I9I 
central door showing that it was not a reredos and that the 
nave was not originally parochial. 
The tracery of some of the windows is peculiar, and it will 
be apparent how the Norman work has in places been altered. 
Some of the windows, notably that in the West Front, are 
Perpendicular, The circular ornaments, known as “ pater” 
are almost peculiar to Malmesbury. The tomb called Athel- 
stan’s was evidently erected considerably after his death 
in 941, though probably intended to commemorate him. 
There is no trace of Aldhelm’s tomb, or of many others formerly 
in the church. 
Roger of Salisbury fortified the town and built a castle in 
the churchyard. This was destroyed in John’s reign, when the 
Abbey buildings were extended. Eventually the head of 
the house became a mitred abbot, one of 25 named by 
Edward III. to sit in Parliament. 
At the Dissolution the Abbey was purchased from the King 
by one Stumpe, who at first used it as a cloth factory, but 
afterwards gave it to the town in place of the parish church 
which had become ruinous. Stumpe’s monument is in the 
vestry ; his house, now the Manor Court, is at one end of the 
town. The picturesque buildings on the east of the Abbey, 
as regards their lower parts at least, seem to have formed part 
of the monastic premises. The tower in the churchyard is 
that of St. Paul, preserved when the ruined church was 
removed, as a campanile to the Abbey. The cross, which 
was about 100 years old when Leland saw it, replaced one 
built by Abbot Colhern about 1296. It is remarkable for its 
heavy lantern, and the curious way in which this is made to 
give solidity by throwing weight on the pillars. 
The origin of the name Malmesbury is doubtful. It is 
usually taken to be derived from Maldulph, but more pro- 
bably was Malmudsbury. It has been suggested that the 
names of Malmud, Maldulph, and Aldhelm are all mixed up 
init. The monks naturally preferred Maldulph’s-bury, but the 
earliest name after the introduction of Christianity into Wessex 
was certainly Mal-dunes-berg, the town of the hill of the Cross. 
It had been proposed that Charlton House should be visited, 
but owing to the absence from home of the Earl of Suffolk and 
Berkshire the necessary permission was not received in time. 
Westbury and Edington, May 14th, 1907.—A showery morning 
probably caused the meet to be a small one, but at 1.20 a start 
