196 The Environs of Bath. 



\faried since the Conquest ; it was then known as " Westone," 

 the greater portion of the parish belonging to the Bath 

 Abbey, which received a further grant of land therein from 

 John de Villula, Bishop of Bath in the twelfth century, the 

 monks thus practically possessing the entire parish, which 

 they held till the Dissolution. John Harington, gentleman, 

 of Kelston, in the seventeenth century acquired the Rectorial 

 tithes of this parish, and he in 1699 conveyed them in per- 

 petuity for the augmentation of the Vicarage. After the 

 Dissolution the Crown held the Manor of Weston till 1628, 

 when it was sold, and about the middle of the last century 

 came into the possession of the late William Oliver, gentle- 

 man. The greater portion of the land on Lansdown, in- 

 cluding Chapel Farm, was in the early part of the eighteenth 

 century the property of the Blathwayte family, and still 

 continues in their possession. This Chapel Farm, which is 

 nearly opposite the inn known as the " Blathwayte Arms," 

 on the Lansdown-road, was so called from the fact of there 

 having been formerly on this site a hospital for Pilgrims on 

 their way to or from Glastonbury, with a chapel annexed, 

 dedicated to St. Lawrence. Very scanty remains of these 

 buildings now exist, though a portion of what was most 

 probably the east end of the chapel may still be seen, 

 with traces of old windows, though partially hidden by 

 the ivy, and it is understood that a piscina has been 

 discovered within this portion of the building, which is 

 now unfortunately used as a coal-cellar, and was thus in- 

 accessible when we visited the spot. It seems probable 

 that a portion of the Hospital cemetery was on the south 

 side of the chapel, as several skeletons have been exhumed 

 hereabouts; some found in stone coffins, and all buried with 

 their faces downwards. The monks of Bath, who formerly 



