OF 8ELBORNE. 411 



tioned, and by which, as a criterion, we would prove the date 

 of the building. 1 



At the bottom of the south aisle, between the west and 

 south doors, stands the font, which is deep and capacious, 

 and consists of three massy round stones, piled one on 

 another, without the least ornament or sculpture : the cavity 

 at the top is lined with lead, and has a pipe at bottom to 

 convey off the water after the sacred ceremony is per- 

 formed. 



The east end of the south aisle is called the South Chancel, 



SOUTH VIEW OF SELBORNE CHURCH. 



and, till within these thirty years, was divided off by an old 

 carved Gothic frame work of timber, [the line of which may 

 still be traced in a beam of partition between the pews,] 

 having been a private chantry. In this opinion we are 

 more confirmed by observing two Gothic niches within the 

 space, the one in the east wall and the other in the south, 

 near which there probably stood images and altars : [but 



1 The churches in some of the adjoining parishes are of very ancient 

 date, and well worth the attention of the antiquary. Those of Empshot 

 and Hartley in particular are very old structures, and probably referable 

 to a period anterior to the Norman Conquest. ED. 



