4 PAPERS, ETC. 



Position is only less regularly, either central or lateral, than 

 that of the fuUy developed Perpendicular tower is invari- 

 ably western. Even the Square westem tower was rarely 

 used ; the common alternatives seem to have been a central 

 tower of either form, a lateral octagon, or no tower at all. 

 We have seen how often the earlier type of Somersetshire 

 influenced the later, but no two types can well be moi'e 

 opposite to one another, in the more fully developed speci- 

 mens of each. And the earlier type of which I am speak- 

 ing is not spread over the whole county. For instance, I 

 do not call to mind an instance of it north of Mendip; that 

 is, not of its most distinctive characters, for cross churches 

 with central towers of course occasionally occur, as at 

 Yatton and Whitchurch. 



These Somersetshire octagons have a very peculiar 

 character, and it may be worth whlle to compare them 

 with tliose which occur in another region, where the 

 octagonal form is also frequent, namely, Northamp- 

 tonshire. Two marked diflferences strike at once ; the 

 Somersetshire octagon is a sign of early work; that 

 of Northamptonshire is generally late ; the Somersetshii-e 

 octagon is the tower itself assuming the octagonal 

 form; the Northamptonshire is an addition made to a 

 Square tower, which might exist without it, or at most 

 an altered shape given to its upper portion. Stanwick is 

 the only case which occurs to nie of a tower at once of 

 early date and octagonal from the base. The Somerset- 

 shire octagon again is, when most distinctive, central or 

 lateral, while the Northamptonshire octagon is invariably 

 western, and often supports a spire. 



It may be worth while, as the examples in the two dis- 

 tricts are not positively very numerous, to compare them a 

 little in detail. I have said that in the Somersetshire 



