INDUSTRIES Kent,' and whose known date is from 1 363 to 1381. Be this as it may, the oldest bells certainly from the Wokingham foundry seem to be the second at Appleford, one at Arbor- Fic. r. STAMP OF LION'S HEAD. field, and two at Didcot, all in Berkshire ; also three in Hampshire and two in Oxford- shire. All these are ornamented merely with stamps of a trefoil, a lion's head (Fig. i), and a coin. Then it seems likely that the beautiful set of crowned capital letters long associated with this foundry, in- cluding the initial cross formed of fleurs-de-lis (Fig. 2), and the stop (both crowned like the letters), were added to the stock-in-trade. This first inscribed group in- cludes a bell at North Moreton (Berks), one at Winchester, and one at Dorchester (Oxon.). The latter is worth description. It is in- scribed : >J< PROTEGE : BIRINE : QVOS : CON- voco : TV : SINE : FINE : RAF : RASTWOLD. the coin, the same lion's head (Fig. i), a horse (Fig. 4), the trefoil (placed on its side), and the coin again. St. Birinus, to whom the bell is dedicated, was the first bishop of Dor- chester, A.D. 634 to c. 648. The name of ' Raf Rastwold,' who was doubtless the donor, enables us to date the bell approxi- mately, as by an inquisition post mortem preserved at the Public Record Office it appears that he died in June 1383, and that he held at the time of his death (besides the manor of Hyle, in Wilts), the manor of Crowmarsh Gifford in Oxfordshire, which village is only four miles from Dorchester, and various lands at Hurst, in Berkshire, only four miles from the foundry. A satis- factory connection therefore appears be- tween the native place of the bell and its subsequent home. The second bell at St. Maurice, Winchester, has the three stamps trefoil, head and coin and the crowned cross as well, but no letters. FIG. INITIAL CROSS OF FLEURS-DE-LIS. The inscription begins with the cross ; an ornamental stop divides each word ; and at the end come a figure of a dragon (Fig. 3), FIG. 3. FIGURE OF DRAGON ON BELL AT DORCHESTER (OxoN.). This completes the history of the trefoil stamp, which never reappears, as so many old stamps do, on later bells. One bell in Hampshire and one in Oxford- shire have merely the cross, coin, and lion's head. There was formerly a bell at Seale (Surrey) which is said to have had only the cross and head ; it seems probable, however, that the coin was on it, but was overlooked, as it was melted before Mr. Stahlschmidt visited the tower. There are three other bells inscribed en- tirely in capital letters, which seem to come next, one at Sherborne St. John (Hants), inscribed : 4 AWE : MARIA, preceded by the cross and the stop between the words, and followed by the coin and lion's head ; and a like bell at Chilton (Berks), except that AVE is correctly spelt. And the tenor at Chertsey (Surrey), j< ORA : MENTE : PIA : PRO : NOBIS : VIRGO : MARIA with cross and stop, followed by the lion's head and coin. All the remaining examples from this foundry, numbering over fifty, bear the two 413
