that purpose, it is discharged from the payment of first- CHAP. II. fruits. The lord of the manor, Viscount Midleton, is patron. The church, which is dedicated to St. Nicholas, is a substantial building, of stone, consisting only of a nave and chancel, separated by a solid wall, with a plain round arch, by which they communicate. The length of the nave is thirty-four feet, of the chancel eighteen feet nine inches; the former is twenty-two feet six inches wide; the latter about fifteen feet. It is paved with Yorkshire stone, and the whole is covered with slate. At the west end is a gallery, above the ceiling of which are hung three small bells, in a wooden case or loft, issuing out of the roof. In the north window of the chancel was, many years ago, a leopard's head jessant a fleur de lis, probably called by Aubrey, a fleur de lis only; it has, however, been removed.

Pepperharrow, the noble mansion of Viscount Mi- Hall. dleton, stands in a beautiful park, finely wooded, and watered by the river Wey, which runs through it in its passage from Farnham to Godalming. The late lord had pulled down the old mansion, and began to build a new one, but died, in 1765, before it was completed. The present nobleman finished it when he came of age, and has much enlarged his grounds, by different purchases. This mansion stands on a bank sloping down to the river, sheltered on the north by rising grounds covered with plantations, which also form a protection on the east. It consists of an entrance hall thirty-three feet by twenty-one, and a breakfast-room on the northeast side. On the north-west is a bed-chamber and dressing-room. On the south-west is a library, thirtythree feet by twenty-four, containing a very valuable collection of books, and a lady's dressing-room. On the

BOOK IV. south-east is a dining-room thirty-two feet by twentytwo, and a drawing-room forty-two feet by twenty-two. The rooms on this floor are all seventeen feet high; they are adorned with many capital pictures, by the first masters; and many original portraits, among which are the emperor Charles V. by Titian, Bishop Burnet, Buchanan, the first Lord Midleton, Sir Thomas Brodrick, the late Admiral Brodrick, &c. The offices on the north-west side of the house are concealed by plantations. The coach-houses and stables are at a small distance, in a court one hundred and fifty-six feet by one hundred and twenty-two. The conservatory is to the west of the house, fronting the south, a little removed from the bank which overlooks the river. The kitchen-garden, with hot-houses, contains about three acres.*

Puttenham.

Church.

PUTTENHAM is a small parish, lying between Godalming and Elstead, on the south. It is not mentioned in Domesday; but there is a manor farm in this parish, now called Rodsall, mentioned in that record. This estate has long been in the family of Wyatt, of Shackleford, now of Horstead Kaynes, in Sussex. In 1821, this parish contained three hundred and eighty-nine inhabitants, and seventy-two houses.

The church, a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 17s. 11d. is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and is in the patronage of the lord chancellor. It is built of brown stone. The tower, at the west end, is of a large sort of stone, brought, as it is said, from Romping downs, in Ash, not far distant. It is square, low, with a buttress at each corner, and has in it five bells and a clock, which latter was the gift of William Boothby, Esq. in

Beauties of England and Wales.

1710. On this tower was formerly a spire, covered CHAP. II. with oak shingles, which was destroyed by a fire which broke out a little to the westward of the church, 16th April, 1736. At the same time the roof also of the north chancel was pulled down, in order to stop the progress of the flames; and this part of the building has laid in a ruinous state ever since. When the spire was thus demolished, the inhabitants completed the upper part of the tower with brick-work and a pointed roofing. The building consists of a nave and north aisle, which latter is entirely shut up from the rest of the building, forming a north chancel. It is separated from the nave by four semicircular arches supported by round pillars. On the south side of the church is also the remaining half of a transept, which seems to indicate that it was originally built in the form of a cross.

Opposite to the church is Puttenham priory; it was Priory. purchased by Admiral Cornish, in 1775, of Thomas Parker, Esq. who converted the old mansion into a modern one by means of alterations and additions, and formed a paddock of fifty-four acres, which he ornamented with plantations. The west front of the house is adorned with Corinthian columns, finished by a pediment, and the north front is also decorated with pilasters and cornice. It is now the residence of R. Sumner, Esq.

COMPTON, a small village at the foot, and extending Compton. to the top of the chalk-hill that goes from Guildford to Farnham, has a population of four hundred and twenty-three inhabitants, and fifty houses.

The manors in this parish are Westbury, Eastbury, Down place, and Feild place. The latter is now a farm house.

Here was a church in the Saxon times, as appears by Church.

VOL. II.