VOL. XVI. (3) EXCURSION—CIRENCESTER 2II 
**cester.” As an illustration of a sharply-defined line of demarcation 
between Anglian and Saxon Kingdoms, he cites two places on the 
Nen: on the Anglian side of the river is Castor, and on the opposite 
(Saxon) side is Chesterton. Originally a Saxon settlement, the Saxon 
name of Cirencester, on this principle, would, or should, have been 
Cirenchester. If it was, the alteration of the name was due to Mercian 
influence, for the town was for a long time a part of the Kingdom of 
Mercia. But it is significant that the part of the town which lies in 
an angle between the east side of the Foss Way and the south-west 
side of the Roman wall is called Chesterton, and is, in fact, a tything 
which bears that name. [J.S.] 
The brake drive included a visit to the beautiful Park, but time 
did not permit of a long stay here. The Roman pavement was in- 
spected by permission of Mr Anderson, and explained by Mr Bowly. 
St. John’s Hospital, the Abbey gateway, and the fine Roman capital 
in the Abbey grounds, also formed part of the itinerary. At the 
Parish Church the party was met by the Ven. Archdeacon Sinclair, 
who, having regard to the exigencies of time, had to pass in rapid 
review the main historical facts connected with the noble building. 
Like most Cotteswold churches, it dates from the Norman period. 
But little of the Norman work now remains, and that little is at the 
eastern end. The thirteenth century saw an extention of the chancel 
and a reconstruction of the nave; the fourteenth a widening of the 
nave aisles ; the fifteenth the erection of the tower and the building 
of the Trinity Chapel, ‘“‘the gem of the church,” as Archdeacon 
Sinclair rightly calls it; the sixteenth the rebuilding of the nave and 
the provision of the great south porch, with two stories above, now 
thrown into one large hall. There is evidence that the monks of 
Cirencester Abbey took part in the rebuilding of the nave of the 
parish church, for the abbey arms appear init. The tower, however, 
may have been built by parochial builders, and their want of experience 
in such work may account for the fact that soon after it was finished 
it began to give way, and great flying buttresses had to be put up to 
support it. The chapels were inspected, and the points of beauty and 
interest explained, after which the Members proceeded to the vestry, 
where they were shown the valuable*Tudor plate for which the 
church is famous. There are two chalices with patens of date 1573, 
but most valuable of all is the Bullen chalice, a replica of which only 
is kept at the church, the original being deposited for safety at the 
bank. This Anne Bullen chalice was given by Queen Elizabeth in 
1535 to a Master, an ancestor of the Master family, one of whom 
must have given it to the church. Mr Butt drew from the Arch- 
deacon the information that as much as £8,000 had been offered for 
the piece of plate, ‘‘ but,” remarked the Archdeacon and Vicar of 
Cirencester, ‘‘ we are not quite reduced to that. They won’t get it in 
my time.” A reproduction of the old fresco, now obliterated, de- 
picting the martyrdom of St. Erasmus, in Germany, was shown, but 
it was admitted that the disgusting sufferings inflicted on the martyr— 
(he had his bowels pulled out by means of a windlass)—need not be 
R 
