To anyone who sets himself the task of writing a history of his village, the following notes may be useful. With regard to the etymology of the name, concerning which absurd errors are made in most guide books and old county histories, it would be well to consult Canon Taylor's _Words and Places_, being careful to study the earliest form of the word in _Domesday_ and old documents. Bede's _History_, the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicles_, and other old English chronicles, published by Bohn, may contain some allusions to the parish and neighbourhood, and also Kemble's _Saxons in England_. The _Domesday Book_ is, of course, a mine of wealth. The Public Record Office contains many documents which will be of great service--the _Testa de Neville_ (Edward II.), _Marshall Rolls, Nonarum Inquisitiones, Pipe Rolls, Patent Rolls, Close Rolls, Hundred Rolls, Inquisitiones post-mortem_, and the _Feet of Fines_. The _Manor Court Rolls_, if they still exist, in the custody of the lord of the manor, should also be consulted. The journals of local antiquarian societies and county histories will of course be examined. The history of the families connected with the parish must be traced. The British Museum and the College of Arms contain fine collections of _Heralds' Visitations_, and Burke's _Landed Gentry_ and Dugdale's _Baronage_ are the chief sources of information. Old _wills_ will yield much information, many of which are in course of publication by the Index Society, and county archaeolgical journals; and Somerset House and many diocesan registries contain the original documents. The Historical Manuscripts Commission has published many volumes of borough records which are of great service, and the lives of any great men connected with the parish may be studied in the _Dictionary of National Biography_. As we have already pointed out, the parish chest contains valuable sources of information upon the history of the village, and its contents should be carefully examined.