LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Hinckley, July 19th, 1864. HINCKLEY MEETING. THE REV. W. SKIRROW, Vicar of Hinckley, President. The following gentlemen formed the Local Committee:-The Rev. W. Skirrow, Vicar (Chairman), the Rev. J. C. Edwards, Curate, Rev. G. Candy, Rev. F. D. Trenow, Messrs. Abell, J. Atkins, Billings, Bromhead, Choice, T. W. Clarke, Dale, W. Farmer, Goadby, W. H. Griffiths, T. Harrold, W. Harrold, N. E. Hurst, T. S. Ludlow, W. McEwan, Payne, S. Preston, A. Atkins, Bally, Bonner, W. Cowdell, sen., Curtis, Davis, Farndon, Goude, Goode, G. Harrold, T. C. Harris, T. Kiddle, Morley, S. Pilgrim, Penton, W. Pridmore, J. H. Ward, and C. Woodcock. At 11.30 there was an assemblage of the Committee, the Members of the Society, and several influential inhabitants of Hinckley and its neighbourhood, in the Corn Exchange. The REV. W. SKIRROW, the Vicar of Hinckley, upon taking the chair, said:-Gentlemen, I feel sure I am only expressing the sentiment of every inhabitant of the town of Hinckley, when I state that it is with feelings of the deepest satisfaction we receive to-day the deputation of the Leicestershire Architectural and Archæological Society. In confirmation of my statement I would refer to the list of our local Committee, in which are enrolled the names of forty gentlemen resident in this town. In one sense, the parish of Hinckley may be said to stand in rather an important position regarding archæology. With the exception of the fine old parish church, our records of the past are mostly legendary. We have but few material ones. Long since have our castle VOL. II. towers and castle walls been battered to the ground by some invading foe, or mouldered into dust under the destroying influence of time. In days long past we once were great, and I trust that we shall some day be great again, but in a far different sense. There was a time when the trumpets of the High Constables of England and of John O'Gaunt sounded within and around our castle walls, calling their followers to rally round the banners of their lords; but we want war no more. It is to the arts of peace-the sound of machinery and the stocking looms-that we look for to our greatness now; but perhaps I should be wrong in saying that this is all we look to for greatness. No! we must not only look forward to the future, but also back upon the past. It has been said by a great philosopher who lived upwards of two thousand years ago, that the anticipation of the future and the memory of the past, compose the happiness of the present time. Therefore, gentlemen, we feel that we need not neglect archæology if we wish to be either happy or great. A study of antiquity teaches all of us to avoid the faults of our ancestors, and also infuses into us a spirit of reverence for their struggles under a cloud of error darker than our own. We therefore welcome with gratitude this visit of the Leicestershire Architectural and Archæological Society to our town. The REV. E. TOWER, as local Secretary for the Hinckley District, replied in the name of the Society. He said that he had a great honour conferred upon him, deputed as he was to thank the vicar, churchwardens, and inhabitants of Hinckley, for the very ready and excellent reception of the Society into their town. The Society was a very useful body. It was not only the means of pleasing a population upon such an occasion as the present by affording a little pastime, and drawing together a number of people of different ways and habits in life, and inducing them to look good naturedly upon each other, and charitably upon their forefathers; but it had for its chief object the diffusion of true knowledge of the science of architecture, the study of Gothic architecture in particular, and the spread of good taste in building, and the conviction of the possibility of uniting taste and utility even in common domestic dwellings. It is to the noble benevolence of our forefathers that we are indebted for the possession of our beautiful old parish churches. No scanty hand built those houses of God, but by a munificence that is remarkable they were intended to last not only for their founders' time but for the use of generations. It is the duty of the members of this Society to lead the way in preserving these churches, and whenever any of their old stones become loose to see them restored and kept. The old parish churches were peculiarly the symbols of Christianity in the country-the representatives of religion itself, and they witnessed by their beautiful spires especially to the elevating character of the worship they were built to uphold. He was glad to see that the chancel of the parish church in Hinckley had lately undergone a renovation, and that care had been taken in the work which was a credit to the town. Mr. Tower then announced that the subscribers numbered two hundred, and that the following were the names of additional members to the Society's list, viz.:-The Lord Bishop of the Diocese; the Vicar of Hinckley; Mr. Short and Mr. H. M. Ward, Hinckley; Rev. J. Harris, Meridan; Rev. Frederick Sutton, of Theddingworth; Mr. Bull, of Leicester; and the Rev. W. H. Marriott. If any other inhabitant of Hinckley or the neighbourhood wished to become a member, the subscription was only ten shillings a year, and for that the Society gave two volumes of really valuable information not only respecting the history of churches but different objects of interest in the county. The subject matter of those publications was valuable, being based on great research, and also because it had been listened to and pulled to pieces by others. In the course of the proceedings the Vicar read the following letter, which he had received from Lord Curzon : "Dear Mr. Skirrow, "15, Lower Brook Street, London. "As I see by the Leicester Journal that the Leicestershire Architectural Society meet at Hinckley this week, and go to Mancetter on Wednesday, I thought, perhaps, they would like to see the old Manor House there, where I now live, and I have requested Mr. Richings to invite any one who likes to look over the house, and to explain the place where the martyrs were hid, and I am only sorry that I shall not be there myself to bid my Hinckley friends welcome. "Yours faithfully, "CURZON." The business of the Meeting having been brought to a close, the members and their friends attended Morning Prayer at the parish church. The organ was built in 1808, by G. P. England, and is one of the very few by that maker. At the conclusion of the service, M. H. BLOXAM, Esq., ably pointed out the architectural features of the fabric. He said it was the first time he had entered that church. He was almost ashamed to say it, because in that church the remains of some of his ancestors reposed. His great-grandfather, and his great-greatgrandmother lay buried in that place; a great uncle, too, reposed in the western portion of the church. When the Castle was built, twelve centuries ago, it was probable that the church was built by the founder of the castle, Hugh de Grantmesnil. Of that structure, which was built twelve centuries ago, however, no remains what |