452 



windows of two lights, and a round chimney-shaft. The plan (of the 

 house) is a simple oblong, the principal room seems to have been on 

 the first floor. . . . Whether it formed part of another series of 

 buildings or not, it was a perfect house in itself, and its character is 

 strictly domestic. On the ground floor are a number of loop holes ; 

 the ascent to the upper storey was by a stone staircase, part of which 

 remains ; the grouud floor was divided by a wall, but the upper storey 

 appears to have been all one room, lighted by three double windows 

 on each side ; near the centre of the east wall, next the river, is a 

 large fire-place, to which the round chimney belongs. At the N. end 

 there appears to have been a large handsome window, of which part 

 of the arch and shaft remain, and there is a small circular window in 

 the south gable. From what remains of the ornamental part of this 

 building, it appears to have been elegantly finished and cased with 

 squared stones, most of which are now taken away. There is a small 

 projecting tower, calculated for a flank, under which the water runs ; 

 it has loop holes both on the north and east fronts, these walls are 

 extremely thick. By the ruins of several walls, there were some 

 ancient buildings at right angles to this hall, stretching away towards 

 the keep.* This was probably part of the residence of Baldwin de 

 Eedvers, Earl of Devon, to whom the manor of Christ Church be- 

 longed about the middle of the 12th century."* 



I have dwelt more particularly on the features of this very interesting 

 house, because it is one of the few Norman houses still remaining in 

 this country, and it is to be hoped that it may always be preserved as 

 a specimen of the houses of great nobles in the Norman period. These 

 ancient works grow fewer year by year, but what remain should be 

 preserved as landmarks of our national history, which, if once 

 obliterated, can never be recovered. 



It ought to be recorded that the stained glass in the west window 

 in the tower of Christ Church, as well as that in the east window of 

 the Church, was the gift of Admiral Walcott, once member for Christ 

 Church, and for a long period resident in Bath. The west doors were 

 the gift of his sister, Mrs. Dixon. 



* See " Grose s Antiq.," vol. ii., p. 178. 

 * See "Domestic Architecture of 12th century," p. 39. 



