OF SELBORNE. 525 



this order came into England early in the reign of 

 King Stephen, in 1113 ; and was dissolved in the time 

 of Edward II. in 1312, having subsisted only one hun- 

 dred and ninety-nine years. Why I should suppose 

 that Knights Templars were occasionally buried at this 

 church, will appear in some future letter, when we come 

 to treat more particularly concerning the property they 

 possessed here, and the intercourse that subsisted 

 between them and the priors of Selborne. 



We must now proceed to the chancel, properly so 

 called, which seems to be coeval with the church, and 

 is in the same plain unadorned style, though neatly 

 kept. This room measures thirty-one feet in length, 

 and sixteen feet and a half in breadth, and is wains- 

 coted all round, as high as to the bottom of the windows. 

 [It is raised one step above the body of the church.] 

 The space for the communion table is raised two steps 

 above the rest of the floor, and railed in with oaken 

 balusters. [Over the communion table is a painting in 

 three compartments of the Offering of the Wise Men, 

 presented by Benjamin White, Esq. It is attributed to 

 John de Maubeuge.] 



Here I shall say somewhat of the windows of the 

 chancel in particular, and of the whole fabric in general. 

 They are mostly of that simple and unadorned sort 

 called Lancet, some single, some double, and some in 

 triplets. At the east end of the chancel are two of a 

 moderate size, near each other; and in the north wall 

 two very distant small ones, unequal in length and 

 height : and in the south wall are two, one on each side 

 of the chancel door, that are broad and squat, and of a 

 different order. At the east end of the south aisle of 

 the church there is a large lancet-window in a triplet; 

 and a very small, narrow, single one in the south wall, 

 and two broad squat windows beside, and a double 

 lancet one in the west end ; so that the appearance is 

 very irregular. In the north aisle are two windows, 



