XXXViii. FIRST WINTER MEETING. 



which is the bottom part of such a basin) were 

 provided for the purpose, resting on a canopied niche 

 ' the position above indicated. The stone stqup 

 is not found of an earlier date than the 12th century. 

 A good example of a stone stoup may be seen on the 

 right hand side of the entrance inside the tower of 

 Cerne Abbas church, placed in an arched niche in 

 the wall ; and there is an interesting one, although of 

 a somewhat different type, inside the southern 

 entrance of the church of Fordington St. George. 

 There are also good examples in Oakham church, 

 Rutlandshire, Pylle church, Somerset, and in Romsey 

 Abbey, Hants. 



Stone No. 3 appears to be the remains of a Latin 

 gable cross with the top member broken off, doubtless 

 for the purpose of giving the stone a flat surface for 

 the mason, when used as a building stone. The 

 chamfering on this item would give it a very early 

 date, but it is difficult to assign a precise period to the 

 work. 



Stone No. 4 is the lower part of a draped figure. 

 It might originally have represented a saint or a 

 priest. The covered feet may be indicative of a 

 female figure. 



These stones, together with the handsome Early 

 English mouldings, were all discovered at Grimstone, 

 some including the statue, No. 4 built into the 

 south wall of an old stone-built residence on the west 

 side of the ville, demolished in 1904 ; and some 

 including the stoup, No. 1 were found when an old 

 barn in the village was pulled down, in order to 

 make way for a building of a more modern type. 



In support of my suggestion that Grimstone formerly 

 possessed her chapel, and that these stones are 

 ecclesiastical and originally formed part of an ancient 

 Free Chapel in that tithing, I would mention that 

 Saxton in 1575 and Speed in 1610, in their very 



