Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 4.djvu/117

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NEIGHBOURHOOD OF CHELTENHAM.
101
Length of chancel (from the east face of chancel-arch) 14 9
Width of chancel 14 2


The side walls of the chancel are about 2 feet in thickness, the other walls about 3 feet.

The manor-house and chapel of Postlip stand in a very secluded spot among the hills to the south-west of Winchcomb, about four miles from Cheltenham.

The chapel of Stoke Orchard, in the parish of Bishop's Cleeve, is in many respects similar to that I have just described, though evidently of a later date as regards its Norman portions, while the parts which are added, or rebuilt, are of an early Perpendicular. This edifice also consists of a nave and chancel, with a belfry over the chancel-arch. The nave has a small round-headed west window, with a very deep splay; the width of the window itself being only 8 inches, while that of the aperture on the internal face of the wall is 5 feet 7 inches. It has no west door, but a south one very plain; at present square-headed with a semicircular label. A north doorway is a little richer, having a round torus in the jamb, but without any capital; it has a label with a very concave inner surface. The door has some good iron-work. The other windows of the nave, Avith the exception of one inserted, are of the same description with that at the west end, though

North Pier of Chancel arch, Stoke Orchard Church

Base of North Pier of Chancel arch. Stoke Orchard Church


somewhat smaller. The impost of the chancel-arch is that of a Norman arch of two orders, the lower one resting on an engaged shaft, the section of whose base approaches to Early English, as will be seen by comparing it with that of Postlip. The arch itself is pointed, of two chamfered orders, and I take it to belong to the same period with the central belfry and the chancel, viz., early Perpendicular. To this date probably belongs also a buttress on the north side of the nave, and those supporting the chancel-arch. The windows on thee side of the chancel are square-