46 CHURCHES IN THE RURAL DEANERY OF DORCHESTER. 



they entered was often built up or closed and sealed. The estab- 

 lishment of anchorites' cells in connection with churches appears 

 to have been as early as the establishment of Christianity in this 

 isle. In the Saxon chronicle, under the date 657, at the hallowing 

 of the monastery of Peterborough, the Abbot is reported to have 

 said to King Wulfhere : " I have here holy monks who wish to 

 Spend their lives as anchorites, if they knew where. And there is 

 an island here, which is called Anchorets' Isle, and my desire is 

 that we might build a minster there to the glory of St. Mary, so 

 that those may dwell therein who wish to lead a life of peace and 

 rest." 



In the 15th century great changes were made in the church. 

 Besides the building of the tower, the chancel, and transept arches, 

 of which I have spoken, and the rood screen with its loft and 

 staircase, the south transept was cleared, the floor taken down, the 

 south window inserted, and the font, windows, and other 

 Perpendicular work put in. 



6. TOLLER FKATRUM. 



The church is a modern one without any pretension to archi- 

 tecture, but it contains a remarkable font, cylindrical in form. At 

 the base, above a plain band, is a narrow moulding, ornamented 

 with a kind of chevron, above which are boldly but rudely cut 

 figures, some of which support with head and hands a cable 

 moulding, over which is an interlaced pattern of Saxon character. 

 These interlaced designs, though continued into the Norman period, 

 were used at an early date ; in a Saxon MS. of the 8th century 

 (Evangelia Sacra Nero D. 4.) are designs very similar to this. In 

 Bede's time there were no stone fonts, but in later Saxon times 

 stone fonts were common ; and there is reason to believe that some, 

 perhaps many, of the so-called Norman fonts are really of Saxon 

 origin. The only font I have been able to find at all resembling 

 this is the font of Stoke Cannon, in Devonshire. In that also the 

 figures are rudely cut, and four figures, one at each corner, support 

 with head and hands the basin, which rests on a cable moulding. 



