EE —— a 
at the Salisbury Meeting. 39 
however, good examples at Chilmark, Bishops Cannings, Trowbridge, 
and Lacock. There is a nice specimen of a small stone spire at 
Little Bedwyn. Pack-saddle roofs, an unusual form in England, 
are found at North and South Wraxall, at Holt, and at Winsley. 
A bell turret crowned with a spirelet of much elegance is rather 
frequent in the north-west corner of the county, as at Acton Turvill, 
Sutton Benger, Corsley, Corston, Biddeford, and Great Chaldfield. 
The small wooden turrets of the south-east have been already referred 
to. They are often very picturesque. Stone groined roofs, though 
far from being common, are less uncommon in Wiltshire than in 
other parts of England. The Norman chancels of St. John’s and 
' St. Mary’s at Devizes have good vaults of that date. Early English 
and Decoroted vaulting is found at the beautiful Churches of Bishops 
Cannings, Urchfont, Steeple Ashton, Bishopston, Marlborough Sts 
Peter’s, and the south transept of Bromham, The nave of Steeple 
Ashton is groined in wood, the ribs springing from stone shafts.! 
At Knoyle and Edington there are curious plaster ceilings of late 
date which deserve notice. 
Taking a general survey of the county we find Norman work 
very abundant, though not usually of a very high order. The 
humble village Churches frequently contain a door or a window ora 
chancel arch of that period. Great Durnford is a typical example, 
and the fabrics of a large number evidently belong to this period. 
We have examples within a short distance of Salisbury. Berwick 
St. James preserves its Norman doorway, while there are doorways 
and other remains of Norman work, as in the Churches of Winter- 
bourne Stoke, Stapleford, South Newton, and Little Langford, all 
wery near together. The tower of Netheravon is very Early Norman. 
_ 1Mr. Ponting tells me that the nave and aisles of Steeple Ashton were 
originally groined in stone, as the chancel is now. This is shewn by the existing 
flying buttresses, and various indications inside the Church. The stone vault 
was probably destroyed by the fall of the spire in the latter part of the seven- 
teenth century. This catastrophe is thus described by Aubrey: ‘On 25th July, 
1670, there was a rupture of the steeple of Steeple Ashton, by lightning. The 
steeple was 93 feet high, above the tower, which was much about that height, 
The stones fell and broke part of the church, but never hurt the Font.” 
