22 



The Parish Church of S. Michael, Merc. 



the tower had been inserted in ah older rubble wall ; that this wall 

 was carried above the roof of the coeval nave (and therefore pre- 

 sumably that of a former tower) ; that the tailing stones of the 

 drip-course (the projection being cut off) which came over the nave 

 roof of the then existing nave remain ; and that the fifteenth 

 century tower arch at its apex cut into an earlier opening coeval 

 with the wall. It is obvious that the tower was built before this 

 archway was inserted — it is inconceivable otherwise that the narrow 

 piece of the early wall (the distance between the buttress and arch- 

 stone, both of later work, being in one place only Sin.) would have 

 been left. 



It will be observed that the rubble wall stops at the apex of the 

 weather tabling horizontally, for the full width, and the Perpen- 

 dicular work is started with a course of wrought stone about 12in. 

 deep, the face of the wall over setting back 5in. and the top of this 

 course weathered off. The builders of the present tower and nave 

 probably at first intended to retain a smaller arch of the early tower, 

 but afterwards resolved to put a new one in better proportion with 

 their own work. It was a bold thing to raise so lofty a structure 

 on one wall of old work of this kind whilst building the other 

 three anew from the ground, and they probably relied on their 

 massive angle buttresses for support. 



A further discovery, which is of value as a clue to the period at 

 which this early work was built, is that of the charred end of one 

 of the wall plates of the nave roof, which has now been carefully 

 protected by glass. This indicates a nave of very early proportions 

 — it was 13ft. llin. wide between the wall plates, 25ft. 3in. to the 

 top of the walls (or nearly twice its width in height), and 37ft. 2in. 

 to the apex of the roof. Here, then, we have, surely, the remains 

 of a Saxon Church I 



The rude arched opening, about 3ft. wide, into which the later 

 arch cuts, is built of rubble masonry, and doubtless gave access to 

 the space between the ceiling and roof of the nave. 



It is a matter of doubt at what period this early Church was 

 burnt : the whole of it could not have been destroyed at the time 

 of Dean Wanda's visitation (otherwise where were the three altars ?) 



