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Norman time, which are probably fragments of the church of 

 John de Vilkila, but nothing in situ with the exception 

 of. the two basements referred to. This, in fact, is one of 

 those instances in which an ancient town has really dis- 

 appeared, because with such a building as the Abbey then 

 was, there must have been otlier edifices of a superior kind 

 of architecture belonging to persons of distinction residing 

 in the city ; and if we look in the immediate neighbourhood 

 of Bath, we shall find it singularly rich in remains of the 

 Norman period. Taking a circle of seven or eight miles, 

 there are a great number. There is Charlcombe church, 

 where there is a very good Norman arch ; Langridge church, 

 again, has the most splendid Norman church in this locality. 

 Eemains of the same period are likewise to be found at North 

 Wraxall, Swanswick, and Twerton. At Queen Charlton, near 

 Keynsham, there is the Abbey gate, which is a fine old Norman 

 gateway ; and so on round the country, not omitting English- 

 combe, where there is some remarkable work, not merely a 

 south porch with a Norman arch in it, but also in the church 

 a fine Norman arcade. Of woi'k earlier than Norman times 

 I know of only one single scrap, and that is the font at St. 

 Catherine's church, which is of very high antiquity, probably 

 of the very earliest Saxon period. It represents a first rude 

 attempt at stone cutting, and is, perhaps, the oldest piece of 

 barbaric art in the neighbourhood. There was another 

 church, now lost sight of, and of which we have no traces, 

 and that w^as old St. Michael's — or St. Michael's intra muros, 

 as it was called, from being within the walls — which stood 

 very near the present St. Michael's, which, by way of dis- 

 tinction from the old church within, was called (and is called, 

 when its full designation is used) St. Michael Outwich. 

 St. Michael's intra muros appears to have been an old 

 Norman church. Mr. Long has a drawing of it by Lans- 

 down, but where the latter got the copy of it I do not 



