ed the invaders and
did much to keep Wessex for the English. A successor of
his--Asser--reverted to the tradition of learning established by the
first of the Saxon prelates; he was the contemporary of Alfred, and to
him we owe a great deal of our knowledge of the King. During this
period the trade and industry of the city (it had an important
manufactory of cloth) had grown steadily with its rise as a military
and ecclesiastical centre, but when the see was removed to Old Sarum
in 1075, Sherborne received a blow from which it never recovered.

In some respects there is a similarity between the Abbey of Sherborne
and the Cathedral at Winchester. In certain portions of each building
the same extraordinary transformation has taken place in the same
interesting way. The original heavy Norman piers of the nave have been
pared and carved into the soaring lines and panel work of the
Perpendicular period. This alteration was carried out here by Abbot
Ramsam about the year 1500. In the north transept is the organ, a fine
and famous instrument. The ceiling of the south transept was presented
by the last Earl of Bristol and is composed of black Irish oak. The
Earl's monument with his effigy and that of his two wives, stands
beneath. There will be noticed on the south wall a memorial to two
children, the offspring of Lord Digby; the lines of the epitaph were
written by Pope. The window above is a modern work by Pugin. On the
east of this transept is the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. The font is
singular if, as is stated, it was formerly ornamented with brass
plates. They are said to have been fixed within the quatrefoils on
five sides, the remaining three being plain.

The magnificent choir shows the essential beauty of Perpendicular--the
aspiring line--at its very best. The vaulting seems to carry the
upward flow, as it were, of the stonework to the roof centre without
any loss of the soaring effect. The beautiful windows are all modern
but they are entirely in keeping with the old work. The stalls are
original fifteenth-century carving and the miserere seats and canopies
above should be particularly noticed. The reredos contains two modern
designs in alto-relievo. A peculiar russet tint in the stonework near
the roof is said to have been occasioned by a fire which took place
during one of the many quarrels between the monastery and the town,
due mostly to a difference of opinion as to the ownership of the nave.
An arrow with a