she inherited from Thomas Makerel, a gentleman of Selborne, who was either her father or uncle. The second, Ameria, calls herself the quondam wife of Sir Adam, "quæ fui uxor," &c. and talks of her sons under age. Now Gurdon had no son: and beside Agnes in another document says, "Ego Agnes "quondam uxor Domini Ada Gurdon in pura et ligea viduitate mea:" but Gurdon could not leave two widows; and therefore it seems probable that he had been divorced from Ameria, who afterwards married, and had sons. By Agnes Sir Adam had a daughter, Johanna, who was his heiress, to whom Agnes in her life-time surrendered part of her jointure: -he had also a bastard son.

Sir Adam seems to have inhabited the house now called Temple, lying about two miles east of the church, which had been the property of Thomas Makerel.

In the year 1262 he petitioned the prior of Selborne in his own name, and that of his wife Constantia only, for leave to build him an oratory in his manor-house, "in curia sua.” Licenses of this sort were frequently obtained by men of fortune and rank from the bishop of the diocese, the archbishop, and sometimes, as I have seen instances, from the pope; not only for convenience-sake, and on account of distance, and the badness of the roads, but as a matter of state and distinction. Why the owner should apply to the prior, in preference to the bishop of the diocese, and how the former became competent to such a grant, I cannot say; but that the priors of Selborne did take that privilege is plain, because some years afterward, in 1280, Prior Richard granted to Henry Waterford and his wife Nicholaa a license to build an oratory in their court-house, "curia sua de Waterford," in which they might celebrate divine service, saving the rights of the mother church of Basynges. Yet all the while the prior of Selborne grants with such reserve and caution, as if in doubt of his power, and leaves Gurdon and his lady answerable in future to the bishop, or his ordinary, or to the vicar for the time being, in case they should infringe the rights of the mother church of Selborne.

The manor-house called Temple is at present a single build

ing, running in length from south to north, and has been occupied as a common farm house from time immemorial. The south end is modern, and consists of a brew-house, and then a kitchen. The middle part is an hall twenty-seven feet in length, and nineteen feet in breadth; and has been formerly open to the top, but there is now a floor above it, and also a chimney in the western wall. The roofing consists of strong massive rafter-work ornamented with carved roses. I have often looked for the lamb and flag, the arms of the knights templars, without success; but in one corner found a fox with a goose on his back, so coarsely executed, that it required some attention to make out the device.

Beyond the hall to the north is a small parlour with a vast heavy stone chimney-piece; and, at the end of all, the chapel or oratory, whose massive thick walls and narrow windows at once bespeak great antiquity. This room is only sixteen feet by sixteen feet eight inches; and full seventeen feet nine inches in height. The ceiling is formed of vast joists, placed only five or six inches apart. Modern delicacy would not much approve of such a place of worship: for it has at present much more the appearance of a dungeon than of a room fit for the reception of people of condition. For the outside I refer the reader to the plate, in which Mr. Grimm has represensed it with his usual accuracy. The field on which this oratory abuts is still called Chapel-field. The situation of this house is very particular, for it stands upon the immediate verge of a steep abrupt hill.*

Not many years since this place was used for an hop-kiln, and was divided into two stories by a loft, part of which remains at present, and makes it convenient for peat and turf, with which it is stowed.

* [This reference is to the plate in the quarto editions. I regret to say that the house as it stood in Gilbert White's time no longer exists. It has long been pulled down, giving place to as uninteresting and ugly a building as can be imagined. The old wall, however, still remains, and probably without any important change.-T. B.]

LETTER X.

THE Priory at times was much obliged to Gurdon and his family. As Sir Adam began to advance in years he found his mind influenced by the prevailing opinion of the reasonableness and efficacy of prayers for the dead; and, therefore, in conjunction with his wife Constantia, in the year 1271, granted to the prior and convent of Selborne all his right and claim to a certain place, placea, called La Pleystow, in the village aforesaid, "in liberam, puram, et perpetuam elemosinam This Pleystow, locus ludorum, or play-place, is a level area near the church of about forty-four yards by thirty-six, and is known now by the name of the Plestor.

It continues still, as it was in old times, to be the scene of recreation for the youths and children of the neighbourhood; and impresses an idea on the mind that this village, even in Saxon times, could not be the most abject of places, when the inhabitants thought proper to assign so spacious a spot for the sports and amusements of it's young people."

As soon as the prior became possessed of this piece of ground, he procured a charter for a market from king Henry

In Saxon Plegestop, or Plezstop; viz. Plegestow, or Plegstow. At this juncture probably the vast oak, mentioned p. 5, was planted by the prior, as an ornament to his new acquired market place. According to this supposition the oak was aged 432 years when blown down. a For more circumstances respecting the Plestor, see Letter II. to Mr. Pennant.

e

Bishop Tanner, in his Notitia Monastica, has made a mistake respecting the market and fair at Selborne: for in his references to Dodsworth, cart. 54 Hen. III. m. 3. he says, “De mercatu, et feria de Seleburn." But this reference is wrong; for, instead of Seleburn, it proves that the place there meant was Lekeborne, or Legeborne, in the county of Lincoln. This error was copied from the index of the Cat. MSS. Angl. It does not appear that there ever was a chartered fair at Selborne. For several particulars respecting the present fair at Selborne see Letter XXVI. of these Antiquities.