We have in England several excellent examples of "hutches," or chests, which date from the thirteenth, or even from the close of the twelfth century. Some there are for which a much earlier date has been claimed. These latter are rough coffers formed usually of a single log of wood, hollowed out, and fitted with a massive lid, the whole being bound with iron bands. Chests of this kind may be seen at Newdigate, Surrey, at Hales Owen, Shropshire, and elsewhere; and on the strength of the rudeness of the carpentry displayed, it has been asserted that they are of Norman, or even of Saxon, workmanship. Roughness of design and work are scarcely, however, in themselves sufficient evidence of great antiquity; many local causes, especially in small country places, may have led the priests and people to be content with a very rude article of home manufacture, at a time when far more elaborate ones were procurable in return for a little more enterprise or considerably more money. The date of these rough coffers must therefore be considered doubtful. Of Early English chests, we have examples at Clymping, Sussex, at Saltwood and Graveney, Kent, at Earl Stonham, Suffolk, at Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey, and at Newport, Essex. The Decorated Period is represented by chests at Brancepeth, Durham, at Huttoft and Haconby, Lincolnshire, at Faversham and Withersham, Kent, and at S. Mary Magdalene's, Oxford. The workmanship of the Perpendicular Period has numerous illustrations among our church chests, such as those at S. Michael's, Coventry, S. Mary's, Cambridge, the Chapter House of Christchurch Cathedral, Oxford, and others at Frettenham, Norfolk, at Guestling, Sussex, at Harty Chapel, Kent, at Southwold, Suffolk, and at Stonham Aspel, Suffolk. [Illustration: CHEST AT SALTWOOD, KENT.] In the making of all these coffers, strength was naturally the great characteristic which was most obviously aimed at; strength of structure, so as to secure durability, and strength of locks and bolts, so as to ensure the contents from theft. But in addition to this, artistic beauty was not lost sight of, and many chests are excellent illustrations of the wood-carvers' taste and skill, and several were originally enriched with colour. [Illustration: CHEST AT UPTON CHURCH.] [Illustration: CHEST AT OVER, CHESHIRE.]