Recent Wiltshire Books, Pamphlets, and Articles. 253 



before. As to the roof of the chancel he supposes that it was subsequently 

 re-constructed. " The old chancel roof of Perpendicular date, destroyed 

 when the Church was restored in 1853, was of the same pitch as that 

 which still covers the nave ; but less ornamented. Its carvings did not 

 exactly match, thus conveying the idea that it had been taken down and 

 unskilfully re-constructed." As to the spire — which is described as 

 having been an octagon measuring 10 feet'* on each of its sides at the 

 base, Mr. Kite contends that the tower of the present Church, measuring 

 28 X 25 feet inside the parapet, corresponds well with the square of 

 24 feet which the octagon of the spire would have occupied, and that 

 " the appearance of the present tower roof suggests the idea that on the 

 removal of the spire the roof was very roughly made up with part of its 

 old timbers laid down unevenly, and the whole covered with lead." 

 Other facts, again, point strongly to the same conclusion. The " taking 

 down of the great wall that was partition of the mid choir " is especially 

 mentiened in the Longleat papers. This partition would not have been 

 needed if the Church had not been parochial as well as conventual. 

 Again the monastic Church in 980 was dedicated to SS. Mary and 

 Meliorus. In 1177 the same dedication is distinctly mentioned. In 

 1492, before the dismantling of the " Monastic Church," Thomas Bundy 

 of Amesbury, and in 1542, after the dismantling, Nicholas Chamber, 

 another parishioner, as well as Henry Watkins in 1543, desire in their 

 wills to be buried in the Church of St. Melore— clearly, says Mr. Kite, 

 the " Parish Church," of which the eastern half— the " Monastic Church " 

 — was then unroofed. Mr. Kite puts his case forcibly and convincingly, 

 and with the sole exception of the measurements of the lead of the roof, 

 which remain rather a difficulty, fairly meets the arguments that have 

 been put forward on the other side. An excellent ground-plan, showing 

 the positions of gravestones and of stone coffins and slabs uncovered in 

 1853, and cuts of the original west window, and of the shields on the 

 drip-stones of the original east window, are given. 



Records of Bratton — Quaker Birth Records — a Calendar of Feet of 

 Fines are carried a stage further, and T. S. M. has an interesting note 

 on Ellandune, which should be read in conjunction with the later note 

 on the same subject printed in this number of the Magazine. A quaint 

 Inquisition, temp. Elizabeth, is also given, presenting the wives of various 

 Wiltshire gentlemen as wearing velvet, thereby rendering their husbands 

 under " the Bill for Great Horses," 33 Hen. VIII. and 4 and 5 Philip 

 and Mary, liable to maintain a horse for the defence of the realm. 



Marlborough College Register. From 1843 to 1899 inclusive. 



Fourth Edition, with alphabetical index, 1900. Pp. xxiv., 656. Edited 

 by S. A. P. Kitcat. 



[1st Edition, 1870, pp. viii., 161, and 2nd Edition, 1880, were edited 

 by the late Rev. G. W. De Lisle. On his death in 1887 the Rev. T. N. 

 Hart-Smith took up the work, and brought out 3rd Edition in 1890. 

 H. W. Simpkinson then took charge for some years, and Kitcat com- 

 pleted the 4th Edition. Mr. F. E. Thompson now goes on with it.j 



