VOL. XVI. (3) EXCURSION—STROUD, BISLEY 233 
North Cotteswolds, and at Stonesfield, near Blenheim; but now there 
are but one or two ‘‘ pits” near Througham, to the north-east of 
Bisley, one at Chalk Hill, near Eyeford, in the North Cotteswolds, 
and only one in work at Stonesfield. A reason given in the North 
Cotteswolds for their abandonment as roofing-material is that with 
the scarcity of oak no sufficiently strong wood is obtainable for 
making rafters capable of withstanding the weight. In one or two 
new houses in that district iron rafters have been employed to support 
the ‘ tilestone ” roof. 
The Church was next visited (Plate XXVI, fig. 2). The Normans 
must have built or enlarged a Church here, for there are a few stones 
of Norman date now placed together at the east end of the south 
aisle of the Church. The bowl of the font, too, is Norman, about the 
time of Stephen, 1135-6. There are supposed to be marks of fire on 
these stones, so that it was possible that the Norman Church was 
burnt, and the present one, no part of which is apparently older than 
the fourteenth century, was built on rather a different site. The old 
sites of the church and churchyard were, at some time—we do not 
know when—allowed to be used for other purposes, but when a 
grave is dug in the * new” churchyard there is very often evidence 
of the ground having been used for the same purpose, perhaps 
hundreds of years ago. A few years ago, what was thought to be a 
sepulchral urn was dug up near the porch of the present Church. 
Another supposition is that it is a chalice and paten, such as used in 
the Middle Ages to be buried by a priest, in sign of his office. The 
history of the font is curious. Until recently the bowl was on the 
top of what is commonly called the <“bone-house,” where it may 
have been placed when the Norman Church was destroyed. 
This curious erection is said to be thirteenth century work. 
There is a tradition that it covers a well in which a man was drowned, 
in consequence of which the churchyard was placed under an interdict. 
This is how the story runs :—There is in the Bodleian Library at 
Oxford a manuscript History of Gloucestershire, by Abel Wantner, 
citizen of Gloucester, dated 1714. Writing of Bisley, he says: she) 
shall conclude my discourse of Bisley with a Gloucester proverb, viz., 
‘ There is one, says Pearse, when he fell into the well,’ which saying 
was thus occasioned. ‘‘ The church of Bisley was out of repair, and 
the officers of the parish set some men at work to mend what was 
amiss; amongst those labourers there was one whose name was 
Pearse, who, with the rest at dinner time, came into the churchyard, 
where was a winch-well, and where they usually sate round whilst 
they did eat their victuals. Now it fortuned that as they were just 
waiteing for the strikeing of the clocke to go to worke, that as the 
clocke struck Pearse replied ther’s one, which word was no sooner 
spoken but he fell backwards into the well, and was there drowned. 
Whereupon the churchwarden was excommunicated, and the parish 
did bury their dead at Bibury, which is eight miles a Sunder, & the 
Burial way thereunto, was over Biers-way (or Burials way) Bridge, 
the same that is now called Bearwoods (or Barrods) Bridge, which > 
