264 THE ANTIQUITIES 



Our church, which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, 

 consists of three aisles, and measures fifty-four feet in 

 length by forty-seven in breadth, being almost as broad as 

 it is long. The present building has no pretensions to 

 antiquity ; and is, as I suppose, of no earlier date than the 

 beginning of the reign of Henry VII. It is perfectly 

 plain and unadorned, without painted glass, carved work, 

 sculpture, or tracery. But when I say it has no claim to 

 antiquity, I would mean to be understood of the fabric in 

 general ; for the pillars which support the roof, are 

 undoubtedly old, being of that low, squat, thick order, 

 usually called Saxon. These, I should imagine, upheld the 

 roof of a former church, which, falling into decay, was 

 rebuilt on those massy props, because their strength had 

 preserved them from the injuries of time.^ Upon these 

 rest blunt gothic arches, such as prevailed in the reign 

 above-mentioned, and by which, as a criterion, we would 

 prove the date of the building. 



At the bottom of the south aisle, between the west and 

 south doors, stands the font, which is deep and capacious, 

 and consists of three massy round stones, piled one on 

 another, without the least ornament or sculpture : the 

 cavity at the top is lined with lead, and has a pipe at 

 bottom to convey off the water after the sacred ceremony 

 is performed. 



The east end of the south aisle is called the South 

 Chancel, and, till within these thirty years, was divided off 

 by old carved gothic frame-work of timber, having been a 

 private chantry. In this opinion we are more confirmed 

 by observing two gothic niches within the space, the one in 

 the east wall and the other in the south, near which there 

 probably stood images and altars. 



In the middle aisle there is nothing remarkable : but I 

 remember when its beams were hung with garlands in 



1 In the same manner, to compare great things with small, did Wyke- 

 hara, when he new-built the cathedral of Winchester, from the tower 

 westward, apply to his purpose the old piers or pillars of Bishop Walke- 

 lin's church, by blending Saxon and Gothic architecture together. — 

 See Lowth's Life of Wykeham. 



