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The manor house, the home of the Walshes, now a farm, preserves the old hall. Flax Bourton, a parish 5 m. The small Perp. church is noteworthy for the 12th-cent.
Once indeed, since then, while engaged in pursuit of the shy quarry known as the Early Perp., late Dec., E. Eng., and the like, specimens of which I was tracking down in the west, I hit upon him by accident; hearing in an old village rumours concerning a strange man in a cart who neither carried samples nor pushed the brewing interest by other means than average personal consumption tales already beginning to be distorted into material for the myth of the future.
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. 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.
Wellow, a largish but somewhat declining village, lying in a valley 6 m. S. from Bath, with a station on the S. & D. line. St Julian's Church is a fine specimen of early Perp. architecture . It is interesting within and imposing without. The tower is severe but dignified, and a good effect is obtained by a small octagonal turret over the rood-loft staircase.
On one of the hills above the combe is a Roman encampment fenced with a rough wall of stone, locally known as Burrington Ham. Another picturesque spot in the neighbourhood is a glen called Rickford. The church, which stands in some fields near the mouth of the gorge, is a Perp. building with a low W. tower and a peculiarly graceful spirelet over the rood-loft turret. N.E. of Athelney Station.
Cloford, a small village, 2 m. N.E. of Wanstrow. The church is Perp. In the churchyard is the shaft of a cross. The rectory bears date 1606. S. of Bristol, with collieries in its neighbourhood. The church has been rebuilt , but preserves a good Trans. S. doorway, and a chancel arch of the same date. The tower, rebuilt in 1726, is constructed of rather curious stone. Coker, East, a village 3 m.
A dignified row of 17th-cent. alms-houses lines the common roadway to the church and court. Near the bridge on the Yeovil road is the old manor house, now a farm. It has a two-storeyed Perp. porch and some good windows. It was the birthplace of Dampier, the navigator . A Roman pavement, bronzes, and coins have been discovered in the neighbourhood.
The church is a small building with a Perp. W. tower, from the W. face of which project two curious and uncanny carved heads of a man and beast. The walls of the nave still bear the original 13th cent. consecration crosses. The chancel is modern, and contains a rich modern screen and a good E. window of Munich glass.
S. of Glastonbury. Most of the windows of the nave and chancel are Dec., with foliated rear arches. The large W. window is Perp., and contains some ancient glass. In the S. transept is a monument to the three brothers Hood, with a long epitaph in blank verse by Southey. The tall column which is so conspicuous from the Glastonbury Plain was erected to the memory of Sir Samuel Hood.
At a point along the gallery will be heard the rumble of a hidden river. The village itself is not particularly picturesque. The cheeses for which Cheddar is also famous are not the exclusive product of the locality but are extensively made throughout Somerset. The church is worth inspection. It is a fine Perp. building, with a lofty W. tower of four stages.
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