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of its Norman history is a well-preserved doorway which originally 

 stood on the south side, but which in the extension of the area of 

 the church has been unavoidably removed to the north side. 



John de Villula, in building the Norman Abbey, drew a large 

 number of Norman masons here, who were ready to be 

 employed in similar works in the neighbourhood. Of all these 

 Norman Churches which were then built, I have always looked 

 upon Englishcombe Church as being the most perfect specimen, 

 indeed I always fancy that Englishcombe Church was intended 

 to be a kind of miniature picture of the Norman Abbey. 

 However, to return to Charlecombe, there is something at Charle* 

 combe Church I should like to know a little more about. The 

 yew tree in the churchyard there is said to be older than the 

 church. Now that is a very interesting saying, for if we could 

 really verify it as a genuine tradition in any one place that the 

 yew tree is older than the church, this would be a matter of 

 historical value. I am strongly of opinion that the yew trees 

 did not go to the churches, but that the churches came to the 

 yew trees. The yew trees did not arrive upon the spot first, 

 they went there in attendance upon the cross. The first thing 

 that was erected, speaking generally, in our country, was the 

 cross. I do not say the cross instead of the church, the cross 

 was the church, and our word church, whatever people may tell 

 you about its being derived from KvpiaKov is simply an anglicism 

 of the Latin word crucem. 



When I say that in our own country at the first the cross was 

 the church, I mean that the people assembled around the cross, 

 they received the sacraments at the cross, and they wore baptized 

 at the cross. But the question is what the yew trees had to do 

 with it 1 When we travel through our country and see the yew 

 trees in our churchyards, we cannot divest ourselves of the 

 idea that there is some very considerable reason, hitherto in- 

 adequately explained, why there are yew tress so constantly in 

 the churchyards, being sometimes hundreds of years old, for the 



