Plympton in the Olden Time, by James Hine, F.R.LB.A. 95 
At some distance to the north-west of the domestic buildings 
were the chapel and cloisters, of which some vestiges remain in 
their original positions, but around them modern walls and hedges 
have been formed. The bases of a doorway, deeply recessed, 
having four detached shafts on each side, and beautifully moulded, 
lead to the supposition that the Priory as a whole was a most 
important architectural work. I also found several scattered 
fragments of Early English foliage. No doubt many interesting 
objects lie buried in the priory lands, and possibly even the tombs 
of the two bishops Warelwast. 
In the Norman and Early English and Decorated work about 
here, we find that granite was never used, although to be obtained 
in the immediate locality. =1^ It was probably rejected, not merely 
because it was hard to work, but on account of its cold and 
colourless appearance ; thus, in the Priory and in the most ancient 
portions of the two churches, i.e. the chancels, you will find no 
dressings or moulded work in that material, but in the beautiful 
and durable green slate-stone from S. Germans or Boringdon, and 
in Caen stone ; and to give still more artistic effect to their build- 
ings, they used sparingly a close red sandstone, obtained from a 
distance. There are some rather old looking houses in Plympton, 
which are said to be built entirely of stone from the priory, and in 
one front in particular may be observed this beautiful masonry of 
the thirteenth century, in green and red, arranged almost like a 
draught board. 
The Perpendicular builders were, not as a rule, remarkable for 
artistic feeling. They saw beauty in size, uniformity, and in the 
endless repetition of a stereotyped panel ; and one can imagine 
arch£eologists of the fifteenth century regarding contemporary 
architects, much as we look upon the designers of the glass and 
iron palaces of the present day. The greater part of the churches 
of Plympton S. Mary and Plympton S. Maurice are Perpendicular, 
■ * This also applies to the Cornish churches. 
