2<S0 Potterne. 



"In the case of the internal decoration the preservation of the old 

 was imjjossible^ owing to its fragmentary condition and the bad 

 state of the plastering ; but the greatest care was taken to ascertain 

 the exact colours employed and the general arrangement of the 

 patterns, and what has already been done in the chancel may be 

 taken as a faithful reproduction, as far as possible, of the original 

 design. The decoration will be extended to other parts of the church 

 as soon as funds for its execution are available. 



"The want most felt in the interior is for a little more colour. The 

 windows were no doubt originally all filled with stained glass of 

 more or less richness, which tended to tone down the abundant light. 

 Some are again filled with coloured glass, notably the east windows 

 of the chancel and north transept, in which, though the colouring is 

 good, the lines are perhaps a little too hard to suit the ancient work. 

 The stained glass for the west window, which is soon expected, 

 will, if successful, add very much to the internal effect of the 

 building.^' 



There is a Piscina and an Ambry in the chancel, and also a 

 Piscina in the north transept. The latter would seem to imply a 

 chantry founded in that part of the Church, but no records relating 

 to it have as yet been discovered. The Church itself, like the Cathe- 

 dral at Salisbury, is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. The annual 

 dedication feast takes place on Sept. ] 9th, which corresponds with 

 Sept. 8th (old style) and is marked in our calendars as the fes- 

 tival of the " Nativity of the Virgin Mary." 



There are still to be seen faint traces of the ancient Rood-Loft. 

 In the tower staircase the doorway is still traceable which must have 

 opened on to the rood-loft. There is still a traditional remembrance 

 in the parish of a Rood Screen which was of oak and extended 

 across the chancel arch. It was taken down not long after the be- 

 ginning of the present century, and appropriated to secular and very 

 common uses. 



Of the Ancient Font, alluded to above, which was discovered during 

 the restoration carried out in 1872, buried under the site on which the 

 present font is placed, we must speak more particularly. It is 

 probably of the date of the tenth century, and was, we may reasonably 



