[B] BANSTEAD is celebrated for the excellent herbage which the neighbouring downs afford the sheep, which are highly prized for the delicate flavour of the mutton. There are many elegant seats in the vicinity, amongst which are Banstead House, Miss Motteux; Cold Blow Cottage, General Sir Edward Howorth; and the Oaks, the seat of the Earl of Derby. This celebrated villa was erected by a society of gentlemen, called the "Hunter's Club," and the present noble proprietor can accommodate his guests with more than 50 bed chambers; and a pack of hounds are kept on the establishment, which has been long noted for its hospitality. On the 26th of February, 1834, Mr. John Richardson, a farmer, returning from Epsom to Banstead, was robbed and murdered on these downs. [Sidenote: Seat of the Earl of Derby.] [C] BANWELL is an agreeable village, situated under the northern declivity of the Mendip hills, and is supposed to derive its name from a spring strongly impregnated with mineral properties, which expands into a fine sheet of water, and after turning two mills, empties itself into the channel near the ruins of Woodspring Priory. The church, which is a fine specimen of the florid gothic of the Tudor age, contains a richly carved screen and rood loft, a beautiful sculptured stone pulpit, and several windows of the richest stained glass. This manor has been in the possession of the Bishops of Bath and Wells, from the reign of Edward the Confessor, with little exception, till the present time. They had for many centuries a palace here, but nothing of it remains except a private residence called Banwell Court, still interesting for its antiquity. The park has been divided into enclosures, which afford at every point a most pleasing variety of landscapes. The Bishop of Bath and Wells has also a cottage ornee, for the accommodation of his family and of the numerous visitors which are driven hither to view the two singular caverns which have been discovered of late years in this neighbourhood. The monastery of Banwell was founded by the early Saxon monarchs. Asserius, or Asser, the scholar and biographer of King Alfred, was made Abbot by that monarch. This Abbey was destroyed by the Danes; it was afterwards restored, but never recovered its pristine importance; for instead of arriving at the point of prosperity usual in Royal foundations, it sunk into obscurity long prior to the dissolution of religious houses. Banwell is remarkable for two extraordinary caverns discovered in the year 1824, which occasioned no inconsiderable number of the curious to resort to the village. They were first discovered by some workmen digging a shaft in search of Calamine, which intersected a steep narrow fissure; after they had descended about 80 feet it opened into a spacious cavern, 150 feet long and 30 broad, and about 30 feet high. This is called the stalactite cavern, from the beautiful specimens of crystalized stalactite, which lay covering huge fragments of rock