176 <I(4fMBLES OF A VOfMINIS 



Among the churches of Somerset are found master- 

 pieces of the Perpendicular style. Wrington is the 

 noblest of them all, and from that grey shaft, hardly 

 seen against the hill, were taken the proportions of the 

 Victoria Tower at Westminster. 



To the west the wide plain stretches along the bases 

 of the hills to the far sea, above whose brown flood 

 rise the faint outlines of the hills of Wales. On that 

 side, too, lies the great Mendip valley, with its scattered 

 hamlets, a glimpse of sea again, and the blue heights of 

 Exmoor. No more commanding point could have been 

 chosen. The forts of Brean and Uphill, Bleadon, Worle- 

 bury, and Banwell are all in view. The movements of 

 a hostile force could be seen at any point, even to the 

 putting in of a war-galley at the harbour of the 

 Axe. 



Record and tradition throw but little light on the 

 builders or the history of this great encampment. From 

 beneath its smooth and springy turf have been recovered 

 few traces of its old inhabitants. 



Its irregular outline and elaborate defences point to a 

 period far remote, though it is likely enough that Briton 

 and Roman, Dane and Saxon may each have held it in 

 his turn. 



From local tradition there is little to be gleaned. In 

 the neighbouring villages the hill is called " The Roman 

 Camp." One patriarch of the hamlet lying nestled in 

 the gorge below the entrance remembers to have heard 

 his father speak of a story handed down about " The 

 Redshanks" who lived upon the hill. It has been 



