many other marks, secms extremely old, and is noted for its singular arches in the north wall, and for a large room with stone stairs and floor over the chancel, which was perhaps for some religious person to dwell in. Dr. Stukeley, in a paper read in 1755, thinks Tickencote not so old as Southwell in Nottinghamshire, which was built in 630; but Mr. King says, "and indeed the style of architecture corresponds well with that of the age of the Archbishops Theodore and Honorius +." Stukeley also thinks the ancient church to have been the oratory of the Saxon Prince, Peada, the founder of Peterborough Abbey; but as this church is not mentioned in Domesday-book, Mr. Blore supposes it not older than the time of Robert Grimbald, who was founder of the Abbey of Osulveston after the Conquest. Being in a state of dilapidation and decay, it was rebuilt in 1792, by Eliza Wingfield, who took care that the chancel should be preserved as much as possible, and that what was supplied should be copied from the old materials. Part of the old nave was Gothic; but the old Saxon arch which separated the church and chancel, and also the roofed ornaments of the chancel, are still entire. With respect to this imitative re-edification, Mr. Blore observes, that in the rebuilding the West End, the architect seems to have intended an imitation of the Norman style; and if he has not been successful, he has the consolation to have many brethren of his profession, who have failed in their endeavours to revive the architectural taste of our ancestors; and though perhaps every thing has not been done in the rebuilding of this church, which an enthusiastic admirer of antiquities might wish for, yet the memory of a lady who preserved, at a very great expense, the valuable specimens which still remain here, of the indispu table i Archæologia, Vol. I. p. 43. table labours of a remote age, deserves to be gratefully remembered. The best architectural delineation we have seen of this modern antique is in the "Pursuits of Architectural Innovation," which describes the edifice as containing two distinct parts, a body, and a chancel. The latter Saxon; the former of the Tudor style, of common simple work, and added, it is thought, to give room. The chancel is nearly a square, thirty-six feet by thirty. The western part is entirely made out by the entrance, which is enriched to an excess, and on each side are five columns, with highly enriched capitals. The arch partakes of an oval shape †; its architecture, wlrich extends beyond the spread of the columns, is struck into seven parts; first, mouldings; second, oxes sculls; third, flowers and frets united; fourth, a curious and extraordinary collection of masques, ornaments, costume heads, grotesque figures, &c.; fifth, diagonals; sixth, other diagonal forms; and seventh, plain squares and indents. The east side of the arch also is grand and rich, with five ranges of ornament, recesses with columns, &c. It is added, "though much of the work has been havocked, yet still the greater part of the intention has been left, and fully sufficient to enable a religious restoration, allowing for a moment there was a necessity for such a job." To this we may add, that the crypt roof and pillars in the chancel are extremely simple, when contrasted with the rich zigzag mouldings and dentils of the arch, and with the ornaments on the east end. In the chancel is a semicircular arch, in which lies a mutilated woodey figure of a knight in armour, laying on his back, and in the attitude of prayer; and near it is the grave and humble tomb-stone of the modern foundress. Both the interior and exterior are as complete representations H2 • Gent. Mag Vol. LXXVI. p. 31. of This arch is represented in the Anglo-Norman Antiquities of Dr. Du carel, Pl. 13, p. 101, also by Stukeley in the Itinerary, II. p. 62, and in Çars ter's Ancient Architecture. of the ancient building as could be executed, and so much of the ancient work remains in the outer walls, that the mind is gratified almost as much on its examination as if it was completely original; an effect which will increase as the stone acquires the venerable hue of antiquity. Over the entrance on the south side, is the following inscription: The hiatus between aged and years remains to be filled up, but on her tomb-stone in the chancel, this pious lady is said to have been eighty-seven. There is also a curious square font, adorned with interlaced arches, on a plain square base; and it may be necessary to add, that the lofty arch of the chancel is rather misnamed by those who call it " oval," being in fact a complete Horse Shoe, and therefore a more curious specimen of ancient architectural skill. Near to the church is the ancient seat of the Wingfield family, which has been considerably modernized, but is still a venerable looking mansion, seated on a handsome lawn, in the midst of a small park; forming altogether a respectable and comfortable residence, and being seen to great advantage from the north road, which runs in its front. Ingthorpe, in this neighbourhood, is merely mentioned from its having formerly been of more consequence than at present; for Stukeley says "there was a pretty church, and an ancient one at Ingthorpe, now turned into a dwelling-house." It is now a hamlet to Tinwell. Pickworth, which is to the north east of Tickencote, on the borders of the county, is said by Wright to have formerly been a town town and parish, of which nothing remained in his time but a steeple, known by the name of "Mockbeggar." Finding no mention of it in Domesday-book, he conjectures it to have probably been a member of some other neighbouring town; but that it must soon after have been a place of some consequence, is evident from a fact which we have ascertained by an examination of the " Inquisitio Nonarum," in the reign of Edward III. where it appears that it had taxable merchants at a time when there was not one in Oakham. " Item dicunt qd sunt m'catores in eadem villa qui taxantur ad quinti decim xijs. x. d.” Mr. Blore considers the name as being derived from " Peak," high country, and "Weorth," a mansion, and he observes that the site of the ancient mansion (for he does not seem to consider it as ever having been a place of consequence as a town) may be traced near the centre of the parish, eastward of the church, in two fields, one called the foundations, the other the back closes. He may certainly be correct in stating this to have been the site of the manor-house, but from the extent of the remains, we are inclined to believe, that part of the ancient town may have extended also thus far. Mr. B. adds, that this steeple of the church was only remaining in Wright's time, and that most likely the place was ruined by the contests previous to the battle of Hornfield. In this he is certainly more correct than Stukeley, who errs in the chronology, and says that Pickworth church was burnt down, "together with the then populous town," by the rebels, in the time of Henry VII. but he has omitted what Stukeley was certainly very correct in, speaking from his own knowledge, when he adds, that " Pickworth steeple, a very fine steeple, and seen all round the country, was taken down about A. D. 1728, to build a sorry bridge at Wakerley. I saw the lower part of the steeple anno 1731, when it was pulled down to build a bridge by Casterton." We mention not this, in contradiction of, but in addition to, the very elaborate account of this parish in the first published part of H 3 Mr. Mr. Blore's work, which, if completed in the same style it has been commenced in, will be one of the most copious, and we believe correct, County Histories now extant, and will form a valuable body of reference for family genealogy throughout the surrounding counties. It is impossible to traverse this desolated spot, once the happy abode of domestic comfort, conviviality, and industry, without heaving a sigh of remembrance whilst contemplating the single pointed arch, with its capitals of beautifully decorated foliage, which is all that remains of the venerable edifice, some of whose painted glass, as has already been noticed, has been saved from destruction by removal to Clipsham church, whilst the tombs of those whose armorial bearings are there represented are mouldered into dust, like the bodies they covered, or sacrilegiously converted to the lowest uses. In the reign of Edward I. Roger de Geneye appears to have been Lord of this manor, as he was summoned to attend that monarch with horse and arms, in the Scottish wars. In the reign of Henry VI. Sir John Geney ordered the manor to he sold after his death, when it was purchased by Sir Henry Inglose, Knt. for a thousand marks of silver; but in the reign of Henry VIII. it was held by Sir John Hussey, on whose attainder, on account of the commotions in Lincolnshire, it was granted to the family of Goodrick, from them to the Harringtons, &c. ESSENDEN, anciently Ezenden, is supposed by Mr. Blore to have taken its name from a corruption of Eastern Dun, or hill, from its situation on a hill on the eastern border of the county. Here was formerly a castle, but nothing remains of it except the moat, which is filled by a small rivulet, and encompasses a square area, containing rather more than an acre. Though not a stone of the castle itself can be found, yet it is generally supposed that the Church was formerly its chapel, and that the southern entrance is actually part of what existed before the Conquest, This opinion is founded on its being within the limits of the ancient moat, and being altogether extremely antique, whilst the south |