thatched
cottage where Kingsley used to conduct a little simple service on Sunday
afternoons. The whole of the country surrounding Bramshill Park is
closely covered with self-sown firs, and the commons interspersed among
the forest lands are covered with heather and gorse. This was the
country Kingsley loved, whether he was riding over it with the local
pack of foxhounds or on a visit to one of his parishioners.

[Illustration: EVERSLEY RECTORY.

The scene of the labours of Charles Kingsley.]

FARNHAM, SURREY

THE HOME OF WILLIAM COBBETT

=How to get there.=--Train from Waterloo. South-Western Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Farnham.
=Distance from London.=--37-3/4 miles.
=Average Time.=--1-1/2 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 6s. 3d. 4s. 0d. 3s. 1-1/2d.
Return 10s. 0d. 7s. 0d. 6s. 3d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"The Bush," "The Railway Hotel,"
"The Lion and Lamb," etc.
=Alternative Route.=--None.

In 1762 William Cobbett, one of the great writers and reformers of the
eighteenth century, was born at Farnham, in Surrey. The house is still
standing, and is now known as the "Jolly Farmer" Inn. Cobbett gives a
very clear account of his early years at Farnham, and some of his
youthful escapades are very amusing. One game which he and two of his
brothers were never tired of playing was that of rolling each other like
barrels down the very steep sandy hill which one may see rising sharply
from the back of the "Jolly Farmer." Cobbett left Farnham for London
when he was twenty-one, but often revisited his native town in later
years. When he died, in 1835, he was buried in Farnham churchyard. The
grave faces the porch on the north side of the church. The Rev. Augustus
Toplady, who wrote the universally known hymn "Rock of Ages," was born
in a little house in West Street, Farnham, which was rebuilt some years
ago.

Overlooking the town from the hills to the north is Farnham Castle, the
historic seat of the Bishops of Winchester for many generations past. A
portion of the buildings, including the keep, are of Norman origin, the
rest having been chiefly built by Bishop Fox in the early part of the
sixteenth century. During the Parliamentary war Farnham Castle was for
some time the headquarters of the Roundhead army operating in this part
of the country, Sir William Waller having overcome the garrison placed
there by the High Sheriff of Surrey.

Vernon House