j y j THE MID-PIDDLE VALLEY. 



TOLPIDDLE. 



Past Burleston, with its fragment of derelict church hiding 

 mournfully and almost shame-facedly among its trees, the 

 Club drove on to Tolpuddle Church, where their new member, 

 the Rev. HAROLD LONG (Vicar), received them fraternally, 

 and, having studied the church in company with the 

 Rev. C. W. H. Dicker, gave some information about the 

 fabric. 



During the reign of Henry I., the revenues of Abbotsbury Abbey, to 

 to which Tolpuddle belonged, were annexed by Bp. Roger of Sarum. 

 About this period a Romanesque Church was built here (in Bp. Roger's 

 style), remains of which are seen in the north and south doorways. 

 Most of the present building is of the late 13th, or early 14th Century 

 character frequently met with in Dorset, the arches having plain 

 splayed faces. The original summit of the tower is marked by a 

 row of corbels, which probably carried a pyramidal roof ; the chancel 

 has been twice rebuilt within modern times ; the present one was 

 erected in 1885, when a part of the north aisle was also rebuilt. The 

 south transept was built in 1855, but the arch is old work. The 

 upper story of the tower is of the 15th Century, and the west 

 window is Perpendicular. 



During the last year, mainly through the energy of Mr. W. de C. 

 Prideaux (of our Club) a portion of a coffin-lid of stone, bearing the 

 effigy of a priest of the 12th Century, has been recovered and placed 

 in the church. It was surrounded by an inscription in " Lombardic " 

 letters, beginning Si quis amat and ending Criste Phillippo. The 

 remaining portion of the stone is discernible in the north-east quoin 

 of the chancel, and arrangements have been made to get it 

 removed. 



Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Crane courteously allowed the Club to 

 inspect the Manor House. Here the party again encountered 

 the Martyn ape the familiar effigy, placed over the porch, 

 having been dug up in the garden some time ago. Truly the 

 Martyns must have been ubiquitous in their day and genera- 

 tion ! Inside the porch, over the doorway, has been affixed a 

 stone, evidently of later date than the house, incised with 

 " I.E., 1656, N.A." 



