fi KR wer ER PRO ee Sa SEEN EIFE Kult Ki ” sr } GHRLERUAN ii) Ben N ? ir 4 Allein BER RON I Kinn } hart u } N HRS ie Bi | R Kr iin ' H » nl Ha 1: Y ee EI ee > SE u LA Rh BIN ERESE 33 EEEZ ee BS x Te SEE = ze " = e = Er Erz Zr SER Bu a, ne, ee Ra Ps SE EHE ” » = u j en‘ er er a ee * DURING TBE YEAR . [2 2 ® 1852. TAUNTON: FREDERICK MAY, HIGH STREET. SOMERSETSHIRE Archeeological any Patural Bistorp Society. FROCEEDINGS: 1852. The First and Second Volumes (6s. 6d. sewed, or 8s. each, cloth) of THE SOCIETY’S PROGEEDINGS during the years 1849, 50, and 51. with 31 Illustrations, can be had of the Publisher. Vor. I., contains addresses by Sir W. C. Trevelyan, Dr. Buck- land, Bishop of Bath and Wells, Dr. Markland, and Archdeacon Brymer. The Museum. Roman Remains at Coombe St. Nicholas. Ashilland Thurlbeer Churches. Iuseription on Bell at Staple Fitz- paine. Anglo-Saxon and Norman Architecture. British Gold Ring- Money. St. Peter’s, Frome. King Alfred’s Strategy. Ashen Fagot. Roman Remains at Whatley. Letter of Rev. J. Skinner. Marl Pits of Somerset. Sculptures of Wells Cathedral. Professor Cockerell’s Communication. Sceulptures in St. Cuthbert's Church, Wells. Ancient Fresceoes in Netherbury Church, Dorset. Excursions to Glastonbury, Hambdon Hill, and Montacute. Queries on the Churches, Archxology, and Botany of Somerset, &e. &c. Anp PAreErs On Uphill Old Church, by Rev. F. Warre. Coins from Somersetshire Mints, by Rev. T.F.Dymock. Sculptures in Wellington Church, by Mr. C. E.Giles. Ancient Earthwork at Norton, by Rev. F. Warre. Turbaries between Glaston and the Sea, by Mr. Stradling. Bridgwater High Cross ; and Old Bridge, by Mr. W. Baker. Wells Cathedral, by Rev. D. M. Clerk. Seulptures in St. Mary’s Church, Taunton ; Old Doorway, at Frome ; and Nunney Castle, by Mr. C.E. Giles. Glastonbury Abbey, by Rev. F. Warre. Geology of Somerset; and Samer- setshire Fauna— Mammalia, Birds and Reptiles—by Mr. W. Baker. Bird’s Eggs found in Somersetshire, by Mr. W. D. Crotch. &e. IrLustrarıons. Roman Pavement at Wadford. Inscription on Bell, at Staple Fitzpaine. Coins issued from Somersetshire Mints, 2 Plates. Sculptures, Wellington Church ; Reredos, Mullion, Cross on Gable. Plan of Ancient Earthwork at Norton Fitzwarren. Bridgwater High Cross; and Old Bridge. Wells Cathedral; Ground Plan, S.E. View, and Details. Sculptures, St. Mary’s, Taunton. Ancient Doorway at Keyford, Frome. Nunney Castle. Vor. II contains, Abbey Church of Bath. West Front of Wells Cathedral. Worle Camp. Kew Steps. Woodspring Priory. Reli- quary. Banwell. Excursion. Conversazione Meetings. &e. Anp Parers On Anglo-Saxon and Norman Architeeture, by Rev. F. Warre. Holwell Cavern, by Andrew Crosse. On the Perpendieular Style, as exhibited in the Churches of Somerset, by Edward A. Freeman, m.a. Worle Camp, by Rev. F. Warre. Lullington Church, by Rev. D. M. Clerk. St Cuthbert’s, Wells, by B. Ferrey. Somersetshire Fauna, Fishes and Reptiles, by W. Baker. The Aptychus, by C©.Moore. &e. IrLustrarıons. Rercdos, Tanner’'s Chapel, St. Cuthbert’s Church, Wells. Sompting Church, Sussex. Tower, Schaff- hausen. Holwell Cavern. Crewkerne Church. Tower, Bishop’s Lydeard. Wrington Church. Worle Hill—Encampment, N.W. Eutrance, and Hut Cirele. St. Kew’s Steps. Lullington Church — Tower Arches, N. Doorway, and Font. Reredos, Ladye Chapel, St. Cuthbert's Church, Wells. \ anne AAAACIESON NORTON, ST, PHILLIP, SOMERSET., a GEORGE INN a — | | N Sumersetshre Altchwalogieal am Braverdings DURING THE YEAR 1852. TAUNTON: FREDERICK MAY, 67, HIGH STREET. LONDON: G. BELL, 186, FLEET STREET. MDCCCLITI. DW; SE u. == \ Contents, PROCEEDINGS, &e. Fourth Annual Meeting. —Secretary’s Report - - Treasurer’s Report.—The Williams Museum.— Cor- nish Hill Castle. —Worle Hill Camp.—Castle de Sancto Laudo.— The Museum. )7, - E - ? B Ve NS Conversazione Meetings. - - -.. 0. - PART IL—PAPERS. On the Perpendicular Style, as exhibited in the Churches of Somerset, by Edward A. Freeman, M.A. - - ne) alte u ee On the Perpendicular Towers of Somerset, by the Rev. F. Warre. - - - - On the Pal&ontology of the Middle and Tier Lias, by Mr. Charles Moore - - = = 5 On the Roman Remains discovered in Bath, by the Rev. H. M. Scarth. ERBE ya On Farleigh-Hungerford Castle, Somerset, by the Rev. J. E. Jackson. - - - Sur - On The Cannington Park Limestone, by Mr. W. Baker. - - - - - 5 - - 18 20 iv. CONTENTS. A List of Fungi, found in the neighbourhood of Bristol, Bath, and Taunton, by the Rev. W.R. Crotch. - - - Re ne N. ILLUSTRATIONS. Old Inn, Norton St. Philips, to face the title page. Pottery, ete., Worle Hill. - - - part i. Iron Weapons, etc. , 4 - - RER Bruton Church. - - - - - part ii. Martock Church, interior. - - - - es Tower of West Monkton ; and The Cam- panile, St. Mark’s, Venice. - - = Towers of Wellington and Wrington. - - ,„ = Taunton St. Mary Magdalene, and Bishop’s Lydeard. - - - zn Head of Minerva, Bath. - - - N Roman Altar, a re - = a Farleigh Castle—Gateway. Be N 3 Tower. - - - ER. e " Ground-plan of St. Leo- nards Cape. - - ,„ 5 Y Ground Plan. a 133 103 115 120 124 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE Somersetshire SArchwologienl amd Hatnral Distary SDarieky, Held at the Assembly Rooms, Bath, September 21st, 1852. w. H. P. GORE LANGTON, ESQ., M.P., IN THE CHAIR. HE meeting commenced, as usual, at eleven o’clock, T for the transaction of the formal business. The Pre- sident, Vice-Presidents, general Secretaries, and the district or local Secretaries, were severally re-appointed. The Wor- shipful the Mayor of Bath (for the time being) was elected a Vice-President. A. C. Ramsay, Esq., F.R.Ss., CO. C. Babington, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S., and Professor Owen, were elected as honorary members. "Thomas Patton, Esq., Dr. Metford, and Dr. Kelly, were newly elected, and W. F. Elliot, Esq., W. E. Gillett, Esq., and Rev. Dr. Everard, were re-elected, members of the Committee. The Rev. W. R. Crorca read the Report of the Com- mittee, as follows :— “The Committee, in presenting this, the Fourth An- nual Report, have the satisfaction of announcing the accession of 105 members since the last published list. 1853, PART I. B 2 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. This fact is gratifying, not only because it evinces the growing interest taken in the proceedings of the Society, and justifies the anticipations of those who called it into existence, but because it will be impossible to follow out satisfactorily the numerous fields of research and investi- gation which this county offers, without such an increase of subseriptions as they trust they are now justified in looking forward to. “ The cost of publishing the Annual Volume of Pro- ceedings, together with the constant expenses of the museum, absorb so much of the Society’s income, that little is left for other and most desirable purposes. Hence when an opportunity offered for the Society to become purchasers of the Williams Geological Collection, it was found necessary to raise the amount by an independent subscription amongst the members and others, by which means this valuable collection of specimens and maps is deposited in the Society’s museum. It will not be neces- sary for your Committee to enter into detail regarding the important contents of this collection, since Mr. Baker has kindly undertaken to read an account of it before the meeting. “The Committee feel that it would be superfluous in them to call attention to the interesting papers contained in the Volume of Proceedings just published ; but they cannot refrain from congratulating the Society on being the means of bringing such an amount of valuable infor- mation regarding the county of Somerset into a distinct and condensed form; since, had it not been for the Society, it is probable that many of the papers would never have been written, or they must have been sought for and separated from the contents of some periodical or general publication. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 3 “The delay which has attended the issuing of this volume has been a great cause of regret to the Committee, but it was wholly unavoidable. The illustrations of such volumes as this, while they are the life of the work, are a serious drain upon the funds of the Society, so that the Committee cannot express too strongly their sense of the courtesy of those gentlemen who have aided them, par- ticularly of B. Ferrey and E. A. Freeman, Esqrs., who have supplied the views of Wrington Church, and the sculptures of St. Cuthbert’s. An arrangement has been entered into with the publisher, by which the Society is freed from the encumbrance of the remaining stock of its publications, and the inconvenience of having to dispose of them in retail. “The examinations on Worle Hill, Weston-super-Mare, a full account of which is given in the paper by the Rev. F. Warre, are being continued, through the kindness or Mr. Pigott, the owner of the property, under the superin- tendence of Mr. Warre. “ The Conversazione evening Meetings of the Society, at Taunton, were resumed during the winter months, with manifestly increased interest on the part of the members and their friends. To prevent any possible misunder- standing on this subject, the Committee beg to repeat that none of the expenses of their meetings are suffered to trench upon the general funds of the Society. “ In closing this Report, the Committee have the plea- sure of acknowledging various donations to the museum, of important books and objects of scientific value, both in the department of Natural History and of Archzology ; and they cannot but feel, with such a spirit abroad, the Society must succeed in its object, of becoming a publie benefit to the county and kingdom.” 4 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. Mr. R. Bapcock presented the Treasurer’s Report, an abstract of which is subjoined, viz. :— The Treasurer in Account with the Somerset Archaeological and Ratural Dr. Mistorp Society, Er. 1852. End: 1852. ed By Balance of former Ac- Curator’s Salary .. TE count .. .. v. See do, Rent of Museum Room 293 00 „ Life Member 3 ED TOTU Printing, Plates, ete.of 2nd „» Donations and Subscrip- Vol. of Proceedings .. 10914 4 tions .. .. re . 235 10 Stationery, Printing, ete. .. 22 5 10 „ F. May, for Surplus Stock Postage, Carriage .. RL URS IHTD. etc. of Vol. 1850 .. Baal Expenses attending General Meeting at Weston-super- Mare .. > .. = Is Expenses fitting up ete. etc. Williams’ Museum... 1210 2 Speeimens, Cases, Repairs,ete 30 18 3 Coals .. Br es .. 510.3 Commission for collecting Subscriptions - Rom .0 Petty Disbursements SEN Balance .. Er en . 3318 0 £ 300 16 7 &£ 300 16 7 R. G. BADCOCK, Treasurer. The Rey. H. STREET read a paper on the Necrology of Egypt, which drew on the accomplished writer a warm eulogium by Mr. Markland. The Rev. F. WARRE read a paper on tlıe Perpendi- eular Church Towers of Somersetshire, which is given in Part I. The Rev. H. M. ScARTH read a paper received from Capt. CHaPMman, on a Tomb lately discovered near Shock- erwick. Mr. Scarth made allusion to the value of the collections made by Capt. Chapman, illustrative of the antiquities of the neighbourhood of Bath. A huge stone, which had formed for generations a great obstruction to the plough, on being broken up by anew tenant of the farm, at Shockerwick, was discovered to mark a place of THE WILLIAMS MUSEUM. f) burial, human bones and black mould being discovered in a small stone trough or cofiin The rev. reader, at the conclusion of the paper, made allusion to the frequency of the discovery of stone coffins in the neighbourhood of Bath. Mr. ©. E. Davis read a paper containing some judicious remarks on Church Restoration. Mr. W. STRADLING made some remarks on relics which he had secured in the neighbourhood of his residence. The morning meeting was followed by the Ordinary. Che Euning Rleeting. Mr. W. BAKER read an interesting paper on the Wil- liams Museum, which has recently been purchased by the Society. The paper first enumerated the contents of the museum originally possessed by the Society, and then pro- ceeded :— “It is now my pleasing task to speak of the large and highly interesting addition to our museum lately ob- tained, viz., the geological collection of the late Rev. David Williams, of Bleadon, which was procured by means of a liberal subscription, raised amongst the friends of this Society. Some of the most striking specimens are now set in frames, and displayed on the walls of the museum ; and thousands of fossils are stored away in drawers and boxes, to be exhibited as we can procure proper cases for the purpose. Perhaps the most valuable part of this collection is the great store of Pal®ozoie fos- sils, from West Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, which, after amply furnishing the Society’s museum, will supply several of our national museums with numerous required 6 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. species, and will, I trust, help us to the means of display- ing our collection to good advantage. “ Many of these fossils of the ancient strata are figured in Professor Phillips’s * Ilustrations of the Ordnance Survey of Cornwall, Devon, and West Somerset,’ and many are unique. The collection contains other interesting Pal«- ozoic fossils, from different parts of the kingdom, as well as numerous species from the Mountain Limestone of Mendip, from the Coal Measures, the Lias, Oolites, Green Sand, Chalk, Tertiary beds, and other strata. “ The specimens displayed on the walls of our museum are ichthyosaurus tenuirostris, intermedius, communis, parts of the huge platiodon, and a large and almost un- rivalled plesiosaurus dolichodirus, which was found near Watchet. Besides these, there are numerous portions of saurians of the different species. One of our specimens is an infant tenuirostris; another has the sclerotic, the bony ring, beautifully preserved, one part of which laps down on what appears to be the erystalline lens; another has two masses of food preserved between the ribs ; and one is especially interesting, being the identical tenuirostris re- presented on plate 9, fig. 1, of Dr. Buckland’s ‘ Bridgwater Treatise.’ “ Most of these Saurians were obtained by the late Mr. Williams, from the Lias quarries of Street, near Glas- tonbury. “A very important part of the Williams collection is the multitude of remains of animals from the bone caverns of Mendip. Some of the caverns were explored at the expense of Mr. Williams, and he was enabled to procure good and abundant speeimens to supply the museums of London, Oxford, Bristol, ete., besides retaining the large collection which now enriches the museum of this Society. THE WILLIAMS MUSEUM. N. We have bones and teeth of the rhinoceros, elephant, wolf, fox, hysna, tiger, bear, buffalo, stag, deer, horse, hog, and many other animals. The oecurrence of vast accumu- lations of bones in the caverns of Banwell, Bleadon, Hutton, and elsewhere, is a ecircumstance of great interest, and, I think, not satisfactorily accounted for by all that has been written on the subject. “ Most of the species of these huge creatures are now not only removed from England, but are altogether extinct. It is diffieult to pieture to our minds our rural hills and vallies, much more so the sites of our populous towns and eities, thiekly oceupied by hippopotami, rhinoceri, ele- phants, lions, tigers, wolves, hysnas, bears, boars, etec., although there can be no reason to doubt that these anımals were once denizens of our beautiful and peaceful county. “With this collection, the Society came into possession of an important unpublished work, by the late Mr. Wil- liams, on the Geology of Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. It is a work of great research, and contains new views of the order of stratification in the western counties. The manuscript book is accompanied by Mr. Williams’s field maps of the counties, geologically coloured, and large and extensive diagrams of the distriet in various directions, with the strata numbered, so that the Palxozoic fossils, which are also numbered to correspond with the numbers on the diagrams, can be readily referred to their proper beds. “The interest evinced by the public, encourages confi- dence in the steady progress of the Society, and its museum.” Mr. Dickınson said that he was one of those gentle- men who had assisted in obtaining the museum, and it 8 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. was on the understanding that the Society should retain such portions of it as would be useful and interesting to the county, but that the remainder should be sold to other museums, to obtain the means for supplying the Society with things which they needed for the proper display of the museum. A hint had, however, been thrown out that some diffieulty had arisen in taking this course. He begged to ask Mr. Baker if this were really the case. Mr. BAKER said there would be no difhiculty whatever in carrying out the object sought. He had a letter in his pocket, which he had received since he had been in Bath, announcing that a gentleman would visit the museum on the part of the Museum of Practical Geology, to purchase articles of which there were duplicates. He (Mr. Baker), with the valuable assistance of Mr. Moore, had selected the species which he thought ought not to be parted with to any Society. The directors of the Museum of Prac- tical Geology had been informed that they could not have any specimen of which the Society did not possess a duplicate. (Hear.) The authorities of the British Mu- seum, he might add, had applied to purchase the dupli- cates of ihe Society, also the Cambridge Museum, and a private gentleman. The reply of the Society had invariably been that only those articles of which there were duplicates, would be disposed of. He was glad to say, too, that such was the liberal feeling displayed by the authorities in London, that the Society would obtain the means, by the sale of duplicates, not only of fitting up their museum, but of adding many rich and valuable spe- cimens which it did not now possess, and thus carrying out the designs of the Society, to increase the importance of the collection. Mr. ©. MoORE read a paper on the Pal&ontology of the Middle and Upper Lias, which is given in Part II. SECOND DAY. 9 A paper on the Fungi of Somersetshire, by Mr. C. E. BROOME, was read by the Rev. W. R. CrorcH, who took the opportunity of exhibiting a series of beautiful illustra- tions of fungi, and added some further information. (See Part II.) The evening’s proceedings terminated with a Conver- sazione, at ten o’clock, in the Octagon. Sem Din. Wednesday, September 22nd, 1852. HE proceedings were resumed at half-past ten o’clock, when Mr. MARKLAND was requested to preside. The first Paper read was by Mr. FREEMAN, in continua- tion of that presented by him at the last meeting of the Society, on the Perpendicular Churches of Somersetshire, which is given in Part II. The Rev. F. WArre followed with a Paper by Mr. H. G. Tomkıns, containing remarks on some Cornish Hill Castles, as compared with the ancient fortress on Worle Hill, instancing various points of resemblance, and refer- ring the probable date of both to the Celtic period. He then alluded to the investigations which have been carried on at Worle Hill, since the publication of the Society’s former volume. During the last spring, he had opened several hut circles, with great success. Various articles of pottery had been found, and three vessels had been thoroughly restored.. Amongst other articles discovered were remains of burnt grain, wheat, barley, and a small pea; many bones of a large bird ; a ball and socket joint, apparently of a human sub- ject; a piece of horn shaped like the mouth-piece of a musical instrument ; a heap of corn, burnt more at the 1853, PART I. C 10 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. top than at the bottom, showing that the fire came from above. Several skeletons had also been found in a posi- tion in a pit, which showed they had either fallen in, or were carelessly thrown in. Fragments of Roman remains had been removed from a spot five or six yards in diameter, suflicient to fill thirteen or fourteen large baskets. "These were the only remains of undoubted Roman date, which had been discovered. The constructors of these curious habitations appeared to have been unable to work through the solid limestone, and had, therefore, followed the strata of the stone. He was of opinion that the huts now opened were neither granaries, nor tombs, nor permanent resi- dences, but simply places of shelter in time of danger ; that the roofs had been destroyed by fire; that the place was not occupied after the Roman invasion ; that a very considerable time elapsed between the destruction of the roofs and the deposits of the skeletons ; and that a despe- rate struggle once took place there. (Some of the most curious of the above articles are figured in the accompany- ing plates.) Much remained for further investigation, which he trusted to be able to follow up in the course of the next summer. At noon the company proceeded on an Excursion to Hinton Abbey, Farleigh Castle, and Norton St. Phillips. At Farleigh, the excursionists were hospitably entertained at the Vicarage, by the Rev. S. CLARKE, who read a Paper on the Antiquities of the Castle, by the Rev. J. E. JACKSON, which is given in Part I. At Norton, Dr. TunstaLL gave a short description of the old Inn and the Church. (For the former of these, see the frontispiece). After a dinner at the York House, the Meeting was resumed at the Assembly Rooms, at Eight o’clock. “TIIH HITUOM—-NUOH *HOIH SAHONI HAI AHAUVD "AUHLLOA *"HOIH SAHONI JIYH V ANY HAld 'avag 4NOg N "TIIH 9T4OM —-SNOIYHM NOUI THIRD DAY. Mt Chir Du. Thursday, September 23rd, 1852. FTER an early Meeting at the Assembly Rooms, the \ company proceeded on an Excursion, to Wellow, where Mr. Pau read a short Paper on the Church, prepared by himself and the Rev. J. E. Jackson; thence, to the old Manor House, the Keltie Kist, and throush the valley to the opposite side of tbe hill, to the tessellated pavement, displayed for tke occasion by the kindness of Mr. Gore Langton, who, at Newton Park, hospitably entertained the party to a collation. After the repast, Mr. ©. E. Davıs read a Paper on the Castle of St. Loe, or de Sancto Laudo, which, dating prior to the Conquest, passed from the possession of the Bishops of Coutances to that of William de Sancto Laudo, the representative of a family who came from St. Loe, in Normandy, with whose descendants it remained nearly 200 years. The present remains are interesting. On Friday morning a Paper on the Roman Antiquities of Bath was read by the Rev. H. M. Scartu—Mr. BRITTON in the chair. It is given in part 1. The CHAIRMAN, in putting the vote of thanks to the able Author, read a letter respecting the ancient British and other remains preserved in the collection at Stourhead, and which, it is to be feared, is but little known. 12 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. Che Alusenm. HE following are some of the objects contributed to T the temporary Museum. The Drinking Cup of Etienne Mangin, who was burnt to ashes at the stake, 1546, as a Martyr to the Propagation of the Reformed Religion.—This cup, which is of silver, is an objeet of considerable historieal interest and regard. It bears this inscription : “ October, 7, 1546, Stephen Mangin, for professing the Reformed Religion, resolutely suffered death in front of his house, at Meaux, ten leagues from Paris. At the stake he desired his wife to give him water in his usual drinking eup, which he emptied to the welfare of his friends, and the success of his cause. This is that cup, handed down from father to son, to Edward Mangin, who had this inseription engraved on it, 1820 ;” in whose possession it has remained, and by whose kind permission it was shown at the Museum. The Rev. E. ManGın also contributed some curious tops of dishes used at meals, from impressions taken on the spot by Sir W. Gell, from the original white clay forms found at Pompeii. These tops are three in number. They respectively represent a kind of fish, pheasants, and snipes. They were, probably, attached to covers of dishes resembling the modern corner dishes, and thus indicated the contents, without requiring the covers to be removed. Modern workers in china may, perhaps, take a useful hint from these curious copies of the antique. To these contributions from Mr. Mangin were added specimens of Roman pottery, a grant of land, temp. Edward IV., and some mummy linen, brought from Egypt by Belzoni.—Mr. R. WITHERS contributed a small, but are ee en ee ee THE MUSEUM. E3 interesting, collection of the rarer plants indigenous to the vieinity of Bath.—Mr. GREEN, of Holcombe, exhibited a a large and curious pieture of Bath, of which the date and painter are unknown. We understand that it was for- merly the property of Mr. Ashman.—A Norwegian mug, made of birch wood, with carved handle, cover, and feet ; and also a specimen of the kind of knife with which the carving of such vessels was done. T'hese knives are now extremely rare; the present bears date 1742, and around it the following legend : “ Quis Vias Domini Nosit.” These contributions were made by Lieut. W. H. BrEToN, R.n., who also furnished several specimens of fossil wood from New Zealand and South Australia, and, from the latter Continent, impressions of fossil ferns in shale, and various other objects of geological interest. We must not, how- ever, omit to notice specimens of the spheeria, or caterpillar plant, a peculiar species of fungus obtained from New Zealand and Van Dieman’s Land; and last, though not least, a most beautifully and intricately-carved spoon, re- presenting the various prominent occurrences in the life of our Blessed Saviour, and which, from evidence in the possession of Lieut. W. H. Breton’s family, is known to have belonged to Martin Luther.—Mr. GEORGE Woop, of Prior Park Buildings, contributed a jew lizard, the paw of an old man kangaroo, and a snapping turtle, all from South Australia.—Mr. W. CLark forwarded a very magnificent specimen of madrepore.—Mrs. DuBoIs sent a very pretty collection of Roman coins, found in Bath, an antique seal, some preserved fishes, a portion of asphaltum from the Mare Mortuum, and a good specimen of Endo- genites erosa, a species of fossil wood.—Dr. SprY contri- buted a large collection of minerals and fossils ; among the former, the beauty of the varied collection of agates 14 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. is noticeable, and also the very perfect and delicate fossils taken from the chalk formation, and a small case contain- ing chitons.—To the first of these, Mr. F. FırLp made valuable additions, in his choice collection of minerals of various kinds. — Among the objects contributed by Mr. H. Lawson, was a napkin once belonging to Henry VIII, also a model ofthe aneient ducking stool.—Several ancient deeds, with a MS., in a glazed drawer, being the reflec- tions and prayer of King Charles I, on the occasion of his Queen’s departure from England, dated A.D. 1642, and said to be an autograph of that monarch. These inte- resting relies were contributed by the Rev. F. Locker, of Swainswick, whose collection also included a curious iron vessel, which was found on the shore, off Charmouth, Dorset, imbedded in conglomerate; and some well-exe- cuted rubbings of brasses, from Banwell, Hutton, Dyrham, Rotherfield Greys, and other places. Among the smaller objeets in Mr. Lockey’s collection was an admirable elec- trotype copy of a medallion of Pompeia, the wife of Julius Cesar, which was dug up in Bath.—A case of coins, the property of Mr. G. RoBBıIns, presenting a valuable series of English coins, from the time of William the Conqueror to the present period ; also numerous specimens of tesser® from Carthage, earthenware lamps from Syra- cuse, some beautiful heads of small figures from the same place. This collection, contained in a glazed case, attracted much attention, from the variety and extreme beauty of the specimens.—Among the objects of rarity and interest, the property of the Rev. J. MurchH, was a finely-executed silver ring, dug up in the Vietoria Park.—W ell-delineated plans of several churches in Somersetshire, by Mr. C. E. Davis, architect ; also drawings of the Castle de Sancto Laudo, executed by G. F. RosEnBERG. The same gen- - THE MUSEUM. 15 tleman also eontributed a large collection of Calotypes, and some admirably painted drawings of birds..—A varied and rare collection of prints, contributed by Mr. BrirTon. —A highly interesting collection of Palwontologieal specimens, brought by Mr. ©. H. Moore, and collected in the neighbourhood of Ilminster—Mr. F. Dowry, of Bridgwater, sent several rare books, and a curious Sacra- mental Service of mother of pearl, also a portion of brass with an inscription, stated to be an Etruscan amulet, a pair of Egyptian bracelets, and many other objects of interest. The Misses FRERE contributed a small but interesting collection of fossils, ete., from India and else- where. —Mr. Eurson selected from his rich and varied cabinets many speeimens of considerable attraction. The egg of the epiornis, and the birds’ nests in this collection — those, especially, attached to a branch of yew—attracted much notice. —Messrs. WRIGHT and Co. of Milsom Street, contributed a large silver and most elaborately- worked Lutheran ‘Cross, concealed within the chased pedestal of which is a reliquary. The history of this valuable piece of antiquity (described as being from the private chapel of Hill’s Court, Gloucestershire) is not per- feet, but its workmanship and general character invest it with much interest in the eyes of the archzologist.— Several most beautifully pietured figures of birds, originals by the hand of Edwards, an ornithologist of no mean reputation, who flourished a century and a half ago. A notice of this talented naturalist, well deserving perusal, will bef ound in the “Biograph. Britann.” They were contributed by Mr. Sopen.—Five large volumes, the property of Mr. E. Hunt, containing a most valuable and, we are disposed to believe, almost unique colleetion of its kind, consisting of plates, plans, and portraits, of 16 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. the most remarkable views, buildings, and persons, con- nected with Bath, and extracts from the current journals of the date of each engraving ; all these arranged in the best taste, and with great care combine to constitute a work illustrative of the present state and past history of Bath, without the aid of which no future account of the city can, we believe, be faithfully compiled.—Mr. CoL- LINGS contributed two rare views of Bath, done in body colours ; also portraits of Ralph Allen, Esq., and of Dr. Harrington.—As a whole, the largest contribution to the Natural History department, was that made by Mr. W. SaınsBuRY, consisting of a hundred or more specimens of the rarer stuffed birds, and nearly as many preserved specimens of foreign reptiles.. This col- lection has been greatly commended. Mr. Sainsbury also coutributed two paintings of rural subjects, by John Cranch, one of our foremost antiquaries in Bath, in past years. —We must not omit to mention several rare books, contributed by the Rev. A. TowNnsEnD, on the fly leaf of one of which is an autograph letter written by the martyr, John Bradford ; also his autograph, on the title page of a copy of “ /Ecolampadius on Daniel,” printed at Basil, 1530.—Mr. SynGe contributed four coins, found at Ban- well, viz., a silver British coin, a Romano-British, bearing the sacred monogram, a penny and a farthing, of the reign of Edward IL.—Before completing our report of the Mu- seum, which must necessarily be an imperfect and general one, mention must be made of the varied and highly inte- resting contributions made by Messrs. RaınEy, of Etruscan and Roman pottery, among which are ampullz of all kinds, lamps from Pompeii, and a numerous assemblage of other objeets of a similarly antique character, a sepulchral slab with its inscription, and a beautiful figure of Minerva, THE MUSEUM. ri which was, some few years ago, dug up in Bath.—An elegant lamp, recently discovered in Rome, was forwarded to the Museum, by Mr. Wırnson BROwn.— Among the drawings exhibited, we must not omit to mention a few in peneil, of Bellott’s Hospital, and of other objects of anti- quarian interest, by Mr. ALFRED KEENE.— The walls of the room were hung with several very good rubbings of brasses from neighbouring churches, and some from more distant ones, contributed by the Rev. F. Lockey, Mr. C. EnPpson, Mr. C.E. Davis, Rev. G. Dance, and others.— Among the other contributors were the Rev. C. PauL (who sent drawings of the Roman pavements at Wellow), Mr. J. WooDp (some interesting fossils), and Dr. J. H. Pring, of Weston-super-Mare, who sent a daguerreotype view of crania, pottery, and bones, by Freeman, lately of Bath, and a bottle of luminous sea water, from the Bay of Weston-super-Mare, containing specimens uf the noctiluca miliaris, which was, through the aid of Mr. Quekett’s microscope, shewn to the meeting on Wednesday evening. —We regret that our limits do not admit of a minute notice of the very many other objects of extreme interest and rarity, which were gathered together by the exertions of the Society’s local oflicers—exertions which the Com- mittee here gratefully acknowledge. The Abbey Church, Hetling House, the Museum of the Literary Institution, and the Baths, were thrown open to the members of the Society. Mr. W. Bust also oblig- ingly permitted them to inspect the extensive geological museum which he has formed at his residence, 7, Circus; and the Rector and Churchwardens afforded them the öpportunity of inspecting the “ Churchwardens’ Accounts” of St. Michael’s parish, (“ Ecclesia Sancti Michaelis extra portam borealem”) which, extending from A.p. 1349, the 18 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. 23rd of Edward III. to A.o. 1571, the 14th of Elizabeth, are believed to be more than a century older than any similar records in the kingdom, and have been pronounced to be unrivalled both for antiquity and completeness. It is to be hoped that these documents may be carefully pre- served in Bath, the most proper place for them, and not parted with to swell collections in localities with which they have no connection. CONVERSAZIONE MERTINGS. 19 Converauzione Fertiuge. Second Season. T the Conversazione Evening Meetings of the Society, held at the Museum, in Taunton, during the winter of 1851-52, Papers on the following subjects were read. October—1st Meeting. On the Structure and Formation of Pearl; by Mr. T. Quekett. November—2nd Meeting. On Raby Castle ; by the Rev. H. M. Scarth. On English Birds ; by Dr. W oodforde. On Remains found at Worle Hill; by the Rev. F. Warre. December—3rd Meeting. On the History of the Art of Painting ; by Mr. W. F. Elliot. On Ancient Residences, and Manners; by the Rev. F. Warre. January 1853—4th Meeting. On Ancient Residences, and Manners, con- tinued ; by the Rev. F. Warre. On the Aquatic Birds of the Coast of Somerset ; by Mr. C. N. Welman. On the Fishes of the Coast of Somerset ; by Mr. W. Baker. 20 CONVERSAZIONE MEETINGS. February—Sth Meeting. On the Divers of the Coast of Somerset ; by Mr. C. N. Welman. On Ancient Residences, and Manners, con- tinued ; by the Rev. F. Warre. March—6th Meeting. On the Limestone of Cannington Park ; by Mr. W. Baker. On Sea Gulls; by Mr. C. N. Welman. On the History of the Art of Painting; by Mr. W.F. Elliot. On the History of Printing ; by the Rev. W. R. Crotch. Apri—Tth Meeting. On Egyptian Hieroglyphics; by the Rev. W. R. Crotch. On Ancient Residences, and Manners, con- cluded ; by the Rev. F. Warre. PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOMERSETSHIRE ARCHZIEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1852, PART II. PAPERS, &e. On the Perpendienlar Style, as erhibiteh in the Churches nf Sumerzet. PART. BY EDWARD A. FREEMAN, M.A, N the paper which I had the honour of reading before this Soeiety at its last annual meeting, I endeavoured to point out the chief general characteristics of the local Perpendicular style of Somersetshire; and I further ex- amined in detail the most magnificent of its features, its stately and elaborate western towers. On the present occasion, I propose, with your indulgence, to continue the subject with regard to the other portions of the churches. But before I directly enter on these questions, I will make a few desultory remarks supplementary to my former dis- course, as, since its delivery, I have made a very exten- sive tour through various parts of the county. I have seen 1853, PART I. A 2 PAPERS, ETC. many magnificent buildings with which I was previously unacquainted, or which I knew only by drawings; and Iam only glad that the result of my inquiries has been, that very little modification of my former views is required. I have not found any distinet class of enriched towers besides those which I before endeavoured to classify; but I have seen so many fine individual examples, that I cannot help bestowing a few words upon them. I may also mention that a third church of the cathedral and abbatial type must be referred to the local style. The Minster at Sherborne, which I examined in the course of my jourmney, although situated beyond the limits of the county and diocese, must be considered as being, in all its most essential characters, a Somersetshire church. Of the first, or Taunton type, I have seen several very splendid examples; two especially—Bruton and Huish Episcopi, which may fairly dispute between themselves the first rank in their own class. Huish is one of the most majestie of towers ; I shall never forget. the effect of my first twilight glimpse of it. But I may add that at no subsequent moment did I admire it so much as at that first glimpse ; whereas, in the case of Wrington, I always find that the first feeling, when I revisit it, is one of disap- pointment, but that its super-eminent beauty gradually grows again upon ıne. But to return to our present com- petitors: Huish is by far the grander and more enriched ; but Bruton has a simple dignity about it approaching more nearly to the exquisite grace of Bishop’s Lydiard. The battlement and pinnacles of Huish are a marvel of elaborate work, but I must confess that those of Bruton please me much better, as being more truly the natural finish of the tower; and I am not sure that the horizontal bands of foliation at Huish do not carry the principle of I? & 2 u > Ze ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 3 contrast* too far. Neither of these towers is very con- spicuous for loftiness ; they rise but two stages above the roof, and the treatment of the lower stage in each has much boldness and originality. Kingsbury Episcopi is a third noble tower, of much the same proportion and general treatment. It resembles Huish in its foliated bands and in its battlement, but the latter has still less connexion with the parts beneath, owing to the distance at which the pinnacles crowning the buttresses are set from the angles. This gives the belfry-stage a look of too great hardness and squareness.. Mark, Long Sutton, and Langport, are also towers of the same class; handsome steeples, and which, out of Somerset, would command great admiration, but immeasurably inferior to the three magnificent struc- tures which I have just been describing. Of the Bristol type, I before stated that though its ideal excellence is greater, its actual specimens are com- monly of inferior merit to the Taunton class. I have not found this remark belied in my present travels. Monta- cute is the best tower of this kind that I saw, but no one would compare it to Huish or Kingsbury, though it has borrowed from them their characteristic bands of foliation. The turret is at the north-west angle, so that it stands out very boldliy and prominently ; it lacks, however, the small spirelet common nearer Bristol. Of Bleadon I spoke somewhat -disparagingly, on the strength of an engraving which I find was far from doing it justice. It is not a first rate tower, but is still a bold and handsome structure ; the turret is crowned with a spirelet ; and we may remark the diagonal buttresses, unusual in Somerset, except in much smaller towers. Of these last, Hutton is a very pleasing example, closely resembling its neighbour * See History of Architecture, p. 348—50. 4 PAPERS, ETC. Locking, which I mentioned in my last paper. Mudford is also a pretty little tower of the same class, chiefly re- markable for foliated bands on each side of its belfry windows. Muchelney is a tower of more pretension than any of these, except perhaps Montacute, but less pleasing, the stages being awkwardly managed, and the belfry- windows placed too low down. I believe Iamright in referring these two last towers to this class; my drawings at least do not show any buttresses at the angle occupied by the turret, but I have no view from the other side, where they may exist, especially at Muchelney. If any one blame me for not having made more extensive drawings or notes, I must plead what I consider the very valid excuse, that I visited Muchelney when it was very nearly dark, and Mudford during a violent storm of rain.* Of the class represented by Temple church at Bristol, where buttresses do exist at the angles, and yet the turret soars conspicuously above all, Yeovil is a very grand ex- ample. It is indeed comparatively plain, and without pinnacles, but its solidity of mass and strongly projecting buttresses produce a most striking effect. South Brent, in like manner, has a turret rising above the buttresses ; but here all the buttresses terminate below the belfry- stage, so that the latter is somewhat bare. Yeovil leads the way to a group of towers, chiefly in the western part of the county, some of which might be referred to the first, and some to the second class, but which seem to have more in common with each other than with either of them. I allude to certain towers of con- siderable height and great boldness of outline and dignity of general effect, in which there is nevertheless an entire * At Mudford I have ascertained that the turret does stand free without buttresses, = ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 9) absence of the usual elaborate detail. They are well built and finished, but have hardly any ornament of any kind; instead of the usual rich parapet, there is a mere plain battlement, with small or no pinnacles. Indeed, where they existed, they have been mostly knocked off, rather, according to my taste, to the improvement of the tower. Of these, Minehead and St. Decuman’s have the turret connected with buttresses, after the Taunton and Lydiard fashion ; at Martock and Queen Camel the upper part of the turret stands free, but the lower part is cloaked with buttresses ; at Cannington alone have we the true Bristol arrangement, though without the spirelet. It may be re- marked that none of these plain towers are attacked to very large and elaborate churches, except Martock, which is consequently unpleasing, while none of the others are. The tower there seems nearly as unworthy of the church as at Huish the church is unworthy of the tower. Of the third class, I have found no fellow to add to the small band I enumerated on a former occasion. The nearest approach to it I have seen is at Lympsham, where the belfry-stage and the large corner pinnacles are treated exactly as at Wrington, but then that belfry-stage is only the uppermost of three which rise above the roof, and the two lower of which are treated quite in the ordinary manner. This tower is most beautiful at a little distance, but on a nearer approach it is rather disappoint- ing ; partly because the gradual increase of lishtness is not sufliciently observed, partly because the rough masonry of its walling does not harmonize well with ıts ornamental portions. In the distant view also it has a great appear- ance of massiveness, which, on a nearer approach, is found to be very far from its real character. I have now also minutely examined Backwell, and see no reason to retract 6 PAPERS, ETC. the observations I made on it on the strength of Mr. Barr’s engraving. Spires I find to be, especially on the eastern border of the county, a little less rare than I had imagined, though still very far from common. I have examined Frome, Castle Cary, Trent, East Brent, and Worle, besides two or three which I saw in the distance, but could not reach. But to one used to the glorious spires of Northamptonshire, none of these seem of much beauty or grandeur. They are mostly quite unconnected with the tower either by broaching or by flying buttresses; they are of no great height, and without crockets or prominent spire-lights. Generally, as far as any unity of effect is concerned, they might just as well beaway. Their most remarkable feature is a small band of panelling, at about half their height. Trent, however, is a pleasing Decorated tower and spire of quite another character. I am now brought round again to my main subject, and will now proceed to the consideration of the CENTRAL TOWERS. My observations have hitherto been confined to western towers; but the prevaleney of genuine cross churches affords considerable scope for the introduction of that still nobler feature—the central lantern. We have already mentioned several of earlier date, as the small square tower of Whitchurch, and the octagons of North Curry and Stoke St. Gregory. But we have also several noble specimens of Perpendicular central towers. For the Per- pendicular architecets, as we have already seen, often carried out, after their own fashion, cruciform designs com- menced at an earlier period ; and they even erected from the ground, in their own style, such magnificent eruciform piles as Crewkerne and Ilminster. It is indeed probable ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 7 that the plan of those churches may have been greatly influenced by the fabries which doubtless preceded them ; but that the architeet chose thus to reproduce the forms of an earlier period, shows an appreciation of the noblest outline which a church can assume, one which, with all my preference for the Perpendieular style, I must confess to have been comparatively rare during the period of its prevalence. The whole position and circumstances of a central tower combine to give it a character very different from one which stands free from the ground. Consequently, though even the central towers of Somerset retain much of the general local character, we must not look among them for the same typical specimens as among those which occupy the west ends of thechurches. "The central steeples, in fact, have far more individuality, and cannot be so well ranged in classes. I have already mentioned the singular occurrence of the diagonal buttress in this particular position, where, to my mind, it issingularly out of place. We have, however, a very striking example at Othery, and others of inferior merit at Dunster and Yatton. This last, which supports the trun- cated spire, I must confess to be quite common-place, and altogether unworthy of the extraordinary splendour of the nave and west front; but that at Othery has a boldness about it which disarms eriticism. Allthree have diagonal buttresses at three corners, and a prominent turret at the fourth, so that they may be considered as approximating to the second, or Bristol, type of western steeples. At Yatton the buttresses run up and support the pinnacles ; at Othery they are finished somewhat lower down, which is perhaps more pleasing where the buttresses are diagonal and the pinnacles of no great consequence, as the slope of the buttress has a very bold effect. Probably the reason 8 PAPERS, ETC. for the difference is constructive, one having to support a spire, and the other not ; the arrangement at Dunster is intermediate. This Othery steeple is, in fact, one quite sul generis, and deserves attentive examination. Its height, for a central tower, is extraordinary, rising fully as much, in proportion to a smaller church, above the main body of the building, as the tallest of the western towers.. The belfry-stage contains one tall, broad, four-centered win- dow— window, that is, in the Somersetshire sense, as only a small portion is pierceed—the effect of which is very striking, and to my mind not altogether unpleasing. The intermediate stage contains niches. The usual double buttress, with a turret at one angle, oceurs in several central towers. To this head we may perhaps refer the tower of Bristol Cathedral, a low and massive, but singularly venerable structure, and for which, as for the rest of the church, I must confess a special affection. There is something extremely effective in the five windows side by side, and the broad space above in the parapet, with its numerous small battlements. At Axbridge is a noble tower of this class, of remarkable height, with pinnacles at the three corners, and a bold turret at the north-east. It has, however, very much the effect of a western tower. Wedmore has another slightly resembling it, but having no pinnacles, and being alto- gether inferior. But there is a far more stately tower, though of somewhat smaller elevation, at Ilminster, which is evidently a Perpendicular version of the central tower at Wells. It is, indeed, one of the very noblest parochial towers 1 know ; and the only approach to a fault that Ican discern in it is, that the single angle-turret breaks in upon the regularity of design more than is desirable in an erec- tion of such great architectural splendour. This steeple ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 9 rises two considerable stages above the roof of the church, and is divided into three bays by slight buttresses running up the whole height, and finishing in pinnacles.. The great corner-pinnacles approach somewhat to the Wring- ton and Glastonbury type, but their finish is rather a dome than a spire ; the domical form eomes out still more clearly in the top of the stair-turret. Each bay of both stages contains a long transomed window of two lights. The whole effect is most admirable ; I do not know a more majestic composition of its own class. Crewkerne is, in most respeets, a grander church than Ilminster ; but its tower will not bear comparison. This however partly arises from the arrangements of the church. At Ilminster the four arms of the cross are nearly of the same height, the difference being so small as scarcely to bear upon the proportions of the tower. At Crewkerne the nave is far higher than the choir, which I cannot but think an inexcusable fault in a cross church, and that one nearly of an uniform date. The result is that the tower from the west looks too low, from the east too slender ; and it has not suflicient merit in other respects to counterbalance this original defect. The part which rises clear above the nave must, I suppose, be considered as forming one lofty stage, as it contains only one long two-light window ; but at the centre of its height there is a set-off in the buttresses, a string along the face of the tower, somewhat like the band in the same position at Mudford, anda break in the window greater than an ordinary transom. The appearance is that of a window which has somehow or other broken through into a stage below its proper one. If Iam not intruding on Mr. Ruskin’s province, I would compare it to an unwelcome visitor who has thrust 1853, PART I. D 10 PAPERS, ETC. his legs through the ceiling, while his body remains in the room overhead. The double buttresses at Crewkerne finish, each in its own pinnacle, at a little distance from the angle, which certainly produces an effect of weakness. The like is the case with the angle-turret, which terminates in an array of small pinnacles, instead of a single spire or dome. Between these two splendid fabrics lies the little church of Kingston, which I have already mentioned as an example of the Ifley type, a nave and chancel with a tower between them. Plain and unpretending as is this little steeple, it exhibits the genuine Somersetshire feeling in its double buttresses away from the angle. Its stair- case-turret is placed on the south side, near the east end, but it cannot be said to occupy a corner. There is another central tower which I must mention, in the desecrated Priory church at Woodspring. The ground plan is very singular ; a nave and north aisle, a choir, now destroyed, and a central tower; there are no transepts, but a lantern is formed by arches in the thickness of the wall. The tower itself is of the same class as Dunster and Othery, except that the angle-turret is wanting, and that the work generally is more elaborate. The character of the belfry-stage is unusual in Somerset, there being a single large window in each face, so far re- sembling Othery, but with no likeness whatever in the individual windows actually employed. Of the noblest form of central towers I can only pro- duce from Somersetshire a very unworthy representative, though as there are several grand churches in the county which I have as yet been unable to reach, I would fain hope some of them may contain specimens fit to ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 11 maintain the credit of Somerset in this respect also. The form I allude to is that in which the tower is sup- ported by four equal polygonal turrets, one at each corner. This, when the tower rises from the ground, I must, maugre the malison of Mr. Ruskin, consider very inferior to the ordinary buttressed form ; but for a central tower, borne up by the four arms of a great cross church, it is surely the grandest that can be devised. Buttresses in this position never look natural; they almost always, even at Ilminster, involve some awkward shift or other ; but the turrets rise from the centre with much less impropriety, seeming in some sort to be the external prolongation of the four great piers on which the tower is supported. No one, I think, can fail to recognise the infinite supe- riority of this arrangement who compares the great tower of Canterbury with that of Gloucester, or the smaller examples at Cricklade and Ashford with the extremely beautiful, but far inferior, erections at Wolverhampton and Melton Mowbray. Of this form I can here produce nothing better than the tower of Bath Cathedral. I am far from entirely depreei- ating that church, which certainly possesses great majesty of effect both within and without ; but there are few buildings in which the architect seems so often to have gone wilfully wrong. The unusual proportion between the aisles and the clerestory was a bold experiment, and how far it may be thought to have succeeded is, to a great extent, a matter of taste; but there really was no reason why the tower should not have been made square, or why its win- dows should have been set in square panels. Still, from any point where the peculiar shape is not very conspicuous, there is a good deal of dignity and justness of proportion about this steeple. But the addition of spires to the turrets 12 PAPERS, ETC. here and elsewhere has very much affected the general character of the building. I am by no means clear that the change was not an improvement ; still it seems too hazardous an experiment to be altogether justifiable. WEST FRONTS. In those churches where the tower is central, scope is thereby given for a regular facade at the west end, which otherwise is in most cases sacrificed to the western tower. Now no one who has given much attention to our old churches, can have failed to remark that in no respect are they generally more defeetive than in this. No real archi- tectural design is commonly extended to it; the naves and aisles are left, as it were, to finish themselves as they can : their terminations, in fact, remain a mere end, and do not aspire to the dignity of a front. This is seen very conspi- cuously in St. Giles’, Northampton, and still more so even in a church in every other respect so magnificent as that of Stafford. Such cases as Felmersham and Berkeley are indeed very superior ; but even here, though the termi- nations of the two naves are beautiful in the extreme, the ends of the aisles are entirely unworthy of the rest, and exclude anything like a regular architectural design. In the Perpendicular of Somerset we often find this blot removed. (Certainly in many cases, even in Somerset, we find good opportunities thrown away. At Wedmore there is little pretence to a regular front, and at Dunster none at all; while at Axbridge, where there is a little more, it is greatly concealed by the parapets. But, on the other hand, even in such comparatively plain west ends as North Curry and Stoke St. Gregory, there is a real design, though a very simple one, and a degree offinish elsewhere unusual. Wood- spring Priory has only the termination of a nave, (the single ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 13 aisle not reaching to the extreme west) but something more is attempted by the addition of turrets. Still the incon- gruity between its high gable and the depressed arch of its west window must have been fatal to its general effect. The west ends of Crewkerne and Yatton rise far above this standard ; we have here genuine fronts, quite worthy of forming the entrance to any small cathedral or abbey. Crewkerne in fact at once suggests Bath as its fellow, and there can be little doubt as to which ofthe two fronts should claim our preference. Between Crewkerne and Yatton it is less easy to strike the balance. The general notion of both is the same ; a west front without towers, with the natural terminations of the nave and aisles left undisguised, but with the gable ofthe nave flanked by polygonal turrets. Thus far the main elements are the same ; but a more en- tire diversity is effected in their treatment than perhaps might have been considered possible. Thus at Yatton the turrets are hexagonal, and crowned with small spires ; at Crewkerne they are octagonal and embattled, with vestiges of small pinnacles, like those on the angle-turrets of the tower. I cannot but think that their loss has been a gain; but the arrangement of Yatton is more dignified still. The pitch of the gable at Yatton is not satisfactory ; it should have been either higher or lower ; at Crewkerne it is very flat and embattled. This battlement is also carried along the ends of the aisles, while at Yatton they are far more elegantly finished with one of the elaborate open parapets of that distriet. At Yatton the ends of the aisles have more dignity given to them by being finished with small turrets at the angles supporting pinnacles, while at Crewkerne there is nothing but the common double buttress. Both have west windows as large as the space will allow ; in neither perhaps is the tracery of the very first order ; but that at 14 PAPERS, ETC. Crewkerne is decidedly preferable, as the heavy central mullion has a very awkward effect at Yatton. Both have large and magnificent western doorways, that at Crewkerne at once suggesting the portal of King’s College Chapel. Either front is a most noble and magnificent design, of a character quite unsurpassed among our parochial edifices ; indeed their bold and harmonious simplieity might read a lesson to several of our proudest cathedrals, including the stately fabric of Wells itself. Of west fronts of other kinds I have hardly anything to say, as the two most remarkable, that last mentioned and St. Mary Redcliffe, hardly come within my direct province, as their main peculiarities are entirely owing to architects earlier than Perpendicular times. GENERAL EXTERIORS. From towers and fronts Imust now proceed to the bodies of the churches. The subject of their external appearance I have to a certain extent forestalled in speaking of their general character. I there observed that the clerestory is by no means so universal in Somerset as in many other dis- tricts, even where the Perpendicular style is far lass pre- valent. We find it absent even in very large and magnifi- cent churches, as Axbridge, Dunster, Wedmore, and Yeovil. I conceive this partly to arise from the predilection of the architects throughout the whole west of England and South Wales for various modifications of the coved or cradle roof. This necessarily involved an external high pitch; and it is of course only in structures on a very magnificent scale that sufficient elevation is afforded for both a high roofand a cle- restory. That this was the cause I imagine is pretty clearly shownfrom thevery slight appreciation of merely pieturesque beauty shown by the Perpendicular architects in Somer- 1 , | ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 15 setshire. It is not usual, when the clerestory is absent and the nave has a high roof, to find a covering of the same sort added to the aisles, so as to produce the effect of varied groupings among the numerous gables. Dunster is the only example which occurs to me on a large scale. There are smaller instances at Minehead, St. James in Taunton, Bishop’s Hull, and Whitchurch, in which last case, as we have seen, the Perpendicular enlargement was con- ducted with a most unusual regard to the former character of the building. But even where the aisle has a high roof, it is often disguised with a parapet or battlement, as at Crowcombe and the two Lydiards; more frequently still does the hish roof of the nave rise above aisles with a lean-to, finished with a parapet of various degrees of rich- ness. This somewhat unpleasant contrast is conspicuous at Trull, Burrington, Portishead, Portbury, Churchill, St. Werburgh’s at Bristol, and even in such stately fabries as Temple in the same city, as Yeovil, Wedmore, and Axbridge. The peculiar arrangement in the choir of Bristol Cathedral is in a manner analogous, but, as we have seen, does not directly proceed from a similar cause. Among churches without elerestories, I must not omit to mention the very remarkable edifice at Cannington. This isan uniform Perpendicular building, very short and very lofty ; there is no constructive distinetion between nave and chancel, within or without, except that the aisles do not run to the east end. A single external roof embraces nave, aisles, and chancel. The arrangement then is identical with that of some of the worst modern churches; and my first momentary impression was that the church was modern, or greatly modernized, but such is not the case. It is rather like Whiston in Northamptonshire, only with a steep roof. The general external effect is, of course, not g00d, but the height of the east end is magnificent- 16 PAPERS, ETC. When the clerestory is present, it is generally of moderate elevation, quite suflicient inside, but very frequently, as at Crewkerne and Stoke St. Gregory, precluded by the large parapet of the aisles from having its due effect without. It is not usually so thickly set with windows as is frequently the case in Perpendicular churches in other distriets; the aisle is commonly much more “diaphanous” than the elerestory. Thus at Wrington, Yatton, Banwell, North Curry, Glastonbury, and Cheddar there is only a single window of moderate size in each bay, so that they are by no means thick together. At Crewkerne there are indeed two windows in each bay, but the immense width of the bays absolutely required it, and it in no degree approaches to the appearance of Newark and other churches where a similar arrangement is used. At St. Mary Magdalen, Taunton, St. Cuthbert’s, Wells, St. Stephen’s, Bristol, and at Bruton and Martock, there is a single window in each bay of greater breadth, but still nothing at all out ofthe way. At St. Stephen’s the clerestory is strangely enough concealed by a compass roof to the aisle, reversing the ordinary defect. In thethreegreat churches, however, we find the clerestory far more conspicuous. At St. Mary Redcliffe the elerestory is indeed much larger than is usual in churches of any kind, but I do not think that any one can call its size dispropor- tionate either within or without. Within it certainly is not. At Bath the designer seems to have imitated Redecliffe without much diseretion, and has produced a elerestory of decidedly disproportionate size, throwing the aisles into complete insignificance. The Redcliffe arrangement seems also copied in the choir of Christ Church, Hampshire. It is also to be found in an exaggerated form in Sherborne Minster, where the clerestory is decidedly the most im- portant portion of the building, and oecupies a still larger ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 17 share ofit than at Redcliffe. This is still more conspieuous within, owing to a cause which I shall mention when I come to speak of the internal architecture of the churches. Bath Cathedral appears also to have aped Redcliffe to its own prejudice in another respect. It involves, I trust, no lack of respect for what, I suppose, we may safely call on the whole the most magnificent parish church in England, to say that the position of the tower and the narrowness of the transepts at Redcliffe are decided faults. A church of that size, and one which, in every other respect, affects the cathedral type, ought unquestionably to have exhibited the genuine cross form, and the predominant central tower. Next to that, a pair of western towers, like Llandaff, would have been desirable; next to that, one vast tower at the west end, like Boston or St. Michael’s, Coventry ; anything rather than the tower thrust into a corner, depriving the church of all outline, and throwing the remainder of the west front into the most ludicrous insignificance. But, the tower being banished to this strange place,—not, be it observed, by the fault of the Perpendicular architect,—it was thought good to make a wonderful display of height and narrowness in the transepts. In this case of Redcliffe the freak was comparatively harmless, both because the tower had been thus banished, and because the addition of transept aisles prevented the notion of narrowness from being pushed to an extreme. But our Bath friend again imitated Redcliffe with still less success; he made his transepts as narrow or narrower than his model, though there was to be a central tower, and no aisles to the transepts. Hence the narrowness is ludicrous without, and absolutely painful within, and that strange shape is given to the tower on which I have already commented. I am inclined, on the whole, to set down the nave and 1853, PART II. {6} 18 PAPERS, ETC. aisles of Banwell as, externally, the most thoroughly beautiful I know among churches of its own kind—that is, churches of considerable size, which neither make any approach to cathedral character, nor yet exhibit the common parochial type on the exaggerated scale of Boston or Coventry. The proportions of the aisles and elerestory are absolutely perfect. I have hinted that the Perpendi- cular elerestories are, if anything, a little too low, and the windows a little toosmall. Banwell has hit the exact mean; its range of three-light windows with pointed arches is most stately. It surpasses both Wrington and Yatton in its proportions, and also in the pinnacles, which divide the bays of the clerestory, instead of merely rising from the parapet. Again, the turrets at the east end of the nave are extremely noble, and as the chancel in its roofs and character does not harmonize with the rest, it is a gain that the aisles are not continued beyond the chancel-arch, so that we are spared the lean-to roofs abutting against space, as in Wrington and other cases. I also prefer the porch rising to the full height of the aisle rather than the smaller one at Wrington. The only defect is the important one of the masonry, where we miss the fine ashlar of Wrington. On the whole, I have no doubt in assigning Banwell the first place in these respects ; but Wrington, even in the body, comes so very near to it, and so infinitely surpasses Banwell and every other church of its class in its inimitable tower, that Imust, on the whole, assign to it the highestrank among genuine parochial churches in Somerset- shire, and, therefore, in England. Yet I must here mention two very formidable rivals, Bruton and Martock. Wrington nave is, like so many others, cramped at both ends; an addition of a bay or two to its length would have been a decided improvement. ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 19 At Martock the nave is longer, having six bays, with a well developed clerestory ; there is also a much larger and finer chancel. But the tower, as I have mentioned, is very unworthy of the rest of the fabrie ; and, even in the aisles and clerestory themselves, though increase of size produces an increase of general majesty, we do not find the same exquisite delicacy of treatment. The battlement, though it appears in a graceful and elaborate form, is a finish decidedly inferior to the straight pierced parapet of the northern type. And I am not sure that the break in the aisle, marking the presence of distinet chapels, is any improvement in external effect. Bruton, with the exception of its modernized chancel, is certainly one of the best churches in the county. I have already mentioned its beautiful western tower ; I hardly know whether to find a fault or a beauty in the presence of a second smaller tower over the north porch. This erection is of a form intermediate between a belfry and a gateway tower, and, while it of course adds much variety and cha- racter to the outline, it manifestly hinders the due effect of the very fine clerestory to which I have already alluded. The aisle, especially on this north side, is quite unworthy ofit. Theclerestory has the pierced parapet on both sides, the aisle on the south side only. CHANCELS, ETC. I have already mentioned that the chancel, or part of it, is very often retained from an earlier building ; so that, as the earlier building was also, in most cases, smaller and less elaborate than its successor, comparatively mean chancels are attached to some of the most magnificent naves and towers, as is very conspicuously the case at Wrington. L In any case the arrangement usually adopted of continuing 20 PAPERS, ETC. the aisles along a single bay of the chancel is one not calcu- lated to give any great dignity to that portion of the church, which often remains somewhat disjointed and inharmonious, being prevented from assuming the form either of the distinet chapel-like chancel, or of the regular choir with aisle.. The most interesting chancels are therefore those which contain portions of earlier work. At Ditcheat is a beautiful Geometrical chancel, which the Perpendicular architects have endeavoured to bring into harmony with the rest of the church by the infelicitous expedient of an upper range of windows in the same wall. Bleadon also retains some pleasing work ofthe same xra. Martock hasa grand high-roofed chancel, almost entirely remodelled in Perpen- dicular, but retaining, externally at least, a superb quintu- plet of lancets. Within it is barbarously blocked by an incongruous reredos, a disfigurement which I observed in several other churches, as Burnham and Yeovil. Of chancels essentially Perpendicular, the best specimens occur in the south. North Curry may be practically classed under that head, though a great proportion of its walling is of Decorated date; North Petherton and Langport are also above the average, but for a truly noble example of a chancel in the true Perpendicular style, we must go to Ilminster. I know no parish church which externally approaches nearer to the cathedral type, although neither choir nor transept is furnished with aisles. This appearance must be mainly owing to its glorious central lantern, but the choir forms no unimportant feature in the view from the north-east. It is ofthree bays, well buttressed and windowed, but offering nothing for especial comment ; its beauty lies in general harmony of design and execution. We mayhowever remark the vestry projectingbelowthe east window, which is certainly a Somersetshire localism, as it a Ss ee u Seine ee a ee ie ee u Zu Der ee ie ee Bu A Dt A a ne a TER, ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 2] occurs also at North Petherton, Langport, and Kingsbury, and it clearly has been also the case at Crewkerne, although there the building itself has been destroyed. There is another at Hawkhurst in Kent. Both at Ilminster and Crewkerne the north transept is the most enriched and elaborate portion ofthe church. At Ilminster, though more ornamented, I cannot consider it as rivalling the simpler beauty ofthechoir. A square spandril is not generally a desirable finish for a window, and I cannot but think that crocketting, as in the north front, is by no means a suitable enrichment for a gable. The similar view atCrewkerne, from the north-east, is very striking, but I can- not think it is equal to Ilminster. There is an affectation of irregularity about it which does not suit the Perpendicu- lar style and low roof; nor is the effect improved by the actual presence of a high one in the choir itself. Regular aisles to the choir and transepts would have been effective one way; a thoroughly pieturesque structure, with distinet chapels and apses, would have been equally so, another. At present neither effect is gained ; it is irregular without being pieturesque, and that while the whole character of the architecture cries for the strictest regularity of design. In detail and masonry, however, these portions of Crewkerne church are much the best that I have seen in the southern part of the county, and, except in the use of a heavy battle- ment instead of an elegant pierced parapet, they approach very nearly to the beauty of Wrington and Banwell. The work, however, in its general character, and especially in the forms of its windows, some of which are very broad, with excessively flat arches, struck me as not being strietly of a Somersetshire type. It rather reminded me of some of the best Perpendicular work elsewhere, as at St. Mary’s in Oxford, at Fairford, andat Whiston and Brington 22 PAPERS, ETC. in Northamptonshire. But possibly the resemblance may only consist in the fact, that at Crewkerne we see some of the distinetive features of Zate Perpendicular work more clearly displayed than is usual in Somerset. Ido not think any of the churches I mentioned have any windows of the extreme flatness of those in the transept at Crewkerne, where there is no pretence at a point at all, the arch being completely elliptical or three-centred ; which of those two it is I leave to mathematicians to decide. I may mention, as analogous to the additional care expended upon the north transept at Crewkerne and Ilminster, the great splendour bestowed upon the north aisle in the churches of Mark, Lympsham, and the two Brents, all lyingneartogether,and the threelast presenting a striking similarity. Importance is also often given to the north side by the presence of a turret, which sometimes receives great prominence; Ihave mentioned the little spireat Burrington ; there is a similar one at Worle. It is however sometimes found on the south side, as at Minehead and Dunster; but the other is decidedly the more usual position. We have also seen the addition of a second tower on the north side at Bruton; in the somewhat similar case of Wedmore it oceupies the south. All these manifest an inclination to have some secondary tower or spire besides the grand western or central one; and I only wonder that I have not come across any Somersetshire church exhibiting the peculiar arrangement of Purton and Wimborne Minster. CROSS CHURCHES. Crewkerne and Ilminster are decidedly the finest paro- chial eruciform churches which I have seen in Somerset- shire; but there are some other very noble examples. Dunster is a very large and striking building, but, to say ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 23 nothing of its present miserable and disgraceful condition, there is something unsatisfactory in its original design. In so large a church, and that too one connected with a conventual establishment, we should certainly have looked for some approach to the architeetural character of a minster, whereas it has decidedly less of that mysterious effect than either Crewkerne or Ilminster. There is nothing about it different from an ordinary parish church, except the enormous length of its western limb. This was apparently owing to the choir running considerably west of the tower; the rood-screen remains two bays down the constructive nave, and that this is its original position is shown by the staircase turret. The whole church is an example of opportunities thrown away ; there is neither clerestory nor west front, and there isa general appearance of irregularity about it hardly pleasing in so large a church. Ditcheat is its exact opposite ; all its four limbs eluster round a massive central tower with the most exemplary regularity; the way in which the chancel is reduced to uniformity I have already mentioned. It is a handsome church, with a clerestory, and some approach to a west front ; but it is rather spoiled by an enormously heavy battlement running all round. Wedmore is a large and striking church, to some of whose features I have already alluded. Itis very irregular, but in a different way from Dunster. The latter has the irregu- larity of a small pieturesque church on an exaggerated scale ; that of Wedmore is essentially the irregularity of a large building. On the south side the appearance is most singular. The tall and somewhat bare central tower rises from among a mass of buildings whichseem to haveno sort of connexion with each other. Some rather curiously arranged chapels and sacristies cluster around the chancel, but both 24 PAPERS, ETC. chancel and transept are thrown into utter insignificance by the group of structures attached to the south aisle. I have mentioned that the porch grows into something like a college gateway ; east of this, on the same line, is a large chapel, with enormously lofty windows, stretching east so as to join the transept, but projecting far in front ofit. The west and north sides offer nothing very remarkable. Another very fine cruciform church is that of Axbridge. It has, externally at least, no individual feature which can be compared to the grander portions of Ilminster and Crewkerne, but I am not sure whether it is not a more harmonious whole than either of them. And this, notwith- standing some palpable defects. A building of this class certainly wants a clerestory, and we feel the lack here more acutely than at Wedmore, from the very cause that this church isa compact whole, gathered closely around its pre- dominant centre, and not, like Wedmore, a collection of unconnected fragments. The four main limbs have high roofs ; the aisles, with much the same height in the walls, have lean-to roofs,adorned on the south side with the pierced parapet. Hence, as the transepts project scarcely at all beyond the aisles, the distinction is left to be made almost entirely by means of the roofs, so that, especially on the south side, the gable of the transept has rather the air of a mere interruption to the horizontal line of the aisle than of a distinet portion of the church. Perhaps the effect rather resembles that of such churches as Fairford and Magor than of the complete and genuine cruciform structure. The extreme east end is here also unconnected, and unworthy of the rest of the building. Nevertheless, the general effect of the whole is both striking and satisfactory ; to the noble central tower I have already alluded. Yeovil is a very large and fine church with transepts, ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 25 but its only tower being western, it can hardly claim the rank of a genuine cruciform church. It is, however, a magnificent building, and in its general effect singularly combines (of course on a considerably smaller scale) the distinctive features of the two principal churches in Bris- tol. Viewing its whole length, especially from the north side, so long a range of uniform Perpendicular work, with tall narrow transepts and western tower, can hardly fail to suggest the notion of St. Mary Redcliffe. On the other hand, in another important point, it resembles Bristol Cathedral. The clerestory is absent, or, to speak more truly, the aisles are the full height of the nave and choir. I mean that the positive height of the aisles is so great that there is nothing felt to be wanting, as in most cases where there is no clerestory. At Axbridge, for instance, a clerestory could be added to the nave; it might, or might not, be an improvement, but the proportions of the church would admit of it. At Yeovil nothing of the sort could be done ; like Bristol, the building forms a regular design on another principle. The church is uni- form throughout, and the walls are of the same height in aisle, choir, and transept. The effect of the arrange- ment, as at Bristol and Dorchester, is to produce a mag- nificent series of large and lofty windows. I need not say that here we have a large and stately choir ; aisles are attached to its two western bays, but the two eastern stand free, forming a noble presbytery. The absence of a elerestory gives peculiar facilities for this arrangement. Of the tower Ihavealready spoken; a low ancient building, now at least used as a school, is attached to its south-west angle. This is far from improving the appearance from that side; it makes the tower quasi-central, and suggests the notion of an aggregate of buildings like Llantwit or St. 1853, PART II. D 26 PAPERS, ETC. Wollos at Newport, whereas the leading idea of Yeovil church is clearly that of the most perfect regularity. The best point of view is from the north-east. Before I quit the subject of cruciform and quasi- cruciform churches, and therewith of Somersetshire exteriors generally, I must revert for a moment to the earlier type of church which preceded those which form my more imme- diate subject. I mentioned that in these cases a side tower was by no means unusual. Under these eircum- stances the church seems generally to be cruciform, the tower forming one of the transepts. This is the notion at Frome, but it comes out much more distinetly at Somerton and Stoke Hamdon. In the former, the tower becomes octagonal, as soon as it is clear of the aisle; in the latter, it is square throughout, and its belfry- stage is a beautiful specimen of Early English masonry. This whole church is, as a record of architectural changes,* one of the most interesting in Somerset, but it contains little or nothing illustrating the local Perpendicular. This position of the tower is by no means an unpleasing one, producing a varied and pieturesque outline, and slightly sharing the effect ofa real central tower. There is surely a strong affinity between the appearance of Somerton and of North Curry. Indeed, for a side tower, I think it by far the best position ; better than a porch tower, which can hardly fail to be unconnected; far better than one terminating an aisle, which naturally suggests the idea of an * It would be a still more important record of doctrinal changes, could we believe a piece of information which I received from its sextoness, namely, that “this church was built for the Roman Catholies, but was never occupied by them.” The church is a Norman one, with Early English and Decorated alterations. Are we to suppose that, during so long a period, this parish was blest with unknown precursors of Wickliffe, whom ecclesiastical history has ungratefully forgotten to record ? ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 27 unfinished west front with two towers. The Somerton arrangement indeed stands in the same relation to Exeter and Ottery which St. Mary Redcliffe bears to York and Beverley, that is, a tower might be conceived forming the other transept; but the Exeter plan is so unfamiliar, and, indeed, so grotesque, that it is not likely thus to present itself to the mind. INTERIORS. I now come to the second main portion of my subject, the interiors of the Somersetshire churches. The excellence of the local style is shown in the best interiors fully as much as in the towers, but, from some cause or other, first-rate interiors are by no means so usually met with as first-rate towers. Nevertheless they are decidedly common in pro- portion to their frequency in parochial work in most other parts of England. It is certainly by no means common to find the interior of the nave and aisles of a parish church forming a really grand architeetural whole during the Early English and Decorated periods. Warmington, in Northamp- tonshire, is well known as a glorious exception; but, unless it be the nave of Berkeley, I am unable to provide it with a fellow. St. Mary’s at Haverfordwest has indeed an arcade of perhaps unparallelled magnificence, but it is only one arcade; there is no other aisle to match it, and the clerestory and roof are of a later date. Itisin the Perpen- dieular style, and, above all, in the Perpendicular of Somerset, that we first find the interiors of parochial churches systematically constructed so as to deserve the name of great architectural wholes. Elsewhere, and at an earlier period, the impression on entering a church is usually one of disappointment. The exterior may, by dint of a pieturesque outline, or even of a certain kind of proportion, 28 PAPERS, ETC. produce a stately or elegant effect; but the interior seldom exhibits any really great architectural coup d’eil. That picturesque effect, which is a fair external substitute for real artistic design, can hardly extend to the interior; so that in many cases it is simply common-place and uninteresting ; in others it is a valuable repertory of architectural or ecclesiological curiosities, of individual portions, it may be, of extreme beauty, but the whole does not constitute one great work of art. The grand churches of Northampton- shire, even such buildings as Higham and Rushden and Oundle and Irthlingborough, can hardly claim a higher place ; such interiors as Islip and Fotheringhay exhibit the Perpendicular style, and some slight approach to its Somer- setshire perfection. But with those whom I now address the case is widely different ; in your most typical parish churches, no less than in the grandest minsters, the exterior is but the husk and shell of the higher beauty which is in store within. And this, because both of them are works of art in the highest sense ; it is no mere picturesque outline, no mere collection of interesting details, which gives their charm to the magnificent naves of Taunton and Bruton and Martock and Wrington, and perhaps still more perfect in its own kind, though of a decidedly inferior kind, the lofty, and spacious, and thoroughly harmonious church of Yeovil. Here we do not immediately note down some individual capital or window which attracts our attention; the eye is not drawn away to contemplate a font of singular design or sedilia of unusual arrangement ; the most gorgeous display of monumental splendour is postponed for subsequent and secondary consideration ; it is the real triumph of the noblest of arts which rivets the attention; it is the one grand and harmonious whole which lifts the mind in admiration of an effeet as perfect in its own way, as ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 29 truly the work of real design and artistic genius, as Cologne or Winchester or St. Ouen’s. T'he graceful arches rise from the tall and slender columns, with just as much connexion as Continuous effect requires, just enough distinetion to hinder the ascent from being too painfully rapid.* Above, the windows of the clerestory agreeably relieve the recesses of the massive timber roof, and unite it into one whole with the arcades beneath. The roof itself, borne on shafts rising uninterruptedly from the ground, is proclaimed as no botch or afterthought, but an essential portion of the great design ; or else it rests on the more elaborate support of angels and niches, once exhibiting the choicest display of the subsidiary arts. The stone vault alone is wanting to rank such piles with cathedrals and mitred abbeys ; it is, however, represented in the main body by its noblest substitutes, and its own splendours are reserved for the western belfry or the central lantern. Here, supported on its four lofty arms, it forms the crown of the whole edifice; there, the soaring panelled arch, the spreading fan tracery beyond, the tall and wide western window finishing the whole vista, make us feel that the stately towers of Wrington and Axbridge and Kingsbury are but the beacons to guide usto the still higher splendours which are reserved for those who shall tread within the consecrated walls. I do not feel that I am drawing an ideal pieture, because it is only in a very few instances that it is realized. Of course such magnificence, though less rare than elsewhere, is still rare, even in Somerset ; but the few first-rate naves (even without counting Redcliffe and Sherborne, as belonging to a higher class of buildings) do really merit almost any amount of commendation which can be bestowed * See History of Architecture, p. 389. 30 PAPERS, ETC. on them. Among these, I think, we must, on the whole, give the first place to Martock, though my old favourite Wrington, decidedly superior without, forms a very for- midable rival within. In my paper of last year Ispoke of the distinguishing and characteristic merit of Somersetshire work, as consisting in the combination of the unity and grandeur peculiar to the Perpendicular style, with much of the delicacy and purity of detail more commonly distinetive of the earlier styles. I also referred to St. Mary Redcliffe as exhibiting this character in its highest perfection, and as having probably been the model after which the smaller edifices were designed. But we must look for the germs of the local Perpendicular style at a much earlier period than this. We can trace them up to an early stage of the Lancet style. Somersetshire does indeed contain examples of a noble variety of that style quite alien from our present purpose, but of which I shall hope to treat on some other occasion, and to show its influence on other parts of our island, by tracing the relation in which Wells and Glaston- bury stand to Llandaff and St. David’s.* But Somerset- shire contains at least one noble example of an Early Gothic interior of widely different character, and in which, I think, we may fairly recognize the first parent of the local Continuous. Every one knows the superb church of St. Cuthbert at Wells, with its magnificent Early English arcades and its Perpendicular clerestory superadded. Now here it requires a technical eye to see that it is super- added; the Early work has quite the general effect of the ordinary Perpendicular of the county; the immensely tall shafts are utterly unlike the generality of Early English pillars, and especially unlike those in the neighbouring * See History and Antiquities of St. David’s, p. 64, ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 31 cathedral. The Early English arcades of the nave do not seem to differ more widely from the Perpendicular ones of the choir and side chapels than the latter do from one another. The general effect is the same throughout. Coming on further, the Decorated work in Bristol Cathedral is another step towards the local Perpendicular. It is mtensely Continuous; indeed it is so to an exagge- rated extent, which the Perpendicular builders did not generally imitate. We must take it in connexion with the Deeorated work at North Curry and Frome. In these cases the imposts of the piers are continuous; the mould- ings, among which the wave-moulding is predominant, being carried uninterruptedly along pier and arch, unbroken by any shaft or capital. At Bristol, the pier itself is of this character, only the members which are attached as vault- ing-shafts are provided with capital. But no arrangement can be more thoroughly Continuous; and this is the more remarkable, as the tracery is rather behind-hand in its development, whereas generally we find the tracery very far in advance of the arcades. The choir of Bristol, from its very small elevation in comparison with its width, and from the absence of a elerestory, has a general effect of massiveness, which in a Gothie church is somewhat oppressive. But looking directly across the choir, it is at once seen that the arcades taken alone have an extraordinarily light and soaring ap- pearance. The bays are narrow, the piers slender and lofty, the arches wonderfully acute. This last feature indeed is caused by the peculiar arrangements of the roof, and is not to be found in either the earlier or the later examples with which we have compared it. But the general notion of the arcade is one which may claim very close relationship with the Perpendicular of Wrington and St. Stephen’s; and 32 PAPERS, ETC. I have always greatly admired the skill displayed by the architeet in its adoption. The proportions of the Roman- esque church on whose foundations he built forbade any great positive elevation, or any general effect of lightness. He judiciously threw his whole strength into this particular feature, and worked out this wonderful effect of loftiness in the direct side view, to the sacrifice of everything else. Had the side elevation been cut up into arcade, triforium, and clerestory, or even into arcade and elerestory only, the necessary shortness of the piers would have exiled the notion of height from the only part in which it could take refuge, and have left it no place in the whole building. Indeed the whole cathedral is one to which justice has never been done either in an »sthetical or an historical point of view. If then we trace up the local Perpendicular to an earlier tradition, carried on through the Early English and Deco- rated churches which I have mentioned, and attaining its complete perfection in the transepts of St. Mary Redecliffe, erected at the very turning point from Flowing to Perpen- dicular, we may easily understand the peculiar character of its fully developed form. The Early style, to a great extent, forestalled the Continuous ; therefore the Con- tinuous, not appearing as something utierly strange and new, retained a good many of the features of the Early. Among these features I reckon the constant use of round, and very frequently of flowered, capitals, the continual oc- currence of the wave-moulding in various positions, and the peculiar and very beautiful variety of Perpendieular tracery so commonly met with, compounded of the Alternate and Supermullioned forms.* I do not say that none of these features are to be found out of Somersetshire—it occurs * See Essay on Window Tracery, p. 191 et segg. ON THE FERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 33 at once that the round flowered capital occurs in the vaulting-shafts of Winchester Cathedral,—but I think I may safely say that they are rare, except in this county and in distriets subject to its influence. The Perpendicular of the midland counties is decidedly different; the capitals are usually octagonal, and not flowered; the sections of piers and arch-mouldings, especially the latter, seldom resemble what we find in Somersetshire ; and the beauti- ful tracery of the Somersetshire windows is almost entirely unknown. Market Harborough, Oadby, Great Claybrook, Narborough, Whiston, Islip, and Fotheringhay, all in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, have very good Perpendicular interiors ; but both in composition and detail they differ widely from the Somersetshire specimens, and moreover differ much more widely among themselves than the latter do. And, to come nearer, the Perpen- dieular even of Gloucestershire, except in some of the southern parts where Bristol influence is at work, is widely different from that of Somerset ; the Perpendicular parts of Gloucester Cathedral are clearly not of the same class as Redcliffe and Sherborne ; nor does Cirencester present any marked resemblance to the great Somersetshire parish churches. Less elaborate buildings, as Dursley and even Northleach, differ still more widely from Somersetshire churches of the second order. In few of them is the Per- pendicular notion so fully carried out; in still fewer do we find the same retention of earlier details. PIERS AND ARCHES. Nowhere is a local impress in architeeture more easily to be recognized than in the pillars of the Somersetshire churches; one uniform section runs through the whole, any deviation from which is at once noted as an exception. 1853, PART 11. E 34 PAPERS, ETC. The idea of nearly all is a lozenge with attached shafts; ina vast majority of cases this assumes the form of a hollow lozenge with a shaft attached to each of the cardinal points; in some of the richer examples, as Wrington, Yatton, and St. Stephen’s, smaller shafts are inserted in the hollows of the lozenge, making a cluster of eight. In another variety the lozenge has not a mere hollow, but the space between the shafts is occupied by a wave moulding. This oceurs in four churches which I have already men- tioned as closely resembling each other in various points, the two Brents, Lympsham, and Mark, as also in the more distant ones of Carhampton and St. Decuman’s. The capitals, as I before said, are usually round, and often flowered. In the latter case the form is very elegant, but, when floriation is absent, I cannot consider the round section as any gain, especially in the rather rude shape which it often assumes in the less elaborate churches, A very beautiful variety is when the capitals take the shape of angels bearing shields or scrolls. This is most common in the northern district, but it also occurs in St. Mary Magdalen at Taunton. In the arches, the mouldings of the piers are generally continued; the hollow or other moulding of the lozenge runs on uninterruptedly, while the shafts are carried up in the form of round bowtells, which, as their position demands, are finished off with an ogee fillet. This is the typical pier and arch ; it is of course subject - to exceptions. These are not uncommon in the section of the capital, but much less so in that of the pier itself. The latter, in almost all cases, \retains the lozenge form under some modification or other ; the plain octagonal pillar and the elongated mullion-shaped cluster hardly oceur. At Crewkerne they are of a very unusual and elaborate sec- EEE Sr ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 35 tion, but still the lozenge form has by no means completely vanished. As the seetion of the piers is the most prevalent of the Somersetshire characteristics, so it is the least distinctive ; the other points are seldom met with elsewhere, while this lozenge section frequently is. For instance, the section of the piers in St. Mary’s at Oxford is only a more elaborate form of that of Wrington and St. Stephen’s ; but as soon as we reach the capitals and arch-mouldings, the resem- blance vanishes. The fact is, that what elsewhere is one not uncommon form among others, becomes in Somerset- shire nearly universal. Exceptions are more common in the capital. The departure from ordinary practice generally consists in carrying the abacus all round the pier, instead of leaving the sides of the lozenge to be continued uninterruptedly in the arch. Sometimes, as at Mark, Wedmore, Dunster, and St. Decuman’s, the capitals follow the section of the pier, (whether the usual one or any other) or some slight modification of it, as at Trull. In others, all the shafts are gathered together under one lozenge-shaped capital; this, which I believe is a Devonshire custom, occurs in a rude form in the choir of Dunster, and in a very elaborate one at Lydiard St. Lawrence. It is a form well adapted to render the capital a beautiful individual feature, but it is one completely destructive of all Continuous effect. Octagonal capitals to individual members of the cluster are by no means common, but they also occur in some parts of Dunster. In the cases where a more elaborate section of the pier is employed, some difference necessarily follows in the mould- ings of the arch. Some mouldings necessarily rise from the subordinate shafts, and even those rising from the principal 36 PAPERS, ETC, ones are often less strietly a mere continuation of the latter, the large bowtell being often cut up into several smaller members. They still however adhere to the main rule, that the principal hollows of the pier be continued unin- terruptedly in the arch, and that the principal projections be represented, but with the interposition of a capital. The proportions of the piers and arches are very various; but they depend less upon the presence or absence of the clerestory than might have been expected. This is because the height of the clerestory is, as we shall presently see, more commonly taken out of the roof than out of the arcades. The general tendency however is to a rather tall pier, and most commonly to a rather narrow arch, as at Wrington, Yatton, and St. Stephen’s. At Yeovil, of course, the absence of the clerestory, or more truly the height of the aisles, introduces a still more lofty pier. Sometimes, however, the arches are very broad ; thus at Orewkerne, though the pillars are extremely lofty, the arches are so wide, that a length of nave which would commonly have been divided into five bays, here contains only three. The four-centred arch is common enough in subordinate positions, as in the side arches of chancels, but it isnot usual in the main arcades. Bath Abbey, as we all know, is, for a special reason,* an exception. Four- centred arches also occur in the naves of Taunton and Bruton, but though of a variety of that shape perhaps more ungraceful in itself, they seem better suited to enter into the general composition. CLERESTORIES AND ROOFS. I said just now that the height of the clerestory was generally taken out of the roof, not out of the arcades. I mean that, when the clerestory is absent, the nave has * See History of Architeeture, p. 351. ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 37 generally a high-pitched roof ; when it is present, a low one. Thus the actual height of the whole church externally, and that of the aisles both inside and out, may be identical in two churches following the two different arrangements. When the roof is low, that is, when there is a clerestory, we generally find exceedingly fine tie-beamed roofs, as at Martock, Somerton, Wrington, Taunton, Bruton, and, above all, St. Cuthbert’s, which drips with foliations, al- most like the nave of St. David’. When the roof is hich, different forms of the cradle roof occur. This is the local roof of Somersetshire and the West of England in general ; and I would impress on the minds of all who are concerned in such matters, the necessity of carefully pre- serving this noble feature, which, in too many so-called restorations, I have found destroyed ; I may especially mention a bungling substitute which I found at Trent. Would that the opposite example of Banwell were followed throughout the county. This sort of roof has this advan- tage, that it can be made of any degree of plainness or richness, and, still more, that it allows any amount of decoration to be superadded to an originally plain design. We may have merely the arched rafters, with or without some ornament where they cross the horizontal pieces, or we may cover them with a ceiling of wood, which again may be panelled and painted to any amount of gorgeous- ness. Examples of all these different stages may be found in different churches.. Queen Camel is a good study ; there is a fine tie-beam roof in the nave, and an equally good coved one in the chancel ; both increase in richness over the rood-loft and the altar respectively. The form of the arch employed in these roofs is very various ; pointed, elliptical, semicircular ; the latter is the 38 PAPERS, ETC. most common, and I decidedly prefer it. Cannington, however, is a fine speeimen of the pointed form. The tie-beam roof is, as far as I remember, confined to the churches which have the clerestory, but the reverse rule will not hold good, as is shown by the cases of Yatton, Banwell, and Congresbury ; but these three lie so close together that this is probably a localism within a localism. I must here not omit to mention some rich roofs of later date, which seem to be a cinque-cento variety of the old coved roof. That of the nave of Bath Abbey is well known; but finer ones, to my mind, with tracery, pen- dents, ete., oecur at East Brent and Axbridge, and even in the poor little church of Biddesham. That at Axbridge bears the date of 1636. The ordinary arrangement of the clerestory windows I have already considered; I have now to speak of. the connexion of the clerestory with the roof and the arcades. To bring an elevation into complete harmony, the vertical division into bays, and the horizontal division into arcade, clerestory, and triforium, (if there be any,) should both be marked in the decorative construction. There should at least be a string running over the arches; and the clerestory should be divided by shafts supporting the roof, either rising direct from the ground, or corbelled off over the piers. Where these are not found, as at Long Sutton and St. John’s at Glastonbury, the interior has an un- finished look, and can hardly aspire to the name of an architectural design. When they oceur, a spandril is formed by the pier arch and the roof shafts, and a fur- ther spandril is left between the roof and the clerestory window. To fill these up is a further development. Two principal forms of vertical division occur in the great Somersetshire churches. At Wrington and Yatton j 2 | ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 39 we find the most perfect of all, a shaft forming a member of the pier carried up straight from the ground. This is the more remarkable at Yatton, as its coved roof did not require any roof-shafts at all; they are clearly added wholly for the improvement of the general effect. AndI think we may fairly add St. Cuthbert’s; the shafts, of course, cannot rise from the ground, but they somehow look as if the designer would have made them do so, had he planned the church from its foundations. In the other variety no shafts rise from the ground ; but a niche is placed between each bay of the clerestory, sup- ported by a shaft corbelled off above the pillars ; the same figure, usually an angel, serves for a finial to the niche,and for a corbel to the roof. This confusion is clearly a mistake in decorative construction,* and, together with a certain want of simplieity in the whole, must make us consider this form abstractedly inferior to the other. Nevertheless it is one of the most gorgeous magnificence, and it will be observed that it is very nearly identical with that of the splendid nave of St. Mary’s in Oxford, the chief difference being that the latter has no shaft below the niche, a point on which the advantage lies on the side of the Somersetshire examples. Of these the grandest is Martock, but the same plan is also followed at Taunton and Bruton, which resemble each other in so many points. Of the means of filling up spandrils, the most natural is by figures similar to those which are used in the spandrils of doorways, or by other analogous processes. Of these there is an early example in the choir at Ely, and they seem so natural a development from the figures often inserted in the same position in Early Gothie buildings, that one wonders they are not more commonly met with in * See History of St. David’s, 40 PAPERS, ETC, Perpendicular work. Martock is the only strietly parochial Somersetshire example with which I am prepared. Here the design is one of singular magnificence ; the spandril patterns are very elaborate, the string above the arches has a crest of Tudor flowers, and angels appear as a sort of keystones. There is also an extremely local practice, which looks like an attempt to bring the roof and clerestory into some degree of that connexion with each other which the vault alone can completely effect. Both at Wrington and Banwell a trefoil arch is thrown across from the capitals under, the roof, the rear-arch of the clerestory window fitting into its upper fol. It has quite the aspect of an arch traced out for vaulting, yet such could hardly have been its intention. In the aisles of Yatton, and the nave of Congresbury, we find arches nearly similarly employed, and the spandrils filled up with panelling, which probably was the intention in the others also, unless indeed a timber vault was at any time contemplated. . Between Wrington and Martock must lie the rivalry for the palm of superior internal beauty. The greater size of Martock,—Wrington, as I said, being decidedly too short, — gives it an unquestioned superiority in general effect; taking bay against bay, the case is not quite so clear. The general notion of Wrington is of a higher class; it hasmore of simplieity and harmony, its pillars are more elaborately clustered, its capitals are richer ; while Martock suffers a little from its elerestory seeming comparatively bare between the extraordinary splendour of its arcades and its roof. Still there is such a magnificence about the latter as to disarm all eriticism, and, I think, on the whole, to establish the claim of Martock to the first place among the strietly parochial interiors of the county. NAVE, MARTOCK CHURCH, SOMERSETSHIRE ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 41 The charge of possessing a clerestory unworthy of the arcades which support it, which I have brought to a certain extent against Martock, is far more applicable to St. Stephen’s in Bristol. The arcades, taken alone, are, both in proportion and detail, some of the most beautiful I know ; but instead ofthe due horizontal and vertical divisions, we have the clerestory windows recessed from the wall, the sill being brought down to the arch, so as to leave a sort of pilaster between. If the church were vaulted, and the blank part of the recessed space panelled, it might be tolerable, but at present the effect is deeidedly unpleasing. And now for a few words on the interiors of the three great churches, Redcliffe, Sherborne, and Bath. For the first, words would fail to do justice to that noble vista, exhibiting, as it does, the most perfect form of the art carried out with a degree of individual merit which approaches to faultlessness. And yet no one can fail to recognize here the genuine local style, only carried out with more elaboration in detail, and with the changes in propor- tion rendered necessary by the addition of vaulting. The proportion of pier, arch, and clerestory is perfect; the celerestory is, appropriately, somewhat larger than in the smaller buildings ; and from this cause, as well as from the addition of vaulting, the piers are rather less slender than at Yatton or St. Stephen’s. In the nave, the quasi- triforium space is panelled, as at St. Michael’s, Coventry ; in the transepts there is an ornamented spandril, as at Martock ; a preferable arrangement, as the lines of panelling do not rise well from the convex surface of the arch. The arcade of the transept and the clerestory of the nave would produce absolute perfection. The presbytery of Sherborne is very like Redecliffe, and 1853, PART II. F 42 PAPERS, ETC. yet very unlike it. Nothing can at first sight seem more dissimilar than the soaring clusters of Redecliffe and the huge masses of wall which divide the arches at Sherborne. Yet a little consideration will show that the style of the two is essentially the same, and even that the leading idea is the same, the differences being occasioned by the respective circumstances of the two churches. Redcliffe was a Perpendicular church erected from the ground; Sherborne was a remodelling of an earlier Romanesque minster. The vast piers of its predecessor probably lurk beneath the casing of shafts and mouldings with which the art of later days has enveloped them. They preserve their old height and their own circumference, or probably a still greater one than of old. But such piers as these could never be made part of a true Continuous Gothic range. The architeet clearly felt this; he attempted no arcade ; he made the roof and its supports the main feature, and thrust the arches behind them, not so much a continued range, as separate gateways attached by responds to the vast masses which bear up theroof. The vault springs from a shaft rising from the ground; the panelled rear-arch of the window also rises from the ground ; everything is concentrated on the wall and the roof ; the arches, timidly retiring, are only one degree more important than those which open into the side chapels of King’s College. Hence the gigantic clerestory, in estimating which we must also remember that the old triforium had to be swallowed up. The triforium space is, to my mind, bettertreated than in the nave of Redcliffe; certainly it is better adapted to the leading idea of the elevation. The nave of Sherborne is very inferior to the presbytery. The elevation consists of two parts utterly unconnected ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 43 with each other. The arcade, im utter contrast to the presbytery, is so very uninterrupted that it has no connexion or reference whatever to the upper portion ; panelled arches also, in this position, seem to me a mistake, nor am I provided with any other Somersetshire example. But the clerestory alone is most noble, and exhibits exactly the same feeling as that in the presbytery. I will extend that remark to the choir of Bath Abbey. After the very ingenious defence of that cathedral made at our last Annual Meeting by one much better conversant with the building than myself, I must be very cautious in my criticisms ; but I cannot bring myself to admire the low piers and broad arches, with their enormous mouldings, so completely deserting the multiplying for the magnifying principle. But thegrand clerestory windows, fitting into the magnificent fan vault, are noble in the extreme, not- withstanding a certain poverty of detail. The vertical division, lost in the nave of Sherborne, is here fully brought out by shafts with angel capitals supporting the vault. BELFRY AND CHANCEL ARCHES, ETC. Those arches which do not form part of continuous arcades, and those which are in less conspicuous positions of the churches, sometimes resemble, but more frequently differ from, the main arcades of the nave. Subordinate arches, as those leading into small chapels, or from aisles into transepts, are very frequently segmental or four- centered ; they are also often panelled, or furnished with discontinuous imposts. The great transverse arches, the chancel and belfry arches, cannot fail to be important features; but the same circumstances which detract from the importance of the chancel in the Somersetshire churches, 4 PAPERS, ETC. while they imply the presence of the chancel arch, neces- sarily diminish from its importance. It is often low, and generally disproportionately broad, and with insufhicient responds. At Huntspill, for instance, the arcade is continued uninterruptedly into the chancel, and the chancel arch springs from shafts corbelled off above it. In others again, as at North Petherton, one pier of the ordinary range may be seen throwing out arches in four different directions, which is never pleasing. In others there are responds with continuous imposts, or the arch is panelled, as at Weston Zoyland. This last remark I may extend to the western belfry-arches also, but they are features of far greater importance and beauty than the chancel arches. Indeed it is clear that on no part of the church was greater attention displayed. Few architeetural displays are more magnificent than a panelled arch of this kind, rather narrow, with responds ofa vast height, and the space beyond vaulted with fan tracery. This is seen in all its splendour at Wrington, Long Sutton, and, above all, Kingsbury Episcopi, where the arch is double, and there is a mag- nificent display of niches on each side ofit. The vaulting is usually, but not invariably, of the fan form ; in one instance, Castle Cary, I found fan tracery wrought in wood. In cross churches the chancel and belfry arches are brought together as members of the central lantern. Of this glorious feature Somersetshire possesses some exceed- ingly fine examples. Sometimes, indeed, as at Yatton and Wedmore, we find the small incongruous arches of an earlier church; but Ilminster, Crewkerne, Dunster, and Axbridge, all possess tall and stately Perpendicular lanterns. Among ON THE PERPENDICULAR OF SOMERSET. 45 them the tower of Ilminster retains its precedence within as well as without. The soffits of the four arches are panelled, but they are connected by a series of tall shafts with round capitals, almost, Perpendicular though they be, calling to mind the lantern of Merton College Chapel. They are crowned by a noble dome of fan tracery. Such is also the case at Axbridge; but the arches there are somewhat. plainer, more resembling those usual in the nave arcades. Crewkerne and Dunster are of inferior character, and the latter loses much of its beauty as a lantern, much as the church gains in point ‘of interest, by the Norman arch remaining immediately to the west of it. I have now done with architecture, and my scheme exeludes ecclesiology ; nevertheless, I cannot restrain one passing word of admiration for the two forms of pulpit common in this county,—the stone ones of Perpendicular date in the north, and those of wood in the cinque-cento style in the south. Still less can I omit the magnificent tood-lofts, more closely connected as they are with strietly architeetural eonsiderations, as giving more scope to the introduetion of those side turrets which often become important architectural features. I have now concluded two main branches of my subject; the exteriors and the interiors of the Perpendicular churches of Somerset. A third still remains, the relation of Somersetshire architecture to that of other parts of the kingdom. The imitations of it in South Wales I have often alluded to, both in these papers and elsewhere, and I shall hope to work out this branch more fully. But this is only part of the subject; I should wish diligently to 46 PAPERS, ETC. compare Somersetshire work with what occurs in the bordering distriets of Devon, Wilts, and Dorset. It would be also desirable to compare it with the other great land of Perpendicular, East Anglia, of which I know personally next to nothing, but where, from all I can gather, the style must assume a very different form. Whether I can make all these investigations before your next Annual Meeting is very doubtful; but I trust, that if not at that, at least at some subsequent one, I may be able to put so necessary a finish to the examination of a subject which, what with journeying, drawing, and writing, has been the business of many hours, which I am by no means inclined to regret as either unpleasantly or unprofitably spent. PERPENDICULAR TOWERS OF SOMERSET. 47 On the Perpendicular Comerz of Sumeraet. BY THE REY. F. WARRE, F all the varied beauties of the county we inhabit, well worthy as it is of its Celtic name, which Hearne translates “the laughing summer field,” none perhaps is more striking to the eye of the traveller, or more essentially connected in the mind of the native with its scenery, than the church towers,—Dundry erowning the peak of its lofty hill; Backwell relieved by the wooded side of Mendip; Mutton nestling among its elms; Yatton, Brent, Lymp- sham, Bridgwater, North Curry, Lyng, the two splendid towers of Taunton, Norton, Bradford, and Wellington, cannot fail to attract the notice of every passenger by the Bristol and Exeter Railway, while to the native who meets with them, now backed by the hill side, now breaking the levelmonotony of wide-stretehed moor, now buried among the dark green foliage of surrounding elms, or rising in calm majesty amidst undulating corn-fields and richly verdant meadows,—they become as much a part of the scenery, which, perhaps without his knowing it, is almost necessary to his comfort, as the hills, fields, and meadows themselves; and if his thoughts lead him deeper than mere impressions, he cannot but confess that they are not only caleulated to 48 PAPERS, ETC. raise his mind to higher and holier things than those of this world, but are also proofs of the gratitude of those who erected them to that Alinighty Being, who has given to the inhabitants of this favoured distriet all things richly to enjoy. Some of these beautiful edifices are no doubt of early date, but by far the greater number are of that style which Rickman has called Perpendicular ; and of these the majority are comparatively of late date in the style, having been built or modernized in the reigns of the two first monarchs of the Tudor dynasty, though no doubt many of them are somewhat earlier. The question has often been asked— what was there in the eircumstances of the times, to account for the great move in church building, which evidently took place between the reigns of Edward Ill. and Henry VIII.? Nor, as far as Iam aware, has any satisfactory answer been given to it. No doubt the splendid simplicity of the works of Edington and Wykeham gave a spur to the genius of Wainflete, and the builder of King’s College Chapel; but still the circumstances of the natiof at that time, occupied as it was by foreign wars and domestic commotions, do not seem to have been such as were likely to produce such works as these; nor can the local tradition, that these towers were built by Henry VIL, out of gratitude for the services of the faithful West to the Lancastrian cause, be admitted as satisfactory,—that selfish and caleulating monarch being more busily engaged in filling his own coffers, by the aid of such men as Empson and Dudley, than in expending vast sums in works of piety, though that elaborate specimen of stone panel work, his chapel at Westminster, is no doubt an exception. It has always appeared to me that a more satisfactory solution of the diffieulty might be found in the pious fore- PERPENDICULAR TOWERS OF SOMERSET. 49 sight ofthe Church herselt. The Romish establishment had been gradually losing its hold upon the affections of the people, even from the time of Richard II., when, under the patronage of John of Gaunt, Wickcliffe preached Refor- mation, and endeavoured to give the Scriptures to the laity. The grasping avarice of Henry VHO., and the extortion of which he was guilty, gave little hope that church property might long be respected ; and might not those sagacious men, who at that time directed the expen- diture of the revenues of the church, have read in the signs of the times a true warning of the fate which hung over the Romish establishment, and actually befel it in the following reign; and, by building these exquisite towers, have endeavoured to preserve to the church that part of its wealth which was available for the purpose, and being in the shape of money was in greater danger of secularization from the rapaeity of the crown than their landed property, though how little even that was secure from the unbounded avarice and despotic power of Henry VIIL, the fate of the monastic establishments but too clearly proves. But whatever was the cause of their erection, there they stand, the ornament and pride ofthe county, which a native, whose eye is accustomed to them, would probably not wish to exchange for the finest Early English Decorated steeples that ever pointed to heaven. But however much we may admire them, still if we would be really archaeologists, and not mere antiquaries, it it is our part not only to know and to admire the works of by-gone generations, but also to reason on them, — not merely to learn these things as sources of amusement, or even as subjects of curious investigation, but as things of practical utility, the knowledge of which may be pro- ductive of improvement to modern art; and though I am 1853, PART UI. G 50 PAPERS, ETC. not one of those enthusiasts who think that the time may come when the best decorated buildings will be thought only good specimens of transition work, or, on the other hand, that the architects of the fourteenth century had attained to absolute perfection,—still, if by eritieising the construction of these beautiful towers, I may, in a very humble degree, help to induce architects to take for their models the edifices of a time when the principles of Gothie architecture were more fully and correctly developed than they have ever been before or since; and by shewing that they are beautiful, not on account of, but in spite of, the prineiples on which they are built, help in some measure to check the taste for Perpendicular architecture, I may, perhaps, hope to prevent the perpetration of some outrages on good taste; for to educe what is beautiful from faulty prineiples, requires an amount of talent which, though these men certainly possessed it, falls to the lot of very few ; and though a close imitation of a beautiful work will probably itself be beautiful, still the attempt to build an original Perpendicular tower, too often, as faras I can judge, ends in producing an unsightly, though, it may be, elaborate, and expensive failure. Now I am not a professional architect, and cannot but feel that I am presumptuously intruding on the province of other persons in venturing to read this paper; but trusting to their kindness to excuse my want of technical knowledge, and to that of the audience at large, for my deficiencies of taste and judgment, I will proceed with my subject. That excellent architectural antiquary and very learned mathematician, the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, lays down the following principles as essential to complete Gothic architecture, —frame-work, lateral continuity, or wall work, spire-growth, and tracery,—of which the three first mag ‘Sy IE ‘apıumdnng ae kam meer ( ® = Ri = | x n 7 5 = "ar = IS = - — an: ' > —gp ü PERPENDICULAR TOWERS OF SOMERSET. 5l appear particularly to apply to towers; and if he be right, it follows that, so far as any building is deficient in these points, by so much it is defective as a Gothic design ; and what I shall endeavour to shew is, that as there was a gradually increasing recognition and development of these great principles, from the Romanesque to the Decorated, so a gradual neglect of them took place from that period to the end of the reign of Henry VIII, and that our later towers, commonly known as Henry VII. towers, are in fact as completely post-Gothic buildings as those German edifices to which the learned Professor applies that term. The accompanying plates, which are intended to illustrate this, represent a Venetian campanile and five Somerset- shire Perpendicular towers,—West Monkton, Wrington, Wellington, Bishop’s Lydeard, and St. Mary’s, Taunton. Now it will, I presume, be readily allowed that unity of design is essentially necessary to the perfection of a Gothic tower ;—I mean, that if any part of the building can be removed without injury to the general plan, it is clearly an excrescence; and though this excrescence may be in itself beautiful, it is a faulty principle for any important part of a building to be independent of the other parts, or, in other words, there should not be a pile of independent buildings one upon another, instead of one building standing on a sufficient base, and rising naturally as it were from it, continuously, and without break; and it is to produce this unity of design that the prineiples above mentioned are absolutely necessary in the construction of a tower. That they are necessary will, I think, appear from a slight inspection of the campanile, which, however beautiful it may be as a campanile, is certainly the very reverse of what a Gothic tower ought to be. It has no defined base, 52 PAPERS, ETC. but rises at once from the ground like an ancient Doric column. It has no frame-work, except its own outline against the sky. Its lateral continuity is destroyed by the fluting, and it is a square pier, or a shaft which, according to its size and the material of which it is composed, might serve for a thousand other purposes. Owing to the absence of frame-work, there is no necessary connection between its parts. The spire which cerowns it cannot possibly grow out of its base. It is, in fact, a square fluted shaft, having at one end a sort of shrine, a square box, and a spire, all perfeetly distinet and independent of each other, and altogether forming what, being of marble, of great size, and standing upright, is, I suppose, a very good campanile; but which, if about two feet long, made of wood, and furnished with a handle at the end, (which, as it has no defined base, may easily be imagined) would only require the Doge’s cap at the other end to make it quite as good a design for the staff of a Venetian constable, as for anything else; in fact, it isa Romanesque campanile, and not a tower at all, in the Gothic sense of the word. I have spoken of this campanile in what may appear a slighting tone, not with any intention of depre- ciating Italian architecture, of the merits and demerits of which I candidly own myself to be a totally incompetent judge, but merely to shew the immense importance of the principles above mentioned to that unity of design, which is indispensable to the construction of a perfect Gothic tower. That a frame-work enclosing the tower will conduce to the appearance of unity of design is obvious, but it is not of ‚itself sufficient, for it is very possible to fritter away the wall work enclosed, so as totally to counteract the effect of PERPENDICULAR TOWERS OF SOMERSET. 53 the frame; and it is manifestly impossible to enclose a spire within the same frame as the tower, which frame in fact is formed by the buttresses. Buttresses, then, are essential to a perfect tower, and ought to extend, at least apparently, as high as the cornice moulding. Great care should be taken in the arrangement of the windows and the treatment of panel work, ornamental niches, etc., lest the continuity of the wall work be frittered away; and the spire ought to grow as it were out of the base of the tower,—that is to say, if the lines of the spire be continued to the ground, the points at which they touch it ought to coincide with the external lines of the bases of the buttresses. I am not sure whether this is exactly the case or not with any spire ; but it will be found that those of the fourteenth century, at all events, approach nearer to it than those of any other period, while in many of our most admired Perpendicular towers, the principle of spire- growth is altogether abandoned, and those of frame work and lateral continuity very imperfectly carried out. Those early Romanesque towers, which are probably of Anglo-Saxon date, being destitute of buttresses, and having generally each story of rather smaller area than the one below, cannot really be said to have any frame work; for the pilaster-like strips of stone which we observe at Earls Barton, Sompting, and elsewhere, are in fact a mere matter of construction, performing the same office to the rubble masonry as the wooden frame, in what in these days is called a brick noggin, does to the brick work set in it; and have rather the effect of frittering away the lateral continuity, by dividing and subdividing the wall into small compartments, than of conveying any idea of unity in the design of the whole building ; while 54 PAPERS, ETC. each story, occupying as it often does a smaller area than the one below, is in fact an independent building, which might be removed without much alteration of the tower, beyond diminishing its height. In this, as well as in the Norman style, which I hold to be perectly distinct from it, there are no real spires. That at Sompting, as well as many to be met with on the Continent, being in fact roofs, in the construction of which there is no attempt at spire growth whatever, though the height of some of them may almost give them a title to the former appellation. In many Norman towers, the principle of frame work seems to be more completely develöped, the broad flat buttress at the angle of the tower being frequently carried up to the cornice-moulding, though in some cases it ceases below the belfry story, which in that case becomes an ex- erescence—a fault very characteristic of the latest, and, in general, most admired, type of our Perpendicular towers. The small size of the windows, the arcades running round all four sides of a story, the plain square, or semi-hexa- gonal string-courses, and the cornice, which has often the same projection as the buttresses, all conduce to the effect of lateral continuity and general unity of design. As we approach the close of the twelfth century, the Gothicizing element of the Norman Romanesque becomes more and more developed. In the place of walls of enor- mous thickness, and broad flat buttresses, the system of vaulting now introduced brought in, almost as a necessary consequence, thinner walls, and deep buttresses, while the vertical lines, gradually gaining the mastery over the hori- zontal, step by step converted the Romanesque into Gothic, until, in the thirteenth century, we have the well- developed Early English, with its deep buttresses, slender windows, and lofty spires. PERPENDICULAR TOWERS OF SOMERSET. 55 It is to this period that we owe such buildings as Wells, Lincoln, and Salisbury. Still, however, though during the prevalence of this style, the frame-work and lateral continuity of the towers may perhaps with truth be considered quite equal to those of the fourteenth cen- tury, the principle of spire-growth had not as yet attained its complete development. There are, I believe, not more than three or four instances of Early English diagonal buttresses in existence; and the effect of the buttresses being placed at right angles to the walls of a complete steeple is, ghat either the lines of the spire, if continued to the ground, fall outside the bases of the buttresses, causing an apparent want of stability in the whole fabrie, and at the same time rendering the tower and spire independent of each other; or, when this is avoided, the depth of the buttresses is so much increased as to appear exaggerated, and out of proportion to the rest of the building; or else the spire is so much dimin- ished in bulk, as to appear mean and insignificant. But during the next century this error was corrected, by placing the buttresses diagonally at the angles of the tower, by that means suggesting an octagonal base, within which the whole tower stands, and from which the spire rises naturally in the form of a slender octagonal pyramid ; and whatever means may be adopted torelieve the junction of the square tower with the octagonal spire,— whether a simple parapet, clusters of pinnacles, or a plain broach,—the effect of complete frame-work, unbroken lateral continuity, and good spire growth combined, is such that tower and spire together form a whole, rising naturally from a sufficient base, essentially connected in all its parts, and bearing throughout undoubted evidence of unity of design. Of the five Perpendicular towers, in the accompanying 56 PAPERS, ETC. illustration, the three first, West Monkton, Wrington, and Wellington, may certainly be termed Early, in contra- distinetion to the other two, Bishop’s Lydeard and St. Mary’s, Taunton. And though I have not been able actually to ascertain their dates, I believe I have mentioned them nearly in the order in which they were built, and I am inclined to think that neither of the first three is later than the reign of Henry VI., and neither of the two last earlier than that of Henry VII. I do not wish it to be supposed that these five specimens include every type of Perpendicular ;tower to be met with in this county, but they will be sufficient to illustrate what I wish to shew, namely, the difference of design which exists between the early and later towers of the Perpen- dieular period, and that our Henry VII. towers, such as Bishop’s Lydeard, St. James’s, Taunton, Chewton, Huish Episcopi, Kingston, Staple Fitzpaine, and particularly St. Mary’s, Taunton, which is frequently mentioned as the finest tower in the county, however beautiful in them- selves, are in fact post-Gothie buildings, inasmuch as the great prineiples of frame-work, lateral continuity, and spire growth are altogether negleeted in their construction, though this neglect may perhaps be more striking in some of them than in others. The first of these towers to which I shall draw your attention, and which I believe to be the earliest of the group, is West Monkton. It is, though very simple, a beautiful design, and having no spire, the effect of unity is very well preserved. It consists of three stories above the west door, separated by string courses, and contained within a frame-work composed of rectangular buttresses and a bold cornice moulding. In the belfry- story is one small window of two lights, and above the N EN PERPENDICULAR TOWERS OF SOMERSET. 57 door is a larger one of three lights, while the wall work of the second story being quite plain and unbroken, the effect of lateral continuity is in no degree destroyed: did not the position and size ofthe buttresses shew that the principle of spire-growth was neglected, it would perhaps present as perfeet a development of the prineiples of a Gothic tower as could easily be found even in fabrics of the fourteenth century. In the next, Wrington, the buttresses are rectangular, but, extending quite to the cornice-moulding, they form a per- fect frame-work to the whole tower, which consists exter- nally of only two stories above the west door, in the lower of which is a large window, while the upper is occupied by the mullions and tracery of two narrow windows, separated by a sort of buttress, or rather pinnacle, rising from the string-course between the stories. The upper part of these windows being pierced, gives light to the belfry, having altogether the effect of a very fine Jantern rising from the top of the lower story, but which, having its base so low down, and being contained, together with the rest of the tower, within a perfect frame-work, forms, with the lower part of the tower, essentially one design; while the effect of lateral continuity is in great measure preserved by the mass of unbroken wall between the top of the large win- dow and the base of the lantern. Wellington tower, though much plainer, is in design very similar to Wrington. As there, there are ‚externally only two stories above the west door, but the lantern being quite plain, with the exception of two small windows in the belfry, and the wall-work being unbroken from the top ofthe large window to the base of those in the belfry, except by one string-course, the effect of lateral con- 1853, PART 1. H 58 PAPERS, ETC. tinuity is perhaps more perfectly preserved than even at Wrington. In these three towers, the only great principle which seems to have been neglected is that of spire-growth ; for lines drawn from the base of the rectangular buttresses, to a point above the tower, would either extend to an impos- sible height, or else form a spire utterly disproportioned in bulk to the area of the square tower on which it would stand. If, however, it berequired to build a Perpendicular tower, it appears to me that they would afford a model infinitely superior to any to be derived from the more elaborate and more generally admired Henry VII. towers, which I will now proceed to describe. With all its faults of design, Bishop’s Lydeard probably presents as graceful and pleasing a specimen of a Tudor tower, as can be met with anywhere. It consists of four stories, of which that at the base is much the highest, and is occupied by a door with spandrils, and alarge window of five lights, immediately above which is a bold string-course. The two next stories are equal to each other in height, and each contains one window of two lishts. Above these is the belfry, which stands on a sort of broach, slightly receding from the face of the wall, having two windows considerably larger than those of the stories immediately below, above which is a bold cornice-moulding, a very beautiful pierced parapet with high pinnacles at the angles, and a smaller one at the centre of each side. The but- tresses stand at right angles to the walls of the tower, and only extend to the base of the belfry story, ending in pinnacles, which are carried up outside the angles of the belfry to about half its height. It is built of red sand- stone, the masonry is particularly g00d, the mouldings and ornaments well and boldly executed ; and from the beauty Mary Magdalen, Tauntun. Bt. PERPENDICULAR TOWERS OF SOMERSET. 59 of its situation, the rich colour of its material, and the elaborate workmanship of its details, is certainly a very striking edifice. But it has many and great faults. In the first place the frame-work is incomplete, extending only to the base of the belfry story, which is, in fact, a square lantern of great beauty and elaborate workmanship, but quite independent of the design of the tower, which in reality finishes at its base, from which point a broach spire might have risen naturally enough, though even then its growth would have been imperfect, owing to the position of the buttresses. The string-courses of the second and third stories are at the same level as the sets-off of the buttresses, so that either of them might be removed, and little alteration would be seen except in the height and proportion of the tower. Owing to the size and height of the lower window, there is a defieieney of unbroken wall work in the west front, which is however in some degree obviated on the south side by the whole basement story being plain and unbroken, giving - an appearance of firmness to that side which is wanting to the west front, where the lantern, rising above the rec- tangular buttresses, renders the whole top-heavy, and gives the appearance of the tower standing on too small a base for security. Beautiful as it certainly is, it has no spire- growth, its frame-work is incomplete, and there is an apparent want of lateral continuity and oneness of design. In short, if I am right in my view of what is essentially necessary to the design of a penfeet Gothic tower, it is to all intents and purposes a post Gothic building. But if this be the case with Bishop’s Lydeard, it is far more so with St. Mary’s, Taunton, where all these faults are exaggerated, and where, in addition to incomplete frame-work, an independent lantern, and entire negleet of 60 PAPERS, ETC. spire-growth, the lateral continuity is totally destroyed by its double windows, its top-heaviness and instability increased by the disproportionate size of its magnificent pinnacles, the base even on the south side being apparently weakened by the insertion of three niches in the mass of wall, and the smallness of the area of its base, together with the lamentably decayed state of the stone of which it is built, altogether give such an appearance of insecurity, as to render a distant view, at least to me, much more agreeable than a close one. At the beginning of my paper I apologised for intruding upon the province of professional architects ; I will, there- fore, now say no more than this, —that I am quite aware that, if I have performed my task at all, I have done so in a very imperfect and slovenly manner. But if my view has any truth in it, and I cannot help thinking that it has some, I will conclude, not altogether without hope that these hints, in the hands of scientific men, may perhaps be productive of some slight good to the practice of ecclesiastical architecture. PALAEONTOLOGY OF THE LIAS. 61 On the Pnlarontulagy af the Aline and Upper Linz. BY MR. CHARLES MOORE, N my school-boy days, my half holidays were often spent in collecting the Ammonites with which the beds of the Upper Lias in the neishbourhood of Ilminster abound, for the purpose of rubbing them down to shew their sparry chambers; but having soon to engage in the active bustle of life, this amusement was quickly forgotten. During my residence in Bath a few years since, an occasional ramble into the quarries around it, served to revive a dormant taste for geology, a taste which when once cultivated is rarely lost. To those whom this science interests, nature presents herself in newer and more attrac- tive forms, and whether it be in wonder at the mighty forces that have been in action in raising our mountain chains to their present elevations, and thereby exposing to our view riches which otherwise would have been unknown, and without which our favoured country could not have attained its present glory ; whether we consider the more gradual operations of former seas, to the agency of whose waters the neighbourhood of this fair city especially, and 62 PAPERS, ETC. the country generally are indebted for the pleasing and varied characters they present; or whether we enter the field of organic life, and by a more minute examination, study the workings and the ways of Providence, so far as they have been revealed to us, we are enabled to see the handy-work of an all-powerful Designer, who appears to have been superintending all for the comfort and happiness of His creatures, and who when He rested from His work (if in our sense of the word He can be said to do so) could with infinite truth pronounce that all His works were good. About the time my attention was re-directed to Geology, an incident occurred at Ilminster which more particularly caused me to consider it a field of no little geological interest. An old school house was being renovated, and two of the boys were amusing themselves with a pebble or nodule they had found in the rubbish. This in rolling from one to the other separated, and by a lucky chance the pieces were looked at and preserved. In the centre, and naturally at the point of separation, was a beautiful fish of the extinet genus Pachycormus. As my visits to Ilminster were then but for a few days at a time, it is only since my residence there, that I have been able to arrive at a general knowledge of the beds and their contents. Until very recently these beds, which belong to the Marlstone or middle Lias and the upper Lias, were sup- posed to be members of the Inferior Oolite,—which was an error; for not only have they a well marked position between the lower or blue Lias, which is found at Twerton and in places near Bath, and the Inferior Oolite, which also has an extensive development there, but they have organic remains peculiarly their own, and altogether distinct from those of either formation. Some confusion may arise in PALAEONTOLOGY OF THE LIAS. 63 studying these beds, from the fact, that at the base of the Marlstone resting on the higher members of the lower Lias, there are beds of yellow micaceous sand, very similar to the lowest beds of the Inferior Oolite, and which may be readily mistaken the one for the other, and the more so from their containing but few distinctive organic remains. On the lower sand are the workable beds of the Marlstone or middle Lias, which have a thickness of from ten to twenty feet. Next in ascending order is a thin bed of greenish sand, prineipally characterized by containing innumerable Belemnites, an internal shell to an anımal like the Cuttle Fish. These Belemnites also abound in the stone below. Then comes another thin bed of stone. With this the middle Lias terminates, and with one solitary exception, there is an entire change in the nature of the organic remains from those contained in the beds above. The upper Lias commences with laminated clays about two feet in depth. About the centre of these there is an occasional bed of yellow limestone, having an average thickness of three or four inches, than which, from the nature of the remains it encloses, or for the beauty of their preservation, there can rarely be a bed of greater interest. Above succeed thin bands of rubbly stone and clay, on which, above all, is seen the sand of the Inferior Oolite. One of the best sections may be seen at Shepton Beauchamp, near Ilminster. Compared in thickness with the great series of formations, the beds I am speaking of appear insignificant, and their development is not considerable. At Ilminster they have a range of a few miles towards South Petherton and Yeovil; they are found on the Tor Hill at Glastonbury, at Radstock, in the cutting of the Railway at Box, again at Cheltenham, after which Iam not aware that they are found until the Yorkshire coast is reached. 64 PAPERS, ETC. During one of my visits to Ilminster, happening to go into a quarry which had not been worked for some years, I found a small piece of stone having traces of the rib bones of an Ichthyosaurus. As no more could then be found, I was somewhat careless about its preservation. However, it was preserved. Next year, in the same place, I found another piece, which was also taken care of. This was the more fortunate, since two years after, in visiting the same locality, I perceived in the section of the quarry indications of more of the creature, and piece by piece I was enabled to disentomb a Saurian, the first traces of which I had four years before discovered. Owing to a considerable amount of other geological labour, I have not finished clearing this specimen, and if I had, it would have been too large to have brought with me. I have therefore been con- tent to bring but a small part of it as its representative. In the elay in which this specimen was found are some am- monites, and I thought, when at work, I had dug upa ‘couple, and was about to throw them away; but seeing a pecularity in them, I was led to look more narrowly, and then I found it was part of the Ichthyosaurus,— actually its eyes lying loose in the clay. They display very distinctly the character of the eye of the Ichthyosaurus, which is made up of a number of horny plates—in fact, they served the purpose of a telescope, and, by being contracted or enlarged, enabled the creature to see to a greater or lesser distance, a provision of Providence, which the more readily enabled it to supply its voracious appetite. Nothing came amiss to it, even the young and the weaker ofits own kind, being occasionally made to minister to its wants. Ofthese Saurians, including those from the lower Lias, I have many fine specimens. In the lower Lias the Plesiosaurus is associated with the Ichthyo- PALAEONTOLOGY OF THE LIAS. 65 “ saurus, but I have never obtained any traces of it in the Middle or Upper Lias, although it is found occasionally in the beds above. Not the least interesting, because more rare, amongst the Saurians, is the Teleosaurus, which first appears in the beds I am speaking of. Unlike its relatives, the Ichthyosaur and Plesiosaur, which had soft skins, the Teleosaurus is covered with bony scutes or scales, and bears a close resem- blance to the gavial ofthe present day. One specimen in my possession died with its head almost erect. The bony scales in this have been just enough displaced, to enable me to develope the vertebral column, and other parts of the skeleton, a work requiring no little care and labour. The vertebre are much more elongate than those of the Ichthyosaurus. Another specimen, a head only, has its jaws well armed with sharp teeth, nearly one hundred and fifty in number, and it is as perfect as the first moment it was covered up. A third is a baby Saurian, and although but thirteen inches in length, is neverthe- less in most perfect preservation. Its bony scales are undisturbed, except where covering its stomach. Their loss in the latter case was a fortunate circumstance. I have before mentioned that animals of this class are voracious. This one has not eaten one ofits own young, but there is now in its stomach the last meal it was destined to devour—a small fish of the genus Leptolepis. The Teleosaurus in some instances attained considerable size. By way of comparison with my little specimen, I would notice one belonging to the Museum of the Literary Institution of Bath, found in the Oxford Clay of Wiltshire. It is a head, and looks at first sight as much like the trunk of a tree as the head of an extinet 1853, PART II. I 66 PAPERS, ETC. creature. The specimen to which this belonged must have been twenty feet in length. With these Saurians are asso- ciated fishes of several genera. The largest prevailing form is the Pachycormus. Hugh Miller, in his “ Footprints of the Creator,” vividly describes the perfectness of some of the specimens disintombed by him, in the Old Red Sand- stone, which at one time was considered to have but few organic remains. With them what was once the blood, and muscles, and nerves of the ancient fish, still lie under their bones, sometimes assuming the appearance of thick tar, at others being more indurated, so that it may be used toler- ably well as wax for sealing aletter. He says the specimens may have been broken ere they were first covered up, or in being disentangled from their rigid embrace, but that they have caught no harm under its care. This may be said of the Pachycormus of the Upper Lias, and although the specimens retain no traces of animal matter, there does not, in some instances, appear to have beena scale disturbed, and even their fins are extended as if at the moment of their destruction they were in the act of progression. It would seem as though they had been sporting in a tranquil estuary, until by an irruption of muddy water they were suffocated, for in most instances the fish of this genus have perished with their mouths open, as if gasping for the element necessary to their existence. Perhaps the specimen of most interest amongst these fishes, is one which has been in the hands ofseveral eminent Ichthyologists, who as yet have been unable to determine its affinity to any fossil or existing genus. In clearing it, I at first worked out the upper part ofthe head, which is remarkably flat, and when only partly uncovered, it looked not unlike a toad. Being unable to ascertain what it was, PALAEONTOLOGY OF THE LIAS. 67 I commenced operations on the other side, and I then found it was part of the head of a fish, which I succeeded in completely removing from its matrix, clearing the roof of the mouth, and luckily preserving three or four small teeth in the upper jaw, which appear to have been all it had left when it was covered up. The lower jaw is entirely wanting. The genus ‘of fishes most abundant is the Leptolepis. They are of small size, and the specimens may be seen to vary from an inch to three or fourin length. In the whole, I have about 100 of this genus, some of them being new species. One has been described by Sir Philip Egerton, in the Sixth Decade, published by the Geolo- gical Society, under the name of Leptolepis concentricus. There are also traces of the genera Pholodopheras and Dapedium. The discovery of the remains of insects of several species was noticed by Dr. Buckland, in his Bridgwater Treatise ; but it was not then known, or even suspected, that any- thing like an enlarged and correet data of the entomology of a former world could ever be arrived at. And no wonder. One can account for the enamelled scales and bones of fishes, and the testaceous coverings of other animals being preserved ; but how could it be supposed that an organiza- tion so delicate as is presented in the forms of some of the insecet world, could be preserved through ages, of the dura- tion of which we can form but little conception. Nevertheless such is the case. In the bed containing these fishes and saurians, there are indelibly impressed the remains of insects in great variety. The gaudy dragon fly, the ephemera, with its short day of life, and the minuter creatures whose sportive dances may be noticed in our daily walks, are there. The order Coleoptera, with their hard wing cases, too abound, 68 PAPERS, ETC. but the description of Collins in his “Ode to Evening,” could not be correctly applied to them. He says: « Now air is hushed, save Where the beetle winds His small but sullen horn ; As oft he rises ’midst the twilight path, Against the pilgrim, borne in heedless hum ;” for these creatures were not seen by mortal eye, nor was their hum musie to mortal ear. Upwards of 1000 insects have been obtained by me in this bed, belonging to various orders. So perfect are they in some instances that the nervures of the wings are to be distinctly seen, and some of the Coleopterous insects seem to be staring at you, their eyes being at times well defined in the stone. They are found in all stages, from the caterpillar, the larva, to the perfect insect. Contemporaneously with my obtaining these insects, the Rev. Peter Brodie had been employed in the same work in Gloucestershire, which he has recorded in his book on the “Insects of the Secondary Formations ;” but those described by him are principally from the Lower Lias, and the Wealden, although he notices their presence in the bed from which I have obtained my series. Of the order Crustacea, animals having hard crusts or coverings, there are remains of various families ; but ina perfect state they are not numerous. They are represented by the lobster, the prawn, and the shrimp. In the beds of elay ofthe Upper Lias the loose claws of erustaceans are very frequent. All the specimens I have hitherto mentioned have been found in the thin bed of Yellow Limestone, which may well be designated the saurian, fish, and insect bed. It was no doubt deposited either in an estuary, or near a coast, and PALAEONTOLOGY OF THE LIAS. 69 during a time of comparative quiet. There are frequent traces of carbonized wood, and one piece had evidently been floating on the surface of the water before it was covered up, for a colony of Cirripides, to which family our Barnacle belongs, had made it their resting place, and were covered up withit. That the bed has not been subject to any violent action of the sea, may be inferred from the fact that the nodules are not rolled—they are generally flatter on their under side, shewing that they have not been moved out of their position. The bed was probably once continuous, but now it is found in fragmentary and detached parts, of greater or less size, the softer parts having given way to the continuous action of the water. Where any organic remains were enclosed, the stone has become more indu- rated; the nodules are then generally worn down so as to assume the form of the skeletons they cover; from this cause I have in some instances been able to tell the genus of a fish enclosed in one of them, without seeing any part of it. Another reason why it must have been deposited near a coast, would be arrived at from the state in which the insects are preserved; for had they been carried far out to sea, they could not have been in the same condition. Vegetable remains are not uncommon, and now and then a fruit is to be found. Those of you who are in the habit of frequenting the sea side may know a fish which the fishermen call the Ink Fish. It is the Cuttle fish, and the Cuttle bone may frequently be picked up on the sands of the sea shore. It is related to the Nautilus, but not like it, having an external shell, Providence has provided it with another means of defence, in giving it a bag containing a black fluid, which, when in danger, it discharges, darkening the water in its immediate neighbourhood, and thereby endeavouring to es- 70 PAPERS, ETC. cape its enemies. The Cuttle fish is an ugly looking, and sometimes a formidable creature. Itis provided with arms, which are arranged around its mouth, covered with power- ful suckers and horny hooks; with these it firmly lays hold of, and endeavours to secure, its prey. In the Indian seas it attains considerable size, and an instance is recorded of its climbing up the side of a boat, and fastening itself upon one of its occupants, who could only be released by cutting off the arms of his formidable antagonist. It is from these the sepia used for painting is prepared. Ina nodule I have opened, there is the ink bag of a Cuttle Fish with its ink perfeetly preserved, which, with a little trouble, would be ready for use. In the bed whose contents have so far formed the subject of my paper, there have not yet been found any traces of the Pierodactyle, a flying reptile, the remains of which have been found in the Lower Lias, and more frequently in the Oolite and chalk above, nor are there any traces of birds, although during the deposition of the New Red Sandstone, if we may judge by the impressions of footsteps, left in numerous instances when it must have been in the state of a soft mud, they must have abounded. But what is remark- able, none of their bones have ever been found in it. Another important class is wanting; viz: Mammalia, the first remains of which are found in the Stonesfield Slate above. I do not despair that these may some day be found to have their representatives in the Upper Lias. Leaving this bed of Yellow Limestone, we will shortly consider the organic remains that are to be found in other portions of the series. In the Marlstone, are several species of Ammonites and Nautili, but they are more frequent in the beds of the Upper Lias, where thousands are to be found. One species, and the most abundant, is Ammonates PALAEONTOLOGY OF THE LIAS. zul Walcottü ; and, although so numerous, the species appears to have found its last resting place in these beds, as it has never been found in those of a later age. The class Brachiopoda, animals having long extensile arms, to which the Spirifer and Terebratula belong g, are numerously re- presented. The state in which some of the Spirifers are found, has enabled disseetions to be made of their interiors ; and an enlarged sketch of the remarkable structure they present, may be seen in the volume of the Palsontographical Society for 1850. Having paid more than ordinary atten- tion to shells of this family, I have been able to add ma- terially to known forms. Until lately, only fourteen species belonging to the genera Lingula, Orbicula, Spirifer, and Terebratula, were published, from all the Lias beds of this country. Three new genera, viz: Leptena, Thecidea, and Crania, including in the whole nineteen species, have since been figured and described by my friend Mr. Davidson, in the last year’s volume of the Paleontographical Society, from my collec- tion, since which I have discovered about ten others, thereby increasing the species in this family, from the Lias from fourteen to forty-three. The Lepten@ were supposed to have become extinct at the termination of the Palxozoie period; but as five or more species existed at the time of the deposition of the Upper Lias, this was not the case, but they have become much degenerated in size, one species, the Leptena Bou- chardii, not being much larger than the head of a good sized pin. These shells are found in the beds of clay in- tervening between the Marlstone and the fish bed. They seem to have been deposited very slowly; and although they are of inconsiderable thickness (in the whole but 72 PAPERS, ETC. twenty-four inches), almost every inch of clay seems to have a shell peculiar to itself, not found higher or lower; the deposition of such a minute part of the earth’s crust being the period during which a new species was intro- duced, again to become extinet. For instance, the Zeptena Mooreüi, with which is associated Leptena Bouchardii, is found only in the first inch, resting on the Marlstone ; the latter passes a little higher, and is then lost. Above these is found a new species, and the smallest known Spi- rifer— Spirifer Ilminsteriensis, which has its habitat, if Imay so speak, in a higher band of clay. These shells can only be obtained by washing the beds—a process somewhat similar to that pursued by the Australian gold seekers, but unfortunately not so profitable.. I mentioned that I had found but one species of shell common to the beds of the Middle and Upper Lias, that was a solitary specimen of Spirifer rostratus, which is as yet the last Spnrifer. There is a remarkable persistence in the distribution of organic remains, in beds of the same age, over large areas. If a piece of clay were sent to me from however remote a country, and it contained a single specimen of a species of Leptena identical with one in the Upper Lias, the con- clusion would at once be arrived at, that the beds were equivalents. Since these Brachiopods have been described, they have been sought for on the continent; and I have lately been informed that M. Deslongchamp, an eminent French geologist, has obtained them from beds in the neighbourhood of Caen, in Normandy, but associated with some new forms not yet found here. I have also heard that one of my species of Thecidea, a shell not so large as a pea, has been obtained at the Kitzburg, in the Austrian Alps. In a paper such as the present, it is impossible to notice PALAEONTOLOGY OF THE LIAS, 73 in detail all the organic remains such beds yield. The Echinodermata enter largely into the composition of some of them. Their spines are innumerable, but I have not been able to obtain more than seven or eight perfect spe- cimens of the shell. This may be partly accounted for when its complicated structure is considered. It is made up of upwards of 2,000 plates; and if the shell was washed about before being covered up, the plates would readily be disjointed and scattered. There are also frag- mentary remains of the Star Fish. One of this family has the power of breaking itself to pieces. Professor Forbes mentions how he was taken in by one of them. He had been dredging off the coast, and caught a Zuxdia, which he got into his boat perfect. When about to remove it, to his surprize, he found it had dissolved itself. The next time he went out, he was determined not to be so cheated ; he therefore carried a bucket, which, when a Luidia came up, he sank to the mouth of the dredge, and gently proceeded to raise the specimen. Whether the cold air was too much for him, or the bucket too terrific, is not known, but in a moment he proceeded to dissolve his corporation, and at every mesh of the dredge his fragments were seen escaping. In despair, he grasped at the largest, and brought up the extremity of an arm, with its termina- ting eye, the spinous eyelid of which opened and shut, with something exceedingly like a wink of derision. In the Marlstone, Sponges are occasionally found; and two new species of Corals have been described, from my collec- tion, by M. Milne Edwards, the Director of the Garden of Plants, at Paris. Not more than two other species have, I believe, been found in the Lias. From the investigations of scientific men, it is now known that organie life exists in beings so inconceivably small, as 1853, PART UI. K 74 PAPERS, ETC. to require the most powerful mieroscopes for their develope- ment; and they have also proved to us that such beings have existed in much earlier times, and that their skeletons have added more to the crust of the earth, than those of animals of a greater size and higher organization. In the tertiary beds, and the chalk, they have for some time been known to abourd. So inconceivably minute are some of them, that in an article, which is called Tripoli powder, used by servants for polishing plate, and which is wholly composed of shells ofthese creatures, as many as forty thousand millions are congregated in the space of a cubie inch; and they form beds of considerable thickness and extent. When those monuments which have so long with- stood the levelling hand of time, the Pyramids of Egypt, were erected, they were probably intended as memorials of their designer’s glory; but in their erection more than this was done, for they are monuments displaying the wonder- ful works of Providence. The stone of which they are built is an aggregation of the remains of ereatures once endowed with life. It is a limestone, composed of the Nummulitte, a small shell belonging to the family Foraminifera. On the microscopic shells of this class, from the tertiary basin of Vienna, a work has been edited by D’Aubigny, for the Austrian Government. He mentions the occurrence of several species in the Oolites and Lias, and they are also stated to have been found by Mr. Phillips, in the Limestone of Cannington Park, near Bridgwater. If so, this would be the oldest bed in which they have been found. For some years I have been oceupied in forming a series from the Lias, and with considerable success. It now consists of many thousands of specimens, amongst which fifty new species have been determined; but their description is a work yet to be done. Owing to their size, this is not to PALAEONTOLOGY OF THE LIAS. 75 be effected without some trouble and perseverance. Notwithstanding that all the animals of this class are of a simple kind, and low in the point of organization, nature has been lavish in the eccentricity and beauty of their outer coverings. As it is not probable you can clearly distinguish the forms of the shells themselves, I have pre- pared some enlarged drawings of a few ofthe genera, which will shew you how varied and curious are their structures. I need scarcely tell you, that neither the remains of man, nor his works, are to be found in the beds of which I have been speaking. The fossilized skeleton of a negro is in the British Museum, but this was found in a bed now in course of formation, on the coast of one of the West India islands. In the year 1725 some remains were found, about which a German philosopher wrote a treatise, in which they were described as an antediluvian man, one of the wicked beings who perished at the flood. Unfortunately he overlooked several important facts, that the specimen had no teeth, that there were no ribs, and, worst of all, that attached to the body there was a very long tail. This specimen would have been a very lucky one for the author of the “ Vestiges of Creation,” who could have argued most learnedly, that, in our higher developement from this period, we had left this important appendage behind us. These remains have since been proved to belong to a Salamander. The world, then, on which proud man has now his brief resting place, has long been a scene of life, and a manifes- tation ofeternal wisdom and benevolence. The grand object of Providence seems to have been to provide the greatest happiness and enjoyment for His creatures. But why should mortal man be proud ? for he only shares, in common with all God’s ereatures, in His benevolence; and if he refuses an acknowledgement of his Creator’s goodness, there 76 PAPERS, ETC. shall still ascend, as there has during the mutations oftime, a hymn of gratitude and praise, from universal nature, to His throne. « Was ever faltering tongue of man, Almighty Father ! silentin Thy praise, Thy works themselves would raise a general voice, Even in the depths of solitary woods, By human foot untrod, proclaim Thy power; And with the choir celestial Thee resound, The eternal cause, support, and end of all.” ST -T ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. Oi the Ruman Kemaing diaravered in Bath. BY THE REV. H. M. SCARTH. R. Wright, in his work called “ The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon,” p. 143, says: “ The extensive and rich district between 'Sorbiodunum, Old Sarum,fand Glevum, Glos’ter, was covered in every di- rection with extensive and rich villas, marking it out as the most fashionable part ofthe island. In its centre stood acity, remarkable for its splendid edifices, its temples, its buildings for publie amusement, and still more so for its medicinal baths. For this latter reason it was called Aqus& Solis, the waters of the sun, and for the same cause its representative in modern times has received the name of Bath. Remains of the Roman bathing houses have been discovered‘in the course of modern excavations. Among its temples was a magnificent one dedicated to Minerva, who is supposed to have been the patron Goddess of the place. From inscriptions found at different periods, it ap- pears that military commanders, high municipal oflicers, and other persons of rank, frequented this city for the benefit of its waters, and perhaps to mix in its fashionable society.” 78 PAPERS, ETC. The following paper isintended to contain a briefaccount ofsome of the Roman antiquities of Bath, which have been dug up at various periods in and around the city, and which have been described by various eminent writers, as Guidott, Governor Pownall, Wamer in his Illustrations and his History of Bath, Mr. Whitaker in the Antijacobin Review, and drawn and engraved by Lysons, with descriptions, and which have also been treated of by Leland, in his Itinerary, Camden, and Horsley. Some engravings of these antiqui- ties have been given by Warner, in his History of Bath, and a plan of the Roman Bath discovered some years since. Engravings are also found in Horsley’s Britannia Romana, and in Guidott; but owing to the great improvement in the art of engraving, these illustrations are very inferior to what might be made at the present day ; and it is much to be wished that an illustrated catalogue could be published in the best style of the art of modern engraving. Mr. Lysons’ illustrations are beautifully executed, and very faithful, but the work is too large and expensive for general use, and contains only a portion of the remains still existing. Mr. Hunter has with infinite care and neatness arranged a catalogue of the various Roman antiquities now in the museum of the Institution. This catalogue is most valuable, as containing not only a faithful list and correct account of the Roman remains, but references to all the notices which have been made by Guidott, Warner, Lysons, Whitaker, and others, and is the work of a very learned and accurate scholar. It is by this catalogue that I have chiefly been guided, in endeavouring to draw up a succinct account of the Roman remains of Bath. The question of the first colonization of Bath by the Romans is involved in much obscurity, and nothing cer- tain is known respecting it. Warner, in his History, regards ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 79 it as first colonized in the time of Claudius, who made an expedition into this island, and he fixes the building of the town about the year A.D. 44, and supposes that it is to Seribonius, the Physieian of Claudius, that we owe the diseovery of the medieinal properties of the waters, and their subsequent general use. He conceives that Claudius first gave orders for the building of a city, and on his return home left a portion of the Second Legion to build the town, and to colleet the hot springs, and render them available for bathing and medical uses. This is merely conjecture, and as no proof is given of the fact, we must in this in- stance rest contented with the probability. According to Whitaker, the country was not reduced before the year 50 of our era, six years after Warner’s erection of the townand station, “ As in that very year a battle was fought betwixt the Romans and Britons, a few miles south of Bath, sufhi- eiently important to cause the fabrication of a con, and the erection of a trophy. (Camden 168, Edit. 1607). We do not find a single memorial of Claudius, among all that have been dug up of Roman relies at Bath. The highest that any of those relics ascend, is the Emperor immediately subsequent to Claudius. In digging the foundations of a new hot bath, near the Cross Bath, and in removing the rubbish to get at the head of the spring of the hot bath, and to make a new reservoir, a great number of Roman copper and brass coins ofthe Emperors were found, many of them in fine preservation. They were of the Antonines, Trajan, Adrian, and Nero. The last is a proof of the anti- quity of these baths. We infer from this that the baths were first formed in Nero’s reign, but enlarged or ornamented in the reign of Adrian, Trajan, and Antonine.” All towns were but stations at first, and only a few became colonies, 80 PAPERS, ETC. or colonial, afterwards. Of these Camalodunum was the first, and not Aqux Solis, or Bath. Camalodunum was made a Roman colony, A.D. 52, having been established by Ostorius, one of the generals of the Emperor Claudius. The late Rev. John Skinner has written a very able treatise, in the form of a letter, which is published in Phelps’s History of Somerset, vol. II., in which he argues with much learning and ingenuity, and, I must add, with great appearance of truth, that the site of the ancient Camalodunum was neither Colchester nor Malden, in Essex, as Leland and Camden suppose, but Camerton, in Somersetshire, not far from Bath. In this spot, which had been previously occupied by the Kings of the Belg®, as the capital of the distriet, Ostorius established a strong colony of veterans. From this point he marched to the conquest ofthe Silures, who were a bold intractable race, inhabiting South Wales. The position of Camerton suits better for such an enterprize than Col- chester or Malden. Both these places, as Mr. Skinner observes, were situated beyond the bounds of the Roman province, and far away from the Severn and Avon rivers, and the scene of the subsequent operations of Ostorius. We read in Tacitus that he established a line of fortified camps along these rivers, as a curb against the irruptions of the Silures. Pliny asserts that Camalodunum was distant 200 miles from Mona, or Anglesea, which Ostorius was preparing to attack when the news of the insurrection of the Britons, under Boadicea, obliged him to desist. Now Colchester and Malden are distant from Anglesea more than 320 miles. Before the Romans settled in Britain, there were forts to guard the passes of the Avon. Ostorius found all these boundary camps established, which ren- ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 8l dered the distriet of Camalodunum, in the time of Cyno- belin, a strong position ; but he made it still more secure by connecting them together by military roads. Camalodunum was destroyed by the Queen Boadicea full fifty years before Ptolemy, or the author of the Itinerary of Antonine, wrote, and there is little doubt that the head quarters of the legionary soldiers in these parts were transferred to Bath as soon as the victory of Suetonius Paulinus, by the destruc- tion of the Brigantes of Grloucestershire, added that terri- tory to the Roman conquests. Very striking traces of the uses made by the legionaries and other inhabitants of the city, of its healing waters, were discovered in the year 1755, (in elearing the foundation of the Abbey-house,) at which time a building, conjectured by some to be the ancient Baths, was laid open. These remains were found at the depth of twenty feet below the surface of the earth, four feet deeper than any other remains discovered here, which leads to the supposition that they were amongst the oldest and most striking works in the place. Their position occupied nearly the centre of the Ro- man city, which was in the form of an irregular pentagon, having five walls, and four gates, facing the cardinal points, and connected by two streets, running in direct lines, and intersecting each other in the centre of the eity. Some remains of these walls were discovered in 1795. From what was then laid open, the masonry appeared to be of the best style. They were about fifteen feet in thickness, widening gradually as they descended, of extreme hardness, and most compact consisteney. They were constructed like similar Roman walls, in the style which „Vitruvius calls Diamiceton. Those, however, who are curious in Roman masonry, are referred to Mr. Bruce’s excellent account of the “ Barrier of the lower Isthmus,” or the great wall running 1853, PART II. L 82 PAPERS, ETC. between Carlisle and Newcastle —a work of the greatest interest, and full ofcarefully arranged antiquarian matter. The walls of the city are said to have had five angular towers, one at each corner of the wall. The Building supposed by some to be the Bath, occupied nearly the centre of the space, on which the eity stood. The length of the foundation discovered, was about two hundred and forty five feet from E. to W., and the breadth one hundred and twenty feet at the broadest part from N.toS. Warner has given a description of what he calls the Bath, taken from the History of Somersetshire. The remains did not long continue open to the public, as modern buildings were soon ereeted over them. A plan of these Baths was made by Dr. Lucas, who published a good account of what he saw, which was afterwards improved and enlarged by Dr. Sutherland, for his work published in 1763, entitled, “ Attempts to revive ancient medical doctrines,” 2 vols. In this work are many curious particulars respecting Bath, and in it first appeared that engraving of the remains which is copied into Gough’s Camden ; many of the tiles of which the pillars were formed, that supported the floor of the Suda- tory, and the hollow tiles for flues around the walls of the same apartment, are preserved in the crypt ofthe Institution. Whitaker is of opinion that the remains ofthe building usually considered to be the ancient Roman Baths, was the Pretorium. He says, (p. 125) “the whole appears to have been a large building, erected by the Romans, on the site of the Abbey-house, and containing a centre with two wings.” The eastern wing was discovered first ; and Dr. Lucas examined it, with the assistance of Mr. Wood, the architect. “Under the foundation ofthe Abbey-house,” he tells us, “full ten feet deep, appear traces of a Bath, whose dimensions are forty-three feet, by thirty-four feet. Within, and adjoin- ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 83 ing to the walls, are the remains of twelve pilasters. This Bath stood north and south. To the northward of this room, parted only by a slender wall, adjoined a semicircular Bath, measuring from E.to W. fourteen feet four inches, and the other way, eighteen feet ten inches. In this semicircular Bath was placed a stone chair, eighteen inches high, and sixteen inches broad. To the Bath were two flights of steps, the flight divided by a stone partition, and the steps seeming to have been worn by use three inches and a half out of the square. Eastward of these stairs was an elegant room on each side, sustained by four pilasters. To the eastward of this were other apartments, consisting of two large rooms, each measuring thirty-nine feet by twenty-two. Each had a double floor ; on the lower stood four rows of pillars, composed of square bricks. These pillars sustain a second floor, composed of tiles, over which are laid two layers of firm cement mortar, each about two inches thick. One of these rooms was northward, the other southward. These rooms were heated by means of flues. Remains of the furnace by which they were heated were also discovered. About the mouth of the furnace there were scattered pieces of burnt wood, charcoal, etc. On each side of the furnace, adjoining the wall of the north- ernmost stove, is a semicircular chamber, of about ten feet four inches by nine feet six inches. After the time that Dr. Sutherland wrote his description, further discoveries were made of a similar building to the southward, of the same dimensions as the former, and answering ex- actly in position. It was further discovered that these buildings were only the wings of a much larger central building. This central building had wings at each end, as appears by the plan of the discoveries which have been made at different times. “The whole,” says Whitaker, 84 PAPERS, ETC. “was the palace assuredly of that Roman who was the commandant of the colony at Bath. This perhaps became afterwards the mansion of the provincial Pr&ses, and cer- tainly the palace of the Saxon kings afterwards.” ENTRANCE TO THE INSTITUTION. These remains were found on the site of the present Pump Room, with a great number of other fragments, some of great curiosity and importance, and which may be referred to a great Temple which formerly stood on that site. They were disinterred in 1790. These re- mains excited very strongly the attention of the anti- quaries of the time. Sir Henry Englefield, who hap- pened to be in Bath soon after their discovery, transmitted an account of them to the Society of Antiquaries, who published it in the Archxologia, with a restoration of a portico of the Temple, (vol. x. p. 325). Governor Pownall published, in 1795, a quarto pamphlet, entitled “ Descrip- tions and explanations of some remains of Roman Archi- tecture, dug up in the city of Bath, A.p. 1790.” Mr. Warner has much respecting them in his “ Illustrations ” and his “History.” Whitaker has many ingenious re- marks in his elaborate review of Warner’s “ History.” Mr. Lysons has four plates of these remains, and a fifth, in which is a restoration of the portico. GREAT TEMPLE. Mr. Whitaker endeavours to prove that this Temple was in the form of a rotunda. He compares it to the Pantheon at Rome, which was dedicated to Minerva, as the Temple at Bath can almost with certainty be proved to have been. He says : “The Pantheon of Minerva Medica, an agnomen very similar in allusiveness to our praenomen of Sulinis for Minerva, is noticed expressly by ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 85 Rufus and Victor in their short notes, concerning the structures of Rome. . . In this very quarter is still standing a decagon structure. . . Thus the whole con- sists of ten sides, in one of which is a door, as in the other nine there were so many niches, the greater part of them still standing, and all of them (as Montfaugon supposes) furnished with so many images of deities. . . Such as this we believe was once our Temple of Minerva at Bath.” There is also another remark of Whitaker’s well worthy attention. A Temple of Vesta still remains, where it stood in the days of Horace, which is a Rotunda, like the Pan- theon. In this was kept a fire continually burning, similar to what Solinus relates of the temple at Bath. All tlıe round temples of heathenism had an opening in the centre above ; but that of Vesta, as Ovid attests, had this open- ing closed with a casement, from regard assuredly to the sacred fire burning immediately under the opening. The temple of Minerva at Bath, therefore, by analogy, had an opening in the centre of the roof, that was closed by a casement, to protect the fire below. The altar bearing the fire, says Whitaker, we believe remains to this very day. The earliest mention of this temple is more than two cen- turies later than Agricola. The uninscribed remains which are placed in the vesti- bule of the Institution, consist of the base part of the shaft and capital of a Corinthian column, fluted and cabled, many fragments of the tympanum of a pediment, sufli- cient to indicate the entire design, and a great collection of pieces richly carved. (The capital, and other portions, are engraved in Lysons.) Solinus, in a remarkable passage of his “ Polyhistor,” or, as he himself calls his work, “ Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium,” c. 25, has informed us that there was a 86 PAPERS, ETC. temple at Bath (for his Fontes Calidi can have been no other place), dedicated to Minerva. His words are these: “ Cireuitus Britanni», quadragies octies septuaginta, quinque millia passuum sunt: in quo spatio magna et multa flumina sunt. Fontesque Calidi opiparo exsculpti apparatu ad usus mortalium: quibus fontibus pr&sul est Minerv& numen, in cujus »de perpetui ignes nunquam canescunt in favillas, sed ubi tabuit vertitur in globos saxeos.” From the description of Solinus, we gather the following important conclusions, says Whitaker : 1. The hot springs had been collected into elegant basins, and furnished with accommodation, for the use of bathers. 2. The words, “ opiparo exsculpti apparatu,” even mean more than elegance, as they mount up into magnificence. 3. That Minerva was considered by the Romans as presiding over the springs, and a temple built to her honour. This is only known of one more town in Britain, viz., Camalodunum, where a temple stood within or near the town. 4. Constant fire was kept burning within this temple, like that in the Temple of Vesta, at Rome. That in the Temple of Vesta, at Rome, had very surprisingly a rela- tion to Minerva, equal with this at Bath. Yet Minerva, of Bath, was not, like Pallas, of Rome, served only by virgins, and beheld only by the head virgin. The Bath Minerva appears to have been served by men, and married men foo, as appears by an inscription on the tomb of a priest. 5. The fire was fed with fossil coal, which is found about Newton. This is the first mention of coal used by the Romans in Britain. ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 87 In the Red Book of Bath, a memorandum is entered by some unknown hand, but of the year 1582, that there was then to be seen an epitaph of the middle ages, which is given, “In ostio ruinosi Templi, quondam Minerva» dedi- cati et adhuc in loco dieto, sese studiosis offerens.” This is also good for a tradition that such a temple once stood here ; and as the writer is speaking of Stalls Church, which stood near the angle of Cheap Street, and Stall Street, close to the present Pump Room, it affords the tradi- tionary evidence of its site. As these fragments evidently belong to a fabrie of great extent and magnificence, such as might well be described as “ opiparo exsculpti apparatu,” and as they were found near the traditional site of the Temple of Minerva, they may fairly be presumed to be the remains of that Temple, especially as the design of the Pediment appears to point at the attributes and symbols of that Goddess.. We have in the centre, not the cherubic emblem of the sun, as Governor Pownall regards it, but a head of Medusa, as is evident from the snakes which are intermingled with the hair. We have the helmet, appropriate to the Goddess in her character of Pallas, and a very distinet exhibition of her favourite bird, the owl. “In the Pantheon,” says Mr. Whitaker, “the only one of the round temples remaining at present, are seven niches or chapels, the entrance into every one of which is ornamented with two pillars and two pilasters, Corinthian and fluted. Opposite the entrance gate is the niche for the great altar, as in the other parts of the circle, to the right and left, are the niches for the other altars. The central niche was reserved for Jupiter, as the side niches were for "Mars, Venus, Julius Cxsar, and the other deities. In the same manner we believe was the temple at Bath 88 PAPERS, ETC. disposed within, only what were statues at Rome, shrunk up into mere altars at Bath. In the common niches were lodged the altars of Jupiter Oetius, Mars, and Nemetona —three deities honoured by one altar only. The altars to Jove and Hercules, honoured together upon one; and to Sulinis, in the greatest niche of all.” An Ancient Inscription was found amongst the fragments of this temple, which has exereised the learned ingenuity of antiquarians, and which has been restored and placed in the passage of the Literary Institution. From the ancient portion whieh remains, it may be gathered that “ Aulus Claudius Ligurius, having dug up a pitcher containing money, expended it in restoring and repainting this temple, which was ready to fall, through extreme age.” This in- seription contains several bier nex@. In this temple, it is conjeetured by Mr. Whitaker, that many of the altars which have been found in and about Stall Street, were originally placed ; and that the bronze head which has been engraved by the Society of Antiquaries, found in Stall Street, near the corner of Bell Tree Lane, is the head of the prineipal statue of the Goddess Minerva, formerly standing in her own temple. This splendid relic is now in the library of the Lite- rary Institution, and is well worth careful examination. Much has been written about it; it was dug up in the month of July, 1727, where it lay buried sixteen feet under the surface of the ground. It is called by Mr. Warner a head of Apollo, but Mr. Hunter regards it asa head of Minerva. Mr. Whitaker observes: “ It appears to have been cast in a mould; the form of it is very fine, and the features are truly Minerva’s. This military Goddess has been expected by some to be like Venus, the mere Goddess of smiles and loves. She is a Goddess very different, wearing a helmet | ds >’ m | N — BRONZE HEAD OF THE GODDESS MINERVA—BATH. ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 89 on her head, wielding a javelin in her hand, even carrying a Gorgon’s head of snakes upon her breast-plate, and thus mixing in fight with men. So acting, she must necessarily shew a manliness of muscularity in the face, superior per- haps to any even in the Belvidere Apollo, yet not superior to what we behold in this head. There is indeed a softened manliness, and a chastised femality in our Minerva, that has occasioned all the puzzle about the sex, that yet is the very characteristic of this very Goddess.”* In the year 1714 a colossal head of a female was dis- covered, and sent by Mr. Francis Child, of Bath, as a present to Dr. Musgrave, who then resided at Exeter. Dr. Musgrave named it the Britanno-Belgie Andromache, and it was set up in his patch. It is not known what became of it after his decease. He has made this head the subject of the 19th chapter of his Belgium Britannicum, and has given a front and back view of it, shewing the convolutions of the hair. The statue of which this was the bust, must have been eight feet two inches in height. It probably stood upon a pedestal, or perhaps a column; and this bust, it may be presumed, gave Mr. Lysons the hint of the obelisk erowned with a statue, which he has introduced in his general view of what Bath may have been in the most flourishing times of Roman grandenr. (Catalog. p. 80). With the bronze head of Minerva were found at the same time several Roman coins. Horsley visited Bath about 1730, and he tells us that a very beautiful and elegant figure stands in the Town Hall, and beside it are preserved in a box some coins, that were found at the same time. The box and the coins are no longer fortheoming. Neither of them are noticed by Mr. Warner. They were (as the Bath Guide informs us) of Marcus Aurelius, Maxi- * Antijacobin Review, vol. x.,p.344. Ed. 1501. 1853, PART II. M 90 PAPERS, ETC. milian, Diocletian, Constantine. Horsley says they were of Marcus Aurelius, Maximinus, Maximilian, Diocletian, Constantine, and some other Emperors. Aurelius appears to have been the earliest Emperor acknowledged in these coins ; and his coin could be preserved in the temple (says Whitaker) or continued with the head, merely to mark the erection of the statue some one year betwixt A.D. 163 and 181.* Upon an oblong stone was found, in the year 1790, in excavating the ground for the foundation of the present Pump Room, an inscription, which, by filling up the letters wanting in the fragment, may be read GERORECIMS DEAE.'SVIS! MLINERYZAX Many other fragments were found at the same time, which did not appear to belong to the great temple, but to some smaller edifice, which stood near it. These remains are now in the Literary Institution. They are placed in the vestibule, and opposite the Temple of Minerva. Mr. Lysons was the first to give any clear interpretation of these fragments. Out of them he has composed the principal front of a small temple, and he places the inscription given above over the door. He supposes a line to be wanting, which made up the sense, that “ Caius Protacius built, or restored, this temple to the Goddess Sul-Minerva.” There have been found in Bath several altars inscribed to the Goddess Sul, and again Sul- Minerva. In Mr. Lysons’ restoration, the head of the Goddess herself is represented (as on the fragment in the Institution) in the tympanum of the pediment, with a ser- pent twisted round a staff, on one side of her. 'The hair is tied in a knot on the top of the head, and behind her * See Antijacobin Review, vol. x., no, xlii., p. 342. ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 91 is a crescent. This erescent led Mr. Warner to consider the temple as dedieated to Luna. There are other frag- ments remaining, which are supposed to represent the Seasons. Thus we see that there formerly stood two temples, on or near the site of the present Abbey Church, dedicated to Minerva, or Sul-Minerva, the Goddess who presided over ‘the waters. Whitaker observes that the name Aqux Solis does not imply the dedication of Bath or its waters to the sun, as a Deity, because it is rendered in Greek by the very Romans, war« Pspue, simply “hot waters,” not voa@ra nAsov, “ waters of the Sun.” It was called Aqus® Solis to mark the heat of the waters, and to discriminate it from the « Agque,” alittle distance from it, now called “WELLE.” A gentleman who has given much attention to the study of the Roman Antiquities of Bath, has favoured me with the following observations on the origin of the name Aqua Solis, or Aqux& Sulis, which I here insert: “ Since the discovery of the votive altars preserved in theInstitution, various distinguished antiquaries, as Lysons, Sir R. C. Hoare, the Rev. J. Hunter, the Rev. Canon Bowles, and others, have been of opinion that a deity was anciently held in great veneration here, under the name of Sul, or Sulis ; and that the name given by the Romans to the eity, in consequence of this divinity being so venerated, was Aquz Sulis, and not, as commonly considered, Aquz Solis. These gentlemen, however, are not agreed on many points, in their pathway to this opinion. Lysons assimilates the British deity inscribed on the altars, under the name of Sul, with the Roman Minerva; and he is probably right, as we always find Sul alluded to as a female divinity : it is always Dex Suli, not Deo Suli. Mr. Hunter notices this fact, (see his letter in the Bath Chronicle, June 14th, 1827). 92 PAPERS, ETC. Sir R. C. Hoare (Anc. Wilts. vol. 2) thinks, though the word is feminine, that it was not equivalent with the Goddess Minerva, but that it was the Celtic Sol; and we know the sun, in Teutonick, is masculine, and the moon feminine. Sir Richard says (letter in Bath Chronicle, July 19th, 1827), “that the name of Sul was Celtic, there can be no doubt, and it was afterwards latinized into Sol by the Romans—a custom they adopted on many other occasions, and it appears, by the inscriptions preserved at Bath, that they added their own deity, Minerva, to that of Britons Sol.’ “The Itineraries of Antoninus, and of Richard of Ciren- cester, will of course be cited in confirmation of the old appellation, Aqux Solis. Mr. Hunter’s remarks on these, may, however, be deemed worthy of consideration. (See his letter.) ‘The term Aqu& Solis oceurs only once in any undisputed remain of the Roman times. It is in one of the Itineraries of Antoninus, and it may be observed that there is no question whether the station indicated by it be not the place now called Bath? “«Wefind Aquzx Solis in two of Richard’s Itinera ; but till the genuineness of his work is more completely established, any evidence, which it may be disposed to offer in this en- quiry, may be disregarded.’ “Mr. Hunter afterwards states his opinion that Antoninus was ignorant of the @oddess Sul, and that he was misin- formed as to the name of ancient Bath, “and knowing that at the station in question were springs celebrated on account of their natural heat, and being familiar with Heliopolis as a local appellation, was thus induced to write Aqux Solis; or that some early transeriber of Antonine finding Aqux Suls which he could not understand, ventured, on his own authority, to substitute Aqux Sols, a name ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 93 which he could understand, and which appeared to him aptly to describe a place celebrated on account of the natural heat of its waters. “] believe the authority of Richard has been sufficiently established by Sir R. C. Hoare, and others. A specimen ofthe original MS. was submitted to Mr. Casley of the Cottonian Library, and that gentleman immediately pro- nounced it to be 400 years old. Now, as Professor Bertram published the Itinera in 1759, the MS. discovered by him is likely to be Richard’s autograph. If so, it would be desirable to ascertain whether it has o, or w, in the debated word. And, after all, the suggestion of Mr. Hunter, with regard to Antoninus, or his transcriber, might be extended to Richard. “In the copy of Richard’s Itinera, in the library of the Institution, is the following marginal note, in the hand- writing of the late Rev. T. Leman: “The original name of Bath was Aqux Sulis (and not Solis), the British Goddess whose influence extended over the greater part of the S. W. of England, whose chief place was Sulisbury hill, near Bath, and from whom Salisbury plains have probably derived their name. All the altars found at Bath are dedicated to the Goddess Sulis.’ “Mr. Leman (with others) seems to regard the name of the British Goddess, as Sulis Sulinis and not Sul Sulis ; but as we find DEAE SVLI, it seems more likely that Sul was the original appellation, for I can hardly think SVLI, a contraction for SVLINI.” THE Goddess Sul, OR Sul Minerva. The British characteristic of Minerva imports something adapted to her attributes, says Whitaker. ‘The British characteristic of Minerva, in its transition from Sulis, 94 PAPERS, ETC. lengthens out into Sulinis, and deviates into Sulevis. Yet what is the import of this varying appellation in the British language? It is the same in general with the appellation of Minerva Medica, at Rome. Minerva Sulis, or Sul-Minerva, is one that was medicinal, from the influ- ence of the sun, the Solar Minerva. Thus, Heul, Syl is the sun in Cornish ; Haul, Heyle, Heyluen, in Welsh, are the sun, as Sul is the Sunday. Soil-bheim, in Irish, is a flash or bolt of light ; athunder bolt, Solas ; Solus is light; Sul the sun; Dia Suil the Sunday; Suil, the eye; Sul- beim, a bewitching by the eye; Sül in the Armoric, is Sunday ; Sul-Pask Easter Sunday ; Suliou are Sundays. The origin of Minerva’s British title, therefore, is that very reference of the hot springs to the influence of the sun, which fixed upon the eity itself this appellation ; from thence the “ Waters of the Sun.” Before passing on to consider the altars dedicated to the Goddess Sul, that have been discovered, we must notice an altar, or Cippus, as Mr. Warner terms it, which was dis- covered at the lower end of Stall Street, 1783. Two other altars were discovered with it, one a votive altar to the Sulev@, and one erected by a citizen of Treves. This Cippus has formed the subjeet of many learned dissertations. (See Prof. Ward, Phil. Tran., xlviii, p. 332; also Gough’s Camden, v. üi., p.9; Warner’s Il. ix.; History App.p. 121; and Whitaker, Antijacobin Rev., x.) This altar commemorates the restoration, by “ Caius Severus, a centurion,” (who had either the additional name of “Emeritus,” or was discharged from his legion,) of some place which had been consecrated to religious purposes, and which had fallen to decay. This decay had been pro- duced “per insolentiam,” which may be understood to mean “ through disuse;” but that does not suit with ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 95 “ Erutum,” the word which follows in the inscription. This led Mr. Whitaker to search for another meaning, and he reads it, “which had been overturned by the ‘ Insolence,’ ” supply—“ of the Christians.” Mr. Ward supposes that the place was only one of burial. Before Severus restored it, it was “repurgatum ” purified, “ virtute et numine Augusti,” by “the zeal and authority of the Emperor.” In this in- seription there are a few of the “litere nex®.” Mr. Ward thinks that the form of the character marks it as belonging to the age of Severus. Before passing to the votive offerings, I must mention a square stone found in 1825, in digging for the foundation of the United Hospital, which is now in the Literary Insti- tution. It contains the inscription: NOVANTI FIL PRO SE ET SUIS EX VISV POSSVT. Mr. Hunter is the first who has described the insceription. It indicates that the son of Novantus erected something, pro- bably a sepulchre, for himself and family. The term EX VISV is said of those who do any thing to which they suppose themselves to be admonished by the gods in sleep, i. e., in consequence of a vision. VOTIVE OFFERINGS. I now come to the votive offerings, which are full of in- terest, as illustrating not only the pious custom of the heathen in making offerings, but as pointing out their grateful feelings for benefits which they had received from the waters, or from other sources. Horsley observes, in speaking of vows in sickness : “There is one thing in these pagan votive altars that may be a shame and a reproach to a great many that call themselves Christians ; and that is, the willingness and cheerfulness with which they paid, or pretended to pay, the 96 PAPERS, ETC. vows they had made. Such as have any acquaintance with these things, know how commonly these letters, V.S. L.M., or V.S.L. L. M. are added at the end of inscriptions that are on such altars, whereby they signified how willingly and cheerfully, as well as deservedly, they performed the vows they had made, viz : Votum Solvit libens merito, or, votum Solvit libens lubens (or lastus) merito. Much more deserved- Iy, and therefore more willingly and cheerfully, should the vows made to the Most High, to the true and living God, be paid or performed to Him, and particularly the vows made in trouble.” * Thus there was found, in 1792, on the site of the Pump Room, and consequently on or near the site of the Temple of Minerva, an altar dedicated “to the Goddess Sul, for the health and safety of Aufidius Maximus, a centurion of the Sixth Legion, Vietrix, by Marcus Aufidius Lemnus, his freedman.” A drawing of this altar is given by Mr. Lysons and Mr. Warner. From the inseription, it appears that it was erected by a manumitted slave, in performance of a vow made to the Goddess Sul, for the restoration of his master, who had made him free, and is thus a monument of the gratitude and piety of the Romans. The sixth legion, mentioned on this altar, was transported into Britain in the time of Hadrian, and probably accompanied that Emperor, when he took this kingdom, in the tour of his dominions. Another altar was found at the same time and place, which in form and size resembles that first noticed. The inscription is to the same purpose as that on the last. The person by whom the altar was raised, is called Aufidius Eutaches. * Vows made in Trouble, by John Horsley, A. M., London, published 1729. At the time Horsley published this book, he was engaged in the pre- paration of the Britannia Romana. ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 97 The letters LEB for LIB indicate that he was a freed- man, probably another slave manumitted by Aufidius Maximus. Among the sculptures formerly to be seen in the walls of Bath, was one in which two figures were represented, which Dr. Guidott supposed to be a Roman threatening a Briton, but which, if we may depend on the engraving given in his book, appears rather to be a Roman, in the act of manumit- ting a slave, by placing the cap upon his head. Possibly, says Mr. Hunter, this may be Aufidius, and one of these freedmen. Mr. Lysons concludes, from the ‚form of the letters, that this altar, or the preceding one, was made about the beginning of the third century. We have here, therefore, two very pleasing memorials of gratitude, which have survived to tell not only of the benefit which the waters had conferred, in restoring health, but pointing out the gratitude, first of the Roman freed- man, to the Divine source from whence he conceived the healing virtue ofthe springs to flow ; and secondly, his kindly feeling to one who had bestowed the great blessing of freedom upon him. It would be well if Christians, who, in themselves, or their relatives or friends, derive benefit from the waters, would show a like spirit of grateful remembrance, which may find expression in numberless ways, such as in supporting the hospitals, or in ministering to the spread of a purer Faith than that of the grateful Roman. I must mention here, another altar, found in 1774 near the hot bath, on removing the rubbish, to get at the head ofthe spring. At the same time, many coins of the upper empire, from Nero to the Antonines, were found, chiefly of middle brass. The altar is dedicated to the goddess Sul- 1853, PART II. N 98 PAPERS, ETC. Minerva. "The inscription has several united letters. Ano- ther altar, dedicated to the same goddess, and to the Numina Augustorum, was found in the cistern of the Cross Bath, 1809. It bears the name of Caius Curiatius Satur- ninus, an oflicer of the Second Legion. In the year 1753, an altar was found at the lower end of Stall Street, together with two others. It is dedicated to the Sulev@, by Sulinus Seultor ; but who the Sulev» were, cannot be ascertained. The most probable conjecture is, that they were nymphs of these springs, the progeny or the attendants of the Dea Sul. Whitaker believes this to have been the altar that stood in the centre ofthe Temple of Minerva. He con- siders the focus, which is long and shallow, and nearly the whole size of the top ofthe altar, to have contained the copper pan in which the fire was placed, and kept burning continually. The perpetual fires of Vesta were kept burning in pans of earth. This altar is ofrough workman- ship; and it is conjectured from this, that the altar, by reason ofthe fire continually burning, was obliged to be often renewed. “ This stood, we apprehend, almost under the opening, and before a pillar supporting the roof, as our temple had no eircular pillars without, and therefore must have had, at least, one pillar within. A fragment of one was found in the ruins, as has been already noticed. This, he observes, was strikingly fitted for the support of the roof, and he endea- vours to prove this from its dimensions, and the manner in which it has been cut. Another altar, found at the same time and place, is dedicated to ‘ Jupiter Cetius, Mars, and Neme- tona’ Who this latter deity was, appears very uncertain. Mr. Warner is disposed to consider it the name of the local deity of the town, Nemetotacio, which is supposed to be ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 99 Launceston; neither is it settled whence this Jupiter had his name of Cetius. Mr. Warner supposes from Cetium, in Germany. The inseription is cut in a more rude manner than most in the collection.” There was discovered, in 1776, a small altar, dedicated to no particular deity, but erected in pursuance of some vow made by “ Vettius Benignus.” It is now in the Institution passage. Another altar, dedicated to “ Fortune Conser- vatrici,” is mentioned by Collinson, who says that it was found at Walcot. Horsley has engraved the same inscription, but says that it was found at Manchester. An ofäicer of the Sixth Legion, Vietrix, dedicates it to “For- tune, his preserver.” The only altar that is without an inscription, is that which now stands in the vestibule of the Literary Institu- tion, and has upon it two figures, sculptured; the one “ Jupiter,” the other “Hereules Bibax,” or the “ Convivial Hercules.” It was found with the remains of the two Temples, in the site of the Pump Room. Warner has treated of it at length. The sculpture is not remarkable for elegance, having been executed when the arts were on the decline, and probably towards the beginning of the fourth century. It is worked on Bath stone. The left hand represents Jupiter, with those various emblems which distinguished him from the other deities of pagan mytho- logy. The god grasps in his richt hand the three-forked bolt, with his left he holds his sceptre, as the king or Father of all beings. At his feet may be seen the eagle. The head and countenance are much mutilated. "The body of Jupiter is covered with a regal pallium. - The figure which oceupies the other face of this bifronted altar, is the representation of “Hercules Bibax.” The usual attributes of this deity were the lion’s skin, club, and 100 PAPERS, ETC. bow. The two former are sufliciently visible in the relief ; but when he was represented under his “convivial” character, instead of the latter implement of war, he bore, in his right hand, a “ goblet.” The association of Jove and Hercules, on the same altar, was not unusual; instances oceur in Gruter and Montfaucon. The practice, however, flourished more particularly during the joint reign of Diocletian, and Maximian, the former of whom affected the name and character of Jove ; the latter, those of Hercules. This ceircumstance is considered by Mr. Warner as an index to the date of the altar, which was probably raised to the honour of those Emperors; and he places it somewhere between the year A.D. 284, and 304, a period which com- prehends the term of their dominion over the empire. The altar seems to have filled the corner of the great Temple, two of its sides being rough, and unwrought. SEPULCHRAL REMAINS. From the “ Votive” we pass to the “ Sepulchral Remains,” of which not less than ten have been found, althoush not more than six of them now remain. Probably the most re- markable, and that concerning which most has been written, is the celebrated inscription to “Julius Vitalis” The stone is longitudinal, having a triangular top. Above the inscription, is what appears to be the representation of fruit and leaves. It was discovered in 1708, by the side of the London road, Walcot, with two urns, one large, the other small; both containing ashes. It was for many years in the east wall of the Abbey Church. It is now in the Literary Institution. This monumental stone was erected to a person named “ Julius Vitalis,” a Belgian, by which is probably meant, that he was a descendant of the Belg®, who, a little before ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 101 the time of Cxsar, had taken possession of the southern part of this island. He also belonged to the Twentieth Legion, which has the addition of V.V. The first V has occa- sioned some discussion ; but late antiquarians have decided in favour of Valeriana. The second V is Victrix. We are further told that he was Fabriciesis or Fabriciensis, the smith or urmourer ofthe legion. The elause EX. COLEGIO FABRICE. ELATUS, presents the greatest difliculty, and the explanation perhaps least open to objection, is that he was buried by the Company of Smiths, in the neishbour- ing city. He died in the twenty-ninth year of his age, and the ninth of his service. Wellearn from the Theodocian and Justinian codes, what the business and the laws of this Society of Smiths were. It appears that in the latter period of the Roman Empire, the “ army smiths” were erected into a formal company, under the control and management of an oflicer, denominated Primicerius. The employment of this body, was to make arms for the use of the soldiery, at public forges, called FABRICE, erected in their camps, cities, towns, and military stations. No person was permitted to forge arms for the imperial service, unless he were previously admitted a member of the society ofthe FABRI. It may be fairly inferred, that a company of this trade was settled in Bath, and a FABRICA established. There is another very remarkable sepulchral stone, at present in the passage of the Literary Institution. It was discovered in 1736, in digging a vault in the Market Place. For many years this inseription and that of Julius Vitalis, were inserted in the wall of the Abbey, at the east end. This stone has occasioned much conjeeture, and much has been written upon it; the inscription is surrounded by a plain moulding. There is a figure of a soldier on horseback 102 PAPERS, ETC. riding over an enemy, who is prostrate on the ground, but who holds up a dagger, as if in act to wound the horse. The stone was erected on the place of interment of “ Zueius Vitellius Tancinus, the son of Mantaus, or Mantanus,” a eitizen of Caurium, in Spain, a centurion of the Vettonen- sian horse, who died at the age of forty-six, having served twenty-six years. Caurium was a town in Lusitania; the Vettones were a neishbouring people, who provided excel- lent heavy armed horse to their Roman masters. The characters in this inscription vary in size; the stops are small triangular marks ; they are peculiar to this inscrip- tion ; it is without Zitere nexe. It is still very easily read ; but, like the Julius Vitalis insceription, it has got the coating of black which the Bath stone generally ac- quires, after long exposure to the open air. The body of the man, and the head of the horse, are wanting. There is, however, carved on another stone, the parts which are wanting in this, cut in the same kind ofrelief. Mr. Hunter observes, that on a first view it might be supposed that they were portions of the same monument; but on a closer inspection, it appears that the upper part was drawn upon a smaller scale than the lower. It was the latter fragment that Dr. Musgrave undertook to shew to be Geta. It was found in Grosvenor Gardens.* * Some time since, a similar tombstone was found at Cirencester. It is engraved in Wright’s work, lately published, called “ The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon.” He says the figure above is often met with on the monuments ofthe Roman Cavalry. The inseription must be read: ROVER Vası. SS17T7A72BIQ,V. PSEICHHOF VER TERZASGHNI ME. FAININ. SSL ESETITEEE REF HEREDES. EXS. TEST. F. CVRAVE. H S E. It may be translated, “ Rufus Sita, a horseman of the sixth cohort of the Thracians, aged forty years, served twenty-two years. His heirs, in ac- as EB IN ARDIE No geäin ROMAN MONUMENTAL STINE—SATH ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 103 In 1795, in the Sydney Gardens, was found another monumental stone, erected to the memory of “ Caius Cal- purnius,” a priest to the Goddess Sul, who died at the age of seventy-five, erected by his wife, “ Calpurnia Trifosa Threpte,” as Mr. Lysons restores the imperfeet word. The word “RECEPTVS” occurs in this inscription, which may be read either as a part of the personal appel- lative, or in conjunction with SACERDOS, an “ad- mitted ” priest of the deity. Thus we find a monument to the memory of a priest of the goddess, whose temple had formerly adorned the Roman city. It is hardly necessary to remark, that the places of se- pulture of the ancient Romans were outside the eity walls. Previous to the publication of the Twelve Tables, it was customary to burn, or inter, the bodies of the departed within the city walls ; but as this custom was both incon- venient and dangerous, one article of this code expressly forbade it. And this law did not regard Rome alone, but extended itself to every city of the empire. Hence the Romans adopted the custom of burying their dead, and performing funeral obsequies without their towns, erecting the sepulchres by the side of the publie high ways. These funeral remains will therefore most probably indicate the direction of some of the great highways to the city. cordance with his will, have caused this monument to be erected. Heis Jaid here.” Another similar monument, found at Caer-leon, has the formula slightly varied : DM IVL IVLIANVS NRLTITIB.G SETISEAIV GEN SITTR. RAVEIISSARNN.O.RIRL HIC SITVS EST CVRA AGENTE AMANDA CONJVGE. 104 PAPERS, ETC. It would be too long to go into a minute description of those other monumental inseriptions which remain. Having touched upon the principal and most interesting, Ican only enumerate the rest ; Camden and Leland have given some, which are now lost. Thus there is one to Caius Murrius Modestus, a soldier of the Second Legion, a native of Forum Juli, in Gaul, or Frejus; and one to Marcus Valerius Latinus, a centurion of horse, or of the horse which belonged to the Twentieth Legion, neither of which exists at present. Another, discovered in 1797, erected to a discharged soldier of the Twentieth Legion ; much of it is broken away; what remains, is in the Literary Institution. An inseription to a Decurion, of the colony Glevum, or Gloucester, formerly inserted in the city wall, near the north gate, but does not now remain ; it is men- tioned by Horsley. Another to Rusonia Avenna, a centurion belonging to the nation of the Mediomatriei (a people of Gaul), is in the Institution; and one to a little girl, an Alumna, which was first described by Mr. Hunter.* Two more are lost; one to Succia or Successia Petronia, formerly in the city wall, between the north and west gates, noticed by Leland ; and a stone to Vibia Jucunda, which, Guidott says, was found in Walcot. Two small urns are in the museum of the Literary Insti- tution. The largest of them was found at Walcot, near the London road. It is of elegant form, and contains a few burnt bones. There does not appear to have ever been a lid; but it was covered by a piece of Pennant stone. A third, which is said by Mr. Hunter to be in the possession of Mr. Barratt, contained burnt bones, and a coin of Carausius. Various stone coflins have been found in and about * See also Wright’s Celt, Roman, and Saxon, p. 317. ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 105 Bath. One is now walled up in the boundary wall of Bathwick burial ground. Some were found in making the new cemetery, at Widcombe, and a coin of Constantine, and another of Carausius, near them. Their site is marked by a pillar, with an inseription on it, in the cemetery. Several have lately been discovered in Russell Street ; and, as these have been very carefully examined, it is hoped that some information may be given in due time. Two brass rings, which are in the Cabinet of Antiquities at the Literary Institution, and a wire pin, were discovered in a coffin, near Larkhall. (See Cat., p. 79.) There was found near the stone coffins, discovered in Russell Street, a silver Dena- rius, of Antoninus Pius; a Constantine Junior, small brass; a Gratian, ditto. These are all the monumental remains which still exist, or have been found in and around the city, as far as I am aware. Before drawing to a conclusion, it may be well to men- tion what existed when Leland wrote, but have, since his time, disappeared. When the walls were standing, there were many sculptured stones inserted in them. Leland gives a cursory view of them; and Mr. Hunter observes : “It is much to be regretted that he has not described more fully the minute objects of euriosity which he saw in his journey through England. Who that has read what he has said of Bath, but must wish it !” The following is a list of the antiquities which were once to be found in the town walls, but are now lost. These have not been mentioned before : * A “Sol,” or, at least, a large front face, with a profu- sion of hair. A. “ Hercules,” with a serpent in each hand.—A “ Foot Soldier,” with sword and shield.-—Two “ Wreaths.” * Engraved in Guidott’s work, entitled, “ A discourse of Bathe, and the Hot Waters there.” London : 1676. 1853, PART II. 0 106 PAPERS, ETC. A small “ Pediment,” on which is represented a Shep- herd, known by his crook, with his Lysisca, who has a small dog upon her knee. There is considerable beauty in this pediment, and proof that the artist was attentive to the rules of design. Two “ Heads,” seen in profile. A “Greyhound,” but, according to Guidott, a hare, running. A “Man, entwined about with two serpents,” which Leland supposed to be Laocoon. A “ Man, holding a club.” A “ Man, grasping a serpent.” A “ Hercules,” club in the right hand ; left raised to the head. Two “Figures,” which appear to represent a master manumitting a slave, by placing the cap of liberty on his head. The head, breast, and shoulders of a man, full face, in a niche. A “ Medusa’s Head,” in profile, snakes very distinct. A clothed figure, holding a serpent, which Camden calls Ophiucus. Several of these were lost before the time of Guidott, and not one of them is now known to exist. Their loss is greatly to be regretted ; for every fragment which can be preserved, tends to throw lisht upon history, which every year becomes less distinet; and it is no little honour to the antiquarian, to be enabled to glean, from the few vestiges that remain, undoubted confirmation of what history has left on record. There remain to be mentioned two figures, now in the vestibule of the Literary Institution. They bear no in- seriptions, and therefore do not come under the heads of ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 107 antiquities already mentioned. The one is a figure in a niche, with the elamys, representing, according to Mr. Hunter, some military person. The figure of a dolphin is carved in the frame. From this rudely-chiselled dolphin on the left hand corner, it would seem (says Mr. Warner) that a naval officer was intended to be repre- sented, since that fish was considered as sacred to Nep- tune, and held to be an emblem of extensive maritime power. He supposes that this stone might have been erected in honor of “ Carausius,” several of whose coins * have been found in and around Bath, one in making the New Cemetery at Widcombe. The dolphin, however, is also a symbol of activity and dispatch, and therefore may properly find place on stones set up in honor of military, as well as naval, officers. The eropped hair and short curling beard, observable in this relief, bespeak (as Mr. Warner observes) a soldier of the lower empire. (See Warner’s Il., p. 52.) Another figure, in a niche of the same kind, is also to be * One of the most extraordinary characteristies of the reign of Ca- rausius (says Mr. Wright, p. 115), is the number and variety of his coinage. Upwards of 300 different types are known, and there can be little doubt that there are many others, yet unknown. These authentie monuments throw some light upon his charaeter and history; and we have every reason to hope that, in the hands of a skilful antiquary, they will some day be rendered still more valuable. Of the great variety of reverses found on these coins, many, no doubt, refer to historical events. One of them, with the legend, EXPECTATE VENI, is supposed to have been struck on his arrival in Britain, after having assumed the im- perial purple at Gessoriacum. The figure beneath the inseription repre- sents the Genius of Britain, with a trident in her hand, weleoming the new Emperor. A number of coins, having such inscriptions as AD- VENTVS CARAVSI, ADVENTVS AVGVSTI, ete., with others, inseribed VICTORIA AVGVSTI, and VIRTVS AVGVSTI, seem to have been struck on his return from successful expeditions against hıs enemies, 108 PAPERS, ETC. seen in the Literary Institution, It is without a head, and has in its right hand the staff’ of a standard. There are in the Literary Institution two blocks of stone, which appear to have been parts of a building, inscribed with theletter, o CORNE IANV. They are eut in a large character. The IANV is, perhaps, Janua; and the other word probably Cornelius, or Cor- nelia. Three other fragments are engraved by Musgrave, Tab. 2; see also Guidott, p. 82; and Warner’s Ill. Introd., p- 23. There is a block of lead, cast in the usual form, which was found about 1822, near Sydney Buildings, on the south- west side of the Gardens ; the weight is 1 cwt. 83 Ibs. An antique key was found at the same time. The words inscribed upon the block of lead may be easily read. The character is beautifully formed, being, in this respect, very different from the lead inscriptions found in Derbyshire, of the same emperor, Hadrian. There is nothing here, as in the Derbyshire inseription, to guide us to the mine from which the lead was procured ; but it may be presumed to be from the Mendip Hills. The Roman antiquities of Bath cannot be treated of properly, unless mention be made of the coins, many of which have been found here at different periods, but none of any particular value, or that can be thought (according to Mr. Hunter) to cast any light upon British affairs. Eight are engraved by Guidott ; about fifty are in the Institu- tion. The earliest Roman money found in Bath, is of the Emperor Nero. In 1824, Roman coins were found at a house pulled down near the East Gate. In 1829, or there- about, coins were found in Bathwick; these are now in the possession of Mr. Goodridge. There were also found many Roman coins in removing ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 109 the foundations of the Old Abbey-house, and in preparing the site for the present oflices of the Union Board. These are mostly of the time of Constantine. A coin of Augustus, found at Wellow, is now in the pos- session of the Rev. C. Paul, the vicar. There has been found at Wellow, a very fine pavement, on the site of a large Roman villa. The foundations of many villas have been discovered in that neighbourhood. With respect to the Roman coins, Mr. Morris informs me that “he has recently seen several Roman coins discovered about twelve years ago, by the workmen employed in effecting alterations at Sainsbury’s Brewery, Walcot. There are two of Nero, one of Vespasian, two of Domitian, a Carausius, and a Constantine, and a second brass of Claudius.” Mr. Hunter observes: “I have seen an account ofa hoard of Roman money, said to have been found near Walcot Church, every piece of which was said to be of consider- able rarity. It was given out that it must have been a collection of some Roman virtuoso ; but I have been told that the whole was a fraud of a dealer in coins, then living in Bath Street.” If the length of this notice had not already been too far extended, it would have been proper to have touched upon the various articles of Roman dress which have been dis- covered, and to have enumerated also the specimens of household utensils, by which the habits and manners of the people may be inferred or described ; but we may not omit to mention a curious brass medallion,* which was found in digging the foundation of the present Pump Room, and became the property of the Rev. Mr. Richardson, who * It is deposited in the sixteenth drawer of the Cabinet of Antiquities, at the Literary Institution. 110 PAPERS, ETC. presented it to the Literary Institution. It is supposed by Whitaker to have hung in the Temple of Minerva, on the site of which it was discovered. It has been engraved in the appendix to Warner’s History of Bath, and contains the head of a female, with the word POMPEIA, LC.V. It is very finely finished ; above the head, within the rim round it, are the remains of a silver soldering, which show a ring to have been fastened to it, for hanging it to a wall. The dress is very striking, as the head has a flat coil of curls behind, with a frontlet to the hair before, the latter of which mounts up to a peak, and carries a turn-up in front, and bears an ornament upon it, truly Roman—a fibula, or clasp, with a gem upon each of the three sides seen. This frontlet runs down sloping to both ears, then turns by an unseen fillet under the hair, and is fastened before by the fibula, or clasp. But what is still more extraordinary, a kind of love-lock (as Mr. Whitaker calls it) hangs down upon either side of the neck, braided, yet long—a sure, though perhaps solitary, witness to that fashion. The face of “ Pompeia” is a very fine one. It is one of the best, perhaps, of all matronly faces that was ever exhi- bited. She is supposed to have been a descendant of the great Pompey, and we know that his family afterwards became united with that of Julius Cxsar, his former rival and competitor for the empire. Hence Whitaker reads I. C. V. Julius Cssaris Uxor, and supposes the medallion to have been given as a present to the Temple, by some descendant of the family, settled in the colony at Bath. Amongst the other miscellaneous articles which have been discovered, is a Tabula Honeste Missionis ; it was dis- covered about 1819; it is now, says Mr. Hunter, in the collection of Mr. Joseph Barratt; a pillar, of about the height of three feet, on which, it is supposed, a small statue ER 2 We Te ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. 1ll once stood. This was found with the remains of the Temple, on the site of the Pump Room. A brass spoon, and an iron key, were found near Bath, on the site of Sydney Buildings, near the block of lead. A brass key was also discovered near Bath, and a Fibula, which formed part of the collection sent to the Institution, from Bath Street. Three Penates, which were found in the years 1824 and 1825. The sitting figures were discovered near the borough wall. The other two near Weston.* The Specimens of Pottery which have been found, are from the rudest, to the most perfeet. On some of the pieces the names of the makers are impressed; others have borders and ornaments, which are often truly graceful. Representa- tions of hunting are common subjects, all of which may be seen at the Literary Institution. These were partly presented by members, and partly brought from the museum in Bath Street. ROMAN ROADS.f As might be expected, Aquz Solis was the centre ofmany roads, which communicated with every part of the island; one road went northwardly, to Corinium (Cirencester), whence the traveller might proceed across the island to Lindum (Lincoln); or he might go to Glevum (Glo’ster), and the towns on the Severn; or he might turn eastward, towards London. The road from Corinium to Aqux Solis, con- tinued its course southwardly from the latter place, to another bathing town, called Ad Aquas, and now known by the somewhat similar name, Wells. Here the road separated into two branches, one of which proceeded to a * A medicine stamp was found in Bath in 1781. (See Thomas Wright’s Celt, Roman, and Saxon, p. 244.) f See, Mr, Wright’s work, p. 143. 112 PAPERS, ETC. town called, from the river on which it stood, Ad Uxellam, now Bridgewater, and thence to Isca (Exeter) ; the other led by a town of some importance, named Ischalis, now Ilchester, to Moridunum, on the southern coast. The traveller who would proceed direct from Londinium to Aqux& Solis, followed the western road till he reached the town of Spin® (Speen), where he turned off by a branch road, which led him by the towns of Cunetio, near Marlbro’, and Verlutio, near Heddington, to Aqu& Solis. From Aqux, the same road was continued to a station on the Avon, called Ad Abonam, or Abona, which seems to be correctly placed at Bitton, and thence to another part, on the banks ofthe Avon, where it enters the Bristol Channel, thence called Ad Sabrinam. Having thus given but a very hasty and imperfeet sketch of those interesting relics, which have, in by-gone times, formed the subject of such profound enquiry, and which, for the most part, remain still to exereise our ingenuity, and to kindle our interest in the manners and habits of a people long passed away, but the remnant of whose labours and works of art stir up our admiration ; it may be permitted me to observe that such a study, pursued in a candid frame of mind, can never be without good fruit, not merely in informing the intellect, but in improving the heart; not merely in supplying an agreeable recreation from weightier occupations, but in causing us to form true views of times present, by contemplating times past. In tracing the vestiges of old Rome, and her potent sway, we mark the relics of that Iron Empire, which was to break in pieces and tread underfoot the Empires that had preceded it ; but which, in its turn, was to be overthrown by a power unlike to any of the rest; and which, not arising as its fore- runners, by man’s ambition, was, unlike them, to be im- perishable. PU VO ROMAN REMAINS IN BATH. II We trace in these fragments the gradual progress of mankind, and the growth of nations.. We trace the pre- paration for a still higher state of civilization, and, as it were, the foundation stones of that structure which it is our lot to witness, in the growth of a great Christian power. Our minds are led, not merely to meditate upon the instability of human grandeur, and upon the passing away of things present, but are taught that what has gone before has been overruled to the working out of great and glorious purposes, which we have been permitted to see in part fulfilled, and for which we should offer thanks to the Giver of all good. Let us compare the ruined Temple of Minerva with the stately fabric of our Metropolitan Church; and if Christianity has reared such a pile to the honour and glory of the OnE TRUE Gop, it is at best an outward expression, very faint and feebly conveyed, how far the glory of Christian Eng- land transcends the glory of England in Pagan times! “ Now the fierce bear, and leopard keen, Are perished, as they ne’er had been; Oblivion is their home ; Ambition’s boldest dream, and last, Must melt before the clarion blast That sounds the dirge of Rome. Heroes and kings obey the charm, Withdraw the proud high-reaching arm, There is an oath on High, That ne’er on brow of mortal birth Shallblend again the erowns of earth, Nor in according ery Her many voices mingling own One tyrant lord, one idol throne: But to His triumph soon He shall descend, who rules above, And the pure language of His love Alltongues of men shall tune.” 1853, PART II. u 114 PAPERS, ETC. Farleigh-Bungerford Castle, Somernet. BY THE REV. J. E. JACKSON. HE ruined castle at this place was, for about 300 years, viz : from A.D. 1369 to A.D 1686, the principal residence, in Somersetshire, of the Hungerford family. In that county their possessions were very considerable; but in Wilts, from which the castle is only divided by the river below its walls, there would seem to be few distriets with which they were not, at some time or other, connected as landowners. Some have said that the castle stands on the actual site ofa Roman villa. Of this there is no evidence, from direct discovery. There are, however, Roman remains close by. In Temple Field, half a mile off towards the north, the remains of a villa were opened in 1822. A tol- erably perfect bath, with several coins, and some tessellated pavement, were found. There was another villa, at the distance of a mile towards the S.E.;and on a hill, rising N.W. above the castle, are traces of an earthwork, and camp. Before Farleigh belonged to the Hungerfords, it was the property of the Montfort family, and bore theirname. Sir Henry de Montfort, (temp. King John,) had a house on this spot. From the Montforts, it passed to the family of Burghersh, by whom it was sold, in A.p. 1369, to Sir Thomas Hungerford, of Heytesbury. He was one of the Hl | EN dl | III #7 Zr 1} Al AN || ||| | | Me 3a Ei | : = 8 4 lascivus Fr. = ionides Bull. Ss Georgü Lin. 2) gambosus Fr. © albus PR) „ personatus „ „ „ » nudus Bull. = grammopodius Bull. » brevipes „ „ » humilis Fr. _Bathampton. nebularis Bats. Leighwood. 5 odorus Bull. » ” cerussatus Fr. - > phyllophilus „ D) » „ candicans Bull. » » MD) dealbatus Sow. > + - giganteus Sow. 5 = infundibulifor- mis Sch. z ” „ geotropus Bull. » » flavidus Sow. » „ 2) cyathiformis Fr. -- > - metachrous Fr. „ fragrans Sow. „ » „ 134 PAPERS, ETC. AGARIC. laccatus Sch. Zeighwood.— Taunton.— Weston. radicatus Relh. = „ longipes Bull. a5 platyphyllus Fr. » fusipes Bull. = butyraceus er % velutipes Curt. = » stipitarius Fr. “ confluens Bull. ss „ myosurus ? Fr. » conigenus Pers. Bathampton -L tuberosus Bull. Zeighwood. collinus Scop. » esculentus Jacq. ” dryophilus Bull. = „ „ clavus L. „» » atratus Br: = pelianthinus ” „ purus Pers. » » » lacteus „ „» „ rugosus Bull. ss galericulatus Scop. > „ „» polygrammus Bull. » ) ” atroalbus Bolt. „ dissiliens Fr. s alcalinus = „ „ tenuis „» „ filopes Bull. „» » acicula Sch. „ heematopus Pers. » eruentus Fr. a, sanguinolentus A. and $S. „, LIST OF FUNGI. Leighwood. ” ” ” Taunton. ” Jacq. South Stoke. A.& S. Leighwood. AGARIC. galopus Schr epipterygius Scop vulgaris Pers stylobates “ hiemalis Osb. capillaris Schu -pyxidatus Bull. umbelliferus L. stellatus Pr; fibula Bull. ulmarius 7 palmatus Pr fimbriatus Bolt. ostreatus salignus conchatus Bull. tremulus Sch. porrigens Pers. applicatus Bats. Loveianus Beck. medius Schu. cervinus Sch. leoninus Sch. chrysoph&eus ,, phlebophorus Ditm. sinuatus (fertilisPers.) ardosiacus Bull. sericellus Fr. rhodopolius 5 sericeus Bull. prunulus Scop. lampropus Fr. „ Weston. 136 AGARIC. columbarius chalybeus pascuus Sowerbei mammosus aureus precox radicosus pudicus aurivellus squarrosus mutabilis relicinus lanuginosus plumosus pyriodorus scaber lacerus rimosus geophyllus fastıbilis Sow. Pers. erustuliniformis Bull. melinoides pediades inquilinus furfuraceus tener hypnorum mollis haustellaris varlabilis campestris ” Fr. ” Pers. Sch. Bats. Sch. Fr. Pers. Lin. PAPERS, ETC. Leighwood. ” ” ” ” Bathampton. Bathampton. Leighwood. Taunton. ” ” ” ” Bathampton. Taunton. ” ” Weston. ” ” ” ” ” LIST OF FUNGI. 137 AGARIC. arvensis Sch. Leighwood.— Taunton sylvaticus D) „ „ 2ruginosus Curt. ns „ Weston. squamosus Fr. „ stercorarius Schu. er semiglobatus Sch. » „ ) sublateritiuss 3, » „» DM) fascicularis Huds. Fr „ „ lacrymabundus Bull. = » foniseci : Pers. 2 bullaceus Bull. En callosus Fr. EN corrugis Pers. er spadiceo-gri- seus Sch. „ separatus Lin. a, „ fimiputris Bull. Dathampton. campanulatus L. Leighwood. papilionaceus L. „» „ Boltonii Pers. ” titubans Bull. ) disseminatus Pers. en ” comatus Mull. „ „ atramentarius Bull. fimetarius L. cinereus Bull. # domesticus Fr. Batheaston.—Kingweston. macrorhizus Pers. TZaunton. „ ” ” ” niveus Bull. Zeighwood.— Taunton. micaceus = - Weston. ephemerus - -: plicatilis Curt. - H 1853, PART II. s 138 PAPERS, ETC. AGARIC. radiatus Bolt. Weston. hemerobius Fr. Leighwood. varıus Sch Er cyanopus Sec. = glaucopus Sch. " callochrous Pers. e fulgens =. 5 prasinus Sch. Y scaurus Fr. ar collinitus Sow. . Taunton. violaceus Lu: e 5 “= eyanites Sec. ” Bulliardi Pers, =: bolaris 5 55 arenatus „ „ spilomeus Fr. „> sanguineus Wulf. » cinnamomeus L. = bulbosus Sow. = torvus Fr. = = evernius = = > limonius = = gentilis „ ” „ „ brunneus Pers. “ iliopodius Bull. > + dilutus Fr. 55 involutus Bats. a Batheaston. viscidus I. = chrysodon Bats. 3 eburneus Bull. > COSSUSs Sow. „> Bathampton. penarius Fr. 5 LIST OF FUNGI. Som. Leighwood.-— Taunton. ” Flax Boneton. Leighwood. D) Bathampton. Leighwood. AGARIC. hypothejus olivaceo-albus Fr. caprinus en leporinus » pratensis Pers. virgineus Jacq- ceraceus Wulf. puniceus Fr. coceineus Sch. miniatus Fr. conicus Scop. psittacinus Sch. murinaceus Bull. LACTARIUS. (AGarıc.) scrobiculatus Scop. torminosus Sch. turpis Fr. zonarius Bull. blennius Fr. hysginus - uvidus Fr. flexuosus » pyrogalus » viridis Paul. piperatus Scop vellereus Fr. deliciosus L. theiogalus Bull. acris Bolt quietus Fr. vietus ” subduleis Bull. ” en Weston. ” ” „ 139 140 PAPERS, ETC. AGARIC. camphoratus ,, Leighwood. fuliginosus Fr. 5 RUSSULA. (Acarıc.) furcata Pers. er adusta > er Taunton. sanguinea Bull. ” vesca Fr. n Linnai „ ” xerampelina Sch. = emetica Fr. 5 „ Weston. foetens Pers. e integra 1a, = rubra Fr. > P ” aurata With. n alutacea Fr. » CANTHARELLUS. cibarius Fr. ” 55 tubxformis Sch. = infundibulifor- mis Scop. „» einereus Pers. 5 NYCTALIS. asterophora Fr. = MARASMIUS. (Agarıc.) peronatus Bolt. = 9 „ oreades ” ” ” ” fusco-purpureus Pers. » archytopus e „ calopus s R Vaillantü Er. & foetidus Sow. „> amadelphus Bull. 5 LIST OF FUNGI. MaRraSs. (AGARIC.) ramealis androsaceus rotula epiphyllus Hudsoni LENTINUS. -cochleatus PANUS. foetens stypticus torulosus LENZITES. betulina BOLETUS. luteus Grevillei granulatus laricinus piperatus subtomentosus pachypus luridus edulis lanatus? an viscidus scaber POLYPORUS. perennis brumalis squamosus varius nummularius Bull. #: Scop. Fr. Pers. Fr. Leighwood. » Taunton. ” „ Batheaston. Leighwood. ” Portbury. Weston. 141 142 PoLYPORUS. sulfureus adustus coesius hispidus spumeus betulinus applanatus dryadeus igniarius fraxineus ulmarius zonatus versicolor scoticus nitidus ferruginosus Stephensil bombyeinus obducens vitreus vulgaris D/EDALEA. quercina betulina confragosa unicolor MERULIUS. corıum rufus FISTULINA. hepatica PAPERS, ETC. Leighwood.— Taunton. Fr. Leighwood. „ „ ”„ ”„ ” ” „ ” ” ”„ Pers Pr ” ”„ L. „ Fr. Batheaston. Er ” ” „ ” Klot. Fr. 5 Schr. Brockley. B. &B. Leighwood. Fr. Portbury. Failand. ” Leighwood. » Belmont. Pers. Leighwood. L. Bolt. 7 Fr. > „ „ Pers. Wraaall. Bull. Leighwood. ” ”„ Weston. ” LIST OF FUNGI. 143 HYDNUM. repandum L. Leighwood.— Taunton.— Weston. rufescens Pers? “ membranaceum Bull. 5, auriscalpum L. „ 3 mucidum Sch. 3, farinaceum Pers. En niveum Fr. a, IRPEX. fusco-violaceus ,, - RADULUM. orbiculare 2 „ ODONTIA. fimbriata Pers. > KNEIFFIA. setigera Fr. 45 CRATERELLUNS,. lutescens Fr. re cornucopioides L. a sinuosus Fr. 5 THELEPHORA. palmata 55 = fastidiosa „» » cristata u „ laciniata 4 -- sebacea - -- STEREUM. purpureum Pers. a 5 P hirsutum Well. . e; Pr spadiceum Fr. 4; sanguinolentum A & S. » ferrugineum Bull. re rubiginosum Schr. = 144 PAPERS, ETC. STEREUM. tabacınum Fr. Leighwood. avellanum " er rugosum „ a AURICULARIA. mesenterica Bull. Pr CORTICIUM. sulfureum Fr. = incarnatum en Batheaston. coeruleum Sch. LZeighwood.— Taunton.— Weston. calceum Fr. 5; ochraceum ni „ quercinum Pers. er cinereum Fr. © comedens Nees. & aurora Berk. Batheaston. Sambuei Pers. Leighwood. CYPHELLA. lacera Fr. nr CLAVARIA. botrytis Pers. ” amethystina Bull. . coralloides Fr. R fastigiata D.Cand. „ muscoides L. . cinerea Bull. = cristata Holms. 2 rug0sa Bull. S fusiformis Sow. - inzqualis FL Dan. vermiculata Scop. > fragilis Holms. x pistillaris L. = LIST OF FUNGI. ÜULAVARIA. argillacea Fr. glossoides s TYPHULA. gyrans En erythropus > PISTILLARIA. quisquiliaris Fr. puberula Berk. GEOGLOSSUM. hirsutum Pers. glabrum 5 viride Schr. SPATHULARIA. / flavida Pers. MORCHELLA. esculenta L. semilibera Dec. HELVELLA. crispa Scop. lacunosa Afz. LEOTIA. lubrica Scop PEZIZA. versiformis Er; «eruginosa Pers. reticulata Grev aurantia Pers. coccinea Sow. tuberosa Bull. trechispora Berk saniosa > SUCCOSA 1853, PART II. Leighwood. „ Batheaston. Wraxall. Leighwood. Wrington. Batheaston. Leighwood. ” ” Batheaston. Brockley. Leighwood. Nailsea. Wracxall. Leighwood. » ”„ Weston. Taunton. 145 146 PAPERS, ETC. PezızaA. macropus Pers. Charlton. vesiculosa Bull. Batheaston. melastoma Sow. Charlton. melaloma A&S. Wracall. stercorea Pers. Bathampton.— Taunton. omphalodes Bull. Wraxall. sranulata > Batheaston. “ Schumacheri Fr. ” cerinea Pers. Sr corticalis Fr. Leighwood. firma Pers Bathampton. melaxantha Fr. Batheaston. fusca Pers. ” coesia ss ” atrata „» „ apala B.&B. > nitidula „ 3, PATELLARIA. alboviolacea A.&S. > ASCOBOLUS. furfuraceus Pers. South Stoke. BULGARIA. sarcoides Jacq. Batheaston. inquinans Pers. » CRYPTOMYCES. versicolor Er: a TREMELLA. albida Sm. is mesenterica Retz. N terrestris Beck. a sarcoides With. H LIST OF FUNGI. 147 Leighwood. EXIDIA. auricula Jude L. Batheaston. DACRYMYCES. moriformis Sm. Pr stillatus Nees. = PILOBOLUS. erystallinus Tode. = SPHRIA. myrmecophila? Ces. militaris L. Portbury. peduneulata Dick. Fasland. hypoxylon E. Batheaston. lateritia = „ aurantia Pers. _Brockley. rosella A.&S. - aquila Fr. Wracall. multiformis 25 > concentrica Bolt. Batheaston.— Taunton. fusca Pers. = fibrosa „ South Stoke. confluens Tode. Portbury. stigma Hoffm. Batheaston. gastrina Fr. PR sanguinea With. - cinnabarına Tode. = pulchella Pers. Brockley. strieformis Fr. ee inquinans Tode. -. hupulocysts B.&B. e macrotricha = n ovina Fr. A flavida Cord. „ hirsuta Tode. Belmont. 148 PAPERS, ETC. SPHERIA. hispida Tode. Batheaston. pilosa Pers. = epispheeria Fr. Belmont. peziza Tode. ” Sinopica Fr. MR carneo-alba Libert. Oomyces carn. B.&B. % melanotis R h3 arenula ® ” pulvis pyrius Pers. 5 papaverea B.& B. - spermoides Hoffm. » moriformis Tode. Ashton Court. pomiformis Pers. = myriocarpa Fr. „ obducens Schu. " cupularis Pers. „ elypeata Nees. Leighwood. rıbis Tode. > spiculifera Sow. ” herbarum Pers. ” ditopa Fr. "N conformis B.&B. ” appendiculosa 9» “ congesta Nees. ” camblyospora B.&B. = taxi Sow. 2 dochmia B.&B. » farcta r 5 trivialis ss a5 Thwaitesii ”„ „ graminis Pers, LIST OF FUNGI. SPHERIA. tomicum Desm. Batheaston. phomato-spora B. &;B. 2 eucrypta „ „ pheosticta Berk. + helicospora B.&B. ” trichella Fr. er rusci =. u nigrans Rob. n palustris B. &B. 5 culmifraga Fr. : DOTHIDEA. chxtonium Kunz. ” ulmi Duv. e Robertiani Fr. 2 PIGGOTTIA. asteroidea B.&B. (ASTEROMA. 3 ulmi) Grev. RHYTISMA. acerinum Ar. ” PHACIDIUM. Lauro-cerasi , a CYSTOTRICHA. striola B&B. = NEOTTIOSPORA. carium Des. 5 MYXORMIA, atro-viridis B. &B. ” EXCIPULA. vermicularia Cord. 55 chxetrostoma B.&B. Leighwood. 150 PHOMA. radula B.&B. Batheaston. depressum > 5 nothum > ey sticticum en ” exiguum 5 = Samarorum Des. 5 SPHZEROPSIS. parca 55 DIPLODIA. paupercula ” a: vulgaris Lev. > DISCELLA. platyspora B.&B. > HENDERSONIA. (Spheeria do- thidea?) Mougt. near Wich. mutabilis B.&B. » ERYSIPHE. guttata Schl. r CHZTOMIUM. elatum Kun. n TUBER. eibarıum Sibt. Taunton. cestivum Vitt. “ macrosporum , 5 brumale > 55 rufum „ „ excavatum ” = Leighwood. maculatum > r Abbots Leigh Borchii en puberulum erk? PAPERS, ETC. \ Portbury. LIST OF FUNGI. 151 BALSAMEA vulgaris Vitt. PACHYPHLEUS. eitrinus Berk. GENEA. verrucosa Vitt. spheerica ? Tul. ELAPHOMYCES. granulatus Fr. anthracinus Vitt. ENDOGYNE. pisiformis Fr. HYMENOGASTER. tener Berk. olivaceus Vitt. luteus de Thwaitesiüi Berk. HYDNANGIUM. Stephensii Berk. carotoecolor = OCTAVIANA. asterosperma Vitt. HYSTERANGIUM. nephriticum Berk. Thwaitesii e HYSTEROMYCES. graveolens Vitt. (Rhizopogon rubescens?) Tul. MELANOGASTER. variegatus Tul. PHALLUS. impudicus L. caninus Huds. Abbots Leigh. Portbury. ” Leighwood. Brockley. ”„ Bedminster. Abbots Leigh. Portbury. „ Batheaston.— Taunton. > Brockley. 152 NIDULARIA. erucibulum Fr. striata Bull. campanulata With. GEASTER. fornicatus Huds. rufescens Pers. LYCOPERDON. pyriforme Sch. gemmatum Fr. BOVISTA. gigantea Nees. nigrescens Pers. SCLERODERMA. verrucosum Bull. vulgare Fr. LYCOGALA. epidendrum Le. RETICULARIA. umbrina Fr. PHYSARUM. nutans Pers. hyalinum > sinuosum \ Bull. STEMONITIS. violacea Fr. obtusata en ARCYRIA. punicea Pers TRICHIA. fallax ” serotina Schr. TRICHODERMA. viride Pers. PAPERS, ETC. Charlton Park. Taunton. ”„ Frome. Leighwood. Wraxall.— Taunton. Quantox.— Mendips, &c. Taunton. Charlton. Leighwood. Batheaston. . Portbury. Weston. ” Brockley. Leighwood. Wraxall. HYPHELIA. rosea Fr. Batheaston. ISARIA. farinosa = Wracall. PACHNOCYBE. subulata Berk. ” ANTHINA. flammea Fr. Leighwood. TRIPOSPORIUM. elegans Cord. MACROSPORIUM. Cheiranthi Fr. = BOTRYTIS. macrospora Ditm. B viele Berk. 5 laetuc® Es a Tilletüi Des u lateritia Fr. er infestans Mont. r RHINOTRICHUM. Thwaitesii Berk. „ CLADOSPORIUM. herbarum Lk. r ASPERGILLUS. aurantiacus Berk. e PENICILLUM. glaucum Fr. * TRICOTHECIUM. roseum Lk. DACTYLIUM. macrosporum Fr. 5 SEPEDONIUM. chrysospermum Lk. LIST OF FUNGI. 153 Brockley. Wracall. 154 Lk. herbarum PAPERS, ETC. OIIDIUM. concentricum B.&B. Batheaston. PSILONIA. gilva „ „ VOLUTELLA. melaloma s > TUBERCULARIA. vulgaris Tode. ». Taunton. CORYNEUM. compatum DB.&B. Wraxall. microsticetum ” 2 STILBOSPORA. macrosperma Pers. * asterosperma „ „ ovata ” Belmont. pyriformis Hoff. s magna Berk. Keynsham. SPORIDESMIUM. polymorphum Cord. Brockley. antiguum = „ atrum Lk. er DICTYOSPORIUM. elegans Cord. HALYSIUM. atrum „ ” CONIOTHECIUM. betulinum Cord. Leighwood. amentacearum m m TORULA. LIST OF FUNGI. ToRULA. abbreviata Cord. var. Spheoerie- Belmont. formis B. &B. antennata Pers. Batheaston. graminis Des. 2 SPOROSCHISMA. mirabile B.&B. HYPEROMYXA. stilbosporoides Cord. CONOPLEA. cinerea Er. e ARTHRINIUM. sporophleum Lk. > PODISOMA. Juniperi Fr. = AREGMA. gracile Grev. > PUCCINIA. Lychnidearum Lk. “ ZECIDIUM. compositarum Mart. = quadrifidum Dee. En UREDO. longissima Sow. Vince» Dee. “ Violarum n . segetum Pers. „. effusa Stra. ” Hypericorum Dec. Leighwood. 155 Brockley. 156 PAPERS, ETC. The above contribution towards the mycology of Somer- setshire does not profess to contain all the species which have been observed, still less to define their distribution. Many of the more minute are either new to Britain or alto- gether undescribed previous to their occurrence in this dis- triet. Such have been noticed lately in the Annals of Natural History; and they are inserted here with a view to their rarity or novelty, which will explain why numbers of very common species do not occurin the list. It is hoped that botanists resident in different parts of the county will contribute their aid towards torming a complete history of its mycology. -- Zumersetslire Srchenlogiral AND Matnral Ristery Soriehy. PATRON, THE RIGHT HON. LORD PORTMAN. PRESIDENT, SIR WALTER CALVERLY TREVELYAN, Barr. VICE-PRESIDENTS, SIR P. P. F. P. ACLAND, Barr. THOMAS DYKE ACLAND, Ex. THE HON. AND RIGHT REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLS, THE WORSHIPFUL THE MAYOR OF BATH, THE HON P. P. BOUVERIE, THE HON. AND REV, RICHARD BOYLE, THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF CAVAN, ANDREW CROSSE, Esa. F. H. DICKINSON, Ese. THE RIGHT HON. H. HOBHOUSE, THE REV. J. S. H. HORNER, THOMAS TUTTON KNYFTON, Esa. THE RIGHT HON. H. LABOUCHERE, n.r. W.H. P. GORE LANGTON, Esa. =.r. THE REV. AND WORSHIPFUL CHANCELLOR J. T. LAW, AMBROSE GODDARD LETHBRIDGE, Esa. THE RIGHT HON. EARL OF LOVELACE, J. H. MARKLAND, Esq. J. H SMYTH PIGOTT Ex. THE REV. FITZHARDINGE BERKELEY PORTMAN, W. R. SHEPPARD, Esg. F. H. SYNGE, Es. THE RIGHT HON. LORD TALBOT DE MALAHIDE, CHARLES NOEL WELMAN, Esg. THE VERY REV. THE DEAN OF WELLS. [2, 53.] 2 TREASURERS, HENRY AND ROBERT G. BADCOCK, Taunton. GENERAL SECRETARIES, Archsological Department. REV. F. WARRE, REV. W. R. CROTCH, Bishop’s Lydeard. Taunton. Natural History Department. WILLIAM BAKER, Bridgwater, DISTRICT OR LOCAL SECRETARIES, E. BATTEN, Thorn Falcon, HENRY BERNARD, Wells, REV. W F. CHILCOTT, AMonksiwer, REV. H. CLUTTERBUCK, Buckland Dinham, R. W. FALCONER, =m.». Bath, C. E. GILES, Taunton, C. MOORE, Ilminster, J. H. PRING, w.n. Weston-super-Mare, REV. W. PHELPS, Bicknoller, T. PORCH PORCH, zZdgarley, W. A. SANFORD, Nynehead, REV. HENRY M. SCARTH, Bath, W. STRADLING, Chilton-super-Polden, R.EV. WB. "TZUIRNSER,. Trent, R. WALTER, Stoke-sub-Hamdon, G. WALTERS, Frome, F.H WOODFORDE, =. Taunton. COMMITTEE, G. CAVE, | F. W. NEWTON, W. F ELLIOT, Rev. H. PARR, Rev. E. EVERARD, v.r. T. PATTON, W.E. GILLETT, W. P. PINCHARD, W. M. KELLY, m.». H. C. TRENCHARD, W. METFORD, ı.». Rev. T. A. VOULES. The President, Vice-Presidents, Treasurers, and Secretaries, are ex-oficio Members of the Committee, CURATOR, B. BAKER, Museum, Taunton. 3 Aunarary amd Gorreapumding Frenherz. Acland, Dr. Lee’s Reader of Anatomy, Oxford. Alford, Rev. H. Wymeswold. Bliss, Rev. Dr. Principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxford. Britton, John, Esq. F.s.A. Burtou Crescent, London. Babington, C. C. Esq. F.R.S., F.L.S Buckland, Very Rev. Dr. Dean of Westminster, and Professor of Geology, Oxford. Carter, Rev. Eccles, Kingston. Charlton, Dr. Sec. Antiquarian Society, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Conybeare, Very Rev. W. D. Dean of Llandaff. Daubeny, Dr. Professor of Chemistry and of Botany, Oxford. De La Beche, Sir H. Direetor of Ordnance Geological Survey. De Morgan, A. Esq. Professor of Mathematics, University Col- lege, London. Duncan, P. B. Esq. Curator of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Dymock, Rev. T. F. Ellis, Sir H. Prineipal Librarian, British Museum. Empson, C. Esq. Bath. Ferry, B. Esq. Architect, Trinity Place, Charing Cross, London. Forbes, E. Esq. Pal&ontologist to the Ordnance Geological Survey. Freeman, E. A. Esq. Dursley, Gloucestershire. Giles, Rev. J.A. D.c.L. Bampton, Oxfordshire. Godwin, George, Esq. Architect, F.R.S., F.S.A., Brompton. Hardwick, P. C. Esq. 60, Russell Square, London. Hawkins, E. Esq. Keeper of Antiquities, British Museum. Henslow, Rev. J. S. Professor of Botany, Cambridge. Hunter, Rev. Joseph. Lloyd, Dr. Secretary to the Arch&ological and Natural History Society, Warwick. Oliver, Rev. Dr. Exeter. Owen, Professor. Petit, Rev. T. L. the Uplands, Shifnal. Phillips, Sir Thomas, Middlehill, Worcester. Quekett, John, Esq. Royal College of Surgeons, London. Ramsay, A. C. Esq. F.R.S. Sedgwick, Rev. A. F.R.S., F.G.S. Prof. of Mineralogy, Cambridge. Smith, C. R. Esq. F.S.A. Turner, Dawson, Esq. Yarmouth. Willis, Rev. R. F.R.s., F.G.5: Jacksonian Professor, Cambridge. Wilson, Daniel, Esq. Sec. of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Warner, Rev. R. Great Chalfield, Wilts. Yarrell, W. Esq. Ryder Street, St. James’s, London. 4 Sorieties in Currespandenee WITH THE Somersetshire Archzological and Natural History Society. THE ARCHAOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF GREAT BRrITAIm. THE ECCLESIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Tue BrisToL AND West OF ENGLAND ARCHITECTURAL SocıETY. THE ARCHITECTURAL SocIETY OF THE ARCHDEACONRY OF NORTHAMPTON. THE Sussex ARCHEOLOGICAL SocıErTY. RULES. HIS Society shall be denominated “ Tue SoMERSET- SHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HısTorY SOCIETY ;” and its objects shall be, the eultivation of, and collecting information on, Archzology and Natural History, in their various branches, but more particularly in connection with the County of Somerset. II. The Society shall consist of a Patron, elected for life; a President, elected for three years; Vice Presidents; General, and Distriet or Local Secretaries ; and a Trea- surer, elected at each Anniversary Meeting; with a Com- mittee of twelve, six of whom shall go out annually by rotation, but may be re-elected.—No person shall be elected on the Committee until he shall have been six months a Member of the Society. III. Anniversary General Meetings shall be held for the purpose of electing the Oflicers, of receiving the Report of the Committee for the past year, and of transacting all other necessary business, at such time and place as the Committee shall appoint; of which Meetings three weeks notice shall be given to the Members. IV. There shall also be a General Meeting, fixed by the Committee, for the purpose of receiving Reports, read- ing Papers, and transacting business. — All Members shall have the privilege of introdueing one friend to the Anni- versary and Greneral Meetings. V. The Committee is empowered to call special Meet- ings of the Society, upon receiving a requisition signed by RULES, 1) ten Members. —Three weeks notice ofsuch Special Meeting, and its object, shall be given to each Member. VL The affaırs of the Society shall be directed by the Committee, (of which the officers of the Society shall be Ex-orrıcıo Members) which shall hold Monthly Meetings for receiving Reports from the Secretaries and Sub-committees, and for transacting other necessary busi- ness ; five of the Committee shall be a quorum.— Members may attend the Monthly Committee Meetings, after the official business has been transacted. VO. The Chairman, at Meetings of the Society, shall have a casting vote in addition to his vote as a Member. VIII. One (at least) of the Secretaries shall attend each Meeting, and shall keep a record of its proceedings.—All Manuscripts and Communications, and the other property of the Society, shall be under the charge of the Secretaries. IX. Candidates for admission as Members shall be proposed by two Members at any of the General or Committee Meetings, and the election shall be determined by ballot at the next Committee or General Meeting ; three-fourths of the Members present ballotting, shall elect. The rules of the Society shall be subscribed by every per- son becoming a Member. X. Ladies shall be eligible as Members of the Society without ballot, being proposed by two Members, and ap- proved by the majority of the Meeting. XI. Each Member shall pay ten shillings on admission to the Society, and ten shillings as an Annual Subscription, which shall become due on the first of January in each year, and shall be paid in advance. - XII. Donors of Ten Guineas or upwards, shall be Members for life. XIII. At General Meetings ofthe Society the Com- mittee may recommend persons to be balloted for as Honorary or Corresponding Members. XIV. When any office shall become vacant, or any new appointment shall be requisite, the Committee shall 6 RULES. have power to fillup the same; such appointments shall remain in force only till the next General Meeting, when they shall be either confirmed or annulled. XV. The Treasurer shall receive all Subscriptions and Donations made to the Society, and shall pay all accounts passed by the Committee ; he shall keep a book of receipts and payments, which he shall produce whenever the Com- mittee shall require it; the Accounts shall be audited previously to the Anniversary Meeting by two Members ofthe Committee, chosen for that purpose; and an abstract of them shall be read at the Meeting. XVI. No change shall be made in the Laws of the Society, except at a General or Special Meeting, at which twelve Members at least shall be present. —Of the proposed change a month’s notice shall be given to the Secretaries, who shall communicate the same to each Member three weeks before the Meeting. XVII. Papers read at Meetings of the Society, and considered by the Committee of sufficient interest for pub- lication, shall be forwarded (with the Author’s consent) to such Periodical as shall be determined by the Committee to be the best for the purpose, with a request that a num- ber of such papers may be printed separately, for distribu- tion to the Members of the Society, either gratuitously or for such payment as may be agreed on. XVII. No Religious or Political Discussions shall be permitted at Meetings of the Society. XIX. That any person contributing Books or Speci- mens to the Museum shall be at liberty to resume possession of them in the event of the property of the Society ever being sold or transferred to any other county. Also per- sons shall have liberty to deposit Books or Specimens for a specific time only. N.B. One of the objects of the Society shall be to col- leet by donation or purchase, a Library and Museum, more particularly illustrating the History, Natural, Civil, and Eeclesiastical, of the County of Somerset. * * It is requested that Contributimms to the Museum or . DER.) r Library, be sent to the Curator, at the Society’ s rooms, Taunton. 10 15 20 25 30 35 LISTOF MEMBERS. 1852. Those marked * are Life Members Abraham, T. Dunster Acland, Sir P. P. Bart. Fairfield House Acland, Sir T. D. Bart. Külerton Park, Devon Acland, T. D. 5 ss er Acres, Rev. J. Clevedon Adair, A. Heatherton Park Adair, A: W. -, Addington, H. J. Langford Ainslie, A. ©. Zowlands, Taunton Alford, H. Taunton Allen, J. R. Lyngford House Allen, Rev. C. J. Stocklinch, near Ilminster Allen, B. T. Burnham Anstice, Rev. J. B. Kilton Anstice, Richard, Bridgwater Anstice, Mrs. J. 5 Axford, Richard, 55 Badcock, Miss H. Taunton Badcock, 15% Badcock, R. G. The Eins, Taunton Badham, J. R. Bristol Bagshawe, E. L. Bath Bailward, J. Horsington, Blandford, Dorset Baker, W. Bridgwater Baker, John, Weston-super-Mare Bally, W. F. Sion Hill, Bath Barnard, Rev. Canon, Wells Barnard, Rev. H, J. Yatton Barrett, W. Morden House, North Curry Barrowforth, J. Cheddon Fitzpaine Barry, Rev. H. Brockley Bartrum, J. J. 41, Gay-street, Bath Bath and Wells, the Lord Bishop of, The Palace, Wells Batten, J. jun. Yeovil Batten, E. Thorn Faulcon, and Lincolns Inn, London Baynes, T. S. Rumhill, Taunton Beadon, Rey. Canon, North Stoneham, Hants Beadon, W. jun. Taunton Beadon, W. H. = 8 LIST OF MEMBERS. 40 Beadon, Edwards, Highlands, Taunton Bearcroft, Rev. E. ©. K. Dridgwater Bernard, H. Wells Berryman, W. C. jun. Wells Bewes, Rev. T. A. Lydeard St. Lawrence 45 Blackwell, Rev. W. Mells Blair, H. M. Farley Castle Blake, W. Bishops Hull Bluett, C. Taunton Blundell, Miss, Taunton (deceased) 50 Bond, Rev. J. Weston, Bath Bouverie, Hon. P. P. Brymore House Bouverie, P. P. jun. 5 Bowen, John, Bridgwater Bown, Miss, Taunton 55 Boyd, R. m.p. Wells Boyle, Hon. and Rev. Richard, Marston, Frome Brace, W. H. 25, Gay-street, Bath Breton, Lieut. R.n. Camden Place, ,, Briscoe, Miss, 5, 60 Bridges, H. Bridgwater Broadmead, P. Milverton Broadley, — 2, Gascoyne Place, Bath Broderip, Rev J. S. Cossington Browne, John, Bridgwater 65 Browne, Mrs. John, ‚, Browne, William, , Broome, C. E. Bathford Bruford, T. Nailsea Bryant, W. F. Taunton 70 Brymer, Ven. Archdeacon, Wells (deceased) Bucknell, G. Crowcombe Buckle, Rev. G. Twerton Bunn, Thomas, Frome Bush, W. 7, Circus, Bath 75 Carew, T. G. Warrington, Croweombe Court Carrow, J. Monson, Stoberry House, Wells Carslake, J. H. B. Bridgwater Castle, T. Worle Carver, R. Haines Hill, Taunton 80 Cavan, the Earl of, Barford House Cave, G. Norton Fitzwarren Chamberlain, G. Castle Cary 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 LIST OF MEMBERS. 9 Chapman, Capt. Royal Institution, Bath Chileott, Rev. W. F. Monksilver Chowne, Rev. J. Taunton Clarke, Rev. J. B. B. Bagborough Clarke, T. E. Tremlett House Clarke, A. A. Taunton Clarke, E. Bristol Clarke, Capt. T. P. Clerk, Rev. D. M. Kingston Deveril Clerk, Robert, Westholme House, Pilton, Shepton Mallet Clerk, Major F. J. b; 4 a Clerk, E.H. 54 „ Cliffe, Rev. L. A. Uphill Clutterbuck, Rev. Henry, Buckland Dinham Cockayne, J. Bath Coffin, Com. Genl. Sir E. P. Park-street, Bath Coker, W. Worthington, Haydon House, Taunton Colebrooke, Sir T. E. Bart. Abdington, Scotland Coles, Rev. J. S. Shepton Beauchamp Collings, Rev. W. T. Wells Collins, H. P. Hatch Park Colston, W. H. M. Somerton (deceased) Cooke, Isaae A. Cooper Lady, Leversden House Cordwent, G. Taunton Cornish, C.H. ,„ Cox, W. Brockley, near Yatton Crosse, Andrew, Broomfield Crotch, Rev. W. R. Taunton Dance, Lady, Bishops Hull Dance, Rev. G. Swainswick, Bath Daubeney, Major General, , Daniel, Rev. J. C. Davies, Edmund, Wells Davies, R. < Davies, Henry, Weston-super-Mare Davis, Horatio, , 2 “ Davis, C. E. Bath Davis, W. W. Oakhill, Taunton Davis, H. Taunton Dawe, Rev. Hill, Ditcheat Dawson, T. Gatchel House 10 LIST OF MEMBERS. 125 De Haviland, Rev. C. R. Downside Dickinson, F. H. Kingweston House Dickinson, E. H. Doveton, Capt. Haines Hill, Taunton Down, E. Dridgwater 130 Dowty, F.G. ,„ Dymock, Rev. T. F. Easton, R. Taunton Edgar, J. Weston-super-Mare Edmonds, E. jun., Bradford, Wılts 135 Edwards, R. P. Wedmore Egremont, Countess of, Orchard Wyndham Elers, George, Stogumber Elliot, Miss, 6, Old Stein, Brighton Elliot, W. F. Stepswater, Taunton 140 Elliott, Rev. J. Crowcombe Ellison, Rev. N. T. Huntspill Elwell, J. Weston-super-Mare Elwell, W.O. ,„ ” Escott, Bickham, Hartrow House 145 Esdaile, E. J. Cothelstone House Esdaile, W. C. D. Barley Park, Ringwood Eskersall, Miss, Darlington Place, Bath Everard, Rev. Edward, D.D. Bishops Hull Evered, R. G. Hill House 150 Evered, Rev. C. W. H. Exton, Dulverton Fagan, Rey. G. H. Kingweston Falconer, R. W. m.p. Bath Falkner, Francis, 5 Falkner, Frederick, ” 155 Falkner, F. H. = Field, F. “ Fisher, T. Taunton Fiske, H. 5 ’ Foley, Rev. R. North Cadbury 160 Follett, Spencer Brent, m.p. 15, Cambridge-sq., London Foster, W. J. S. Wells Fox, C. m.D. Brislington Fox, E. F. “ Fuller, T. Springfield Place, Bath LIST OF MEMBERS. al 165 Gandy, G. Kendal, Westmoreland Gandy, Rev. J. H. Old Cleeve Garrod, James, Wells Geeles, J. M. Bathford Giles, W. Taunton 170 Giles, C.E. ,„ Giles, Capt. Dinder Gill, J. E. Bath Gillett, Miss, ‚, Gillett, W. E. Taunton 175 Girardot, Rev. W. Hinton Charterhouse Gordon, James, Weston-super-Mare Goodrige, J. F. 5, Henrietta-street, Bath Grenville, Hon. and Very Rev. G. Neville, Dean of Windsor 180 Green, T. Wells Hagley, B. Oxford Halliday, J. Old Cleeve Hall, Rev. C. R. Pitminster Hamilton, Col. J. 116, Park-st., Grosvenor-sq., London 185 Hamilton, Rev L. R. Castle Cary Hancock, W. Wiveliscombe Harbin, G. Newton House, Yeovil Hardy, Admiral, Dath Hardy, Lieut., R.N. „, 190 Harper, Major, E. Harrison, Rev. O. S. Thorn Faulcon Harrison, T. S. m.D. Frome Harwood, W. Bristol Hathway, Rev. R. C. Kewstoke 195 Haviland, Alfred Dridgwater Hawkins, Rev. H. C. H. Chilton-super-Polden Hayter, Rt.Hon. W.G.m.p. Hyde Park Terrace, London Hayward, S. Abbey Churchyard, Bath Helyar, C. J. Poundisford Lodge 200 Helyar, W. Coker Court, Yeovil Henderson, J. Taunton Hennett, G. Teignmouth Henslowe, Rev. E. Huish Episcopi Hewett, W. Norton Fitzwarren Higgs, Richard, Haines Frll, Taunton Hitchcock, R. W. Taunton IS [=] oO 220 225 230 235 240 LIST OF MEMBERS. Hill, Rev. R. Timsbury, Bath Hill, Miss, Crescent, bs Hobhouse, Right Hon. H. Hadspen House, Castle Cary Hood, Sir A. A. Bart. St. Audries Horner, Rev. J. S. H. Mells Park, Frome Hoskins, T. Hazelburu Hunt, E. Bath Huxtable, Rev. Edgar, Wells Ilchester, the Earl of, Melbury, near Sherborne Isaacs, G. Taunton Impey, Robert, Street Jacobson, W. Taunton Jeboult, J. Taunton Jenkyns, Very Rev. R. D.p. Dean of Wells Johnson, J. George Street, Bath Johnson, Rey. F. C. Whitelackington Jones, Edward, Bridgwater Jones, Rev. W. A. Taunton Kelly, W. M. m.p. Taunton Kidgell, G. Wellington Kilvert, Rev. F. Cleverton Lodge, Bath King, Rev. C. Stoke St. Gregory King, J. W. Chilton-super-Polden Kinglake, R. A. Taunton Kinglake, H.m.D ,„ Knatchbull, W. F. m.p. Babington House Knowles, ©. Bridgwater Knyfton, T. T. Upkill *Labouchere, Right Hon. H. u.p. Stoke Park, Slough Lambert, W. C. Anowle House, Wimborne, Dorset Lance, Rev. J. E. Buckland St. Mary Langton, W. H. P. G. m.p. Newton Park Langton, W. H. G. m.p. Clifton Law, Worshipful Chancellor J. T. Banwell Lawson, Henry, Lansdown Crescent, Bath Leigh, Henry, 1, Elm Court, Temple, London Lethbridge, A. G. Sandhill Park Liddon, H. Taunton 5 Littlehales, Rev. W. Compton Bishop Livett, H. W. Wells 250 255 260 265 270 275 280 285 LIST OF MEMBERS. 13 Lloyd, Augustus, Bath Lock, E. Halcon Lodge, Taunton Lockey Rev. F. Swainswick, Bath Long, W. Lansdown Place > Lovelace, the Earl, Ashley Combe, Porlock Luke, Rev, H. V. Thurlbear, Taunton Mansell, J. C. Cossington Marder, J. Burliscombe Manners, G. P. Bath Markland, J.H. , Marshall, W. Taunton Mate, Rev. R. P. Cambridge May, Frederick, Taunton Mayow, Rev. P. W. Euston Meade, Rey. R. J. Castle Cary Mears, W. Metford, W. m.D. Flook House, Taunton Michell, Rev. R. B.D. Magdalen Hall, Oxford Miles, W. m.p. Leigh Court Mogg, J. R. High Littleton House Mogs, J. F. Y. Midsomer Norton Moody, ©. A. m.p. Kingsdon Montgomery, R. M. Taunton Monkland, G. Bath Morris, J. - Moore, Capt. F. ,, Moor, Rev. R. W. Stoke St. Greyory Moore, C. Ilminster Morle, Thomas, Cannington Park Morgan, W. Claremont, Weston-super-Mare Moysey, H. G. Bathealton Court Munkton, W. W. Curry Rivel Murch, E. Bridgwater Murch, Rev. Jerom, Bath Naish, B. Stone Easton Neate, Rev. J. Beckington Neville, Ralph, Glastonbury Newton, F. W. Barton Grange Nicholls, J. Wells Nicholetts, J. South Petherton 14 290 295 300 305 310 320 325 LIST OF MEMBERS. Nichall, Rev. W. L. Bath Norman, G. 1, Cireus, ,„ Norman, W. Ashfield, Taunton Norman, G. L. Eglesfield, Yatton Norman, A. M. Christ Church, Oxford Norman, J. Taunton Norman, J. Claverham, near Yatton Norris, J. Thorncombe Nutting, Rev. H. Chedzoy Ormond, J. Circus, Bath Paget, J. M. Cranmore Hall, Shepton Mallet Paget, Arthur J.E. „ „ > Palairet, Rev. R. Norton St. Philip Parr, Rev. H. Taunton Parfitt, Rev. C. C. Midford Castle, Bath Paul, Rev. C. S. Wellow, P: Patton, T. Bishops Hull Payne, J. H. Bristol Pearson, T. 5 Peach, R. E. Dath Penny, Rev. C. D.D. Crewkerne Perceval, Capt. Chapel Cleeve Perry, Rev. G. G. Lincoln College Oxford Petherham, J. High Holborn, London Phelps, Rev. W. Bichnoller Philipps, Dan, Bridgwater Pigott, J. H. Smyth, Weston-super-Mare Pigott, G. O. S. “ > 5 Pigott, A. S. „ ” Pigott, H.T. C. S. Brockley Court Pigott, E. F. S. Lincolns Inn Pike, J. Paddington Pinchard, W. P. Taunton Pinder, Rev. Professor, Wells Pinney, W. m.p. Somerton Erly Pinney, Miss, n Plowman, 'T. North Curry Pollard, G. Taunton Poole, G. S. Bridgwater Poole, J. R. h5 Poole, Rev. J. Enmore ” LIST OF MEMBERS. 15 Popham, F. Dagborough Porch, T. P. Edgarley 330 * Portman, Lord, Bryanston House, Dorset Portman, Rev. F. B. Staple Fitzpaine Powell, H. Wells Prance, V. Nether Stowey Prankard, John, Langport 335 Pring, J. D. Taunton Pring, J. H. m.D. Weston-super-Mare Pulman, Rev. W. W. Wellington Pulteney, Rev. R. T. Pyne, Rev. W. Charlton, Somerton 340 Quekett, E. Langport Raban, R. B. Hatch Beauchamp Raban, Major, a Redfern, Rev. W.T. Tauınton Rhodes Rev. E. D. Hampton Villa, Bath 345 Richards, Rev. T. Alcombe Richards, W. „ Robbins, G. Bath Rodbard, John, Aldwick Court Roblyn, T. m.D. Weston-super-Mare 350 Rogers, T. e 5 bi Rooke, Mrs. S. = > > Rowley, Rev. W. W. Routledge, Rev. W. Bishops Hull Rowecliffe, Charles, Stogumber 355 Rundell, E.W. West Monkton Sanford, E. A. Nynehead Court Sanford, W.A. Samborne, SP... Timsbury, Bath Saumarez, Lieut. R.N. Circus, , 360 Scarth, Rev. H. M. Bathwick Schuldam, Mrs. E. Norton Fitzwarren Seott, Rev. J. P. Staplegrove Sealy, J a Bridgwater Sealy, J. L. 5 365 a "T. Wells *Seymour, H. D. m.p. Knoyle, Wilts Shaw, Rev. W. H. E. D. Fiddington 16 LIST OF MEMBERS. Sheppard, A. B. 16, Zincolns-Inn-Fields, London Sheppard, J. Frome 370 Sheppard, W. H. Keyford House, Frome Sheppard, F. J. Wells Sheppard, S. B. Selwood, Frome Shipton, Rev. J. N. D.D. Othery Shore, J. Whatley, near Frome 375 Skinner, George, Belmont, Bath Slade, Wyndham, Munty's Court Smith N. Chfton Smith, Major T. Weston-super-Mare Smith Rev. C. Bishops Lydeard 380 Soden, J. Sen. Dath Solly, Miss L. , Spry, J. H.m.D. „ Street, Rev. H. ,„ Sotheby, Rev. T. H. Milverton 385 Sparks, W. Crewkerne Speke, Mrs. Roeford Lodge Spencer, Rev. J. W. Wilton Sperrin, J. Weston-super-Mare Squire, F. Pall Mall, London 390 Stewart, Rev. T. B. Wookey Stone, W. H. Taunton Stone, Rev. W. „ Stradling, W. Chilton-super-Polden Sully, T. Bridgwater 395 Sweet, Rev. C. Sampford Arundel Sweet, H. Taunton Symes, Rev. R. Yatton Synge, F. H. Weston-super-Mare Talbot de Malahide, Lord, Everereech 400 Thompson, Charles, Bridqwater Thring, H. Alford, Castle Cary Tinling, Rev. E. D. 30, Crescent, Bath Todd, Major, Taunton Tomkins, C. m.D. Weston-super-Mare 405 Tomkins, H. G. e > a Traherne, Rev. J. H. Coedriglan, Cardiff Trenchard, H. C. Taunton Trevelyan, Sir W. C. Bart. Nettlecombe Court, and Wallington, Northumberland 410 Trevelyan, Lady > e -- a 415 420 425 430 435 440 445 450 LIST OF MEMBERS. 17 Trevelyan, Sir C. E. Treasury, London Trevelyan, Rev. E. OÖ. Stogumber Trevelyan, Rev. W. P. Enmore Castle Trinder, Charles, Darlington Street, Bath Trudell, James, Taunton Tucker, Rev. H. T. Leigh Court Tucker, W. Coryton Park, Devon Tudway, R. C. Wells Turner, Rev. W. H. Trent Turner, A. ek Turner, C. J. Turner, Rev. w. ’H. Banwell Tunstall, Dr. Queen’s Parade, Bath *Tynte, 'Col. C. K. K. Halswell Tynte, Lieut. -Col. m.r. Cefn Mabley, Glamorganshire Tynte, Capt. K. 78, Chester Square, London Uttermare, T. B. Langport Vane, Rev. J. Burrington, Wrington Vibart, James, Chilliswood Voules, Rev. T. A. Bear Crocombe Walter, L. King’s Road, Gray’s Inn, London Walter, W. Oldbury Lodge Walter, R. Stoke-sub-Hamdon Walters, G. Frome Ward, T. W. Tickenham Warre, Rev. F. Bishops Lydeard Warre, Miss, Cheddon Fitzpaine Warren, J. F. H. Langport Warren, Rev. J. Bawdrip Webber, Rev. E. Runnington Welman, C. N. Norton Manor Welsh, W. I. Wells Wells, E.N. p West, Rev. G. H. Corfe West, G: Weston, Plowden c. "I. South Carolina, United States White, Eales, Taunton White, F. Wellington White, F. G. Taunton Whitehead, Rev. E. Saltford, Bath 18 LIST OF MEMBERS. Whitehead, Rev. W. B. Chard Whiting, Rev. H. B. Writhlington, Bath Whitmash, E. Taunton Wickham, Rev. H. D. Frome 455 Wickham, Whalley, Frome Wills, Rev. T. A. West Buckland Williams, Rev. T. Burnham Wilmott, W. R. Weston-super-Mare Winter, Mrs. Watts House 460 Wolff, D. Foreign Office, London Wood, Rev. James, Burlington Street, Bath Woodforde, F. H. m.D. Taunton Woodland, J. Taunton Wrangham, Digby C. The Rocks, Bath 465 Yatman, Rev. J. A. Winscombe, ‚Sideot Young J. Elm Cottage, Taunton The following have been elected since 1852. Blake, Downing, Holway Else, R. ©. Bridgwater Fox, Thomas, jun., Wellington . 470 Harris, Charles, Zlchester Kemmis, Mrs. Arthur, Oroham House, Croydon, Surrey Poole, J. R. Bridqwater Prankerd, John, Zangport Pearless, Richard, Northtown 475 Rosenberg, G. Bath Steinthal, Rev. S. A. Zridgwater Winter, Charles, Bishops Lydeard Members are requested to inform either of the Secretaries of any errors or omissions in the above List ; they are also requested to authorize their Bankers to pay their subscription, annually, to Messrs. Badcock, or Messrs. Stuckey, Taunten; or to either of their branches ; or their respective London Agents, on account of the Treasurer. unannnn Amann Printed by FREDERICK Mar, High Street, Taunton. THE PATENT GUTTA PERCHA TUBING, | THICK AND THIN SHEET, MILLBANDS, = Water Jugs and Basins, Splints, Stethoscopes, CARBOYS, SYPHONS, FLASKS, STOPCOCKS, _ LINING FOR CISTERNS, BUCKETS, WINDOW BLIND CORD, PICTURE FRAMES, INRSTANDS, And every other article of the Patent Gutta Percha Company's 1 ns Manufacture, supplied at the same prices as at the Manufactory, byF.MAY, | the Company’s Agent for Taunten. Amongst the were properties possessed Fe this T: hing : R 3 which render it &in article of great value, not only to ma 7% but to the publie „generally, are the following :— = Lightness, En remarkable strength, (a three-gurter inch tube having ZN: resisted a pressure/of 337 Ibs. on the square inch.) 2 Non-affection b "nie, acetic, hydrofluorie, or muriatic u or. br the most caustic “This remarkable property renders Gutta ee valuable for & ınce of water, lining of cisterns, &c. being free the deleterious . -t0 er resulting from the use of lead for those purposes. ; Peculiar power of resisting Frost. r Readiness with which it can be connected (by means of the Gutta Perehn: union-joints) with the water tap, or pump, and used for watering Bardens, washing windows, carriages, &t. 3 Great lengths in which it can be.made (50 to 500 feet) wg a Dr - Ease with which thereguisite joints can be made. Sn Facility with which it can be cut open, and again ee in case stoppag®. 4 j ‚Extraordinary power of conduceting sound. APPLICATIONS OF GUTTA PERCHA TUBING. The conveyance of Water, Oil, | For watering Gardens, Streets, | - Acids, Gas, & other Chemicals, washing Windows, &e. Liquid Manures, &e. Ventilation of Mines, &e. Drain and Soil Pipes. Ship Pumps, &e. Suction Pipes for Fire Engines. Bar and Mouth Tubes. Pump Barrels for Feeding Pipes | Speaking Trumpets, in lieu of re | Bells, &e. &ec. | = E | | SOMERSETSHIRE i | PR ugienl aud Pahıral 1: Alt Zuriehy. IPROCEEDINGS DURING THE YEAR 1855. TAUNTON: FREDERICK MAY, HIGH STREET. SOMERSETSHIRE Archrological and Patural Wistorp Society. = PROCEEDINGS DURING THE YEAR 1853. | T Fr R 4 a i me) % RK 5 A ae ı a . ae Kar j Re FR ’ A N , u > I » I N “1 , ah “ ur x F i ‚ u. f Mr A ML, “ nn, . 7“ er "a, | ae I 2 N | r b \e% N ER & ı % en a ee > Ä % aM j er r f (We 4 . Fr Br R a ’ %.. 3 BR. BP) 7 f a > 2 ARRTEARNEN u rr FE ; IT at hr. Ba, ink, rünct rn Kan I Br 7' + 5 Pr Ka N ij je =, Bi Fre ine IM ee Te u 4 ne‘ a " > + B* Tanks j ET re Sr ee - g e ‚Baal ’ = E We EN \ x x En ER a 5 " . Br “ PR u PR > r t “m i all Tannton Castle—Gastern Gateway. Somersetshire Archacological and Matneal Ristery Swirl. Prurerdinge DURING THE YEAR 1853. TAUNTON: FREDERICK MAY, HIGH STREET. LONDON: G. BELL, 186, FLEET ST. MDCCCLIV. > % ar 2 D 1 q er — > j THE Society is indebted to E. A. Freeman, Esgq., for the use of the original drawings from which the fol- lowing sketches were taken, given in the present volume : Somerton Church ; St. Peter’s Church, Luffwick ; and Stoke-sub-Hamdon Church, (3 plates) ; and likewise to W.F. Elliot, Esq., for the anastatic drawings of Taunton Castle—South Front, and North Front; and the etching of the N. View of the East Gate from a drawing by W. P. Pinchard, Esag. The Committee are not responsible for any statements or opinions expressed in the Proceedings, the authors of the several Papers being alone answerable for the same. le . EZ . : san z Man ErETt a ab KHer Du „fi dns: aim ine: Kanten Pens WE aan Ar Mendi 5, Baia, ‚hat ernld Auen ar en ne r Er na » nyrüwsslı. Yan zude ee ” pitiitas ö a | fur am he ’ 1) Y.5 abi [zZ LE ltr RT ROT Hl Jimitonp EBENE 71 575% > Ars ; dank il "onen a LEINE En 16 „lılaseeeei Cantente. PROCEEDINGS, &e. Fifth Annual Meeting - er = 4 E Report of the Committee - - _ = & Abstraet of Treasurer’s Account - - - Evening Meeting. —Second Day.—Excursion - The Temporary Museum - - x = n Contributions to the Permanent Museum in 1853 Bibliotheca Somersetensis = = 2 = Conversazione Meetings - = E 2 a PART N.—PAPERS. On the Architecture of the Neighbourhood of Yeovil, by Mr. Edward A. Freeman, m.A. - Taunton Castle, by the Rev. F. Warre - Si ur The Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Kingston, by the Rev. Eccles James Carter - - = Langport, the Llongborth of Llywarch Hen’s Elegy, and the site of an Ancient British Town of the same name, by the Rev. Wm. Arthur Jones - - - - - - - - Somersetshire Sequestrations during the Civil War, by Mr. John Batten, jun - - - - 18 60 vi. CONTENTS. Hamdon Hill, by Mr. Richard Walter - - - 78 On the Formation of the Peat Bogs and Turbaries, which extend from the Bristol Channel into’ the Central Parts of Somersetshire, by the Rev. W. „ Phelps, F.s.A. - - - - - - - 9 Woodspring Priory, by the Rev. F. Warre - - 108 Observations on the Marine Flora of Somerset, by Miss Isabella Gifford - - - - - 116 Appendix to Paper on Worle Camp - - - 124 » » Paper on Llongborth - - - 128 ILLUSTRATIONS. St. Peter’s Church, Luffwick - - - part ii. 5 Stoke-sub-Hambdon Church - - - ” 9 5 A Chancel and Transept o5 11 n „ Chancel Arch - - ” 1 Somerton Church - - - - - ee 13 Taunton Castle—South Front - - - r 18 .s North Front - - - “ 29 2 East Gate - - (To face Title). = Ditto, North view - - Er 27 „ Plan - - - - + 32 Tomb of the Warres of Hestercombe - x 3 Tower of Kingston Church - - - . 42 Plan of the Camp on Hamdon Hill - - 5, 84 Woodspring Priory - - - - - ” 112 PROCEEDINGS * OF THE SOMERSETSHIRE ARCH/EOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, DURING THE YEAR 1853. PART. HE Fifth Annual Meeting of the Somerset Arch- Tr ological and Natural History Society was held at the Town Hall, Yeovil, on Tuesday, September 13th, 1853,— Wım. Pınney, Esgq., m.P., in the Chair. The meeting commenced as usual for the transaction of business, at eleven o’elock. The President, Vice- Presidents, and the Distriet or Local Secretaries and Treasurers were severally re-appointed. Wm.Pinney, Esgq., M.p., was eleeted a Vice-President; the Rev. W. A. Jones was elected one of the general Secretaries ; J. Yates, Esq., and J. W. Salter, Esq., were elected Honorary Members ; W. F. Elliot, Esq., W. E. Gillett, Esq., Wm. Kelly, Esq., m.D., W. Metford, Esq., m.p., T. Patton, Esq., W. P. Pinchard, Esq., and the Rev. T. A. Voules, were re-elected, and J. Batten, junr., Esq., the Rev. W. T. Redfern, and F. W. Newton, Esq., were elected Members of the Committee. The CHaıRMAaN opened the proceedings with a short and 1853*, PART 1. B 2 FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. appropriate speech, in which, after referring to the objects of interest visited on former occasions, he mentioned many curious relics of antiquity in the distriet adjoining Yeovil, particularly calling the attention of the company to the remains of ancient domestie architecture which abound in the neighbourhood of that town. The following Report of the Committee for the past year was then read by the Rev. F. WARRE, one of the Seeretaries of the Society :— “ Onthis occasion, being the Fifth Annual Meeting of our members, the Committee have great pleasure in being able to congratulate the Society upon a considerable in- crease in the number of subseribers. The last published list contained 420 names; that for the present year con- tains no less than 499, shewing an addition to the subseriptions of last year amounting to £25 ; which, while it indicates an increase of the Society, gives at the same time hopes of more extensive operations and increased usefulness. “ Nothing is perhaps more likely to conduce to the per- manence of a society such as ours, than the possession of valuable property ; and in addition to the Williams’s Geologieal collection, the great value of which is un- doubted, the Committee have the pleasure of congratu- lating the Society upon the acquisition ofan extensive and very beautiful collection of Oriental Birds, presented by the Hon. E. A. Blundell. The arrangement and display of both these collections have been advanced, during the last year, as far as the funds of the Society would allow. In the arrangement and labelling of the Geological specimens, in addition to the invaluable services of Mr. Baker, the Com- mittee have received great assistance from the kindness of Mr. Salter, one of the curators of the Museum of Practical REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 3 Geology, whom, as a slight token of their estimation of his services, they have appointed an honorary member of the Society. Owing to an unfortunate misunderstanding, as to what fossil specimens the Society felt itself justified in parting with, only a small sale of duplicates has as yet taken place ; and the lamented illness of Mr. Baker, to whom the negotiation was committed, has hitherto pre- vented his making any report as to the probability of any farther sale being eventually effected. “ Many objects of archxological interest have been deposited and presented since the last annual meeting. Among the most valuable are twelve ofthe curious Anglo- Saxon coins discovered in Wedmore churchyard. These coins were claimed by the Lords of the Treasury, and of course given up; but upon a memorial being presented to them, seven were restored, and those which were re- tained for the British Museum, have been replaced by others of equal rarity and value, of which there were dupli- cates in that collection. Considering the short time that has elapsed since the establishment of the Society, the rooms at Taunton contain a very respectable collection both of Antiquities and specimens of Natural History, as well as many miscellaneous objeets of interest and rarity. “ The annual volume of Proceedings being now in the hands of the members, its contents must of course speak for themselves ; but the Committee venture to hope that a considerable improvement will be observed in the quality of the illustrations ; no pains, and, as far as the funds would permit, no expense having been spared, to render them worthy of the Society, both in correetness and artistic execution. “A complaint having been made by some members, of 4 FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. difieulty in obtaining their volumes, the Committee take this opportunity of repeating that booksellers have been appointed (as mentioned in the circular letter) in most of the considerable towns of this county, as well as in Bristol, from whom the volumes may be obtained on presentation ‚of the enclosed form, signed by the member who requires the volume. It is particularly requested that members will present these forms, as they are the only vouchers the Publisher has to show that the books have been duly delivered. “With regard to the payment of subscriptions, the Committee beg to remind the Society that they are pay- able in advance ; and as the list of names affords the only data by which the Committee can calculate the income of the Society, and consequently the amount of liability they are justified in incurring, all subscriptions, of the with- drawal of which notice has not been given before they became due, must be considered as belonging to the Society. “ The Conversazione Meetings have been held as usual during the winter, and still appear to maintain the interest excited in previous years. “On the whole the Committee feel that they may con- gratulate the Society on its prospects. Its members and its property are increasing, a fine and extensive field of operations is before it, and there seems to be no want either of ability or good will to work init. Our funds are as yet equal to our expenditure, but it is much to be wished that some means could be devised of increasing them, as without a larger income we can hardly procure the plans, drawings, books, &e., needed to render us a body really and effectually beneficial to the interests of archzological and natural science.” TREASURER’S REPORT. 5 Mr. R. Bapcock presented the Treasurer’s Report, an abstract of which is subjoined, viz. :— The Treasurer in Account with the Somerset Archaeological and Natural Dr. Bistorp Society. Er. 1853. £ Bd 1853. LirB.d. To Balance of former Account 33 18 0 By Curator’s Salary .. = 281000 „ Subscriptions = .. 316 0 0 „ Do. commission for colleeting „ Publisher for Surplus Stock Arrears of Subscriptions 515 6 of Volume for 1851 FOR un ı 10 „ Rent... F3 RL "1.298.,8110 ‚ Printing, Drawing, and En- B 5; Sg graving, 3rd Vol. of Pro- ceedings (1852) .. .. 12 191 „ Books de Er surlenls 6 „ Stationery and Printing... 917 9 „ Speceimens, Cases, &c. .. 12 810 „ Expences at General Meet- ing at Bath Die a BEMGN „ Ditto at Worle Hill an Wells 416 6 „ Postage and Carriage 6835 „, Coals, Candles, and Gas .. 810 0 „ Insurance 3% 171770 „ Petty Disbursements 515 10 „, Balance = 0 VO £ 35118 0 £35118 0 R. G. BADCOCK, Treasurer. Dr. SHEPPARD, of Frome, read a paper on the Con- nection between Arch@ology and Natural Science. Mr. H. G. Tomkıns read a paper on Anglo-Saxon and German Romanesque Architecture. The Rev. W. H. TurRNER read a paper upon the Churches of Normandy. The Rev. W. A. Jones, Secretary to the Society, read a paper on the Battle of Llongborth, which is given in Part IL. The meeting then adjourned to the church, the architec- tural peculiarities of which, as well as of the ancient school-room attached, were ably pointed out by Mr. JoHn BATTEN, jun. 6 FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. The morning meeting was followed by the Ordinary, which was well attended. ——— Chr Enening Aleeting. Mr. JAMES YATES, F.R.S., delivered an address upon the Botanical and other Natural Productions of Australia, which he illustrated with many specimens. Mr. CHARLES MOORE read a paper on Fossil Infusoria. Mr. STREET read a paper on Palxeography. Mr. J. BATTEN read a paper on the manner in which Sequestrations were carried out by the Parliament during the Civil War, which is given in Part II. The Rev. F. WARRE, Secretary to the Society, read a paper upon Taunton Castle, which is given in Part II. The company then adjourned to the ante-room, where refreshments had been provided by the Portreeve and other inhabitants of the town of Yeovil. Strom Day. Wednesday, September 14th, 1853. HE proceedings were resumed shortly after nine ic o’elock, when the chair was taken by F. H. Dıck- ınson, Esq.,the High Sheriff’of the county, in the absence of Mr. Pinney. Mr. WALTER, of Pyreombe Hill, read a paper on Hamdon Hill, which is given in Part II. After a few notes by Mr. Freeman, of the Architectural SECOND DAY. 7 Remains about to be visited, had been read by Mr. WARRE, the company proceeded on an Excursion to the site of a Roman Villa, at Coker, where extensive excava- tions had been made for the occasion by W. Helyar, Esq., of Coker Court, and various interesting Roman remains brought to light. After this they visited Nash, Brympton (the history and architecture of which were explained by Mr. E. Batten), Odcome, Hamdon Hill, where Mr. Walter acted as leader, the Church of Stoke- sub-Hamdon, (an account of which, by Mr. Freeman, was read in the churchyard, by the Rev. F. Warre,) and the Priory and Church of Montacute. The company were afterwards hospitably entertained in the beautiful Eliza- bethan mansion, the residence of W. Phelips, Esq. At the Evening Meeting a paper, by Mr. FREEMAN, on the Architecture of the Neishbourhood of Yeovil, was read by Mr. Warre, which is given in Part II. After a short address on Roman Antiquities from Mr. YATES, and a few words on the discoveries at Worle Hill, from Mr. WARRE, the meeting closed. —_— Che Rusenm. HE Museum formed a very attractive feature at the meeting. A portion of the Hall having been divided off by a partition, the various articles contributed were arranged in excellent order by the Curator of the Society, Mr. BAKER, assisted by several persons who very kindly volunteered their services. The circular issued by the Honorary Secretary of the Local Committee having been very cordially responded to by the ladies and 8 FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. sentlemen resident in the town and neighbourhood, the Museum was well furnished. Among the most attractive and interesting objects contributed were the following by GEORGE HarBIn, Esq., of Newton House :—A Deed of Grant out of the Exchequer, under the Broad Seal of England, by Charles IL., of Annuities of £200 each for their respective lives, to Rachel and Frances Wyndham, daughters of Sir Francis Wyndham, of Trent, on the peti- tion of his wife, Lady Anne Wyndham, and on the sur- render of an annuity for her life of £400 granted by Charles II., to the said Lady Anne Wyndham in the 19th year of his reign, in consideration, as recited in the said Deed, of the good and faithful service performed by Lady Anne Wyndham, in being instrumental to his preservation after the battle of Worcester. Date of Deed 34th year ofthe reign of Charles IL. A Cap worn,and a Knife used, by CharlesII., whilst in concealment at Sir Francis Wyndham’s, at Trent, in the county of Somerset, after the battle of Worcester, September 3rd, 1651. A Medal of Charles I., and Hen- rietta, his wife, belonging to the late Sir Thomas Wynd- hanı, Bart., father of Sir Franeis Wyndham, of Trent. A Portrait (in distemper) of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV., Date 1461. A Drinking Cup, with part of a Buck’s horn, found in a field at Stoford, in Barwick, be- longing to Mr. Harbin, in 1826, in a stone vault hewn in the solid rock, and covered with a rough stone slab, three feet in width and four feet in depth, containing a human skeleton, placed in a sitting posture with the drinking cup on one side and the Deer’s horn on the other, near which another vault was opened, containing the skeleton of a horse; at a little distance another very large vault was discovered, containing an immense quantity of human bones, mixed with earth and stones, the covers being broken by THE MUSEUM. 9 the pressure of the superincumbent mass of earth, from five to six feet in thickness.—Mr. R. SuoUT contributed some fine Rubbings of Sepulchral Brasses from Westminster. —A curious Carved Oak Panel, representing Abraham offering up his son Isaac, and which for many years adorned the kitchen of the Old Angel Inn, Yeovil, was exhibited by Mr. H. M. Warrts.— Another very fine piece of carved work was contributed by the Rev. J. WıLLıAms.—Mr. Dowry, of Bridgwater, sent a great variety of antique curiosities.—Mr. ALFRED A. CLARKE, artist, of Taunton, exhibited a Portfolio of Original Sketches in pencil outline, of Somersetshire subjects; and a Portfolio of Pencil Draw- ings ofmedieval remains, ecclesiastical,and manorial.— The Society was also indebted to Mr. JamEs YATES, F.R.S., for the exhibition of some plants of the order Cycadez, &c., and of a Leopard’s skin, which had been worn by one of the Grandees of Abyssinia, it still being the practice in that country to wear this costume at court and on the field of battle, a costume preserved in those ancient Greek sculptures, which represent Baccha- nalian processions.—A small but valuable collection of Fossils was exhibited by Mr. ©. MoorE, of Ilminster. Among others, a small Teleosaurus, found in the Lias, containing in its stomach a small fish; and a series of minute shells of the family Foraminifera, from the neighbourhood of Yeovil.—Dr. SYDENHAM, of Yeovil, exhibited a fine and very perfect, though not large, specimen of the Ichthyosaurus; and his father, the Rev. J. SYDENHAM, contributed a valuable collection of Manuscript Books, comprising: 1. A large Folio MS. written in Roman letter, the Homilies of St. Chry- sostom, written at the cost of Christopher Urswyhe, for the Monastery of Hales, in Gloucestershire, in the 1853*, PART 1. 6) 10 FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. ninth year of the reign of. Henry VIII. It is stated to have been written “ Arte Petri Majı Unoculi, Teutonis Natione, Brabantine.” 2. A Psalter with interlinear Com- mentary, written in 1514, for the Monastery of Hayles. 3, 4,5. “Books of Hor&,” one of the use of Rouen, ano- ther of that of Poictiers—all being exquisitely illuminated with delicate borders of flowers, and large drawings of sacred subjects, saints, &c. The first contains numerous entries of the Deny family, dated from 1550 to 1600. 6. A curious MS. relating to ceremonies and discipline, with forms of excommunication for a great variety of offences. 7. A MS. collection of French Poems, 13th century, in its original oak boarding. 8. A beautiful MS. of the Vulgate, 14th century.*—Among the curiosities contributed by J. M. Quantock, Esq., of Norton House, were the remams of a skull dug from Ham Hill, about 30 feet below the surface. —A sword found in Sedgemoor, and supposed to have belonged to an oflicer engaged in battle in that locality, was contributed by Mr. CavE.—A rich colleetion of ancient armour was contributed byMr. NORRIS of South Petherton.—Mr. G. P. SLADE contributed some very beautiful little sketches of the old George Inn, Yeovil, the oriel and door of the Abbey at Nash, the Font at Bradford Church, and drawings of the Ilchester Mace, with its insceription, “ Jesu de Deu Crie neme Dun et Mie.” —Mr. T. Mannıng eontributed some Rubbings from the Sepulchral Brasses of Giles Pennie and his wife in Yeovil church, and the inseription on the lectern, which has puzzled antiquaries to decipher.—Mr. CUSTARD, junr., contributed fifteen drawings on various subjects, which were greatly admired. Healso contributed a sketch of Bradford Tower, Dorset, which he presented to the Society.—Mr.HıGHMORE * Now deposited in the Society’s Museum, at Taunton. THE MUSEUM. 11 exhibited some Roman Coins found on Ham Hill, and on the Roman Road which runs through his property at Pres- ton.—Mr. WARRY, of East Chinnock, contributed some beautiful specimens of Moorish Pottery, and a box of Moorish Coins-—Mr. WATTs, of the Mermaid Hotel, sent an ancient Roman Vase, dug up at Ham Hillsome years ago ; it was in a perfect state of preservation, and when discovered was filled with copper coins, chiefly of the later Roman Emperors.—Mr. BABINGToN, of Sherborne, con- tributed twenty Ammonites, illustrative of the Geology of Sherborne.—Mr. W. STUCKEY contributed a local curiosity, in the shape of a venerable copper tea-kettle, which was the first ever used in the parish of Muchelney; and some antique silver spoons, date of 1673.—Rev. G. FAGan, Reetor !of Kingweston, exhibited some very rare and in- teresting curiosities; a Monumental Tablet from 'Thebes, in Egypt, of the date of the Ptolemies, representing the judgment of the deceased.—Mr. BRITTON, of Butleigh, ex- hibited the figure from a crucifix, and a death’s head, (both in Ivory), found in the old chapel of the Magdalen Alms House, at Glastonbury ; an old glass, containing a crucifix in wood, and other figures, many years in the possession of a family at Kingsdon ; and Fossil. —Mr. E. BATTEN con- tributed a curious sketeh of Porter’s Tomb, Rampisham, with the bas-relief representing the murder of Thomas a Becket.—Mr. ALFRED GILLETT, a case of shells, &e.— Mr. Vınıng showed four fine specimens of conglomerated fossils, dug up in Marston Magna. Two of these were cut and beautifully polished. Also, a turtle stone (polished), found in the Backwater, at Weymouth.—Mr. W. Frooks, of Sherborne, contributed a carved stone cross, with eight carved figures, representing the Crucifixion, Virgin, &c. This is a very curious and interesting piece of sculpture, 12 FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. and probably formed the top of a churchyard cross. —Mr. ARNOLD ÜOLEs contributed a very fine collection of medals; and other objects of interest.—Mr. J. PynE, of Somerton, presented a very perfect figure of Hercules, found in the ruins of Corteia.—Mr. RawLins showed a number of Am- monites, highly polished.—Mr. SWATRIDGE contributed some very beautiful Mosaic slabs. —A Case of Birds from the neighbourhood of Yeovil, was sent by Mr. SEWARD. In addition to the above, many other contributions were forwarded from the neighbourhood, and a considerable number of articles were sent up from the Society’s Museum, at Taunton. The following contributions to the Museum of the Society have been received during the year 1853 :— A DBust of Abraham Reed.—JonATHAn TooGooD, Esq., m.D. Sticcado Pastorale, a musical instrument, from Switzer- land ; Part of Deer’s Horn, from Westhay Moor.—Rev. W. Pers. Twelve Saxon Coins, from Wedmore Churchyard.— Through R. P. EpwarDps, Esgq. A Painted Wooden Mask from New Zealand ; A pair of Buffalo Horns from South Africa ; Jaws of Ichthy- osaurus.—C. H. CORNISH, Esq. A remarkably fine specimen of the Actiniformis, or Mushroom Coral.— Through Dr. FALCONER. Psalm Book, dated 1636; Stuffed specimen of Young Fawn; Specimen of Gorgonia Flabellum ; Stuffed speci- men of Raven.—Mr. C. BLUETT. Rubbing from Brass, at Weston-upon-Thames.—F. W. NEWTOon, Esq. THE MUSEUM. 13 Four Rubbings from Brasses, at Westminster. —R. H. SHOUT, Esq. Impression of Luther’s Seal.—Mr. W.C. BALL. Pamphlet on the lowest Fossiliferous Beds of North Wales.—J. W. SALTER, Esq. Cafüir Spear.—Rev. J. E. LancE. Two pamphlets on the Classification of Celts.—Dr. Huco. New Zealand Rug.—Mıss GROSVENOR. Barnes’ Poems in the Dorset dialeet.—Miıss PınnEY. Two casts of Seals of the Haviland family, dated 1261, and 1370.— A. HAvILAnD, Es. Casts of Celt moulds.— James YATEs, Esq. New Zealand Wrapper.—R. M. Kıng, Esq.. Cannon Ball, from Sedgemoor.—R. WALTER, Esq. Description of Fossil Skull of an Ox, with a Geological Sketch of the River Avon, in which it was found. Litho- graphed Signatures of Members of British Association, met at Cambridge, 1833.—Mr. F. Mar. Burmese Dresses, Sword, Manuscript, Puisoned Arrows, and Shoes ; a Malay Crease, Antelope’s Horns, Elephant’s Tooth, &c.— The Mısses ROBERT. Pilgrimages to St. Mary of Walsingham, and St. Thomas of Canterbury. —By Post. Donor unknown. A Sikh Matchlock and Accoutrements ; Flying Squirrel ; Flying Fish ; Antelope’s Horns ; Tinder Box, from Chinese Tartary ; Burmese Idol. —ÜCAPTAın NISBET. Polished Slab, from Mendip.—Mr. SWATRIDGE. Head of Dorset Ram.—Mr. VERRIER. Pottery, Coins, &e.. &c., from Worle Hill.—Rev. F. WARRE. Large Collection of Egyptian and other Antiquities ; Books, Drawings, &c., &c.—T. Dawson, Esq. 14 THE MUSEUM The following have been deposited as Loans : A collection of Australian Plants. — Rev. W. P. TREVELYAN. Twelve Drawings of Roman Pavements.— J. W. Kıng, Esq. A collection of Somersetshire Bats, &e.— W. Baker, Esg. Bibliothern Domergetenais. HE Committee are desirous of collecting materials for a complete List of all Books, Tracts, or Manu- script Documents relating to, or published in, Somerset- shire, or written by natives of the county; and they would feel obliged if members or others would supply them with the following particulars of any they may know. Name of the Author. Title in full, with the publisher, date, and size. Public or Private Library, where a copy exists. CONVERSAZIONE MEETINGS. 15 Converauziaue Rlertinge. Third Season. the Conversazione Evening Meetings of the Society, held at the Museum, in Taunton, during the winter of 1852-53, Papers on the following subjects were read. 1852, November—1st Meeting. On the Antiquities of Taunton ; by the Rev. F. Warre. A Phrenological description of a Skull; by Mr. R. Walter. On the Camp on Worle Hill; by the Rey. F. Warre. December—2nd Meeting. On Electricity ; by W. Metford, Esq., M.D. On the Life of St. Thomas a’ Beckett ; by Mr. E. Batten. On tbe Geology of Somerset; by the Rev. W. Phelps. 1853, January—3rd Meeting. On the Formation of Peat Bogs and Turbaries ; by the Rev. W. Phelps. On Change; by Mr. Andrew Crosse. On Clouds; by Mr. C. N. Welman. On the Monastic Establishments of Taunton; by the Rev. F. Warre. ”„ 16 CONVERSAZIONE MEETINGS. 1853, February—4ih Meeting. On English Poetry and Poets ; by the Rev. J. H. Chowne. On the Tides of the Bristol Channel ; by the Rev. W. Phelps. March—5th Meeting. On Eeclesiastical Architecture ; by the Rev. T. ») L. Petit. On Egyptian Hieroglyphies ; by the Rev. W. R. Crotch. On English Poetry and Poets; by the Rev. J. H. Chowne. April— Extra Meeting. On Electrieity ; by W. Metford, Esq., m.D. On Tower Architecture ; by Mr. C. E. Giles. On Kingston Church ; by the Rev. Eccles. J. Carter. ” 7, I Y GG, H N N f 4 N aN: Pa N N Chan! Arch —Stuke suh Bamtdan Churrh. FE 77. Tu ‚; PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOMERSETSHIRE ARCH/EOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1853, PART II. PAPERS, ETC. On the Architerture of the Heighbonchond uf Pennil, BY EDWARD A. FREEMAN, M.A. AM truly sorry that I am unable to attend this year, as I have had great pleasure in doing for two years past, at the Annual Meeting of the Somersetshire Archxo- logical Society. I have indeed no doubt that my time will be as agreeably and as profitably spent at that of the Cambrian Association: I only regret that the arrangements of the two Societies should interfere with one another, or that Iam not invested with the privilege of ubiquity, which would enable me to attend both. But though I believe the Brecknockshire Beacons are visible from some parts of the county of Somerset, yet the towns of Brecon and Yeovil are sufficiently distant from one another to render it impossible to read Papers at both on the same day, and 1855*, PART I. A 2 PAPERS, ETC. not altogether convenient to do so even within the same week. So then, as Brecon was an engagement on my part of older standing, I am reluctantly compelled to absent myself entirely from your proceedings of this year, and to leave my annual contribution to your volume to be laid before you by a very eflicient deputy. In my two former Papers I have said nearly all I have to say about the Perpendicular of Somerset, passing but cursorily over the remains of the earlier styles. But as Yeovil possesses in its neighbourhood some of the best specimens of the latter class, a Yeovil meeting seemed a good opportunity for attempting a somewhat more attentive consideration of them. But I do not mean to confine myself very pedantically to the immediate neighbourhood of the town, though I will promise not to require you to follow me all the way to Bath at one end or to Minehead at the other. I may here mention that the very best architectural day’s work which I ever remember to have done, was one which had Yeovil for its starting point. Montacute, Stoke Hambdon, Mar- tock, Kingsbury, Muchelney and Huish, form a perhaps unparalleled succession of attraetive objects, both ecclesi- astical and domestic. Nor was my next day’s work of Langport, Long Sutton, Somerton, and Huish again, at all contemptible, although hardly to be compared with the former. Many of the results of those two days I have already laid before the Society; others I have reserved for the present occasion. With numerous examples I have made acquaintance during the present month, under the auspices of Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Fagan, as I did with others two years ago under those of Mr. Warre and Mr. Giles. The first thing that strikes the observer in the earlier ARCHITECTURE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD OF YEOVIL. 3 churches of Somerset, is the universal absence of aisles; the second is the frequent presence of transepts; the third is the octagonal form not uncommonly given to the towers. I have alluded to all of these in my previous papers; but I will now comment on them a little more at length. I travelled from Burnham to Kingweston, and made two considerable excursions thence, both in the direction of Yeovil, without seeing a single church with regular aisles, but cross churches of every variety I found in abundance. In fact I think I may safely say that the occurrence of aisles in a Somersetshire church earlier than the Perpendicular period is something quite exceptional, unless in the case of quite large buildings, like St. Cuthbert’s at Wells. But transepts occur extensively, even when the tower is not central. Sometimes we find an originalcentral tower, or a later one which evidently replaces an original one; sometimes a side tower forming one tran- -sept ; often a grand Perpendicular tower has been added; sometimes the church has remained without a tower to this day. But under all these modifications, the cross form still remains the typical ground-plan of the district and period. The use of the octagonal tower, as was first pointed out to me by Mr. Giles, stretches over a long narrow line of country from about Taunton nearly to the eastern boundary of the county. As far as I have seen, I regard it as the distinctive Somersetshire steeple of early times, just as the grand western tower is of later. It has often been raised in Perpendicular times, it may occasionally be of Perpendi- cular ereetion from its foundation, but in all such cases it is evidently a mere retention of an earlier practice; it never catches the true Perpendicular character; it may have Per- pendicular belfry windows, but it always remains in its essen- tial conception, a work of an earlier period. Also its propex 4 PAPERS, ETC. position is only less regularly, either central or lateral, than that of the fully developed Perpendicular tower is invari- ably western. Even the square western tower was rarely used ; the common alternatives seem to have been a central tower of either form, a lateral octagon, or no tower at all. We have seen how often the earlier type of Somersetshire influenced the later, but no two types can well be more opposite to one another, in the more fully developed speci- mens of each. And the earlier type of which I am speak- ing is not spread over the whole county. For instance, I do not call to mind an instance of it north of Mendip; that is, not of its most distinetive characters, for cross churches with central towers of course occasionally occur, as at Yatton and Whitchurch. These Somersetshire octagons have a very peculiar character, and it may be worth while to compare them with those which occur in another region, where the octagonal form is also frequent, namely, Northamp- tonshire. Two marked differences strike at once; the Somersetshire octagon is a sign of early work; that of Northamptonshire is generally late ; the Somersetshire octagon is the tower itself assuming the octagonal form; the Northamptonshire is an addition made to a square tower, which might exist without it, or at most an altered shape given toits upper portion. Stanwick is the only case which oceurs to me of a tower at once of early date and octagonal from the base. The Somerset- shire octagon again is, when most distincetive, central or lateral, while the Northamptonshire octagon is invariably western, and often supports a spire. It may be worth while, as the examples in the two dis- triets are not positively very numerous, to compare them a little in detail. I have said that in the Somersetshire Ka St. Brter’s Ohnech, Tuftwirk. ARCHITECTURE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD OF YEOVIL. 5 octagons, it is the tower itself which assumes the oetagonal form, while in Northamptonshire the octagon is only part of the tower, or even distincetly an addition to it. This is true, although there is only one Somersetshire octagon which I have seen, that at Barton St. David’s, which is octagonal from the ground, and that of course only on the side away from the church. The central octagons of North Curry and Stoke St. Gregory have indeed no square base appearing above the roof, and so may come under the same head; that at South Petherton I have not yet had the good luck to see. But the lateral octagons of Somerton and Bishop’s Hull, and the western ones of Ilchester, and Puddimore Milton, all rise from a square base rising to about the height of the church, or nearly so. Yet every one would call these octagonal towers: even at Somerton, where the square base rises to a greater height than in the others, it is the octagonal form which deterinines the character of the tower. In short, in ‚Somerset- shire the square is a mere base to the octagon, while in Northamptonshire the octagon ıs a mere finish to the square. Thus at Irthlingborough, at Luffwick, and at Fotheringhay, the octagon is added to a square tower of considerable height, and rises from within the distinet par- apet and pinnacles of such square tower. The square tower of Luffwick, rising two good stages above the roof, would be an amply sufficient steeple without the octagon ; in the other two cases the square tower alone would be rather low, but still it is distinetly finished. At Fothering- hay this is still more marked than in the other cases, as it has not those enormous pinnacles, which at Luffwick receive _ the flying-buttresses of the octagon. At Wilby, where the octagon supports a spire, the former is indeed taken out of the height of the tower, of which it forms the 6 PAPERS, ETC. belfry-stage ; but still the square portion rises a whole stage above the roof of the church, and has its own parapet, pinnacles, and flying-buttresses. At Nassington the belfry- stage itself suddenly becomes octagonal at about half its height. At Barnack, the octagon, an Early Gothic one, is added to the old Saxon tower, or possibly has supplanted its belfry-stage. Still the latter rises a stage above the ehurch, and the octagon, as at Nassington, is merely a base for thespire. At Milton Malsor the spire and its oetagonal base are such mere additions to the predominant square tower, that I had almost forgotten to include this example in my list. At Helpstone alone have I found a North- amptonshire tower on the Somersetshire model ; here the square base is of the height of the church, where it turns into an octagon of twosstages, very like Ilchester or Puddi- more, save that it again supports within its parapet a dwarf octagon and spire. But even here, where the octagon is decidedly itself the tower, and not a mere finish to the square, I suspect that before the existing celerestory was added, the original roof abutted wholly against the square portion, whereas at Puddimore, and still more at Ilchester, it comes up against the octagon. Of distinctive detail I have not observed much in these earlier churches, except an elegant practice, not indeed altogether distinctive of Somersetshire, though certainly far more common there than elsewhere, that of foliating the rear-arches of windows. I was glad to find that my friends who are rearing the graceful new church at King- weston have introduced this beautiful local feature : I could wish they had also preferred the local coved ceiling to a form which, though good in itself, belongs to Sussex and not to Somerset. I will now mention those churches of the distriet and ARCHITECTURE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD OF YEOVIL. T period on which Iam engaged which struck me as most worthy of notice, adding some brief account of those do- mestic buildings in which this region is so singularly rich. I shall ask my hearers to accompany me on a somewhat long cireuit,—an imaginary journey, in fact, which I have patched up out of four or five real ones. I will suppose you then to have diligently studied Yeovil church, with the eritieisms which I offered on it last year in your hands, as they may be found in the Society’s last published volume. Ithence ask you to accompany me first to Brimpton. I do not quite know how to take you from Yeovil, as I myself reached the place from quite another direction ; but I will suppose- you somehow conveyed (with the Rector’s leave, if it would involve a trespass) to the spot just in front of the parsonage. From that point, one of the most striking architeetural groups I know will be seen lying in the hollow beneath. A large and stately mansion, a house of humbler pretensions, and the parish church, all lie close together, and all are worthy of attentive study. The church is small, and was originally a Decorated eross church, without aisles or tower. "The south transept, with a beautiful Geometrical window to the south, and a foliated arch connecting it with the nave; the foliated south door, and a piscina in what was the north transept, are all pleasing examples of that style, and enable us to form a good notion of a Somersetshire church of the earlier period. But some benefactor of Perpendieular times, some inhabitant doubtless of the adjoining mansion, whose name and exact date some local antiquary will, I doubt net, be able to supply,* founded a chantry for three priests. He * It appears, from Mr. Batten’s account, that thearchitectural changes were all made about the same time, in the reign of Henry VIL, by a benefactor of the name of Sydenham; but that the original foundation of the chantry was due to an earlier family, named D’Evercy, temp. Ed- ward I. 8 PAPERS, ETC. built for their dwelling-place the house which still remains on the north side of the churchyard, and modified the church to adapt it to his purpose. He made an eastern addition to the north transept, and altered the direction of its gable, so as to give it the external appearance of an aisle, while internally it makes two chapels, the south transept being doubtless the third. A stone roodscreen, that uncom- mon feature in a parish church, must date from the same period ; so also must the western bell-cot of a very distinc- tive character, a wiser addition, Ithink, than either ameagre tower, which would have been of no beauty in itself, or a magnificent one, which would have destroyed the beauty of the rest of the church. I cannot speak with equal praise of the addition of a flat panelled ceiling, which, though very good in itself, cuts off the head of the beauti- ful south window. The chantry house is an oblong Per- pendicular building of two stages, chiefly remarkable for the octagonal turret which gives access to the upper one, which is so large as to have quite the air of an oriel. A good open roof and some fine plaster ceilings of later date, will be found above. The great house, to which the chan- try house now forms a horticultural appendage, presents a west front of great splendour, which is throughout essentially of good Perpendicular architecture, though extensive portions have been altered in later styles. The north-west portion is untouched, and presents a magnifi- cent display of oriels, turrets, chimneys, and open battle- ments. The central part, containing the hall, has been altered in Elizabethan times, but it retains its original basement, and a curious kind of oriel, which, now at least, acts also as a porch.* The south part has been still more * Mr. Batten says this oriel was added in 1722. I should like to look at it again ; but, speaking without book, I should have thought this was rather the date when the door, which looks like an interpolation, was cut through. X nl Wo er ARCHITECTURE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD OF YEOVIL. 9 recently altered in an Italianizing style, in which also a grand southern porch has been added, but the walls are original, as the chimney and some of the windows testify. These are the main features of the exterior ; its internal arrangements I must leave to some more favoured visitor than myself to describe. From Brimpton I must conduct my party upa hill to Odcombe, a church which forms a very prominent object in the landscape. It is a church with the tower placed as at Iffley, and the outline is very good. Its most important portions have been remodelled in Perpendjeular, but a careful examination will soon show that it is a mere recast- ing of an Early English building. We now descend, and in a little time find ourselves in the village of Montacute, where a rich store of antiquities is gathered under the shadow of the hills. To the church I have already had occasion to allude, on account of the excellent Perpendi- cular tower which has been added to its west end. But the church itself is essentially one of the earlier type; indeed it contains earlier work than any we have seen, having a good, though plain, Norman chancel arch of three orders.. The greater part of the church seems to belong to the turning point between Early English and Decorated ; the south transept arch belongs rather to the former style, the north to the latter; the windows in both and also in the chancel are Geometrical. Probably all are parts of one renovation, between the accomplishment of whose several portions a good deal of time was allowed to elapse. Few villages, few towns even, are richer than Montacute in do- mestic architecture. Besides the well-known Elizabethan mansion, some excellent remains of the Priory exist near the church. "These consist of a gateway and some adjoining domestie buildings. The very fine Perpendicular gateway, 1853*, PART II. B 10 PAPERS, ETC. with its oriel and bold staircase-turret, has rather a collegiate than a monastic look. Its general character and its position with regard to the other buildings reminded me much more of several gateways in Oxford than of any other conventual gateway I recollect. There are also scattered about the village streets several other houses, with oriels and the like, which seem to date from tolerable Perpen- dicular times. We next come to the church of Stoke Hambdon, that temple of strange destinies, which, as local tradition asserts, “ was built for the Roman Catholies, but was never occu- pied by them.” The points of ecelesiastical history involved in this curious statement, I shall leave others to decide; I shall content myself with attempting to fix the age of the ereetion of its several parts, without striving to discover how far the authors of each of them held that the Bishop of Rome had or had not any jurisdiction in this realm of England. The original church was Norman, and probably consisted of a nave and chancel only; of this fabrie we find remains of the north and south doorways, and also the extremely fine chancel arch. This last is profusely en- riched, and there is a peculiarity in its soflit, to which is attached a heavy roll, running continuously round, with only a small band ranging with the neckmoulding of the shafts. The Early English period rebuilt or remodelled the chancel and added transepts. The northern one, as I mentioned in my last year’s paper, forms the tower. It is a plain, bold, massive structure, with a belfry stage of ex- quisite masonry, with two lancets in each face. Within it exhibits a fine specimen of vaulting, rising from shafts with floriated capitals and octagonal abaci. The south transept is later, approaching the Decorated style; it has a noble range of trefoil lancets on each side, and similar ones occur rt] If ' AI ARCHITECTURE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD OF YEOVIL. 11 in the chance. We must also remark the cinquefoiled piscinas, which are placed in an unusual, though not quite unique, way across the angle both of the chancel and transept. Of complete Decorated work we have the large vaulted porch, with an unusually large window in its parvise, and whose vault cuts through the original Norman doorway. There are some other insertions of windows of this date, two of which on the south side, including the south window of the transept, are designed in evident adaptation to the Early English ones in their immediate neishbourhood. In the porch, as was just mentioned, and at the west end, the architect did not consider himself thus bound by precedent, and employed the large traceried window, in this case of the Reticulated variety, more usual in his time. The Perpendicular age did little beyond lowering the roofs of the nave and south transept, and embattling the walls of the former. A few windows were inserted, including a large one in the south wall of the nave, which involved the destruction of the original entrance on that side, in lieu of which apparently a doorway was now inserted in the west front. I know of few churches, great or small, more interesting than this of Stoke Hambdon. In this one little building we find specimens of all the principal zeras of our national architecture, of which the two earlier dates supply thoroughly good and typical examples. The Norman chancel arch, the tower, the ranges of lancets, are equal to anything of their respective classes with which I am acquainted, and the Decorated and Perpendicular insertions though not of equal merit, are by no means con- temptible. Nor are the architectural attractions of the place confined to the church; there are the remains of a considerable mansion, to which however, I shall make but a sorry guide, as I have by me, nothing better than a general pieturesque view of its exterior. 12 PAPERS, ETC. If my company are wiser or more fortunate than I was, they will now diverge to South Petherton, a place to which I can only act as a finger-post, and shall be happy to re- ceive their report of the central octagon when they rejoin me at Martock. Here however I shall have no great occa- sion to linger; we have only to mark the beautiful eastern quintuplet, and to express a wish that this, as well as the east windows at Yeovil and Burnham, may all experience a speedy unblocking. We must however also cast a glance on the Decorated house, recently illustrated in Mr. Parker’s beautiful volume on Domestic Architecture. At Muchelney we shall find the ruins of the Abbey, which I should very much like to inspect again more at leisure than I was able to do the only time I saw them. But I remember a beau- tiful Perpendicular cloister, and that the domestic buildings seemed to be built up against the west end of the church in an unusual manner. Huish Episcopi I must put to a strange use. I feel half inclined, as I contemplate that glorious tower even in no better representation than my own drawing, to renew my old fight with Mr. Ruskin, to point to those gradually as- cending buttresses—I beg pardon, crutches—those bands of foliation, those magnificent windows with their delicate screens of open work, and that imperial diadem of battle- ments and pinnacles, and ask of the reviler of England’s noblest glories, whether this too is an “ugly church tower,” a specimen of “savage Gothic” or “detestable Perpendi- cular” I am even tempted to break a lance with my respected friend Mr. Warre as to the “ principle of spire- growth,” only that Iam somewhat mollified by finding that he agrees with myself in placing even glorious Huish after still more glorious Wrington. But my present business is not with this magnificent tower, but with the poor little church to which it forms so wonderful an excerescence. The = er 3 ARCHITECTURE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD OF YEOVIL. 15 church has been much altered by Perpendicular architects, but it is evident that it was previously one of the small eruciform churches of the distriet. A Norman doorway to the south marks the original foundation of the church ; a Decorated window to the north, the probable addition of the transepts. But of these, the northern one alone retains its natural shape; its southern fellow has been enlarged into a sort of imperfect aisle, not only externally, as at Brimpton, but within also ; so that this church now con- tainsa pillar, a feature not generally found in churches of this type, and here due only to later alterations. An exception to this last remark will be found in the next stage of our journey, namely, at Somerton. The ehurch of this little town exhibits the type of which we have been treating developed to an unusual scale; besides the transepts, of which the southern one forms a tower, we find a nave with arcades and aisles of the Decorated period. We must confess that the grand attraction of Somerton, its magnificent tie-beam roof, is the addition of a later age, and that the Decorated arcades, with their plain octagonal pillars, are of little value or beauty ; but the tower isan excellent study of the octagon of the district, slightly modified by the addition of a stair-turret to its whole height, and there are some good Decorated windows, especially a very elegant two-lisht Arch and Foil one in the north transept, At Charlton Mackrell is a cross church of very pleasing outline, with a central tower. The actual building is mostly Perpendicular, but the Decorated north transept, with its extremely fine north window of five lights, a Geometrical skeleton filled up with Flowing patterns, proves the existence of a eruciform church in earlier times. The trefoil doorway on the north side of the chancel should also be noticed. 14 .rny 'PAPERS, ETC. I am not quite certain whither I ought now to direct your steps. You must not omit the grand Perpendicular house at ZLytes Carey, with its Decorated chapel, retained from an earlier mansion, its noble hall, with its poor windows and fine open roof, its porch, its oriels, its state rooms with their rich ceilings and panelling of later date, and a small feature which attracted my attention in no slisht degree, a door-screen enriched with linen pattern and a crest of Tudor flower. Compare the eastern and southern fronts of Lytes Carey; one a mass of gables and projec- tions, the other a perfect flat, broken only by the central oriels ; the chapel attached at one end ; something so wholly distinet as in no wise to invade its uniformity. Here is a clear lesson that the pieturesque effect of a Gothic building is not to be sought by a conscious striving after irregularity, by accumulating a gable here, a turret here, a chimney there, but by making each portion of the building serve its own purpose, and tell its own tale. A hall, a chapel, a porch,—a journey to Glastonbury might perhaps teach us to add, a kitchen, —must stand forth as distinet portions with distinet roofs; but mere ranges of ordinary rooms need not be gabled and gabled from a mere abstract love of gabling. If we are to pick holes, it might be deemed a fault at Lytes Carey that the hall does not tell its tale till we get within the quadrangle, and that in the south front, the magnificent parapet of the oriel seems to make something of the kind felt as lacking along the whole extent of the wall. Lytes Carey must, undoubtedly, be seen, and yet 1 want to convey my party, though it isa long way from Yeovil and trenching on the jurisdietion of Glastonbury, to the newly restored church of Butleigh. This was a church of the same plan as Odeombe ; transepts have recently been ARCHITECTURE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD OF YEOVIL. 15 added, which seems to me to be the most natural mode of enlargement, if enlargement were necessary. Now, asl want you to be on the whole pleased with this restoration, I must ask younot to look at the monuments in these same transepts, much less to read the very blank verse which is written upon one of them. Come into the chancel, and see a Somersetshire roof restored as it ought to be, the good old coved ceiling boarded, and its eastern bay richly painted ; here we have the best of all substitutes for a vault, indeed it is a barrel vault in wood. Turn round then, and judge how far superior the genuine local ecclesiastical roof is to the hall roofs which have been allowed to intrude into the other parts of the church. We may now turn our face slightly Yeovil-wards, and take in succession three octagonal towers, Barton St. Davids, Puddimore, and Ilchester. I have alluded to all of them before ; Barton has its tower lateral and octagonal from the ground, the others are western, and set on square bases. Barton has also some good examples of the foliated rear arch, and is altogether a pieturesque and pleasing little church. I would however suggest that the individual playing on a harp, depieted on the western gallery, seems to betoken a slight confusion between the Archbishop of Menevia, who, as I conceive, is the David from whom Barton takes its name, and the homonymous King of Israel. Get rid of the gallery, and the false hagiology will go with it. To return to architecture, the octagons at Ilchester and Puddimore do well to compare together, especially in the different ways in which they are connected with the square base. There is something ingenious about the Puddimore device, but the simpler arrangements at Ilchester better please the eye. I also prefer the more massive proportions of its untouched Early English tower, 16 PAPERS, ETC. to the superadded Perpendieular stage at Puddimore. I cannot say much for the two churches ; neither have any original aisles or transepts ; Ilchester, however, has a late chapel added to the north, which tries to be very fine, but hardly succeeds. The incipient Geometrical east window of Ilchester is the best thing in either of them. Chilthorne Dormer is a little church which took my fancy greatly, with its quaint bell-cot, like that at Brimpton somewhat enlarged. It has an east window, like Ilchester, and some other pretty details. Thorn Coffin is hardly worth stop- ping for, except because it has a bell-gable. These three are the only instances I have yet seen in Somerset, though there may doubtless be others. Numerous as are the cases in which the original church was towerless, in every other instance which has come within my knowledge, some subsequent benefactor has been found to supply the deficieney. My long circuit is now accomplished, but I cannot help stepping beyond its limits to mention again a few churches to which I have already alluded, and a few that I have not mentioned. Trent has a noble ex- ample of a lateral tower and spire ; it is balanced to the north by what I might call a transept, were it not gabled to the east. The ceruciform church of Ditcheat retains in its chancel, modified as it is, a fine series of Decorated windows with the foliated rear-arch. North Curry and Stoke St. Gregory I cannot allude to too often as most instructive examples of the central octagon. At Woolavington may be seen the comparatively rare feature of lateral triplets in the chancel. This church had a west- ern chapel, now destroyed, beyond its western tower. Bawdrip is a good speeimen of a simple cross church with a central tower ; Othery gives the old arrangement modi- ARCHITECTURE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD OF YEOVIL. 17 fied only by its Perpendicular tower; while Midalezoy retains as beautiful a series of Geometrical windows as is easily found in Somerset or elsewhere. My journey home- wards, my revisitings of Glastonbury and Wells and Wrington and Yatton, my introduction to Chewton and Blagdon towers, to Harptree spire, and the Norman inte- ‚rior of Compton Martin, I must keep for another occasion, or at least not trouble you with at present. 1853*, PART II. c 18 PAPERS, ETC. Cannton Castle. BY THE REV. F. WARRE. T the commencement of the eighth century, about one hundred and fifty years had elapsed, since Cerdic, landing at Cerdicshore, probably on the coast of Hamp- shire, had laid the foundation of the West Saxon Kingdom. During this interval, under the rule of able and warlike Sovereigns that state had gradually increased in power and importance, and at the time of which we speak under the auspices of the brave and wise Ina, was rapidly pro- gressing to that superiority over the other states of the Heptarchy, which enabled Egbert and his successors to assume the supreme government, and eventually to become sole monarchs of the Anglo-Saxon nation. The Saxons, at first a race of heathen savages, as fierce and barbarous as ever laid waste a Christian and civilized country, had evinced a wonderful aptitude for improvement and government. No longer heathens, their kings and chiefs had become, in most cases, zealous, though perhaps ignorant Christians ; while the laws of Ina, still extant, furnish ample proof that while carrying on a desperate contest during two centuries, with the Romano-British inhabitants of the all t pe = Canıton Castle—Suuth Front. TAUNTON CASTLE. 19 island, this energetic and intellectual, though, undoubtedly, fierce and sensual race, had not neglected the improvements of domestic civilization or the science of civil government. But though thus powerful and increasing, the kingdom of Wessex, particularly on its western side, was anything but secure. On the heigshts of Quantock, Bleadon, and Brendon, as well as in the fastnesses of Exmoor, the Bretwallas, or British Welsh, as they are called by the Saxon historians, still held their own ; while the whole of Devon and Corn- wall was still inhabited by the descendants of those Danmonü, who had resisted the invasion of the men of Galedin, generally known as the Belg®, and now im- proved by an admixture of Roman blood, and rendered formidable by the remains of Roman discipline, maintained an almost unceasing warfare against the usurping Saxons, under the command of their daring leader, Geraint, prince or regulus of Cornwall; and it was for the purpose of checking their inroads, and strengthening his western frontier, that Ina, in the year 702, determined to build a fortress on the site of the present Castle of Taunton. In order fully to appreciate the advantages of this situa- tion, it is necessary to consider the changes which a period of more than eleven hundred years has worked on the face of the country. To a person looking towards the south from Plais-street, the name of which implies that a road existed there in Roman times, the view presents a tract of highly cultivated and richly wooded land, extending in undulating beauty to the base of the Blackdown hills, which, with the bold heisht of Neroche, form on this side the outline of the pieture, sinking with a gradual and easy slope from the high ground at Wilton, on the right, to the level plain, which extends towards Bridgwater, on the left; in the fore ground stands the town of Taunton, conspicuous for 20 PAPERS, ETC. its beautiful towers, between which and the speetator the Thone winds its slow course towards the Parret, through a narrow level of fertile and verdant meadows. But at the beginning of the eighth century this beautiful vale must have been occupied in great measure by the primsval Forest of elm, on which the Saxon husbandman was only - beginning to make impression. Here and there might be seen the ruins of earlier civilization, the broken walls of Roman villas, and spaces cleared for cultivation, by those whom the barbarous invaders had exterminated or reduced to slavery. The Thone untrammeled by lock or weir, was then a rapid and shallow stream, which, beginning to lose the speed with which it had hurried from the western hills, pursued a more winding and deeper course as it passed between the thickets of alder and willow, which then covered the western part of the marsh. At the confluence of a small stream, flowing from the south with the river, a little to the right of the spectator, was a small space of ground, slightly elevated above the marshy level, affording a dry and firm situation for the intended castle ; protected on the north and west by the river and stream, and ata distance from the higher ground sufficient, in those days, to prevent its fortifications from being dangerously over- looked. Here it was that Ina built his castle, constructed, no doubt, like other Saxon strongholds, chiefly, if not entirely of wood, and consisting of little more than a strong palisade of wooden beams, surrounded by a moat, and con- taining the hall and other buildings which the simple habits of those days required to form a residence fit for a warlike monarch. Here he is said frequently to have resided ; and here it is not improbable that he compiled that code of laws which has done more to render his name illustrious than either his wars or his pious liberality, though the TAUNTON CASTLE. 21 first greatly tended to the consolidation of the West Saxon Kingdom, while to the latter the Cathedral of Wells, and the English College, founded by him at Rome, bear ample testimony. But this Castle, in spite of its advantageous situation both for security and political purposes, was not destined to be of long dura- tion, for having been occupied by Ealdbert, a rebel noble, it was besieged and taken by Queen Ethelburga, and its destruction is thus briefly recorded in the Saxon Chronicle, under date, A.D., 722. “This year, Queen Ethelburga destroyed Taunton, which Ina had formerly built. Ealdbert wandered a wretched exile, in Surrey and Sussex, and Ina fought against South Saxons.” But though the castle was thus destroyed, it is probable that the town continued to flourish, for in the next reign we find that the devout Queen Frethogitha prevailed upon Ethelard to bestow the town of Taunton, then a royal residence, on the Church of Winchester ; nor must it be supposed that its fortifications were altogether destroyed, for in those days no place of importance could be totally destitute of fortifications without being exposed to the constant danger of being plundered either by outlaws or more legitimate assailants. Savage, indeed, says that a new Castle was built about the time of the Norman con- quest, by one of the Bishops of Winchester ; and it is certainly not improbable that Walkelyn, to whom and St. Peter, the Conqueror made a particular grant of lands in the neighbourhood, might have fortified the manorial resi- dence, a precaution which the enmity of the conquered Saxons would undoubtedly render advisable to an usurping Norman prelate. But, however this may have been, I can find no positive mention of any Castle at Taunton, from the year 722, when, as above stated, that built by Ina was 22 PAPERS, ETC. destroyed by Ethelburga, until the reign of Henry I, when William Gifford, who, as Bishop of Winchester, at that time held the lordship of the town and manor of Taunton, built a strong Castle upon the site of the Saxon fortres. From the number of documents dated at Taunton Castle, it appears to have been frequently occupied by the Bishops of Winchester, and was enlarged and strengthened by them from time to time, as their conveni- ence or security required. In the year 1490, Bishop Langton repaired the whole building. In the year 1496 the inhabitants of Cornwall being hishly irritated by the oppressive manner in which the taxes, newly imposed by Henry VII., were levied upon them, rose in resistance of them, and having taken the Castle of Taunton, ceruelly murdered the Provost of Penrhyn, who had sought refuge within its walls, and the next year, under the command of Perkin Warbeck, again occupied that fortress ; but upon hearing that the King was in person leading a strong army against them, evacuated the place just in time to save it from the horrors of a siege. In the year 1577, the Castle was again repaired and altered, by Bishop Horn. The last mention of Taunton, as a place of military importance, oceurs in the reign of Charles I., when it was occupied by the Parliamentarian army, and, after a short investment, taken from them by the royal forces, under the Marquis of Hertford, and was again seized by Blake, whose occupation and defence of the town and Castle against a very powerful royalist army, under Goring, is, perhaps, one of the most remarkable instances of military daring and skill recorded in the history of that eventful time. Shortly after the restoration it was dismantled, by order of Charles II.; and though parts of it are still used for civil and domestic purposes, TAUNTON CASTLE. 23 its fortifications being no longer required for the purposes of defence, have gradually fallen into a state of complete ruin. Time, and the still more destructive inroads of modern utilitarianism, and still worse, the vandalısm of modern improvement, have well nigh obliterated the remains of this venerable abode of episcopal and feudal power. Even since I have turned my attention to its ruins some of its most interesting features have past away for ever; and it is in the hope of recording what still remains, and of preserving some idea of its original features, before every trace of its plan has vanished, that I venture to lay before this meeting the results of my investigations among the neglected fragments of Taunton Castle. The style of fortification prevalent in Saxon times, was, as might be expected in so early a stage of society, ex- tremely simple, consisting of little more than a deep trench, the earth from which being thrown inwards formed a high bank or agger, which was further defended by a palisade of strong wooden beams, or in some few cases of great im- portance, by a wall built on the top. The shape of this enclosure was usually determined by the lie of the ground on which the fortification was constructed; and such buildings of wood as were required for the convenience of the garrison were erected within. Of these castles nothing probably remains, beyond the trench and moulder- ing agger. But after the inyasion of the Normans, a people much farther advanced in all the arts of war and peace, a massive and substantial style of fortification was introduced, many noble specimens of which have come down to our days in a state of comparatively high preservation, forming the most stately and impressive features ofmany of our finest castles.. The most important feature of this style, was the keep, in the plan of which a remarkable uniformity prevails 24 PAPERS, ETC. both in Normandy and in this country. It was usually square or oblong ; one or two squares in height, having the common flat Norman buttresses rising from a plinth, and dying into the wall a little below its summit ; those at the end of each side usually join at the angles, and being carried above the top of the wall, form square turrets at the angles of the building. The openings in the lower part of the keep are mere loops, those in the upper story which contained the principal apartments, are Norman windows of the usual form, sometimes double. Whether these keeps were finished with a battlement, or plain parapet, it is impossible to decide with any degree of cer- tainty, as those which remain are probably later additions. The entrance to the keep was, in most cases, by an arched doorway upon the first floor, near one of the corners, the staircase leading to which is contained in a smaller square tower, placed against the side of the main building. New- castle and Castle Rising, are very fine and perfect specimens of this style of fortifications. This keep, together with the walls of the enceinte, of which in some cases it formed a part, and within which the other buildings for the accom- modation of the garrison were situated, was surrounded by a moat, either wet or dry, according to the eireumstances of the locality, and together with a lofty artificial mound, constituted the usual fabrie of a Norman Castle. During the thirteenth century, a more scientific style of fortifica- tion was gradually introduced, in which flanking towers, enabling the garrison to defend the intermediate curtain wall from salient points, superseded the massive structures, whose passive strength had been the chief dependence of the Norman engineers; and in the reign of Edward I., the second type of English castle, known as the Edwardian, or concentric, was fully developed. We now, in place of a TAUNTON CASTLE. 25 solid keep, find an open quadrangle, having its sides de- fended by flanking towers, and its entrances by embattled gate houses ; and around the quadrangle two, or even three concentric lines of defence were drawn, containing between them the same number of courts or bailies, in the inner of which were situated the prineipal buildings, such as the hall, chapel, &e., while the offices, stabling, and frequently the mill, ocecupied the middle and outer courts. The entrances were defended by gate towers, with porteullises, and drawbridges ; and barbicans, or t&tes-du-pont, were erected, usually of wood, outside the counter scarp of the ditch. Of this type of Castle, which is said to have been introduced by an engineer of the name of Elrington, Caer- narvon, built by Edward I., furnishes a magnificent example. These are the two great types of the English Castle, and though improvements were introduced by Wykeham and others in later times, we find in almost every case the main features of these types, either separate, or when additions had been made to an original Norman Castle, very commonly combined. This appears to have been the case in Taunton Castle,»—the general plan of which I will now endeavour to point out, by the help of this very excellent ground plan which I have procured for the purpose. The stream whose confluence with the Thone marks, as I before observed, the situation of King Ina’s Castle, enters the outer moat at the south western corner, and is there divided into two channels, one of which proceeds towards ihe river in nearly a straight course, through the garden attached to the house occupied by Mr. Channon, and passing under the road through Stevens’s Nursery- garden, falls into the Thone at the north western extremity of the slight elevation on which the Castle was built. The 1853*, PART 1. D 26 PAPERS, ETC. defences on this side, with the exception of a mass of masonry, evidently of ancient date, at the south western corner, and another small fragment at the north side of the western gate, through which the road now leading to Wilton runs, are totally destroyed and their situation marked only by the remains of the internal agger, which was probably crowned as at Castle Rising, Cardiff, and elsewhere, by a battlemented and looped wall of moderate elevation. At the bottom of the slope between the Win- chester Arms Inn and Stevens’s garden, the labourers employed a few years ago in constructing a deep drain, dug up part of several large beams; these were probably the remains of a wooden barbican situated as usual outside the moat, defending the approach to the western gate, and itself commanded by the interior defences of the gate, which probably consisted of a gate house with flanking towers, all vestiges of which have, however, totally disap- peared. From the south-west angle, the moat extended towards the east nearly at right angles, to the course of the brook, between the school-house and the yard of the Old Angel Inn, as far as the present Market, where it turned to the north and proceeded in nearly a straight line under the stables of Pattison’s Hotel, and at the back of the houses on the western side of North Street, and Joined the river, or rather mill stream, a little above the town mills. Of the defences of this side of the Castle nothing remains until we come to the eastern gate, where, though sadly disfigured by modern additions, stand the very striking remains of a very strong and handsome gate- house, the erection of which has usually been ascribed to Bishop Langton, his arms being carved on a stone inserted in the western front of the building, but which I have no hesitation in referring to the Edwardian period. Not only Fa 2 = 022 74 ZI ADD IA WREDY Zr: i % FR . ? Ga 2 Pr RE ‚ Y c Fa eo ( "MTITESVD NOLNAYL TEN: OR) LEN er TAUNTON. CASTLE. 27 are the mouldings plain massive chamfers, quite dissimilar to those of the fifteenth century used in some parts of the Castle, but the arch and the whole character of the building, as wellas the windows of the chamber north of gate (now destroyed, but well represented in some old drawings which have been shewn me), are decidedly such as to lead to the conclusion that the gate-house is not later than the time of Edward III., and probably earlier than even the reign of that monarch. At this point, outside the moat, were discovered, a short time since, the foundations of some strong stone fabrie; either those of a barbican, which was sometimes, though rarely,constructed of masonry, or of walls leading to the drawbridge and confining the approach to a narrow passage commanded by the gate- house; an arrangement not uncommon in Castles of the Edwardian type. On the north side, the marshy ground, the river Thone, and the ancient mill stream passing nearly close to the Castle walls, rendered any other moat quite unnecessary. At a short distance below the junetion of the brook with the mill stream, at the corner of Stevens’s garden, a second moat opens upon the water, and extend- ing round the buildings now in use, joins the external moat at the back of the Castle Inn. Whether this moat was ever deeper than it now is admits of a doubt, as there appears to have been a sort of platform on the interior side of the great moat, leading to an outwork at the north- eastern extremity of the place, nearly on a level with the bottom of the interior moat, which may perhaps mark its original depth before the construction of the outer de- fences ; but it probably was deeper, for Sir Benjamin Hammet is said to have expended a large sum in laying out the grounds and filling up the moat, which on the western and southern sides is now occupied by gardens. 28 PAPERS, ETC. Immediately within the moat the south-eastern corner of the enclosure is occupied by an elevated rectangular plat- form, the sides of which, in the garden attached to Mr. Dyer’s house, were, within a very few months, marked by masses of masonry, which have now given place to rasp- berry bushes; while that towards the moat displayed a face of undoubted Norman masonry, which has also disappeared before the unsparing march of modern improvements. From this platform a high agger extends to the north- eastern corner, where stands a mount commanding the outwork before mentioned, and the approach to the ancient mills ; while along the front, defended by the mill stream, masses of very solid masonry may still be seen, but in so mutilated a condition as to defy any attempt at accurate description. At the distance of more than twelve hundred years it would be manifestly absurd to expect any remains of a building constructed at a time when getymbrian was the word used to express building of any kind, fortifications included ; but it is probable that this interior moat marks the exact site of the Castle built by Ina, and destroyed soon after by his sister, as it follows the form of the ground, and encloses the highest part of the elevated spot at the eonfluence of the brook with the Thone. That the plat- form at the south-east angle was the site of the Norman rectangular keep, does not admit ofa doubt; while the mount at the north-eastern extremity was probably one of those so often met with in Norman fortifications, though the arch in its northern side, leading into the outwork before men- tioned, is evidently of later date. Whether theNorman Castle extended farther to the west than the masses of masonry, before mentioned, may be doubtful, but I am inclined to think that the base court oceupied the whole area included B ya ae 4 3 Me; FIR Yu 5 ea we, +- \ S I "sah t | yılT IA en rg SU :. nl a " ty “ ie Tanıton Castle—Hurth Frunt. nel 4 x BU =) Eleng WS - oe Ann TAUNTON CASTLE. 29 within the inner moat; and that much of the walls now re- maining, are Norman, though modernized and adapted to the improved system of fortification introduced by Edward I. Immediately to the west of Mr. Dyer’s premises, flanked by an enormous mass of ruined masonry, is a way leading at once to the mill stream, through a door-way having a ‚segmental arch, which may perhaps be as early as the latter part of the thirteenth century, beyond which extends a wall of very great thickness, having flat buttresses of a very Norman-like appearance, which I believe to have been the original curtain surrounding the base court of the Norman Castle. This wall now forms the north side of the great hall which has been built against it inside, and has been cut through to give space for the insertion of the large square-headed windows of the sixteenth century, by which the hall is now lighted. This hall is generally sup- posed to have been built by Bishop Horne, in the latter part of the sixteenth century, his arms,* with the date, 1577, being carved on a stone built into the wall of the room now used by the grand jury. But this building is evidently an addition to it, and though the height of the hall, rising as it does considerably above the external defences, gives reason to suppose that it was constructed in comparatively peaceful times, yet the high pitch of the original roof, which is still to be seen against the square turret which rises at its western extremity, induces me to think that it is of considerably earlier date, and if not of the Edwardian period, together with the tower which contains a staircase of communication between the hall and the upper story of the western buildings of the inner bailey, more likely to be the work of Bishop Langton, in the fifteenth century, * Part& per Pale, Winchester and Horne. 30 PAPERS, ETC. than of Bishop Horne, in the sixteenth. Whether the building composing the western side of the inner bailey of the Edwardian Castle be originally Norman, or no, (which from the immense thickness of the walls, as well as from a letter of Sir Benjamin Hammet, in which he says he has converted a Saxon arch into an apartment, I am inclined to believe it was) the ashler work of lancet windows still apparent in both external and internal walls, which can hardly be later than the end of the thirteenth or the begin- ing of the fourteenth centuries, as well as the circular towers at the angle, leave no doubt that if not built from the ground they were modernized and adapted to the system of fortification in use during that period. The entrance into this inner bailey was through an embattled gate-tower, which, from the inscription and’arms upon two stones in its south front, has been ascribed to Bishop Langton. But this stone is clearly not in situ, and though the mouldings of the internal arch of the gateway are such as were commonly used in the fifteenth century, those of the outer arch are plain bold chamfers. This, as well as the shape of the arch itself, which may well be as early as the thirteenth century, leads me to believe that the gate-tower is an Edwardian addition to the base court of the Norman edifice, which Langton probably repaired and faced on the inside with ashler work, moulded according to the taste prevalent during the period in which he lived. If I be right in supposing this gate-house to be of early English or early decorated date, there is at its western junetion with the other buildings of the south front, a piece of construction which strongly corroborates my idea that the walls of, at least, part of the inner bailey, are Norman. I find that the buttress of the lower building, which is flat and of very Norman-like construction is carried up TAUNTON CASTLE. 3l close to, and flush with, the front of the gate-house, which is evidently a later addition to the other buildings of the south front. To the east of the gate-house, a building, very similar in character to that on the west, extends nearly to the south-western angle of the platform on which I suppose the Norman keep to have stood. It is without buttresses, the masonry very coarse and irregular, being little better than rubble work, and decidedly unlike that of the round tower which flanked its eastern extremity, little more than the foundation of which now exists. Imme- diately within the wall stands the house oceupied by Mr. Dyer, apparently a building of the fifteenth century, but probably containing portions of much earlier date. The school-house, also, founded by Bishop Fox in the year 1522, stands immediately within the southern ramparts of the Castle, and is a very excellent specimen of the domestic architecture of the beginning of the sixteenth century. This is all that I have been able to trace of perhaps the most important of the nine castles which are known to have existed in this county ; and I feel that I ought to apologize for having occupied your time with so meagre and unsatisfactory a series of conjectures; for in truth they are little more. Itisnow generally allowed by architec- tural antiquaries, that it is almost impossible accurately to determine the date, even of ecclesiastical edifices, merely by the style of the architecture, without the aid of docu- mentary evidence; and if the difficulty be great when the striet rules of ecelesiastical architecture kept in order the exuberant fancies of the builder, it is very much increased in the case of domestic and castellated fabrics, where these rules were much relaxed and varied to suit the convenience of the inhabitants and the circumstances of the locality. 32 PAPERS, ETC. Of this aid I have been almost entirely destitute, my only guides having been the mutilated buildings which still remain, and the analogy of other Castles which have suffered less from modern utilitarianism and senseless want of taste. My conelusions, therefore, are little better than conjectures, but such as they are they may perhaps be the means of at least recording what still remains of a very important Castle, of which, as I mentioned at the beginning of my paper, many of the most interesting features are, even now in the act of passing away for ever. August 31st, 1853. REFERENCE TO THE PLAN. E Entrance to inner Bailey. II. Interior of Gate repaired by Bp. Langton. III. Way leading to Mill-stream. IV. Stair-turret, between hall and upper floor of western buildings. | V. Mass of masonry in Mr. Channon’s garden. VI. Out-work, commanded by Mount. VII. Eastern gate. VIII Western front of ditto. Ino. Leversedge, 200 Ft Tauntor Shr Site of sAunson (ASSLE North Gate Nursery. Stevens's Sb. Ino. Leversedge, Surveyor Taunton ET Dollman,Dalt Published by Frederick May, Taunton. CHURCH OF ST. MARY IHE VIRGIN, KINGSTON. 33 Che Church of St. Alary the Dirgin, ot Kingaton. BY THE REV. ECCLES JAMES CARTER. HE subject which I propose to bring before the meeting this evening, is the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, at Kingston. When I first undertook to read a Paper before this Society, I never had the privilege of attending any of its meetings, but having now been present at the last one, I feel that an apology is due from me for occupying the time of this assembly with so very meagre a production as constant parochial occupation enables me to present. Having heard the scientific and elaborate Paper on Steeples in general, read at the last meeting by my friend Mr. Petit, illustrated with a profusion of drawings in that style, for which, I think I may say without paying a bad compli- ment to any artist, that he stands unrivalled ; and having heard, also, as much as time permitted me of that very learned discussion on (to my ignorance) the most mysterious of all subjects, the Egyptian Hieroglyphics, by a gentleman 1853*, PART U. E 34 PAPERS, ETC. whose very name every lover of ancient music must hold in nothing short of veneration, I certainly felt that anything I could produce would be very unworthy the attention of an assembly accustomed to be entertained by such deeply edifying effusions as these. Still I have persevered in my intention of bringing the subjeet I proposed before this meeting, and I have done so because I conceive that such an association as the present, is as a vast river to receive the tributary streams, however insignificant in themselves, of the surrounding district, and to waft the general influence of these to places which otherwise would be unaffeeted by them. I presume, also, that it is of great importance that a record of the actual state of any monument, at a given time, and especially of churches, should exist in some central depository, and be accessible to persons who may have an interest in such objects. And although the general and more scientific papers will be the most interesting, yet the dry detailed account of individual churches may, after all, prove the most valuable. From no little experience and observation on such subjects, I have good reason to know that the account of a church, or, indeed, of any publie monument, requiring restoration, is seldom read without good effect, and I might add that it very rarely happens that any general interest can be exeited in the cause with- out some detailed account being brought, in this manner, before the public. I have, therefore, as I said, persevered in my intention to bring forward the subject of this Paper, though I confess most sincerely that Tam almost ashamed to bring it forward in so superficial a manner as Iam now compelled to do, from want of time to devote myself to this special object, which, to handle properly, requires the investigation of CHURCH OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, KINGSTON. 35 many books and documents to which I have been unable to gain access. The village of Kingston is situated about three miles north of Taunton, on the south side of the Quantock Hills. The Church, which is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, stands on a slight eminence on the right, about 150 yards from the high road to Bridgwater. Its tower is an object of attraction to most passers by, and the Church appears to be generally characterized as a beautiful one, from the impression, no doubt, that it is in keeping and accordance with the tower. Leaving the tower for the present, I cannot say that any part of the Church (saving, perhaps, the porch and bench ends) presents an appearance worthy the appellation of beautiful, but it contains some curious and many interesting features, and if rescued from the effeets of modern barbarity, and restored to its pristine eondition, might perhaps vie with most parish churches in this distriet. It is dedicated, as I have said, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and contains a chancel 32 feet 2 inches long, by 17 feet 7 inches wide; a nave 40 feet 7 inches long, by 18 feet 4 inches wide ; a chancel aisle, on the south side, running the whole length of the chancel ; a north and south aisle to the nave, a porch on the south side, and a western tower. Having no documents to refer to, I cannot profess to give dates, for the more one studies such subjects the more con- ‘ vinced one is that attempting to assign accurate dates from the style of the features in the buildings, without docu- ments, is a very dangerous experiment. As to the point which has been so much mooted of late days, of architec- tural nomenclature, I shall content myself, on the present occasion, with using the old terms of Rickman, without meaning any disparagement to those which have been since invented. 36 PAPERS, ETC. The chancel, then, is clearly a Perpendicular ereetion. The east window is of that style of five lights, containing twelve small compartments in the tracery; on the north side are two windows of three lights each, and on the south one of the same character as the east one, and bearing that usual want of proportion to the chancel so commonly to be found in Perpendicular work, and which, in my humble opinion, renders every chancel containing it perfectly ugly. A barbarous oak panelled wainscoting runs round the whole walls above the altar steps, and prevents, at present, the discovery of any of the usual appurtenances of the altar, found in ancient Churches. The platform on which the altar stands, is raised two steps above the level of the chancel, and the chancel again one step above the floor of the nave. The west end of the chancel, on the north side, is opened to the north aisle by a Perpendicular arch, and it is plain that the east end of the north aisle was used as a chapel. The whole pillar supporting the eastern side of this arch, and forming the respond, has been cut away, except the capital, which, with its corresponding cap, contains the ordinary Perpendicular embellishments of foliage and shields. The South side opens by an arcade of three Perpendi- cular arches into the south aisle, which contains a small door, of the same style, in the north angle of the east wall, no doubt used by the chantry priest who performed the usual services in this chapel. There is in the south wall at the east end, a small aumbry, which clearly proves the former existence of an altar. There is some variation in the caps of these pillars, and also of the moulding of the pillars themselves. The two caps to the east are perfectly plain, but the next one consists of the body of a man bearing the capital on his shoulders (as far as my observa- % “ATUDIRazBagE ZU Sarg, Alf u gum® ne er En Sl EB RT ei Mm Se ET N, \ ‚1 N } i K S \ A ) „rule NR ' MAR MINDEN NN NT IP IEDEIITEH BIN sul m! CHURCH OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, KINGSTON. 37 tion has gone, rather an unusual feature in Perpendicular work, in the position it is placed.) The other caps contain the usual patere of thisstyle. The two pillars supporting the easternmost arch vary, there being a kind of swell chamfer between the three quarter columns, whereas the lower pillars contain hollows between the columns; and on the west side of the first pillar there is a bracket with foliage, which was either placed there to receive offerings, or, it may be, held an image or a light, but from its con- struction I incline to the former opinion. It is remarkable also, that the caps are not all on the same level.* The grand feature of this aisle is a splendid tomb belong- ing to the family of the Warres, of Hestercombe. It is covered with a slab of Purbeck marble, 9 feet 6 inches long, by 4 feet 6 inches wide, moulded on the under edges. The sides of the tomb are composed of Ham-hill stone, divided into six compartments of shields, held between the cusps of flowing tracery. These shields have been em- blazoned with the arms of the Warres, and their eonnec- tions, the tinetures in some places being still visible. The height of the tomb is 3 feet 10 inches. From the style of this tomb I should be disposed to assign a date not later than the middle of the third Edward’s reign ; and if this be correct, then it is clear that is more aneient than the aisle in which it stands. Still the points of the cusps ap- pear more Perpendicular than Decorated in style, and there may be just causes of doubt whether the tomb is as early as its general appearance leads one to suspect. The * Since the above was written, the yellow wash has been removed from these pillars and arches, and it is plain that the easternmost arch has been added since the lower ones, which accounts for the variation ob- servable. A’'solid wall, no doubt reached as far as the second pillar, the western half of which formed the respond, and it was most probably opened to the chancel to give a view of the great altar from the chapel. 38 PAPERS, ETC. position of this tomb is somewhat remarkable, being neither in the centre of the aisle nor under an arch ; and it would appear that the aisle has been widened, which has thrown the tomb and the arch leading into the Tetton aisle, out of the centre. There is a two-light Perpendieular window in this aisle, with a very Decorated cut about it,and placed in a position which appears something like a recess in the wall. The other window is the same as those on the north and south sides of the aisle,—large four-light windows, thoroughly debased, without any tracery or cusping whatever in the head.* In descending from the chancel to the nave, we miss that grand feature, a nave arch, without which it seems hardly possible to imagine a correctly formed Church. The defect, we know, was supplied by the Perpendicular builders, by the substitution of those splendid scereens of this style, many of which still remain ; but this feature has, alas, been destroyed here, and a screen, probably of the date of George I., which did stand there, was removed some twenty years ago to the back of the gallery, where it now stands! The nave is divided from the aisles by an arcade of four arches of Early English date, supported by three cylindrical pillars, eighteen inches in diameter, and two res- ponds. On examining the two eastern responds, where the Early English and Perpendicular work join, it appears that * Since theabove was written, the south aisle of the chancel, beyond all doubt originally a Chapel of the Warres, has been appropriated by faculty, with the consent of the rectors, to the occupiers of Hester- combe, for the use of themselves, their tenants, and dependants residing in the parish of Kingston. The hideous four-light window has been removed, and a two-light, after the pattern of the one existing, put in its place. Part of the wall has been rebuilt, and a new roof is in process of construction, the old one being thoroughly decayed and unsafe. CHURCH OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, KINGSTON. 39 the Early English part was not the original termination of that part of the Church, as there is more than the half pillar, which leads to the supposition that the Early Eng- lish nave extended farther east than it does at present, and, indeed, the whole arrangement of this part of the Church is more incomplete than Early English builders were wont: to leave their work. The caps of these pillars vary in design, but contain nothing but plain mouldings. The bases contain a fine specimen of the “ water mould.’” The material of these pillars and bases appears to be a very hard sand stone, of a greenish and reddish tint, but the taste of former days has.covered them with a coating of paint, to imitate green and white marble, while those in the chancel, composed of Ham-hill stone, are covered with yellow ochre, as are all the windows. The whole of the walls are plastered and white-washed, and the whole masonry of the exterior is bedaubed with a coat of rough cast, which destroys the whole effect of the building, and of course, prevents the discovery of the date of the walls. The two westernmost bays of the south aisle are appro- priated to, and kept in repair by, the owner of the Tetton property, and are commonly called the Tetten aisle, and are divided from the aisle by a Perpendicular arch running across it from north to south, the arch which was before mentioned as being thrown out of centre by the supposed widening of this aisle. At the south side of the westernmost bay but one, is situated the porch, which is partly internal, and contains a beatiful specimen of fan tracery vaulting, springing from engaged columns in the four corners of the porch. The column in the north eastern angle is cut away and corbelled off, no doubt to admit of a stoop, which may still be con- cealed under the plaister. The internal doorway of this 40 PAPERS, ETC. porch has a depressed four centred arch, and over it is 3 niche, with a sort of coronet canopy, which, no doubt, con- tained the figure of the Saint of the dedication. Attthe west end of the nave is a lofty gallery, arranged, as well as may be, to represent a scene at the back of the stage of a theatre, and this blocks up one of the boldest features in the Church, the tower arch, which opens into the tower, and, if open, would give a view of a fine Per- pendicular western window. The mouldings of the arch are very bold, and, as near as can be ascertained, continuous. The ground floor of the tower is covered with staircase to the gallery, clock case, and closet for rubbish of all descrip- tions, and gives the usual evidence of the moral evil of blocking off any part of the Church, to say nothing of the destruction of all proportion. The north aisle is filled with hideous high pews in which, at least one third of the ac- commodation which might be obtained for worshippers is lost, and we have some valuable specimens of these enormities in the Church, in the south aisle, as well as at the west-end of the nave.* The roofs also sadly disfigure the Church, being all of them plastered and white-washed. Though the nave and south aisle show the longitudinal and transverse ribs of the timber roof, but these are covered with blue paint. The roofs themselves appear to be of the cradle kind, so common in these parts. In the nave roof are four dormer windows of modern date, which are not only a sad desight, but are a great evil in * A faculty has been obtained, since this aceount was drawn up, in accordance with the resolution of vestry, for the removal of all these pews, and the funds are alone wanting for carrying it into effeet. Any contributions towards this good work, forwarded to the vicar, will be very thankfully received. The pews in the chancel have been removed since the appropriation of the south chancel aisle to the Hestercombe property. CHURCH OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, KINGSTON. 41 construction from their weakening the roof, and exposing part of it unnecessarily to the weather. There remains yet one feature to be noticed in the interior, though it would take a very long time to describe it, in the bench-ends and fronts of the stall work. The carving of these, is for the most part deep, and very elaborate, and some of the designs very chaste and beau- tiful. These have also suffered, though from good intention, by being varnished; whereby the whole artistic effeet of the carving, in the play of light and shade is destroyed. If any one has any doubts about this fact, they may be eonvinced within an hour, by taking a survey of those in Kingston Church, and then going on to the adjoining Church at Broomfield, where the beautiful ends remain in their primitive integrity. There is one astounding difh- culty, however, to be accounted for by surveying Kingston alone, and that is how the taste of any age could have so degenerated as to have induced or allowed persons to de- stroy a whole aisle of these costly relics, to put up those evidences of pride exclusiveness and bad taste yclept pews. The Font of good Perpendicular design, stands at the west side of the last pillar in the north aisle, but it has been treated with no greater respect than the pillars. I fear I have exhausted the patience of my hearers before coming to that feature which most persons would examine first, perhaps to the exelusion of all others. I must yet detain you one minute longer, to mention the only piece of masonry which has not suffered from the barbarism and mendacity of rough cast, the south porch. The front of this contains some fine sculpture in niches, alas empty, and in the pierced parapet of quatrefoils, and there are also some bold corbel figures at the angles of the cornice, after the manner of Gurgoyles. 1853*, PART II. F 42 PAPERS, ETC. To come at last, then, to the tower, I believe I must content myself on the present occasion with giving a general opinion, that it is one of the most correct and classical of its date in this neighbourhood, though I confess myself quite unequal to the task of drawing a comparison between it and other towers of this style. I believe, also, that detailed accounts of these towers, written by a much abler hand, have been read before this Society, and no doubt that of such a tower as Kingston has been included amongst them. There is, as I imagine, rather a peculiar feature in its construction, inasmuch as its breadth from north to south exceeds its length from east to west. This plan was pro- bably adopted to suit the width of the Early English nave. It consists of three stages, the angles being supported by bold square buttresses, surmounted with pinnacles, which disengage themselves at the bottom of the blocking course of the gorgeous parapet which erowns the whole. In the second stage there is one window on each face, with niches, supported by angel brackets on either side of them, except on the north side, where the window is plain, the space being occupied by the staircase turret which stands at the north east angle, and is terminated in a conical cap. The third stage contains the bell chamber, where are six bells of good tone, one of them being a black letter bell. There are two windows on the east, south, and west sides of this stage and but one on the north, for the reason before assigned. The parapet is turreted and battlemented and has a pin- nacle at each angle, from which are bracketed out four flying pinnacles from the level of the cap moulding, and not from the base of the parapet, as is usually the case, ME - —_— AT RGG, COWELLS ANASTATIC "PRESS, IPSWICH Tuer of the Chnech of St. Mary, Mingston. CHURCH OF ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, KINGSTON. 43 The whole arrangement gives that net work appearance to the parapet, which, I believe, may fairly be characterized as the “ Gloucester battlement,” the tower of Gloucester Cathedral forming, as I imagine, the type of allthe Somer- setshire towers of this character, and intended, doubitless, by their pious builders, to lead our minds upwards from these material and perishable structures to that Temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 44 PAPERS, ETC. Tongpart, the Zlongbortb) of Llywarch Ben’ Elegy, amd the Site uf am ancient Britia) Comm af the same name. _— BY THE REV. WM. ARTHUR JONES, M.A. N the “ Elegy upon Geraint ab Erbyn,”* by the Prince- poet, Llywarch Hen, Geraint, the Prince of Dyvnaint, or Devon, is represented as having been slain in the battle of LLONGBORTH. lt would appear from the elegy, that the poet was himself present at the engagement, and witnessed the death of his friend and fellow-warrior. The British forces were commanded by Arthur, under the title of Emperor. The name of the Saxon leader does not oceur in the poem, but there is reason to believe it was Cerdie, whose progress was so vigorously opposed, on various occasions, by the British chieftain. The engagement was fierce and bloody. This is evident from the following extracts ; and the whole poem clearly * The same Geraint ab Erbyn is the hero of oneof the Mabinogion, edited by Lady Charlotte Guest. He was the cousin of King Arthur; his father, Erbyn, being the brother of Uther Pendragon. LLONGBORTH OF LLYWARCH HEN’S ELEGY. 45 implies that it was a drawn battle, in which all the forces of the contending parties were engaged : “Yn Llongborth gwelais drydar, Ac elorawr yn ngwyar, A gwyr rhudd rhag rhuthr esgar. “ Yn Llongborth gwelais i vrithred Gwyr ynghyd, a gwaed ar draed ; ‘A vo gwyr i Eraint, brysied! “Yn Llongborth y lläs Geraint, Gwr dewr o goettir Dyvnaint, Wyntwy yn lladd gyd a’s lleddaint. “ Yn Llongborth lläs i Arthur Gwyr dewr, cymmynynt a dur; Ammherawdyr, Ilywiawdyr, lavur. “ At Llongborth I witnessed the noisy tumult, And biers with the dead drenched in gore, And men blood-stained from the onset of the foe. « At Llongborth I saw the hurried rush, Of men with feet blood-stained, (Crying) ‘Haste! ye that be Geraint’s men.’ “ At Llongborth was Geraint slain, The bold warrior of the Woodlands of Dyvnaint, Slaughtering the foe as he fell. “ At Llongborth was slain to Arthur, Emperor and conductor of the toil of war, Valorous men, who with steel hewed down (their foes.)” The site of this battle has been usually assigned to Portsmouth. Dr. Owen Pugh, who published the elegy with a translation, in 1792, represents Llongborth to be “ some harbour on the south coast, probably Portsmouth.” 46 PAPERS, ETC. Mr. Turner, likewise, in his “History of the Anglo- Saxons,” considers “this poem as describing the confliet at Portsmouth, when Porta landed.”* M. de la Ville- “marque, the distinguished Breton antiquarian, advocates the same opinion. With all due deference to these high authorities, I would submit that there are considerations of great weight derived from the pbysical characteristics of the locality ; from incidents mentioned in the poem ; and from the knowledge we have of the relative position sustained, about that time, by the Cymri and the Saxons, which go far to prove that the battle, celebrated by Llywarch Hin, was fought at Langport, in this county, and not at Portsmouth. If this conclusion prove to be well-founded, it follows that Langport occupies the site, and still bears the name of the ancient British town of Llongborth, and that it was a port of some importance, during, if not before, the time of the Roman oceupation. The Celtie Zlongborth, is compounded of LLoNG, a ship ; and PORTH, a haven; and signifies a port or haven for ships. It is well known that Celtic names of places are, invariably, descriptive. Hence the necessity of ascertaining whether the site of the present town of Langport could ever have answered to the description involved in the word Llong- borth. If it did, then the estuary now confined (mainly by means of artificial embankments) to Bridgwater Bay, must at one time have extended towards Langport, making that place easily accessible to such vessels as the foreign traders and the inhabitants of the land at that time possessed. Similar, if not greater, changes have taken place in the coast-line of this country, even within the period of historic record. * His. Ang. Sax., b. iüi., c. 3. LLONGBORTH OF LLYWARCH HEN’S ELEGY. 47 The Greek Geographer, Claudius Ptolemzus, deemed the mouth of the river Axe, at Seaton, of suflicient im- portance to be named in succession with the »stuaries of the Tamar, the Exe, and Portsmouth.* In the present day, the mouth of theriver is hardly wider than the vessels which enter through it into the little harbour within. A great bank of shingle, which Leland says was beginning to form in his time, now stretehes quite across what was the mouth of the »stuary, and rich pasture lands extend over the flats formerly covered by the sea. From the Saxon chronicle, we learn that in the year 449, Hengist and Horsa “landed in Britain on the shore which is called Ypwinsfleet.” Ebbs-fleet, however, is now an inland spot, at some distance from the sea; and what was the »stuary of the Wanstum, dividing the Isle of Thanet from the main land of Kent, is a shallow brook, although it was once navigable for ships of large burden ; and, even in Bede’s time, was three stadia broad, and fordable only in two places. f With such examples of great physical changes else- where ; and considering that Langport is still within reach of the tidal waters; it is not too much to assume, that it might, thirteen centuries ago, have been a haven for ships. In Porth-Kery, on the other side of the Severn, and, almost opposite Bridgwater Bay, we have a similar instance of the elevation of the sea-bed. Porth-Kery was a sea- * \ er „ pnera TO "Okpıvov Axpov, Tapapov mor. ; 'Ioaka or. ; Axalvov mor. exBoXal ; Meyas Aıumv. K. TA. Excerpta de Brit. ex. Scriptoribus Greeis. p. xili. Monumenta Hist. Britannica. t Bed: Hist. Eccles., Lib. I., c. 25. „ » a continenti terra secernit fluvius Va au, qui est latitu- dinis eireiter trium stadiorum, et duobus tantum in locis transmeabilis : 48 PAPERS, ETC. port of the ancient distriet of Siluria, frequented by Keri, the Sovereign of that district, and a distinguished naval commander. It is now utterly inadequate for the accommo- dation of shipping. Evidence of the gradual rise of the bed of the zstuary of the Severn, has likewise been afforded by excavations in the Bute Docks, Cardiff; and at Port Talbot, in Glamorganshire, “where ancient harbour conveniences were discovered at considerable depths below the present surfaces.”* The Geological features of the alluvial deposits in the extensive plains on either side of the Poldon hills; the various objects, natural and artificial, which have been found in different places, and at great depths, aftord con- clusive evidence of similar changes on the English coast of the Bristol Channel. Thus, we find as far up as Weston Zoyland, Chedzoy, and Middlezoy, which stand upon red-marl prominences slightly raised above the level of the surrounding marshes, banks of sea-sand resting against these slightly elevated lands, in such a way as most clearly to show that they formed the margin of ancient sea-boundaries. In these sand banks, are found the shells of the very same molluses, which are commonly picked up on our sea shores, and are now living on our coasts; proving the deposit to have belonged to a very recent period. The same features present themselves at Huntspill, Pawlet, and at Chilton Trinity, near Bridgwater; which would indicate the boundaries of the »zstuary on either side-. At Chilton, the sand containing the shells, lies at a depth of about two or three feet below the surface of the soil. * Iolo MSS. note p. 345. + Mr. Baker’s paper on the Geology of Somerset, Proc. of Society, 1849-50, p. 136. LLONGBORTH OF LLYWARCH HEN’S ELEGY. 49 The bulk of the alluvial deposit in this distriet, consists of a bluish clay, and sea-silt. Those who have seen in how short a space of time the worked-out clay-pits about Bridgwater are filled up, by the subsidence of the muddy waters admitted from’the river Parret, will not be at a loss to comprehend the character of the agencies which, in the course of centuries, would cause a considerable elevation in the surface of the plain throughout. In a paper on the “formation of Marsh Peat” (read at the Conversazione of the Society at Taunton, January 24, 1853,) by the Rev. W. Phelps, it is stated that “on the banks of the Parret, near Crandon Bridge, the alluvial deposit is from eight to ten feet deep, over the peat; and in digging the foundation for the new bridge at Burrow Bridge, in 1828, the alluvial deposit was 16 feet, and the peat: 14 feet in thickness, resting on a bed of marl.” Half the rise in the level at Burrow Bridge, so clearly proved by the observations recorded by Mr. Phelps, would be quite enough to account for all the physical conditions which our hypothesis requires. That these deposits have taken place to some extent, and for a considerable depth, within a comparatively recent period, and during the time that the surrounding country was inhabited by the human race, is very evident from the character of the various objects which have, from time to time, been discovered in the clay-pits and turf-moors. Mr. Stradling in his valuable paper on the Turbaries,* gives an interesting account of the different antiques dis- covered by him, in what he styles the bottom of “the Lake,” whose waters reached up to Glastonbury. Among those things, evidently of British origin, besides flint- spears, and Üelts, he mentions three oars or paddles, * Vide The Society’s Report, for 1849-50, p. 50. 1853*, PART 11. G 50° PAPERS, ETC. similar in form to those used in the present day by Welsh fishermen, in the management of the coracle; and, also a very large canoe formed from an immense oak, which had been preserved by the peculiar antiseptic properties of the peat, and which was known to the turf-cutters as “ Squire Phippen’s big ship.” These facts clearly point to a time when the eastern side of the Poldon hills was washed by the waters of a large navigable lake, if not an arm of the sea; and judging from the similarity of position, and the occurrence of somewhat similar remains, there can be no doubt but that a lake, or xstuary likewise existed, at that time, to the west of the Poldon hills, reaching towards Langport. The trunks and branches of trees ; the horns of the forest deer; the bones of the ox and horse, have been found at considerable depths in the clay-pits, in the neigh- bourhood of Bridgwater. At the old canal basin at Huntworth, animal remains, and even pottery were found mixed with sand, nearly 30 feet beneath the surface.* In the collection of the late Mr. Baker, there is a curious brass bolt which was found in one of the clay-pits; and in the possession of John Browne, Esq., tbere is an interesting specimen of the gold ring-money, which was dug up at a considerable depth in thesilt-deposit. These, with the remains of pottery, are a clear proof that the deposit of the alluvial flats in the distriet is comparatively recent ; and that when the plains west of the Poldon hills constituted the bed of an »stuary, the adjoining shores were inhabited by a race of men not unacquainted with the arts, nor strangers to the use and value of the precious metals. Those who had an opportunity of witnessing the great * Proc. of Society, 1849-50, p. 137. LIONGBORIH OF LLYWARCH HEN’S ELEGY. öl expanse of waters, which during the floods of last winter covered the flats for many miles, could easily realize to them- selves the aspect ofthe country at the time to which we refer; and could not fail to recognize in the earthy matter brought down by inland floods, combined with drift-sand and the silt and mud deposited by the tidal waters of the Severn, causes fully adequate, in the course of centuries, to produce the elevation which has taken place. Even the Saxon names of some of the places in the distriet are evidence of the same physical characteristics, and serve as a permanent record of the physical history of that part of the county. Thus we have Weston-Zoyland, Chedzoy, Middlezoy,* occupying those slightly elevated patches of marl before referred to, and all implying the presence of an expanse of water surrounding those locali- ties at the time. The few British names which have survived, afford a striking confirmation of the views we have advanced. Considering the Poldon as a promontory, standing out between two »stuaries, tbe one extending to Glastonbury, the other to Langport, no more descriptive name could be given to it than that it bears. AMoel-y-don, or y V oel-don, easily changed into Poldon. Moel, in Celtic, signifies bare, bald; hence, applied, in Welsh, to high exposed points of land; and in Gaelie, to promontories. Itforms an element in the name of many mountains in Wales; for example, Moel y Famau, Moel Hebog, y Voel Goch, y Voel Las, &c. In Scotland the same word appears in the Mull of Kantyre, the Mull of Galloway, &c. Here, in combina- tion with don, a wave, Voel-don, or Poldon, would signify the promontory, or elevated land among the waves. Thus were the Poldon-hills called by the ancient inhabitants of * Pronounced, Chedzee, Middlezee. 52 PAPERS, ETC. the land; and during the greater part of last winter (1852-3), when the floods were out, the name they bear would not be deemed much less appropriate, or less descrip- tive.* | Ynys Avallon, the name by which Glastonbury was known to the Cymri, is one which accords with the physical conditions obtaining in this district at the time when Langport, was in fact, as in name, Llongborth ; a haven for ships.. Ynys Avallon, signifies “the ISLAND abounding in apple trees;” a name peculiarly descriptive of the place, when the Turbaries were as yet in course of formation, and when the warrior’s barge and the fisherman’s canoe moved over what are now well-tilled fields, and where the golden harvest rises to reward the labours of the husband- man. These considerations, I submit, remove all the difhiculties which might arise from the present physical characteristics of the distriet, and prove it not only possible, but highly probable, that the situation of Langport, before the time of the Roman oceupation, corresponded with the descrip- tion involved in the name of Llongborth. The historical question remains still to be answered :—Is Langport the Llongborth of which Llywarch Hen speaks, in the elegy ? Considering the great obscurity in which the historical events of that period are necessarily involved, the reasons which may be advanced in favour of the affırmative are, I conceive, if not altogether satisfactory, yet of great weight. * Since this paper was read, the Rev. F. Warre has suggested that in Bawdrip we have a Romano-British name, still further eonfirmatory of the zestuary theory. Bawdrip stands on the edge of the alluvial deposit, and would really be what its name denotes, a Böd (British), dwelling place, on the Ripa (Latin), bank ef the zstuary. LLONGBORTH OF LLYWARCH HEN’S ELEGY. 93 The battle of Llongborth is not mentioned by name in any of the Saxon Chronicles, nor are the peculiar circum- stances in connexion with any engagement recorded in the Chronicles, such as can be identified with those which Llywarch H£n describes. The only one which has ever been connected with this event, is that which stands recorded in the Saxon Chronicles for A.D. 501. “This year Porta with his two sons, Bada and Mela, came into Britain with two ships, at a place called Ports- mouth. (Poyzen-muda.) They soon landed and slew on the spot a young Briton of very high rank.” Mr. Sharon Turner, assuming, probably, that Langport never could have been a “port” or “harbour for ships,” concludes that Llongborth must have been some harbour on the south-coast ; and connecting the death of Geraint with that of the young Briton of noble birth, slain at Portsmouth, he comes to the conclusion that the poem of Llywarch H£n, describes the conflict at Portsmouth when Porta landed.* This conclusion, however, is not borne out by the cir- cumstances of the case. The mere fact, as recorded, of their “slaying on the spot a young Briton of very high rank,” falls far short of suflicient evidence, that this young Briton was Geraint ab Erbin. There can be no doubt that the life of many a British youth of highest rank was sacrificed, during that long and severe conflict. Further, it does not appear possible, that the crew of two ships, (which is all that the Chronicle gives to Porta and his sons on their landing at Portsmouth,) could have offered the amount and kind of resistance, which the details of the battle in the Elegy imply. “They soon landed and slew on the spot”—is the description of a very different * Turner’s History of Angl. Saxons, vol. 1, b. iii. c. 3, 54 PAPERS, ETC. event from that which Llywarch H£en celebrates when he says;— “Yn Llongborth gwelais drabludd Ar fain, brain ar goludd, Ac ar grän cynran man-rudd. “Yn Llongborth gwelais i vygedorth, A gwyr yn godde ammorth, f A gorvod gwedi gorborth. “ Yn Llongborth gwelais i aryau Gwyr, a gwyar yn dineu, A gwedi gawr garw adneu.” “ At Llongborth I saw hard toiling Amidst the stones, ravens on entrails feasting, And a erimson gash on the chieftain’s brow. “In Llongborth I saw the smoking pile, And men enduring want, And defeat after the feast of plenty. “In Llongborth I saw the weapons, Of heroes with gore fast dropping, And after the war-shout, a fearful return.” The poem abounds in pietures of this character, which it is impossible to reconcile with the event hitherto associated with the battle of Llongborth. We are thus led to the conclusion that the battle of Llongborth is one of those many engagements which must have taken place between the Saxons and the Britons, but are not recorded in any of the Saxon Chronicles. Nor will this conclusion, I conceive, be affected by the views and reasons advanced by M. dela Villemarqug, in his LLONGBORTH OF LLYWARCH HEN’S ELEGY. 55 edition of the Poems of the British Bards of the Sixth Century.* In the “argument” prefixed to the elegy, this cele- brated Celtic scholar, after having referred to the coast of Cornwall as peculiarly favourable for the landing of the Saxon invaders,t adds: “It was there, in A.D. 501, that two ships, under the command of Porta, landed ; and the invaders, in honour of their leader, called the place Port’s Mouth, i.e. the harbour of Porta.” He then gives it as his opinion, that Llongborth is the same with Portsmouth ; and that the young noble, slain at the landing of Porta, was Geraint ab Erbin. In confirmation of this opinion, he imagines he findsin Llong- borth, a literal translation of Portsmouth; taking Llong to be a form of Lhone which he translates, “ Mouth.”f We pass over the geographical error of placing Ports- mouth in Cornwall, which evidently arose from the assumed connexion of the event with the Cornish Prince, and merely observe that in the elegy itself, Geraint is described as a « Warrior brave from the woodlands of Devon ;” and it is well known that the Dyvnaint of the British, as well as the Dumnonium of the Romans, included a large part of West Somerset. According to the best Welsh authorities I have been able to consult, Llone, signifies the Swallow, the Gullet, and not the Mouth. But even though the etymology were ever so unobjectionable, the explanation of Llongborth, * Poömes des Bardes Bretons du VIe Si£cle, &c., par Th. Hersart de la Villemarque. Paris, 1850. + “]Jl yavaitsur la cöte, & la pointe de la Cornouaille, un endroit favorable aux descentes des Saxons.” p. 1. t “Je retrouve dans Longborth, ou plutöt Longport (comme on l’a primitivement &erit) la traduction exacte de Portes-Muthe.” p. 2. 56 PAPERS, ETC. which this hypothesis involves, could not fail to prove unsatisfaetory, inasmuch as it cannot, upon consideration, be thought at all probable, scarcely possible, that a British Prince, when singing the praises of his friend and companion in arms, would have adopted and translated the name which was given by their enemies to the place where he fell, to do honour to his foe. Surely there must have been a British name for the harbour of Portsmouth before the landing of Porta; and that, whatever it might have been, would be used by Llywarch H£n on this occasion, and not the translation of a Saxon name. Portsmouth is undoubtedly the Meyao Arpıjv of Claudius Ptolemz&us; the Portus Magnus of the Romans. The first part of the word is, evidently, con- nected with the harbour, and not with the name of the Saxon invader. A strong argument in favour of Langport as the site of the ancient British town of Llongborth, is presented in the fact that there is no other place in the kingdom whose name so closely resembles it in sound.* And as we have seen that, at one time, it might have been a harbour for ships, the two names are identical, not only in sound, but likewise in signification. Standing as it did, according to our hypothesis, on the extreme end of an zstuary, it would be at least within sight of the foaming waters of the rushing tides of the Severn, and its position would thus agree with the only other reference to the death of Geraint, in the litera- ture of that period. It occurs towards the close of the * In Domesday Book it oceurs in the form of Zanporth, and on one of the coins of Athelstane, LONEPORT. Vide the Rev. T. F. Dymock's Paper on Somersetshire Coins, in the Pro. of the Soc., 1849-50. p. 16. LLONGBORTH OF LLYWARCH HEN’S ELEGY. 57 Gododin of Aneurin, another Welsh Bard of the sixth century. “ Gereint rac deheu gawr a dodet, Lluch gwynn dwll ar ysgwyt, Yor yspar llary yor.” “ Geraint in the south* raised the shout of war, At the foaming (or glistening) Loch was the buckler pierced, Of the lord of the spear—the gentle lord. Here Zluch would stand for the »stuary of the Parret, as Loch still does for some of the »stuaries opening out of the larger »stuary of the Clyde. Another argument in favour of Langport as the site of the battle of Llongborth, may be drawn from its position on the confines of the district of Dyvnaint. Supposing the engagement to have taken place subsequently to that of Mynydd Badon, near Bath, this would have been a likely place for the conflict. According to Mr. Sharon Turner, the battle of Badon Hill, the greatest and most celebrated achievement of Arthur, served only to check the progress of Cerdic. The Saxon was still permitted to retain his settlement in Wessex, and some of the chronicles quoted by Mr. Turner, shew that “after many severe confliets, Arthur conceded to the Saxons, the counties of Southampton and Somerset ; the latter, however, still contested.” f Hence it would seem probable that the engagement to which the elegy relates, was one of those in which they contended for the occupation of this part of Somerset ; for * Aneurin wasa North Briton, to whom this part of the West of England would be known as the South. t Turner’s Hist. Ang. Sax., b. iii., e. iii., p. 269. 1853*, PART I. H 58 PAPERS, ETC. although, according to the Historia Britonum of Nennius, the battle of Badon Hill stands as the last of the twelve great battles of Arthur, we find it described as the “ last, almost,” in the history of Gildas.* The battle of Badon Hill, according to the Annales Cambriz,f took place, A.D. 516; the battle of Camlan, in which Arthur was mortally wounded, A.n. 537. This would give A.D. 520, or thereabouts, for the date of the battle of Llongborth. This is the nearest approximation we are able to make to the date of the engagement to which the elegy relates. The fiercee endurance and daring hardıhood manifested, indicates a struggle for national existence. The actions recorded are those of men fighting almost at their own doors in defence of their households. Such would be the case with the men of Dyvnaint, at Langport ; hence we find the battle-ery in the thick of the fray, was, “ Haste! ye that be Geraint’s men !” The issue of the engagement was doubtful ; we cannot regard it as a decided vietory on either side. Judging, however, from such expressions as these— “ In Llongborth I saw the smoking pile:” and or “in Llongborth I saw the biers With the dead drenched in gore :” we have reason to infer that the Britons were, at least, left in possession of the field, for such sights are witnessed only after a battle. Such are the reasons which have appeared to me to justify our identifying Langport with the Llongborth * Hist. Gilde. c.26. . . obsessionis Badoniei Montis, novissimeque ferme de furceferis non minimz& stragis. rt Mon. Hist. Brit., p 830. PAPERS, ETC. 59 of Llywarch Hen. Inow submit them, with the conclu- sion to which they have led us, to the impartialand careful investigation of the members of this Society; and while acknowledging my obligation to previous contributors, whose papers have already appeared in the Proceedings, it would not be out of place to call attention to the fact, that there are very few peculiar and characteristie features in any locality, whether physical or archsological, which may not, some time or other, beceme available for the solution and illustration of historical problems, that would otherwise remain obscure. Through the advancement of civilization and the ele- vating influences of the Christian Faith, great and happy changes have been brought about in the character and aspect of society since the period of which this paper treats. The descendants of the Celt and the Saxon, instead of waging deadly war against each other, are merged into one great people, enjoying in common the blessings of their common social and political privileges. Much as we rejoice in these changes in the aspect of society, I confess, nevertheless, that while looking down from the heishts, upon the plains through which the muddy Parret now flows, I have sometimes wished the aspect of the country had not changed; and that we could still stand upon the VOEL-DON, gazing on the expanding »stuaries on either side, glistening in the sun-light beneath our feet, and watch the white sails gliding from their entrance at Combwich, to their ancient destination at Llongborth. Yet we feel that in the changes of the world there is progress. The beautiful often gives way to the useful. Corn-fields rise with their golden harvest from the depths of the waters. We bow to a higher Power; we acknowledge and revere the Supreme Wisdom of Him, who overrules the aflfairs of men. 60 PAPERS, ETC. Sumeraetshire Seguestrationg during the Cinil War. BY JOHN BATTEN, JUNR. * F all the measures adopted by the Parliament for 6) strengthening their hands in their contest with the ill-fated Charles, none was more effectual than the ordi- nance of the 1st of April, 1643, declaring the property of those who openly espoused the King’s cause, or, in the language of the day, “ all delinqguents and malignants,” to be forfeited for the use of the State. It not only pro- duced very large sums for maintaining the army raised by the Parliament, and meeting other pressing demands, but it deterred many, not actually committed to the King’s cause, from taking an active part on his behalf, at the risk of their property and liberty. * It is hardly necessary for me to premise that my sole object in this Paper is to present the Society with a detail of interesting facts, without reference to my own opinions or predilections. Respect for my ancestors should perhaps enlist my sympathies with Parliamentarians and Puritans; one of them, Sir William Batten, having been Vice- Admiral of the Parliament Fleet in the Civil War; and another, the Rev. Henry Butler, M.A., having been ejected, on the passing of the Act of Uniformity, from the Vicarage of Yeovil, and subjected to much perse- cution afterwards, SOMERSETSHIRE SEQUESTRATIONS. 61 That ordinance expressly enacts, “ That all the real and personal property as well of certain Bishops therein named, as of all such other persons, either ecclesiastical or civil, as raised arms against the Parliament or voluntarily contri- buted (not being under the power of the King’s party), any money, horse, plate, arms, ammunition, or other aid towards the maintenance of any force against the Parlia- ment, and also two parts in three of the property of all Papists,” should be seized and sequestered into the hands of Committees and Sequestrators, named for the several counties throughout England, who were to remit all monies received for rents of estates, the sale of stock or goods, or otherwise, to certain oflicers in London, to be disposed of as the Parliament should direct. By subsequent ordinances, the wives and children of delinquents were allowed one-fifth part of the property sequestered, for their maintenance; and (with certain exceptions) the delinquents themselves were permitted to compound for the forfeiture, by payment of a composition not exceeding two years value of the estates sequestered, and a Committee sat at Goldsmith’s Hall to conduct the negotiations and assess the amounts to be paid. The Sequestrators were remunerated by a per centage of 1s. in the pound on the monies remitted by them to the Treasury; and with a party not over scrupulous in the means employed, this was manifestly good policy, as it could not fail to excite activity and zeal in their officers, and to increase the number of delinquents and forfeitures. Accordingly, we find that both by their own exertions, as well as by the assistance of their agents and spies, they were most successful in “ getting up” cases, scouring the country for intelligence, and setting a watch upon the 62 PAPERS, ETC. actions of all believed to be disaffeeted—especially if they were persons of property and consideration. It must not be supposed, however, that the Parliament were enabled to carry out this measure without dificulty or resistance. Much depended on the fortunes of war, and for some time the continued reverses experienced by the Parliamentary forces, had so weakened the position of their party, that any attempt to enforce the ordinance with any effect, would have failed, especially in the west where the King had been so victorious. But in the year 1646, which is the period to which our attention will be particularly directed, when the war may be said to have terminated in favour of the Parliament, and the power of the King virtually to have ceased, no such difficulties presented themselves, and the Parliament proceeded without hesitation to prosecute delinquents with unrelenting severity. The county of Somerset, as well as the other western counties, have always been considered— and correctly so— as favourable to the King. The cause of this feeling probably was, that this part of the kingdom had but little connection with parties engaged in trade and commerce, who were generally disaffeeted towards the King, on ac- count of his unconstitutional attempt to tax their property. Estates in the west were principally in the hands of noble- men and representatives of ancient families, all whose predilections and pursuits were in favour of the “ Right ’ and the eircumstances to which we have alluded Divine ; no doubt swelled the list of Somersetshire delinquents. The Sequestration Committees for the several counties divided them into distriets, corresponding, mainly, with the different hundreds.. To each hundred were allotted two or SOMERSETSHIRE SEQUESTRATIONS. 63 more Sequestrators, and it was their duty, from time to time, to transmit to the Committees accounts of their proceedings, and of the monies derived from the estates under their charge. One of these accounts aceidentally came under my notice lately in examining some old papers.* A slight note of its contents, with some information (very imperfeet I fear,) respecting the parties and transactions mentioned in it, may not be uninteresting to the Society. The document is the account of Mr. Edward Curll, one of the Sequestrators for the Hundred of Catsash,f in this county, and extends from November, 1645, to October, 1647, divided into three periods ; the first, from 20th November, 1645, to 24th July, 1646; the second, from 24th July, 1646, to 30th June, 1647 ; and the third, from 30th June, to the 22nd October, 1647. It details the proceedings against forty-three persons, either resident or possessing property within the hundred, and in some cases, it should be observed, Mr. Curll ex- tended his operations beyond the hundred. "The gross receipts for the whole period of the account, not quite two years, amount to £1,455: 13s. 9d., out of which the sum of £99 : 8s. 10d. was disbursed for various charges re- lating to the estates, and £63 : 5s. retained by Mr. Curll for the expenses of himself and his two assistants, includ- ing their wages at 3s. 6d.a week each, and the keep of * The original is the property of Wm. H. Helyar, Esq., of Coker Court, to whom I am indebted for the loan of it. Much valuable treasure of local and historical interest lies buried in many of our country man- sions; and if the owners would kindly allow the musty contents of their old oak chests to be exhume«d and examined, they would contribute very materially to the success of our Soeiety. + The Hundred of Catsash, or Catash, lies north of the Hundred of Stone, in which Yeovil is situated, and comprises many of the parishes lying between Yeovil and Castle Cary. 64 PAPERS, ETC. three horses; in addition to which, Mr. Curll submits a charge “for two years rent for a field to provide hay for my horses from Saturday night to Monday morning, at which time I usually lay at my own house.” The connection that subsisted between the parochial clergy and their patrons, most of them Royalists, and the influence which they possessed over their parishioners, added to the natural bias of their minds in favor of the discipline and formularies of the church, rendered them peculiarly obnoxious to the Parliament, who, under pre- tence of correcting abuses, spared no efforts to supplant them by ministers subservient to their own views. As far back as the beginning of the year 1641, commis- sioners were ordered, by the House of Commons, to visit the various counties in England, and investigate certain alleged abuses and innovations. Amongst other complaints which reached the House, by means of these commissioners, was one of the refusal of many incumbents to preach a sermon themselves every I,ord’s day, or to admit another minister to their pulpits, although the parishioners were willing to maintain him. The House of Commons did not fail to seize this opportunity of declaring that the parishioners were justified, under such circumstances, in procuring a preacher, and a committee, called “ The Com- ’ was appointed to send mittee of Preaching Ministers, ’ ministers where they were required, and to provide for their maintenance. So long however, as the incumbents retained their livings and authority, it was impossible entirely to counter- act their influence ; and petitions having been presented, and no doubt procured, from all parts of the country, com- plaining loudly of the idleness and lax manners of the country clergy, another committee of the House, SOMERSETSHIRE SEQUESTRATIONS. 65 called “ The Committee of Scandalous Ministers,” was appointed, and authorized to eject all such reprobates, upon proof of their guilt—to sequester their estates, and to supply their places with godly and pious preachers.* We shall not therefore be surprised to find our friend Mr. Curll particularly attentive to the different incumbents within his district. To take the first in the list, I must admit that if half of the charges against the Aev. Hugh Collins, Rector of Compton Pauncefoot, were well founded, his punishment was not altogether unmerited. The charge against him is, “ That he is a lewd and scandalous minister. “That he had within these four years a base child laid to his charge, which is found to be his own. “That he was at Oxford (the King’s head quarters) lately, and usually, since tlıe beginning of these warres, did send and carry intelligence thither. “ That he made a bonfire upon top of a high hill, for joy of the overthrow of the Parliament forces, at Edgehill, as he reported.” A stale offence this, as the battle took place in October, 1642, being the first decided engagement in the war. It was doubtful which party could elaim the vic- tory, probably neither ; but the King made the most of it, ordering a day of solemn thanksgiving for his success, at the close of which no doubt, the obnoxious bonfire was kindled. The next accusation is a very grave one. “That on the 31st of October, 1645, there was one of the General’s (Fairfax’s that is) soldiers robbed at his house of his horse, arms, and money, and no newes since of the man, so that it is conceived he was slayne in the house.” * The Somersetshire Petition in 1642, prays, amongst other things, “that a sufficient remeıly be provided against scandalous ministers. ” 1853*, PART 1. I 66 PAPERS, ETC. Whether such a crime was actually committed, is not for us to say ; suflice it, there is no proof; but following as there does immediately a charge, “ That he set forth a man in armes against the Parliament,” a suspicion is raised that the recruit may have sallied forth equipped with the murdered warrior’s weapons. I regret to say that the catalogue of Mr. Collins’s erimes is not yet complete; neither his “ faire parsonage house,” or his “ pigeon house,” his glebe or his tithes, prevented him, if Mr. Curll is to be believed, from breaking the eishth commandment; for amongst the stock seized on his premises, were “ four oxen, three kyne, two calves, and two swine, which had been stolen away out of Sir Edward Berkeley’s ground at Hatherley, in Maperton parish, by the said Mr. Collins.” His own stock seems to have been sold at ruinous prices; twelve sheep were driven to Win- canton fair, and fetched only £5 : 4s., or 8s. 8d. each, and two ricks of hay brought £2. His library of books was valued at £16 : 10s. 8d. Mr. Wilkinson,* the rector of Weston Bampfylde, was ejected because he was a pluralist, holding Weston and Bradford together, eontrary to the ordinance of Parlia- ment, and the parsonage was bestowed, by the Standing Committee, on Mr. Brook, the eurate. The estates of Dr. Godwin, Rector of Kingweston, were sequestered because he was aknown delinquent, and an idle and scandalous minister; no particular charges are specified against him, unless his idleness is to be inferred from keeping a curate. Respeeting him Mr. Curll appends this note.—“* The poor curate, Mr. Barber, is in much want, and his family all wanting clothes and other necessaries, and having but £12 a year allowed him by the committee, * I have given the names as they are mentioned in the MS. SOMERSET$SHIRE SEQUESTRATIONS. 67 hath not that yet, I not having received so much from the parsonage.” Dr. Pierce, Bishop of Bath and Wells, holding in right of his see the impropriate parsonage of Castle Cary, it was of course sequestered with his other possessions. The Bishop was an old enemy of the Puritans, his high church opinions rendering him a zealous supporter of Laud. Soon after his translation to the see in 1632, he had been very active in carrying out the Archbishop’s views respecting the Book of Sports and Pastimes, and produced much dis- satisfaction in the county by his conduct. It was in conse- quence of the Bishop’s report to Laud, of the order made by Chief Justice Richardson at the Somersetshire Assizes, on the petition of the leading men of the county, for putting down wakes, revels, and other parochial festivals, that the Chief Justice was summoned before the Privy Council, and severely reprimanded by the Archbishop, for his interferencee. He told a friend in his way out that he had been nearly choked by a pair of Archbishop’s sleeves. Bishop Pierce was one of the twelve Bishops who with- drew from the House of Lords, on the debate for exeluding Bishops from seats in Parliament, and protested against any bill passed without their concurrence. He and his companions were immediately impeached for high treason, and imprisoned ; but the King soon after giving his con- sent to the Exclusion Bill, the prosecution was dropped. After his deprivation, Dr. Pierce resided on an estate of his own, at Cuddesden, in Oxfordshire. At the Resto- ration, he wasreinstated in his see, and enjoyed it until his death. He was the father of William Pierce, Archdeacon of Taunton, and Vicar of Kingsbury Episcopi, whose living was also sequestered, and he himself subsequently 68 PAPERS, ETC. imprisoned, for giving the name of Charles to a child to whom he was godfather. The Impropriate Parsonages of Lymington, South Bar- row, and Barton, were part of the temporalities of Dr. Walter Raleigh, Dean of Wells, and sequestered for his delinqueney. The sufferings of Dr. Raleigh ended only with his death. He endured a long imprisonment, aggravated by constant removals from gaol to gaol, in one of which the plague had broken out, and at length, whilst in custody in his own house at Wells, was murdered by David Barrett, a constable, who had been appointed his keeper. No proper notice appears to have been taken by the authorities of this foul deed. His widow and son were frustrated in several attempts to bring Barrett to a trial, and the clergyman who performed the burial service at the un- fortunate Dean’s funeral, according to the Book of Common Prayer, was imprisoned for disobeying the ordinance for- bidding its use. Mr. Guy Clintom, minister of Alford, was deprived “ for reading the Book of Common Prayer, and being very insufheient for the ministry and scandalous in his life ; and his son also conceived to be maintained in arms by him against the Parliament.” And a further note isadded, that “the son hath been very active since, in the tumult at Bruton.” The abolition of the Book of Common Prayer was always a great object with the Puritans. The Assembly of Divines, a body which had been appointed by an ordi- nance of the 12th June, 1643, amongst other things, to confer and treat on matters concerning the liturgy sub- mitted to them by Parliament, had framed in obedience to instructions, a new form of prayer called The Directory; and the House of Lords on the 3rd January, 1645, being SOMERSETSHIRE SEQUFESTRATIONS. 69 the day on which they passed the Bill for the attainder of Laud, voted another forbidding the use of the Book of Common Prayer, and establishing, as the ordinance states, “the said Directory for the publie worship of God.” By a subsequent enactment, all ministers were enjoined, under a penalty, openly to read the Directory in their respective churches before the morning service, and all the Books of Gommon Prayer were to be cullected by the churchwardens and constables, and disposed of as Parlia- ment should direct. Mr. William Haskett, the Rector of Maperton, was de- prived “for rayling against the Parliament in his sermons, and stirring up the people to goe against the Parliament forces, and for being scandalous in his life.” This case shews that it was not without reason that the Parliament were jealous of the practices of the clergy, who both in their publie ministrations and private life, had manifested such opposition to the Parliamentary cause. Upon Mr. Haskett’s removal, the inhabitants immediately petitioned that Mr. Peter Bradford should officiate in his stead, and having procured a certificate of some able ministers of his ability and fitness, he was appointed to the parish. The Rev. Anthony Richardson, Rector of West Camel, who next claims our attention, must have been a most determined Royalist. Mr. Curll’s charge against him is :— “That he read the Book of Common Prayer, contrary to the ordinance of Parliament and Directory, until Michaelmas last. “That he read the Somersetshire Petition publiely in the church, and caused most of the inhabitants to subscribe their names unto it at his house ; and because Wm. Jeans refused, he, the said Mr. Richardson, said it should be the 70 PAPERS, ETC. worse for him ; further saying, ‘ wilt thou turn rebel against the King?” “That he kept the Friday fast, and neglected the Wednesday fast; proved upon oath by W. Jeans and others. “ That he set forth a horse in the King’s service, under the command of Colonel Edward Phelipps, as by a receipt under the said Colonel’s hand doth appear, and that he did it voluntarily, appeared by the Colonel’s letter to him. “ That he gave money towards the mairtenance of the King’s army, and also to the maintenance of a servant of his at Langport, as by a MS. of his own appeareth. “ That when he paid any money to the use of the Par- liament, he set it down in his MS., “paid so much, imposed —-or imposed and assessed in the name of the Parliament, which shews his malignity.’ ” His books, which were valued by the neighbouring minister of South Cadbury, at £10, were restored to him. Not so a certain box found in his study, containing £30: 17s. in money, nor a suspicious kind of “ buffe coat,” in the same sanctum, which had cost, according to Mr. Richardson, 13s. 4d. Mr. Richardson appears to have been much liked in his parish. His plate and goods were removed unto safe keep- ing, and Curll was seduced to pay several persons money, who promised to discover these valuables, but forgot to do so.—Soldiers were called in by him to assist.— The in- habitants stoutly resisted his collecting the tithes, and the poor man asks in despair, of the committee, what he is to do? Mrs. Richardson received her fifth part, as provided by the ordinance, having at Ilchester taken the negative oath, which I presume in her case was—not to talk. The Somersetshire Petition mentioned in the charge, SOMERSETSHIRE SEQUESTRATIONS. 7 was one of those presented to Parliament from various parts of the kingdom, deprecating the sanguinary contests which were going on between the King and the Parliament, and praying for peaceable accommodation. The Wednesday fast, which Mr. Richardson neglected in favour of that on Friday, as being more in accordance with the ancient discipline of the church, originated in the projected Irish massacre and conspiracy, in 1640,* as a memorial of which, the King, at the request of the Par- liament, appointed a fast to be observed on the last Wednesday of every month, as long as the calamities of the nation should continue. After the commencement of the war, the two Houses of Parliament passed an ordinance for the more striet observance of the new fast, and all preachers were commanded to exhort their hearers to a solemn observance of it. Business and pleasure were completely put aside, and from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon the religious services continued, with little or no interruption. Col. Edward Phelipps who is here mentioned, was the son of that Sir Robert Phelipps, of Montacute, or Mountague, as it was sometimes then called, who for bis integrity and unflinehing boldness in assisting the constitutional rights of the people in Parliament, was styled “the old Roman.” In the reign of James, he had succeeded his father, Sir Edward Phelipps, M.P., the founder of Montacute House, as one of the members for this county. In Charles’s reign he was again in the Parliament summoned in 1625, but rendered himself so obnoxious to the Crown, that he was excluded in the next, which met in February 1626, being pricked for Sheriff. He was, however, a third time returned member for the county in 1628, and was loud in * Neal’s History of the Puritans, p. 553. 72 PAPERS, ETC. his protestations against Popery; but dying in the year 1638, he saw none of the calamities which soon overspread the kingdom. Of his son Edward Phelipps, little further is known, than that he espoused the Royal cause with as much zeal as his father had promised to favor the opposite party. He was a member of the Lung Parliament, that deserted Westminster for Oxford, where he sat in the assembly which even the King designated as the “ Mongrel Parliament.’ He was at Exeter during its siege, by (feneral Fairfax, and procured from him a passe (still extant) for permission toleave it. His estate being sequestered for delinqueney, he presented a petition* to the Committee at Goldsmith’s Hall, on the 16th June, 1646, wherein he states ‘ that through his error, he did unhappily desert the Parliament, for which he is heartily sorry, and humbly craves the favor and mercey of Parliament, praying to be admitted to com- position upon two years’ value of his estate, according to the articles on the surrender of Exeter.” All his personal estate, he says, had been seized and sold by the committee, and amongst his real estate, he includes the rents of the borough of Yeovil, amounting to £13: 6s. 8d., all of which, except 30s. were payable out of certain houses in the boroush, which houses were lately burnt and “soe the rent is lost.” The last ineumbent we have to notice, is the Rev. Amias Hext, Rector of Babcary. No particulars of the charge alleged against him are given by Mr. Curll, but he is very irate with Mrs. Hext, who, after the removal of her husband, kept possession of the glebe and tithes, and actually got one Mr. Yarrow to read Common Prayer, and by her contrivance, and the assistance of the inhabi- * Original in State Paper Office. ” SOMERSETSHIRE SEQUESTRATIONS. To tants, who he says “ for the most part are very malignant,” he could recover none of the Rector’s goods, save four skillets and a brass pot. From other sources we learn that Mr. Hext’s main offence was his refusal to take the oath of non-adherence, or the negative oath. For this he was thrown into prison and kept there upwards of a year, althoush he presented three petitions to the Committee for his release and composition, urging the wants of his wife and six children, who were wholly dependent upon him for sustenancee. He lamented, during his imprison- ment, that he was debarred of seven things :—1. The society of his wife; 2. The comfort of his children ; 3. The conversation of his parishioners ; 4. The benefit of his living; 5. The exercise of his function ; 6. The en- Joyment of his liberty ; and 7. The use of his books. Ultimately he procured his release; but of his subsequent history I find no trace. We now come to ceivilians ; and the Marquis of Hertford, as holding the highest rank, claims our first attention, and with him our paper must close. He was Lord of the Manor of Castle Cary, held on lease by Mr. Edward Kirton, a member of the Long Parliament, and pos- sessed also other estates in Castle Cary, Ansford, and Dimmer, all which were sequestered, because, as Mr. Curll states, the Marquis “ directed the Parliament, and was one of the first that took arms against the Parliament.” Upon the surrender of the eity of Oxford, in September, 1646, after the King had fled, the Marquis was included in the Articles, and allowed to compound, which he subsequently did by payment of the large sum of £8,345. William Seymour, Marquis of Hertford, was the third son of Edward Lord Beauchamp, (who had been created 1853*, PART II. K 74 PAPERS, ETC. a Baron under that title, in the life-time of his father Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford,) by Honora, the daughter of Sir Richard Rogers, of Bryanstone, Dorset. In the year 1640, he was created Charles Marquis of Hertford; and on the breaking out of the war in 1642, he was placed at the head of the Commission of Array issued by the King, for raising forces in the west. Coming to the eity of Bath, at the time of the assizes, he determined, after consulting some of the chief gentlemen of the county (the Judge and the Sheriff however being against him), to proclaim the Array in the eity of Wells, and to make it his head-quarters. By the assistance of Sir John Stawell and others, a considerable body of horse and foot were enrolled; but Sir John Horner and Col. Alexander Popham, at the head of the militia, and reinforced by a detachment from Bristol, under Sir Edward Hungerford, so harrassed and surrounded the Marquis’s little army, that after a few sharp skirmishes, he was fain to retreat to Sherborne Castle, then held by the Earl of Bristol. Here he was besieged by the Earl of Bedford, who, finding his force unequal to the attack, withdrew it to the town of Yeovil, expecting supplies. In the meantime, however, the Marquis being reinforced with 300 men, sent him by his cousin Mr. Rogers, High-Sheriff of Dorset, ordered Major Bampfield, with a strong detachment, to fall upon the Earl of Bedford’srear. An action on Babylon Hill, about a mile from Yeovil, was the result, and the Parliamenta- rians, claiming the victory, instantly dispatched a flaming account of it to London, which with your permission, I will read, especially as it is a fair specimen of the style of military dispatches in those days.* * Iindulge a hope that at some future meeting 1 may be permitted to conclude the subject of this Paper, as many interesting matters remain to be noticed. SOMERSETSHIRE SEQUESTRATIONS. 75 “A Relation ofthe Actions of the Parliaments Forces, under the Command of the Earl of Bedford, Generall of the Horse, against those which came from Sherbourn unto Babell-hill, neer unto Yevvell, upon Wednesday, the 7th of this instant September, 1642. “ Which was extracted out of a letter sent to the Par- liament, from Dorchester, the 10th of September, 1642. “ Signed by— Bedford, Denzill Hollis, John Northeot, George Chudley, Walter Erle, Tho. Wroth, Alex. Pop- ham, Charles Essex, William Strode Pine, Cle. Walker, Hugh Rogers, Ro. Harbin. “Upon Tuesday the sixt of September, the Parlia- ments forces did rise from before Sherbourn, and went that night unto Yevvell, a Town being four miles distant from Sherburn, where we lay on Wednesday to refresh ourselves, upon which day it pleased God to give usa great taste of His Goodnesse, to the great shame and losse of the enemie. About two of the clock in the after- noon there appeared a great body of their horse and foot upon a great hill within a little mile of the Town, called Babell Hill, and so was it truly to them a Babell of con- fusion. Upon which we presently put ourselves in array as well as we could, to make good all the outwayes, and guard the Magazine, which to do we found but very few men, and more pikemen than musquetiers, for the mus- quetiers found themselves to be most imployed upon all occasions, and therefore, the prineipally shifted away, and even sent out to their side, where the enemie appeared, three troops of horse and some musquetiers, they standing still at the top of the hill, braving of us and calling us rogues and roundheads. Our men went up to the hill to charge them, Captain Aiscogh one way, Captain Tomson another way, a little after him, and Captain Balfour a third, 76 PAPERS, ETC. and our musquetiers after, as fast as we could, Aiscogh came up to them first, and charged one of the troc ps through and through, and charged the second, but then was glad to wheel about; by that time Tomson came into him, and upon the sight of him all the enemies horse began to shog a little, and our two troops coming to charge, they turned and ran away, disbanded and routed; and ours followed upon the execution, and killed many of them, they think about eishteen or twenty, some very well habited, who seemed to be persons of qualitie ; and their foot, who had played upon our horse and foot_coming up the hill, were left to our merey, our foot and horse killing them, and they running away like dogs. He that commanded them was one Bam- field, a serjeant-major, who is taken prisoner, and with him about a score of his common souldiers. The rest that com- manded the foot are believed to be slain; amongst them one Hussey, a captain, for his commission was found in his pocket, himself clad in plush. Balfoure’s troop was forced to fetch a great compasse, for it isa very high hill and ill- way, who could not come in soon enough. If the night had not come on, and a very darke one, we had made a great execution amongst them, for their own strength of horse was there, five or six troops, and most of their foot. Sir Ralph Hopton was there with his troop, Captain Digby, and Sir Francis Hawley, with theirs, and the Lord Paulet, Sir John Paulet, Sir John Stowell, Sir Thomas Lunsford, Colonell Asburneham, Sir John Barkeley, Colonell Lawdy. and Lieutenant-Colonell Lunsford were there. We do verily believe that some of them are come short of home, for they came in the night before the moon rose, with lanthorns and candles, and fetched away the bodies of them of qualitie. We only found the next morning, twenty or thirty of our men; there were but five lost in all,anda SOMERSETSHIRE SEQUESTRATIONS. "Ti very few, not above three, hurt. All but one of the slaın are of Captain Aiscogh’s troop, who hath shewn himself a very valiant young man. We desire to know what must be done with the prisoners, whom, till we receive order, we will take care shall be safely kept. Thus it hath pleased the good God of Heaven, who is the great God of battels, to blesse us, whose name we cannot sufliciently magmifie for his goodness to us; bringing on the enemy in their great jollity and strength to be so shamefully defeated by a handfull of us, and those who were tired out with extraor- dinary sufferance of watching and cold. Blessed be His name for it.” 78 PAPERS, ETC. Kamen Bill. BY RICHARD WALTER, HERE are probably few objects in this part of the country which possess more interest than that to which Iam about to direct the attention of the Society. Whether we consider the imposing outline of its features, so conspicuous for miles around, its geological formation, its extensive quarries, the produce of which is seen in the buildings of every town and village, or its importance as a relic of antiquity, which must give it a superior interest with the Archsological Society ;—l mean the spot so well known as Hamdon Hill; of which, being a resident in its vieinity, and having been requested by some too partial friends, I shall endeavour to give some account, although I am conscious that it will be very imperfect; and as many gentlemen may be present who are better informed than myself, I must crave their indulgence, if my remarks be considered too common, for the sake of some others who may not have had the same advantages. The insulated position of Hamdon Hill, overlooking a flat country, from which it rises rather abruptly, gives it a bold character, and one is led to suppose its elevation HAMDON HILL. 19 greater than it really is; its summit being only about 240 feet above the level of the village of Stoke, below, and Just 426 feet above the level of high water mark at Wey- mouth. The prospect from its summit is very extensive and beautiful ; looking westward over the richly wooded and fertile vallies that extend beyond the Tone, to the hills of Quantock and Williton ; on the north the Mendip chain; on the east the Wiltshire hills, with the column called Alfred’s Tower ; and from thence to the southward and westward, the undulating line of the Dorsetshire hills,—Pillesdon, Lewesdon, and Lambart’s Castle, Whitedown, Snowdon, and Castle Neroche ; thus exhibiting a variety of prospeet over the surrounding country, not often paralleled. From its loftiest point, a panoramic view of great distance is obtained, unbroken except by a small interruption of the plantations at Montacute Hill. One curious memorial of the olden time, is on the south-west side—a deep combe, now planted as an orchard and gardens, which was formerly the regular road from Taunton to Salisbury, and through which some of the old inhabitants of Stoke, now deceased, have informed me they have seen the old Taunton coach soberly ereeping up, on its two or three days’ journey to London*; a not unpleasing contrast to the rocket-like speed with which we are now whisked away on the railroad, in only twice as many hours. How often have I wished, when rambling over the vene- rable spot, that it were possible to draw aside the veil of antiquity, and bring to view some ofthe scenes of the past centuries.. What an interesting tale might be told! Imagination presents to us the simple, unclothed, and untutored Britons, calmly tending their flocks on the down * This is corroborated by an old mile-stone by the road side, from the hill towards Odcombe, bearing the inscription “127 miles to London.” 80 PAPERS, ETC. near their settlement, at Stroud’s Hill; or engaged with their Druids in idolatrous worship of the heavenly bodies ; next in fruitless contention with their Celtic and Belgie invaders ; then roused to warlike, courageous, yet vain resistance, on their invasion by the better disciplined Roman armies. And who can tell the desperate struggles which have taken place for the occupation of this commanding position, which the Romans well knew the value of gain- ing ; and retained it, most probably, during their stay in Britain, about 450 years; availing themselves of the already formed entrenchments, according to their regular plan of castrametation, which appears to have extended only to the quadrangular part of the hill, on the north-west ; where the men working at the stone-quarries frequently bring to light some long hidden relie, which has lain im- bedded in the rubble or chasms of the rock, of which I shall have to speak presently. Geologically considered, the formation of Hamdon Hill is worth notice, consisting, not as generally supposed, of an immense rock of building stone, so well known, and erroneously stated in some late accounts as nearly inex- haustible: for the greater mass of the hill is sand, which largely extends to the eastward, in which boulder stones of a considerable size are imbedded in layers; and on this sand the masses of compact stone rest, varying in depth from about twenty to fifty feet, below which none has been found. So.at no very distant period this valuable stone, from its extensive use, will become more scarce. I say valuable, notwithstanding the high and much respected authority of Professor Buckland has denounced it as a perishable material, and discountenanced its use for per- manent building. This is a subject on which I would, under present circumstances, speak with delicacy ; only HAMDON HILL. 81 remarking that the Rev. Professor was mistaken in stating that our ancestors had culled the best of the stone; for it is well known, and evidently to be proved, that formerly the rocks had been worked down to a certain depth only, and left covered up with rubble; below which the quarry-men are now cutting. And it isan experienced fact, that the most compact and durable stone is found at the greatest depth; and this, notwithstanding the de- nouncement I have mentioned, must still be esteemed a valuable material for massive or ornamental building. It has been classed as inferior Oolite. Its composition ap- pears to be sea sand and minute fragments of broken shells, conglomerated and crystallized together, with carbonate of lime and iron; and occasionally entire shells of pectines, belemnites, and others are found, but usually at the bottom of the rock. A well having been sunk from the top of the hill, to the depth of about 120 feet ; with the assistance of a respected friend, a young engineer, I have been able to make a section,* from which we learn that about 40 feet of Ham Stone is penetrated from the top; next about 80 feet of what is termed Drim Sand, with strata of rounded boulder stones ; next beneath is the Upper Lias ; then Marl Stone. Between the masses of rock are many fissures, or chasms, called by the workmen Gwulles, running across the hill, which appear to have been formed by a lift from beneath, rending asunder the rock. These are of various width and depth, and lined with stalaetite ; in them have frequently been found iron and bronze implements, coins and armorial and organic remains. A considerable quantity came to light some years since, of great interest, which will here- after be mentioned. * Now in the Museum. 1853*, PART II. L 32 PAPERS, ETC. We have here a map of the hill, copied partly from that by a survey of my deceased friend, Crocker, in which I had the pleasure of assisting him. The whole brow of the hill, which is about three miles round, is entrenched, and that with no small labour and skill ; a great part being in fine preservation. To whom, then, are these extensive earthworks to be attributed? To be enabled to answer this question, it will be necessary to take a retrospect of how this country has formerly been peopled, of which history gives but a very imperfeet account; but we learn that the very early inhabitants of our island were little better than simple savages, unskilled in the art of warfare, and unlikely to have accomplished so great a work. We are informed that the Celt®, from Gaul, invaded and con- quered the country, and retained it until about 350 years before the Christian Era; and this was probably the age of Druidism, in which were erected those Megalithie struc- tures at Stonehenge, Stanton Drew, Abury, and others of that character. Of these people are occasionally found interesting relies, called Celts—weapons, and utensils of bronze, and arrow-heads of flint, &e. The Belg® next invaded this country, 2.e., about three centuries before the time of Julius Cxsar, and divided it into sixteen states; of which, not to mention others, the Belg® held Hampshire, Wilts, and Somerset ; and as it is stated by historians tbat they were often engaged in war- fare with other states, z.e., with the Morini of Dorsetshire, and the Damnonii of Devon, it is very probable that those extensive fortresses of Hamdon, Lambart’s Castle, Pilles- don, Neroche, and many others, were then formed ; which are quite of a different character from those of the Romans, in their irregular shape, following the outline of the elevated ground ; whilst we know that the Roman plan of encamp- HAMDON HILL. 83 ment was constantly quadrangular. But this warlike people in many instances availed themselves of the ready formed ramparts of their predecessors, as on the N.W. part of Hamdon Hill. On that eastern part of this hill called “ Butcher Hill,” was found, a few years since, a con- siderable number of iron weapons, long enough for swords, with a socket for a handle, or shaft rudely formed, ap- parently for spear-heads. These were probably Belgo- British ; and here it was Sir R. Hoare’s opinion that a considerable town had existed, and at the time the survey was made, the ground was, as I recollect, very irregular, with various excavations, now levelled by the plough. No Roman remains, that I have heard of, have been found in that quarter. To this period may be attributed the formation of the various British roads and trackways through the country. One of which, afterwards the Roman fosse, and now the well-known turnpike, led from Bath, passing-near Shepton Mallet, and through Ilchester to Petherton-bridge (then a ford), from whence it appears to have branched off in two directions; one through Stratton, to Dennington, White- down, Street, and Axminster ; another to the right, throush Watergore, Hurcott, Atherston, Broadway, and over the common to Neroche. This country was at that period in a state of hostility between the various tribes. The Morini being divided from the Damnonii by the vale of Honiton, appear to have defended themselves by a chain of forts, of which we may reckon Hawkesdown, Musbury, Membury, Lambart’s Castle, Pillesdon, and Hamdon : and the frontier forts of the Damnonii appear to have been Woodbury, Sidbury, Hembury, and Neroche, from their strong entrenchments facing eastward—these being the opposing hills on each side of the Axe and the Yarty rivers. 84 PAPERS, ETC. Various other British roads or vieinal ways, may clearly be traced through the country ; several having branched off from the British town on the hill, one in particular, east- ward, towards the Montacute plantations; and another, as I think, from the valley on the hill, called “ The Combe,” northward, passing near a spring of water, called Wam- bury Spring; which, no doubt, was resorted to by the inhabitants of the hill above. Also, one westward passing through the village of Stoke, to the trackway from Ilchester to Ilminster, and probably passing on through the eastern part of Martock, over a common called Beerly, or Badley, at which place is a remnant of an old road, wliich points in that direction. We come now to the more interesting period of invasion by the Romans ; first by Julius Cxsar, who does not appear to have interfered much with this part of the country ; which was afterwards visited by Claudius in the year a.D. 43; who for some years remained in Britain, and with Vespasian conquered and retained great part of the S. W. of this island; and to this era, and the more peaceful sway of Ostorius, may be attributed the various Roman works still evident around us. Their well disciplined armies, it seems, did not so much depend for safety on the strength of their fortifications, as on their excellent discipline and mode of encampment : but where they found a commanding position already entrenched, like that of Hamdon Hill, they appear to have availed themselves of, and in this case to have occupied it, as far as consistent with their usual plan of encampment, which seems to have extended only as far as the quadrangular portion on the N.W. side ;—but where the vallum has been obliterated by the quarry workers. Here exist some interesting remains ; amongst which a circus or small ampitheatre, well-known to pic-nie parties, £ & 5 \ “ s : Ar bi a Pr a are in EEE CAUMIP ON IELAMUIIDTEIN EONDEG. ATCa.. 22210 AGHES, Cirrumjference.__3 Miles. 3270 Scale of Chains. » Stoke Church — Holy Lake ul ul i) Ada u JSBasine SC. Budcher Till MENU | N Be au IN NIMM JUN u HANIRUNNS N NN N N HH IN HAMDON HILL. 85 by the euphonious appellation of the “ frying-pan,” to which, by the way it bears no small resemblance on a hot summer’s day ; in which many a gay dance and scene of jollifieation are held : and some of my fair hearers may there have “tripped on the light fantastie toe.” In front of its outlet (or the stem of the pan) is a level space of considerable length, probably a circus, where public games or courses were exhibited. Near this are some parallel rows of stones, extending to a considerable distance, the design of which is rather mysterious, and not easily to be accounted for; each of them projeeting some few inches above the surface (which is here on a considerable declivity), is perforated with an aperture of about two inches in a square or mortice shape. The rows and the distances of the stones which are in rather irregular lines, seven or eisht in number, are about twenty feet asunder. Sir R. Hoare, in his paper in the Arch&ologia*, dismissed this sub- ject too hastily, and very unsatisfactorily, jumping to the conclusion that they were used to tie up the cavalry. This I consider quite improbable. The situation, exposed to the cold N.E. wind, would render it dangerous to the health of the horses ; and the ground, sloping in some parts as much asat an angle of thirty degrees, would be inconvenient for that purpose ; also the distances between the rows of stones, are much more than would be required. It is also well known that in the Roman mode of encampment, the cavalry were generally in the centre of the camp, sur- rounded by other troops. Another suggestion is, that these stones were for barriers or seats for spectators to view the games or contests in the ampitheatre. This is open to the objection that several of the rows are so far distant, that the eircus itself could not be perfectly seen by persons * Archsologia, vol. xxi. 86 PAPERS, ETC. so placed, nor would the seats be so far asunder for that purpose. Were the stones, then, placed for fastening the cords ofthe tents? This is more feasible; but so very sloping a surface would scarcely be desirable as a domicile for the soldiers. And then, why are the mortice holes square, when the most obvious mode of making a perforation is by a round aperture? There appears to me a choice of difh- eulties in deciding this point, and I have as yet heard no satisfactory reason given for these stones, nor is it inmy power to account for them. I shall be most happy to hear the opinion of our friends who are about to visit the hill. I have mentioned that about thirty-five years since some very interesting remains were found in a chasm between the masses of rock on the hill, which were noticed by Sir R. Hoare, in the Archsologia, amongst which were the fragments of a light car or chariot ; the periphery of the wheel was formed by a single piece of wood, apparently ash, bent into a cirele, and bonded with an entire ring of iron, like our modern carriage wheels; the wood part was fossilized or petrified. Various spear-heads of iron and bronze, and parts of harness and military dress were also found ; such as spurs of a peculiar make, with a chain attached thereto, bits of bridles, &c. There were also some curious artieles of bronze, which had been gilded, that were supposed to be lamps; but on referring to some draw- ings of Roman harness, I think it pretty certain that such were placed on the front of the saddle as ornamental studs, where we fasten our bearing rein. With these relics were several human skulls and other bones, all partially covered with stalactite ; they were mostly taken to Montacute House, and it is sadly to be regretted that they are not now to be found. But the hill still retains in its bosom treasures, (not of gold,) which, as I have mentioned, are HAMDON HILL. 87 oceasionally exhumed by the quarry-men. A fissure or chasm was laid open a year or two since, in which were found many bones of animals and some human skulls ; one of which was taken out by a party of our Society in their exeursion on the hill, and is now deposited in our Museum at Taunton. It is the opinion of Dr. Thurnam, an eminent ethnologist, to whom it was sent with a fragment of pottery, that it was either a Roman or an auxiliary in their army. In the same fissure, which is still open, within the last few months, a considerable number of animal and human bones were found ; of the latter, portions of no less than five distinet human bodies lay in a mingled mass ; they were of various ages, one of a child about two years old, and another of about the age of twelve, the others adults. With these were some remains of a horse, many of canine species, the frontal bone of a goat, and some others. One of those human skulls is curious as a surgical speci- men ; there being on its left side the mark of a blow, indenting the outer bone, or tabula dura, with a circular fracture, and driving in the inner or brittle table on the surface of the brain, which no doubt was the cause of death. It would seem that the chasm having been open at that period, though now closed in at the top, served as a de- pository for dead bodies and rubbish, thrown in without care, as the bodies lay in various directions. The rock here, as indeed in most parts of the hill, had been quarried, but not to any great depth, and the rubble of fresh quarries had been thrown thereon. Roman coins are frequently found in the neighbourhood. About forty years since, a large earthen vase was turned up and broken to pieces by the plough, at some distance south from the hill, which eontained a large number of such coins, some of which I possess. They are small, mostly of copper, 88 PAPERS, ETC. some of a base white metal, probably tin and copper. A few are well executed, but generally they bear very coarse impressions of the heads of the latter Roman Emperors, üe., Gallus, Tetrieus, Philippus, Posthumus, Valerian, Gallienus, Claudius, Quintillus, Probus, Victorinus, Maxi- minian, Constantine, and a few others. "These coins appear to have been little worn by circulation, having probably been coined, and some cast in moulds, for paying the troops in this country ; and had been deposited .not long before the evacuation of the country by the Romans. There are also frequently found deposits of smooth pebble- stones, such as are seen on the sea coast, which no doubt were used for slinging, and must have been dangerous pro- jeetiles to have come in contact with a human eranium. There are various outworks, which I think may be clearly traced in the country around. On the south side of the fosse, now the turnpike road, near Venn Bridge, and not far from the section of the new railway, are two parallel lines of entrenchment, in good preservation, about seventy yards in length, not far from a field called Stanchester, which was probably an out-station of the Romans, although there are no remains visible, except stones burnt by fire, turned up by the plough ; but tradition speaks of there having been buildings thereon. In a field above Briümpton, and near a spot called Camp, appear some raised lines of earth, much like ramparts, which I think worthy of being more carefully examined. These are near the road leading eastward from Hamdon Hill towards East Coker ; near which was found, some years since, the beautiful fragment of tesselated pavement, lately kindly presented to our Society by W. Helyar, Esq., which is now in our Taunton Museum. I must here mention that in the same field from whence it was exhumed, bearing the name of “ Chesils,” HAMDON HILL. 89 or “ Chedzils,” still remain, at least one, and probably more pavements. A part of this interesting spot I am happy to announce as having been just laid open by our Yeovil friends, within the last week, and will be one of the subjects of this morning’s examination-e No doubt this spot was the site of an officer’s villa or country residence. Of such, many have been discovered in this country, and are usually at some few miles distant from the military camp, affording a pleasant retreat to their possessors from the din of war. Of the Roman roads in the neighbourhood of the hill, I am sorry not to be able to give a very luminous account. I have mentioned the British trackway, afterwards the Roman fosse, which led through Ischalis (Ilchester), west- ward, and is now the turnpike-road. At Ilchester, which is said to have been an extensive station of the Romans, other roads met ; one from Dorchester (Durnovaria), another from Glastonbury, within a few miles of which the beautiful villa at Pitney was found. That to Dorchester may, Ithink, be clearly traced for many miles ; ..e., to Vagg Hill, where it crosses the turnpike and leads to Preston; then near Furzy Nap, on the Yeovil and Crew- kerne road, which it erosses and goes on through Barwick, &c. At Ilchester, some years since, was found a massive and valuable gold ring, bearing a fine head of the Emperor Severus, I believe; itis now in the possession of J. Moore, Esq. Several others have there been dug up, and many coins of Antoninus Pius, Constantine, and others : indeed, the town is still rich in Roman remains, and worthy of antiquarian research. Portions of a causeway crossing the ford are still visible in the bed of the river, a few yards below the bridge. I think it questionable if many truly military roads were formed by the Romans in this part of 1853*, PART I. M I PAPERS, ETC. the country, though they largely adopted and used the British trackways already formed, which suited their purpose. On contemplating those remains, the work of men whose bones for many centuries have mingled with the dust, and on witnessing those vestiges of military skill, which was requisite when this country was in a state of warfare, the mind is led into an awful yet pleasing feeling of veneration. This elassie spot, Hamdon Hill, which once resounded with the clang of arms, and the clamour of sanguinary strife, is now the retreat of rural quiet, and silence, unbroken, except by the tinkling of the sheep-bell, the simple strains of the shepherd boy attending his flock, or occasionally by the merry music of a pic-nie party. It is a matter of grateful felieitation that we are now living in an era when the pro- gress of civilization, the march of intellect, and, above all, the benign influence of Christianity, have rendered such fortresses no longer necessary ; for in this favored country, once the scene of idolatrous superstition and savage life ; and since that of civil warfare and intestine commotion ; we are now allowed to sit each “under his own vine and fig- tree,” and enjoy the bountiful gifts of a kind Providence in peace and safety. PEAT BOGS AND TURBARIES. 91 On the formation of Pent Boga om Curbaries, which ertemd Tram the Bristol Channel into the central parte uf Damersetahive. BY REV. W. PHELPS, F.S.A. HE various changes apparent on the surface of the earth since the first creation, have attracted the attention of the philosopher from an early period of the history of the world ; whilst the more recent discoveries of the geologist, have developed the great disorganisation and derangement of the component parts of the outward crust of the habitable globe. The effects of the general deluge are visible both on the surface of the earth and beneath it; and when we penetrate its superficial crust, or descend into the deepest mines, we find evident traces of the awful catastrophe consequent upon the breaking up of the “ fountains of the great deep”; and the present state of the earth’s surface is not such as could have been the result of its original formation, for it 92 PAPERS, ETC. bears everywhere the traces of great derangement and revolution. The lapse of time since the first constitution of our earth, must have occasioned great changes; the effects of climate, heat and frosts, being everywhere dis- coverable in rounding and smoothing the rugged character of the surface, and reducing the more elevated points. Since the period of the universal deluge, these ever acting causes have been in operation ; but there are others aiding and assisting in the same great changes, which are apparent on the earth’s surface. The ocean, which received the Almighty fiat, “ Hitherto shalt though come, and no further, nor turn again to cover the earth,” by its constant agitation, and the flowing and ebbing of its tides, has also produced considerable changes on the shores exposed to its influence. On the eastern coast of Kent its inroads have overwhelmed immense tracts of land, which are now called the Goodwin Sands, from the name of their possessor, the Earl of Kent, and are now extensive shoals, dangerous to mariners. In these changes we may observe something like a balanced and compensating effect between destruction and renovation by the powerful agency of the sea ; headlands and promontories, whose eomponent parts are of a soft and friable nature,.yield to the constant action of the waves, and are washed away; but the soil thus torn from the heights is annually thrown back, and according to its quality forms extensive tracts of marsh land along the less exposed parts of the coast, or is accumulated in the sea, becoming shoals and sand-banks along the shore. 2. The extended marshes which border on the Bristol Channel, in Somersetshire, bear evident traces of having been, at an early period, s»stuaries of the sea, and their boundaries may be easily traced along the base of the PEAT BOGS AND TURBARIES. 93 elevated lands which surround them, at the level of high water. The tides of the Bristol Channel are remarkable for the great height to which they rise, compared with those on the south coast of Devon, arising from the peculiar form of the shores of that zstuary, being funnel-formed, and exposed to the full force and action of the tidal wave of the Atlantic ocean. The spring tidesrise at the Holmes to the height of 40 feet or more, and to this cause we attribute the vast extent of marsh land on the borders of the Bristol Channel, whilst on the coast of the English Channel at Lyme, the rise is only 17 feet. The silty bottom is sometimes in the form of sand, as at Westhay in Meare ; at others, deposits of marine exuvie, which have been driven up into banks in the interior of these marshes, and have also formed lines of a former shore, easily to be traced along many parts of the border of King’s Sedgemoor, at Sutton-Mallet, Compton- Dundon, under Ham-hill, Othery, Middlezoy, and Weston- zoyland. The etymology of the latter villages indicates their situation in the “ Sowey,” or “ Zoyland”—that is sea-land. The subjacent clay does not contain shells, but the allu- vial deposit abounds with both marine and fresh-water shells. At the present time the sea would overflow these moors, if it were not excluded by banks and tide sluices in the rivers ; as the ordinary level of spring tides is above the surface of the adjoining lands near Glastonbury, and the moors around Meare, Wedmore, Axbridge, and on the borders of the great Brent Marsh. There is a record in the church of St. Benediet, Glastonbury, of the height to which the water of an inundation of the sea, rose, The substratum of these marshes is red marl, which oecasionally rises up into ridges of moderate elevation, 94 PÄPERS, ETC. running parallel with the Mendip hills, and is overlaid with beds of blue and white lias rock. This indurated marl is seen.on the sides of the deep channels of the rivers Axe and Parret, near their exit into the sea. 3. The filling up of these marshes next claims our atten- tion, and here we find natural causes operating in a variety of ways to effect it. The waters of the Bristol Channel are remarkable for their muddy appearance. This arises from the beds of clay over which they flow, situated at the entrance and along the bed of the river Severn, and other streams which flow into it from the clay soils of Somersetshire. The waters thus saturated with celay being kept in constant agitation by the tides, which here flow with great rapidity, and rise to the height of from forty to fiföy feet perpendicular, necessarily leave a great deposit of alluvial matter, whenever its current becomes impeded, or its motion retarded and stopped. This sedi- ment being exposed to the influence of the sun and wind, during the interval between the ebb and flow of the tide, becomes in a certain degree hardened, and receives the deposit ofthe next tide ; and so by repeated accumulations the whole becomes consolidated and in time fit for the pur- poses of vegetation. It may further be remarked, that the difference in the height of the spring and neap tides leaves a considerable space of its shore dry for several days. During this interval, aquatic plants and grasses grow up, and on the return of the next spring tides become a recep- tacle for the subsequent deposits, which increase so rapidly as soon to form banks above the level of the ordinary tides ; which in the course of time become the barrier against itself, so that the highest tides only pass over it. The con- sequence of this barrier was, it converted the low lands of the interior into a lake, or morass, covered during the PEAT BOGS AND TURBARIES. 95 winter months with fresh water ; and formed a lake of considerable extent, having a small outlet into the sea at the points, no doubt where the rivers Parret, Brue, and Axe, now discharge their waters. In this way we may readily conclude, the great barrier and ridge of sand banks running from Brean Down to Burnham and Hunt- spill were formed, the river Brue being the outlet on the south-west at Hishbridge, and the Axe of the distriet lying at the foot of the Mendip range.* 4. We find the former »stuary blocked up by the barrier noticed above, converted into a lake, covering the extent of distriet previously overflowed by the tide, though now occasionally affected by its entering the level by the outlets or rivers which carried off the flood waters. At this period, we may presume the labours of man commenced ; when by sluices erected at the mouths of rivers, and by banks thrown up along their course, the influx of the tide was prevented from inundating the low lands. In conse- quence of these works, the lands becoming partially dry in the summer, vegetation soon began and spread rapidly over the district, and was the origin of the rich pastures now to be seen in these situations. In the more morassy parts, aquatie plants soon covered the waters, and became the incipient ingredients in the formation of the Peat bogs. It has been observed that no stream, whatever its size, * Thefollowing observations made by Mr. De Luc, aforeign geologist who visited England some years since, are striking, and show the rapid aceumulation of alluvial marine deposits. “ When,’ says he, “ the tide rises towards the coast, the whole moves together forward, and exercises its action on the bottom, agitating and raising the mud which it carries towards the shore, and there deposits it during the interval between the flowing and ebbing of the tide ; but when the water retreats it flows back from the surface only, beginning from the shore, and exercising scarcely any action on the bottom.”— De Luc’s Travels in England, 96 PAPERS, ETC. from the smallest brook to the Mississippi or Ganges, flows onwards for any considerable distance in the direct line of its descent. Its bias continually oscillates from one side to the other, in proportion to the inequalities of the sides of its channel. From this oscillatory mode of advancing forwards, all streams have a tendency to wear themselves a channel in a serpentine form. Where the stratum is of a uniform character and density, the curves of the river are generally alternate on each side, and correspond with almost geometrical exactness; the angle of incidence equalling the angle of reflection. It may not be irrelevant to our present subject, to notice in this place, the singular eurvatures of the channels of the rivers Parret, Axe, and Brue, at a short distance before they enter the Bristol Channel. On casting the eye to the map of the county of Somerset, we discover each of these streams to make a curve of considerable extent near their embouchure, almost encompassing a large tract of alluvial land. 5. The filling up of these morasses, next claims our attention, and here we find two causes in operation at the same time; the one, the growth of aquatic vegetables, subsequently converted into peat ; and the aceumulation of alluvial matter brought down by the rivers in floods, and deposited on the lands within reach of their influence, The action of running water is a powerful agent in carrying away the finer particles of the earth’s surface, when rendered soft and friable by the effects of frosts, and by the descent of rain in sudden showers and storms, sweeping away a considerable portion of the softer strata. And we also find a volume of water rushing down an inclined plane, with a force increased by being confined between high banks, or contracted between projecting PEAT BOGS AND TURBARIES. 97 rocks on points on each side of its course, carries with it large portions of coarser matter, as stones, gravel, and sands into the lower parts of a valley, and there deposits the larger bodies first, then the smaller, and lastly the finer, according to their respective densities, till a stratum of alluvial matter is spread over the surface of the adjoin- ing land which in time becomes fertilized in so high a degree asto be almost inexhaustible; and to this cause also is to be attributed the level appearance of all these marshes, as nothing but the action of water could have caused their present level character. The rapid accumulation of alluvial deposit in any situation open to the influx of the tides of the Bristol Channel, and not affeeted by a counter current, is demonstrated by the filling up of the original bed of the river Brue, at Highbridge. The old channel was abındoned in consequence of a new outlet being made, about fifty years since, to improve the drainage of the marsh above. This cavity was filled up in about 25 years, to a depth of nearly twenty feet, with the deposit of the tide, and became cultivated land, producing fine crops of corn. It was excavated again, and now forms the entrance to the Glastonbury Canal navigation. The time required to effect these changes is as nothing in the calendar of nature, when measured by the standard of human caleulation. Our own recollection is sufficient to have witnessed the great change which has taken place in these marshes in less than half a century. When, there- fore, we refer these considerations to a period of two or three thousand years only, we see there has been ample time for effecting these changes on the earth’s surface. Our ancestors, aware of the vast importance of protect- ing this district from inundation by sea or land water, 1853*, PART II. N 98 PAPERS, ETC. which would fill the marsh low lands, obtained a Royal Commission (33 Edward I., 1304) to inquire into these important matters, when Robert de Clare, Earl of Glouces- ter, Gilbert de Bere, and John Gereberd, were appointed inspectors. Afterwards we find similar commissions issued to the possessors of lands, manors, and lordships bordering on these marshes, among whom are the names of Sir Matthew de Furneaux, John de Meırriet, Richard de Rodenay, John de Godelee, Dean of Wells, John de Clevedon, Sir John St. Loe, and many other influential persons in the reigns of Edward II., Edward IIL, and subsequent sovereigns. ON THE FORMATION OF MARSH PEAT. 1. Peat is a vegetable formation, which overspreads certain extensive tracts of land in various parts of the earth’s surface. In Ireland, Scotland, and England we find it to a considerable extent; in the former portion of the united kingdom a vast portion of its surface is covered by this formation, even now almost in a state of nature, and unproductive to the use of man. Peat is of two kinds, viz., I. Mountain-peat, a black mould, with numerous grains of quartz sand intermixed with it, and found on the top of mountains; and II. Bog-peat, which is the subjeet of our investigation. In Somersetshire we find extensive tracts of land pro- vincially called Turbaries, filled with peat, and a short account of its natural history forms a necessary appendage to the observations which we have already addressed to your notice. PEAT BOGS AND TURBARIES. 99 “ Peat,” according to the definition given by Mr. Park- inson, “is a congeries of various sorts of vegetables colleeted in water, which to the last degree of their de- composition, retain their combustible property, and may be deemed a secondary fossil.” “ Peat,” says Professor Brande, “ is a superficial stratum of vegetable matter, which at different depths is under- going, or has undergone various stages of change and decomposition. Its superficial appearance is that of a mass of half-decayed mosses, rushes, heath, and grass. The roots having successively died away, though the upper part of the plant coutinued to vegetate. The mass is ligneous, and imbued with humus and humic acid, among other products of slow decay; and the abundance of moisture pervading the bog reflects the character at once of the peat and of the district.” “ The upper layers of the bog are usually loose and fibrous, and of a pale brown colour. Beneath the surface the density is found to increase, sometimes to a great ex- tent. At length, the distinet characters of the vegetables cease to be discernible, and the mass appears nearly homogeneous, and of a dark brown or blackish colour. Trunks of trees, and some geological phenomena occa- sionally present themselves.” Peat may be rendered valuable either from the char- coal which may be obtained from it, and by the various products derivable from what is called its destructive dis- tillation. The elements of peat are essentially those of wood and coal, viz., carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen ; and when distilled in close vessels, the products obtained would, as might be expected, resemble the pro- duets of a similar operation on wood and coal. The eficieney of this charcoal in the manufaeture of iron, in 100 PAPERS, ETC. consequence of the small quantity of sulphur it contains, is proved, and its deodorising and purifying qualities are extremely valuable. In drying, peat fully decomposed loses one-third of its weight ; the lighter surface turf, one-half. Four tons of dried peat will give about one ton of charcoal, and its products on distillation are:—1. Sulphate of ammonia. 2. Acetate of lime. 3. Pyroxylie spirit. 4. Naptha. 5. Heavy fixed oil. 6. Paraffine, a material to be used in making candles.* The situation in which it is generally found has been either lakes of moderate depth, or hollows on the surface of the ground capable of retaining water at all seasons of the year ; and the progress and growth of peat is thus described by an intelligent observer :—“ Reeds constantly precede the other vegetables in lakes, because they are able to raise themselves above the surface of the water from a greater depth than most other aquatic plants ; thus they advance forward in proportion as the bottom attains a sufficient elevation in their front ; as soon as they gain a certain height, other aquatic plants begin to grow, and rise between their stalks, till they become so thick as, at the last, to occupy the place of the reeds before them. The reeds advance in front; the conferv® thicken the mass, which is soon overspread by the sphagnum tribe, lichens, rushes, grasses, and a variety of plants natural to such situations. These plants become so thickset that they consolidate on the surface on which they grow, and sink with it into the water. The mosses and conferv& rise again the next year, and cover the surface on which they grow, produeing a new race of plants ; these in turn decay, and sink from the surface, and at length reach the bottom * Athenzum for February, 1852, p 221. PEAT BOGS AND TURBARIES. 101 of the water, and by the pressure of the annually accumu- lating mass, become consolidated, whilst those on the surface also grow, decay, and drop in their turn ; so that in the course of years a spongy mass is gradually elevated above the ceircumjacent waters, and finally becomes so solid that heaths, willows, and other ligneous plants grow up and cover the surface with their beautiful foliage and flowers.” 2. It seems requisite to the formation of peat that the waters of the morass should be stagnant and not exposed to the admixture with other water or currents, as the vegetable particles which compose peat being macerated in the water, the water wherein they grow becomes highly astringent and antiseptic, and congenial to accelerate the growth of peat vegetables. If, however, a current of water passes through it, the astringent juice is washed away, and the chemical agent for converting vegetable matter into peat is then lost. This mass or congeries of plants, by the alternations of growth and decay, forms the bed of peat, and continues to increase rapidly, if undisturbed, soon rising above the ad- joining lands, being kept in a buoyant state in the winter and summer by the water contained in the spongy matter. The mass of peat also rises in the winter, and in the summer, in proportion to the quantity of water accu- mulated in the basin on which it rests. This curious eircumstance is noticed by the inhabitants living on the borders of these Turbaries, who see objects across the bog in the summer, which are intercepted by the elevation of the surface of the peat in winter. The general thickness of the vegetable mass in the centre of the bog is from fifteen to eighteen feet. A com- mon opinion prevails that the pits cut for fuel grow up 102 PAPERS, ETC. again in a few years, which is an error. The cause of these pits becoming filled with turfy matter is that the pressure on the particular spot having been removed by the excavation of the peat, the substratum being in a semi- fluid state is forced up into the pit, by the pressure of the surrounding mass. The surface by its buoyancy thus keeps out of the reach of floods, which would otherwise stop the further growth of the peat bog plants, and its alluvial deposit on the surface, would cause an almost immediate growth of pasture grasses. This mass of decomposed vegetable matter becomes, at the depth of about three or four feet, an homogeneous semi-fluid and dark-coloured substance, and undergoes a fermentation, which developes the bituminous and inflam- mable property. In this state, when dug and dried for fuel, it affords a highly combustible substance, and pro- duces, when in a state of ignition, hydrogen gas, ammo- niacal liquor, and coal-tar, and seems to corroborate the opinion that coal owes its origin to vegetable matter. The coffee-coloured water always found in the pits dug out for fuel, has an astringent taste, and is so highly antiseptic, that animal matter immersed in it may be pre- served a great length of time, undecomposed. An attempt was made some years since, to apply it to the purposes of tanning leather. The tanning principle was however found to be too weak to effect any beneficial purpose. Dr. Rutty, in his Essay on the Mineral waters of the kingdom, observes, ‘Moss water is possessed of an antiseptic and embalming property, and not only remains pure and free from putresceney, but it retards the putrid fermentation both of vegetable and animal matter immersed in it ; that the ligneous shrubs, trees and parts of animals are found in a state of unusual preservation, as is seen in the oak PEAT BOGS AND TURBARIENR. 103 and other trees, constantly found embedded in it in a per- feet state ; and,” he adds, “the air of peat bogs is more salubrious in consequence.” Peat is impervious to water in a high degree, and retains it like clay. When dry it becomes a hard, tough, and ponderous mass, and is one of the most insoluble sub- stances, and least liableto decay. In Holland it is fre- quently used to lay under the foundations of their houses, where it remains unchanged for ages, and when the build- ing has been totally decayed by time, the peat remained entire. Peat contains, in 100 parts, from 60 to 80 parts of matter destructible by fire, and the residuum consists of earth, usually the same kind as the substratum of soil on which it rests, together with a portion of the oxide of iron. Kirwan, states “that a piece of dried peat was put into the boiler of a steam engine for three months, yet though exposed to heat greater than boiling water, it remained unchanged. The only appearance it exhibited, was that the surface of it was covered over with a kind of powder of iron which attracted the magnet ; the centre and all but the surface remained unchanged.” 3. The accumulation of alluvial clay and other earthy matter over the peat formation is visibly ascertained in the excavations made in forming new channels for the draining of these marshes, and in digging foundations for bridges, as at Highbridge, in 1804. At the depth of seven feet in the alluvial deposit, the workmen came to a stratum of indu- rated peat,* lying beneath it, and on it a heap of Roman pottery in fragments, with pieces of small bricks, such as are used to separate vessels in the kiln when they are burnt; also, moulds for casting coins, we presume of zince, * This peat so compressed is called pill-coal, being nearly as pon- derous as coal. 104 PAPERS, ETC. procured from the Mendip Hills, which much resemble silver, and formed the spurious coins. All these eircum- stances prove that the surface of the peat was at that time dry, when occupied by the Romans. The late Mr. Anstice, of Bridgwater, who superintended the building of the sluices of Hishbridge, found a considerable collec- tion of Roman fragments. He also discovered the traces of the Roman road across Brent-Marsh, (coming from “ Trajectus,” Portbury, by Banwell, and “ Bomium,” Cross,) six feet below the present surface of the land, shewing how much the marsh has been elevated since the time of the Romans. The surface of the peat bogs in Somersetshire is gene- rally covered with varieties of heath, willows, bog-myrtle, and numerous other ligneous plants; lichens, sphagnum, and mosses, all interesting to the botanist. Since it has been drained, and subdivided by ditches and watercourses, the whole has become more consolidated, and large plantations of forest trees, fir, birch, alder, &c., have been made. The oak is still found in some parts, growing luxuriantly, and to a considerable size in the peat. When the surface of the bog has been broken by digging, a decomposition of the peat takes place, and in a little time becomes a black light vegetable mould, capable of produeing grass, corn, potatoes, and turnips. To give it a proper stimulus, however, the application of lime and heavy earth of a tenacious quality, is necessary to con- solidate its particles; when it becomes capable of bearing wheat and other white crops ; and when laid down to grass affords excellent pasture, for the feeding of cows particu- larly. Large tracts have been dug up, and brought into ceultivation. The following vegetables enter into the formation of PEAT BOGS AND TURBARIES. 105 peat—Schenus mariscus, schenus conglomeratus, arundo phragmites, juncus squarrosus, juncus articulatus, pota- mogeton of different kinds, myriophyllum, ceratophyllum, lemna, byssus, equisetum, eriophorum and polystachion- vaginatum, sphagnum, lichens. We find on the surface myrica gale, andromeda polifolia, narthecium ossifragum, drosera latifolia and rotundifolia. In these peat bogs we also find oak and other forest trees lying prostrate, with their roots decayed, embedded in the peat, about two feet beneath the present surface. They are in such numbers as to leave no doubt but that a wood heretofore covered the bog. By what change of circumstances they became destroyed is a matter of specu- lation. Oak, and other trees of the kind we find there, do not grow in water; and at the period when these trees flourished on the spot, no water overspread the surface. Now, the tract of land on which they grew is below the level of the tide at high water; it therefore follows, that some barrier must have been erected at the mouth of the river to keep back the influx of the tide water. The following is an attempt to account for this pheno- menon. We learn from ancient documents, the whole of this tract of country was an extensive morass, and held by the Abbots of Glastonbury. At a period which we cannot preeisely fix, a sluice was erected at the mouth of the river Brue, to keep back the tide from entering the river ; but most probably when the Abbot of Glaston made a new channel for the river Brue, from Northover, to form a navigable communication with the Bristol Channel, a collateral channel was then dug to communicate with the Axe, called Pilrow-cut, of which the traces now remain, secured also by a tide sluice, against the influx of the tide at “ New-bay,” the point to which the Axe was at that 1853*, PART I. 16) 106 PAPERS, ETC. time navigable, and was the canal and port ofthe Abbot of Glastonbury. This produced a considerable effect in re- lieving the country from its waters, and it is probable during this period, and before the dissolution of the monas- tery, in 1545, the trees occupied the soil, and continued to grow there. On the dissolution of that monastery an interval elapsed, during which the property of the Abbot fell into the hands of the crown, and that attention to the canal and outlets for the water (which had been so care- fully eleansed, under the positive injunctions of the Abbots to their tenants, and formed a part of the covenants under which they beld their land), became neglected and choked up with weeds, so as to impede the course of the water into the Axe and Brue. The result of this negligence was, that the low lands became again covered with water, surrounding the trees which grew on the surface, which soon decayed at their roots, and were thrown down by storms. The plants which compose peat were again called into activity, and soon covered these prostrate trees to the depth of two or three feet, where they now lie, preserved from decay by the antiseptie quality of the peat. On a subsequent drainage taking place, this marsh was reduced to a lake about 500 acres in extent, called Meare Pool, and in this state it continued till the year 1800, when an Act of Parliament was obtained for per- fecting the drainage ; the effect of which has been to con- vert the lake and morass into fine pasture land during the summer, and it is annually enriched by the alluvial deposits brought down by the river Brue, which during the winter months is suffered to overflow the distriet. By draining and dividing this bog into fields, by ditches, a consolidation has taken place, and the surface rendered capable of agrieultural operations, and from the improve- PEAT BOGS AND TURBARIES. 107 ments made during the last forty years, we may prediet that before the end of the present century scarcely a vestige of the peat bog in this distriet will be discoverable, and the future botanist will seek in vain for those rare indigenous plants which now flourish in this distriet. Such are some of the changes the surface of the earth is now undergoing, from natural as well as artiäicial causes. The survey of theriver Parrett and its tributary streams, with observations on King’s Sedgemoor, and the extensive marshes bordering on the rivers Parrett, Tone, Ivel, and Ile, will form the subject of a future paper. 108 PAPERS, ETC. Wandanring Fri. — BY REV. F. WARRE. oo HE rise of the celebrated Thomas a’ Becket, otherwise St. "Thomas of Canterbury, to almost unlimited power under King Henry II.; his contest with that monarch on the subject of Papal jurisdiction and the rights of the church; and his bloody murder at the very foot of the altar, in the year 1170; are historical facts known to everybody: and whether we consider him ac- cording to the bias of our religious and political opinions, a turbulent traitor, a patriotic assertor of the rights of the commons, a champion of the oppressed Saxon against his Norman tyrant, a hot-headed zealot, or a martyr to the Church of Christ, we can hardly deny him the credit of having been a sincere, honest, fearless, and single-minded man. But though these are facts generally known and now almost as generally admitted, there are perhaps, even among the present company, some who may not be aware that of the four fiercee Barons who in consequence of a hasty speech of their King, perpetrated the atrocious murder of an Archbishop at the altar of his own cathedral, three at least, if not all, were west countrymen, and two undoubtedly residents in this county. Fitzurse, of Willi- ton; Brito, of Sandford Bret ; Tracy, of Morthoe, near WOODSPRING PRIORY. 109 Ilfracombe, and Morville, who I believe was also a land- owner in Devonshire, were the actors in a tragedy which caused a general feeling of horror through the whole christian world. That powerful monarch, Henry L., proud Plantagenet as he was, submitted to a degrading penance, having been publiely scourged before the high altar by the monks of Canterbury, while a Becket, canonized by the Romish church, was even to the time of the Reformation held in veneration as a saint and martyr, and miracles were said to have been worked at his shrine, which the gifts of persons of all ranks and nations soon rendered one of the richest in Europe. Under these ceircumstances we can easily suppose that the descendants and relations of these unhappy men would have been most anxious to testify their regret, and accord- ing to the custom of the day to endeavour by gifts to the church to expiate the crime of his murder. It was to this feeling that the Priory of Woodspring,* or Worspring, owed its foundation. We find preserved in the Cottonian Library an autograph letter from ‚William de Courteney, who was nearly related to the Tracy family, to the Bishop of Bath, signifying and submitting to him his intention of founding a conventual house at Worspring, for the good of the souls of his father, Robert, there buried, of his mother, himself, his wife, and those of his ancestors and descendants ; and we find that in the year 1210 the same William de Courteney removed the house of canons regular of St. Augustine, dedicated originally to the blessed Virgin and St. Thomas a’ Becket, from Dodelyn, to his manor of Woodspring, and endowed it with considerable property. At this removal it was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, St. * Woodspring is situated in the parish of Kewstoke, 8 miles N.W, of Axbridge, Somerset. 110 PAPERS, ETC. Mary the Virgin, and St. Thomas the Martyr. The accounts of this Priory are unfortunately very meagre. The canons probably led a contemplative and unambitious life,and we may hope a religious and useful one also; for they enjoyed a good repute with their neishbours, as may be in- ferred from a charter of the 18th of Edward IL, which reeites and confirms the grant to this Priory of lands in Somerset, Wilts, and Dorset, by William de Courteney, Galfrid Gilbe- wyn, Hugo deNyweton, Henry Engayne, Robert Offre, John de Eston, Alicia Offre, Henry de Pendeny, Henry Lime- chest, and Richard de Hordwell, many of them names still in existence in this part of England. At the valuation of its estate in the 26th of Henry VIIL, its annual income amounted to £87: 2s. 114d., and the head is styled Abbot, though it was undoubtedly a Priory of canons regular of St. Augustine, following the rule of St. Vietor, and con- nected with the great Abbey of St. Augustine, founded at Bristol by Fitzharding of Berkeley. A very imperfect impression of the common seal of this Priory is extant in the Chapter House of Westminster, appended to the acknowledgement of supremacy, A.D. 1534. It represents an ancient church, situated over an arch, underneath which is the gigantic head of a man; the impression is in red wax.* Thisis all that I have been able to collect of the history of the society which for so many years inha- bitel these conventual buildings ; and though it might be * From Rutter’s Somerset, page 59. “The name of the earliest recorded Prior was John, in 1266, 50th of Henry 1II. Reginald Prior, in 1317, 10th Edward II. Thomas lived in 1385, 6th of Richard II. Thomas de Banwell died in I414, 2nd of Henry V. Peter Loviare was elected inthe same year. William Lustre died in 1457, 35th of Henry VI. John Turman was elected in the presence of six canons, in 1458, 36th of Henry VI. Richard Spryng was Prior in 1498, 13th of Henry VII., and resigned in 1525, 16th of Henry VIII. The last Prior was Roger Tormenton, elected 24th September, 1525, but on 21st day of August, 1534, subseribed to King Henry’s supremaey.” WOODSPRING PRIORY. 1ll more interesting had they taken a more active part in the affairs of their times, it certainly can be no cause of blame to a body of churchmen that they followed, as we will charitably hope they did, the duties of their profession according to the light they possessed, and abstained from interference in temporal matters. ‘ I will now proceed briefly to point out the most remark- able features of the venerable remains of this once beautiful structure. The first point to which I would draw atten- tion is the entrance, which consists of a large gateway. There is a smaller door or wicket on the north side. The arches in both cases are segmental or small segments of large circles, a form not uncommon in buildings of the 14th century, to which date their construction may safely be referred. The weather moulding of the large gateway, is a very fine specimen of the style, being composed of the scroll moulding, with a bead under it, which is rarely met with except in buildings of that period. The projeetions on each side of the road ornamented with escutcheons, on one of which is blazoned the fine stigmata or wounds of our Saviour ; on the other, a chevron between three bugles ; are probably of comparatively modern construction. We now find ourselves in a small court, bounded on the north by a range of domestic buildings, which I should be in- clined to suppose of Post-reformation date, though some parts, particularly the string course, may be older ; and on the west by the wall of the cloisters, which retain some fine gurgoils. Immediately before us is the west front of the church. This, when perfect, must have presented to the beholder a very fine composition of late Perpendicular character, though now sadly mutilated by the insertion of modern windows. The large west window, now built up, occupied nearly the whole of this front, rising from a bold 112 PAPERS, ETC. 3 string course which extends from buttress to buttress ; these are in the form of octagonal turrets. The cornice moulding of the building, is peculiarly bold and good, and passes round these turrets, which are raised above it and terminate with an embattled parapet, under which is a course of quatrefoils, each side of the octagon being occupied by one quatrefoil within a square; that part of the turret which is above the cornice moulding, projects slishtly beyond the lower walls. On each side of the window was a canopied niche, and there appears to have been a similar one above; this and that on the south have been totally obliterated ; in that on the north an episcopal figure may still be traced. We now enter the cloister; the entrance to it from the church is now the door of the farm house, into which the whole nave and north aisle, as far as the tower, have been converted. The nave, with the eentral tower, a fine Perpendicular structure of somewhat earlier date than the rest of the church, consists of three bays having large windows, (now built up) of a character similar to that in the west front. On the south side of the tower is a staircase turret, terminating in a pyramidal pinnacle, with a finial and parapet of Tudor flowers, an arrangement very common in this neighbour- hood. On the north side is an aisle of three bays, (having an entrancee to the church in that at the western extremity,) extending as faras the eastern side of the tower, into which it opened by a splendid arch, the effect of which, together with that opening to the nave, must have been very fine. The whole of the remaining part of the church, with the exception of the tower is oceupied by the present dwelling-house. Iam unable to say anything as to the piers and arcade between the nave and aisle. The fan tracery of the tower is very beautifulr The chancel or /, f p \ ı \ Mer en BR [2 A| De To al Wradspring Prinry. WOODSPRING PRIORY. 113 choir, which, as in all conventual buildings, was long, no doubt extended much to the east of the tower, and took away from the apparent height of the church. It is now totally destroyed, though the chancel arch remains. 1 wish to call your attention to the fact that the lower part of the south-west buttress of the tower is composed of part of the jamb of a window, similar to that in the tower, which would lead us to suppose that it had been built up after the destruction of the chancel, perhaps to supply the support the tower was deprived of by the demolition of the chancel walls. There is also on the north side of the tower, at the height of the roof of the aisle, a mass of masonry, for which I am totally at a loss to account. The remains of the cloisters, which are of the 14th century, occupy the space on the south of the nave and tower, the west wall of the enclosure standing flush with the west front of the church ; the entrance from them to the church, is, as I have before mentioned, the door of the modern farmhouse, above which the pitch of the cloister roof is distinctly marked upon the wall. All vestiges of the interior of these cloisters have vanished, with the exception of what appears to be the remains of a corbel table, and the entrance to a small turret at the south-west corner. Opposite to this there was a passage to the refectory, and in the east wall of the enclosure are two arches, now built up, and the mutilated remains of a doorway, the arch of which is of Decorated character, and must, with its elaborate cusps, have been exceedingly beautiful. The domestic buildings of the Priory, including the Prior’s lodging, oceupied the greater part of the orchard on the east of the church, as is evident from the marks of foundations, extending nearly over its whole extent. All these, however, are gone, with the exception of the refectory, which is now used as a 1853*, PART IT. pP 114 PAPERS, ETC. waggon-house. This is a very beautifully proportioned room of early Perpendicular character, 45 feet long, and 19 wide ; the eastern part has suffered from the ravages of time and violence, but the rest is nearly perfect ; on the north side it was lighted by two very beautiful windows, the traces of which still remain ; they are of two lights, and are divided by a transom. Two doorways give access to this noble hall, one at the west end, over which is a small window of two lights ; the other at the east end of the north side, the very elaborate mouldings of which are still in fine preservation. A staircase turret may be observed in ruins, on the south side, but I can find no traces of any fire-place. These, with the exception of a very fine monastie barn, which stands in a perfect state on the north side of the Priory, are all that remain of the magnificent foundation of William de Courteney. I cannot, however, leave the subject without mentioning the discovery of a very curious religuary in Kewstoke Church, as itis probably connected with the dedication of Woodspring Priory to St. Thomas of Canterbury. The weight of the clerestory having forced out the north wall, which was of fourteenth century work, it was re- cently pulled down, and a mutilated piece of carved work, built into it, on being removed, was discovered to be a reliquary. In the front is carved a figure in an arched niche, having shafts of Early English character. This figure, the face of which seems to have been purposely mutilated, holds something, probably a heart, in its hands, but it is so defaced that it is now quite impossible to decide what it is. At the back was discovered an arched recess, having within a small wooden cup, con- tainıng what is supposed to be the residuum of human blood. This reliquary is manifestly of earlier date WOODSPRING PRIORY. 115 than the wall into which it was built, and appears from the capitals of its shafts nearly to correspond in style with that in use about the time of the dedication of Woodspring. The opinion of the Archsological Insti- tute of Great Britain and Ireland, to which it was sub- mitted, was, that it probably contained the most valuable relique possessed by the Priory,—some of the blood of Thomas a’ Becket, and that the monks, foreseeing the desecration of their conventual church, had deposited it in the parish church of Kewstoke, hoping by that means to preserve from profanation a relique, in their eyes, of the greatest sanctity, being no less than the blood of their murdered patron, St. Thomas of Canterbury. This invaluable reliquary is, by the kindness of the Rev. R. C. Hathway, the Vicar of Kewstoke, at present in the Museum of the Society at Taunton, and is perhaps the most curious discovery of the kind that has been made in England for many years. 116 PAPERS, ETC. ÖObseruntiong an the Alarine Flura of Sumerget, BY ISABELLA GIFFORD, Author of the “ Marine Botanist.” N examining the chief characteristics of the Marine Flora of Somerset, I shall at first enumerate those kinds which are indigenous on the coast, commencing with the Melanosperms or olive-green division of the Alg. We find four species of Fuci growing luxuriantly through- out the district, viz. :—Fucus vesiculosus, F. serratus, F. nodosus, and F. canaliculatus, Not so any examples of the Laminariacex, nor of the Sporochnus, Dictyota and Chordaria tribes. In the Ectocarpacex, we have Clados- tephus spongiosus, growing occasionally on stones near low-water mark below Minehead Pier, —and the beaded or moniliform fruited variety of Ectocarpus littoralis, I find on wood-work near hish-water mark at Minehead. This is the kind deseribed in the first and second editions of “Harvey’s Manual of the British Alg®,” but is not that figured in the “ Phycologia,” t.198. This last has oblong striated fruit, and appears to vegetate at a greater depth than the former. Professor Walker Arnott observes, that MARINE FLORA OF SOMERSET. 117 in my Minehead plants the ordinary cells are slightly con- strieted at the dissepiments, a peculiarity which he had not before remarked, and proving to him that Cladophora Gattyz, figured at t. 355, b. of the “Phyecologia,” is an Ectocarpus, and he believes this very plant in a young state. Ectocarpus tomentosus has the same habitat as E. littoralis, and often grows intermixed with it. By the naked eye E. tomentosus may be distinguished from the latter by its much finer filaments, resembling in size those of E. siliculosus,* but usually more intertwined and twisted together than in this plant. The fruit when viewed through the microscope is seen to be very different from that on E. littoralis. It consists of obtuse and linear oblong silicules, supported on little pedicels. InE. siliculosus the silicules are drawn out and very acute at the tips. Proceeding to the Red Series in the first tribe (Rhodo- melacex), two species of Polysiphonia claim our notice ; the one, P. nigrescens, grows commonly in tide pools along the coast; and the other, P. fastigiata, abounds on its usual habitat, the old fronds of Fucus nodosus. In the next tribe (Laurenciace®), we have only Laurencia pinnatifida, rarely found at Minehead, but common in the pools on Bossington beach. Corallina officinalis, belonging to that eurious tribe of alge whose tissues are firmly encased in a coating of carbonate of lime, is extremely abundant in all pools along the shore. In the Rhodymeniacex we cannot reckon with certainty, more than Gracilaria confervoides, * In salt-water ditches, near Shirehampton, Gloucestershire, Mr. Thwaites discovered a species (Eetocarpus amphibius, Harv.) with fruit intermediatein character between that of E. littoralis and E. siliculosus. It does not appear to have been observed in Somerset. In the salt-water ditches on the Norfolk coast it is noted as “not unfrequent.”’ I have looked in vain for itin the tide ditches at Minehead. E. siliculosus I sometimes see growing with E. littoralis. It appears, however, in such a poor condition and so rarely that it seems hardly to deserve notice. 118 PAPERS, ETC. which is frequent in sandy pools, to the west of Minehead Pier. Several species of the Cryptonemiacex occur on the coast, the rarest of which is Grateloupia filicina, growing in pools on the Warren beach at Minehead, and I believe, with the exception of Aberystwith, this is the northernmost station that has yet been recorded forthe plant. Gelidium corneum u, clavatum, covers the rocks at Clevedon in dense patches, barely half an inch in height, and at Minehead it grows on wood work near high-water mark. Catenella opuntia oceurs in the same habitats as this species, both at Clevedon and Minehead. Ihave also seen it vegetating in crevices of the large boulders, under Greenaleigh-hill, at Minehead. Gigartina mamillosa is found in pools on the Warren beach, at Minehead, and is frequent at Bos- sington. Chondrus crispus abounds in all the pools along the coasts, but nearly ceases to vegetate at Clevedon, where I only observed one small plant of it. Polyides rotun- dus is common, growing in pools near low-water mark, on the Warren beach, at Minehead ; and Dumontia filiformis is likewise found there in pools nearer high-water mark, and on Bossington beach. Among the tribe of the Cera- miacex, three species of the genus Öeramium are frequent ; the common C. rubrum is abundant on stones and on other alg® in tide pools. I remark at Minehead a pretty slender corymbose variety of this plant, never more than four or five inches in height. When immersed in fresh water it decomposes much more rapidly than the larger and coarser forms of the species. The ramuli are much incurved, and though it cannot be considered as a distinet species from C. rubrum, it is so distinet and well marked in its general aspect from the many varieties of C. rubrum usually met with, that Ihave deemed it right not to pass it over un- noticed in the present paper. Its habitat, I have observed, MARINE FLORA OF SOMERSET. 119 is almost exclusively on the fronds of Chondus crispus. Ceramium flabelligerum, I find growing in pools at Blue Anchor, and on wood-work at Minehead. Though marked as “rare” in the works of Dr. Harvey, I believe, from the number of specimens which I have received from corres- pondents in different localities, that it is a species generally distributed on the shores of the British Isles, but probably, from its near resemblance to C. rubrum, often overlooked by the collector. It may not be amiss for the guidance of such, to observe, that the colour is very like that of Poly- siphonia fastigiata, nor is the ramification very unlike, but the filaments are finer than in the latter ; microscopically it may be known by the unzlateral spines, which arm the outer edge of the branches. These, however, are frequently absent on Somerset specimens, only appearing near the tips of the ramuli. In such cases the proportionate larger size of the cellules and eylindrical artieulations afford the best characters by which it may be disceriminated from C. rubrum. The opague articulations are at once sufficient to distinguish it from ©. acanthonotum, a British species armed with a row of microscopie spines in the same manner. Ceramium Deslongehampiü is found in the pools at Blue Anchor, Minehead, and Bossington beach; when well grown it forms handsome tufts of a very dark purple colour, the articulations are transparent, very short in the ramuli, and not easily seen excepting in the main stems. Of the beautiful genus, Callithamnion, we have two ex- amples, ©. Borreri and C. Rothii, diminutive, though well fruited specimens of the former grow with the latter on the rocks at Clevedon. When mounted in Canada Balsam they form very pretty and interesting objects for the microscope. On the mud-covered rocks at Blue Anchor, C. Borreri grows in tufts of three or more inches in height, 120 PAPERS, ETC. and at Minehead it vegetates on wood-work, but though more fully colored than the Blue Anchor plants, it is never more than an inch high. C. Rothii, I have not seen else- where than at Clevedon ; excepting once, when I found it in very small quantities on wood-work, eastward of the Warren beach, at Minehead. We now come to the con- cluding series, the Grass-green, or Chlorosperms. It was not until October of last year (1853) that I ever observed Bryopsis plumosa on this coast. I then gathered three plants of it in adeep poolon Minehead beach. It belongs to the tribe Siphonacex. Of the Marine Confervacex, we have Cladophora rupestris, common all along the coast, and Cladophora letevirens grows in pools on the Blue Anchor and Minebead beaches. Conferva zrea, and Conferva melagonium, grow on Minehead beach ; the former in pools near high-water mark, and the latter in those close to low- water mark. Enteromorpha intestinalis occurs at the mouth of the Hone river, and at Bossington ; Ihave not seen it inthe tide pools. E. compressa is extremely com- mon, covering the stones, &c., near high-water mark, all along,as are likewise Ulva latissima and Porphyra laciniata. The four latter species belong to the Ulvacex, the last tribe calling for our remarks in this paper. Having given an account of the species actually found growing on the Somerset coast, I shall conclude with a brief notice of those alg®, mostly inhabitants of deep water, which come ashore in such a state of preservation as to manifest that their habitats, if not exactly on the coast, cannot be at any great distance off. Laminaria digitata and bulbosa are thrown upon Minehead beach after westerly gales. I suspect both kinds grow in deep water off Porlock. Haliseris polypodioides, Dietyota dichotoma, Taonia ato- maria, and Sphacelaria filicina are all drifted ashore during MARINE FLORA OF SOMERSET., 121 the summer months, at Minehead. Itis, however, amongst the Rhodosperms that the rarest alg® are observed. On my first visit to Minehead beach, in 1848, I found speci- mens of the beautiful and rare Nitophyllum versicolor, which had previously only two other stations, —Ilfracombe, where it had long been known, and at Youghal, on the south coast of Ireland ; at neither of these localities has it been seen growing, and it appears unknown to continental botanists. "The time for collecting this species is from June to the end of August. In the beginning of the season the plants are small, and without any appearance of the hardened substance that arises at a later period at the apex of the stem and the ends of the fronds. These, when mature, are found to contain minute grains ; no fructifica- tion, except these bodies be such, has yet been detected. From Nitophyllum Bonnemaisoni, another uncommon kind which I find on Minehead beach, it may be known by the entire absence of any veining, and under the microscope by the larger size of the cellules. It is also very remark- able from its rapid change of color when placed in fresh water, becoming in a very short time bright orange; when recent the color is rose-red, resembling that of N. Bonnemaisoni. This last is often found with fruit, and its habitat is on the old stems of Laminaria digitata. N. versicolor, I suspect, vegetates on corallines and shells in deep water, beyond tide-marks. Two other species of this genus are not uncommon at Minehead,—N. Gmelini and N. laceratum. In the beginning of August, 1848, I was so fortunate as to meet with the Stenogramme inter- rupta, one of our rarest British sea-weeds, which had first been discovered in November of the previous year, on the shores near Plymouth, by the Rev. W. S. Hore, and Dr. J. Cocks ; its only other known station then, was at Cadiz. 1853*, PART II. Q 122 PAPERS, ETC. Lately, however, specimens of it have been received from New Zealand. The primary fruit is contained in a raised nerve-like line, which traverses the centre of each division of the frond ; and when this is present, the plant may easily be recognised. The secondary fruit, tetraspores, oceur in round sori on the frond. These I first discovered on Minehead specimens ; and plants with this description of fruit have not been found at Plymouth, nor does it appear an abundant species there. On Minehead beach the young plants are to be met with in June ; in the following November and December they attain their full growth. One single plant with tetraspores was obtained by the dredge in Cork Harbour, by Mr. Carroll, in 1851 ; and in June of last year (1853), a young plant with incipient fruit (linear) was picked up by a relative of mine, on the beach at Lynmouth, North Devon. I have no doubt that were the dredge employed, it would be found to grow in deep water off that coast, and the adjoining part of Somerset. In all, I have noted about forty species drifted ashore at different times on Minehead beach. It is not, I believe, important to give their names here, for in this notice my aim is rather to show what field the Algologist has to work on in this dis- triet, and to point out those species that may always be met with in their proper seasons, than to detail a list of kinds only occasionally met with, and not ascertained natives of the coast. My own opportunities of visiting localities between Clevedon and Minehead have been very few ; but I conclude that in favorable situations, the several species growing at the former place may likewise be met with at intermediate spots. The portion of the Bristol Channel which comes within our notice, ranges from about Portishead, on the MARINE FLORA OF SOMERSET. 123 east, to a little below Porlock on the west. The upper and greater half of the Channel can scarcely be charac- terised otherwise than an »stuary, whose waters contain a great admixture of fresh water from numerous rivers, and a quantity of mud and detrital matter, brought into it by the same means; doubtless to the growth of the majority of submerged sea-plants, these conditions are peculiarly inimical, but there are some, as the beautiful Callithamnii, which delight in muddy situations, so also does the Stenogramme, which seems confined to harbours andz»stuaries. Grateloupia filicina, Enteromorphacompressa, are observed to flourish better in spots where fresh water streams run over the beach, than elsewhere. After Blue Anchor, the water is much clearer, and the alg& become better colored. Bossington beach affords remarkably fine specimens ofthese which I have noted in this paper as grow- ing there. Unfortunately the beach below that is of such a nature as to preclude the growth of inter-tidal vegetation, but probably if it be possible to use the dredge off that part of the coast, it may prove to be the best spot in the distriet for the growth of deep water alge. 124 PAPERS, ETC. Appendix tu the paper un Wurle Camp, In the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archeological and Natural History Society, 1851, p. 64. HE results of my investigations on Worle Hill during the year 1852 have been, to my own mind, highly confirmatory of my original theory :—That the place was destroyed by Ostorius in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, and „deserted during the period of the Roman occupation ; that the black earth and bunt wood which are usually found a few inches above the solid rock, in most of the hut circles, are the remains of the roofs destroyed at that time; and the burnt corn and other objects found below the layer of black earth, are leavings of the inhabitants of the place at the time of Osto- rius’s attack ; and that the pottery is almost all of British manufacture, some of extreme antiquity, some probably Belgie, the work of the last two or three centuries be- fore the Roman invasion. That at the time of the West Saxon irruption, under Ceawlin, in the year 577, some of the Romanized Britons took refuge within these ramparts, and that the skeletons, and the iron weapons found with them, are to be referred to the desperate hand to hand contest which took place after the Saxons had stormed the defenders of the fortress. APPENDIX—WORLE CAMP 125 In the month of May I was particularly successful in my discoveries of pottery, of which three vessels, now in the Museum of the Society, have been satisfactorily restored by Drs. Tomkins and Pring. Besides pottery, we found many skeletons, several of them bearing marks of great violence ; two very good iron spear-heads ; several flint flakes, prepared for arrow-heads ; a quantity of bones of animals and water-fowl ; corn, more completely burnt at the top than below, shewing that the fire came from above; a piece ofthe horn of some animal, fashioned apparently into the mouth-piece of a musical instrument, and ornamented with a rude pattern ; a piece of burnt wood, with holes drilled through it ; iron spikes, similar to the one found piercing one of the skeletons, which were probably the heads of very rude javelins ; fragments of bronze and wooden ornaments ; three kinds of burnt grain, wheat, barley, and some sort of pulse ; and parts of two concentric circles of iron, which were lying one within the other, and had much the appearance of having formed part of a shield.* In the autumn, my discöveries were very similar in cha- racter to those made in the spring, with the exception of some bones of oxen, which appear to be those of the Bos-longifrons, a species which became extinet in these islands at a very early date, though certainly existing here during the British period. One discovery was made, which at first sight seemed to militate against my theory, but which, on closer consideration, I think rather confirms it than otherwise. Having finished the excavation of one hole, we were walking over the hill to another, when a workman struck his pick-axe into the ground by chance, and brought up a small piece of pottery, which I at once * Several of these are figured in the Proceedings for 1852, p. 12. 126 PAPERS, ETC. recognised as coarse Roman ware. I of course began to dig upon the spot, and within an area the breadth of which was not more than five or six yards, we found similar fragments of pottery, enough to fill several baskets ; upwards of 200 coins of the later empire ; a great many glass beads, and fragments of bronze ornaments. Now had these Roman remains been found at the bottom of one of the holes, or had the pottery been scat- tered overthe whole area of the fortress, as is the case with that of British manufacture, Iown my theory would have been much shaken ; but they were quite at the sur- face—so much so, that when the turf was taken up, coins and beads were hanging in the roots of the grass; and the coins were such as there is reason to suppose were in cir- culation some centuries after the Romans had left the island ; and I see no reason for doubting that they were the property of some Romanized Briton, who had sought refuge within the ramparts at the time of Ceawlin’s irruption. But perhaps the most interesting discovery of the year remains to be mentioned. In Mr. Atkins’s plan* of the fort and its outworks, many triangular platforms are marked, which he supposes were used for slingers ; and I confess that when he first mentioned them to me, Ithought there was a great deal of imagination in his idea; but upon clearing away some of the rubble from the face of the rampart on the west side of the main entrance, I dis- covered a peculiarity in its construction which certainly confirms Mr. Atkins’s opinion in a great degree. In- stead of being, as I expected it to prove, a plain batter- ing wall of dry masonry, I find that the whole face of the rampart is composed of a series of platforms, about three * Proceedings for 1851, p. 64, APPENDIX—-WORLE CAMP 127 feet in depth, and about four feet above each other, not placed regularly one over the other, but almost like scales, the whole finishing with a parapet, which acts as a breast- work to an internal platform. The outer face of the ram- part is of piled masonry, sloping inwards very considerably, so that in fact the very steep side of the natural hill, and that of the artificial rampart, which is not very much steeper, are fortified on nearly the same plan. "This would certainly enable the Britons, who were celebrated as slingers, to use their weapons with great effect against an attacking force ; the immense number of pebbles well cal- culated for sling-stones, which have been found immedi- ately within this rampart, were no doubt intended for this mode of defence. F. WARRE. 128 HE following Section, made by the late Mr. Baker, during the excavation of the old Canal Basin, at Huntworth, near Bridgwater, is inserted here as illustrative of the view of the physical history of the plain Iying between Langport and the Severn, advocated in the Paper on Llongborth, p. 48. - - Surface of the Level. - - Firm Silt, 16 feet. _ ..) Peat in beds of irregular thickness ; bones, horns, shells, and wood, 1 foot. - Soft Silt, 9 feet. - Gravel, bones, shells, and POTTERY, 1foot. - - Firm Blue Clay, 2 feet. - - Red Marl; depth unknown. W. A. JONES. THE END. Taunton: Printed by FREDERICK MaY, High Street, Aumersetshive Srcheulogival Matural Ristory Suriett. PATRON, THE RIGHT HON. LORD PORTMAN. PRESIDENT, SIR WALTER CALVERLY TREVELYAN, Barr. —— VICE-PRESIDENTS, SIR P..P. E. P.-ACLAND, Barr. THOMAS DYKE ACLAND, Es. THE HON. AND RIGHT REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF BATH AND WELILS, THE WORSHIPFUL THE MAYOR OF BATH, THE HON. P. P. BOUVERIE, THE HON. AND REV. RICHARD BOYLE, THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF CAVAN, ANDREW CROSSE, Esq. F. H. DICKINSON, Es. THE REV. J. S. H. HORNER, THOMAS TUTTON KNYFTON, Esg. THE RIGHT HON. H. LABOUCHERE, mn.r. W. H. P. GORE LANGTON, Esa. m.r. THE REV. AND WORSHIPFUL CHANCELLOR J. T. LAW, AMBROSE GODDARD LETHBRIDGE, Esq. THE RIGHT HON. EARL OF LOVELACE, J. H. MARKLAND, Es. W. PINNEY, Esa. m.r. THE REV. FITZHARDINGE BERKELEY PORTMAN, W. R. SHETPARD, Esa. F. H. SYNGE, Esa. THE RIGHT HON. LORD TALBOT DE MALAHIDE, CHARLES NOEL WELMAN, Esg. [3, 54.] 2 TREASURERS, HENRY AND ROBERT G. BADCOCK, Taunton., GENERAL SECRETARIES, Archzological Department. REV. F. WARRE, REV. W. R. CROTCH, Bishop’s Lydeard. Stoke Court, Taunton. Natural History Department. REV. W. A. JONES, Taunton. DISTRICT OR LOCAL SECRETARIES, E. BATTEN, Thorn Falcon, HENRY BERNARD, Wels, REV. W. F. CHILCOTT, Monksiler, REV,. H. CLUTTERBUCK, Buckland Dinham. R. W. FALCONER, =m.p. Bath, C. E. GILES, Taunton, C. MOORE, Bath. REV. W. PHELPS, Bicknoller, T. PORCH PORCH, Zägarley, J. H. PRING, u.o. Weston-super-Mare. W. A. SANFORD, Nynehead, REV. HENRY M SCARTH, Baeih, W. STRADLING, Chilton-super-Polden, REV. Ww. PH. EURN ER, Zrent, R. WALTER, Stoke-sub-Hamdon, G. WALTERS, Frome, F. H. WOODFORDE, u.v. Taunton. COMMITTEE. J. BATTEN, Juxr. . F. W. NEWTON, G. CAVE, TIRAITON; W. F. ELLIOT, W. P. PINCHARD, W. E. GILLETT, Rev. W. T. REDFERN, W. M. KELLY, «.». Rev. W. ROUTLEDGE, ».». W. METFORD, u.». Rev. T. A. VOULES. The President, Vice-Presidents, Treasurers, and Secretaries, are ex-oficio Members of the Committee, CURATOR, BENJAMIN BAKER, Museum, Taunton. 3 Honorary amd Carrespaning Plenlers. Acland, Dr. Lee’s Reader of Anatomy, Oxford. Alford, Rev. H. Wymeswold. Bliss, Rev. Dr. Principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxford. Britton, John, Esq. F.s.A. Burton Crescent, London. Babington, C. C. Esq. F.R.S., F-L.S. Buckland, Very Rev. Dr. Dean of Westminster. Carter, Rev. Ececles, Kingston. Charlton, Dr. See. Antiquarian Society, Newecastle-on-Tyne. Conybeare, Very Rev. W. D. Dean of Llandaff. Daubeny, Dr. Professor of Chemistry and of Potany, Oxford. De La Beche, Sir H. Director of Ordnance Geologieal Survey. De Morgan, A. Esq. Prof. Mathematies, University Col. London. Duncan, P. B. Esq. Curator of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Dymock, Rev. T. F. Ellis, Sir H. Principal Librarian, British Museum. Empson, ©. Esq. Bath. Ferry, B. Esq. Trinity Place, Charing Cross, London. Forbes, E. Esq. Paleontologist to the Ordnance Geologieal Survey. Freeman, E. A. Esq. Dursley, Gloucestershire. Giles, Rev. J. A. n.c.1. Bampton, Oxfordshire. Godwin, George, Esq. F.R.S., F.8.A., Brompton. Hardwick, P. C. Esq. 60, Russell Square, London. Hawkins, E. Esq. Keeper of Antiquities, British Museum. Henslow, Rev. J. S. Professor of Botany, Cambridge. Hunter, Rev. Joseph. / Lloyd, Dr. Sec. Archeological and Natural History Society, Warwick. Oliver, Rev. Dr. Exeter. Owen, Professor. Petit, Rev. T. L. the Uplands, Shifnal. Phillips, Sir Thomas, Middlehill, Worcester. Quekett, John, Esq. Royal College of Surgeons, London. Ramsay, A. C. Esq. F.R.S. Salter, J. W. Esq. Museum of Practical Geology. Sedgwick, Rev. A. F.R.S., F.G.8. Prof. of Mineralogy, Cambridge. Smith, C. R.Esq. F.S.A. Turner, Dawson, Esq. Yarmouth. Willis, Rev. R. F.r.s., F.G.5. Jacksonian Professor, Cambridge. Wilson, Daniel, Esq. See. of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Warner, Rev. R. Great Chalfield, Wilts. Yarrell, W. Esq. Ryder Street, St, James’s, London. Yates, J. Esq. F.R.s. Lauderdale House, Highgate. 4 Dorietieg in Correapomdenee WITH THE Somersetshire Archzological and Natural History Society. THE ARCHEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF GREAT BRITAIN. THE ECCLESIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Tax BRISTOL AND WEST OF ENGLAND ARCHITECTURAL SocIETY. THE ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY OF THE ARCHDEACONRY OF NORTHAMPTON. THE SUSSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. RULES. HIS Society shall be denominated “ THE SOMERSET- SHIRE ÄRCHEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL History SOCIETY ;” and its objects shall be, the cultivation of, and collecting information on, Archzology and Natural History, in their various branches, but more particularly in connection with the County of Somerset. II. The Society shall’ eonsist of a Patron, eleeted for life; a President, elected for three years; Vice-Presidents; General, and Distriet or Local Secretaries ; and a Trea- surer, elected at each Anniversary Meeting; with a Com- mittee of twelve, six of whom shall go out annually b rotation, but may be re-elected.—No person shall be elected on the Committee until he shall have been six months a Member of the Society. Il. Anniversary General Meetings shall be held for the purpose of electing the Officers, of receiving the Report of the Committee for the past year, and of transacting all other necessary business, at such time and place as the Committee shall appoint ; of which Meetings three weeks notice shall be given to the Members. IV. There shall also be a General Meeting fixed by the Committee, for the purpose of receiving Reports, read- ing Papers, and transacting business. —All Members shall have the privilege of introducing one friend to the Anni- versary and General Meetings. V. "The Committee is empowered to call Special Meet- ings of the Society, upon receiving a requisition signed by RULES. o ten Members. — Three weeks notice of such Special Meeting, and its object, shall be given to each Member. VI. The affairs of the Society shall be directed by the Committee, (of which the officers of the Society shall be Ex-OFFıcIo Members) which shall hold Monthly Meetings for receiving Reports from the Secretaries and Sub-committees, and for transacting other necessary busi- ness ; five of the Committee shall be a quorum.— Members may attend the Monthly Committee Meetings, after the official business has been transacted. VII. The Chairman, at Meetings of the Society, shall have a casting vote in addition to his vote as a Member. VII. One (atleast) of the Secretaries shall attend each Meeting, and shall keep a record of its proceedings. —All Manuscripts and Communications, and the other property of the Society, shall be under the charge of the Secretaries. IX. Candidates for admission as Members shall be proposed by two Members at any of the General or Committee Meetings, and the’election shall be determined by ballot at the next Committee or General Meeting ; three-fourths of the Members present balloting, shall elect. The rules of the Society shall be subscribed by every person becoming a Member. X. Ladies shall be eligible as Members of the Society without ballot, being proposed by two Members, and ap- proved by the majority of the Meeting. XI. Each Member shall pay ten shillings on admission to the Society, and ten shillings as an Annual Subscription, which shall become due on the first of January in each year, and shall be paid in advance. XI. Donors of Ten Guineas or upwards, shall be Members for life. XIII. At General Meetings of the Society the Com- mittee may recommend persons to be ballotted for as Honorary or Corresponding Members. XIV. When any office shall become vacant, or any : new appointment shall be requisite, the Committee shall 6 RULES. have power to fill up the same ; such appointments shall remain in force only till the next General Meeting, when they shall be either confirmed or annulled. XV. The Treasurer shall receive all Subscriptions and Donations made to the Society, and shall pay all accounts passed by the Committee ; he shall keep a book of receipts and payments, which he shall produce whenever the Com- mittee shall require it; the Accounts shall be audited previously to the Anniversary Meeting by two Members of the Committee, chosen for that purpose; andan abstract of them shall be read at the Meeting. XVI. No change shall be made in the Laws of the Society, except at a General or Special Meeting, at which twelve Members at least shall be present.—Of the proposed change a month’s notice shall be given to the Secretaries, who shall communicate the same to each Member three weeks before the Meeting. XVII. Papers read at Meetings of the Society, and considered by the Committee of sufficient interest for pub- lication shall be forwarded (with the Author’s consent) to such Periodical as shall be determined by the Committee to be the best for the purpose, with a request that a num- ber of such papers may be printed separately, for distribu- tion to the Members of the Society, either gratuitously or for such payment as may be agreed on. XVII. Noreligious or Political discussions shall be permitted at Meetings of the Society. XIX. That any person contributing Books or Speci- mens to the Museum shall beat liberty to resume possession of them in the event of the property of the Society ever being sold or transferred to any other county. Also per- sons shall have liberty to deposit Books or Specimens for a specific time only. N.B. One of the objects of the Society shall be to col- lect by donation or purchase, a'Library and Museum, more particularly illustrating the History, Natural, Civil, and Ecclesiastical, of the County of Somerset. *,* It is requested that Contributions to the Museum or Library, be sent to the C’urator, at the Society's rooms, Taunton. LISTOF MEMBERS. 1853. Those marked * are Life Members, Abraham, T. Dunster Acland, Sir P. P. Bart. Fairfield House Acland, Sir T. D. Bart. Killerton Park, Devon Acland, T.D. “ . a 5 Acres, Rev. J. Clevedon Adair, A. Heatherton Park Adaır, A. W. ,; e Addinston, H. J. Langford Ainslie, Rev. A. C. Zowlands, Taunton 10 Alford, H. Taunton Allen, J. R. Zyngford House Allen, Rev. C. J. Stocklinch, near Ilminster Allen, B. T. Burnham Anstice, Rev. J. B. Kilton 15 Anstice, Richard, Bridgwater Anstice, Mrs. J. 3 Axford, Richard, = Badcock, Miss H. Taunton Badceock, H. Er 20 Badcock, R. G. The Elms, Taunton Badham, J.B. Bristol Bagehot, Walter Bagshawe, E. L. Bath Bailward, J. Horsington, Blandford, Dorset 25 Baker, W. Bridgwater (deceased) Baker, John, Weston-super-Mare Ball, Wm. Chapple, Taunton Bally, W.F. Sion Hill, Bath Barnard, Rev. Canon, Wells 30 Barnard, Rev. H. J. Yatton Barrett, W. Moreden House, North Curry Barrowforth, J. Cheddon Fitzpaine Barry, Rev. H. Brockley Bartrum, J. J.41, Gay-street, Bath 35 Bateman, Hugh, Marlborough Buildings, Bath Bath and Wells, the Lord Bishop of, The Palace, Wells Batten, J. jun. Yeoml Batten, E. Thorn Faulcon, and Lincolns Inn, London Baynes, T. S. Rumhill, Taunton 8 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 30 LIST OF MEMBERS. Beadon, Rev. Canon, North Stoneham, Hants Beadon, W. jun. Otterhead, Honiton Beadon, Edwards, Highlands, Taunton Bearcroft, Rev. E. C. K. Cannington Bernard, H. Wells Berryman, W. C. jun. Wells Bewes, Rev. T. A. Zydeard St. Lawrence Blackwell, Rev. W. Mells Blair, H. M. Farley Castle Blake, W. Bishops Hull Blake, Downing, Holway Bluett, ©. Taunton Bond, Rev. J. Weston, Bath Bouverie, Hon. P. P. Brymore House Bouverie, P. P. jun. + Bowen, John, Bridgwater (deceased) Bown, Miss, Taunton Boyd, R. m.p. Wells Boyle, Hon. and Rev. Richard, Marston, Frome Brace, W. H. 25, Gay-street, Bath Breton, Lieut. R.Nn. Camden Place, ,, Briseoe, Miss, Bathford Bridges, H. Bridgwater Broadmead, P. Milverton Broadley, J. 2, Gascoyne Place, Bath Broderip, Rev. J. S. Cossington Browne, William, Bridgwater Broome, C. E. Elmhurst, Batheaston Bruford, T. Naxlsea Bryant, Rev. W. F. Taunton Bucknell, G. Croweombe (deceased) Buckle, Rev. G. Twerton Bullock, George, East Coker Bunn, Thomas, Frome (deceased) Bush, W.7, Circus, Bath „ Carew, T. G. Warrington, Crowcombe Court Carrow, J. Monson, Stoberry House, Wells (deceased) Castle, T. Worle Carver, R. Haines Hill, Taunton Cavan, the Earl of, Barford House Cave, G. Norton Fitzwarren LIST OF MEMBERS. 9 Cave, T. Yeovil Chamberlain, G. Castle Cary Chapman, Capt. Royal Institution, Bath. Chileott, Rev. W. F. Monksüver 85 Chowne, Rev. J. Taunton Clarke, Rev. J. B. B. Bagborouyh Clarke, T. E. Tremlett House Clarke, A. A. Taunton Clerk, Rev. D. M. Kingston Deveril 90 Clerk, Robert, Westholme House, Pilton, Shepton Mallet Clerk, Major F. J. 7 „ „ Clerk, E, H. r Cliffe, Rev. L. A. Uphill Clutterbuck, Rev. Henry, Buchland Dinham 95 Coffin, Com. Genl. Sir E. P. Claremont Villa, Mount Radford, Exeter Coker, W. Worthington, Haydon House, Taunton Colebrooke, Sir T. E. Bart, Abington, Scotland Coles, Rev. J. S. Shepton Beauchamp Collings, Rev. W.T. Wells 100 Collins, H. P. Hatch Park Cooper, Lady, Leversdown House Cordwent, G. Taunton Cornish, C.H. , Cox, W. Brockley, near Yatton 105 Crosse, Andrew, Broomfield Crotch,; Rev. W. R. Stoke Court, Taunton Custard, H. M. Yeowl ” ” Dance, Lady, Bishops Hull Dance, Rev. G. Swainswick, Bath 110 Daubeney, Major General, ,„ (deceased) Davies, Edmund, Wells Davies, Henry, Weston-super-Mare Davis Horatio, » 5 + Davis, ©. E. Bath 115 Davis, W. W. Oakhill, Taunton Davis, H. Taunton Dawe, Rev. Hill, Ditcheat Dawson, T. Gatchell House De Haviland, Rev. C. R. Downside, Bath 10 120 125 1350 135 140 14 a 150 155 LIST OF MEMBERS, Dickinson, F. H. Kingweston House Dickinson, E. H. > Doveton, Capt. Haines Hill, Taunton Down, E. Bridqwater Dowty, F.G. ,„ Easton, R. Taunton Edgar, J. Weston-super-Mare (deceased) Edmonds, E. jun. Bradford, Wüts Edwards, R. P. Wedmore Egremont, Countess of, Orchard Wyndham Elliot, Miss, Osborne House, Taunton Elliot, W. F. ; Elliott, Rev. J. Pitminster Ellison, Rev. N. T. Huntspill Else, R. C. Bridgwater Elwell, J. Weston-super-Mare Elwell, W.O. , e Escott, Bickham, Hartrow House (deceased) Esdaile, W. C. D. Barley Park, Ringwood Eskersall, Miss, Darlington Pläce, Bath Estlin, J. P. Taunton Everard, Rev. Edward, D.D. Bishops Hull ” Fagan, Rev. G. H. Kingweston Falconer, R. W. m.D. Bath Falkner, Francis, Falkner, Frederick, Falkner, F.H. ” ” Field, F. Fisher, T. Taunton Fiske, H. . BJ Foley, Rev. R. North Cadbury Follett, Spencer Brent, m.p. 15, Cumbridge-sg., London Foster, W. J. S. Wells Fox, C. m.D. Brislington Fox, E. F. 3 Fuller, T. Springfield Place, Bath Gandy, G. The Chain, Preston Gandy, Rev. J. H. Old Cleeve Garrod, James, Wells 160 165 170 175 180 185 190 195 LIST OF MEMBERS. 11 Giles, W. Taunton Giles, C.E. „ Giles, Capt. Dinder Gill, J. E. Bath Gillett, W. E. Taunton Girardot, Rev. W. Hinton Charterhouse Gordon, James, Weston-super-Mare Goodrige, J. F.5, Henrietta-street, Bath Goodford, Rev. C. O. D.p. Head Master of Eton Goodford, Henry, Chilton Cantelo Grenville, Hon. and Very Rev. G. Neville, Dean of Windsor Hagley, E. Oxford Hall, Rev. C. R. Hamilton, Col. J. 116, Park-st., Grosvenor-sq., London Hamilton, Rev. L. R. Castle Cary Hancock, W. Wiveliscombe Harbin, G. Newton House, Yeovil Hardy, Admiral, Bath Hardy, Lieut., R.n. Harper, Major, E. 12, Hyde Park Gate, South Ken- sington Harris, Charles, Ilchester Harrison, Rev. O. S. Thorn Faulcon Harrison, T. S. m.D. Frome Hathway, Rev. R. ©. Kewstoke Haviland, Alfred, Bridgwater Hawkins, Rev. H.C. H. Chilton-super-Polden Hayter, Rt. Hon. W.G.m.r. Hyde Park Terrace, London Hayward, S. Abbey Churchyard, Bath Helyar, ©. J. Poundisford Lodge Helyar, W. Coker Court, Yeowl Henderson, J. Taunton Hennett, G. Teignmouth Henslowe, Rev. E. Huish Episcopi Hewett, W. Norton Fitzwarren (deceased) Higgs, Richard, Haines Hill, Taunton Highmore, J. N. Preston, near Yeovil Hitchcock, W. R. Taunton Hill, Rev. R. Timsbury, Bath Hill, Miss, Rock House, Bath 12 LIST OF MEMBERS. Hill, Wm. John, Zangport Hobhouse, Right Hon. H. Hadspen House, (deceased) 200 Hood, Sir A. A. Bart. St. Audries Hooper, James Horner, Rev. J. S. H. Mells Park, Frome Hoskins, T. Hazelbury Hunt, E. Bath 205 Hutchings, H. Sandford Orcas Ilchester, the Earl of, Melbury, near Seren ne lsaacs, G. Taunton Impey, Robert, Street Jacobson, W. Taunton 210 Jeboult, J. Es Jeffrey, James, Orange Grove, Bath Jenkyns, Very Rev. D.D. Dean of Wells, (deceased)) Johnson, J. George Street, Bath Johnson, Rev. F. C. W, hitelackington 215 Jones, Rev. W. A. Taunton Kelly, W. M. m.v. Taunton Kemmis, Mrs. Arthur, Crokam Hurst, Croydon, Surrey Kidgell, G. Wellington Kilvert, Rev. F. Cleverton Lodge, Bath 220 King, Rev. C. Stoke St. Gregory King, J. W. Chilton-super-Polden King, R. M. Pyrland Hall, Kinglake, R. A. Weston-super-Mare Kinglake, H. m.p. Taunton 225 Knatchbull, W. F. m.p. Babington House Knowles, C. Bridgwater Knyfton, T. T. Uphill * Labouchere, Right Hon. H. m.p. Store Park, Slough Lambert, W. C. Knowle House, Wimborne, Dorset 230 Lance, Rev. J. E. Buckland St. Mary Langton, W. H. P.G. m.r. Newton Park Langton, W.H.G.m.p. Clifton Law, Worshipful Chancellor, J. T. Banwell Lawson, Henry, Lansdown Orden Bath 235 Leigh, Henry, 1, Elm Court, Temple, London Lethbridge, A. G. Trull LIST. OF MEMBERS. 13 Leversedge, John, Taunton Liddon, H. 5 Littlehales, Rev. W. Compton Bishop 240 Livett, H. W. Wells Lock, E. Halcon Lodge, Taunton Lockey, Rev. F. Swainswick, Bath Long, W. Lansdown Place * Lovelace, the Earl, Ashley Combe, Porlock 245 Luke, Rev. H. V. Thurlbear Mansell, J. C. Shaftesbury Marder, J. Burliscombe Manners, G. P. Bath Markland, J.H. , 350 Marshall, W. Taunton Mate, Rev. R. P. Cambridge May, Frederick, Taunton Mayow, Rev. P. W. Euston Meade, Rev. R. J. Castle Cary 255 Mears, W. Exeter Metford, W. m.n. Flook House, Taunton Michell, Rev. R. B.D. Magdalen Hall, Oxford Mildmay, Paulet St. John, Haselbury, Wincanton Miles, W. m.p. Leigh Court 260 Mogg, J. R. High Lyttleton House Mogs, J. F. Y. Midsomer Norton Moody, C. A. u.p. Kingsdon, Somerton Moor, Rev. R. W. Stohe St. Gregory Moore, C. Cambridge Place, Bath 265 Moore, Capt. F. > Morgan, W. Claremont, Weston-super-Mare Morle, Thomas, Cannington Park Morris, J. Bath Moysey, H. G. Bathealton Court 270 Munckton, W. W. Curry Rivel Murch, E. Bridgwater Murch, Rev. Jerom, Bath Murley, @. B. Langport Naish, B. Stone Easton 275 Neal, Miss Neat, Rev. J. Standerwick Court 14 LIST OF MEMBERS. Neville, Ralph, Glastonbury Newton, F. W. Barton Grange Nicholetts, J. South Petherton 280 Nichols, Rev. W.L. 2, West Wing, Lansdown Crescent, Bath Norman, G. 1, Circus, Bath Norman, W. Ashfield, Taunton Norman, G. L. Eglesfield, Yatton Norman, A.M. Christ Church, Oxford 285 Norman, J. Taunton Norman, J. F. Claverham, near Yatton Norris, J. Thorncombe Nutting, Rev. H. Chedzoy Ormond, J. Circus, Bath 290 Paget, J. M. Cranmore Hall, Shepton Mallet Paget, Arthur J.E. „ „ Palairet, Rev. R. Norton St. Philip Parr, Rev. H. Taunton Parfitt, Rev. C. C. Midford Castle, Bath 295 Paul, Rev. C. S. Wellow, 4; Patton, T. Bishops Hull Payne, J. H. 1, Brunswick Square, Bristol Pearless, Richard, Northtown, Taunton Pearson, J. Exeter 300 Penny, Rev. C. D.D. Crewkerne Perceval, Capt. Chapel Cleeve Perry, Rev. 6. G. Warrington Rectory, near Lincoln Phelps, Rev. W. Bicknoller Philipps, Dan, Zridgwater 305 Pigott, J. H. Smyth, Weston-super-Mare (deceased) Pigott, Rev. G. O.S. > „ Pigott, A.S. „ Pigott, H. T. C. S. Brochle, y Court Pigott, E. F. S. Lincolns Inn 310 Pyke, J. Paddington Pinchard, W. P. Taunton Pinder, Rer. Professor, Wells Pinney, W. m.p. Somerton Erleigh Pinney, Miss, > 315 Plowman, T. North Curry Pollard, G. Taunton LIST OF MEMBERS. Poole, G. S. Bridgwater Poole, J. R. n Poole, Rev. J. Enmore 320 Popham, F. Bagborough Porch, T. P. Edgarley *Portman Lord; Dryanston House, Dorset Portman, Rev. F. B. Stuple Fitzpaine Powell, H. Wells 325 Prance, V. Nether Stowey Prankerd, John, Langport Pring, J. D. Taunton Pring, J. H. m.D. Weston-super-Mare Pulman, Rev. W. W. Wellington 330 Pulteney, Rev. R. T. Ashley, Northamptonshire Pyne, Rev W. Charlton, Somerton Quantock, J. M. Norton-sub-Hamdon Quekett, E. Langport Raban, R. B. Haich Beauchamp 335 Raban, Major, , Redfern, Rev. W.T. Taunton Rhodes, Rev. E. D. Hampton Villa, Bath Richards, Rey. T. M. Alcombe Richards, W. 340 Robbins, G. Bath Rodbard, John, Aldwick Court Roblyn, T. m.D. Weston-super-Mare Rooke, Mrs. S. Rosenberg, G. Bath 345 Rowley, Rev. W. W. Routledge, Rey. W. D.D. Bishops Hull Rowelifte, Charles, Stogumber Rundell, E. W. West Monkton ” ” ” Sabine, W. Brympton 350 Sanford, E. A. Nynehead Court Sanford, W.A. Samborne, 8. PS. Timsbury, Bath Saumarez, Lieut. R.n. Circus Scarth, Rev. H. M. Bathwick „ ” 16 LIST OF MEMBERS. 355 Schuldam, Mrs. E. Norton Fitzwarren 360 365 370 375 380 385 390 395 Scott, Rev. J. P. Staplegrove Sealy, John, Bridgwater Serel, T. Wells *Seymour, H. D. m.p. Knoyle, Wilts Shaw, Rev. W. H. E. D. Fiddington Sheppard, A. B. 18, Lincolns-Inn-Fields, London Sheppard, J. Frome Sheppard, W. H. Keyford House, Frome Sheppard, F. J. Wells Sheppard, S. B. Selwood, Frome Shipton, Rev. J. N. D.D. Othery Shore, J. Whatley, near Frome Shout, R. H. Yeowıl Skinner, George, Belmont, Bath Slade, Wyndham, Munty’s Court Smith, N. Clifton Smith, Major T. Weston-super-Mare Smith, Rev. ©. Bishops Lydeard Soden, J. sen. Bath Solly, Miss L. Sotheby, Rev. T. 'H. Milverton Sparks, W. Crewkerne Speke, Mrs. Roeford Lodge Speke, W. Jordans, near Ilminster Spencer, Rev. J. W. Wilton Sperrin, J. Weston-super-Maı e Spicer, R. W. Chard Spry, J. H. m.p. Bath a F. Pall Mall, London Steinthal, Rev. S. K. Bridgwater Stephenson, Rev. J. Lympsham Stewart, Rev. T. B. Woohey Stone, W. H. Taunton Stone, Rev. W. Stradling, W. Chilton-super-Polden Street, Rev. H. Bath Sully, T. Zridgwater Surtees, Edward, Tainfiekl Sweet, Rev. ©. Sampford Arundel Sweet, H. Taunton Symes, Rev. R. Cleeve, Bristol Synge, F.H. Westom-super-Mare 400 405 410 415 420 425 430 435 LIST OF MEMBERS. 17 "Talbot de Malahide, Lord, Everereech Thompson, Charles, Bridqwater Thring, H. Alford, Castle Cary Tinling, Rev. E. D. 30, Crescent, Batlı Todd, Major, Taunton Tomkins, C. M.D. Weston-super-Mare Tomkins, H. G. = nr 5, Traherne, Rev. H. Coedriglan, Cardiff (deceased) Trenchard, H. ©. Taunton Trevelyan, Sir W. C. Bart. Nettlecombe Court, and Wallington, Northumberland Trevelyan, Lady “ > > Trevelyan, Sir C. E. Treasury, London Trevelyan, Rev. E. O. Stogumber Trevelyan, Rev. W. P. Enmore Castle "Tyinder, Charles, Darlington Street, Bath Trudell, James, Taunton Tucker, Rev. H.T. Leigh Court Tucker, W. Coryton Park, Devon Tucker, Robert Tudway, R. C. Wells Turner, Rev. W. H. Trent Turner, A. Staplegrove Turner, C.J. » Turner, Rev. W.H. Banwell Tunstall, Dr. Queen’s Parade, Bath * Tynte, Col. C. K. K. Halswell Tynte, Col. C. J. K.M.P. Cefn Mabley, Glamorganshire Tynte, Capt. K. Leversdown House 2) Uttermare, T. B. Langport Vane, Rev. J. Burrington, Wrington Vibart, James, Chilliswood Vining, Charles, Yeovil Voules, Rev. T. A. Beer Crocombe Walter, L. King's Road, Gray's Inn, London Walter, W. Oldbury Lodge Walter, R. Stoke-sub-Hamdon Walters, G. Frome Ward, Rev. J. W. Tiekenham, near Bristol 18 LIST OF MEMBERS. Warre, Rev. F. Bishops Lydeard Warre, Miss, Warren, J. F. H. Langport Warren, Rev. J. Bawdrip 440 Webber, Rev. E. D, Runnington 445 -450 455 460 465 Members are requested to inform either of the Secretaries of any errors or omissions in the above List; they are also requested to authorize their Bankers to pay their subscription, annually, to Messıs. Badcock, or Messrs. Stuckey, Taunton ; or to either of their branches; or their Welman, C. N. Norton Manor Welsh, W. I. Wells Wells, E.N. „ x West, Rev. G. H. Corfe (deceased) West, G. a Weston, Plowden C. J. South Carolina, United States White, F. Wellington White, F. G. Taunton Whitehead, Rev. E. Saltford, Bath Whitehead, Rev. W. B. Chard (deceased) Whiting, Rev. H. B. Wriühlington, Bath Whitmash, E. Zaunton Wickham, Rev. G.H. D. Frome Wickham, Whalley, -, Willmore, Graham, Zynchfield, Bishops Lydeard Wills, Rev. T. A. West Buckland Willmott, W. R. Weston-super-Mare Winter, Charles, Bishops Lydeard Winter, Mrs. Priory, Ash Priors Wolff, D. Foreign Office, London Wood, Rev. James, Burlington Street, Bathı Woodforde, F. H. m.p. Taunton Woodland, J. Taunton Wrangham, Digby G. The Rocks, Bath Yatman, Rev. J. A. Winscombe, Sideot Yeeles, J. M. Bathford Young, J. Elm Coitage, Taunton respective London Agents, on account of the Treasurer. Printed by FREDERICK Mary, High Street, Taunton. x N u) Fam s hi * ach Er NEIN it an. A ne Tv N N. \ N N ar Wh j BuM, ' v N \ \ - | j . f \ \ 4 4 ü ’ i I } Es » De r : IM n h ul / re N "% ” a Ir » ie {i d | B } n u h f w ee N h IM fe s { “ 0 J “ i | B af y n ° L V f ) N fi f - . n PRONS FR, F % an "AR Fi, ' u U j ‚ INN 5 A a BE a 1 [| PRIMER, NEIBRLUMG: 2 "Ar $ 2 ey > % NET GIER, HAN in B a Dir 4 ‘ u, HS Ten = Fr EN, nad ae EHER N G He) Ar TH IRHRHNEN, ; { BURHILNER } EROBERN Kt ieN) FLFEH HR HIEBERTEN Ä H HAN ji hr RN R PR A REEL Ä KERNE ARE ee AEIRHURRNNN I path: HareNe HM ı} Fo OR, PER Fur 8 br a DRIN Hi a a Kan 4 “ BUS REIEG MEHRERE ENDE R H = a 5