mended, but with no
attention to architecture, for the head of the east window was built up
anyhow with broken bits of tracery from a larger and handsomer one. The
heir of the Clarkes sold the property at Hursley to Mr. Mayor, to whose
only daughter Oliver Cromwell married his son Richard.

What happened here in the Great Rebellion we do not know. An iron ball
was once dug up in the grounds at Otterbourne House, which may have come
from Oliver's Battery; but it is also said to be only the knob of an old
pump handle--

"When from the guarded down
Fierce Cromwell's rebel soldiery kept watch o'er Wykeham's town.
They spoiled the tombs of valiant men, warrior, and saint, and sage;
But at the tomb of Wykeham good angels quenched their rage."

Colonel Nathanael Fiennes prevented harm from being done to the College
or the monuments in the Cathedral; but there was some talk of destroying
that holy place, for I have seen a petition from the citizens of
Winchester that it might be spared. It is said that some loyal person
took out all the stained glass in the great west window, hid it in a
chest, and buried it; but when better times came, it could not be
restored to what it was before, and was put in confusedly, as we now see
it.

Stoneham had a brave old clergyman, who kept possession of his church and
rectory all through the war, and went on with the service till he died,
no man daring to meddle with him. But Otterbourne was sure to follow the
fate of Hursley. The King's Head Inn at Hursley is thought to have been
so called in allusion to the death of King Charles I. A strange
compliment to the Cromwells.

Richard had a large family, most of whom died young, as may be seen on
their monument in Hursley Church. It was at this time that the customs
of the Manor were put on record in writing. The son, Oliver, lived till
1705, and was confounded in the country people's minds with his
grandfather.

There is an odd, wild story, that Cromwell sunk all his treasure in the
great well at Merdon Castle, in Hursley Park, 300 feet deep. It was
further said, if it were drawn up again, that no one must speak till it
was safe, otherwise it would be lost. A great chest was raised to the
mouth of the well, when one of the men said, "Here it comes!" The rope
broke, it fell back, and no one ever saw it more. Most likely this is an
old legend belonging to the Castle long before, and only connected with
Oliver