_Bishop's Lydeard_, a village 5 m. N.W. of Taunton, with a station on
the Minehead line. It gets its name from the land having been bestowed
by Edward the Elder upon Asser, Bishop of Sherborne, in 904. Its church
has an exceptionally fine tower, with double windows in the belfry. The
W. window is good and the tower arch very lofty. Note (1) the fine
screen, with the Apostles' Creed in Latin; (2) the series of quaintly
carved bench-ends, the designs (windmill, ship, stag, etc.) standing
out well against the coloured backgrounds; (3) the good, though plain,
roof; (4) oak pulpit; (5) brass in S. transept of Nicholas Grobham and
wife (d. 1585 and 1594). In the churchyard is a fine cross (14th
cent.), with the figure of St John the Baptist on the shaft, and
_bas-reliefs_ on each face of the octagonal base. There is also the
base and broken shaft of what was once the village cross.

_Bishop's Sutton_, a village 2-3/4 m. W. of Clutton, with a modern
church.

_Blackford_ (near Wedmore), a village 6 m. S.W. from Cheddar (G.W.R.).
The church is an eccentric octagonal structure built in 1823.

_Blackford_ (near Wincanton) is a small village, lying rather low, 3 m.
E. of Sparkford. The church, which formerly belonged to Glastonbury
Abbey, is small and plain, but possesses a Norm. S. doorway and a Norm.
font. There are also the remains of a stoup in the S. porch and of a
piscina in the S. wall.

_Blagdon_, a village on the N. slope of the Mendips, 12 m. S.W. from
Bristol. A light railway from Yatton has its terminus here. The beauty
of the neighbourhood, naturally considerable, has been enhanced by the