232 The Churches of Pur ton and Wanhorough. 



sacristy. These seem to suggest that an altar stood before the 

 archway. There is a beautiful little Transitional window in the 

 west wall peeping- out clear of the north aisle. 



Fifteenth century. Though the works next in order of date were 

 probably proceeded with soon after— if not actually in continuation 

 of — those last described, they were not apparently completed until 

 early in the fifteenth century . These alterations were very extensive : 

 the upper part of the walls and the arches of the nave arcades were 

 taken down, the Early English piers and responds raised about 3ft., 

 but the original capitals retained, and new arches possessing the 

 mouldings of the time, erected on them : the arches, however, do 

 not grow happily out of the piers, the centres from which they are 

 struck being below the springing level. The former height of the 

 piers is easily discernible from the different character of the masonry, 

 and the clumsy way in which the new stones are fitted to the old. 

 The mouldings of the capitals appear to have been partially altered 

 to meet the change of style. 



The north and south aisles were re-built, and the south porch 

 erected at this time, and in the work here many Decorated features 

 still linger; for instance, the tracery of the west window of the 

 north aisle, the doorway and niche in the porch, and the rich jamb 

 and arch-mouldings of all the windows, as well as that inserted then 

 in the south wall of the chapel — these all possess the " feeling " of 

 that period in a marked degree. 



The south aisle, which is the wider of the two, possesses its 

 original roof of span form and high pitch. 



The south porch is large in size and rich in detail. The outer 

 doorway is, however, a plain one of two orders of chamfers with 

 label over. A moulded stone arch of flat form is carried across the 

 porch from west to east, supporting the floor of the priest's room 

 over, and dividing the porch into two bays. On the outside of the 

 east wall there is a buttress to receive the thrust of this arch (the 

 stair-turret on the west side renders such a provision unnecessary 

 there), and there are diagonal buttresses at the south-west and 

 south-east angles : it is remarkable that, with the exception of these 

 and the angle buttresses of the later western tower, there are no 



