S23 



church and round tower : it is about twenty feet long by sixteen 

 feet high to the springing of the roof, which appears to be of equal 

 height with the walls, and is of a steep wedge shape, finishing at 

 top in a flat space three feet broad, which runs from end to end, 

 having at the west end an open of two feet square ; the roof is built 

 exactly in the same manner as the walls, as may be seen where the 

 ivy has been stripped off, of stones of various sizes, the larger ones 

 being frequently dovetailed, and in the other parts the interstices 

 being close filled by long flat stones. This is so remarkably the 

 case, in this building, and in the adjacent tower, which is con- 

 structed of the same sort of stone, and in the same style of work- 

 manship, as well as in some other towers, that it suggests an idea 

 that they may have been intended to act as bonds ; somewhat like 

 the bond timbers of modern masonry. The mortar is of extreme 

 hardness, and contains an uncommonly small admixture of sand. 



The present entrance is at the south side, and with a portion of 

 the wall round it is modern. Several feet above the door, and 

 formed like those in the tower, is a narrow pointed window, the 

 only one in the lower story. This ground. floor chamber is 

 ceiled by a sharp arch, about twenty-five feet high in the centre, 

 constructed of thin flat stones set on edge ; on the west end, at the 

 crown of the arch, is an opening precisely corresponding with that 

 in the outer roof. There has been a door at the east end, which is 

 now built up ; at the west end also it appears as if a door or large 

 window, at about five feet from the floor, had once been : the mat of 

 ivy prevents the examination of the outside of the wall, but at this 

 part it is very thick, in consequence of a projection withinside, the 

 front of which seems to be modern, a small flat arch having been 

 turned, forming something like a fire-place. Close to this, in the 

 ancient wall is a very narrow door-way into a small recess contained 



