Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 7.djvu/416

 300 PROCEEDINGS AT MEETINGS OF " The subject of the present notice is the church of Hawkridge, Somerset. It stands on the extreme edge of Exmoor forest, five miles north-west from Dulverton, on a high ridge of land, on one side of which flows the river Barle, on the other the Duns, or Dines, Brook. Its character is Decorated. It consists only of a nave and chancel, with a tower at the west end. The general dimensions are as follows : — Length of chancel, 17i feet ; breadth, 14 feet ; length of nave, 35 feet ; breadth, 17i feet; tower, 7 feet by 7. The chancel is lighted by one eastern window of three lights, a small but perfect specimen of the Early Decorated style ; the window arch is equila- teral. The altar table and rails are poor. The outline of a piscina may be traced through the plaster on the south side, and an aumbrye on the north. From the east wall, north of the altar table, project two oak brackets carved with foliage. On the north wall, jutting out about a foot into the chancel, stands an altar tomb, or what bears resemblance to a tomb ; but the recess in which it is placed being filled up with modern masonry, it is difficult to ascertain what it really is. There is no chancel screen, the absence of which is an unusual feature in the churches of this neighbourhood. There are no windows on the north side of the nave, but three on the south, and all with square heads of wood moulded ; these have evidently been inserted at a much later date than that at the east end. The pews are all of recent date. The font stands at the extreme west end of the nave, against the north wall ; its character is Early Norman, circular, but contracted towards the bottom, without ornament of any kind ; it appears to have been cut from a solid block of dark river-stone, and is lined with lead ; height, 3 feet, diameter, 2 feet. The original base has been destroyed, and a few bricks raise it from the ground. The form of the tower is square, of three stages ; the parapet is simply battlemented ; from the north-east angle of the parapet rises a square pinnacle ; the buttresses are Early Decorated ; the floor of the tower is of large square slabs of slate ; there are three bells ; the greater part of the tower has been rebuilt in the present century, all that remains of the old structure is a Norman doorway on the north side. There is an entrance into the church through the tower, the masonry of which, as well as that of the west window, have no reference to any particular style. The south porch is much of the same character, with the exception of the inner doorway, which is clearly of the same date as the font and doorway in the tower, before mentioned. The mouldings, three in number, are quite plain ; but on the dripstone, which is continued to a level with the spring of the arch, occurs the billet ornament. Remains of much ornamental work may be traced on the imposts. This doorway appears to have been at one time external, since the porch is clearly of modern build, and the surface of the interior wall is cut into in three places as if to admit the hinges of a massive door. " It is difficult to account for the existence of these vestiges of Norman architecture in a church, the general features of which are of much later date, except on the supposition that they are the remains of the original Norman edifice, standing on the same site, and which being in good preser- vation, were adapted into the later structure. It is clear that Hawkridge was a place of some note in Norman times, and would therefore, in all probability, have a parish church ; a spot called Mounceaux Castle, about half-a-mile from Hawkridge, is mentioned in Domesday Book as a place of great strength, and is recorded to have been held at the time of the Conquest, by Alured de Ispania. It afterwards gave name to the family of De Mounceaux,