placed. May one be allowed to assume that the presence of flint instruments points to something of the sort in this case? If so, it would seem probable, from the discovery of two Roman coins in the same moated space, and from the fact that it is near a river, where the Romans so often encamped, that these people utilized an already existing entrenchment. As there have been no finds after this date, until we come to the ubiquitous Nuremburg Token of the later middle ages, it is impossible to make surmises as to a Saxon or Danish occupation; but it is credible that the early Lords of the Manor saw the wisdom of adopting an existent moat, instead of digging a new one; and we get on to firm ground with the fact that this is the site of the Manor of Brome Hall in Blo' Norton.

Domesday Book records that a manor here was held by one Fulcher, under William Earl Warren, which, so says Blomefield, coming into the hands of the Bromes of Brome in this county before 1286, was joined by them to another manor, which they got from the Bigods, and the whole was thenceforward known as Bromehall Manor. Whatever small and early Manor House may have existed, it carried on the habitation of the spot until, by re-building or enlargement, the present Hall, the earliest date on which is 1585, came into being.

It is a simply planned and inornate old dwelling, this manor house of which I treat, and, considering how little it has been touched by the hand of the "restorer," but few architectural features are there by which its age can be judged. One of the greatest authorities on English Domestic Architecture has given it as his opinion that the mouldings of the arch of the hall fireplace, with its deep-splayed spandrils, and the section of the wooden mullions of some of the upstairs' windows are

like 1535 than 1585. If so we may have here the work of John Brampton, who died in the former year and who, so Blomefield asserts, re-built Brome Hall-but of this anon. It must not, also, be forgotten that in Norfolk, where brick superseded timber so early, a half-timbered house of this size with the timbers set so close together, points to a pre-Elizabethan date. On the other hand, the chief details that still exist are of the Elizabethan period or later.

The building does not face due north and south, but stands with its corners to the points of the compass, so that the main front is to the N.E. and the garden front to the S.W. The moat-about threequarters of which is perfect-measures, approximately, 150 yards by 130 yards and is about 30 feet wide; it encloses an area of between two and three acres, and almost in the centre of this the house is situated. The plan of the house itself is in the shape of a letter E with the central portion missing and with one of the wings longer than the other. The shorter one certainly gives an impression of greater age and, if so, then the house may once have been L shaped; the longer wing being added later-say in 1585. This sounds the more probable in that the original staircase is now hidden. away in a mysterious manner behind the back stairs, whereas the later main-staircase (Jacobean) is in what I hint at as being the newer wing. Except for the three large buttress chimney-stacks and the two crowstepped gables at the ends of the wings, the entire house is of half-timber work. The N.E. front was plastered over some 200 years ago, in rather a pleasing manner, the effect of stone quoins being produced at the corners and round the windows. The S.W. side is also plastered, and is ornamented with that pricked

zig-zag pattern so frequently seen in East Anglia. On the two other sides the plaster is later, and that on the N.W. has recently been removed, showing the oak timbers with the original plaster over "wattle and daub" between them. Incidentally three blocked-up windows were exposed, one of which has the original mullions and stanchions, both of wood. Two sides of the roof of the house retain delightful old tiles, those on the S.W. side being laid in a diagonal pattern; it is unfortunate that the remainder was re-roofed with those abominations called "Broseley" tiles some fifteen years ago. Those on the N.E. side are already fast decaying.

The old front door of oak, of the early 17th century, heavily studded with nails, has round the keyhole the outline of an elaborate pattern-obviously adapted, as we shall see, from the ornamentation of the screen in the hall-showing what, once, the "escutcheon" was like. As the screen is of Elizabethan date, it is somewhat unusual to find a cross as the centre of the design. One other detail of interest must be noted before going on to the interior, and that is a small round disc of terracotta, let into the kitchen chimney, on which are incised the letters

E.H.
B.

with below, the date 1585. This

gives us, at least, the year when this chimney-stack was erected, the upper part of which was re-built in the 18th century. I should like to point out that these initials, which stand for Elizabeth Brampton and her son Henry, occurring as they do in such an unimportant position, would seem to indicate an alteration rather than the original building of the house, as some have thought.

Entering the house by the heavy oaken door, one comes at once to the original entrance passage; to the