140 PAI'ERS, ETC. 



his arma on the gate of the Castle, with the inscription, 

 " Vive le Roi Henri."* We learn, too, that his favorite 

 counsellor had great delight and skill in architecture, that 

 " he was a man of devotion, and a bountiful friend to many 

 churches," so that we may suppose that he would readily 

 exert his talents to compass any act of grace intended by 

 his Royal master. Now, as St. Mary's tower was cer- 

 tainly built about this time, may we not, without forcing 

 probability, conjecture (the church having been enlarged 

 during the Perpendicular period, which its architectural 

 development will prove) that the noble tower was added 

 through the munificence of the monarch, and the available 

 talent of the minister, and that the letters on its belfry 

 windovvs may be fairly interpreted : " Reginald Bray, 

 Architectus Senatus." 



You may say such are but conjectures ; but remember 

 that they are founded on these facts : That King Henry 

 VII was at Taunton at the period when St. Mary's tower 

 was built ; f that he was accompanied by officers of State, 



* That many of the towers and churches of Somerset have badges used 

 by the king is strong evidence that he was in some way connected with 

 these buildings. In allusion to the tradition that he built many of the 

 churches, we find the following passage in Wharton's Spenser's Fairy 

 Queen, vol. iL, p. 259 : " Most of the churches in Somersetshire (which are 

 remarkably elegant) are in the style of the Florid Gothic The reason is 

 this : Somersetshire, in the civil wars between York and Lancaster, was 

 strongly and entirely attached to the Lancastrian party. In reward for 

 this service, Henry VII, when he came to the crown, rebuilt their 

 churches." 



t There can be no doubt on this point, as it is distinotly recorded in an 

 old book containing the proceedings of the Corporation at the time " that 

 the King, with the whole of his army, numbering upwards of ten thousand 

 men, on their way to the west to oppose the rebels, passed through Wells, 

 and here they halted for at least a day and a night, and probably longer; 

 and it appears that the King was received by the Lord Bishop (Oliver 

 King), Nicholas Wapp, the Mayor, and the burgesses of the town. It is 

 bolieved that the King lodged at the Deanery, where it is said that he was 

 received with princely hospitality by Dr. J. Gunthorpe, the Dean. 



