ast for ever. A double row of pillars and arches separates the
nave into three parts of unequal width; and another arch, of greater
span, divides it from the chancel. The arches are in every instance
devoid of mouldings; the capitals are altogether without ornamental
sculpture of any description; and the pillars are even unsupported by
bases. Indeed, the pillars are nothing more than rounded piers; and they
are not less remarkable for their proportions, than for their
simplicity, their diameter being equal to full two-thirds of their
height. Hence it is scarcely possible not to entertain the suspicion
that the floor may have been raised; but there is nothing in the
appearance of the church to justify such an idea. It is scarcely
necessary to mention, that the figures of saints placed upon brackets
against the spandrils of the arches, are all modern. Their execution is
wretched; and its imperfection is rendered but the more apparent, by
their having been painted in imitation of living nature. The
string-course, which runs immediately above their heads, is placed in a
very uncommon situation. It is composed of the nail-head ornament, in
itself a sufficient proof of its antiquity; and also, as is observed by
Mr. Cotman, of such rarity in Normandy, that he does not recollect to
have met with another instance of it.

The windows of the church of Lery were formerly filled with painted
glass, representing very curious subjects, taken from the life of St.
Louis; but every vestige of the kind has now disappeared. From the
church-yard, which stands upon a considerable elevation, immediately
above the banks of the Eure, are seen, upon an opposite hill beyond the
river, the ruins of the once celebrated convent, known by the name of
the _Priory of the Two Lovers_.

NOTES:

[79] _Recueil de quelques vues de sites et Monumens de la France,
specialement de Normandie, et des divers Costumes des Habitans de cette
Province._--Of this work, the first number, containing eight plates,
appeared in Rouen, in 1816; but, unfortunately, it did not meet with
sufficient encouragement to be ever followed by a second.

[80] See _Howlett's Plan and Views of the Abbey Royal of St. Denis_,
plate 6.

[81] See plate 48.

[82] _Turner's Tour in Normandy_, I. p. 188.

[83] _Cotman's Architectural Antiquities of Norfolk_, plate 35.

PLATE XLVII.

CHURCH OF COLOMBY.

[Illustration: Plate 47. ELEVATIONS OF THE CHURCH OF COLOMBY NEAR
V