190 A Description of the Saxon Work in the 



that a third stone of similar form, and taken from the same wall, had 

 been sawn up for use in other parts of the building. 



I then made a careful search for some clue as to their former 

 position, and on removing the plastering from the inside, and the 

 fifteenth-century roof of the north aisle (which was so much decayed 

 that no part of it could be preserved) a fourth of these stones was 

 found, happily untouched and in situ, over the 1828 arcade, forming 

 a window on the exterior face of the wall, and having a wide splay 

 of the same circular form internally— as at A A Figs. 1 and 2. 



The mason who did the work was confident that one of the three 

 which he had removed was taken from a position 3 in. to the west 

 of the centre of the westernmost new window, and another (the one 

 broken up) from about the like position as regards the easternmost 

 window. 



The former I found to correspond vertically with the round-headed 

 window in the respond below, and measurements of the position of 

 the one in, situ and of the ascertained positions of the two replaced 

 by the two modern windows showed the four to have been nearly 

 ej^ually spaced laterally. 



There were distinct traces of the fifteenth century roof of the 

 north aisle having been altered in post- Reformation times from the 

 original span form to that of a lean-to against the clerestory, thus 

 hiding the exterior faces of these windows from view. This roof 

 rested upon a heavy chamfered string-course of stone running the 

 entire length of the nave on the outside as at B Fig. 1 ; an en- 

 larged section of which and of the windows over is given in Fig. 4. 

 The character of this string is unmistakably Saxon. The outside 

 face of the north clerestory wall was found to be plastered around 

 the circular window and down to the string-course, the plaster being 

 connected with both ; this is composed of a fine white sand, and is 

 extremely hard. Plastering of a similar kind was found to exist 

 below the aisle roof on this wall and it had been retained as an inner 



but it never occurred to either of us that they were old ; and it is only due to 

 Mr. Ponting to say that until he discovered the period to which they belonged, 

 it was never suspected by either of us, or by anyone else so far as 1 know, that 

 they were other than modern and valueless. All honour to him who so cleverly 

 found out their antiquity, and restored them to then- original position. [Ed.] 



