trade meetings,
political demonstrations, &c.; and for 65 years--from 1726 to 1791--
horse races were annually run upon it. The Corporation and the
freemen of the borough once had a great dispute as to their
respective claims to the Moor, and the latter by way of asserting
their rights, put upon it an old white horse; but the Corporation
were not to be cajoled out of their ownership by an argument so very
"horsey" as this; they ordered the animal off; and Mr. J. Dearden,
who still obeys their injunctions with courteous precision, put it
into a pinfold hard by.

The Church of the English Martyrs was erected not long ago upon that
part of the Moor we have described. Originally the promoters of the
church treated for a plot of land about 20 yards above the present
site; but the negotiations were broken off, and afterwards they
bought Wren Cottage and a stable adjoining, situated about a quarter
of a mile northwards. The house was made available for the priest;
the stable was converted into a church; and mass was said in it for
the first time on Christmas morning, 1864. On the 21st of January,
1865, it was formally "opened;" the Revs. Canon Walker, T. Walton,
and F. Soden taking part in the services of the day. During 1865
preparations were made for erecting a new church upon the same site;
but some of the gentlemen living in the immediate neighbourhood took
offence at the movement, and insisted upon certain stipulations
contained in the covenants, which barred out the construction of
such a building as a church or a chapel, being carried out. There
was a considerable amount of Corporation discussion in respect to
the question, and eventually the idea of erecting a church upon the
land was abandoned. Directly afterwards, "Gallows Hill," in which
both the Corporation and Mr. Samuel Pole Shaw had rights, was
purchased as a site for it. Operations, involving the removal of an
immense quantity of earth--for the place was nothing more than a
high, rough, sandy hillock,--were commenced on the 26th of March,
1866. On the 26th of May, in the same year, the foundation-stone was
laid, with great ceremony, by Dr. Goss, and on the 12th of December,
1867, the church was opened. Mr. E. W. Pugin designed the building,
which externally does not look very wonderful at present; but, when
completed, it will be a handsome place. The original design includes
a beautiful steeple, surmounted with pinnacles; but want of funds
precludes its erec