280 Inaugural Address of the 
since, and is preparing a paper upon them]. At Colerne, further 
down the Fosse Way, near Box, there are in the Church two 
fragments of the shaft of a pre-Norman cross, with very bold 
and intricate interlacements of dragons. At Bradford-on-Avon 
there is, among other very interesting early sculptured stones, 
a portion of a small pre-Norman cross, with a special detail 
on it, which I have observed also on some other small pre- 
Norman crosses in the Museum at Bath. The problem which 
these suggest to me, considering their distance one from another, 
and their general alignment towards Malmesbury, is this :— What 
was the route taken by those who carried Aldhelm’s body from the 
place of death, namely, the stone on which he sat and died in his 
little wooden Church at Doulting, to its resting-place here at 
Malmesbury ? You are familiar, of course, with the very 
interesting facts. They went by such a route that the distance 
was 50 miles, a good deal more than the direct distance. They 
took seven days to it, presumably about seven miles a day. On 
each spot where the body rested for a night, they erected in 
memorial a cross of stone. Some of these remained in the time of 
William of Malmesbury, 430 years after the event, and one was 
in the cloisters here at Malmesbury. They were known as biscep- 
stanes, bishop-stones. The name Bishopstone, or Bishopston, is 
by no means rare. We have three, at least, in Wiltshire, but 
none lies on the road from Doulting, near Shepton Mallet, to 
Malmesbury. 
I do not know if the probable route has ever been worked out. 
Considering Aldhelm’s foundations at Frome and Bradford-on- 
Avon, I think it most probable, practically certain, that they would 
pass through those places and rest there. The distance suit the 
conditions well. From Frome they may have gone to Bishopstrow 
(the Saxon treow, i.e., tree, or cross) where again the Church is 
dedicated to St. Aldhelm. To Bradford would be a very long 
stage; I should be inclined to look for some tradition or some 
lingering remains of a name or a dedication half way. Bath, 
Colerne, and Littleton Drew, conveniently provide the remaining 
resting-places. If, as seems probable, we are to take it that there 
