant was confirmed the same year by John Bishop of Hereford, by Thomas Bishop of Hereford, 1281, and by Richard Bishop of Hereford in 1285, and also by King Edward the First, at which time the church was valued at £20 per annum. The patronage was retained by the priory until 1541, i.e. for 267 years, when it again reverted to the Crown, by whom it was held for only twenty-one years, for in 1562Queen Elizabeth made an exchange of various manors and avowsons with the Bishop of Hereford. In this exchange Dilwyn was included, and the see of Hereford has retained it to this time. I have said that in 1274 the church was vested with the Prior of Wormesley; and after an interval of eleven years, by the death of the vicar, Thomas de Colcestre, the monks were called upon to present a successor. On the next Monday after the feast of S. Mary Magdalene, the Bishop held (by his Commissary, Nicholas de Reygate) a full consistory at Tatyton, and declared that the true patrons were the Monks of Wormesley. Richard de Monyton, Capellanus, was presented. Twenty years later there was a dispute between the patrons and the vicar as to the distribution of the profits of the living. The Vicar wished his income increased; but the Prior demurred, stating "that the gifts of the Church were not worth above £70 yearly; that they (the religious) have built the chancell new, and doe repayre it still, and find bookes." The Bishop having heard both parties, confirmed the following allowance to the vicar: At Christmas one mark (13s. 4d.); at Easter with the offerings of pence for eggs, and bread (3s. 4d.); on the eve of the Virgin's Nativity, on the Feast of the Dedication, and on the Feast of All Saints (in various chapels), 6s. 8d.; in

bread and ale yearly half a mark (6s. 8d.); the receipt of 1d. every Sunday in the year (4s. 4d.); in flax yearly £1 10s.; the principal fine on three carrucates in the liberty of the priory and convent, valued yearly at 6s.; two sums of bread corn and two of wheat, 14s.; in geese and pigs one mark (13s. 4d.); in small tithes of calves, kyne, fowls, &c., 10s. ; the tithes of wool and lamb, one mark (13s. 4d.); in anniversaries and three yearly feasts, half a mark (6s. 8d.); in offerings for the dead yearly, 10s.; for herriotts (by the year), £2; for marriages and churchings, 6s. ; the tenths of the mills, 3s.; the tenths of the gardens and Langton penny, 8s.; the small tithes of Chabbenore, 3s. ; making a total of £9 7s. 8d., for which sum "the vicar is to serve honestly, and to find a deacon at 40s., and to pay a certain chaplain celebrating at Chabbenore every Lord's day at 10s., and to find a competent light at the value of 10s., and bread and wine at the value of 5s., and to receive the bishop's officiary and archdeacon, as is wont, with procurations and synodalls yearly to the archdeacon, and to bear the third part with us (the Priory) of all extraordinary charges. This occurred in 1305. The chapel of Chabbenore was dedicated to S. Hellin, and called S. Hellin's or corruptly by the inhabitants, S. Chillins. Not a vestige of it remains, and the site can only be made out by some ancient yew trees dotted round the chapel yard. The church contained two chantries, those of S. Mary and S. Nicholas. The former was endowed to the amount of £4 8s. 5d.; that of S. Nicholas £4 per annum. There were three oratories in Dilwyn-all granted in 1346 by the then Bishop of Hereford, to John de Budeneweise, Walter of Chabbenore, and John of Alleton (Alton).

THE CHURCH

Is dedicated to S. Mary, and is one of the most imposing and interesting in the county of Hereford. The style is late Early English. In 1305 the Prior stated

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that the chancel had been built by his house new the church was not in the patronage of the Priory until 1274, and they did not present until 1285. The chancel therefore was built (and the nave is of the same date) during the last twenty years of the 13th century. The tower (at the south-west end of the nave) is also early English, and affords conclusive evidence that Dilwyn Church was built twice over in the 13th century, for the weathering of the original church is still distinctly traced on the face of the tower. The present church has north and south aisles, the former church wanted these latter appendages. Why was a new church taken down so soon after its erection? I think the explanation is, that, the Priory of Wormesley erecting a more capacious chancel—the parish was induced to rebuild the nave. Late in the following century the present fine south porch (of stone, and containing two bays) was erected, and also the north transept. There is an early English sacristy on the north side of chancel, and the tower is surmounted by a shingled spire. In the angle formed by the junction of nave and chancel is a turret containing a stone stair, which led to the rood loft. Some of the lancets of the early English clerestory still remain, and in addition five two-light windows inserted in the 15th century. The font is of the same datealso the three screens separating the chancel, the north transept, and the ladye chapel from the nave. church is particularly rich in brackets. During the progress of the restoration (now going on) several specimens of encaustic tiles have been dug up, and are exhibited in the Museum this week. An interesting example of the 13th century fresco painting has been brought to light in the lady chapel; and in the 15th century a good deal of stencilling was executed in the south aisle of the nave and the north transept. The west gallery was erected as late as 1631, and is an interesting quaint structure. Vermilion was freely used in the decoration of the screens of the lady chapel

The