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careful and reverent handling; is cruciform in outline, has a Norman chancel and the rest Perpendicular-; presents a fine old porch, with holy water stoup; a door, lock and key, of Perpendicular work; a lectern of Purbeck marble, a singular and beautiful specimen of art in the twelfth century, which had till recently lain for many years in the churchyard; and lastly, the church is the burial-place of William Moore, the last Prior but one of Worcester Monastery, and who, foreseeing the coming storm of the Reformation, wisely accepted a handsome pension and retired to Crowle manor-house, which he enjoyed for the remainder of a long life. This most interesting mansion was destroyed only three or four years ago; it was a moated house, supposed to have been built in the thirteenth century, and re-built on the old foundations shortly before Prior Moore's occupancy; it included a chapel and all the accessories of a large establishment, a moat, a grange or tithe-barn, pigeon-house, &c. The extent of its accommodations may be gathered from the fact that it contained nineteen beds, of which four were in the gatehouse. Here the worthy ex-Prior comforted himself in his old age with feasting and merry-making. He " assisted " at weddings, subscribed to the village bonfires, treated the neighbours to red wine, cake, and sack, liberally rewarded the minstrels from Worcester upon St. George's Day, and disbursed the handsome gum of 16d. on the "six maids at Crowle yt did singe in the morning on St. Philip and Jacob daye." A fragment of the old house still remains, being converted into a cider-house; the moat is yet in existence, and the extensive gardens may be easily traced.

The only other historical note is that in September, 1805, a boy gathering nuts in Crowle wood accidentally removed a piece of turf and found a trap-door and chimney which led into a cave, divided into several apartments, in one of which was a quantity of cold meat, and in another some skins, with entrails, &c. The cave had been the retreat of thieves and sheepgtealers, but they were never discovered. The