--The east
end of the church at Moulineaux is semi-circular; the roof is of stone,
handsomely groined, and the groinings spring from fanciful corbels. On
either side of the nave, near the choir, is a recess in the wall, carved
with tabernacle-work, and serving for a piscina. Recesses of this kind,
though of frequent occurrence in English churches, do not often appear
in France. Still less common are those elaborate screens of carved
timber, often richly gilt or gorgeously painted, which separate the nave
from the chancel in the churches of many of our smaller villages at
home. The only one I ever recollect to have seen in France was at
Moulineaux.--I also observed a mutilated pillar, which originally
supported the altar, ornamented with escalop shells and fleurs-de-lys in
bold relief. It reminded me of one figured in the _Antiquarian
Repertory_, from Harold's chapel, in Battle Abbey[54].
Immediately after leaving Moulineaux, the road winds along the base of a
steep chalk hill, whose brow is crowned by the remains of the famous
castle of Robert the Devil, the father of Richard Fearnought. Robert the
Devil is a mighty hero of romance; but there is some difficulty in
discovering his historical prototype. Could we point out his _gestes_ in
the chronicle, they would hardly outvalue his adventures, as they are
recorded in the nursery tale.
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