Church of S. James, Abury. 



189 



face of the wall and the marks of the hooks for hinges could be 

 clearly seen. The openings on the outside average 3ft. 2 in. in 

 height from sill to the springing of the head, and in width taper 

 from 1ft. 5in. at the sill to 1ft. 3Jin. at the springing level. On 

 the inside they are splayed to about 2ft. 5in. wide, the splays of the 

 jambs and heads being of worked stone, the heads formed of whole 

 stones, but the sill-slopes are of rubble, plastered. An enlarged 

 section is given in Fig, 6. The early date of these windows is proved 

 (apart from their general character and rudeness of form) by their 

 having been cut into by the arcade of two arches, inserted on each 

 side in the twelfth century, when aisles were added to the previously- 

 existing nave. These arcades were removed in 1828 for the insertion 

 of others having columns of a pseudo- Classic kind ; but the shafts 

 and portions of the springers and label still remain in the responds, 

 as shown by Figs. 1 and 2 : the voussoirs of the present arches, too, 

 are the original ones only slightly re-worked. 



Three new two-light windows had also been inserted in the nave 

 clerestory on each side in 1880, and these are indicated in the ele- 

 vations by dotted lines : I believe two of a debased kind existed 

 previously on the south side, but none on the north other than the 

 Saxon openings referred to below. 



Amongst the debris in the churchyard I noticed two singular- 

 looking stones, averaging about 1ft. 8in. square and 12iin. thick, 

 pierced with openings of an irregular circular form and about 7in. 

 in diameter. These openings were splayed on both sides (more on 

 one side than on the other, the splays meeting at an obtuse angle) 

 and around the wider splay of each was a circle formed of fourteen 

 holes of about 1 in. in diameter and 3 in. in depth, the direction of 

 the holes inclining outwards towards the surface (see Fig. 5) . Upon 

 enquiry I learnt that these stones had been removed in inserting the 

 new windows in the north clerestory wall and thrown aside, being 

 considered of comparatively modern date and little interest ; 1 and 



1 The two stones alluded to above were noticed by the Kev. W. C. Lukis and 

 myself on many occasions in the summer of 1881, when we were employed for 

 several weeks within the precincts of the Abury circles. They were the subject 

 of much speculation on our parts as to what purpose they could have served, and 

 we more than once tnrned them over, and examined them with much curiosity : 

 VOL. XXI. — NO. LXII. 0 



