Archaic Dictionary, "a place for putting things in," a word which still survives as a verb to "stow-away,' and also as a substantive in "stowage." The term is common both as a suffix and a prefix; thus we have Longstow and Bristow (now Bristol), as also Stowmarket and Stow-on-the-Wold.

In the reign of Edward the Confessor the great part of this parish belonged to Waltheof, son of Seward, Earl of Northumberland, other portions being in the possession of Peter de Valoines, Ralph de Toni, and one Halden, "a freeman." Waltheof, it is recorded, defended himself bravely against the Normans; but having submitted to the rule of the Conqueror, was restored to his paternal estates. His bravery and eminent qualities appear to have stood him in good stead with William, for he not only received back his confiscated broad acres, but received in marriage Judith, the king's niece, and had conferred upon him the Earldoms of Northumberland, Northampton, and Huntingdon. Waltheof, however, in the end became drawn into a conspiracy to bring about the king's deposition, the secret of which he unwittingly confided to his wife, who, as the story goes, "having placed her affections upon another, betrayed him, and gladly communicated the intelligence of the plot to her uncle." The result was that Waltheof was condemned and executed. In the Domesday Survey this manor is entered as belonging to Waltheof's widow, the Countess Judith. Waltheof left two daughters, one of whom conveyed this estate by marriage to the above-mentioned Ralph de Toni, who was a son of Toni, standard-bearer to the Conqueror; hence the designation of Walthamstow Toni, which the chief manor bears to this day. It continued with this family till the death of the last heir-male, Robert de Toni, early in the fourteenth century, when it passed, by the marriage of his sister, who had inherited the estate, to Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. The manor remained in the Warwick family till the fifteenth century, when it was conveyed by marriage to Thomas, Lord Roos. In the seventeenth century the manor was owned by Sir George Rodney, who sold it to Lord Maynard, with whose descendants it has since continued.

Besides the principal manor of Walthamstow Toni, there are four other manors in the parish, named respectively Low Hall, Higham Bensted, Salisbury Hall, and the Rectory Manor.

The manor of Higham Bensted, or Highams, belonged in the reign of Edward the Confessor to the above mentioned Halden the freeman. It would be not only tedious, but needless, to name its successive owners since that time; suffice it to

say that among them have been the knightly families of the Lovels and Herons.

Higham House, a large square brick mansion with wings, occupying a commanding situation on the north side of the parish, on the borders of Woodford, was built in the last century by Anthony Bacon, from whom it was bought by Governor Hornby. It is now the property of the Warner family.

The manor of Walthamstow Sarum, or Salisbury Hall, is situated at Chapel End, on the western side of the parish. It took the name of Salisbury from the unfortunate Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, under whom the manor was held by the Tyrwhit family. In the middle of the sixteenth centúry it was granted to Sir Thomas White.

Chapel End is so called from having had in former times a chapel there, dedicated to Edward the Confessor. The present church of this district, dedicated to St. John, is a plain, uninteresting structure, of "mixed "—i.e., nondescript—architecture, and was built in 1829.

Bellevue House, a modern erection, is pleasantly situated near the borders of the forest. It is built of brick, with stone dressings, and has a semicircular portico supported by Ionic columns. The park and pleasure-grounds are extensive; they are beautifully wooded, and contain a fine lake. The house stands on an eminence which commands the vale of Lea, the forest, and a large tract of Essex, with glimpses of the scenery in Herts, Middlesex, Kent, and Surrey.

The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, stands in the district called Church End, about midway between the stations of Hoe Street and Wood Street. The church is built of brick, thickly coated over with cement, and is as devoid of architectural interest as could be wished by the most austere of Puritans. It comprises a nave, aisle, chancel, and an embattled tower at the western end, containing six bells. The building, which stands on the site of an earlier structure, was erected in the early part of the sixteenth century. Sir George Monoux appears to have defrayed the expense of the tower and north aisle, and to have built the chapel at the east end of it, in which he and Lady Monoux are interred; the south aisle was built by Robert Thorne, a merchant of London and Bristol, and the founder of the grammar school at Bristol. The following inscrip. tion was formerly to be seen at the eastern end of the south aisle :-" Christian people, pray for the soul of Robert Thorne, with whose goods this syde of the church was new edyfied and finished in 1535."

Walthamstow.]

In 1817 the church was enlarged, repaired, and "beautified," at a cost of upwards of £3,000; in 1843 £1,000 more were expended in remodelling the nave and in enriching the east window with stained glass; and in 1876 further alterations were made in the interior by reducing the hitherto unsightly galleries to about half their original proportions, converting the old-fashioned pews in the body of the church into open benches, and replacing the ceiling with a roof of stained wood.

The monuments in the church are interesting. Among them is one in the north aisle to Lady Lucy Stanley, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas, Earl of Northumberland, and wife of Sir Edward Stanley; it comprises a life-size kneeling effigy under an arch. On the east wall of the chancel is an elaborate monument to Elizabeth, Lady Merry, wife of Sir Thomas Merry, dated 1632. This monument, which was executed by Nicholas Stone, contains busts of Sir Thomas and Lady Merry, and also of their four children. On the east wall of the north aisle are brasses, with effigies of Sir George Monoux, the founder of this part of the church, and of Ann, Lady Monoux. Sir George, who filled the office of Lord Mayor of London, died in 1543; his wife died in 1500. The brass is also engraved with the arms of the Drapers' Company. At the west end of the south aisle is a large white marble monument, with statues of the deceased, life-size, to Sigismond Trafford, of Dunton Hall, Lincolnshire, who died in 1723, and his wife Susannah, who died in 1689. Dr. William Pierce, Bishop of Bath and Wells, lies buried in the chancel. A small tablet on one of the pillars commemorates Sir James Vallentin, sheriff of London, who died in 1870. There are also monuments to the Bonnells, Maynards, Coles, Lowthers, &c. The churchyard, at the north entrance to which is a fine elm-tree, contains a large number of tombs and monuments, one of which, to Thomas Turner, dated 1714, has a yew-tree growing at each corner. In the Book of Chantries in Essex, under date of 1547, occurs the following entry :-"Lands and tenements put in feoffment by George Monoux, Gent., to the mayntenance of a priest to sing masse in the church there, and also to teach a few scholars there, during the term of twenty years; and one Sir John Hughson, clerk, of the age of forty years, and of good conversation, literate, and teaches a school there, ys now incumbent thereof. The said incumbent celebrateth in the church of Walthamstow; £7 yerely valew of the same deth amount to the sum of £6 13s. 4d.— rent resolute none-goods and chattles none."

In 1650 the commission appointed to inquire

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into the state of ecclesiastical benefices estimated the annual value of Walthamstow vicarage at £40, including tithes and glebe. The commission reports further that John Wood was their vicar; but that "he is questioned for his abilities, and is disliked by the greater part of the inhabitants, who will not come to church to hear him, whereby there is great distraction in the parish."

In "The Complete English Traveller," published in 1771, the author writes :-"From the architecture of the church at Walthamstow, it appears to have been first built soon after the monastery of the Holy Trinity in 1112, and probably by the same foundress, who was Matilda, the wife of Henry I. However, if it was not built at that time, it was at least soon after; but it has had so many additional repairs since that time, that little remains of the ancient edifice are to be seen." The author speaks of a gallery being at that time at the west end of the church, and adds, “but there are none in the side aisles."

Thomas Cartwright, afterwards Bishop of Chester, was vicar of this parish in the middle of the seventeenth century; and Edward Chishull, a learned antiquary and divine, was instituted to the living in 1708.

In Lyson's "Environs of London" it is stated that among the Carte Antiquæ in the munimentroom at St. Paul's cathedral, there is an order for the more solemn observation of processions at Walthamstow, bearing date 1328.

Close by the churchyard stands a picturesque row of red brick almshouses for thirteen pensioners, and also the Grammar School, founded and endowed by Sir George Monoux, whose monument we have seen in the church. Walthamstow is altogether well off for almshouses and charitable institutions, for besides those just mentioned, a Mrs. Mary Squires founded in 1795 almshouses for six poor widows, each of whom receives a certain yearly stipend; and in 1810 Mrs. Jane Collard founded ten almshouses for ten married couples, each couple receiving 4s. weekly. The charities in this parish amount altogether to rather more than £1,150 annually. St. John's Industrial Home, in Shernhall Street, at a short distance eastward from the church, was founded under the auspices of the Roman Catholic body in 1873, and affords a comfortable home and training in various useful pursuits for 150 boys. Shern Hall is a large and ancient brick building, standing in extensive grounds, and was for several years the residence of Cardinal Wiseman.

Walthamstow House, close by, is another large brick mansion, standing within its own grounds. It was built and occupied by Sir Robert Wigram,

the second baronet, but has since been occupied as a school, and is now St. Mary's Orphanage.

It may interest many of our readers to know that Benjamin Disraeli, the future Prime Minister of England, was partly educated at a private school kept by a Unitarian minister, Mr. Cogan, at Higham Hill, in this parish.

The writer may be pardoned for quoting from his own "Life of Lord Beaconsfield" the following particulars of his lordship's schoolboy days :"One of his schoolfellows still living tells me that

"He is said to have had Mr. Milner Gibson among his schoolfellows at the suburban academy at Walthamstow. He never went to either of our great Universities, and the knowledge which he picked up at school was fragmentary and out of the beaten path, though naturally it was subsequently enriched by Continental travel.

"It is remarkable that with both of his early novels he interwove a school-fight, in which an oppressed boy rises against his oppressor, and gains his revenge. Is it possible-or rather, is it not pro

as a boy young Disraeli was not remarkable for his attention to his lessons, or for his fondness for classical or mathematical studies; but that he was a great dandy, and also a devourer of curious and out-of-the-way literature, old romances, plays, and histories; and that he would often keep the other boys awake at night by telling them all sorts of stories, which he would invent as he went along. 'The child,' in his case, 'was the father of the man.' He was shy and reserved, and would wander by himself in the glades of the forest hard by, his only companions being a book and his master's favourite dog. His holidays were doubtless divided between his father's house in Bloomsbury and his grandfather's villa at Enfield.

bable-that this sketch was so far autobiographical, and that he fought his way among the boys at Walthamstow, having found the finger of scorn pointed at him on account of his Jewish origin?"

Besides the houses already mentioned, there are still several others to be met with in different parts, which, from their spaciousness, and the fact of their standing apart in their own grounds--to shun, as it were, the obtrusiveness of their humbler neighbours-clearly show that they were in former times the abodes of the flourishing and opulent citizen. Sir Charles Pope, Bart., had a villa here; as also had Gwillim, the herald, as appears by his account of Queen Elizabeth's funeral, printed in the "Monumenta Vetusta." George Gascoigne, a

gratifying fact that his body was carried from London "with a hundred or two of coaches" to its final resting place at Walthamstow.

The Town Hall, in the Orford Road, a short distance southward of the church, was built in 1876; it is constructed of brick and stone in the "modern French" style, and contains offices for the Vestry and Local and Burial Boards. The building occupies the site of, and is in part incorporated with, an old hall which had been for many years used for meetings and public entertainments. The parish can also boast of its Working Men's Club and Institute, and a Social Club. A cemetery was formed here in 1872. It covers about eleven acres, and contains the usual mortuary chapels.

Besides the mother church of Walthamstow, the parish possesses four or five district churches, besides chapels for Roman Catholics and for the various denominations of Dissenters, among which the Congregationalists largely preponderate.

Hoe Street, or High Street, which crosses the parish from the Lea Bridge Road in the south to Clay Street in the north, was once the chief thoroughfare leading from Walthamstow to Stratford Langthorne Abbey, and thence over Bow Bridge to London. A large number of houses have been of late years erected close by Hoe Street Station, and there are also several good shops.

Hale End, the most northerly hamlet of Walthamstow, bordering upon Chingford Hatch, is for the most part open meadow-land; but a great part of it is laid out in plots for building. This district is said to have been named Hale End from one Thomas Hale, who was the owner of a large house there in the early part of the seventeenth century.

Marsh Street is one of the principal thoroughfares, east and west, through the parish; it runs parallel with the railway on its northern side, by the district known as St. James's Street, and so on towards the Lea and Tottenham. Many of the old-fashioned houses and shops in Marsh Street are giving place to new and more fashionable buildings. The Congregational Church in this street, erected in 1870, is a large stone building of Gothic design, with a tall tower and spire.

The St. James's Street district comprises a large collection of humble cottages, built mostly of wood, and a few houses and shops lining the roadway near the railway-station, a large brewery, &c.

St. James's Church, built in 1840, is a brick building with semi-circular headed windows, &c., but of no interest. St. Saviour's Church, in Markhouse Road, about half a mile to the south from St. James's, was erected in 1874, from the designs of Mr. T. F. Dolman, the cost being defrayed by

Mr. Richard Foster and Mr. John Knowles. It is built of Kentish rag, in the Early Decorated style. To the south-west of St. James's Street, and covering a large space of ground between the railway and river Lea, some 150 acres, are the reservoirs of the East London Waterworks Company, the construction of which was commenced in 1869. These reservoirs, which have the appearance of a miniature lake ornamented with tree-covered islands, are capable of holding 500,000,000 gallons of water. The formation of these reservoirs led to important geological discoveries, the subsoil being found to be very rich in remains of the pre-historical period, extending back to the time when the whole district hereabouts was fen and forest. The area, as we have already shown, formed a portion of the great forest of Essex, which, under the name of Walthamstow Forest, was disafforested in 1777. If history may be relied upon, wolves were met with there so late as the end of the fifteenth century, and early in the twelfth century it abounded in wolves, wild boars, stags, and wild bulls. From an account of the discoveries which were made during the formation of the reservoirs, and which appeared in a monthly magazine in 1869, we quote the following interesting particulars :

"First underneath the turf is about two feet of clayey loam, a deposit from occasional floods; below this is an irregular bed of peat, usually about three feet thick, abounding in oak and alder timber, and hazel-nuts, now the colour of ebony; next comes a most interesting line of varying thickness, formed of white marly matter, being, in fact, the small shells and calcareous mud of the pools that once dotted the surface. The shell beds may be traced in winding courses, as the bottoms and sides of former shallow pools. The shells are in myriads, with both valves, and in their natural position, as on the banks of the Lea now. Besides the freshwater shells, there are land shells, blown or drifted into the stream or pools. A pretty collection may readily be made of six kinds of snail-shell, five Limneas, three kinds of Planorbis, two of the Unio, and others: twenty-six species in all.

"But the shells were not the only creatures which resorted to the ponds of the old forestmarsh. In the marl, and a bed of clay and peat below it, there have been and are being found the following:-A few bones of fishes; a few bones of birds; the present ox; the ancient ox (Primigenius); the elk, determined by Professor Owen (see Geological Magazine, September, 1869; Times, September 17th, 1869); reindeer, fallow-deer, abundant; hog, horse, beaver, wolf, dog, goat; and lastly, the traces of man. We may mention two