carved pulpit, (4) panel and canopied effigy over S. porch. There is
also a shallow font (_temp._ Henry VI.) on a pedestal of curious
design.

_Castle Neroche_, locally known as Castle Ratch, a remarkable earthwork
of problematical origin, 7 m. S. of Taunton. It crowns the edge of a
precipitous hillside, over which runs the main road to Chard. The camp
is of quite exceptional strength, and occupies a position of great
strategic importance. Recent excavations have proved it to have been
occupied and strengthened, if not originally made, by the Normans. On
the accessible side looking towards Chard the station is defended by a
triple row of ramparts and ditches, but the side overlooking the vale
of Taunton is so precipitous that the only protection provided appears
to have been a kind of citadel surmounted probably by a keep. The
centre of this once formidable military position is now incongruously
occupied by a farm-house. The view from the citadel or beacon across
Taunton Dean is far-reaching and exhilarating. The outlook on the other
side is circumscribed by the high ground beyond.

_Castle of Comfort_, a lonely public-house on the top of the Mendips,
standing by the side of the Bristol and Wells road. For the tourist it
forms a very convenient landmark from which to indicate the more
interesting features of the Mendip plateau. (1) The Roman road from
Uphill to Old Sarum may be traced across a field near the house. (2)
The Devil's Punch Bowl, one of the most notable swallets on the
Mendips, is 1/4 m. nearer Bristol (climb a wall on the R. and the
swallet, a funnel-shaped hollow, partly overgrown with brushwood, will
be seen in a field about 100 yards from the roadside). (3) The old
Roman lead mines are 2-1/2 m. away on the road to Charterhouse. (4) The
"Lamb's Lair" cavern (now unexplorable) lies 2 m. to the N. near the