THE DOVER EXPRESS AND EAST KENT NEWS—FRIDAY, MARCH 21. 1902.

XH\WOODNESBOROUGH.

Woodnesborough is an ancient village, in an oblong parish, roughly about three miles long by one mile wide, and comprising an area of 2899 acres.

ASPECT AND BOUNDARIES.

The village of Woodnesborough is pleasantly situated on high ground, and is bounded on the east by Sandwich, towards which the land slopes, affording a pleasant prospect. On the north and west the parish is bounded by that of Ash, the land 111 that direction being of a rich nature, well adapted for the growth of hops, fruit, vegetables, w'heat, beans, and malting bar-lev, for which it is principally used. Towards the Church and the west end of the village, the land- rises to its highest elevation, culminating in W’oodnesborough Hill, adjoining the north side of the Church, one special mound, which has of late years been much excavated, being entirely of sand, which appears to have been artificially deposited. Westward from the Church the land drops into that flat depression called Drainless Drove, from whence commences the falling gradient in the south-west direction, touching the Ash boundary near the point where rises the head spring of the Wingham stream. To the south-east the land elevation is continued in the direction of Eastry, and overlooks the valley towards Tilmanstone. There is very little woodland, owners having recognised that the soil is too good to be wasted on growths which yield slow returns.

WOODNESBOROUGH HISTORY.

The land, as it lies, indicates that Woodnesborough is ancient, and that it was a place of residence when the area below, now' occupied by Sandwich, was still the unsurrendered heritage of the sea. And while there is reason to believe that Woodnesborough, overlooking a large and sheltered bay, was an early British settlement, tradition states that both Woodnesborough and Eastry were Roman stations, and in the sixteenth century at Ringleton in this parish a gold coin was dug up, but whether that was Roman or Saxon is not stated. The particulars, as given by Hasted, are as follows: “In Ringleton field in the year 1514 was found a fine, gold coin, weighing about twelve shillings, with a hoop of the same metal to hang it by ; on one side was the figure of a young man in armour, a helmet on his head, and a spear over his right shoulder: on the reverse, the figure of victory with a sword in her hand pointed downwards." The indications that the village was a Saxon centre of population are numerous. Hasted, quoting from Verstegan, says that the village took its name from the Saxon idol Woden, which was the origin of the week-day name Wednesday, and it is asserted that long before the Church at Woodnesborough was erected here for the worship of the true God, that sandy mound north of the Church was thrown up as the base of the pedestal on which stood the god Woden. There is another curious name still lingering in Woodnesborough, which is a trace of Saxon heathenism, that is, Cold Friday. This is the name that was anciently given to that part of the village which is now called Woodnesborough Street, and respecting this Hasted says: “This name is certainly derived from the Saxon words “Cola” and “Friga,” which latter was the name of a goddess worshiped by the Saxons, and her day. “ Frige-deag,” from whence our day Friday was derived.” The relics found in Saxon tombs hereabouts are very numerous. On that point Mr. Roach Smith, in the first volume of Cantiana, writes: “Glass vessels comprise the more ordinary variety of relics found in Saxon graves..... It is said that in past times so many of these cups were taken from graves at Woodnesborough that on one occasion they were used at a Harvest Home in a Woodnesborough farm house for beer glasses.” There are other theories as to the use that was made of the mount at Woodnesborough. There is a rather far-fetched story that this mound was raised over the grave of the Saxon king Vortimer, who, dying in 457, desired to be buried near the Saxon landing place so that his bones might in the future deter the Saxons from landing. It is quite evident that Woodnesborough Mount is a long way from any Saxon landing place, and seeing how little Vortimer did to discomfit the Saxons during his life, it is hardly likely that his bones on Woodnesborough Hill would frighten them from landing on the coast. This Vortimer tradition, however, has received sufficient credence to cause persons to do some laborious excavations in the mound with the professed anticipation of finding the tomb of Vortimer. The tomb was never found, but, what was probably more to the purpose, the excavators found some hundreds of loads of good building sand, which doubtless was more valuable than the tomb of Vortimer would have been. Another theory is that this mound was thrown up, some say as a defence, and some as a burial place, on the occasion of the great fight in the year 715 between Ceoldred, King of Mercia, and Ina, King of the West Saxons. This fight. according to the Saxon chronicles, took place at Woodnesborough; and as this was 118 years after Augustine had abolished the Saxon idol worship, and doubtless had dethroned the god Woden from Woodnesborough Mount, there would be nothing inconsistent in adopting this mound as a sort of defence or as a place for the burial of the dead after the battle. As a matter of fact, this mound has been used as a place of burial. In the eighteenth century there wass found in the top part of it several sepulchural remains, such as glass vessels usually put in graves by the Saxons, and the head of an ancient spear, which the dry, sandy ground had well preserved. When the worship of Woden gave place to Christianity, it might be that St. Augustine standing on Woodnesborough Mount as St. Paul had stood on Mars’ Hill, pointing to the idol which they superstitiously worshipped, declared unto them the knowledge of the true God, preparing the way for the building of the now ancient and hoary Christian church which stands a few yards south from the high place which was devoted to the worship of Woden.

HISTORY OF THE MANORS

Coming to Norman times the history of Woodnesborough is mainly associated with the manors. There have been at different times several estates in this parish accounted manors, but only four are mentioned in the Domesday Survey, namely, (1) Woodnesborough manor, alias Shelving; (2) Buckland, alias Bocoland; (3) Hamwold, alias Hammill; and (4) Ringleton, alias Ringston. All these were for a few years subsequent to the Conquest part of the possessions of the Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent; and on his disgrace and banishment they were distributed to various public men; and some of these were afterwards divided, forming sub-manors. Woodnesborough manor, which was the largest and richest, was given to Crevequer for his services for the defence of Dover Castle. After that family came John de Shelving, but whether the estate gave him the name Shelving or whether he took the name from the estate, is not recorded. He erected a mansion here, which bore the name of Shelving, and it passed through many hands, including the Houghams, the Dingleys, the Knights, the Kiens, the Coursemakers, and Sir Thomas Pym Hales. Hasted, about the year 1800, wrote, “Shelving House is situated very near the church; the present building is very mean and exhibits no appearance of ever having been a mansion. Some ancient flint foundations I find, on enquiry, have been found around it.” Buckland, or Bocoland, is another manor situated south-east of the church, and was anciently held by the Malmaines. Certain tithes of it were given by the Bishop of Bayeux in 1074 to St. Augustine’s Monastery ; but nothing else is noteworthy in its history. Hamwold, subsequently called Hammill, is a manor in the western part of the parish. This was also held by the Bishop of Bayeux, and afterwards the estate was divided into Upper Hammill and Lower Hammill, otherwise Hammill Court. Both estates have had a great many owners. The earliest owner of Upper Hammill was Osbern Hacket, who held it by knight’s service in the reign of Henry III., and he gave the tithes to the Priory of Rochester, which doubtless led to the advowson being in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester. Another connection with Rochester is found in the fact that Thomas Brockhull, who was possessed of Lower Hammill in 1347, held it of the Castle of Rochester. At the Reformation, Henry VIII. granted the tithes of this manor to the then created Dean and Chapter of Rochester. One more original Norman manor remains to be mentioned, the manor of Ringleton, which is situated smile distance westward of the church. This and the fair lands attached were taken possession of by the Bishop of Bayeux, and were held from him by Herbert de Ringleton. After the Bishop’s disgrace, William de Albini was its owner, as was also his son, the first Earl of Arundel. After the Arundel period came the Countess of Ewe, who was succeeded by the Perot family, who held it for many generations. After some intervening owners came Nicholas Spencer, customer, of Sandwich, who dying in 1593, was buried, so Hasted states, in St. Clement’s Church, Sandwich; but there is a brass in his memory in the chancel of Woodnesborough Church. In addition to these manors there are other ancient estates and mansions in this parish, including the following: Grove, situated north-east of Shelving. Its name is no doubt derived from the fact that it was possessed by Sir John Grove, who was also the owner of Groves at Staple, and who built the south aisle (now' in ruins) of St. Peter’s, Sandwich, in the reign of Henry VI. Grove was purchased by Peter Fector, of Dover, in 1793. Hasted, writing of it at that time, says, “The manor house is old and ruinous. The ancient mansion that stood a little northward of the present house, where there is a little plot of ground moated round which could hardly have been for any other purpose." Denne Court, is another sub-manor in the southern part of the parish, adjoining Hammill. This was owned in the reign of Richard II. by Sir Nicholas de Daubridge Court, who about the end of that reign sold it to Thomas Elys, of Sandwich, and he, under licence in mortmain, conveyed it to the Hospital of St. Thomas at Sandwich, and it is held by the trustees of that hospital at the present time. As an illustration of the change in the value of this land it may be mentioned that this estate of 160 acres in the year 1535 let for £10 a year: in 1703 it let for £95; in 1757 at £110: the next letting was at £140; and in 1792 at £220. The name of Denne Court has been given to this property in modern times after it came into the possession of the Denne family, who continued to hold it until recently. Mr. Thomas Fagg, the present occupier, took it in October, 1900, having come from Wootton, for which parish he is a member of the Dover Rural District Council. Another sub-manor is Polton, originally Poltman’s, so named after Peter Poltman, who was the owner of it in the reign of Richard II. The mansion is near to the borders of Ash. The mansion, a very ancient one, was castellated and surrounded by a moat. The present house was built about the reign of James I. by the Ben-skins, and it was modernized by Colonel Kien about 1740.

WOODNESBOROUGH AS IT IS.

Leaving the region of history and glancing at Woodnesborough as it is at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, we see a community well up to the average of rural enterprise and thriving industry. Not far from the streets of Sandwich the outskirts of Woodnesborough are reached, the first place of note being Polders, lying in the fields to the right. The land around indicates that the business of vegetable growing, commenced in the reign of Elizabeth by the Flemish, has come to be a permanent pursuit, and fine examples of the potatoes raised here we saw in an extensive clump on the roadside, from which two men with shovels were loading a cart with the tubers. The mile to the village is a continuation of highly cultivated land devoted to petit culture, the labour employed on it being apparently five per cent, more than on the chalky land towards the hills, and the crops yielded in quite equal proportion. When the village street, anciently known as Cold Friday, is reached, the houses become thickly dotted on each side of the road. Some are modern, some quite new, and others extremely old. Near the entrance of the village, on the right, is the linen sack and rope manufactory of Mr. Walter Laslett, of which more particulars follow. On the same side, off the road, is the residence which Hasted, a hundred years ago, described as a “sashed house belonging to the Jull family,” which was then used as the parish workhouse. On the other side is the Post Office. A little nearer the church is the vicarage, a substantial, comfortable looking residence; and nearly opposite is a rather imposing looking mansion, the Grange, with a drive up to it, the residence of Mr. Long. Russell House, another good residence, so named after Lord John Russell, is on the opposite side. The village also has a good school, built in 1849, to accommodate 120 children, and the average attendance being now 110, there is not much margin left. There are three inns and a beerhouse in the village. There are the usual trades of the carpenter, smith, baker, and miller. The mill, known as the White Mill, originally depending on wind, has now also steam power. The parish is supplied with water from waterworks belonging to the Sandwich Corporation. The wells and pumps are at Drainless Drove, on the western part of Woodnesborough, near Ash, and the water is also supplied to the villages of Ash, Eastry, and Worth. The principal object of curious interest in Woodnesborough is the Mount, a sandy hill which stands on a triangular piece of ground between three roads about 20 yards north of the church. According to old engravings this formerly stood much higher than it does now, and was supposed to be the high place on which the God Woden was worshipped. Now only the outskirts  of the hill are left, the centre having been hollowed out, partly from curiosity and partly for the sake of the sand excavated. The centre now is fenced in as a fowl run and a piggery — so much for the god of ancient Woodnesborough. Beyond the church, which occupies a commanding position on the road that leads to Eastry, the road to Ash lies through Marshborough, where the land is very largely used for small fruit growing, large areas being covered with young gooseberry and currant bushes. To the south-west the land is more devoted to agriculture, and yields excellent crops of beans, hops, barley, and wheat.

WOODNESBORO’ MARKET GARDENS.

Hop-growing and market gardening are two important industries of Woodnesborough, the soil being specially adapted for such culture, and malting barley also does well here. The cultivation of vegetables on a large scale for market purposes seems to have been an idea brought here from the Netherlands in the reign of Queen Elizabeth by some Flemish folk, who, finding the same rich soil on the north-east part of; this parish as they had been accustomed to cultivate in their own country, devoted themselves to the cultivation of vegetables; for sale, likewise flax and canary seed. Polders is a name which they gave to the rich marsh meadows of the Netherlands, and the same designation was applied to the land on which they settled in the northeast part of Woodnesborough, and which is still known by the names of Great and Little Polders. The growth of vegetables on a large scale is still continued in that locality, and the industry has extended to several of the neighbouring parishes, from whence a great deal of garden produce is sent to the Dover and Canterbury Markets, and by rail to Covent Garden Market.

LASLETT'S FACTORY.

It is also said that the refugees from the Netherlands in the time of Elizabeth introduced the manufacture of baize and other woollen stuffs at Polders. There are no traces now left in that immediate spot of such an industry, but on the north side of Woodnesborough Street there is a thriving and interesting manufactory, comprising linen weaving, sack, rope, cord, and twine making; but this is hardly a survival of the Flemish industries of Polders, for the business was started about 120 years ago at Hammill in this parish, about two miles in the opposite direction, the founder being the grandfather of Mr. Walter T. Laslett, - the present genial proprietor. The frontage of this manufactory has a business-like aspect, but only conveys a faint idea of its extent in the rear. Our arrival was well timed to see a bit of smart work in the rope making department. A winch rope was needed at short notice for a Sandwich wine merchant, and a certain number of rope yarns were being stretched along the rope walk to the length required, a conical shaped block with grooves in it for the separate sections of the incipient rope was fixed in position between the strands; then came into operation a powerful twisting apparatus, and in less time than it takes to read this description a strong three-strand rope was made and threaded on to the winch hook, and ready to go down to Sandwich and haul up pipes of wine. The dispatch with which that little job was done was most interesting, but of course there had been preparatory work on the rope walk before the order came in and two or three lines telling how a rope is made will be appropriate here. The rope walk at the rear of Mr. Laslett’s workshops is 200 yards long, and there the raw material of the rope, which is fibres of hemp, is manipulated. The first process consists in twisting the fibres into thick strands called rope yarns. This is done by having at the one end of the rope walk a spinning wheel which gives motion to a whirl with a hook attached. The spinner, is provided with a bundle of dressed hemp laid round his waist, from the end of which he draws sufficient fibres to form a rope yarn. This he having twisted slightly with his fingers, attaches to the whirl hook, and the whirl being set in motion the skein is twisted into a rope yarn, the spinner walking backwards down the rope walk supporting the yarn with one hand and with the other regulating the quantity of fibre drawn from the hemp bundle to feed the growing yarn. When the whole length is spun, it is wound on a reel, the spinner walking back and keeping the end until it is all safely reeled. After the rope yarns are made in that way they are stretched, or warped, as it is called, to form, when several are twisted together, an equal strand. If the rope is to be tarred that is the next step, but that was not involved in this case, Manilla hemp, which withstands the influence of water, being used. Next the yarns, from 15 to 20 of them, are formed into a strand by twisting in the opposite way to the yarns. In making the rope we have already referred to, three of these strands were stretched on the walk to the length required, the three strands at one end being attached to three contiguous hooks and the other end to a single hook. The cone to, which we have referred is placed between the strands, kept in the angle formed by the strand as they close into the closing rope. Then the final twisting commences, the three hooks holding the strand revolving in one direction and the single hook in the other, and by those simple but cleverly contrived and dexterously executed processes, the soft fibre is transformed into a rope or cable strong as iron bands. There is on Mr. Laslett’s premises a very long shed, a hundred yards or more in extent, in which is stowed the raw material, which he works into the various kinds of cordage that he spins and textures that he weaves. The, principal are Manilla, from Manilla, which is just now very dear owing to the war with the United States. It costs from £60 to £70 per ton. Then, there is jute from India and hemp from Russia and the Netherlands. This raw material has to be dressed before the elementary twisting commences, to separate the good fibre from the dross, and the value of the rope when made depends largely on the care and conscientiousness, by which that preliminary work is performed—work which looks very simple, but requires experience and dexterity. The question may be asked: Does a country place like Woodnesborough make demand for the output of a factory like this? No, not by any means, yet there is a local demand such as few people think of. Agriculturalists, hop-growers, market gardeners, and builders require a great variety of cordage—plough traces, reins, halters, waggon ropes, winch ropes, corn tiers, hop tiers, garden lines, sash lines, scaffold cords. Orders for these and other similar items too numerous to mention, come in from a wide agricultural area, for establishments like these are few and far between. Then there are the sea ports all round the coast requiring cordage, and the manufactories in the towns, and all these find their needs supplied at this Woodnesborough manufactory. Then, in sacks and bags a very large field of demand opens. In one room an order for a thousand bags for a local green pea preserving factory was being put through the last part of the process, being to print, big and bold, on the sacks the name of the company. Mats, rugs, and bed ticking are also made here; and what surprised us most of all was to find a large part of the factory devoted to linen weaving loams, where linen; sheets, beautifully finished damask table cloths, napkins, glass cloths, and fancy towelling are woven, with special patterns, a favorite one with Kent County families being the Kentish Horse. We passed 5 through stores where the finished articles are kept, and the one containing the linen was specially interesting. In fact, the Woodnesborough rope and weaving manufactory is a unique Kentish industry.

WOODNESBOROUGH CHURCH.

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin is picturesquely placed on an eminence at the vest of the village, a few yards from the parting of the ways where the road from Ash forks into two, the one passing the Church to Eastry and Dover, and the other turning eastward to Sandwich. The edifice is evidently very ancient, the original structure probably dating from soon after the Conquest, but the parts now remaining appear to be in the Early English and Perpendicular styles. It consists of a nave, with red tiled passage, and two aisles. The south aisle, which is narrow, is separated from the nave by an arcade of four arches resting on square massive piers. The north aisle, which is wider, also has between it and the nave an arcade of four arches resting on alternate octagonal and round pillars. The lower bay of the south aisle is screened off and used as a vestry. The roof is of open rood-work, old, yet substantial. The chancel arch is lofty and well-proportioned, rather disfigured by a beam in front of the apex, resting on square piers in front of which are jutting stones, which seem to lave supported a rood loft. There are three quaint clerestory windows, two on the south and one on the north. The west arch of the nave at the base of the tower is like the chancel arch, but not so lofty. Beyond that, is the screened-off belfry and the western door, which is not in use, the north door with a good large porch being the one principally used. The tower is not very high, and is surmounted by a wooden pallisading with a wooden turret in the centre. In former years it had a tall shingle spire, being an important sea mark. The windows are partly of the Decorated style and partly Perpendicular, and are all of plain glass except the east window of the chancel, which is in three compartments tiled with fine stained glass, the central cartoon being “The Good Shepherd,” and two side cartoons legendary. An inscription states that it was erected in memory of Eliza Ann Emmerson, wife of R. Joyner Emmerson, Esq., Sandwich, and eldest daughter of Admiral Sir Edward Harvey, K.C.B. February 2, 1892. The chapel is well proportioned, and has on the south side three beautiful stone stalls, all of the same elevation, of rectilinear character, each with a crocked head. The divisions are formed of delicate clustered shafts, and above the whole runs an embattled cornice. Below the seats the wall is inlaid with ancient tiles, which were evidently not originally in that position. Under this canopy there are now two brasses, which were originally on stones in the floor. The one is for the Rev. John Parcar, vicar, 1513; and the other for Sir Nicholas Spencer, 1593: the latter being lauded in Latin verse. On the south of the altar is a small piscina, and in the east wall north of the altar is an unusually large aumbry in four compartments. In the north wall is a recessed credence table. There has been, at the top of the south aisle, an altar, the piscina on the side and aumbry on the other remaining, and there is also a piscina in the north wall at the top of the north aisle. The font near the north door is quite modern and very handsome, a large octagonal bowl resting on four polished marble shafts. The gilt ewer is inscribed, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism." There is a very fine brass lectern in the form of an eagle, the gift of Major J. W. Savage, R.E., and his sister, Mary Sophia, in memory of their father, Johnson Savage, M.D., R.A., August 12. 1887. In the tower are five bells, cast in 1676, but one is badly cracked. This church was given, in the reign of Henry I., by a religious woman named Ascelina de Wodenbergh, to the Leeds Priory, the deed of gift being witnessed by Robert de Crevequer. The Priory of Leeds continued to receive the great tithes until the Reformation, when Henry VIII. gave them to the Dean and Chapter of Rochester, who are the patrons of the living. In the churchyard there is a sun dial dated 1738, and the church was restored in 1883 at a cost of £2000. The vicar is the Rev. Francis Savage, M.A., who has held it for 21 years, and was instrumental in the last restoration. The organ was given by Mrs. Collett, of Ringleton. by register dates from 1561, and the list of vicars from that date are Jacob Watts, William Brigham, Jaspar Green, William Dunbar, Joseph Jackson, John Becker, Isaac Lovell, John Head, J. Billingsley, John Upton, Jonathan Soan, John Clark, James Williamson, — Laddington. John Smith, C. F. R. Baylay, Henry Holtam, and Francis Savage. Amongst those who have had the longest vicariate were Watts 57 years, Green 36, Lovell 57, Smith 46, Holtam 36, Soan 21, and the present vicar, who it is hoped will enjoy a much longer tenure, has also exceeded 21 years. There are brasses in the church to two ancient vicars, dated 1513 and 1528. The one name is John Parcar, and the other is indistinct. During the Rev. J. Smith’s incumbency. Lord John Russell, afterwards Prime Minister, was a pupil at the vicarage, and Russell House, next to the vicarage, built while he was there, was so named in his honour. On a brass on the south-west pier of the chancel arch in the south aisle, capped by the royal arms, and festooned with dark purple velvet hangings tied with white ribbon streamers, red lettering for the principal words, is the date in the left hand upper corner 1837, on the right 1897, with the following inscription: “In thanksgiving to God and in commemoration of the 60th year of the reign of our beloved sovereign Lady Queen Victoria, June 22, 1897.”

NOTES ON MEMORIALS.

The oldest memorial is the church itself. It was given by “a holy woman” named Ascelina de Wodenbergh, in the year 1120 or thereabouts, to Leed's Priory, she having presumably built the church. Amongst the memorials in the church the most ancient now left seem to be the two brasses already mentioned, affixed to the south wall of the chancel for a former vicar and for Sir Nicholas Spencer, both in the Sixteenth Century, a period about midway between the foundation of the church and the present time. Nearly two centuries old is the following quaint memorial on the southwest wall of the south aisle, worded in prose and poetry as follows: “Near this place lieth interred ye body of Elizabeth, ye loveing and virtuous wife of Benj. Shrub-sole, who departed this life 2 November, 1710, aged 48 years. She left issue Benj., John, Eliz., and Mary.”

“She was a holy woman and an harmless two

In saying this I give her but her due;

A woman who had more than common worth,

I want a tongue enough to set it forth.

Could prayers, tears, and sighs have kept her here

She had not died, you need it not to fear,

But now she enjoys that ever blessed face,

In hopes whereof she run a happy race.

She now hath changed her crosses for a Crown.

Her bed of weakness for a Royal Throne.”

Close to the organ in the south aisle is a large black marble slab, with arms, for Richard Gillow, 1725, aged 77, his wife Margaret, obit 1709, aged 53, and another Richard Gillow, obit 1750, aged 66. Another slab is in memory of a third Richard Gillow described Junior, obit 1744, aged 22, and these lines:

“ As I am, so must you be,

Therefore prepare to follow me.

Thou art in the world, and so was I.

But yet as I have done so most you die.

There are none of the Gillows now left in the parish, and the memory of one of the younger members of the family, Arthur Gillow, is sad enough to have caused them to forsake it. He was murdered in the prime of life by one of his servants whom he detected in the act of damaging a threshing machine in December, 1878, and the unhappy culprit, also a native, suffered the extreme penalty of the law at Maidstone.

In the Churchyard are many interesting monuments, including the following: Several tombstones of the Harris, Teale, Wrake, Gibbs, &c. Thomas Bushell, of Buckland (parish of Ash), who died in 1806, aged 28 years, has

“This silent grave the sacred dust conceals

Of one beloved because a friend sincere,

Fond memory o'er the dear remains repels

The sigh of friendship and the widow’s tears.

A tombstone to Elizabeth Smith, wife of the Rev. John Smith, Vicar of this parish, and of Chart Sutton in this county; also to the Rev. John Smith, obit 1833, aged 77, 48 years resident, Vicar of this parish. “And they said, Thou hast not defrauded nor oppessed us.” Near the north side of the chancel in the Churchyard is a fine altar tomb to the Jull family, on which there are many names. On the top is the name of John Jull, 1684. In the churchyard in front of the porch lies the Keystone of the door of the old porch, removed at the last restoration, and bears the date 1720, when, no doubt, the previous porch was built.

POPULATION AND HOUSEHOLDERS.

The population of Woodnesborough in 1891 was 921, being about a hundred more than 50 years ago, and about a hundred less than 100 years ago. There are on the register in force 186 registered voters as house-holders living in the parish, and seven residents are on the register by property qualifications. The total list, including out-dwellers, is 206 householders.