ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF S. MARY AT CERXE. 5 



church and district ; (2) a number of points of contact with work 

 unquestionably of Charles I.'s time. 



As regards the former, it is observable that the builders of this 

 nave arcade can never have learnt to set up a true arch on any 

 large scale. They certainly did not share that magnificent 

 adroitness which characterised the builders of the i5th century 

 work in this neighbourhood ; the work is evidently that of 

 inexperienced hands. Every one of these arches is unsym- 

 metrical to a marked degree ; in alignment, vertically, and 

 workmanship generally there is a faultiness which (however 

 ready we may be to forgive it) contrasts strongly with the work 

 of the Tudor masons. The same hands, again, are traceable in 

 the Debased windows of the clerestory, and two in the north 

 aisle, which may safely be assigned to the Stuart period. 



In 1611 the manor, vill, and lands of Cerne were granted to 

 Henry, Prince of Wales, from whom they passed to Sir Francis 

 Bacon. In 1617, however, they were once more a Royal 

 possession in the hands of Charles, Prince of Wales, who held 

 them until the fourth year of his reign as King. The date 1626 

 inscribed upon the south doorway indicates a revival of church 

 building fostered, perhaps, in this case by Royal favour and 

 munificence. 



As to the design of the nave arcade it may have been an 

 attempt to reproduce previous Perpendicular work perhaps 

 destroyed by fire, seeing that no other buildings of Tudor date 

 survive on that side of the street, whilst on the opposite side 

 apparently contemporary houses are still standing. Or it may 

 have replaced an older nave, in a style suggested by that at 

 Pydeltrenthide or other neighbouring churches. In one 

 particular the detail of the piers differs from these the hollow 

 moulding taken out at the angles is carried up directly into the 

 arch, without any break at the capitals. (This is also found at 

 Piddletown and other places in the county in conjunction with 

 foliated capitals.) The capitals here are roughly rounded. 



A handsome screen of Ham Hill stone forms a striking feature 

 of the interior breaking the bay westward of the chancel. Its 



