12 Amesbury Church. Reasons for thinking that it 



" aisles " of the Priory Church, mentioned in the documents, were 

 transepts, which seems probable, but the nave of the Priory Church 

 was very much longer than that of the present Church. 



I cannot make an exact comparison, between the two Churches, 

 for this reason. The figures, at my disposal, represent external 

 measurements of the Priory Church and internal 1 measurements of 

 the present Church, They therefore do not admit of direct com- 

 parison, but the roof over the high altar and choir of the Priory 

 Church was 51 feet long. The length of the present chancel, from 

 the inner face of east wall to the centre line of chancel arch, is, I 

 understand, 47 feet, 8 \ inches. This looks as if the eastern limb 

 of the Priory Church might be a very little longer than the chancel 

 of the Parish Church. The roof of the south aisle of the Priory 

 Church was 39 feet long, and that of the north aisle 40 feet. The 

 internal length of the transepts of the present Church is, I under- 

 stand, 40 feet, 9 inches. This seems, at first sight, a pretty close 

 correspondence, but these transepts appear to be equal in length 

 and those of the Priory Church to have been slightly unequal, and 

 the thickness of the end walls has to be allowed for, which may 

 make some further difference. The roof of the "body," or nave, 

 of the Priory Church was 120 feet long. The length of the nave 

 of the present Church, from the centre line of the west tower arch 

 to the inner face of west wall, is, I understand, only 65 feet 

 7J inches. 



Of course, we are told that the nave has been shortened, but of 

 that there is no proof, and, if there were, it would not prove the 

 identity of the Churches, but only a more remarkable correspondence 

 than is known already. 



There was a cloister, along the north side of the nave of the 

 present Church, which appears to have led from the north transept 

 to some building beyond the north-west angle of the nave. The 

 water-table of its roof, remaining over the doorway, in the west 

 wall of the transept, shows that it had a high-pitched roof and did 



1 These measurements of the present Church were kindly supplied to me by 

 the liev. C. S. Buddie, Vicar of Durrington and Eural Dean. 



