FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123  
124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   >>   >|  
pair above. It will be noted that the string courses are carried round the buttresses. The elaborate cresting is rich but meretricious. The interior, Perp. throughout, is lofty and spacious, but the general effect is spoilt by the timber supports which are found necessary to shore up the chancel arch. Note externally (1) bell-cot above chancel (cp. Wrington), (2) groined S. porch with parvise above: internally (1) plain altar-tombs on either side of sanctuary, (2) groined vault to tower, (3) at S.W. end the tomb, with effigy, of one Camel, an abbey official (observe camels on panels below), (4) finely carved stone pulpit, (5) wooden roof of nave, (6) good E. window. [Illustration: GLASTONBURY TOR] A climb should be taken to the top of the _Tor_--500 ft. above sea-level. The original chapel of St Michael was destroyed by a landslide in 1271. The Perp. tower subsequently erected still remains, though deprived of its upper storey. Note _bas-reliefs_ over doorway, and tablet with figured eagle below parapet. A spring, called the "Blood Spring," near the Tor is said to mark the spot where St Joseph buried the Holy Grail. _Wirrall_, or _Weary All Hill_, near the station, may also be scaled with advantage, if only for its traditional associations. It was here that St Joseph landed, and his staff, taking root, developed into the miraculous thorn tree. The tree, however, no longer exists, for it was hewn in pieces by a Puritan soldier, who is said to have cut off his leg in the process as a penalty for his profanity. An offshoot of the parent thorn grows in the Abbey grounds. _Goathurst_ is a village lying at the foot of the S.E. spur of the Quantocks, 4-1/2 m. S.W. from Bridgwater. It has an old church, with a heavy battlemented tower. The N. chapel contains a large monument with the effigies of Sir Nicholas Halswell (d. 1633) and his wife, surrounded by the kneeling figures of their nine children. The S. chapel belongs to the Kemeys-Tyntes, and is decorated with numerous coats-of-arms round the cornice. Note the piscina in the chancel. Near the church is _Halswell House_ (C.T.H. Kemeys-Tynte), originally built in the Tudor period, containing some fine carving by Grinling Gibbons, and pictures by Salvator Rosa, Van Dyck, Ostade, Ruysdael, Reynolds, and others. _Godney_ (1-1/2 m. N.E. of Meare, 2 m. N. of Glastonbury) is famous for the remains of a lake village which have been discovered here. The village consisted of
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123  
124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

chancel

 

village

 
chapel
 

remains

 
groined
 

Joseph

 
church
 
Kemeys
 

Halswell

 

parent


Quantocks
 
grounds
 

Goathurst

 

developed

 

miraculous

 
longer
 

taking

 

traditional

 
associations
 

landed


exists

 

process

 
penalty
 

profanity

 

pieces

 

Puritan

 

soldier

 
Bridgwater
 
offshoot
 

carving


Grinling

 

Gibbons

 

Salvator

 
pictures
 
originally
 

period

 

famous

 
Glastonbury
 

consisted

 

discovered


Godney

 
Ostade
 

Ruysdael

 
Reynolds
 

Nicholas

 
surrounded
 

effigies

 

monument

 

battlemented

 

kneeling