406 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION". 
and learned friend, the Rev. H. T. Ellacombe. He has rung nearly 
all the church bells in the county, ancient and modern, and has 
visited every belfry in Devon, that of Sheepstor alone excepted. 
About two miles from Sourton is the pretty village of Bridestowe, 
with the charming grounds of Leawood House immediately con- 
tiguous. Though a little off the Moor, the knowledge that a fine 
Norman archway stood in the village tempted me to visit it. The 
present church, dedicated to St. Bridget, is affirmed to be on a site 
different from the original building, which was converted into the 
poor-house, and was remarkable for a curious roof and Norman 
arch, and is supposed to have had a circular tower. The arch now 
forms the entrance to the churchyard, and, with a fine avenue of 
beech trees, rather raises the visitor's expectations with regard to 
the church. He is, however, doomed to disappointment. The 
church is said to have been built in 1450, but nearly all the 
ancient features of the building have been concealed under all 
kinds of monstrosities in compo and cement. 
Like the west front of Lichfield Cathedral — "Wyatt's master- 
piece of shams — the tower has been most elaborately restored — 
walls, windows, parapet, pinnacle, and all, in Portland cement! 
the original windows of the church in nearly all cases having been 
taken out and replaced by others of the most approved carpenter's 
Gothic type. The really finely proportioned arcades between nave 
and aisles have been carefully covered with a thin layer of plaster 
