Xlviii. GILLINGHAM, MERE, AND STOURHEAD. 



Mr. Trotman called attention to how the later builders did not scruple 

 to erect their massive tower walls of large blocks of stone upon the 

 much earlier rubble wall. In 1220, when the Dean of Sarum held a 

 visitation there, he found a large church and a tower with four bells ; 

 but the chancel was then without a roof. In the Early English chancel 

 the Vicar pointed out the piscina, the Easter sepulchre on the north 

 side of the altar, a doorway, and another little piscina round the corner 

 in what must have been a sacristy. The aisles were rebuilt in the 

 14th Century, and the nave was raised in order to make it worthier 

 of the aisles. In the north arcade of the nave the clerestory windows 

 were walled up. About the year 1480 the nave roof and the great 

 tower completed the church. The lovely wooden 15th Century rood- 

 loft and screen were the crowning glory of the church. 



The PRESIDENT thanked Mr. Trotman for his kindness in 

 telling the Club so much about the interesting church. 



The party then walked round the church, examining the 

 various objects in detail, especially the rood-loft and screens, 

 the Bettesthorne brass, and the fine set of William III. 

 Communion plate, consisting of two large flagons, two 

 chalices, a pair of patens, and two alms-dishes, all of the year 

 1700, with the exception of one flagon, dated a year earlier. 



STOURHEAD HOUSE. 



Leaving Mere the party drove and motored to Stourton, 

 and proceeded first to Stourhead House, the seat of Sir 

 Henry Hoare, Bart., and Lady Hoare, who is a Dorset lady, 

 being daughter of Mr. Purcell Weston, of Dorchester. 



Stourton is the ancient seat of the noble family of that name. In 

 1713 the estate is said to have been sold by the thirteenth Lord 

 Stourton to Sir Thomas Meres, from whose heirs it was purchased in 

 1720 by Mr. Henry Hoare, the founder of the well-known London 

 bank and ancestor of the present owner. The present house, which 

 was built in succession to a large and goodly Tudor house, is of the 

 heavy and severe classic style so much affected in the 18th Century. 

 The main block was built in 1720 by Mr. Henry Hoare, after the 

 designs of Colin Campbell. The two long wings were built and 

 furnished in 1796 by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, the well-known Wiltshire 

 historian and antiquary, one wing being designed for a library and the 

 other for a picture gallery. The facade of the house is adorned by a 

 classic portico formed of a pediment supported by massive columns 



