itzpaine, Huish
Episcopi, Kingsbury Episcopi, Ile Abbots, etc.). A few towers have only
one window in the belfry stage, but two in the stage below (Hemington,
Buckland Denham). Among the towers with a single window in the belfry
should also be noticed a few where the window is long enough, or placed
low enough, to break the string-course that divides the topmost stage
from the one beneath (Hinton St George, Norton-sub-Hamdon, Shepton
Beauchamp, Curry Rivel).
Many Somerset churches are remarkable for their carved pulpits and
churchyard crosses, or for their woodwork. Fine _stone pulpits_ are
found at Kewstoke, Hutton, Wick St Lawrence, Worle, Locking, Loxton,
Shepton, Cheddar, St Catherine. _Crosses_ with carved heads or shafts
survive at Bishop's Lydeard, Crowcombe, Spaxton, Doulting, Broadway,
Barton St David, Chewton Mendip, Stringston, Horsingtoo, Wedmore. Fine
_screens_ are to be found at Dunster, Norton Fitzwarren, Long Ashton,
Bishop's Lydeard, Long Sutton, Halse, Minehead, Banwell, Croscombe,
Kingsbury. There are carved _oak pulpits_ at Trull and Thurloxton;
remarkable Jacobean pulpits at Croscombe and Long Sutton, and quaint
_bench ends_ at many places, especially at Bishop's Lydeard, S. Brent,
Trull, Crowcombe, Spaxton, Milverton, Bishop's Hull, Stogumber,
Broomfield. The finest _wood roof_ is at Shepton Mallet; there are
others of great merit also at Somerton, Long Sutton, Martock, St
Mary's, Taunton, Evercreech.
Good examples of _ancient glass_ occur at Trull, Nettlecombe, Curry
Rivel, Winscombe, Broomfield, E. Brent. Interesting _brasses_ are
preserved at Banwell, Hutton, Middlezoy, Tintinhull, Yeovil,
Dowlishwake, St Decuman's, Beckington, Bishop's Lydeard.
Besides its stately churches, Somerset possesses some interesting
specimens of mediaeval and Tudor _domestic architecture_. Amongst the
best are Lytescary, Meare (fish house), Martock, Clevedon Court, S.
Petherton, Barrington, Brympton, Dodington, etc. Ancient _hostelries_
survive at Norton St Philip, Glastonbury, and Dunster. _Castles_ are
infrequent in the county, the chief remains being at Taunton, Dunster,
and Nunney, and a few fragments at Stoke-Courcey, Harptree, Farleigh
Hungerford, and Nether Stowey.
VIII. INDUSTRIES
Somerset is _par excellence_ an agricultural county. With the exception
of its share in Bristol, it has no large manufacturing centre. Its
commercial insignificance, however, is quite a modern characteristic.
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