much destruction, so much of the England that is vanishing. The old
abbey tithe-barn at Littleton of the fourteenth century, Wickhamford
Manor, the home of Penelope Washington, whose tomb is in the adjoining
church, the picturesque village of Cropthorne, Winchcombe and its
houses, Sudeley Castle, the timbered houses at Norton and Harvington,
Broadway and Campden, abounding with beautiful houses, and the old
town of Alcester, of which some views are given--all these contain
many objects of antiquarian and artistic interest, and can easily be
reached from Evesham. In that old town we have seen much to interest,
and the historian will delight to fight over again the battle of
Evesham and study the records of the siege of the town in the Civil
War.




CHAPTER X

OLD INNS


The trend of popular legislation is in the direction of the
diminishing of the number of licensed premises and the destruction of
inns. Very soon, we may suppose, the "Black Boy" and the "Red Lion"
and hosts of other old signs will have vanished, and there will be a
very large number of famous inns which have "retired from business."
Already their number is considerable. In many towns through which in
olden days the stage-coaches passed inns were almost as plentiful as
blackberries; they were needed then for the numerous passengers who
journeyed along the great roads in the coaches; they are not needed