Xl. THE CERNE VALLEY. 



Outside the church door the Archdeacon pointed out the 

 priest's sundial, meant to show the time of the early Mass ; but chief 

 attention was claimed by the tower, erected about 1500 by Sir Thomas 

 Trenchard, of Wolfeton, whose initials, the Old English double T, in 

 monogram, appear in no less than 24 places. 



Mr. Alfred Pope, F.S.A., spoke upon a most interesting find 

 recently made — a portion of the shaft of a 15th or 16th century cross, 

 originallj^ an unequal-sided octagon, embedded in the western end of 

 the churchyard boundary wall. By the Archdeacon's leave it has 

 lately been taken out and placed against the southern wall of the 

 church — a welcome addition to " The Old Stone Crosses of Dorset." 



Cerne Abbas. 



The party then drove on to Cerne Abbas, and alighted at the Abbey 

 Barn. Here they were received by the Vicar (the Rev. H. D. Gundry) 

 who acted as the Club's cicerone in Cerne. He recalled the late Mr. 

 Henry Moule's enthusiasm for that barn, and his computation that 

 not fewer than 125,000 flints, each shaped by hand, were used in its 

 construction. He also asked the visitors to realise the great loss 

 suffered in the destruction of the original timbering of the roof, although 

 the late General Pitt Rivers was hajDpily able to preserve the timber 

 in the two porches, and did good service in having the barn solidly 

 re-roofed in stone tile. 



From the barn Jlr. Gundry led the way to the parish church. Of 

 the lofty tower, in rich dark-brown stone, he spoke with admiration, 

 and then deplored the decadence of the poor debased Gothic in the 

 nave arcades and windows. The great Perpendicular east window 

 with its ancient glass, must have come from a much larger building, 

 probably the Abbey Church itself, since there was not room to insert 

 the whole of thcwindow, and the lower part had to be sacrificed. 



From the church the party walked to St. Augustine's Well, about 

 which the Vicar repeated the familiar legends. The Hon. Secretary 

 (the Rev. Herbert Pentin) said he believed, with Mr. Gundry, that 

 the Augustinian traditions relating to Cerne were mere fables. That 

 fount was not called St. Austin's or St. Augustine's Well by William 

 of Malmesbury, but " Silver Well." 



Dr. CoLLEY March mentioned that the partial covering of that well 

 with stones indicated that probably its borders were used io't "in- 

 cubation." The sick person came and lay there for a night or nights 

 until some vision api^eared and gave directions for his cure. 



Mr. Gundry next led the way to the ruins of the Abbey. He pointed 

 to the reputed site of the Abbey Church — alongside the present 

 cemetery ; any digging along the wall brought to light the 

 encaustic tiles with which the church was paved. 



