three wise men answers exactly to the Biblical descriptionThey saw the young child. . . . fell down and worshipped, and presented gold, frankincense, and myrrh:"-kneeling, they offer vases and a bag of gold; each being further represented with a crown, according to tradition. S. Joseph stands on the other side of the Virgin.

The remaining three sides of the font contain patterns of circles, foliage, and other designs; and at each upper corner is a carving of the head of a ram or lion, a slender pillar beneath finishing each angle.

The font was placed in 1861, for its better preservation, upon a new pedestal, consisting of five shafts, copied from that of the Norman font in the church at Toftrees.

After the font perhaps the most noticeable objects in the church are two monuments to the Unton family. The earliest is in memory of Henry Unton, and is the most interesting, not so much from the history of the individual, of whom little can be ascertained, as from the beauty of the brass which commemorates him. He is said to have come from Chorley in Lancashire, and to have purchased estates in Norfolk, and was apparently buried here. Underneath the graceful brass which bears his name-a kneeling figure in armour, with the hands clasped as if in prayer—is this inscription:

Hic iacet Henricus Unton Gentilman quodam
Cirographon dui Regis de Cõi Banco qui
obiit vicclimo feptimo die menk Augulti

Ao dni M'cccclxx cui ale ppiciet deus Amen. 2

2

The following note on the word Cirographorus, in second line of Unton's inscription, has been offered::-

"If a deed is made by more parties than one, there ought to be as many copies of it as there are parties to it, and each should be cut or indented on the

His will, which is given in Nichols' Unton Inventories,3 throws some light upon the circumstances with which he was surrounded, and is the earliest document which has been found relating to the Untons. Henry Unton's brother Hugh was the ancestor of the more distinguished branch of the family, who lived at Wadley in Berkshire, whilst his own descendants settled as merchants in London. The other brass figures in the church are probably those of his son John, with Elizabeth his wife, and their eight children.

The brass in memory of Henry Unton has from time to time attracted attention. It was visited by Weever, and is noticed in his Funerall Monuments. Blomefield also mentions it, but without particulars of the individual or family; and Cotman drew it fifty years ago, for his beautiful collection of Norfolk Brasses.

top or side to tally with the other, which deed, so made, is called an indenture. Formerly it was usual to write both parts on the same piece of parchment, with some word or letters of the alphabet written between them, through which the parchment was cut, either in a straight or indented line, in such manner as to leave half the word on one part and half on the other. Deeds thus made were denominated Chirographa, the word chirographum being usually that which is divided in making the indenture."-Blackstone, Commentaries, vol. ii., p. 296.

The office of Chirographorus Domini Regis, held by Sir H. Unton at one period of his life, was so called because that officer engrossed and delivered the indentures or chirographs of the fines acknowledged in the Court of Common Pleas. The officer is of very great antiquity. He is mentioned in the Statutes 2 Hen. IV. c. 8, Westminster 2d. (13 Ed. I.), and 23 Eliz. c. 3. (See 3 Inst. 468).

3 The Unton Inventories; with Genealogical Notices of the Family of Unton. By J. G. Nichols, Esq., F.S.A.

Coins found at Diss.

COMMUNICATED BY

THE REV. C. R. MANNING, M. A.,

HON. SEC.

IN the early part of the year 1871 some considerable alterations were made to a house situated in Mount Street, Diss, at about a hundred yards to the north of the church, since occupied by B. Button, Esq. The workmen employed by Mr. C. Bishop, builder, were removing the brick flooring of one of the ground-rooms, and excavating the soil beneath. in order to insert the joists of a boarded floor, when they discovered the hoard of coins which is the subject of this notice. The house itself is a brick one, of no great antiquity, having probably been rebuilt within about two hundred years; but no doubt it occupies the site of an older one, probably of a timber house of the same date and class as some others yet remaining in the town of Diss, -as Mr. Leathers', corn merchant, St. Nicholas Street, and Mr. Abbot's bookseller, Mere Street, houses of the fifteenth century, some notice of which has already been made in these volumes.* Beneath the bricks they came upon the original hard clay floor, and in the centre of the room, at about eighteen inches from the surface, the remains of an earthen vessel were found, containing coins to the number of more than three hundred. On Mr. Bishop being informed of the discovery he obtained possession of most of them, and has kindly allowed me to catalogue

* Vol. ii. pp. 21, 22.

them. I have seen a few more that passed into the possession of other persons in the town, and on the whole the list is a tolerably complete one. There are no coins earlier than the reign of Henry IV., and possibly none so early, nor any later than that of Edward IV. It was just about at this time that the Church at Diss must have undergone extensive alterations, by the rebuilding of the aisles, side chapels, and chancel, probably by Philippa widow of Robert Fitz Walter, (and secondly of Edward Plantagenet, Duke of York) who held the manor in dower, 1415—1431; and as some substantial houses were also then erected in the town, it must have been a time of some activity in the place. For what reason this money was concealed it is, of course, impossible to say. It was safely stowed away beneath the floor, till those who could have revealed it passed away, and there it has remained while generations have lived and died above its hiding place, all unconscious of its story for four hundred years. It will be seen that, with the exception of two fine gold nobles, all the coins are of silver. None appear to be particularly rare, but the varieties are rather numerous, and having been evidently all deposited at the same time, and belonging to a limited range of years, it has been thought desirable that our Society should preserve a list of them.

The gold coins and the groats are mostly in very good preservation; but the pennies appear to have been much more in circulation, and are all more or less defaced. The description of some of these may, therefore, be incomplete, in consequence of their obliteration.