294 ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 



back-board to each. These we should not hesitate to say are 

 coeval with the present church ; and especially as it is to be 

 observed that, at their ends, they are ornamented with carved, 

 blunt Gothic niches, exactly correspondent to the arches of the 

 church, and to a niche in the south wall. The fourth aisle also has 

 a row of these benches ; but some are decayed through age, and 

 the restnuch disguised by modern alterations. 



At the upper end of this aisle, and running out to the north, 

 stands a transept, known by the name of the North Chancel, 

 measuring twenty-one feet from south to north, and nineteen feet 

 from east to west : this was intended, no doubt, as a private 

 chantry : and was also, till of late, divided off by a Gothic frame- 

 work of timber. In its north wall, under a very blunt Gothic arch, 

 lies perhaps the founder of this edifice, which, from the shape of 

 its arch, may be deemed no older than the latter end of the reign 

 of Henry VII. The tomb was examined some years ago, but 

 contained nothing except the skull and thigh-bones of a large tall 

 man, and the bones of a youth or woman, lying in a very irregular 

 manner, without any escutcheon or other token to ascertain the 

 names or rank of the deceased. The grave was very shallow, and 

 lined with stone at the bottom and on the sides. 



From the east wall project four stone brackets, which I conclude 

 supported images and crucifixes. In the great thick pilasterjutting 

 out between this transept and the chancel, there is a very sharp 

 Gothic niche, of older date than the present chantry or church. 

 But the chief pieces of antiquity are two narrow stone coffin-lids, 

 which compose part of the floor, and lie from west to east, with the 

 very narrow ends eastward : these belong to remote times ; and, if 

 originally placed here, which I doubt, must have been part of the 

 pavement of an older transept. At present there are no coffins 

 under them, whence I conclude they have been removed to this 

 place from some part of a former church. One of these lids is so 

 eaten by time, that no sculpture can be discovered upon it ; or, 

 perhaps, it may be the wrong side uppermost ; but on the other, 

 which seems to be of stone of a closer and harder texture, is to be 

 discerned a discus, with a cross on it, at the end of a staff or rod, 

 the well-known symbol of a Knight Templar.* 



This order was distinguished by a red cross on the left shoulder 

 of their cloak, and by this attribute in their hand. Now, if these 



* See DUGDALE, Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. ii., where there is a fine engraving of a 

 Knight-Templar, by Hollar, 



