it continued till the 26th of November, 1703, when both the spire and tower received so much injury from the memorable storm of wind which happened on that day, that the inhabitants were under the necessity of taking down the former, together with a great part of the latter. What remained of the tower, being part of the ancient building, is mostly of chalk: the newer portion is composed of brick-work. No part of the structure appears to be older than the reign of Richard II.; the south chancel, separated withinside from the central one by pointed arches, and light clustered columns, seems to be of about that age. The north chancel is small; the windows large, with flattened arches, of the kind which are known to have been much employed about the time of Henry VII. The nave has north and south aisles, from each of which it is separated withinside by four pointed arches, supported by low octangular columns. These aisles were rebuilt with brick, and the whole interior completely repaired, in 1721. The length of the nave and chancel is 145 feet, that of the transept 97; the whole, particularly the nave, being very lofty. Adjoining to the south exterior of the chancel, was formerly a Chapel, dedicated to the Virgin, in which were preserved portraits of several Saxon kings who had been crowned in it; as well as one of King John, from whom the town received its first charter: but these perished in the fall of the building, which occurred in 1729-30*.

Of this accident the following account is given in a letter from Kingston, preserved among Dr. Rawlinson's MSS. in the Bodleian Library, which contain his intended additions to Aubrey's History of the County:

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Kingston upon Thames, March 4, 1729-30. "On Monday last, our sexton, with his son and daughter, being

Both the central and south chancels are surrounded, as to their interior, with wooden stalls. On the brass plate of a gravestone in the latter, is the figure of a man, habited in a gown with wide sleeves, which reaches to his feet, and the girdle studded with roses: his wife also standing beside him. The inscription beneath the figures is placed the wrong way upwards, but read from the bottom is as follows:

ROBERTI Cista SKERNI corpus tenet ista
'Marmorie PETRE Conjugis atque suæ.
Qui validus, fidus, disertus, lege peritus,
Nobilis, ingenuus, perfidiam renuit.
Constans sermone, vita, sensu, ratione,
Communiter cuique justitiam voluit.
Regalis juris unicos promovit honores,
Fallere vel falli res odiosa sibi.

"employed in digging a grave, part of the ancient chapel, called St. "Mary's, fell in upon them, killed the sexton and one other man "(Richard Mills) on the spot; bruised and wounded several others; "and buried in the grave both the son and daughter for above three

hours; during which time many were employed in digging out the "rubbish, in order to get at the bodies that were buried. *** After "the removal of the timbers and several loads of rubbish, they heard

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very plainly some loud groans and cries in the grave. Soon after "they came to the heads of two persons: the man was speechless and "almost dead, having his head closely confined between two stones ; "the woman was not so much pressed: *** they are both in a fair way of recovery. **** The damage, besides the lives lost, is com"puted to amount to above 10007." The daughter survived this event fifteen years, and was her father's successor. The memory of the accident is preserved by a curious print of this female sexton, engraved by James M'Ardell, from a painting by J. Butler, in which she is represented as of a masculine form and stature, with the implements of her business upon her shoulder, and her hand upon a skull.

Gaudeat in celis qui vixit in orbe fidelis
Nonas Aprilis pridie qui morit'

Mille quadrigentis D'ni trigintaque septem
Aim' is ipsius Rex miserere Jesu.

Skern's wife is said to have been the daughter of the celebrated Alice Pierce, or Perrers, mistress of Edward III.; but whether by Sir William de Wyndesore, who married her after that king's death, we know not. He lived at Downe Hall, in this parish, and had a grant of the custody of Richmond Park. On the floor of the central chancel is another inscription, scarcely legible, which records of the mother of a Mrs. Mary Morton, (who died April 18, 1634) that she was "the wonder of her sex and this age, for she lived to see near four hundred issued from her loynes." A small mural monument, near the communion-table, commemorates "John Heuton, Esq., born in Lancashire, Sargeant of the Larder to the most gracious Sufferaigne Lady Q. Elizabeth;" and another and handsome one of the same kind, recently erected on the north side of the altar, is to the memory of Nicholas Hardinge, Esq. " celebrated for his Latin verses*," and his son, George Hardinge,

*This gentleman had not only very singular powers in the composition of Latin verse, but was esteemed by all an authority as to correct Latinity. He was fellow of King's College, Cambridge; and, after he left the University, was called to the Bar; but the office of Chief Clerk to the House of Commons becoming vacant, he accepted and held it until he was appointed joint-secretary of the Treasury, in which post he died in 1758. "A whimsical appeal was made to him when Clerk of the House of Commons. Pulteney and Sir Robert were squabbling, and the former playfully told the latter that his Latin was as bad as his politics. He had quoted a line from Horace, and Pulteney insisted that he had misquoted it. Sir Robert would not give

Esq. the latter of whom died in 1816. The only sculptured effigy in this church occurs in an arched recess, enclosed with iron rails, in the south chancel; it is a recumbent figure of a man in a scarlet gown, intended for Sir Anthony Benn, who died in 1618, having been Recorder both of this town and of the city of London. The vicars burial-place, on the south side of the chancel, contains an ancient inscription on a gravestone, to the memory of the ten children of Dr. Edmund Staunton (an incumbent of the living), whom he had "by Mary his wife, daughter of Richard Balthrop, servant to Queen Elizabeth;" with others for different vicars, the last erected of which is "to the memory of the late George Savage, M. A.," who died in July, 1816.

The nave has a gallery, "the gift of Roger Pope, Gent. Anno 1621," containing a handsome organ, against which has been placed an hatchment in memory of the Princess Charlotte, whose death was a source of genuine affliction to Kingston. Another gallery over the north aisle, was an erection " at the expense of the inhabitants."

Norbiton is that part of Kingston, by which the place is entered from London. Here, on the left hand of the traveller from the metropolis, stands Norbiton Place, the seat of C. N. Pallmer, Esq. before-mentioned. It was originally erected by Mrs. Dennis, mother of Mrs. Pallmer; but has received such additions and very con

it up. A guinea was laid, and Mr. Hardinge was made the arbiter, who rose with a very droll solemnity, and gave it against his own patron, Sir Robert. The guinea was thrown across the house, and Pulteney said it was the first public money he had ever touched." Manning and Bray's Surrey, I. 395.

spicuous improvements from the hand of the present owner, as have rendered it nearly a new mansion. It is now fronted by a portico of the Ionic order, and in the most chaste and elegant style; when complete, it will have wings, but at present that which is intended to be à conservatory is not erected. The approach from the road is by handsome iron gates, placed between decorated pillars which support sphinxes; these pillars are continued on each side to others, similarly decorated and surmounted, by a curvilinear screen. The lodge, just within the gates on the left, is a little temple of the purest Doric.

The domain, which has also been swelled by the present proprietor from forty to three hundred acres, abounds with features of embellishment, from which our limits will only permit us to select a few objects for description, though almost all equally demand it. Taking a circle of the grounds, a Dairy, in the style of an Indian Temple, appears on the left upon quitting the Lodge: the exterior of this building is elegant, and the interior decorations in character with the purpose for which it is designed. Within, the walls are covered with small slabs of Staffordshire ware, bordered with a wreath of fig-leaves; the windows are of ground glass, adorned with well-executed flowers; the floor of black and white marble, inlaid; while a table of a species of slate-stone, with carved supporters in bronze, is continued round the apartment, and a large marble tazza, from an antique Italian model, stands on a sculptured stone pedestal in the centre. Chinese garden-seats, of Staffordshire ware, and vases and other vessels from India and China, are also among the decorations. A Strawberry-room, where guests may