SELBORNE CHURCH. 397 



they were brought hither from some part of a former church. 

 On one of these lids, he tells us, " is to be discerned a discus, 

 with a cross on it, at the end of a staff or rod, the well-known 

 symbol of a Knight Templar." 



The discovery of no less than five stone coffin-lids in this 

 transept, not one of which had a coffin under it, confirms the 

 opinion that this was not their original situation, but that 

 they were brought to this spot by some graceless restorer to 

 serve as paving-stones. At what period this was done it is 

 impossible to say. There were no stone coffins found in the 

 transept, but a grave lined with stone, containing the decayed 

 remains of a wooden coffin and the bones of a man. 



It is to the south chantry that we have to turn for the pro- 

 bable solution of the question. Here were found two stone 

 coffins, each covered with a lid. One of the coffins was about 

 two feet below the floor, exactly at the northern boundary of 

 the chantry ; the other partly built into the south wall. Each 

 is formed of a solid block of Sussex stone, and each con- 

 tained the skeleton of a man ; the workmanship was through- 

 out that of a skilled stonemason. There is in each, as is usual 

 in stone coffins of that period, a hollow for the head, and in 

 each case the skull occupied its original position within it. 

 There was also in each of them the usual hole at the bottom 

 of the coffin to drain off the moisture produced by the decay 

 of the body. The coffins are somewhat narrower at the foot 

 than at the head *, which is also the case with most of the lids 

 of which the coffins have not been found. In both the ske- 

 letons were perfect ; in the larger of them the tibia had been 

 broken and badly set, the two broken portions overlapping 

 each other. The other coffin is somewhat smaller and more 

 tapering. 



I have now to describe those lids which are ornamented with 

 crosses. The most perfect of these covered one of the coffins 



* The dimensions of this coffin are as follows : Total outside length 6 

 feet 10 inches, breadth at the head 1 foot 10 inches, at the foot 1 foot 4 

 inches, the thickness of the stone parietes averaging about 3^ inches; the 

 horseshoe-shaped cavity for the head is 9^ inches in diameter and 7 inches 

 deep, being 1 inch above the floor of the coffin. The length of the in- 

 terior is feet 3 inches. The other coffin is a little smaller. 



