n lying away from any main road,
and this gives it an air of repose and antiquity, which is pleasant in
these days. Whether the place owes its name to Offa, King of Mercia,
is an open question, but according to tradition this monarch owned
land and had a palace here, the site of which is pointed out by the
villagers.

Beside the ferry we have passed there was in old times a bridge, and
still, when the water is very low, the solid foundations of the piers
may be seen with pointed buttresses facing up and down the stream.
When this bridge was destroyed no one can tell; but once upon a time
the road from Worcester to London came over Green Hill, and leaving
Evesham more than a mile to the south, descended the steep hill where
now a grass-grown track marks its course, crossing the river by this
bridge. The farm on the right bank is known by the name of Twyford,
and so we guess that the creek which leaves the main stream a little
way above the ferry once continued its course, forming an island with
a ford on either side. Deadman's Ait is the traditional name of this
island field, and it is supposed some of the stragglers from the
battle of 1265 were slain here while attempting to escape by the ford
or bridge.

The irregularity of the river banks, now nearly level with the water,
sloping gently upwards, or steep and at times almost precipitous, is
much marked as we proceed on our way up the stream. After passing some
gardens, and a steep bank overgrown with gorse, the sluggish stream
quickens its pace, and we soon reach an abrupt turn where the current
is met by an unyielding wall of lias. Under the bare limestone the
water is deep and rushes swiftly, but above, the bank is covered with
tangled growth of blackberry and wild clematis, and in spring the
ground beneath the trees is blue with hyacinths. This sudden turn is
Norton Corner, and though no signs of that village can be seen it
stands hardly a mile away over the ridge of fields. The whole course
we have come may be followed on foot by the old tow-path from the
mill. From this point, after crossing the railway, a farm road will
take us to the end of the village; or we may take the footpath through
the arch beneath the line that we passed a few hundred yards further
down.

After leaving Norton Corner by boat, the river, for a space slow and
easy, soon becomes swift, and as we approach the ruins of an old lock
the passage is attended with difficulties by reason of the