16 NINTH ANN UAL MEETING. 



western siele of the ancient tower piers, lately disclosed. 

 The mouldings of the piers, I suppose, will be considered 

 early 13th Century work. I meant to have told you that 

 the plan of the tower was almost fully developed ; the 

 central pier not having been disturbed. Mr. Serel, of 

 Wells, told nie that the churchwarden's aecounts (now 

 extant) show disbursements for repairs to St. Cuthbert's 

 church " Where the steeple did once stand ;" and the 

 dates led me at the time to the conviction that this 

 was for making good at the cross, after removing the 

 central tower, being the last works executed after 

 building the western tower, in the 15th centnry, or 

 16th, for I forget the dates now. The evidences at St. 

 Cuthbert's of this repair are still to bc seen. I believe that 

 the difficulty of tracing the path of architectural develop- 

 ment in Somersetshire, arises frorn the source of it all 

 having been destroyed, viz., Glastonbury Abbey. There 

 are, however, evidences even in its ruins of it too having 

 undergone a reconstruetion in the löth Century — the 

 clerestory was perpendicular. And hence I believe was 

 the source of the movement. Our perpendicular does not 

 aecord in mouldings or tracery with that of Devonshire or 

 Gloucestershire ; it does chiefly with Dorsetshire. Besides 

 the class of early crueiform churches, now represented by 

 North Curry, Stoke St. Gregory, Bawdrip, Charlton, and 

 many others, there is another type — that of the tower 

 attached to aisle or transept — as Somerton, Fronie, Barton 

 St. Davids, Bishops Hüll ; and the srnaller churches, Staple- 

 grove, &c, were chiefly built on the plan of simple 

 Bomanesque Chapels, now in many cases altered. Thurl- 

 beer is but slightly altered." 



The meeting then adjourned, and the members visited 

 the church, the abbot's house, and the hospital. There 



