WITLEY. 355

building - is occupied by Mr. John Nind, churchwarden. Church restored in 1841; has only a chancel, nave, and tower. Gorgeous tombs of the Sandys family, one of which is that of Sir Edwin, who was arbitrarily arrested by Charles I, in 1621, and afterwards championed by the House of Commons, of which he was a member. Traces of the rood screen; the old circular font has been restored, mainly through the exertions of the incumbent, after being many years turned upside down and made to do duty as a seat in the chancel. Rev. T. H, Hunt perpetual curate; value of living, £80; Christ Church, Oxford, patrons; seats in church, 90; of which 77 are free.

Witley.

OUT of 2,633 acres in this parish, all but about 80 acres (the property of J. Jones, Esq., proprietor of the Abberley Estate), and three or four cottages occupied by their owners, belongs to the Earl of Dudley. The Foley family had held it for two centuries. The late Lord Foley laid out the beautiful park of 400 acres, and the young woods, about 200 acres. Witley Court, which stands at the foot of Woodbury Hill, and the church adjacent, were the work of the last century. The church, which is parochial, is very gorgeous, with painted ceiling by Verrio, splendid gold panellings, stained-glass windows by Price (1719), carvings, Rysbrach's famous monument to the first Lord and Lady Foley, &c. The mansion and gardens have been rendered palatial by the expenditure of a quarter of a million of money by the present Earl Dudley. The late Queen Dowager took up her abode here in 1843, and remained for three years. The gardens, which occupy ten acres, have been rearranged by Nesfield, with splendid fountains, &c. Agriculture is the sole employment of the parishioners, and the usual four-