296 ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 



their strength had preserved them from the injuries of time.* 

 Upon these rest blunt Gothic arches, such as prevailed in the 

 reign above-mentioned, and by which, as a criterion, we would 

 prove the date of the building. 



At the bottom of the south aisle, between the west and south 

 doors, stands the font, which is deep and capacious, and consists 

 of three massy round stones, piled one on another, without the 

 least ornament or sculpture : the cavity at the top is lined with 

 lead, and has a pipe at the bottom to convey off the water after 

 the sacred ceremony is performed. 



The east end of the south aisle is called the South Chancel, 

 and, till within these thirty years, was divided off by old carved 

 Gothic framework of timber, having been a private chantry. In 

 this opinion we are more confirmed by observing two Gothic 

 niches within the space, the one in the east wall and the other in 

 the south, near which there probably stood images and altars. 



In the middle aisle there is nothing remarkable : but I remember 

 when its beams were hung with garlands in honour of young 

 women of the parish, reputed to have died virgins ; and recollect 

 to have seen the clerk's wife cutting, in white paper, the resem- 

 blances of gloves, and ribbons to be twisted in knots and roses, to 

 decorate these memorials of chastity. In the church of Faringdon, 

 which is the next parish, many garlands of this sort still remain. 



The north aisle is narrow and low, with a sloping ceiling, reach- 

 ing within eight or nine feet of the floor. It had originally a flat 

 roof, covered with lead, till, within a century past, a churchwarden 

 stripping off the lead, in order, as he said, to have it mended, 

 sold it to a plumber, and ran away with the money. This aisle 

 has no door, for an obvious reason ; because the north side of the 

 churchyard, being surrounded by the vicarage-garden, affords no 

 path to that side of the church. Nothing can be more irregular 

 than the pews of this church, which are of all dimensions and 



* In the same manner, to compare great things with small, did Wykeham, 

 when he new-built the cathedral at Winchester, from the tower westward, 

 apply to his purpose the old piers or pillars of Bishop Walkelin's church, by 

 blending Saxon and Gothic architecture together. See LOWTH'S Life oj 

 Wykeham. 



