Evercreech is a large village 3-1/2 m.  S.S.E. from Shepton Mallet, with a station on the S. & D. J.R.  The first syllable of the name probably means “boar” (cognate with the Latin aper), and recurs in Eversley.  It is famed for its church, which has perhaps the most graceful tower in all Somerset; its double, long-panelled windows, buttresses, and clustered pinnacles are particularly fine.  The earliest part of the building is the chancel (14th cent.), with Dec. windows at the E. and N.; the rest of the church is Perp., the S. aisle being modern.  Note (1) wooden roof of nave, the colours of which are believed to reproduce the original; (2) carving of gallery in the tower; (3) brackets (perhaps for lights) on piers of N. arcade; (4) quaint inscription behind the organ, of the date 1596.  Outside the churchyard is a much defaced cross.  S.S.E. of the village is the commanding eminence of Creech Hill, where there seem to be traces of earthworks, and whence a fine view is obtainable, with the town of Bruton in the valley to the S., and Stourton Tower conspicuous on the hills to the E.

Exford, a village on the fringe of Exmoor “Forest,” near the source of the Exe, 12 m.  N.W. from Dulverton Station.  It is one of the many rendezvous of the huntsman, as there are kennels here for staghounds and harriers.  The houses are dropped into a hollow of the moors through which trickles the stream.  The church braves the gale on the hill top above.  It is remarkable for nothing but its exposed situation, a thousand feet above sea-level—­a fact which has no doubt necessitated its frequent renewal.  The tower is original, but the nave and chancel are modern.  The S. aisle appears to have been built chiefly out of a legacy left by a local blacksmith about 1532.  Note the Devonshire foliage on capitals.  The churchyard contains the base of a cross locally known as the “Crying Stone,” from its appropriation by the parish beadle as a pedestal for proclamations.  At the churchyard gate is a “lipping” or mounting stone.

Exmoor.  Though generally associated in the popular mind with Devonshire, Exmoor is really, in the main, a part of Somerset.  It is the highest, wildest, and most fascinating portion of the county—­a truly delightsome land, a veritable paradise for the sportsman and the painter.  The red deer run wild at will over the moors, or find a congenial covert in the oak scrub which clothes the combes.  Brawling brooks abound on all sides to entice the angler and interest the artist, and a charming strip of sea-coast must also be numbered amongst its attractions.  Though mainly given over to the sportsman and the tourist, efforts have from time to time been made to civilise these wilds.  In general they have proved futile.  Mines have been sunk only to be abandoned, and the agriculturist has fared little better than the miner.  Early in the last century, a Mr Knight made an heroic effort to enclose a large portion of