unding trees by the stone seat
constructed in its shade. The momentous decision which makes this tree
so interesting is given in Wilberforce's diary for the year 1788. He
writes, "At length, I well remember after a conversation with Mr. Pitt
in the open air at the root of an old tree at Holwood, just above the
steep descent into the vale of Keston, I resolved to give notice on a
fit occasion in the House of Commons of my intention to bring forward
the abolition of the slave-trade."

With the exception of Knole Park, Holwood boasts some of the finest
beeches in the country. The present house took the place of the one
occupied by Pitt in 1825; the architect was Decimus Burton.

[Illustration: WILBERFORCE'S OR "EMANCIPATION OAK" IN HOLWOOD PARK,
KESTON.]

CHIGWELL, ESSEX

=How to get there.=--Train from Liverpool Street or Fenchurch Street.
Great Eastern Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Chigwell.
=Distance from London.=--12-3/4 miles.
=Average Time.=--55 minutes. Quickest train, 31 minutes.

1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 1s. 10d. 1s. 4d. 0s. 11d.
Return 2s. 6d. 1s. 10d. 1s. 4d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"The King's Head."

In 1844 Charles Dickens wrote to Forster: "Chigwell, my dear fellow, is
the greatest place in the world. Name your day for going. Such a
delicious old inn facing the church--such a lovely ride--such forest
scenery--such an out-of-the-way rural place--such a sexton! I say again,
Name your day." This is surely sufficient recommendation for any place;
and when one knows that the "delicious old inn" is still standing, and
that the village is as rural and as pretty as when Dickens wrote over
sixty years ago, one cannot fail to have a keen desire to see the place.
"The King's Head" illustrated here is the inn Dickens had in his mind
when describing the "Maypole" in _Barnaby Rudge_, and the whole of the
plot of that work is so wrapped up in Chigwell and its immediate
surroundings that one should not visit the village until one has read
the story. One may see the panelled "great room" upstairs where Mr.
Chester met Mr. Geoffrey Haredale. This room has a fine mantelpiece,
great carved beams, and beautiful leaded windows. On the ground floor is
the cosy bar where the village cronies gathered with Mr. Willett, and
one may also see the low room with the small-paned windows against which
John Willett flattened his nose looking out on the road on the