representative of which died in 1348. The church is
a modern antique, with a central tower partly original (15th cent.).
The N. chapel is also original, and contains some interesting
monuments. These are (1) serpentine tomb with bust of Captain Speke the
African traveller, (2) effigy of a lady (_temp._ Edward I.), under a
recessed cinquefoiled canopy, the cusps of which are worked up into
faces, (3) altar-tomb, with effigies of a knight (in plate armour) and
a lady--believed to be John Speke (d. 1442) and his wife, (4) small
brass on floor to George and Elizabeth Speke (1528). Close by is a rude
font, probably early Norm. It was brought here from West Dowlish as the
only remains of a church which existed there prior to 1700.

_Downhead_, a straggling village 2-1/2 m. N.E. of Cranmore Station. The
church is small and devoid of interest. It has been "restored"
regardless of style.

_Downside_, a scattered parish without a village 1/2 m. S.W. of
Chilcompton station (S. & D.). The church is an ugly little structure,
pseudo-E.E., built in 1837. A quarter of a mile beyond the church in a
field on the right are the "fairy slats." Here is a crescent-shaped
British camp overlooking a picturesque ravine. The precipitous nature
of the ground on the S. side forms a natural defence and accounts for
the incompleteness of the rampart The "slats" are merely slight slits
in the ground caused by the slipping of the unsupported strata. Within
the parish, but contiguous to the village of Stratton, is _Downside
Abbey_, a modern settlement of Benedictine monks, who, after their
expulsion from Douai during the French Revolution, finally found a home
here in 1814. The Abbey Church is a building of noble dimensions but
somewhat lacking in symmetry. It is still incomplete. The present block
consists of choir, transepts, a multitude of chapels, and an unfinished
tower. The choir is rather severe in style, but the chapels are very
elaborate. Attached to the abbey is a large and well-equipped college
for boys.

_Draycott_, a hamlet 4 m. E.S.E. of Axbridge, with a modern church
(note font) and a station that serves Rodney Stoke. The locality
possesses some quarries of a hard kind of conglomerate, capable of a
high polish.

_Drayton_, a village 2 m. S. of Langport. The church has been restored,
and the chief feature of interest connected with it is the fine cross
in the churchyard, with a figure on the shaft of St Michael slaying the
Dragon.