Appendix B item (stones wrongly associated with pre-Conquest period)

Decorated abaci, set above the east and west capitals of the south doorway. The carving consists of strong simple plant-scrolls with narrow, lobed leaves and side shoots. The scrolls are 'fixed' to the edges of the carved zones with three-banded clamps. This church has a wealth of Herefordshire-school early twelfth-century carving, and these abaci are probably part of this scheme. However, the abaci do not fit perfectly onto the capitals below, and they also partly overlap the carved face of the tympanum. It is possible, therefore, that they are reused from an earlier monument, perhaps a graveslab or the edging from an altar stone. But Malcolm Thurlby considers that the carving is twelfth century, and offered examples from several other places where the carving does not quite 'fit' (pers. comm.).