ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF S. MARY AT CERNE. J 



Inserted in the south wall west of the Caroline porch is a 

 quaint stone face, said to have been the orifice of a chimney, the 

 smoke of which would issue from mouth, eyes, and ears. 



The belfry contains five bells, the tenor being cracked and 

 bearing an iron plate riveted on it. Nos. i, 2, and 3 were cast 

 in 1762 by Thomas Bilbie. No. 4 is dated 1747, and the tenor 

 has the inscription " Come when I call to serve God all." 



The story of our old churches is the story of the English 

 people. In their walls and arches can be found the best 

 materials of history, for with all its missing chapters, its puzzles, 

 and its pitfalls the true story of man is the record of work he has 

 done in earnest and which he did at his best. " Si monumcntum 

 requiris, circumspice." 



