Page:Over fen and wold; (IA overfenwold00hissiala).pdf/159

 During our past wanderings on wheels we have made numerous friends, and have received many kind invitations to spend a time at their homes, and in the course of this journey we received three such invitations, all from perfect strangers; only one of which we were enabled to accept, and in that case a most hearty welcome was extended to us. Such generous hospitality shown, which included stabling our horses, such a manifest anxiety evinced to make our short stay as enjoyable as possible, that mere thanks seemed a wholly insufficient return.

But to return to Water Newton church, after this digression and short sermon on civility which my readers are fully licensed to skip, the rector called our attention to the painstaking manner in which the tower was constructed: "All of ashlar work and scarcely any mortar, or cement, being used. The top of the tower has one feature about it that tells its own story; as you will see, a quantity of old Norman tooth-moulding has been employed in the window arches, manifestly preserved from an earlier building, for the joints of the ornamentations do not come evenly together; thus plainly proving resetting. On the farther and fourth side of the tower that is less seen the windows have none of this moulding, but are simply finished off in unadorned stone-work, the builders having presumably used up all the old carving in the more prominent positions."

Then entering the church the rector pointed out to us the name of "Original Jackson" cut in a flat