37. The glass in some of the windows is good.

_Ashton, Long_, is a straggling village, noteworthy for its court
and church. _Ashton Court_, the seat of Sir J.H. Greville Smyth,
was erected by Inigo Jones in 1634, and is surrounded by a
beautifully-wooded park. Long Ashton church contains a fine screen,
gilded and painted (the old colours being reproduced), and a 15th cent.
tomb (in the N. chapel) with two effigies, belonging to Sir Richard
Choke and his wife. There are also two mutilated effigies, preserved in
the N. porch, which are supposed to belong to the de Lyons family, who
once owned the park.

_Ashwick_, 2 m. S.E. of Binegar. There is no village, but merely a
group of houses. The church has a graceful late Perp. tower, with
spirelet: this is the only original part of the fabric, the rest having
been rebuilt in 1825. _Ashwick Grove_ is a prettily-situated mansion,
said to contain a good collection of pictures.

_Athelney_, included within the parish of Lyng (with a stat.), is the
spot historically famous for having harboured Alfred in 878 when he had
to escape before a sudden inroad of the Danes (see p. 12). It was once
an island (the name means "isle of the nobles"), and in wet weather
must even now almost resume that condition. Alfred, after having
defeated the Danes at Ethandune, founded a monastery here, of which all
traces have unhappily disappeared. A small monument (best approached
from the main road between Lyng and Borough bridge) was erected in 1801
by Mr John Slade, the owner of the estate, to commemorate the events
connected with the locality; but the inscription is misleading in
giving 879 (instead of 878) as the year when Alfred took refuge here,
and in stating that he lay concealed for a whole year (instead of a few
months). The neighbourhood abounds in osier and reed-beds, producing
materials for basket-work.

AXBRIDGE, 10 m. N.W. of Wells, is an ancient town, which still
preserves an air of antiquity. It is situated in a neighbourhood
largely devoted to market gardens, in which quantities of strawberries
are grown. It was a borough as early as the reign of Edward the
Confessor, but its corporation was abolished in 1886. Its most notable
feature is the church of St John the Baptist. It is a large cruciform
structure with a central tower, having three windows in the belfry, and
rather shallow buttresses. The figure on the W. face of the tower is
supposed to be Henry VI. or Henry VII., that on