VOL. XVIII. (i) EXCURSION— ABBOTSBURY 37 



The exception is this, and most worthy of the attention of anyone 

 visiting Abbotsbury. It has I think, been called the most noteworthy object, 

 now to be seen. Over the West window is a sculptured stone, representmg 

 the Blessed Trinity. It cannot be much later than 1200, and it might well 

 be earlier It is much weathered, and is difficult to describe. The Holy 

 Father appears to be seated on a central canopied throne. He is bearded 

 nimbed, and his right hand raised in the act of giving a benediction. .\ 

 curious kind of lippet, fastened by a brooch, or " morse as we should ca 

 it if the garment were a Cope, is across His chest. The Holy Son is extended 

 on a small Latin Cross resting as it would seem against the knees ot the 

 Eternal Father. His feet rest on a globe. The Holy Ghost, in guise of a 

 Dove seems to be whispering into the right ear of the Principal figure. 

 Altogether it is one of the strangest sculptures in existence. Some have seen 

 in it more than I saw, to wit, on the arch moulding of the stone a branch of 

 the Tree of Life on the dexter side, and on the sinister, a grotesque animal. 



'After lunch most of the Members visited the celebrated gardens belonging 

 to Lord Ilchester, the swannery and decoys, and St. Catherine s Chapel ; 

 while the President and Mr Riddelsdell botanised on Chesil Beach. Lathynis 

 maritimus. the beautiful sea-pea, was there in enormous quantities and good 

 fruit. The pea is very sweet to the taste ; though small, it would do as well 

 for the table as any of our cultivated forms. It was used largely on the 

 Suffolk coast at one time, during famine. Flocks of pigeons were feeding on 

 it on the Chesil Beach, and rose from their dinner as the botanists came along. 

 A mile further on was the rare Suceda fruticosa, a relation of the Goosefoots. 

 Atriplex. Spinach, &c. At that point, from the water of the Fleet, were 

 procured quantities of Zosteva, Ruppin spinalis and other plants. The Kiippta 

 has its fruit growing on a beautiful spiral peduncle, the spire often having 

 gix or eight turns in it. [L.R.] 



" St Catherine's Chapel.— The conspicuous land mark of St. 

 Catherine's Hill is crowned by one of the most beautiful perpendicular 

 buildings in existence. 



Buildings dedicated to St. Catherine— her of Alexandria and not of 

 Bologna, Genoa and elsewhere— the St. Catherine of our Kalendar on November 

 ?Sth— are often placed on hills, and the reason, however fanciful, is stated 

 to be this. She was martyred about the year 307 by being fastened to a 

 wheel set with knives and her body was then said to have been earned by 

 angels to Mount Sinai and there interred. But Mr Hills, Secretary of the 

 British ArchEeological Association, which visited Abbotsbury in 187 1. suggestea 

 that as the name (Catharine) comes from the Greek Kaflapos, piire. Chapels 

 dedicated to that Saint were erected in high and isolated positions, where 

 the air was purer than elsewhere ; and even more grotesque reasons have 

 been suggested. 



Let us return to the building. It was built probably before 1450, though 

 there may be traces of earlier work to be seen in it— the Piscina for example. 

 It is 45 feet in length, and 15 feet in width (inside measurements), no wood 

 whatever is used in its construction. It is wholly of stone, roof and all, and 

 in this respect is resembled bv very few, perhaps only four or five buildings 

 in this country. One of these, singularly enough, is in this same county ot 

 Dorset. I am alluding to the Chapel situate on that grand promontory 

 between Swanage and Weymouth with its sheer diop of 450 feet to the sea. 

 This is almost always wrongly styled on maps and charts ' St. Alban s Head. 

 Of course, it should be ' St. Aldhelm '—the great and first Bishop of Sherborne 

 (Founder of Malmesbury Abbey, circa 680). to whom the tiny lutle Chapel 

 upon it is dedicated. Ii is used now regularly by the Coast-Guards as their 

 place of Worship, and in the summer by visiting tourists. Tiny, i nave 

 called it, and so it is, only about a score can find accommodation in it. A 



