The Parish Church. '275 



The present church is one of singular beauty. Situated on a 

 rising knoll of ground, and approached by flights of steps, the words 

 of Holy Writ almost instinctively occur to you as you look at it : 

 " Beautiful for situation is Mount Siou ; " — " Hither the tribes go 

 up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give 

 thanks unto the name of the Lord." The church as will be seen 

 from the ground-plan, of which an engraving is given, is cruciform, 

 having a central tower with a north and south transept on either 

 side. The whole body of the church, and also the lower portion o£ 

 the tower, were built about the middle of the thirteenth century, 

 possibly during the episcopate of William of York, who, as we have 

 already noticed, had a residence at Potterne, and was one of the 

 trusted advisers of Henry III., and belongs to what is called the 

 first-pointed or Early English style of architecture. An engraving 

 of one of the buttresses is given in the Glossary of Architecture 

 (Plate 39), and a conjectural date of <?. 1250 assigned to it. 



The following architectural sketch o£ the Church, kindly drawn 

 lip by Mr. C. W. Purday, who was associated with Mr. Christian 

 in carrying out the work of restoration a few years ago, will, we 

 are sure, be read with pleasure : — 



" The present Chureb of Potterne was built during the first 

 half of the thirteenth century, and is a cruciform structure, con- 

 sisting of nave without aisles, chancel, central tower, and short 

 transepts. The nave has a north porch of the same date, and a south 

 porch added in the fifteenth century. The nave, chancel, and 

 transepts are all of equal width, about 22 feet 4 inches inside the 

 walls. The total length inside is about 106 feet, and the length 

 across the transepts, about 65 feet. The tower occupies the whole 

 square of the crossing, measuring 28 feet 6 inches outside, and its 

 piers are so arranged, with plain chamfered orders, as to ofier little 

 obstruction on the inside. 



" The great feature of the plan is its extreme simplicity and 

 regularity, and the same characteristics mark the architecture, 

 sculpture being entirely absent, and mouldings being used only in 

 a very sparing manner; but the want of elaboration is amply 

 compensated by good proportion and refinement of detail. 



