XIV 



the spaces between the corbels, which project at the four angles 

 of the capital, the remains of escutcheons 

 mav be seen, but no trace is left of the 

 emblazonments with which they were 

 doubtless originally enriched. Judging 

 from analogy, and after comparing the 

 Cirencester High Cross with similar struc- 

 tures, I have come to the conclusion that 

 the corbels once supported slender buttresses, which, being arched 

 at the top, formed light canopied niches, in which figures were 

 placed. The ponderous stone in the shape of a cross, now sur- 

 mounting the capital, is no part of the original design, having 

 been put up some few years ago. 



"We may infer that in its integrity this cross could not have 

 stood much less than twenty feet in elevation, from the ground to 

 the summit; and some idea may be formed of its handsome cha- 

 racter, from the general effect of the chaste proportions of its 

 remains, which are beautiful even in their decay. I have been 

 unable to discover any record from which to determine that this 

 cross was set up to commemorate a particular event. 



There is a deed extant, dated A.D. 1413, in which it is called 

 NOVA CRUX, which would approximately fix the date of its erec- 

 tion at a period corresponding with its architectural character, 

 which, as before stated, is that of the fourteenth century. Pre- 

 suming it to have been built just prior to the introduction of the 

 perpendicular style in architecture, or towards the end of the 

 reign of Richard II., we are carried back to the period of the abbacy 

 of Nicholas d'Ameney, or about twenty-six years before Abbot 

 Best procured the mitre for the Abbey of Cirencester, and a seat 

 among the barons for himself and his successors. 



List of Birds seen in Siddington, Gloucestershire, with Remarks. 

 By EDWARD BOWLY. 



This List is strictly confined to the Birds seen in the Parish of 

 Siddington ; many other varieties have been observed in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood. Nearly the whole of the common Birds of 

 prey have been shot in LORD BATHTJRST'S Woods, where also the 

 Crossbeak and the Greater Red Pole have frequently been seen. 

 A Hoopoe was shot this summer in the adjoining Parish of South 

 Cerney. Phalarope has been shot at Bibury, and the Bittern at 

 Latton within a few years. Some years since the Royston Crow 

 was always to be seen at Aldsworth, as you travelled from Ciren- 

 cester to Burford ; they are now extinct in that neighbourhood. 

 I have shot the Short-eared Owl when Partridge shooting. 



RING DOVE. Common. Always build in the avenue of lime trees close to the 

 house. Often very numerous in winter. 



