Of Dartmoor and its Borderland, ii The parish church dedicated to St. Patrick is situated at one end of the little town, on a knoll, at the foot of which flows the Avon. The tower is of earlier date than the church, and is of late Norman character, with some Early English addi- tions. The occurrence of arches in the bottom stage, point to its having been the central tower of a Norman church, and the building now used as a vestry appears to have formed one of the transepts of this early structure. Although in four stages the tower is not of great height. The font is of red sandstone, and is most beautifully carved, being of the late conventional Norman type. In the fifteenth century a vicar of the parish was murdered in the church, and when it was restored about the year 1870 under the direction of Mr. James Hine, of Plymouth, some highly finished portions of a recumbent effigy and tomb were discovered, which Mr. Hine conjectured to belong to the tomb of this vicar. In 1436 Bishop Lacy reconciled the church, after its profanation by the murder. Christopher Jellinger, one of the ministers ejected from the Church of England by the Act of Uniformity, in 1662, was sometime vicar of this parish. He was born near Worms, and studied at Basil and Ley den. After the Restoration the Marquis of Winchester offered to prefer him if he would conform, but true to his principles, he refused. He died at Kingsbridge, at the ripe age of 83 years, continuing to preach when he was very old. The ringers of Brent observe some quaint customs at their annual meeting and supper, duly electing for the year '* a lord chief " and a crier." Their signatures are then entered in the " ringers' book," which dates back to 1789. A few years ago Brent had its cross ; now ignorance has done its work, and it no longer exists. Within living recollec- tion it stood against the wall of the old market house, which was demolished many years ago. The cross was then removed to a court behind the Anchor Hotel, where it lay neglected until a very few years since, when a builder broke it up and carted it off to a building he was erecting in the parish of Diptford. It is lamentable that such things should be. The cross was the only antiquity Brent possessed, and that has been suffered to be destroyed. The shaft and arms were octagonal in shape, and the former tapered slightly. Its
