10 PAPERS, ETC. 
brilliant the variety of the fabrie that sustains this ancient 
church ;”—a description it must be allowed, little sugges- 
tive of the simple, stern majesty of an early Norman 
cathedral. Nor is his description of the tower, in which 
may be recognised some similarity to that of Sompting, 
at all more like one of Norman date. “Moreover,” says 
he, “you have added a lofty temple, in which continual 
day remains—a sparkling tower, that reflects from Heaven 
the first rays of the rising sun. It has five compartments, 
pierced by open windows, and on all four sides as many 
ways are open. The lofty peaks of the tower are capped 
with pointed roofs, and are adorned with various and 
sinuous vaults, curved with well-skilled contrivance. 
Above these stands a rod with golden balls, and at the 
top a mighty golden cock, which boldly turns its face to 
every wind that blows.” The description of the monas- 
tery, built by Alfred at Athelney, as given by Camden, 
on the authority of William of Malmsbury, is as follows : 
“He founded there a little monastery, the whole frame 
_ whereof hanged upon four main posts, pitched fast in 
the ground, with four round isles of spheric-work con- 
trived and brought round the same” Now, however 
little applicable these descriptions may be to Norman 
buildings, they are by no means unlike Lombardie or 
Byzantine edifices, particularly the last, which, if we sup- 
pose it to have been a square building, with round towers 
at the comners, having a dome and pinnacles, such as we 
know from illuminations to have been in use among the 
Saxons, was a building of decidedly Byzantine character. 
That domes were used by the Saxons is rendered probable 
by an illumination of early date, which contains an object 
which seems to be intended to represent one. 
The conclusion from what has been said, which after all 
is Ettle more than a guess, is this, that the style of 
