e building, however, may be obtained on the way down to the Stour,
and seen from the south side of this river, the church rises above its
surroundings, and forms a conspicuous object. A good general view on the
north-east may also be obtained from a bridge over the Avon. From this
point of view the great length of the church is apparent; on the
right-hand side may be seen the ruins of the Norman keep of the castle
on its artificial mound, and nearer to the bridge the remains of a
twelfth-century Norman house. From the churchyard, also, the whole north
side of the church may be seen at once, and many striking features will
be noticed. Among these, the circular staircase attached to the
transept, with its rich diaper work; Norman arcading of interlacing
arches running round the transept; the large windows of the choir
clerestory, so wide and closely set together that the whole wall seems
as though composed of glass--through which, and the windows of the
opposite wall, the light of the sky can be seen; and lastly, the upper
storey of the Lady Chapel with its row of windows of a domestic type.

[Illustration: CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY, FROM THE NORTH-EAST.]

[Illustration: TOWER DOOR.]

A systematic examination of the exterior may best be begun with
the #Western Tower#. This is of fifteenth-century date, and is set
partially within the church--that is to say, its builder did not add
it to the west of the church, making an archway through the previously
existing west front, but pulled down the whole west wall of the nave,
leaving, however, the west walls of the aisles, and carried the north
and south walls of the new tower as far back into the church as the
space occupied by the western bay, thus leaving two spaces at the
west end of the aisles, one now used as a vestry, the other as a kind
of lumber-room. In the west face of the tower is a doorway under a
rectangular label; in the spandrels are two shields, bearing the arms of
the Priory, and of the Montacutes and Monthermers, Earls of Salisbury.
The doors are modern. Immediately above the doorway is a large window
with three tiers, each containing six lights. The head of the window
above these is of an ordinary Perpendicular character. The tracery was
restored in 1828. Above this window is a niche containing a figure of
Christ. The upper stage, which contains the bells, has two two-light
windows in each face, each light being divided by a transom. These
windows are not glazed,