The best way to get to the “Church” is, after passing in front of Foremark Hall, and through a gate which blocks the road, to mount the hill, and enter a field through the first gate on the left hand, cross the field diagonally till a grassy glade is reached, which leads down to a wicket gate on the right, the entrance to the “Church.” MELBOURNE AND BREEDON. Melbourne was in very ancient times a royal manor, and is mentioned in the Domesday Survey as having a priest and a church. It remained in royal hands, attached to the Earldom and Duchy of Lancaster, till the year 1604, when King James I. granted it to Charles, Earl of Nottingham, who conveyed it to Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, from whom it descended to Francis, Marquis of Hastings, now represented by the Earl of Loudoun. There used to be a castle here, in which John, Duke of Bourdon, was imprisoned for 19 years, after his capture at the battle of Agincourt, in 1415. Queen Margaret, wife of Henry VI., is said to have ordered it to be dismantled in 1460, and it gradually fell into decay, only a few traces of it can now be seen. [Illustration: Plate 21. Breedon Church. (Page 125.) Melbourne Church. (Page 125.)] The name Melbourne is derived from Mael-burn, two Anglo-Saxon words meaning the “brook of the Cross.” A tradition exists that a cross was erected by the side of the brook, which runs on the south side of the town, to commemorate the murder of Osthryth, Queen of Ethelred, King of Mercia (675-704). Later on a small church was erected over the spot, which was replaced by the present one, “one of the finest and most interesting Norman churches in England—and the earliest date we are inclined to assign to its commencement is _circa_ 1090.” Originally the church consisted of nave with side aisles, central tower, with north and south transepts, three apses at the east, two western towers, with a recessed doorway between them. Galleries, supported by groined stone roof over the western portico, extended over both aisles and central tower, two spiral stone stairs in the western towers led up to the galleries. Five “horseshoe” arches, ornamented with chevron or zizag mouldings, resting on round pillars, 4 ft. in diameter, and 15 ft. high, separate the nave from the aisles, the capitals are square, with slightly indented mouldings. The triforium on the north side has triple round arches, that on the south, of later date, has double pointed arches. The central tower, on the inner sides, is divided into three tiers of semi-circular arches. The three apses at the east end were removed probably during the reign of Henry VII. A square end was then made, and is lit by a five-light Perpendicular window. The apse arches in the transepts were built up and a three-light Decorated window was placed in the south, and a three-light Perpendicular window was placed in the north transept. Later alterations and additions have been made which certainly have not