264 Cherhill Gleanings. 
then a man of 84, solemnly exhorted me never to think of driving 
over the downs without both my servant and myself being well 
provided with firearms! 
To return, however, to our village. The oldest building in 
Cherhill is the Church, a portion of the chancel of which I imagine 
to be early fourteenth century work. Of this nothing remained but 
the masonry of the east wall, and some shafts, mouldings, and 
imposts, which have been worked into the inner face of the much 
more modern window. The imposts consist of two heads, repre- 
senting respectively a king and a bishop, and are, apparently, about 
the date of the first or second Edward. The wall is no less than 
four feet in thickness, and I remember that, when I showed a ground 
plan of the Church to an architect whom I went (shortly after 
coming to Cherhill) to consult about the restoration, the excellent 
man pointed out with a pitying smile the “ obvious errour” which 
in my ignorance I had committed in drawing the wall of such 
dimensions, And he was very much astonished when he found by his 
own subsequent measurement that my drawing was exactly correct. 
The tower and south aisle are somewhat later work. Iam disposed 
myself to assign them to the beginning of the fifteenth century, 
and attribute also to this period the remains of the old manor house 
of which I have already spoken. I am bound, however, to add that 
Mr. Talbot, of Lacock, whom I admit to be a much better authority 
than myself, places the tower earlier than this. He believes it to 
be thirteenth century work, altered in the fourteenth century. Of 
this, however, I can myself see no trace, for the only portion of the 
tower which appears to me to have been in any way altered is the 
west window, the sill of which clearly at some time or other came 
down lower than it does at present. The tower is considerably out 
of the perpendicular, owing, no doubt, to its having been built 
simply upon big sarsen stones with little or no other foundation, as 
is not uncommon in this county. It seems to have given out to 
the west during the building of the first stage. The second stage 
was then raised perpendicularly, but that sank also. Then the third 
stage was built, again true to line, and this has so remained, or very 
nearly so. The tower overhangs its base no less than lft. 10in., 
