ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 297 



heights, being patched up according to the fancy of the owners ; 

 but whoever nicely examines them will find that the middle aisle 

 had, on each side, a regular row of benches of solid oak, all alike, 

 with a low back-board to each. These we should not hesitate to 

 say are coeval with the present church ; and especially as it is to 

 be observed that, at their ends, they are ornamented with carved 

 blunt Gothic niches, exactly correspondent to the arches of the 

 church, and to a niche in the south wall. The fourth aisle also 

 has a row of these benches ; but some are decayed through age, 

 and the rest much disguised by modern alterations. 



At the upper end of this aisle, and running out to the north, 

 stands a transept, known by the name of the North Chancel, 

 measuring twenty-one feet from south to north, and nineteen feet 

 from east to west: this was intended, no doubt, as a private 

 chantry ; and was also, till of late, divided off by a Gothic frame- 

 work of timber. In its north wall, under a very blunt Gothic 

 arch, lies perhaps the founder of this edifice, which, from the shape 

 of its arch, may be deemed no older than the latter end of the 

 reign of Henry VII. The tomb was examined some years ago, 

 but contained nothing except the skull and thigh-bones of a large 

 tall man, and the bones of a youth or woman, lying in a very 

 irregular manner, without any escutcheon or other token to ascer- 

 tain the names or rank of the deceased. The grave was very 

 shallow, and lined with stone at the bottom and on the sides. 



From the east wall project four stone brackets, which I conclude 

 supported images and crucifixes. In the great thick pilaster, 

 jutting out between this transept and the chancel, there is a very 

 sharp Gothic niche, of older date than the present chantry or 

 church. But the chief pieces of antiquity are two narrow stone 

 coffin-lids, which compose part of the floor, and lie from west to 

 east, with the very narrow ends eastward : these belong to remote 

 times ; and, if originally placed here, which I doubt, must have 

 been part of the pavement of an older transept. At present 

 there are no coffins under them, whence I conclude they have 

 been removed to this place from some part of a former church. 

 One of these lids is so eaten by time, that no sculpture can be 

 discovered upon it ; or, perhaps, it may be the wrong side upper- 



