By C. H. Talbot, Esq. 27 



" Ecclesiologist/' and re-published in the " Wiltshire Archceological 

 Mayazine." ^ 



I shall not speculate upon what may have been the character of 

 any church which preceded the present one. We have still re- 

 maining a very noble building which is however the mere wreck of 

 its former self. It is not known to whom the design of the original 

 building is due. Mr. Freeman seems inclined to attribute it to 

 Bishop Roger, of Salisbury, but that can only be considered a con- 

 jecture, and I do not think there is any positive evidence to support 

 it. What is certain is that it is a very early example of the 

 transition from the round-arched to the pointed-arched method of 

 building, being essentially Norman, but with the use of the pointed 

 arch for the pier-arches of the nave-arcades. The original church, 

 besides the nave, the extent of which is seen at a glance, consisted 

 of choir and transepts, with a central lantern tower. From what 

 remains of the tower, we find that, though it was square in plan, the 

 openings to the transepts were much narrower than those to 

 the nave and choir, wing-walls being introduced, yet the pointed 

 arch was not used for these narrower openings, but the transept- 

 arches were considerably stilted, to bring them to the same height as 

 the others. From this I should think it probable that the church 

 was begun at the east end, that the pointed arch was not used in the 

 choir, as we see that it was not under the tower, and that the nave 

 is rather later. In St. John's Church at Devizes, where the tower 

 is not square in plan, the round arch was used for the wider open- 

 ings and the pointed arch for the narrower openings of the transepts, 

 with no difference in date between the two. Mr. Freeman has 

 pointed out that the eastern and western tower-arches have as little 

 projection in the pier as possible and that their shafts are recessed, 

 whereas the northern and southern arches have bold projecting re- 

 sponds, and that the probable explanation of this is that the ritual 

 choir was under the lantern and that it was desired to get as much 

 uninterrupted backing for the stalls as possible. 



To return to the nave — Internally the original design remains 



> Vol. viii., p. 82. 



