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The history and antiquities of Bath Abbey Church (1825)
The history and antiquities of Bath Abbey Church - 1825 Author:John Britton Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: now the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, commonly called the Abbey Church, stands." Camden says, " Report tells us there anciently existed a temple sacred to Mi... more »nerva, where now the Cathedral Church is f :" and by reciting this without reproof, he silently admits its probability. Notwithstanding the respectable tenour of these authorities, there is reason to believe, from the arguments adduced by Whitaker, that the tradition was an erroneous one, however extensively the lapse of time had contributed to its strength and prevalence. The temple, this critic affirms, after an attentive examination of the numerous antiquities which have been discovered on and near the spot, " actually stood upon the western half of the present Pump-room, ranging along the eastern side of Stall-street;" and he proceeds to shew that it was converted into a Christian church, and under the appellation of St. Mary de Stalls — " the niches in that, namely, the Temple, being denominated stalls in this" — was in part remaining, though ruinous, at so late a period as the termination of the sixteenth century. This latter conclusion is substantiated by an old Leiger-book of Bath Abbey, now in the possession of the Marquis of Bath, wherein are the following entries : — ., " Hie jacet Alexander de Alneto, et Erneburva uxor ejus et Eulius de Alneto filius eorii, et Lucia de Marissis filia eoru, et Jordanus de Marissis filius ejusdem Lucie, et Willelmus de Marissis filius ejusdem Jordani." " Est istud epitaphiu sculptu a dextra in ostio ruinosi templi quonda Minerve dedicati et adhuc in loco dicto sese studiosis offerens. 1582. 7 Decemb. In Civit. Bathon.' " Briefe Discourse," p. 8, edit. 1659. f " Britannia," p. 170. I Vide Warner's " History of Bath," Appendix, p. 48. Since the date mentioned in the...« less