The Foss Way, which is turned to the purposes of a country road, is here well marked. A walk of about 2 miles will bring the tourist to Bishop's Tachbrook, 2 miles from Leamington, and 3 from Warwick.

HARBURY, about 2 miles from Chesterton, has a church in different styles, the oldest parts Early English. Adjoining the church is an endowed school in a dilapidated condition.

SOUTHAM (Inns: Craven Arms, Bull).—This small market-town, between 5 and 6 miles from Chesterton, and about 3 from the station of the same name, is pleasantly situated and picturesquely wooded.

The Church, which occupies a commanding position on the border of the town, consists of nave, aisles, chancel, with a north aisle and vestry, and a tower surmounted by a lofty spire at the west end. The edifice is in various styles, the oldest parts being the tower, which is Early English, and the nave, which is Perpendicular. The chancel and aisles have been rebuilt in the Decorated style. It contains no monuments of importance. The windows are filled with stained glass.

Just outside of the town is an Infirmary for diseases of the eye and ear, established and long presided over by Mr. Smith, a benevolent surgeon, whose philanthropic services are recorded on a tablet on the front of the institution. The town also possesses a National School, a Dispensary, and a Workhouse.

A mineral spring here, similar to those of Leamington, was formerly in considerable request.

UFTON, a hamlet 2 miles from Southam and 3 from Chesterton, possesses an Early English Church, mostly restored. In the churchyard stands a stone cross, with the inscription-" To the glory of God, this parish cross, erected about A.D. 1316, was restored A.D. 1862."

The upper part of the cross, which is all that remains of the original structure, is in tolerable preservation. It has emblematical sculptures on each of its four sides, the front one being the Crucifixion, and the others— a bearded figure, perhaps representing Moses; the Virgin and Child; and the Virgin holding in her hand the crown of thorns.

COLESHILL AND ITS VICINITY.

From Birmingham, 14 miles; Coventry, 14; Tamworth, 10.

THIS quiet market-town consists mainly of one long picturesque street on the slope of a hill, at the foot of which flows the Cole, the small stream whence it derives its name.

The CHURCH, which occupies a very commanding position, is in the Decorated style, and consists of nave, aisles, chancel, and tower, surmounted by a noble crocketed spire. It contains some fine monuments of the Digby family. There are three altar-tombs, each bearing two figures, male and female, recumbent, with their hands clasped in prayer.

is coloured after life. particularly handsome.

One pair of these figures

The lady's figure and dress are
A monumental brass, bearing

the date of 1652, and having a male and female figure cut in outline, will be found worthy of notice. The font is ancient and curious.

Other noticeable buildings are the FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, adjoining the churchyard, and the MARKETHOUSE, also near the church, and bearing the inscription-" Henricus Dns Digby hanc Porticum in usum hujus Emporii struxit, Anno 1766." Beside this building are the stocks and pillory, in tolerable condition. In the vicinity of Coleshill are Maxstoke Castle and the ruins of Maxstoke Priory.

MAXSTOKE CASTLE, a mile and a half from Coleshill, may be reached by a pleasant footpath through the fields. This is a highly picturesque building, and is one of the few structures of the kind in England which are kept in their original fortified aspect-a considerable part of it remaining in the same state as when first erected by William de Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon, in the reign of Edward III. In the reign of Henry VI. the estate passed in exchange to Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, afterwards Duke of Buckingham, for certain manors in Northamptonshire. After various transmissions the castle and estates, about the reign of Queen Elizabeth, became the property of the Dilke family, the present owners. The castle is in the form of a parallelogram, with a hexagonal tower at each corner, and is still surrounded by a moat. The entrance is by a lofty gateway. The gates, which were erected by Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham, in the reign of Henry VI., are covered with plates of iron, embossed with his arms. Between twenty and thirty years ago an accidental fire destroyed a portion of the interior, but the principal parts are untouched. The hall and the drawing-room are especially interesting. The latter has a door and chimney-piece, curiously carved. In the walls of the Great Court are to be seen the ancient lodgments of the soldiers.

The PRIORY is about a mile to the south of the castle. This religious house was founded in 1337 by William de Clinton, and liberally endowed for canons regular of the order of St. Augustine. The remains consist of the gateway, fragments of the tower and detached parts of the building, and the boundary-wall. A small church adjoins the gateway, evidently constructed out of the ruins of the priory.

SHUSTOKE, a small village between 2 and 3 miles

distant, is the birthplace of Sir William Dugdale, the Warwickshire historian.* The Church, erected in the reign of Edward II., and a good example of the style of that period, contains monuments to the memory of Sir William and other members of his family.

Blythe Hall, midway between Shustoke and Coleshill, was the seat of Sir William Dugdale, and is still the property of his descendants. It occupies a somewhat low position on the small river Blythe, but is a handsome and spacious edifice. In the interior is a

portrait of Sir William.

* Sir William Dugdale was born in Shustoke rectory-house in 1605. His "Antiquities of Warwickshire" appeared in 1656, being printed at his own cost. This is a work of great value, copies of it readily selling at a very high price. The eulogium of Fuller is well deserved :- "I cannot but congratulate the happiness of this county in having Master William Dugdale, my worthy friend, a native thereof; whose illustrations are so great a work no young man could be so bold to begin, or old man hope to finish it, whilst one of middle age fitted the performance-a well-chosen county for such a subject, because lying in the centre of the land whose lustre diffuseth the light, and darteth beams to the circumference of the kingdom. It were a wild wish that all the shires in England were described to an equal degree of perfection, as which will be accomplished when each star is as big and bright as the sun. However, one may desire them done quoad speciem, though not quoad gradum, in imitation of Warwickshire." Dugdale was an indefatigable collector, and while preparing his work on Warwickshire did not neglect any antiquarian documents or monuments that fell in his way. His greatest work is the "Monasticon Anglicanum," in three volumes folio. This work gives an account of all the religious houses in England, and is the standard authority in all matters connected with them. Dugdale also published "The Baronage of England," in two volumes; "The History of St. Paul's Cathedral ;" and various other less important works of a heraldic and historical nature. He left between thirty and forty volumes of manuscript collections of charters, records, inscriptions, etc., which are now in the possession of the University of Oxford. In 1660 he was appointed to the congenial office of Norroy King of Arms, and sixteen years later he was advanced to the higher dignity of Garter King of Arms. He died in 1685, at Blythe Hall, and was buried in Shustoke church.

COMBE ABBEY.

From Coventry, 5 miles; Brandon Station, 3; Rugby, 7;
Stretton Station, 3.

THE walk or drive from Coventry to Combe Abbey does not include any object of special interest. Between 3 and 4 miles from the city the road passes through the village of BINLEY, which has a tasteful little modern church, possessing a good east window with a Holy Family in stained glass. The approach to Combe Abbey from the Brandon* station is by a long avenue through a thick plantation. The vista afforded by this woodland road is magnificent, the mansion being distinguishable in the far distance. After traversing this avenue, the tourist crosses the Coventry road and enters Combe Park. The approach to the house is by a fine drive through the park, which is beautifully wooded, and contains a large sheet of water. Combe, as Dugdale informs us, is derived from the old British word cwwm, signifying a valley or low position, the site of the abbey being, indeed, by no means a prominent one. An abbey of Cistercian monks was founded here, in the reign of King Stephen, by Richard de Camvill. After the Dissolution, the site and estates were conferred on John, Earl of Warwick, after whose execution they passed to Robert Kelway, with whose daughter they came to Lord Harrington. The daughter and

The hamlet of BRANDON was a place of some importance in former times, as is evidenced by the remains of a castle still to be seen near the river Avon. The manor belonged at the Conquest to Turchil of Warwick, and descended through a female Clinton to the Verdon family, by one of whom the castle is supposed to have been built. The remains consist of some massive fragments of masonry.

WOOLSTON, a pleasant village about a mile distant, was the site of an alien priory, subordinate to the abbey of St. Peter-superDinam in France. The church has some interesting features of Norman architecture.