were used extensively for food; also a large number of the shells of the common garden snail. These probably were eaten by the Romans, as we know that they considered the pelix pomatim a great delicacy.

GODSTOW NUNNERY.

On the banks of the Thames, or Isis, about two miles north-west from Oxford, are the remains of GODSTOW NUNNERY. It was founded towards the end of the reign of Henry I. by Editha, a lady of Winchester, and when dissolved, in the reign of Henry VIII. it was valued at £274 per annum. The remains consist chiefly of ranges of wall on the north, south, and east side of an extensive area. Near the western extremity of the high north wall are fragments of two buttresses There is a small

building which abuts on the east, and ranges along the southern side. It was probably the Chapter House of the Nuns. It is in this building that the remains of Rosamond are supposed to have been deposited, when they were removed from the choir of the Church, by order of Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1191.

IFFLEY CHURCH.

The village of IFFLEY is situated on the banks of the Thames, or Isis, and is celebrated for the antiquity of its church The western door of this church has a profusion of Saxon ornament, and is surmounted by a scu ptured chain, each link of which is joined together by a grotesque head, and encircles an animal or other device. Next is a large cable moulding, supported by a number of beaks issuing from curious heads. The whole produces a richness of effect not surpassed by any building of the kind in the kingdom. On the south side is another door also replete with rich ornaments. The arch is supported by four columns. The capitals are extremely rich, and represent a combat of Centaurs, and an encounter of horsemen. The north door is of the same size as the south, but is not so richly ornamented. The interior is built in a style corresponding with the exterior,

and presents a beautiful specimen of the early Norman or Saxon architecture. The two fine arches which divide the church are sustained by clustered pillars, and richly ornamented with chevron work. The pulpit was criginally of stone, and worked into one of these pillars; only the steps and pediment are now remaining. One portion of the roof, still uninjured, is much embellished, and supported by three taper shafts. On the right of the altar are three large stone recesses, and one intended as a receptacle for holy water. The font is Saxon, very large, and the basin supported by three twisted pillars, and one of a different construction. In the churchyard stands a very ancient cross; but its ornamented sculpture is entirely destroyed by time. Near this cross is a yew tree, supposed to be coeval with the church: although it is very much decayed, its external appearance is still fresh and flourishing. From a manuscript of Anthony Wood, the antiquity of Iffley church may be in some measure ascertained. It appears that it was given, with its appurtenances, by Jeffrey de Clinton, to the Canons of Kenilworth, in Warwickshire: and this Jeffrey lived in the reign of William the Conqueror.

The village is a pleasant walk from Oxford, it being only two miles from that city, and a short distance from the Henley road to London.

LITTLEMORE CHAPEL. COUNTY ASYLUM.

About a mile beyond is the village of LITTLEMORE. The Chapel was built chiefly by public subscription, and consecrated Sept. 22, 1836; it contains one small mural monument by R. Westmacott, jun. A.R.A. with marble tablet beneath, To the memory of Jemima Newman", who laid the first stone of the Chapel, July 21, 1835, and died before it was finished, May 17, 1836, in the 64th year of her age. The subject of the monument is a figure of the Virgin and an Angel with a crown in his hand, between them is a Bible, and a Cross thereon. Mother of the Rev. J. H. Newman, late of Oriel College, Oxford.

There is an ancient font brought from St. Mary's Church, Oxford, (to which this is a Chapel of Ease;) it has a stone Altar, and over it is a cross cut in stone. In the same village is situated the COUNTY LUNATIC ASYLUM, which was commenced in May, 1844, and opened on the 20th of July, 1846. Messrs. Plowman and Luck, of Oxford, were the builders; and Mr. R. Clarke, of Nottingham, the architect. The whole is heated and ventilated on an improved principle by Mr. Price of London, to whom is entrusted the heating and ventilating the new Houses of Parliament. It cost about £28,000.

On the same road, about three miles beyond, is

NUNEHAM,

the seat of His Grace the Archbishop of York, (six miles from Oxford.) This noble Mansion is not publicly shewn, and therefore can only be viewed by special permission; it contains many valuable paintings, and a good library. The Gardens can be seen on Wednesdays and Fridays, by applying at the cottage of the head gardener, situated near the stables.

In the Park, by the side of the river Isis, stands a fine ancient building, removed from the top of the High-street, or, as it is generally called, Carfax, (whence it obtained the name of Carfax Conduit,) in Oxford, in the year 1787, and presented to George Simon, Earl Harcourt, by the University. It was erected as a conduit to supply the inhabitants of Oxford with water, in the year 1610, at the expense of Otho Nicholson. The water came from a spring near Ferry Hincksey, whence it is still conveyed. Oxford has also a supply of river water from works lately erected at the expense of the City, near Folly Bridge.

A very pleasant way of visiting Iffley or Nuneham, in fine weather, is by water. Boats of all descriptions may be had for this purpose at the wharfs, near Christ Church Meadow; and parties are pleasantly accommodated in the cottages, kindly erected by the late Earl Harcourt, at a

short distance from the building before mentioned, for the reception of visitors. The Abingdon-road railway station is about 2 miles from the mansion.

CUMNOR.-The far-famed novel of Kenilworth, by Sir Walter Scott, having created an interest for the place in which Amy Robsart is said to have met her untimely fate, by order of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, we deem it not irrelevant to inform our readers, that CUMNOR, a small village, is situated about three miles from Oxford, on the Bath road, and is seen immediately on ascending the hill, a little to the right. The Church is of great antiquity; the precise date has not been ascertained; but the west door is finished in the Saxon style. On the north side of the chancel is the tomb of ANTHONY FORSTER, a monument of grey marble, surmounted by a canopy of the same, supported by two pillars. On the back of the tomb, on brass plates, are engraved a man in armour, and his wife, in the habit of her times, both kneeling, together with the figures of three children kneeling behind their mother. A long epitaph assigns to Anthony a large share of the virtues which most adorn the human character; and from the historical narrative of his participation in the murder of the Countess of Leicester, at his own house, proves how little reliance is to be placed on monumental panegyrics.

At the foot of Anthony Forster's tomb lie the bodies of two of the daughters of Rainold Williams, probably the same family as the wife of Forster.

In the south transept of the Church are two ancient tombs, supposed to be those of two Abbots of Abingdon.

In a field adjoining the churchyard are still visible some small remains of Cumnor Place: most of the ruins were taken down in 1810, by order of its noble proprietor, the Earl of Abingdon.

END OF THE GUIDE.