that so often flourished before the Reformation in notable
centres of religion, and ability to pass through it or 'thread the
needle' was regarded as a test of female chastity; but it was, of
course, in the later middle ages that this superstition arose, and the
'needle' (or rather needle's eye) is evidently only one of the original
niches with the back knocked out. Of these niches (which again were
doubtless for lights) there are four in the chamber besides the
'needle,'--one in each wall,--and, like the niche, at the end of the
passage of entrance, they all have semicircular heads each cut in a
single stone. That in the west wall has a hole or cup at the bottom,
probably to hold oil in which a wick might float, while the others
(except the 'needle') have a sort of funnel at the top, doubtless to
catch the soot from lamps. In the east wall there is also a round-headed
recess of larger size, the meaning of which will be discussed later. An
excavation made in 1900 has lowered the earthen floor and revealed a
set-off running round the chamber,[59] and upon the ground at the east
end are traces of a later mediaeval altar, namely, a long stone parallel
with the east wall and having behind it a small rectangular enclosure
bounded by other wrought stones. Some of the latter were only laid bare
at the above-mentioned excavation, when, moreover, the enclosure was
found to be a pit containing bones, some of which had belonged to a man,
others to an ox, others to a bird. These were probably regarded as
relics, and may have been buried here at the Reformation for safety,[60]
but it is possible that they were placed here at an earlier period, and
that this is an instance of a relic-pit. Two other deposits have been
found in the crypt in modern times, one behind the niche in the south
wall of this chamber, the other behind the niche at the end of the
passage of entrance. Most of the bones in these deposits were human, but
one had belonged to an ox, another to a bird, another to a sheep, while
others could not be identified. These bones again were probably
'relics,' and had almost certainly been built up behind the niches at
the Reformation[61] for concealment. From the west end of the chamber
another doorway similar to the last opens, with an ascent of one step,
into a second chamber, 12 feet long from north to south, 4 feet wide, 9
feet high, and roofed with a semi-vault rising eastwards, in which there
has been a square opening, pro