of Nktley.]

THE FOUNTAIN COURT.

311

Below, delicately-wrought arches and recesses in the wall mark the spotsformerly occupied by sepulchral monuments, raised probably over the bonesof abbots or benefactors. The ruins of this transept were cleared away fromthe floor a few years ago, and it is said that coats-of-arms were observed onsome of the stones. The vaulted aisle on the east side of this transept is still ina perfect state, by which, through a door in the south-east comer, the monksentered from the sacristy. Another door, between the door just mentioned and |that which leads to the staircase, communicates with a narrow yard behind thechoir of the church. The entrance from the principal court of the monastery issituated in the south-west corner of the same transept.

It is probable that a tower rose above the intersection of the transepts withthe church, although no distinct traces of it now remain. Tradition says thatits lofty pinnacles formerly served as land-marks to the sailors in their way upthe Southampton-water. The whole length of the church is about two hun-dred feet: its breadth is sixty feet. The space between the extreme w T allsof the two transepts appears to have been about a hundred and twenty feet.

The general arrangement of the abbey buildings bears a strong re-semblance to that of the older colleges in our Universities. The entrancegateway, which faces the south, and is approached from the beach, leads usinto the principal court of the abbey, which, when perfect, must have been

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a noble quadrangle. A fountain is said to have stood in the centre, fromwhich it has long been known by the name of the Jfountclin GToutt; but itssite is now occupied by a clump of picturesque trees: similar trees havetaken root in other parts of the court. The south and west sides were