CHURCH OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, KINGSTON. 35 



many books and documents to which I have been unable 

 to gain access. 



The village of Kingston is situated about tliree miles 

 north of Taunton, on the south side of the Quantock Hills. 

 The Church, which is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, 

 Stands on a slight eminence on the right, about 150 yards 

 from the high road to Bridgwater. Its tower is an object 

 of attraction to most passers by, and the Church appears 

 to be generally characterized as a beautiful one, from the 

 Impression, no doubt, that it is in keeping and accordance 

 with the tower. Leaving the tower for the present, I 

 cannot say that any part of the Church (saving, perhaps, 

 the porch and bench ends) presents an appearance worthy 

 the appellation of beautiful, but it contains some cui-ious 

 and many interesting features, and if rescued fi-om the 

 effects of modern barbarity, and restored to its pristine 

 condition, might perhaps vie with most parish churches in 

 this district. It is dedicated, aa I have eaid, to the Blessed 

 Virgin Mary, and contains a chancel 32 feet 2 inches long, 

 by 1 7 feet 7 inches wide ; a nave 40 feet 7 inches long, by 

 18 feet 4 inches wide ; a chancel aisle, on the south side, 

 running the whole length of the chancel ; a north and 

 south aisle to the nave, a porch on the south side, and a 

 westem tower. 



Having no documents to refer to, I cannot profess to give 

 dates, for the more one studies such subjects the more con- 

 vinced one is that attempting to assign accurate dates from 

 the style of the features in the buildings, without docu- 

 ments, is a very dangerous experiment. As to the point 

 which has been so much mooted of late days, of architec- 

 tural nomenclature, I shall content myself, on the present 

 occasion, with using the old terms of Rickman, without 

 meaning any disparagement to those which have been 

 since invented. 



