The Saxon Church at Bradford-on-Avon. 385 



at Dunham, which corresponds with the similar work here.^ 



Taking thus \he details, thetechnique, the 2^^ an, and the proportions 

 of tliis Church into consideration, singly and together, and com- 

 paring it with the examples of Saxon architecture whose position 

 in the scheme is approximately fixed in accordance with the 

 principles hereinbefore described and explained, we shall come to 

 the conclusion that Professor Baldwin Brown is not very far from 

 right in assigning it to Class c 1 in his list, i.e., to between the 

 years 950 and 1000 A.D. ; and it may very possibly fall within 

 the great period of Church building and restoration which belongs 

 to the reign of Edgar (959 to 975), rather than be assigned to that 

 of Ethelred. 



It is one of the most interesting monuments of its time, and the 

 interest is enhanced not only by the fact of its forming another 

 important link in the chain which helps us to place the buildings 

 left to us by our Saxon ancestors in an assured order of succession, 

 but also by the fact of its marvellous and yet unintentional pre- 

 servation to our own day, and its still more marvellous discovery, 

 and re-instatement ! 



The two figures of angels referred to above are not, needless to 

 say, in their original positions. They were discovered embedded 

 in the wall above the chancel-arch during the restoration of the 

 building, and placed where they are now to be seen. They seem 

 to have formed part of a lost group : a figure of the Crucified in 

 the centre; and the figures themselves, with the scrolls they bear, 

 have a remarkable resemblance to drawings in the Benedictional 

 of St. Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, 963 — 984, which brings 

 them into line as belonging to the period when the Church of 

 Aldhelm was rebuilt, viz., the time of Edgar or Ethelred. The book 

 is now in the library of the Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth. 



It was during the intermediate or Danish period that that 

 connection with Germany was established which is so important 

 in its influence on art in England.' The special features on which 



* " Dunham Magna has external " pilaster-strips " that start and end with 

 a step-like finish that reminds us of the similar feature at Bradford-on-Avon." 

 —Op. eit., 225. 



^ On the connection between England and Germany, Bishop Stubbs says : 



