ry rhyme,
"Ride a cock-horse," &c., if from no more veracious record, it seems that
it was honoured by an occasional pageant.

THE PARISH CHURCH (ST. MARY'S).--The old church, of which there is
abundant record in engravings and contemporary drawings, stood on the
ground where now is the new church. Of fine proportions and good style,
its destruction (1790) appears to have been an ill-judged measure. It had
a massive west tower, embattled and crowned by eight ornamented pinnacles
and a series of beautiful windows on the south and south-east sides. Its
chantry of St. Mary was founded in 1413, and there was another chapel
dedicated to honour the resurrection of our Lord. Records remain of the
armorial glass, nearly all of which was destroyed during the time of the
siege of Banbury Castle, when the church was used as a vantage point.
There were sixty coats of arms. The church was said to be the burying
place of Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, its founder, also of William Pope,
cofferer to Henry VII., and of Captayn Wm. Danvers who died "in the
service of God and the King" in 1643. Mr. Arden's list of the Vicars of
Banbury gives the date of death of Vicar Roger as 1278. Many of the
remains of the old fabric are in use as ornaments in Banbury gardens.

Erected about 1797, the present church stands in architecture far away
from the taste of the time. It is nevertheless a bold and good design by
Cockerill of domestic Doric style. Betwixt its beginning and its
completion so many years intervened as to give birth to the rhyme:

"Proud Banbury, poor people,
Built a church without a steeple."

The portico with its semicircle of plain columns and the circular tower,
133 feet high, with its ornamental quartrefoiling and the balconied
alleis are not without massive beauty of their own. The bareness and heavy
structure of the body are compensated for by the beauty of the interior
decoration, which is of the best of the mural work of the kingdom. The
galleries and dome are supported by twelve graceful Ionic pillars,
arranged in an octagonal figure. The chancel has been re-built in unison
with the original design, and the apse is worked in colour in three
divisions representing the twelve apostles with trees of scripture in the
background. The ceiling illustrates the enthronement of Christ (Rev. iv.)
On the wall, at the east of the nave, are inscribed the tables of the
commandments. A band of gold encircles the dome, bearing the tex