OF SELBORNE. 521 



length by forty-seven in breadth, being almost as broad 

 as it is long. The present building has no pretensions 

 to antiquity; and is, as I suppose, of no earlier date 



SOUTH VIEW OF SELBORNE CHURCH. 



than the beginning of the reign of Henry VII. It is 

 perfectly plain and unadorned, without painted glass, 

 carved work, sculpture, or tracery. But when I say it 

 has no claim to antiquity, I would mean to be under- 

 stood of the fabric in general; for the pillars which 

 support the roof are undoubtedly old, being of that 

 low, squat, thick order, usually called Saxon. These, 

 I should imagine, upheld the roof of a former church, 

 which, falling into decay, was rebuilt on those massy 

 props, because their strength had preserved them from 

 the injuries of time 1 . Upon these rest blunt Gothic 

 arches, such as prevailed in the reign above-mentioned, 

 and by which, as a criterion, we would prove the date 

 of the building. 



1 In the same manner, to compare great things with small, did Wyke- 

 ham, when he new built the cathedral at Winchester, from the tower 

 westward, apply to his purpose the old piers or pillars of Bishop Walke- 

 lin's church, by blending Saxon and Gothic architecture together. See 

 Lowth's Life of Wykeham. 



