Somerset by J. H. Wade;G. W. Wade
page 218 of 283 (77%)
page 218 of 283 (77%)
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screen under the tower (obviously not in its original position); (3)
squints; (4) effigies, one (in the chancel) of a knight under a Renaissance canopy, the other (in the S. transept) of an ecclesiastic; (5) Jacobean pulpit; (6) stand for an hour glass; (7) low side windows in the chancel. At the hamlet of _West Stoke_ is _Parsonage Farm_, originally a chantry house, where should be noticed the Tudor gateway, the hall, a gabled room surmounted by a bell-cot, and a circular columbarium. The chantry which was served by the priests who resided here, no longer exists. Above the village is _Hamdon Hill_, an eminence 426 ft. above sea level. It consists of inferior oolite, which furnishes excellent building stone, and the hill in consequence is honeycombed with quarries. On the summit is a very extensive British camp covering 2O0 acres, part of which was subsequently occupied by the Romans in order to command the ford where the Fosseway (which runs near) crossed the Parrett. The rampart is nearly 3 m. in circumference. Near the N. side of the camp is a hollow called the "Frying-pan," which is thought to have been an amphitheatre; but it looks too small to have served for this. _Stoke, North_, a small village 5 m. N.W. of Bath (nearest stat. Kelston, 1-1/2 m.). The church has a low tower originally Norm. The tower arch is round-headed, without mouldings, whilst the chancel arch is pointed and probably rather later than that of the tower. There is a very massive rectangular font, said to be Saxon; note the roughly carved heads at the corners. A very fine view of the neighbourhood may be obtained by proceeding from the village to the Lansdowne golf links. |
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