AMONG the many advantages attending the institution of a Society such as this which has been so auspiciously commenced in our county, one of the greatest is the occasion which it affords of bringing into notice districts
and places of much interest, but which, being situated in distant and unfrequented parts of the county, are seldom visited, and are comparatively little known.
   Such a district is, or perhaps it might more properly be said, was till very lately, that country which surrounds the village of Cowden, at the extreme western boundary of the county. If we take that place as the centre of a small circle with a radius of eight or ten miles, we are introduced to scenes and places, in the sister counties of Kent and Sussex, possessing great natural beauty, and which are full of interesting historical associations.
   It is situated on the borders of a wild forest country, extending far into the county of Sussex. This forest belonged to John of Gaunt, and in old title-deeds is frequently called Lancaster Great Park. A curious record of this possession is still to be found there in the signs of the public-houses which are scattered through the district; the badges of that royal line, the Swan and the White Hart, having never been superseded by the most popular of English heroes, the Marquis of Granby, or by any other more modern signs. 
   The character of the country and the names of many of the parishes included within it, such as Hartfield,