Seine Dorsetshire Manor - Houses. By Sidney Heath and W. de C.
Prideaux. (Bemrose and Sons. 30s. net.)—The literary part of this volume comes from the pen of Mr. Heath ; the genealogical, mostly suggested by brasses which are memorials of families mentioned, is contributed by Mr. Prideaux. Twenty mansions are described, and each is pictured by a full-pago plate; the vignettes number nearly twice as many, and there are sundry rubbings of brasses. The first house to be dealt with is Athol- hampten, which came into possession of the Martyns in 1350, and remained in the male line till 1590, when Sir Nicholson Martyn died leaving four daughters. The estate was divided, but again united. In 1812 it came into the hands of the Earl of Mornington, was sold in 1848, and again in 1891. One of the most splendid of the twenty is Canford Manor, but only a small part is ancient. But we cannot follow Mr. Heath and his collaborator through the details of their subject. The reader will find them full of various interest. Pen and pencil are used iu happy combination. Among the places described are Cranbourne Manor, Kingston Lacy, Parnham, and Wolfton House, which has had the honour of being described by a Dorsetshire pates, Mr. Thomas Hardy.
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