XXIV. 



The conduit had been quite recently restored, and its position slightly 

 altered. For many years the conduit was used as a savings bank for the 

 town. The present mullions were not as they were originally. In 

 Hutchins' History of Dorset they were represented as being carried down 

 to the pavement and glazed. The Rev. E. M. Young also called 

 attention to the date, 1561, carved over the small window of the room 

 which formed Dr. Lyon's study. He stated that the curious Elizabethan 

 building had been constructed out of the remains of the Lady Chapel of 

 the Abbey, by the help of Bishop Jewel, of Salisbury. The handsome 

 south front was then inspected, after which the members entered the 

 precincts of the School ; the various buildings of interest around were 

 pointed out. The library was visited. The Head -Master said that many 

 of the documents were of great interest. For over 300 years the greater 

 part of them had been stowed away in the muniment room at the 

 Almhouses, and this accounted for the splendid state of preservation of 

 their charter. The library was well supplied with curious editions of the 

 Bible in various tongues, including Syriac, Anglo-Saxon, Gothic, and 

 Erse. One very remarkable testament was in a now extinct North 

 .American Indian dialect, and bore on the title page the date of 1662. 

 Amongst interesting MSS. was that of the prize poem of 1850, by Lewis 

 Morris, the author of the " Epic of Hades," who was an alumnus of 

 Sherborne School. "Thermopylae" was the title of the poem, which 



commenced thus, 



" Thermopylae is silent 

 The stern rocks frown no more." 



The party next were conducted over the Chapel, which was much 

 admired, and subsequently proceeded to the schoolroom. They after- 

 wards broke up for luncheon preparatory to starting on the excursion 

 arranged for the afternoon. At 2. 30 carriages were in readiness to convey 

 the party, then numbering about 50, to Bradford Abbas ; there the parish 

 church formed the chief centre of interest. The building was at the time 

 in the hands of the builder undergoing a process of restoration. It is 

 built in the Perpendicular style, dating from the 15th century. Its most 

 striking feature is its tower, which according to the authority of 

 Hutchins, " is esteemed one of the best in the county. " It is loftier than 

 the generality of church towers in Dorset, and is flanked at the corners 

 with octagonal graduated buttresses crested at the top with fine 

 pinnacles. In the west front are eleven canopied niches, two of which, 

 the furthest from the ground, contain statues, the others are empty. 

 Within the building little could be seen with advantage, owing to the 

 alterations in progress. Some time ago it was round that the tine oak 



