XXXI. 



by William Symes, of Poundsford, Somerset. It is a stone building 

 standing in the lower part of the town. The house on the Cornhill, now 

 occupied by Mr. Norrington, ironmonger, is specially interesting. It 

 contains a large room of Elizabethan architecture, usually termed the 

 Justices' Hall, with an elaborately carved ceiling, decorated with plaster 

 medallions representing the Judgment of Solomon, the Fiery Furnace, 

 Daniel in the Den of Lions, and the Book of the Law. The rest of the 

 surface is panelled in squares and ornamented with grotesque figures of 

 birds and animals. It appears to have been built about the time of 

 James I., and is in the style of that period. The decorations have been 

 stated to have been executed by a band of wandering Italian artists. 

 Over the mantelpiece is carved a badger, the emblem of Lord Cobham, 

 Lord of the Manor of Chard at that time. Tradition states that in this 

 room the rebels of the Monmouth insurrection were tried by Judge Jefferies. 

 Finally, amongst the objects of interest are the Snowdon Quarries and 

 Caves, within a mile from the centre of the town, showing junctions 

 between the chalk and the greensand. 



A start was made in carriages at 10.30 a.m. for the day's excursion. The 

 route lay over Windwhistle Hill, from which, had the day been clear, a 

 fine view would probably have been obtained, but a thick mist and fine 

 rain shut in the landscape. The parish of Wayford was first visited, 

 where an old manor house, now used as a farmhouse, was inspected. This 

 structure, which is exceedingly picturesque, is of Jacobean style, with a 

 porch, pronounced by the Secretary of the Somerset Archaeological Society 

 at their meeting in 1882 to be Italian. The Drawing Room possesses a 

 good decorated ceiling, and on the mantelpiece is the date 1602, which we 

 may consider to mark the date of the house. The armorial bearings over 

 the entrance are those of the Daubeney family ; gules, four fusils conjoined 

 in fess, argent. The crest two dragons wings, addorsed, sable, conjoined 

 by a knot, or a holly branch, leaved and fruited, proper. The church 

 adjoining is evidently a 13th century structure. 



The parish of Winsham was next reached, where the church, which is 

 an interesting building, was described by the incumbent, the Rev. D. H. 

 Spencer. He stated that the church was probably begun in the 13th Century 

 the nave walls bearing traces of the work of that date. The west window 

 was a good specimen of 14th Century architecture. The tower was 

 apparently of Perpendicular style, and, therefore, a more recent structure. 

 A painting on wood, representing the Crucifixion, had been removed from 

 the tower and placed in the chancel. The date of this is unknown. The 

 pulpit is Jacobean, and the panels bear traces of having formerly contained 

 artistic designs. 



