Wargrave church, too, is no whit behind expectation. It is of flint, as are the most part of the Thames-side churches, and has a square tower with pinnacles, half ivycovered; so it acts up to all that is required of it. Thomas Day, the author of _Sandford and Merton_, which so delighted the last generation of children, is buried in the church; he was killed by a fall from his horse. To add to the list of its self-respecting virtues, the tower of Wargrave church can be seen from the river, peeping out from among the tall trees that surround it. Above Wargrave is Shiplake, between which and Sonning is the curious channel known as the Loddon and St. Patrick's stream. These two, making a loop by which the lock may be avoided, are tempting to boatmen, for nowhere else on the river may such a feat be performed. Yet if the boatman try the passage up-stream it is likely he will regret it and wish he had favoured the lock, with all its bother and its unwelcome toll instead; for St. Patrick's Stream has a swift current. Of Sonning who can write with sufficient inspiration? The wonderful old red-brick bridge has drawn artists by the score, whereupon they have drawn it in retaliation! The hotel rose garden, famous for the variety and beauty of the blooms, is an attraction only second, and the hotel itself is second to none on the river. The mills on the Thames might well have a book to themselves; they are so ancient and so picturesque. Several, including the one at Sonning, are actually mentioned in _Domesday Book_. They are more ancient in their establishment even than the records of the monasteries, and so can claim to be the oldest things on the river, though some of the bridges might run them close. In the hot summer days the backwater of a mill is a place beloved of many. There, beneath the shelter of a broad-leaved horse-chestnut, so thick and rich of growth it makes the water almost black, one may lie in still content, hearing the splash of the falling water, and perhaps seeing it dashing from the mighty flaps of the wheel in glittering cascades. The very sight helps to keep one cool. [Illustration: SONNING] Of bridges, too, much might be said, and yet records are hard to find. Sonning bridge must rank high in age, as also that at Abingdon, of which we read: King Herry the Fyft in his fourthe yere, He hath i-founde for his folke a brige in Berkschire For cartes with cariage may go and come clere, That many wynters afore were mareed in the myre. Culham hythe hath caused many a curse, I-blessed be our helpers we have a better waye, Without any peny for cart or for horse. --_Geoffrey Barbour._ The building of bridges was in old days considered an act of charity, in the same way as the founding of almshouses and "hospitals". People left bequests with this object.