26 PAPERS, ETC. 



WoUos at Newport, wliereas tlie leading idea of Yeovil 

 church is clearly that of the most perfect regularity. The 

 best point of view is from the north-east. 



Before I quit the subject of cruciform and quasi- 

 crueiform churches, and therewith of Somersetshire exteriors 

 generally, I must revert for a moment to the earlier type of 

 church which preceded those which form my more imme- 

 diate subject. I mentloned that in these cases a aide 

 tower was by no means unusual. Under these circum- 

 stances the church seems generally to be cruciform, the 

 tower foiTning one of the transepts. This is the notion 

 at Frome, but it comes out much more distinctly at 

 Somerton and Stoke Hamdon. In the former, the tower 

 l^ecomes octagonal, as soon as it is clear of the aisle ; 

 in the latter, it is Square throughout, and its belfry- 

 stage is a beautifiil specimen of Early English masonry. 

 This whole church is, as a record of architectural 

 changes,* one of the most interesting in Somerset, but it 

 containslittle or nothing iUustrating the localPerpendicular. 

 This Position of the tower is by no means an unpleasing 

 one, produciug a varied and picturesque outline, and 

 slightly sharing the efFect of a real central tower. There is 

 surely a streng affinity between the appearance of Somerton 

 and of North Curry. Indeed, for a side tower, I think it 

 by far the best position ; better than a porch tower, which 

 can hardly fail to be unconnected; far better than one 

 terminating an aisle, which naturally suggests the idea of an 



* It would be a still more important record of doetrinal changes, could 

 we belle ve a piecs of Information which I received from its sextoness, 

 namely, that " this church was built for the Roman Catholics, but was 

 never occupied by them." The church is a Norman one, ■with Early 

 English and Deeorated alterations. Are we to suppose that, during so 

 long a period, this parish was blest with unknownprecursors of Wickliffe, 

 whom ecclesiastieal history has ungratefully forgotten to record ? 



