J^otea on the History of Merc. 



" The cost of the edifice, with its fences, conveyance of site, &c, will be £1990, 

 exclusive of the repair-fund of £5 per cent, on the outlay, and of the endowment, 

 which it is hoped may be principally supplied by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 

 into whose hands the great tithes will eventually fall. 



" It is proposed to erect a National School for the education of the poor children 

 of the district forthwith, and as soon as the necessary funds can be raised, a 

 house of residence for the officiating minister ; the former will cost about £200, 

 towards which the Committee of Council and other Public Boards will probably 

 contribute £100, the latter £800, towards which the Church Union Society of the 

 Diocese of Salisbury has given £100 and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners may 

 be expected, as soon as they have funds at their disposal, to contribute £400 

 [Then follows a list of subscriptions, amounting to £2335 4*. 6c?.] 



The Church was designed by Messrs. Scott & Moffatt, and 

 executed by Mr. C. Kirk, of Sleaford, the builder of the Martyr's 

 Memorial in Oxford. It was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of 

 Salisbury on the 14th May, 1846. 



The first stone was laid on the 11th September, 1845, on a site 

 presented by His Grace the Duke of Somerset, and bore the fol- 

 lowing inscription : — 



" In honorem 



Dei Omnipotentis, Sanctissimse et Individuse Trinitatis 

 Eccleshe Sancti Martini in Zeals 

 Angularis hicce lapis positus est 

 Anno Salutis mdcccxlv. 

 Opus benedicat Deus per Jesum Christum." 



The Church is in the Decorated style, and is built of stone 

 quarried in the neighbourhood with dressings of Bath Oolite. The 

 seats are " free and unappropriated for ever." It affords accommo- 

 dation for three hundred persons. 



The cost of the edifice with its fences, conveyance of site, &c, 

 was about £2000. In 1876 Miss Julia E. Chafyn Grove spent 

 nearly £1000 in the erection of a spire, the addition of six bells, 

 an organ, and outlay on the roof and chancel. 



Wolverton Hole 



is an artificial cavern, excavated for the purpose of quarrying the 

 greensand stone, which is admirably adapted for building. Tradition 

 says that that used about Mere Church was obtained from this 

 source, but the amount of stone of this character there used would 



