ANTIQ UITIES OF SELBORNE. 3 1 3 



divine service, saving the rights of the mother church of Basynges. 

 Yet all the while the prior of Selborne grants with such reserve 

 and caution, as if in doubt of his power, and leaves Gurdon and 

 his lady answerable in future to the bishop, or his ordinary, or to 

 the vicar for the time being, in case they should infringe the rights 

 of the mother church of Selborne. 



The manor-house, called " Temple," is at present a single 

 building, running in length from south to north, and has been 

 occupied as a common farmhouse from time immemorial. The 

 south end is modern, and consists of a brewhouse, and then a 

 kitchen. The middle part is an hall twenty-seven feet in length, 

 and nineteen feet in breadth ; and has been formerly open to the 

 top, but there is now a floor above it, and also a chimney in the 

 western wall. The roofing consists of strong massive rafter-work 

 ornamented with carved roses. I have often looked for the lamb 

 and flag, the arms of the knights templars, without success ; but 

 in one corner found a fox with a goose on his back, so coarsely 

 executed, that it required some attention to make out the device. 



Beyond the hall to the north is a small parlour with a vast heavy 

 stone chimney-piece, and at the end of all the chapel or oratory, 

 whose massive thick walls and narrow windows at once bespeak 

 great antiquity. This room is only sixteen feet by sixteen feet 

 eight inches ; and full seventeen feet nine inches in height. The 

 ceiling is formed of vast joists, placed only five or six inches apart. 

 Modern delicacy would not much approve of such a place of 

 worship ; for it has at present much more the appearance of a 

 dungeon than of a room fit for the reception of people of condition. 

 The field on which his oratory abuts is called Chapel-field. The 

 situation of this house is very particular, for it stands upon the 

 immediate verge of a steep abrupt hill. 



Not many years since this place was used for a hop-kiln, and 

 was divided into two stories by a loft, part of which remains at 

 present, and makes it convenient for peat and turf, with which 

 it is stowed. 



