[B] BECKENHAM. The church of this village is a neat edifice, containing many monuments of the Style, Raymond, Burrell, and other families. On a slab in the chancel, is a remarkable brass, to the memory of dame Margaret, wife of Sir William Dalsell, Knt., and daughter of John Barnes. Esq., of Redhall, in Norfolk, who died 1563: she is represented in a flowered petticoat, and close-bodied gown; the sleeves slashed at the shoulders, and hanging down to the feet. Here is also the monument of Mrs. Jane Clarke, wife of Dr. Clarke, physician at Epsom, with an elegant inscription, by Gray. The parish register, under the date of Oct. 24, 1740, also records the burial of Margaret Finch, who lived to the age of 109 years. She was one of the people called gipsies, and had the title of their queen. After travelling over various parts of the kingdom, during the greater part of a century, she settled at Norwood, whither her great age, and the fame of her fortune-telling, attracted numerous visitors. From a habit of sitting on the ground, with her chin resting on her knees, the sinews at length became so contracted, that she could not rise from that posture: after her death, they were obliged to inclose her body in a deep square box. Her funeral was attended by two mourning coaches: a sermon was preached upon the occasion, and a great concourse of people attended the ceremony. Her picture adorns the sign-post of a house of public entertainment in Norwood, called the Gipsy House. Beckenham-place, the seat of John Cator, Esq., is partly in the parish of Bromley; but the mansion itself is in that of Beckenham. Rear-Admiral Sir Piercy Brett, who died in 1781, (and with his lady, lies buried in the church,) resided here. The estate, which had long been owned by the St. Johns, was alienated to the Cators, in 1773. The house is a handsome building, commanding a beautiful prospect. Kent House, the ancient seat of the Lethieullers, in Beckenham parish, is now occupied as a farm: the estate belongs to J.J. Angerstein, Esq. Clay Hill, or the Oakery, also in this parish, was the property of the late learned Edward King, Esq., F.R., and A.S. This gentleman, who was a native of Norfolk, was elected president of the Society of Antiquaries on the decease of Dr. Milles, in 1784; but, on the succeeding election in the year following, he was obliged to relinquish the chair to the Earl of Leicester, after an unprecedented contest. He was the author of various works; the principal of which are, his "Observations on Ancient Castles;" "Morsels of Criticism," tending to illustrate the Scriptures; and the "Monumenta Antiqua." He died in 1806, at the age of 72. [Sidenote: Queen of the gipsies died here, at the age of 109.]