in bygone times, in one case too much so, in fact, as Walpole states in his Complete British Traveller, when he writes: "On one occasion John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, entertained Henry VII in a most sumptuous manner in his castle. At that time there was an act of Parliament prohibiting any person from wearing livery, unless he was a menial servant, and the earl having retained a greater number of people than was allowed by law, all clothed in the richest manner, the King told him on parting that his entertainment had been suitable to his dignity, but that it was improper for him, as a sovereign, to see the statutes of the realm broken in so public a manner, and, therefore, says he, 'My attorney-general must talk with you.''

The "talk" with the official in question cost the earl a large sum in fines a rather poor return, I can't help thinking, on the part of the King for the hospitality shown him on his visit to Hedingham Castle.

From Castle Hedingham I went, by way of the queerlynamed Stammers Green, to a place called Rotten End (we

are nearly coming into the Ends of Essex, see next chapter), and so into the valley of the Blackwater, which I propose to follow through Braintree, Coggeshall, and Kelvedon. The entrance to Braintree is heralded by a very quaint old watermill, which I have sketched in the heading to this chapter, and like Dedham, is a town shrunk from its mediæval dignity, and for the same reason Coggeshall is another of the small Essex towns that was once prosperous through the weaving industry, but has now fallen into a quiet sleepy little place noted for nothing in particular. It is little more than a long irregular street, but in that street is an almost perfect specimen of an old English timbered house, which is worth lingering awhile to see. This fine old place was recently presented to the nation by Mr. Noel Buxton. This house was in possession of the Buxton family for several centuries; then it passed into other hands, to be bought back by Mr. Noel Buxton, to whom we really owe the house in its present condition, for he stripped off many of the ugly modern additions and restored the place to its former appearance.

The house is known as Paycockes House, and this beautiful specimen of Tudor domestic architecture was built about the year 1500 by John Paycocke (or Peacock), a prosperous butcher and grazier of the place. It is not unlike, though on a more handsome scale, I think, Shakespeare's House at Stratford-on-Avon. The carved fascia of Paycocke House is very fine, of a rich and varied design, as is also most of the fine interior carving, and the whole place is furnished in keeping with the Tudor period and has at the back a quiet old-world garden.

A Cistercian abbey was founded here in 1142, the site of which is marked by an old farmhouse, which is said to have some of the remains of the monastic buildings in it. “The

whole scene," says one account of it, "is very pleasing, with its meadows and trees. The remains of the abbey are scanty, but they afford the earliest instance of medieval brick which

has yet been noticed in England; and the artist will find in the rich warm tints of this brickwork, stained lichens and contrasted with the neighbouring foliage, some subjects well worthy of his sketch-book.'

Numerous Roman coins and some urns have been found at Coggeshall, which point to it as the site of a Roman village on the old road between the fortified camps of Colchester and St. Albans.

On leaving the town on the road to Kelvedon, there is a striking view as we approach the bridge over the stream ; for on the rising ground beyond is a colossal barn and a jumble of farm buildings of the most generous proportions. I often imagine that these old weaving and manufacturing towns of the Middle Ages, when they extended over far greater area than they do now, must have shown a good deal of wooden architecture of this description.

The River Blackwater runs on through Kelvedon, a village little more than one long street, with a few straggling cottages clustering round about. The traveller upon the main road, when he is standing on the bridge near the station which spans this river, can see the remains of the old road and the broken brickwork of the old bridge. This bridge is said to be of Roman origin, but the brickwork that is left in the broken irregular arches is probably medieval or of later date.

In the "Swan Inn" is to be seen some curious wood-carving and panelling, but there is little else to keep the wayfarer. Most of the land round about is given up to the cultivation of pot-herbs; and the large brown patches of Caraway seeds.