114 NOTES ON DORSET 



by Henry Herbert, of Wimborne, in the year 1839, i.e., less 

 than 20 years before the restoration. It contains excellent 

 plates both of the exterior and of the interior of the church 

 from various points of view; so that we can form a very 

 good idea of what the Minster looked like in its pre-restora- 

 tion days. 



Whilst the work was being carried out, the remains were 

 found of what was in all probability a Roman temple.* They 

 consisted of fragments of tessellated pavement and the bases 

 of pillars, &c., and were covered over. The bells were re- 

 cast and two more added in 1910. This is the only peal 

 of ten bells existing in the county of Dorset, and in the 

 whole of the diocese of Salisbury. At the same time, a steel 

 frame-work was placed in the tower, replacing one of 

 dilapidated oak. 



In 1891, when the transept galleries were removed, a 

 fresco was discovered in a recess which was opened out in 

 the east wall of the north transept. It was described by 

 Mr. W. J. Fletcher in Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries, 

 Vol. III., pp. 24950 (Sept. 1893), where also will be found 

 two coloured illustrations. 



In 1915 the chained copy of Bishop Jewel's Apology,^ 

 which had been removed from the church many years ago 

 and placed amongst the books in the chained Library, was 

 replaced on a stand in the Minster. 



During the restoration of the central tower in 1914-15 

 (Architect, Mr. C. E. Ponting), attention was drawn to the 

 squinch arches across the angles of the tower, which are to 

 be seen in the belfry, and which were formed to support the 

 diagonal sides of the spire when it was added. By these 

 the date of the spire, which was erected on the old Norman 

 tower, is shown to have been late in the 14th or early in the 

 15th century. Tradition asserts that it rivalled in height 



* Warne's Ancient Dorset, p.184 ; D.F.C. Proceedings, Vol. XXXIX., 

 p. 30. 



t D.F.C. Proceedings, Vol. XXXV., p. 16 ; Wimborne Minster Parish 

 Magazine, May and June, 1914, August, 1915. 



