Lxvi. TAUNTON AND DUNSTER. 



THURSDAY. 

 MAGDALENE CHURCH AND PRIORY "BARN." 



After breakfast a visit was paid to the Church of St. Mary 

 Magdalene, which was oiiginally built in 1308, and the vicarage 

 endowed by the neighbouring priory. Of the original church 

 little remains beyond a portion of the north aisle. The main 

 part of the present spacious and handsome church, with that 

 unusual feature a double aisle on either side was erected in 

 1508. Shortly after 1860 the fine old tower, one of the loftiest 

 and most beautiful towers of Somerset, was found to be in a 

 dangerous state, and was taken down. The present tower, an 

 exact reproduction of it, was built in 1862. " Marlen '' church 

 and tower for so Magdalene is rendered in broad Somerset 

 dialect is declared to be the pride of the natives of Taunton 

 Deane for miles around. The Vicar, the Ven. Archdeacon 

 Askwith, was unfortunately away, and so not able to receive the 

 Club, to whom he had given a cordial invitation to visit the 

 church. 



A few Members of the Club found their way with some 

 difficulty to the so-called Priory Barn, situated at the further end 

 of St. James's Street, and a building which, although now used 

 partly as a barn and partly as a stable, certainly had a more 

 reputable ancestry. In the gable end nearest the road are two 

 good Early Decorated windows, one above the other, each 

 consisting of two lancet-headed lights with chamfers, and with a 

 graceful cinquefoil in the apex, the whole surmounted by a hood 

 mould. This is a building to which obviously the antiquaries of 

 Somerset ought to give more heed and take means for its 

 preservation. 



DUNSTER CASTLE. 



At 10.35 the party left^ Taunton Station for Dunster. The 

 picturesque village street, with its quaintly-designed "Yarn- 

 Market" and many remains of Tudor domestic architecture, 



