Page:A Book of the West (vol. 2).djvu/284

218 doorway in the north-east corner, near the altar, of similar dimensions and style, if we may judge from the remains of its arch lying near it, and which may be assumed to be that intended for the priest himself, leading into the chancel. The chancel is exactly 9½ feet long, and shows in the north and south walls the precise spots where the railing (screen) separating it from the nave was fixed. Attached to the eastern wall of the church is an altar nearly equidistant between the north and south walls, 5 ft. 3 in. long by 2 ft. 3 in. wide, and 4 feet high, built of stone and neatly plastered with lime. Eight inches above this altar is a recess or niche about 12 inches high by 8 inches wide, in which, undoubtedly, was once S. Piran's shrine. . . . There is only one small aperture or window, 12 inches high by 10 inches wide, about 10 feet above the floor, in the south wall of the chancel.... A stone seat, raised 14 inches above the level of the floor, and 12 inches wide, covered with lime-plaster, runs all round the walls except the east and south walls of the chancel. The nave is exactly 15 ½ feet long, its floor, together with the floor of the chancel, being composed of lime and sand, apparently as perfect as when first laid down. Each door has two low steps to descend into the church. The church itself is plastered with beautiful white lime. The masonry of the entire building is of the rudest kind, and evidently of very remote antiquity. There is not the slightest attempt at regular courses, but the stones, consisting of granite, quartz, sandstone, porphyry, etc., appear to have been thrown together almost at random—horizontally, perpendicularly, and at every angle of inclination—just as the hand, not the eye, of the workman happened to direct him. To render the church as perfect as when it was originally erected, nothing seemed wanting but its doors and roof. Not an atom of wood, except a piece of about 8 inches long by 2 inches wide, and an inch thick, was found within the walls. That there were many