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ST. MARY’S CHURCH, TAUNTON. 89 
Seulpturen un the West Danny of St. 
Kury'a Church, Canntn. 
BY MR. C. E. GILES. 
HE sculptures represented in the accompany- 
ing plate, decorate the western portal of the 
Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Taunton. And 
although the magnificent tower of which they form 
a portion, has been often described and is generally 
known, I am not aware that any allusion has been 
made to these interesting relics of medieval art. 
The tower is built of two different kinds of stone; 
the dressings and portions of the ashler work being 
the inferior oolite from the celebrated quarries of 
Hamdon Hill, and the walls chiefly of a perishable 
stone of the red sand stone formation. Much of 
the Hamdon Hill stone used in the tower is inferior 
to that found in other churches of the neighbour- 
hood. It has been suggested that the earlier 
workings of these quarries exhibited a harder and 
more durable material than for some centuries has 
been obtained. From some little acquaintance 
however with these quarries, I can vouch that stone 
of very good description is still available, but the 
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