in the main, modern, though part dates
from the 15th cent.

_Chesterblade_, 2 m. N.E. of Evercreech, perhaps owes the first part of
its name to its contiguity to the camp on Small Down (mentioned below).
Its church has a Norm. S. door. Note also (1) the quaintly carved Norm.
corbels at the N.E. and S.E. angles of the nave, (2) the Norm. font,
(3) the stone reading-desk (16th cent.), (4) the bell-cot, (5) the base
of a very ancient cross in the churchyard. On the adjoining height of
_Small Down_ there is a camp, defended on the E. side by two ditches.
In it remains of flint implements and pottery have recently been found,
and are now preserved in the Taunton Museum.

_Chew Magna_ (originally Bishop's Chew) is a village on the Chew, 3 m.
W. from Pensford Station. As its appearance suggests, it was once a
small town. The main street has a raised causeway and several old
houses. The church, supposed to have been built by Bishop Beckington,
whose arms appear on the fabric, is a large and stately building with a
lofty Perp. W. tower. It has N. and S. aisles, but no clerestory. The
S. arcade is Dec. A fine gilded Perp. screen stretches right across the
church. Note (1) round-headed piscinas in sanctuary and S. aisle, (2)
Norm. font. There are several interesting monuments: (1) in S. chapel
an elaborate Elizabethan tomb with recumbent effigies of E. Baber and
wife (1575), (2) in N. chapel an altar-tomb with effigies of a gigantic
knight and a diminutive lady (Sir J. St Loe and wife), (3) in recess
beneath window in S. aisle a gaudily painted wooden figure of Sir John
Hautville (_temp._ Henry VII.), said to have been brought from Norton
Hautville Church (see _Stanton Drew_). The churchyard contains the base
of a cross. At the entrance to the churchyard is a fine old mediaeval
building with a good roof, where the manorial courts were once held.
Hard by is _Chew Court_, an old manor house, possessing a Tudor gateway
with a solar above. Down a lane leading off from the Chew Stoke road is
the _Manor House_, rebuilt in 1656 on the site of an earlier residence.

_Chew Stoke_, a village 4-1/2 m. S.W. from Pensford Station. The church
stands back from the road, and has a graceful tower (restored), with
spirelet. The building is Dec., but much restored. On the R. hand side
of lane leading to the church is the old rectory, a quaint 15th-cent.
building, with small octagonal turrets and a front much decorated with
heraldic devices.

_C