BERE REGIS. 51 



paid (20,000) into our chamber at Bere. Now, I should be very 

 glad to have the opinion of archaeologists on this point what is 

 the date of the earliest work of the south aisle and arcade 1 Is it 

 contemporary with King John ? And does the architecture 

 (excellent specimen as it is of the transition from Norman to 

 Early English, with early pointed arches on heavy Norrnan 

 pillars, with Norman dog-tooth moulding) coincide in date with 

 the reign of John ? If so, may we not suppose that that super- 

 stitious monarch may have tried to salve his conscience by 

 devoting some part of the 20,000, his original exaction, to the 

 service of God in the building of this church ? In connection 

 with the early part of the church let me call your attention to 

 the carving of the Norman columns. At one corner of a capital 

 you will find a head crowned and bearded. Is it King John 1 A 

 Royal head in such a position seems to hint a Royal benefactor. 

 But the head is in curious company. Next to it is a scene from 

 old sports, bear baiting ; on the other side grotesque heads ; a 

 man holds his mouth open with both hands, another hides his 

 eyes with his hands. I tried to identify the King's head by 

 comparison with coins, but was told at the British Museum that 

 the Royal heads on early coins were not representations of indi- 

 viduals, but that the head on the c'>ins of John was identical with 

 that of earlier kings, so the only way in which I had hoped to 

 recognise the Royal head has failed. 



With King John Royal residency ceases, and the manor passed 

 in 1269 to the Abbess of Tarent ; with it " a fair, a market, a free 

 warren, and the whole forest of Bere." Here at Bere were many 

 of the abbesses buried. Possibly those crosses built into the 

 walls of the porch are of that date (late 13th century), and I am 

 told that the walls of the south aisle are built upon the old grave 

 stones of the abbesses of Tarent. The last abbess, Margaret 

 Russell, desired by her will (1567) to be buried in Bere Church. 

 Most of the church, as we see it now, must have been erected 

 during its connection with the Abbey of Tarent in the 14th and 

 15th centuries. The architectural features, though they offer a 



