and our route thither was not at all easy to trace; nor was the information we obtained at Stamford very helpful: "It's a good road as far as Market Deeping," we were told, "but beyond that you'll have to find your way." The worthy landlord of the "George" came to the door to see us off, and right sorry we felt to leave our genial host, comfortable quarters, and the interesting and historic town of Stamford that bade us such a pleasant welcome into Lincolnshire.
In about a mile, or less, as we drove on we espied some picturesque and important-looking ecclesiastical ruins; these we found to be the remains of the nave of St. Leonard's Priory, now debased, part into a barn and part into a shed; and what a substantial barn the solid Norman work made! fit to last for centuries still, if let alone; and the shed upheld by the massive Norman pillars, between which the shafts of farm carts, and sundry agricultural implements peeped forth—what a grand shed it was! It is not always that a farmer has his out-buildings constructed by Norman masons! The west front of the Priory is happily little changed from its original state, the great arched doorway and windows above being built up, but nothing more; the arches are elaborately decorated, and suggest that when the whole was complete it must have been a fine specimen of Late Norman work. What a pity it is that such picturesque and interesting relics of the past are not carefully preserved as ruins, instead of being patched up and altered to serve purely utilitarian purposes. The ruin of a fine
