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N. from Langport. The church in its centre is a handsome building, typically and consistently Perp. It contains a fair roof, some panelled bench-ends, and a curious lectern, but its principal ornament is a fine Perp. chancel-screen. Ham, Low, a village 2 m. N. of Langport. It is an excellent example of 17th-cent. imitative Gothic.
Far more pleasing, artistically, are the beautiful bench-ends of the early sixteenth century, with their various emblems of the Crucifixion, their armorial insignia, their symbols and initials. This church is peculiarly attractive, and its situation is delightful. From thence the road runs to Kilkhampton, whither recollections of the Grenvilles have already carried us.
Between the lozenge-shaped shafts of the choir arches, the worm-riddled parclose screens dripped sawdust in little heaps. Down in the nave, bench-ends leaned askew or had been broken up, built as panels into deal pews, and daubed with paint; the floor was broken and ran in uneven waves; the walls shed plaster, and a monstrous gallery blocked the belfry arch.
The building is about 100 feet long, and compared with the nave the chancel is almost like a cathedral choir, thus proving its collegiate character, the stalls still remaining. Much foolish restoration has done irreparable damage, but the church is still beautiful in design and detail; unhappily the screen was badly mutilated, and many bench-ends destroyed.
There are some curious traces of former rood-lofts which seem to speak of eastward enlargements. The bench-ends bear the symbols of the Passion. In the south aisle are the arms of Incledon, famous singer of a past century, who began his career at Exeter Cathedral when eight years old, and later became celebrated at Bath, at Vauxhall, and at Covent Garden; he was a native of St. Keverne.
The pulpit is Jacobean, whilst some of the carved bench-ends date from the 15th or 16th cent., and bear the Tudor rose. Road, a village on the borders of Wiltshire, 4 m. N.N.E. from Frome. The church has a heavy embattled tower, from the top of which Charles II. is said to have reconnoitred the surrounding country after his hurried flight from Worcester. The interior is disappointing.
Zennor, indeed, was formerly known as the place "where the cow ate the bell-rope," a sportive neighbourly reference to its poverty and infertility. But the most famous feature of the church is its carved mermaid. There are two good old bench-ends, now forming the sides of sedilia, and of these the mermaid is one, represented with comb, mirror, and fishy tail.
The churchyard commands a good view of Sedgemoor, with the towers of Othery, Middlezoy, and Weston Zoyland rising conspicuously from it. There are some carved bench-ends and old oak seats. Muchelney, 2 m. S.E. of Langport, is a small village rich in antiquities. Like Athelney, it was once a marsh-girt "island " the largest, or muckleey, amongst its peers. At the W. door there is a fine stoup.
Within are a few old bench-ends, a dated pulpit and altar , and a somewhat incongruous reredos, which is said to have been originally a screen. In the wall of porch is a recess which might be either a niche or a stoup. Some of their balls are said to have been found in the roof during repairs. A good view of the surrounding country is obtained from the road to Langport. Sparkford, a village 7 m.
The beach is excellent, pleasantly diversified with crags; and there is a small outlying mass of rock known as the Guineas or Gwinges, round which a rough sea breaks finely. There is a daughter chapel here, late Tudor, dating from about 1450 and restored in 1885; while the mother-church of St. This was renovated in 1896. There are some good initialled bench-ends in the church.
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