Archæologists say that our church is ’a perfect gem.’ The walls are very thick, nearly three feet in some places, and the axe marks are still visible. The nave and chancel are about 1100. There is a Norman priest’s door on the south side of the church and a perfect Norman arch, dividing the nave from the chancel. There are _two_ of the consecration crosses still remaining, and some bits of Saxon work. There is no tower, but a little shingled wood turret with two bells, one of which is cracked. The pulpit and the canopy over it are 1628, and there are some splendid ancient candlesticks of brass. The church has small Norman lights mixed up with early English ones, and the pews are all old oak. Uncle Jasper is simply absorbed in the history of the little place, and one day he showed me the deeds and some of the old Churchwarden accounts. I will copy out the one I like best, although he says it is not sufficiently ’early’ to be really interesting. 'ACCOMPT FOR YE YEAR 1685. £ s. d. Received from ye ffor: Churchwarden 00 10 02 Reed ffrom ye psh on Two Rates .. 01 17 03 −−−−−−−−−− Totall Received 02 07 05 −−−−−−−−−− to ye house of Correction .. .. 00 12 04 Ffor Bread and wine & at ye Comm 00 07 06 ffor necessarie Repaire of ye Church 00 15 07 ffor Releiving poor passengers .. 00 02 06 −−−−−−−−−− Payd out 01 17 11 Rests due to ye psh .. .. 00 09 06 These Accompts were examin'd and Allowe'd by us FRED SLOCOMBE ROB COCKRAN WILLIAM COPP ALLIN VELLACOTT I’m sure they had an awful bother to make the accounts balance, they must have got so muddled with all those noughts, especially Rob Cockran. I suppose Tommy Vellacott is a descendant of Allin’s, and I’ve just remembered that there is an old woman who lives at the last house in the village and her name is Slocombe. She is thrice widowed and exceedingly rotund. She says she has only the Almighty to look after her now, and that all her troubles went innards and turned to fat. She has varicose veins. These things do link one up with the centuries. (Father has just looked over my shoulder and says that really, ’after all the money that has been spent on my education!’ But I don’t know what he means. I’m certain varicose is spelled correctly, for I looked it up in the dictionary.) It seems that some land and some money were given to the church by William the First ’for the health of his soul.’ (Perhaps he’d been beastly to Matilda of Flanders and gave it as a kind of penance.) Father says, ’Oh, no. Probably it was a thank-offering when she died.’