io6 The Andent Statu Crosses supplication was once more heard on that spot from which nearly three centuries and a half before many a poor brother had turned sadly away. We have reached the end of the green path across the moor. It is silent now, and no one journeys over it, save the herdsman and the upland farmer, or the wanderer seeking, as we have done, to learn something of its character, and to look upon its crumbling waymarks. We have seen the path made by the passing of the abbot's palfrey, and the packhorse of the merchant ; we have gazed upon the valley where once uprose Buckfast's Abbey walls, and it needs soon that we return to the banks of the Tavy. But for a brief space this side of the moor will yet detain us. In the neigbouring town of Ashburton there is that we should see, and thither we now make our way. Proceeding towards Dart Bridge, we pass on our right the hill on which is Buckfastleigh Church, approached from the town, which lies on the other side of it, by a toilsome ascent of a hundred and ninety-five steps. The church possesses a spire, the only one to be seen in the whole of the Dartmoor parishes, and from its elevated situation is a prominent object in the land- scape for many miles round. In the churchyard is an old cross, erected over forty years ago by Lady Littler to the memory of one of her family. It had been purchased by Mr. R. J. King, who intended to set it up on Dartmoor, whence it was said to have been brought. But he left the neighbour- hood before he was able to carry out his project, and Lady Littler coming to reside at Bigadon, Mr. King's former seat, there found the cross, and used it as a memorial. A pleasant stroll of some two miles will bring us to Ash- burton, an ancient town with many historic associations. In a courtyard in St. Lawrence Lane, a thoroughfare named after the old chantry, the tower of which still stands and now belongs to the Grammar Sehool, may be seen the base of a cross, which has been hollowed out and converted into a trough. It is one foot high, and its shape is octagonal, each of the sides measuring about eighteen inches. There is a plinth, and a moulding round the top, but it is somewhat worn. It has been in its present situation for many years, and was brought, it is said, from Ladwell Orchard, which is not far o£f. It is, however, supposed that it originally stood by a little spring on the out-
