ANTIQUITIES OF SELBOllNE. 
205 
Upon these rest blunt Gothic arches, such as prevailed in the reign 
above-mentioned, and by which, as a criterion, we would prove the date 
of the building. 
At the bottom of the south aisle, between the west and south doors, 
stands the font, which is deep and capacious, and consists of three 
massy round stones, piled one on another, without the least ornament 
or sculpture : the cavity at the top is lined with lead, and has a 
pipe at the bottom to convey off the water after the sacred ceremony is 
performed. 
The east end of the south aisle is called the South Chancel, and, till 
within these thirty years, was divided off by old carved Gothic frame- 
work of timber, having been a private chantry. In this opinion we are 
more confirmed by observing two Gothic niches within the space, the 
one in the east wall and the other in the south, near which there 
probably stood images and altars. 
In the middle aisle there is nothing remarkable ; but I remember 
when its beams were hung with garlands in honour of young women of 
the parish, reputed to have died virgins ; and recollect to have seen the 
clerk's wife cutting, in white paper, the resemblances of gloves, and 
ribbons to be twisted in knots and roses, to decorate these memorials of 
chastity. In the church of Faringdon, which is the next parish, many 
garlands of this sort still remain. 
The north aisle is narrow and low, with a sloping ceiling, reaching 
within eight or nine feet of the floor. It had originally a flat roof, 
covered with lead, till, within a century past, a churchwarden stripping 
off the lead, in order, as he said, to have it mended, sold it to a 
plumber, and ran away with the money. This aisle has no door, for 
an obvious reason ; because the north side of the churchyard, being 
surrounded by the vicarage-garden, affords no path to that side of the 
church. Nothing can be more irregular than the pews of this church, 
which are of all dimensions and heights, being patched up according 
to the fancy of the owners ; but whoever nicely examines them will 
find that the middle aisle had, on each side, a regular row of benches 
of solid oak, all alike, with a low back-board to each. These we 
should not hesitate to say are coeval with the present church ; and 
especially as it is to be observed that, at their ends, they are orna- 
mented with carved blunt Gothic niches, exactly correspondent to the 
arches of the church, and to a niche in the south wall. The fourth 
aisle also has a row of these benches ; but some are decayed through 
age, and the rest much disguised by modern alterations. 
At the upper end of this aisle, and running out to the north, stands 
a transept, known by the name of the North Chancel, measuring 
twenty-one feet from south to north, and nineteen feet from east to 
west : this was intended, no doubt, as a private chantry ; and was also, 
till of late, divided off by a Gothic frame-work of timber. In its north 
wall, under a very blunt Gothic arch, lies perhaps the founder of this 
edifice, which, from the shape of its arch, may be deemed no older 
than the latter end of the reign of Henry YII. The tomb was 
examined some years ago, but contained nothing except the skull and 
thigh-bones of a large tall man, and the bones of a youth or woman. 
