STUDLAND CHURCH. 175 



a Norman window with a splayed arch and ashlar-work running 

 level with the sill up to the groin. The ashlar is from six to nine 

 inches on the bed, so that the facing only of the rubble-work could 

 have been removed to build this. Here, again, the ancient work 

 appears crooked. The window shews the effect of the collapse of 

 the fabric. The crack is filled in with red sandstone. The jambs 

 have been cut about very much. 



Here stands an altar-tomb of Purbeck marble ; the brasses which 

 were on the shield have been demolished. 



Three of the Colson family filled the rectorial office for more than 

 a century. The stained glass window in memory of the Rev. T. 

 Colson, forty years rector, is dedicated to the patron S. Nicholas. 

 There is also a marble tablet in memory of the Kev. J. M. Colson, 

 rector for fifty-one years. 



The floor (from the choir to the chancel) has been restored to its 

 original lines. It was level with the top of the bases of the 

 columns. The ancient bases and the skirting-courses were 

 discovered during the excavation. The tombstones have been 

 relaid, as near as possible, in their former positions. 



THE COLUMNS OF THE CHANCEL 



need a few words of explanation. The N.E. capital bears the 

 consecration cross ; that of the S.W. possesses but one perfect, the 

 others being destroyed when the faces of the capital and of the rib, 

 starting from the N.E. capital, were cut off to make room for the 

 tablets. The S.E. column is carved differently to the others. The 

 S.W. and N.W. columns and pilasters were destroyed, with the 

 exception of the bases and about six inches of the shafts. Pilasters 

 without any column we're added here and at the KW. to 

 strengthen the old capital in 1881. 



INSIDE THE CHOIR 



the bases of the columns on the platform are six inches higher 

 than those of the chancel. The Norman arch suffered severely 

 (pi. III., fig. 2), by the settlement, and became very distorted. 



