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THE
CHURCH
RAMBLER; A Series of Articles
ON THE Churches in the Neighbourhood of Bath,

Where the gi'oimd,
Mounded irregular, points out the graves
Of our forefathers, and the hallowed fane
Where swains assembling worship — let us walk.
Michael Bruce.

LONDON : HAMILTON, ADAMS AND CO.
BATH: WILLIAM LEWIS, "THE HERALD OFFlCfi

PREFACE.
The folloio'ing Articles on the Parish Churches of
Somerset and Wilts within a radius of a few miles
from Bath were wi'itfen for The Bath Herald.
The approval with which the First Series was received
hy tlie Press and the PuhUc renders any account of
thedesign oftheworlc unnecessary. Experience has shown
that poptilar Articles on the History of our Churches,
with a fair and accurate description of them as they
appear at the present time, find a very large circle of
readers. Fault-finding has been avoided as far as possible,
but where candour has compelled plain speaking it is
satisfactory io find that the usual advantages of pub
licity have followed. At Englislicombe u, new Vicar
has entirely changed the relations of the Church and
the people, and has carefuUy and successfully done
much to restore a most interesting church, bringing to
light further traces of the worh of John de Villula's
period. It should be understood in reading the article on
BadstocTc Church that contracts to the amount of £2, 700
have been signed, and that the restoration is in active
progress. Further, since the publication of the article
on Whaddon Church the young Squire of Rood Ashton
has set about restoring tlie building, and making it
once more decent.
It teas intended to include ihe church of 8. Margaret,
Queen Charlton, in ihis series, but it was found on
arrival that there was no service, and that the church
path teas green iviih loeeds. Remark was made on
ihis : there is now regtdar service and ihe slate of things
in the parish is very much better. These instances

e PREFACE.
occurring where nothing of the kind ivas sought show
the advantage of sometimes enjoying the gift —
To see oursel's as ithers see us.
The ioriter of " The Church Rambler" wishes lo
acknowledge as fully as Impossibly can the unvarying
courtesy and kindness he has received from tlie clergy
whose clmrches he has visited. To attempt to name
among so many wotdd only lead io vexatious omissions,
but some obligations cannot be passed over. The Bev.
Canon Jones, F.8,A,, Vicar of Bradford-on-Avon,
has laid all his stores of informatimi and keen observa
tion at the writer's service in dealing toith Wiltshire
churches, and his constant kindness is one of the
pleasaniest of the many pleasant memories connected
loith the subject. The Eev, E, B, Edgell, Rector of
Bromham, the Rev, W. S. Broume, Rector of Stanton
Prior, the Rev, F. S. Forss, Vicar of Limpley Stoke,
generously placed at the writer's service their oicn
unpublished collections as to their respective parishes.
Wherever else information has been sought it has been
freely given, and the writer owes more than he can
readily express io the advice and the abundant informa
tion of C, E, Davis, esq., F.S.A., the City Architect of
Bath, to whom he has been at liberty at all times to
¦refer. He is also grateful to innumerable corres
pondents whose interest in tlie subject has been unflagging.

CONTENTS.

 :o: 
CHURCHES.

Dedication.

Parish.

Page.

S. CyriAC...

.. Lacock

¦¦ 9

.S. Michael

.. Burnet

¦¦ 34

S. Martin

.. North .Stoke

•¦ 44

All Saints

.. CORSTON

•• S3

All .Saints

.. Woolley

¦• 73

Holy Trinity

... DOYNTON

.. 82

S. Mary the Virgin

.. Broughton Gifford

91

Holy Trinity

.. Paulton

.. 102

S. Andrew

.. Chippenham

., Ill

S. Gregory

.. Beckington...

.. 132

S. Nicholas

.. Biddestone ...

.. 148

S. Peter ...

.. Marksbury ...

.. 158

S. John Baptist ...

.. Frome

. 165

S. Michael

., Melksham ...

~ 185

s

CONTENTS.

Dedication,

Parish.

Page.

s.

James ...

Trowbridge

... igg

All Saints

... Lullington...

... 227

S.

Lawrence

... Road

.. 246

S.

Lawrence

... Stanton Prior

... 254

S.

Nicholas

... Radstock ...

... 266

S.

John Baptist ...

... MiDsoMER Norton

... 277

S.

Mary- Magdalen

... Langridge ...

... 294

S.

John Baptist ...

... Keynsham ...

... 30I

S.

Nicholas

.. Bromham ...

••• 323

S.

Katherine

... S. Katherine

... 341

S.

Mary the Virgin

... SWANSWICK ..

¦•¦ 349

S.

Mary ...

... Dyrham

... 364

S.

Katherine

... Great Chalfield

••• 379

S.

Mary the Virgin

... Bitton

... 387

S.

Martin

... Bremhill ...

... 403

S.

John Baptist ...

... Devizes

... 41S

S.

Andrew

... Castle Combe

.. 438

S.

Mary the Virgin

... Devizes

... 454

?
... Whaddon ...
... 467
S.
Bartholomew ...
... Corsham
•• 477
S.
Michael
... Kington S. Michael 501 |
s.
Lawrence
... Bradford-on-Avon
•¦ 517
^, pYRIAC, J.ACOCK,  )VeST.

THE

Church Rambler.

^, Cpriac, KLacocfe.

ACOCK is a remarkalDle old-world
town, and aa one wanders along its
broad ways and examines the cha
racter of its quaint and venerable
houses a flood of memories rushes
over the mind, and it requires but a slight
effort of the imagination to give to what we
have read of the social life of our ancestors a
real and present existence. We seem in fancy
to hear the winding of the horn as the coach
¦with its load of jaded passengers bound from-
Hyde-park Corner for Bath or Bristol, dashes up
2 2

10 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
the street and draws rein before . the spacious
hostelry. But grotesque corbel or Tudor wiiidow
carries our thoughts back still further, and if we
hear a horn now it is that of the hunter chasing
*• the wild beasts" in the thick woods which once
surrounded the place ; while the gay procession
passing before us is that of some stately company,
seeking perchance on its way to Court the
hosjjitality of the Abbess of Lacock, and bowing
reverently as it passes to that good priest who,
returning from an errand of mercy, is just emerg-
in.g from the deep shadow of that Gothic archway.
Lest I speak in riddles, Lacock is like a town
that now wakes up after a long slumber to find
itself in the same condition as it -was two or
three centuries ago. The most direct road from
Bath to London lies through it — as the Romans
knew, for their way to the west followed this line
— and there is evidence in the character of the
existing inns that this was once a highway used
by the modern inhabitants of the Island of
Britain. It is therefore at first sight .surprising
that so many of the ancient and picturesque
features of the place are preserved, instead of
beiog swept away by the improvements of the last
150 years.-* The explanation is easily given from a

' Mr. C. II. Talbot writes upon this point :— " It i3 true
" that in the village o( Lacock there are a number of ancient
"houses remaining. Nevertheless, many of the stone fronts
" with mullioned windows and small gables in the roof, which
"give the place a picturesc[ue appearance, and which the
"hasty visitor sets down as Elizabethan, were built in the
"lait century : these are frec(uently new fronts added to much

LACOCK CHURCH. 11
curious account of Lacock printed by George Witham
a Roman Catholic priest, in 1806, but never pub
lished. He says — " The old road from London to
"Bath, though the shortest, was given up on
" account of the Inconvenience of the two hills,
" Bagdown and Bowden, in consequence of which
"the two roads by Chippenham, Devizes and
" Melksham began to be more frequented, through
" the Negligeuce or Inattention of the Proprietors
"of Land who might without any very great
" Expense have made this road ¦ convenient for
"carriages and by that means have rendered their
" estates more productive, but at the time the
" spirit of Improvement and Enterprise was not
" so great as at the present Day." Britton writing
about twenty years later adds, " The mode of
"travelling on.this road about one hundred years
" ago deserves to be mentioned on account of the
" striking contrast which it presents to the usages
" of our own time. From Bath to Sandy Lane, a
" stage of fifteen miles, it is said was the first day's
" journey." John Britton lived to see a far greater
revolution effected of the " usages'' of the time
"older houses. We have however sjiecimens that have not
"been new fronted, ranging fiom the fourteenth to the end of
" the seventeenth, and into the last century. There are two
" houses of the fourteenth century, one, on the north side of
"the street which leads from the bridge to the church, is
" easilj recognised by the character of its arched doorway and
"hood moulding, the other happens to be the one shown in
'• your view of the church, on the right hand. It has a new
"front of the last century, but within the house an arched
" doorway remains similar to the one just mentioned, which
" formed the original entrance from the south side."

Vi THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
at which he wrote. But the result to Lacock
of the change in the line of road has been that
with a few inevitable alterations it presents much
the same appe.arance as it did in the time of its
once owners the inmates of Lacock Abbey, of
the foundation of which it is time to speak.
Lacock, which in the time of King Edward
belonged to one Edwin, appears in Domesday
among the extensive possessions of Edward de
Sarisberi, .and these in due succession descended
to Ela, who was married to William Longespee,
the son of Fair Rosamond. It has been previously
told how at the close of an adventurous life he
founded the Carthusian priory of Hatherop -which
his widow transferred to Hinton Charterhouse.
From all the stories which the chroniclers tell of
the Lady Ela she seems to have been a fit
representative of the noble family of which she
was head, .t woman of firm, resolute mind aud
regal capacity', while at the same time pure .and
devout in her life. As the law then stood her
husband would enjoy during her life the title
and position of Earl of Salisbury, and at that time
few wealthy widows failed to remarry. It show,s
the character of Ela that she remained inde
pendent, and for the period of seven jears duriufr
which bringing up her family of eight children
she administered the .affairs of her vast estates
resided in the ancient castle of Sarum and held
the office— hereditary in her family— of sheriff of
Wilts. I luring all this period she seems to have
cherished the project which she now set about

LACOCK CHURCH. U
to execute, of founding a nunnery as her husband
had founded a monastery. Judging her according
to modern standards a sharp tongue may say that
she escaped the dominion of a second husband
to fall under that of the priests. Such works
however were the natural outcome of wealthy
piety in that age, and it is no mark of weakness in
Ela that she desired to close her days in a quiet
and holy retreat which was sacred from the
quarrels, the bloodshed and the intrigues of a some
what rude age in which brute force was the paramount
power. The " Book of Lacock," which is amongthe
Cottonian MSS., says — " Ela had now survived her
" husLand for seven years in widowhood, and had
" frequently proposed to found monasteries
"pleasing to God, for the salvation of her soul,
"and that of her husband, and those of all their
" ancestors, she was directed in visions (per
" revelationes) that she should build a monastery
" in honour of St. Mary and St. Bernard, in the
"meadow called Snails' Mead, near Lacock.
" Accordingly, on the 16th of April, 1232, when
" she was in the 45th year of her age, she founded
" two monasteries, in one day ; in the morning
" that of Lacock, in which holy canonesses might
"dwell, continually and most devoutly serving
" God ; and in the afternoon the priory of Henton,
" of the Carthusian order.'' This passage must be
understood simply that Ela laid the foundation
of some building at Hentou and then proceeded
to Lacock and performed a similar act there on
the same day. Henton was commenced in 1227,

U THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
and the first legal steps for the foundation of
Lacock were certainly taken in 1229. By her
foundation charter Ela gave her whole manor of
Lacock to found an abbey which was to be called
the Place of S. Mary (Locus beatw Marice), her
husband's, it should be noted, having been called
the Place of God (Locus Dei). In subsequent
documents we find the name of S. Bernard added.
The inmates were canonesses of the order of S.
Augustine, .and as we learn from extracts made by
Dugdale from the document since destroyed by
fire iu the Cotton library, Alice Garinges was the
first canoness of Lacock and she took the veil in
1232. Six years after, Ela having completed her
labours as foundress, and obtained from the
powers royal and ecclesiastical sanction and con
firmation of her design, and having seen her
eldest son arrive at an age at which she could
commit his patrimony to his charge, herself took the
veil at Lacock on Christmas Day, 1238, and retired
into the rigid exclusion from the world prescribed
by the rules of the order of black canons. The
arrangements of the institution were still e-vi-
dently iu au inchoate state, but two years later, on
the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, Ela
was constituted first Abbess of Lacock, and from
that date the history of the society may be said to
commence. On the 6th of May, 1241, Ela obtained from
King Henry III. a charter conceding the right to
hold a weekly market on Tuesday, and also the
privilege of obtaining one cart of wood every

LACOCK CHURCH. 15
week in the forest of Melksham, which privilege
was afterwards commuted into a grant of a certain
portion of the forest. On the same day the nuns
by au exchange with the Abbot of Stanley ob
tained a part of his quarry of Haselbury, seventy
six feet wide. It required a great quantity of
stone to erect the fine range of buildings which
constituted this Abbey, and Bath stone was then
as highly appreciated as it is now. Any visitor
to Lacock has manifest evidence of its durability.
Finding the weakness and infirmities of age
creeping on her Ela resigned her office of abbess
in 1256, but lived five years longer in the retire
ment of the building. At length, to quote again
the " Book of Lacock," " in the seventy fourth year
"of her age, on the 24th of August, 1261, yielding
" up her soul in peace she rested in the Lord and
" was most honourably buried in the choir of the
" monastery." In the cloisters is still shown her monumental
stone pos.sibly removed from the church. It was
formerly inlaid with brass which has however
been removed. On it is the following inscription —
infra sunt dbfossa el^ venerabilis ossa
QU^ dedit has SEDES SACRAS MONIALIBUS jEDES
ABBATISSA QUIDEM QU^ sancte VIXIT IBIDEM
ET comitissa sarum virtutum plena bonarum.
Various other abbesses followed in due succession,
and at the taxation of 1291 we find the revenues
of the abbey valued at £101 12s. 4d. Lacock was
one of the lesser monasteries placed in the power

IG THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
of the king by the Act of Parliament of 1536,
but was among the thirty respited by him for a
time. On the 21st of July, 1539, it was however
surrendered and the Abbess Johanna Temmes, the
Prioress, and fifteen nuns were dismissed with
pensions. The manor of Lacock and the conventual
buildings were granted to Sir William Sherington
or Sharington, who converted them into a family
residence. Dying in 1566 he was succeeded by
his brother Henry, during whose life it was that
in 1571 Bishop Jewel paid his fatal visit to Lacock
Church. This eloquent and hard-working prelate
had made a promise to preach at Lacock on a
particular Sunday, and persisted in doing so
though a friend who met him on the way saw that
he was not in fit health and urged upon him
that it was better for the people to lose one sermon
than to lose their Bishop. Jewel therefore ijreached
in the parish church from the text " Walk in the
"Spirit," went from the pulpit to his bed at
Monkton Farley and died there in a few days.
Sir Henry Sherington had two daughters, of .
whom the eldest, Olive, married John Talbot, of
Salwarpe. She inherited the lordship of the
manor and nearly the whole of the estate of
Lacock, but a portion of it, viz., Bowden, compris]
ing the greater part of the present estate of Bowden
park exclusive of the part now known as Shepherd's
Heath, was left to the second daughter Grace, who
married Sir Anthony Mildmay. Her estate was
inherited by her daughter Mary, the wife of Francis

LACOCK CHURCH. 17
Fane, Earl of Westmoreland, and the Earl sold it
about 1663. The severed estates therefore were
never re-united. There is a romantic tradition that
Olive Sherington's lover was not approved by her
father, aud that she leapt from the battlements of
the Abbey into his arms to elope with him. He
caught her in his arms and was struck senseless by
the concussion. He was however recovered and
h*r father as she had made such a leap said she
must e'en marry him. This may safely be relegated
to the same limbo as the fictions and dreams
which the chroniclers state of Ela and her family
though it is worthy of note, as a coincidence, that
the g.-ntleman who discovered her retreat when
liiddeu by her friends in Normandy was a Talbot.
Olive Talbot married secondly Sir Robert Stapleton
or St.-ipylton, of Yorkshire, and had issue by both
marriages. During the Civil War the Talbots were staunch
adherents of the royal cause, and Lacock Abbey
having been fortified and garrisoned was besieged
and taken by a detachment from Fairfax's army
binder Col. Devereux, on the 20th September, 1645.
In the early part of the 18th century John Ivory
Talbot, esq., knight of the shire for Wilts, was
owner of Lacock. He married Mary, sister and
heiress of Thomas, last Lord Mansel, by
whom he had two sons, John Talbot, esq., of
Lacock, and the Rev. Thomas Talboi, sometime
Rector of CoUingbourn Ducis, and one daughter
Martha, who married the Rev. Wm. Davenport,
D.D., rector of Bredon, in Worcestershire, younger

18 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
son of Henry Davenport, of Worfield, now called
Davenport house, near Bridgnorth. As the
second son succeeded to the Mansel estates his
brother, dying without issue, bequeathed Lacock
to his sister and her heirs. Her son, William
Davenport, assumed the surname of Talbot
and married Lady Elizabeth Fox Strangways,
daughter of the Earl of Ilchester. By this lady
he had a son, Henry Fox Talbot, the present
respected owner of Lacock, who is known to
science as the inventor of the Talbotype process.
A portion of the part of the Abbey used as a
dwelling-house was new fronted in a most fantastic
imitation of Gothic architecture, when John Ivory
Talbot in 1756 rebuilt or remodeUed the hall on
the west side. I am informed that the interior of
this hall is better than the fagade. The remains
of the conventual buildings are very complete and
interesting. When perfect the Abbey seems to
have consisted of a range of buildings round two
quadrangular areas. The buildings on the north
and the greater part of the east side of the
northern court, containing bakehouse, brewhouse,
granaries, &c., were erected by Sir William
Sherington after the dissolution, and are a very
good specimen of the architecture of his time.
The cloisters surround three sides of the other and
are still very complete, and the grotesque heads on
the bosses of the roof stare down upon the visitor
in most curious fashion. The painting on the
vaulting has been renewed, probably in the last
century, and many of the coats of arms are

LACOCK CHURCH. 19
wrongly coloured. There are also remains of
the church, long and narrow, the chapter-house
with a central pillar, and a room of the 13th
century, commonly called the kitchen, in wliich
is a very large stone trough, probably used for
fattening fish for cooking, though many other uses
have been ascribed it. Mr. C. H. Talbot however
has given in the " Wilts. Maga.," Vol. xii.,
very good reasons for concluding that this chamber
was a common room or day room. The kitchen
adjoined the north-west angle of the cloister court,
and is still in use though very much altered. The
nuns of Lacock were highly skilled in pisciculture and
had a most extensive range of ponds and stews for
fish. In the return made to King Henry VIII.
of their revenues and the annual charges upon it
I notice that there was a certain distribution to
the poor on the anniversary of the death of the
foundress, and that there was an alternative allowed
between cheese and dried fish, which shows that
these ponds afibrded a most welcome addition to
their food supplies. I am sorry to say that instead
of maintaining that useful pursuit a former owner
of Lacock had several of these filled in, and the
existing pond is now given up to water lilies and a
few pike.
There is no portion now remaining of the
Norman church which it is known at one time
existed at Lacock, but in some recent restorations
the workmen came across stones of a Norman
edifice which had been used again by Perpendicular
buUders. It may also be noticed in passing that

?.0 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
before Ela built her Abbey she entered into an
agreement with the Rector of Lacock that his
rights should be respected, and that the chaplains
who would celebrate divine service in the Abbey
should swear fidelity to him. All this is fully set
out in a " C'onventio inter Elam comitissam et
"Rectorem ecclesise de Lacock circa immunitatem
"dicta3 ecclesiiie parochialis."
The church now consists of a western tower
and porch, nave with north aud south aisles, north
and south transepts, and chancel with a north
chapel. The oldest portion of the church is the
north transept of simple but good Decorated
work which until 1861 had been hardly altered.
The south transept, originaUy of the same
character, though of later date, has undergone
considerable alteration. As a westward con
tinuation of it stands what seems to have been a
dwelling-house built against the -n^all of the
church, though now adapted to serve as a vestry
It forms a curious excrescence on the exterior
of the building. The small square tower is
also Decorated, but at a later date it waa
carried some feet higher, and the existing
Perpendicular belfry windows are cut through
the string course of the earlier work while
their Decorated predecessors can be seen walled
up below them. The spire was probably at
ally rate begun when the to-n^er was raised, it
has been repaired within the last few years. The
arch and hood moulding of the window over the
porch are Decorated, though the original tracery

LACOCK CHURCH. si
has disappeared. The western porch is late
Perpendicular work, and as the shield of Baynard
is on one of the bosses it was probably added by
a' member of that family who were lords of the
manor of Lackham in this parish. The nave, with
clerestory aud aisles,_ is the work of the fifteenth
century ; it has large segmental headed windows,
and its buttresses are continued above the battle
ments in the form of pinnacles. Grotesque masks
are freely used in its adornment. The chapel on
the north of the chancel is of later date, and the
be.Tutif ul work on its parapet — which is not pierced —
is of the s.ame ch.aracter with the east window
inserted in the nave above the chancel arch — no
doubt to give more light. The chapel is in two
bays, the windows of which have been blocked
up by the erection of monuments within. Of one
nothing but the hood moulding remains ; the
other has not been so effectually destroyed,
and the tracery and whole design of very
elegant window can be seen externally. The
chancel was rebuilt in 1776, with the utter want
of taste characteristic of the period.
In 1881 the transepts were raised in order to
open the great transept arches which were blocked
above the springing. No doubt they had been so
left by the builders of the nave with the intention,
never fulfilled, of rebuilding the transepts. The
new courses of masonry can be easily distinguished
from the old. Against the advantage of throw
ing open the arches we must set the bad effect of
the broad expanse of dead wall within the church.

n THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
as a remedy for which polychrome decoration
might be exciised. The roof of the nave is in its
framing and ornamental details probably of the
same date as the clerestory. It had a tie beam
at each end and one in the middle, that at the east
end has been cut away for the insertion of the east
-window over the chancel arch, showing that the
roof is older than the windo-w. It was ceiled with
plain deal by the late Right Hon. T. H. S.
Sotheron Estcourt as a gift to the parish when he
resided at Bowden. Much more has been done in
the way of restoration, and much yet remains to
be done. The chancel has still a plaster ceiling, and
the organ and choir are still perched up in a western
singing gallery. The area of the nave and transepts
has been refitted with low open seats, and there are
a new pulpit, reading desk and stone font. But
the chancel remains in a most unworthy condition.
On either side of it, close to the chancel arch, are
two large pews, very excellent specimens of the
most exclusive form of family pew. These,
which are the seats of the lay rector — in this
case the lord of the manor — effectually hide the
Communion table from the view of nine-tenths
of the congregation, and make the pre-communion
service a separate celebration in which they
have no part. Beyond these pews* a number
of forms were ranged in the chancel, which
were uot occupied during morning prayer, but to
which I believe intending communicants after-
-* I am glad to hear upon very good authority that " it is
2)ossible they may soon disappear."

LACOCK CHURCH.
wards removed. I have been thus precise in
describing the existing state of this chancel to show
what strange vagaries used to be performed in the
way of church arrangements, and because I am
sure it will soon be amended.
I recently attended morning service in this
church. There was a very good congregation, and
morning prayer was read simply and impressively
by the Vicar, the Rev. Edwin O. Roach, M.A.
The Hymns Ancient and Modern, with Appendix,
are in use, and after the iiivitatory hymn.
Once, only once, and once for all,
His precious Ufe He gave,
The Vicar preached in his surplice from Mark vii.
32, 35 — "And they bring unto him one that was
" deaf, and had an impediment in his speech ; and
"they beseech him to put his hand upon him.
" And he took him aside from the multitude, and
"put his fingera into his ears, and he spit, and
" touched his tongue ; And looking up to heaven
" he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that
" is, be opened. And straightway his ears were
" opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed,
" and he spake plain.'' Referring to the incidents
of this miracle the preacher said that when our
Lord was upon earth one of His merciful deeds
was that He went about healing men's bodies. We
should have expected that each of these cures
would have been like the other. But no, there
were different characters to be dealt with,
which required special modes of treatment. It
was just so with the manner of spiritual healing.

2A THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
To some the word of life came as an arro-s\- in the
midst of the congregation, to others in se/ret, to
others on a sick bed ; God has something to say
to each one of them and He shows them the
way to heaven. What, he continued, was thuir own
case before they met with Jesus, how many there
¦were who after invitations, after warning;;, cared
not. That was what made Jesus sigh, fur they
read that He led this man apart "audfighed."
Jesus sighed when He thought of the great evils
under which the whole body of the Church
Laboured, when He thought how many winild not
listen to Him, and how many there were fur whom
He had shed His blood in vain, when He looked
down that congregation and saw how many there
were who would turn their backs upon His table —
after all He had done and suffered for them, they
would not " do this in remembrance uf Him."
Jesus said Ephphatha — what a world mu.st have
opened to that man, when the music of the human
voice first entered iuto his ears, and remember
what a voice it was, so gentle, so sweet, the echoes
of which would not be lost to him even in
eternity. And what would he do with the tongue ?
Making an application of this theme, he .^^aid to
his liearers how often did they now use both im
properly and cried shame upon them that they did
uot use their faculties more in God's --ivice.
Jesus only could cure them, loosen tin strings
of their tongues and make them serve God. Then
when they went among men they would have Him
always with them. The preacher asserted that

LACOCK CHURCH. S5
that was why Christians avoided theatres and
ball rooms and such amusements, because thsy
would forget Him there, and a Christian ought
never to go into a place where he could not ga
do-wn upon his knees aud say, " Lord have mercy
upon us." The preacher concluded by a very
eloquent general application of the idea with which
he started, saying, " He doeth aU things well ;"
He bids us — blind and deaf as to heavenly things —
come to Him, and to the deaf ears and to the-
tongue tied down he says, " Ephphatha." The
holy communion ' was afterwards administered.
The church contains several monuments of
interest, two of which are in the north chapel,*
having superseded the smaU altar which once
occupied it, and the numerous statues which
once adomed it, but of which only the niches-
^ Mr. C. H. Talbot favours me with an interesting historical
.note oa this chapel, which I subjoin :— "The chapel on the
" north side of the chancel is mentioned as * our Lady's-
" Chappell ' by Dingley (' History from Marble'), and I have
" myself heard it called 'lady Chapel' not very long ago. It
" is a good specimen of late Perpendicular building, with a
"stone vault and pendants. The arch leading into this cliapel
"from the north transept was walled up apparently by Sir
" William Sherington, for the purpose of converting it into a
"mortuary chapel for his familj'. In this wall there was a
** Renaissance doorway, agreeing exactly with other examples
"of Sherington's wort in the Abbey. When the wall was
"removed a short time ago this doorway was taken down,
"suffering unfortunately some injury in the process, and was
"re-erected in the school building, where it now forms the;
"communication between the old and new parts. I believe-.
" the proportior.s were slightly altered by the jambs being
" lenn-thened. The mouldings and ornaments of the arch
3 2

ss THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
remain. It was once completely covered with
colour, but it has been considerably injured. The
mouldings of the western arch were very much
mutilated in the erection of a wall to block up
the archway ; this has only recently been removed.
Though as I have said the two windows on the
north side are blocked up, the east window re
mains, with a deep sUl showing where an altar
used to be, while beside it the piscina still remains.
The eastern bay of the chapel is occupied by
a large tomb, a not unworthy specimen of
Renaissance work. This is to. the memory of
Sir William Sherington, the purchaser of Lacock at
the dissolution. Strype in his "Memorials" gives
a graphic description of the manner in which
Sherington acquired his wealth, perhaps typical
of some other purchasers of monastic property.
The story is told very graphically how Sherington
" above-mentioned were found to have been mutilated by the
"workmen who walled it up. On the other hand, the stone
" work, when it had been thus covered, retained its original
"painting, which remains and is much more delicate than
" that in the rest of the chape], showing that the latter has
" been repainted at what date is not known, but perhaps after
" the erection of Sir John Talbot's monument. A portion of
" the lower part of the jambs of the arch has never beeri'
" coloured ; and the outline of this portion is such as to show
" that, after the work was built and before it was coloured,
*' a low stone screen was erected across the opening. I can
"see no evidence of "the squints," or hagioscopes, having
" been mutilated ; they form no part of the original design,
"but have been out through the piUars at a later date. I
" think it possible that they may have been introduced when
" the ancient forms of worship were revived in the reign of
"Mary, the arch being then walled up. There are other

LACOCK CHURCH. S7
was a chief officer of his Majesty's mint and how
it was found in 1547 that he had coined testihs
(a sort of money embossed and under standard},
contrary to his instructions, had defrauded the
king of clippings and shearings'* to the sum of
^4,000 and above, made the king's coin lighter to
suit his purpose and falsified the accounts of the
mint. To aid Lord Seymour of Sudely in his
treason Sherington granted him the mint at Bristol
out of which he was to receive .£10,000 a month
for the support of his troops. On the discovery
of his frauds Sherington was clapped into the
Tower when he made full confession. He was
attainted a.nd his estates and lands forfeited. But
he soon after made a great purchase again— -among
them the manor of Lacock — and says Strype, " It
"seems he had money enough stUl left to buy
"again what he had forfeited to the Crown
" evidences of successive alterations at this point, which it
" would take too much space to enter into. The tomb of Sir
" William Sherington bears his name in full, on the under
"side of the arch, and armorial bearings indicating his three
"marriages, the colours on the shields having been falsified
"in the repainting ; the colouring detracts consideribly from
" the beauty ol this monument. The crowned W, in the glass
" of the east window, which recurred I think four times, has
" no reference to Sir William Sherington ; the glass is con-
" temporary with the stone work and earlier than his time ;
"the design of all the glass which filled the tracery may be
" made out ; in the heads of the lights there are remains of
"canopies that have a tendency to Cinquecento character."
* It is a moat amusing fact that Aubrey was led away by a
hasty perusal of this phrase "clippings and shearings," and
states in his " Collections" that Sherington was the King's tailor.

ss THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
" by histreason." He was also restored to Royal
favour. The second bay of the chapel is filled by a
classical monument, on which is a lengthy Latin
inscription to the memory of Sir John Talbot,
"Ducis Salopiensis nobilissimS famili^ natus,"
erected by his grandson and heir John Ivory
Talbot. He was born on June 7th, 1630, and
died March 13th, 1713. This Sir John Talbot
was the last in the male line of that branch of the
Talbot family who owned Lacock, his sons died in
the lifetime of their father, the eldest, Sherington,
having been killed in a duel at Glastonbury. His
daughter, Anne, married Sir John Ivory, of
Ireland, and their son, John Ivory, succeeded to
the Lacock estate, and took the name of Talbot.
The monument is entirely out of harmony with
the chapel in which it is placed.
In the chancel is a tablet —
sacred to the memory of
THE right H0.\'. lady ELIZABETH THERESA FEILDING
ELDEST DAUGHTER OF HENRY THOMAS SECOND EARL
OF ILCHESTER
BORN NOV. i6tH I773 DIED M-'\.RCII I2TH 1846
SHE MARRIED FIRSTLY ON APRIL 17TH 1 796
WILLIAM D.'VVENPORT TjVLBOT OF LACOCK ABBEY'
ESQUIRE,
WHO DIED JULY 30TH iSoO
AND SECONDLY ON APRIL 24TPI, 1S04
CAPT AFTERWARDS REAR ADJIIRAL CHAS FEILDING
WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 2ND 1837
VALE M.ATER OPTIM.\ SU.UISSIM.V C.VRISSIM.V

LACOCK CHURCH, SO
Near it is one which records that " near this
" enclosed in oak of an English ship of war is all
" that remains in this world of the lamented Rear-
" Admiral Charles Feilding.'' A tablet on the south
wall is to the memory of three persons bearing a
name which cannot be passed unnoticed — Marv
Davenport wife of John Shakespear died in 1791
aged 36, John Shakespear died Jan. 10th 1826
aged 75 and John Talbot Shakespear the eldest
son of the foregoing who died at sea on his passage
from the East Indies 12th AprU 1825 aged 42.
At the foot are the two lines, in this case singularly
appropriate : —
Praises on tombs are honors vainly spent
A man's good name is his best monument.
In the south transept is an interesting monu
mental brass, which has been described by Mr. E.
Kite, author of " The Monumental Brasses of
WUtshire." He states that this transept is
attached to the manor of Lackham iu Lacock
parish, and the successive owners have used it as
a burying place. At the time of the Domesday
survey it was held by a tenant of William de Ow,
after whom it became the property of the Bluets,
and from them passed by marriage about 1349 to
Edmund Baynard, esq., of Dunmow, Essex. He waa
a member of a Norman family, the first of whom
buUt Castle Baynard, the memory of which is stiU
preserved in the name of one of the City wards.
On the brass referred to are engraved the efiigies
of Robert Baynard, esq., fourth in descent from

30 THE CHUECH RAMBLER,
Edmund and of Elizabeth his wife daughter of
Henry Ludlow esq. of Hill Deverill. The husband
" is represented in a suit of plate armour, as worn
" at that period ; the head and hands are bare, the
" hair long ; round the neck is a gorget of mail,
" and a skirt of the same appears beneath the body
"armour, over which is a tabard, or surcoat,
" embroidered with arms of Baynard, quartering
" those of Bluet. A large sword hangs from the
" left side, and the feet rest on two dogs. The
" female figure has the ke-nnel, or triangular head
"dress, which was adopted at the close of the
" fifteenth century, and a loose mantle bearing the
" arms of Baynard, quartering Ludlow. The gown,
" which appears beneath, is cut square to the neck,
" the sleeves are tight with fur cuffs, and the end of
"the girdle forms a long pendant, reaching almost
" to the feet." The inscription is as follows : —
"?Sllc jacct Kotttius BasnatB, annlger, Dit tatcjlus tt Icjis
tttltus, (11 armis Itllicls multum sttenmis, Basifct ptulpuus
Itittt ptlinos, pacis conscrUatot Irilijentlsslmus, vxmtm Jatras
(ftiejaletl; BESotts.slinam, cum totttcm fillts ct fliialus sufie=
flumetatls; aul oJlft iiDr Bit auflustt ao Bnl inccccc jrlmo.
©uotum auimstus ptoplclttut ffleus, amtn."
Beneath are figures of thirteen sons and five
daughters. The second son is habited as a priest,
the rest have loose gowns trimmed with fur. The
rights of the eldest born are depicted by his being
a head and shoulders taller than his brothers.
The girls have the triangular headdress simUar to
the mother. The effigies are let into a large slab
.at the corners of which are four shields— two
bearing the arms of Bluet quartering Baynard, and

LACOCK CHURCH. 31
two of Baynard quartering Ludlow. On the east
waU are two wooden tablets bearing very quaint
inscriptions. The first runs thus : —
HEARE LYETH YE BODY OF EDWARD BAINARDE
ESQVIRE WHO FOR THE SPACE OF M.\NY YEARES
YEVEN TO HIS DYINGE DAY WAS JVSTICE OF
PEACE AND COR-\'M AND SOMETIMES CVSTOS
ROTVLORVM AND HYGH SHERIFFE OP THE
COVNTY OF WILTES : A BOVNTYFVLL FRIEND
TO HIS BRETHREN AND SISTERS AXD TO
HIS SERVANTS LIBERALL, AND AN ENEMY'
TO NOE MAN : HE LYVED TO THE AGE OF 63
YEARES AND DYED AND WAS B^RYED THE 21
DAY OF DECEMBER I575.
Lett envy saye what it can,
This was an honest mau.
Whoe in his life did many goode,
And to the trveth fin-nely stode :
Religiovs, wise, aud jvst was hee,
And ever lyved worthylie.
The other is precisely similar in style and
evidently erected at the same date : —
HEARE LYETH THE BODY OF THE LADY
YRSVLA BAYNARD DAVGHTER OF SIR
ROBERT STAPILTON OF WYGH.4LL IN THE
COVNTY OF YORKE KNIGHT, AND WIFE
TO SIR ROBERT BAYNARD KNIGHT, BY
WHOME SHEE HAD ISSVE EDWARD HER
SONNE HEARE BVRYED AND MARY HIR
DAUGHTER. SHEE LYVED TO THE AGE
OF 36 YEARES AND DEP.ARTED TO GOD
IN MOST FIRME F.\YTH IN CHRIST IN
THE YEARE OF OVR LORDE GOD 1 623.

^2 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
God's goodness made her wise and well beseeming,
Discreet and Prvdent, Constant, Trve, and Chaste,
Hir virtves rare wan hir mvch esteeming.
In Covrte and Covntry, still with favovr graste.
Earth covld not yelde more pleasing earthly blisse,
Blest w"" two babes, thovgh Death brovght hir to this.
There are several other monuments to the
memory of subsequent owners of the Lackham
estate, and the south window is filled with stained
glass to the memory of " Frederick WiUiam Rooke
" esq., R.N., of Lackham House who died December
"28th 1855." It was erected by his widow.
In the south aisle is a tablet with this curious
inscription : —
HEARE LY'ETH IN THIS ALLYE
NEERE UNTO THIS PLACE
THE BODIE OF EOBERT HELLIER
LATE ONE OF HIS MAIESTIES
CRYERS TO THE COURT OF THE
COMMON PLEAS IN WESTMINSTER
WHOE LIVED 63 YEARS AND
DECEASED YE 9 OF APRIL ANO
1630.
A large marble tablet also in the south aisle,
wUl be of interest to Bath readers, and records an
extraordinary fatality in the death of two brothers.
Itis :—
TO THE MEMORY' OF JAMES LATE LORD BISHOP OF
WORCESTER
SECOND SON OF THE REV. JAMES JOHNSON MA
MANY YEARS RECTOR OF LONG MELFORD
IN THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK AND GRANDSON OF

LACOCK CHURCH. 35
-GEORGE JOHNSON ESQ OF BOWDEN PARK IN THIS
COUNTY
IN THE Y'EAR 1752 HE WAS CONSECRATED BISHOP OF
GLOUCESTER
,.\.ND IN THE YEAR I759 WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE
SEE OF WORCESTER
IN WHICH CATHEDRAL A MONUMENT IS
ERECTED TO HIS MEMORY
HE DIED AT BATH ON THE 27 DAY OF
NOVEMBER 1775
AND IN THE 70TH YEAR OF HIS AGE AND IN
CONSEQUENCE OF A MOST
UNFORTUNATE FALL FROM HIS HORSE AND WAS
-BURIED HERE IN THE VAULT OF HIS ANCESTORS
THIS MONUMENT MAY RECORD LIKEWISE THE
UNHAPPY FATE
'OF HIS ELDER BROTHER WHO MET WITH HIS DEATH
AT BATH
BY A LIKE ACCIDENT A FEW YEARS BEFORE
AND WAS BURIED HERE
There are slk bells in Lacock tower which have
just been rehung. The third and fifth bear date
1628, the fourth was cast in 1852 by Jeffery and
Price, Bristol. The rest were cast by Wells of
Aldbourne at different dates between 1770 and
1813.

^.^icF)ael, IBurnct nert nacpns&am

'he church at Burnet is one of the
smallest in the district, smaller even
than S. Christopher, Ditteridge. It
consists of a nave and chancel with
a, small south chapel. The build
ing is well proportioned, but otherwise has no
architectural pretensions. It has a two-light
Perpendicular west window of late date, with a
remarkably small label moulding terminating in
two heads. Above the western gable is a new
bell turret in which hangs one large loud-tongued '
bell with the date 1725. There is a porch on the
south side on the exterior of which is an incised
inscription as foUows : —
IIENRIE SON OP
HENRIE FORD
DYED THE I3 OF
DECEMBER 1657-
The entrance into the church is by a late Perpen
dicular door of rude work but of rather pictur
esque effect. The label moulding terminates in
heads similar to the west window. The interior
of the church is very plain. The chancel arch
ajipears to be Norman transition with rude im-

HX

a
PP,

VSa

BURNET CHURCH. S5-
posts. On the north side of the sanctuary are two
stone tablets with incised inscriptions which
record the memory of
lANE DYER RALPH DYER
DAVGHTER SON OF lANE
OF lANE THE THE WIFE OF
WIFE OF MR. PHILIP
PHILIP GWIN GWIN
MINISTER MINISTER
DEPARTED DEPARTED
MAY THE l8 APRIL gTH
1650 1652
There are two stained -windows in the church. The
east window contains the figures of Abraham and
David, but the colouring is too glaring. It is to-
the memory of " John Frederick Doveton, LL.B.,
" Rector of Burnet, died 9th January, 1857, aged
" 82." On the south side of the nave is a window
of very plain bat pleasing desigii in monastic
glass, worked into which are the two texts,
" Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him,"
" Let me die the death of the righteous." Beneath
the -window is the inscription " In memory of the
" Rev. John Bazett Doveton, 29 years Rector of
" this parish. Died Nov. 15th, 1875, aged 68."
The small south chapel is separated from the
chancel by a plain circular arch, and is interesting
as containiug a monument which is not merely the
most remarkable feature of this church but
gives it unique interest among all the churches
of the district. This is an elaborate memorial
brass bearing date as early as 1575, and stUl in an

36 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
exceUent state of preservation, despite its age of
three centuries. Except in the cathedrals it is
rare to find a work of the kind stUl in existence,
and it merits a somewhat minute description.
The plate is as nearly as possible square, measuring
about 27 inches either way. The border on either
side is a fluted column, the entablature being a
panel with an inscription, and between the pedestals
of the columns is another simUar panel also with
an inscription. The upper inscription is
HERE LYETH BURIED lOHN CVTTE SOMETYME MAYORE
OF THE CITYE OE BROSTOLLE WHO DECEASEDE LEVING
HIS WIFE lOANE AND HATH HADE BETWENE THEM S
BONES AND 4 DOVGHTERS HE DECEASED IN THE
MONTHE OF M.\YE THE 2IST D.\YE IN ANNO DOMINE
1575-
The entire space is occupied by a family picture,
in the middle of which John and Joan Cutte — the
former in his furred gown — are kneeling on either
side of a table placed lengthwise in the picture and
bearing in the front a Tudor rose. Before each
suppliant is a book, and a pair of gloves are also
upon the table. On John Cutte's right as he faces
the spectator are his eight sons in a descending scale
as to height, all of them kneeling ; and on Joan's
left are her four daughters. Their identity is un-
naistakable as a scroll on which is inscribed its
name proceeds from the lips of each. The father
is identified as " lohn Cvtte,'' and his sons read
down " Eobarte," " WiUiam," " Richard," " lohn,''
" Nicholas," " lohn," " Thomas," " Matthew." The
mother is " loane Cvtte," and her daughters are

BURNET CHURCH. 37
named " Aune," "Svsan," " Marye," " Briget." In
the top left-hand corner isa shield with avery quaint
rendering of the Bristol arms. The city walls
have round-headed sash windows introduced into
them and there are curious tufts on the ground to
indicate grass. The ship is an old-fashioned gaUey
-with one mast, on which is the crow's nest looking
like a round bowl. In the opposite corner is a
lozenge bearing the merchant's mark.
The lower inscription consists of the following
Latin lines : —
PAR . lACET . HOC . TVMVLO . SOCI.VLK . VXORE ,
MARITVS
IV.NGITVR . VT . LECTVS . SIC . TENET . VRN.E . DUOS
CVTTHEVS . lOHANNES . CONIVNXE . VIR . DIGNVS .
AMARI
SVMPSIT . lOHANNAM . PAR . IN . AMORE . DECVS
PIGNORE . MVLTIPLICI . PAR . FCELIX . L-i'STRA . PERGIT
PLVRIM.A . SECVNDA . NVNC . REGNAT . I-\-NCTVS
VTERQV.VM . DEOS
This John Cutte died seized of the manor of
Burnet, which was granted to him and Eichard
Roberts by Queen Elizabeth in 1560. Itwas held
at the time of the Norman Survey by the wife of
Ulward, a freeman, and was given by the grant of
King WiUiam Rufus to Robert FitzHamon, lord
of the honour of Gloucester, -who annexed it to
the Abbey of Tewkesbury, in the rebuUding of
which at the time he took a very active interest.
At the dissolution the manor of course reverted
to the Cro-wn and came, as I have said, to John

38 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
Cutte. The Cuttes were resident at Burnet, and
the present manor house which adjoins the church
yard and is occupied as a rectory, stands on the site
of the ancient court house in which they lived. It
is to be supposed that the eldest son Eobert died
.as William succeeded to the property on his father's
death, and held it in 1584. To him another John
Cutte succeeded, who sold it in 1599 to John
Whitson, alderman of Bristol. This Alderman
Whitson is a famous man in the annals of Bristol
city. A Gloucestershire lad of obscure parentage
he came to Bristol in search of employment, and
became the apprentice of Nicholas Cutte, a wine
cooper and general merchant in S. Nicholas street
-on the site of the Bristol Athenaeum. He appears
to have emulated the Good Apprentice and to have
risen in his master's favour, but instead of marry
ing his employer's daughter as did Hogarth's hero,
he carried on the business after his master's death
for the widow and finally married her. He was
now in a good position and was chosen a member
of the Corporation of the city. He attained to
the highest offices, serving as Sheriff in 1589, and
as Mayor in 1603 and 1615, and he was elected
member of Parliament for Bristol in 1605, 1614,
1620 and 1626. He was hurt by a fall from his
horse which is supposed to have hastened his death,
and he was buried, with military honours from
the city train bands of which he was captain, ou
the 9th of March, 1627, in the church of S.
Nicholas, Bristol, where his monument is to be
seen. He married in all three wives, but none of

BURNET CHURCH. SO
bis children survived hmi, and his other relations
having offended him he left all his property bya will
dated two years before his death in trust for charit
able purposes in the city of Bristol. Among the
rest he left this manor of Burnet in trust to the
Corporation for the educating and maintaining
of forty maidens, who were to learn reading and
needlework and other employment to suit them
for domestic service. This was the foundation of
the Red Maid's Hospital as it is caUed from the
oolour in which the children are dressed. The
management of the estates has of late years passed
into the hands of the Municipal Charity Trustees
and they have of course greatly increased in value.
The living is a Rectory in the gift of the
Trustees and was held for many ye.ars by the late
Rev. J. B. Doveton who died in November last
full of years and of honour. His successor has
been quite recently appointed in the Rev. Theodore
de Landulph Sprye, M.A., curate of Newton S.
Lo. He was chosen I believe in obedience to the
wishes of the people to whom he had ministered
during the late Rector's illness. He is about to
settle down in this compact little parish in the
orthodox fashion, and for the people of Burnet I
can only hope that they may enjoy many years
of affectionate neighbourhood with the eloquent
preacher and faithful teacher, whom they have
wisely selected to be their Rector.
I must say that these people deserved to influence
the choice, for their devotion to the church of their
fathers would teach a lesson to many parishes of

ItO THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
far larger size and more crowded population. The-
population of Burnet is returned at only 83 — the
parish schoolmistress has only seventeen pupils
though aU the children go to school except a baby
in arms. Yet the church, which will accommodate
aU the inhabitants, is always well filled on Sundays,
and is sometimes crowded to overflowing when
persons come from the adjoining parishes. Facts
such as these invest the little church of 8. Michael
with a deeper interest than any wealth of archi
tectural ornament could supply. This little popula
tion, remote from cities and shut in among the
verdant hills and rural scenes of Somersetshire,
have handed down from generation to generation
the faith of their forefathers ; through succeeding
centuries they have still cherished with faithful
zeal the simple and venerable little church com
mitted to their care, and Sunday after Sunday have
sought its portals with all the simple faith of
the primitive Christians to hear the words of ever
lasting life.
Viewed in this light the service in which I joined
was one of peculiar interest. The church was
crowded in every part, as the sermon was expected
to have reference to a funeral which had taken
jDlace during the week.. The family at whose
expense within the last few years a Wesleyan
chapel, the only Dissenting place of worship in the
parish, has been erected, had committed one of
their number to the earth, thus adding another to
the many tombs bearing their name which dot the
smaU churchyard, and now had come to kneel in

BURNET CHURCH. U
their sorrow -within the walls of their parish
church. At such times as these the title of our
mother church to its all-embracing name of the
Church of England is clearly demonstrated, for
whatever their differences at other seasons, " in
" all times of their sorrow" and " in the hour
" of death," her children come back to her for
consolation and comforting assurance of the better
life. And they did not come to Burnet in vain.
The Rector preached not merely to them but
to all mourners, with simple loving pathos, as
if he were indeed inspired to make good our
Saviour's injunction, " Ask and ye shall receive,
" seek and ye shall find." He took his text from the
first epistle of S. Paul to the Thessalonians iv. 1 3 — 14
— " But I would not have you to be ignorant,
"brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that
"ye sorrow not, even as others which have no
" hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and
"rose again, even so them also which sleep in
"Jesus will God bring with him." He intro
duced his discourse by saying that the words
of the apostle in the text were originally addressed
to persons recently converted to "the truth as
" it is in Jesus," and for the sake of that truth
not only subjected to more trials than are the
common inheritance of our sinful nature, but
also exposed to cruel and unrelenting persecution.
They were called upon not only to witness the
death of friends and relations in the ordinary
course of nature, but to behold them led away to
death by the hands of the public executioner,
4 2

Jt2 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
their only crime being that they professed them
selves to be followers of the Lord Jesug Christ.
Can we wonder that under such circumstances
the apostle should have been very anxious to bring
fully before their minds the clear revelation given
to them by their Divine Master, of that life which
is beyond the grave — to strengthen their faith in
Him whom they professed to love and setve, by
carrying on their thoughts beyond their present
trials, sufferings and afflictions, to the resurrection
of the dead, and the final triumph and joy of the
redeemed. Surely no subject could better befit
the inspired servant of Jesus Christ, nor be so
calculated to minister consolation and strengthen
faith, and animate hope in the troubled bleeding
hearts of his beloved but afflicted brethren at
Thessalonica. Aud let us thankfully remember
that these words, like all others of Holy Scripture,
were " written for our admonition" also, and that,
if we are true believers in Jesus Christ, we are in
every way entitled to partake of the strength and
the comfort that they are designed to impart.
Let us therefore take them for the subject of our
meditation, take them with a sincere and earnest
desire to derive from them those spiritual benefits
which they are so well calculated to convey, and
which, now that many of you mourn the loss of
one near and dear to you, ought to come home to
your hearts with more than ordinary weight
The preacher proceeded to show by the example of
Abraham and Jacob, of Job, of David and our
.Saviour Himtelf that they might sorrow when

BURNET CHURCH. ifS
affliction lay heavy upon them. But he added
there was a point beyond which sorrow was sin,
because it blinded them to the hope which they
had in Christ. Pointing out to them God's pur
pose in sending affliction he solemnly urged all his
hearers to be prepared for death, which must come
to them they knew not how soon.

%. a^artin, Jl3ort& %toU,

EXT to the unrivaUed panorama from
Beechen Cliff the finest view which
the hills encircling the city of Bath
can afford is that from Prospect stile
on Lansdown. That point of view
is situated in the parish of North Stoke which
extends thence to the banks of the Avon. The
lane to North Stoke is a thoroughfare to nowhere
else and so few persons except those who have
business in the place know what a delightful walk
is enjoyed in reaching it. In driving along the
Upper Bristol road the cluster of houses and the
church tower of North Stoke can be caught sight
of nestling under a thick wood on the hill-side
which rises towards Lansdown, but I was told in
the -village that its very existence was unknown
to many in the neighbouring city.
The church stands above the village whence a
paved causeway leads to it, such as those which
were frequently constructed in the olden time
when the roads became in wet weather an impass
able sea of mud. The church consists of a chancel,
nave, south porch and western tower. The latter
is in two stages, and as to the date of its building

<**i'

^

3
O
00. I

0
SK<

^.J'-'iV^s

NORTH STOKE CHURCH. 45
there can be no mistake, for on its southern face is
a most conspicuous tablet —
WILLIAM BRITTEN CHURCH
WARDEN 173I
On the north side the stair turret of a preceding
tower has been retained, and from the evidence
which this affords and a splayed Perpendicular
buttress on the south side we come to the conclu
sion that the present tower is built upon the
foundations of one of some considerable preten
sions. The church would also seem to have been
almost entirely rebuilt at the same time as the
tower, as there are few remains that testify to any
older date. The chancel arch is plain, but across
the wall beside it there are the marks of the
rood-loft. The chancel has undergone altera
tions since CoUinson wrote, for he says, " The
"chancel is a distinct room, being divided or
" rather shut out from the body of the church by
" a waU in which are two windows and a door."
This unique partition was removed about twenty
years since by the then Rector, the Rev. J.
Harman, who also introduced new windows into
the chancel and removed the flat ceiling, raising
¦the roof and merely ceiling between the rafters.
The sanctuary is also laid -with encaustic tiles.
The nave is plain -with an arched ceUing and
modern windows, it has a circular arch to the
tower which is placed askew to the church. The

^ THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
font is extremely plain early Decorated, square in
shape with chamfered edges, and has some simi
larity to that which stands in Saltford church-
Above the Decorated exterior arch of the porch,
whose hood-moulding terminates in monkish heads,
is a modern design in alto relievo, an open book on
which rests a pastoral staff and which is sur
mounted by a cross.
The fittings of the church are old-fashioned and
worn out, and one would much like to see the
pews removed and the area reseated, the walls
properly cleaned from their coatings of yellow-
wash and the flat plaster ceUing removed. At the
same time the rows of hat-pegs, which are so
unseemly in a church, ought to be got rid of. The
large stove too which stands in the centre of the
church requires attention during service, which
must disturb the congregation in their devotions.
All older and now disused stove stands on one
side by the door and is neither useful nor
ornamental. The pipe which passes across
the church and through a window on the
south side is neither picturesque within nor with
out, where the stones are all coloured with the
iron rust which the rain has washed down. But
regarding the church as it is one must admit with
pleasure that there is no sign of present neglect
in its appearance ; it is neat and tidy within and
the various cushions and hangings which are need
ful for the communion and the reading desk have
been worked in a manner which would do
credit to a parish moat highly favoured with

NORTH STOKE CHURCH. 47
industrious and zealous ladies. There is a
warmth and heartiness in the service moreover
which is very gratifying. There was a fair
congregation when I was present, though I
am given to understand that here, as in many
other parishes, the afternoon service is more
popular than the morning. Morning prayer was
read by the Rector, who however reserved his
sermon till the second service. The hymn books
in use are the church hymns issued by the Tract
Committee of the S.P.C.K.
The minister remained in the church after the
service was over and the congregation had de
parted ; the bell began to toU mournfully overhead,
for there was to be a burial that day, and an open
grave lay ready in the churchyard. On my way
down the road I met the company of mourners
who had toiled -with their sad burden all the way
up the hiU from the hamlet of Swinford in the
bottom of the valley. I was glad to see as they
passed that they adopted one reform in our funeral
customs which has been often urged and is greatly
needed. In a walking funeral it is usual to carry
the coffin on men's shoulders, while the heavy
paU, which has been used in one knows not how
many instances before, closes down over their
heads. This close juxtaposition of the li-ving with
the dead cannot be well, and sometimes results
in one funeral being the direct cause of another.
It is far better as was done at North Stoke, to
rest the coffin on a hand bier which the men
carried down at their sides. For sanitary reasons

48 THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
this is preferable ; it robs a burial of part of
that pagan significance which Christians seem so
anxious to impart to it, and has moreover the
sanction of Scriptural authority.
The churchyard is shadowed by a pretty yew,
but it contains few inscriptions, mounds of turf in
most cases alone marking the graves of the dead.
In one place are the lines —
This hour perhaps our friend is well
The next we hear his passing bell
We only leave, a world of pain
With hopes in heaven to meet again.
As I sat in the church this very curious inscription
attracted my attention —
Awake thou that sleepest and arise
From ye dead and Christ shall
give thee Light.
UNDERNEATH
RESTETH A WHILE THE BODY OF
ELIZABETH YE WIFE OF JOHN ASH
OF THIS PARISH YEOMAN ON THE
21 OF SEPTEMBER 1759 LEFT THIS
WORLD AGED 63 YEARS.
To Heaven my Wife is gone
In time to Her I hope to come
In love we liv'd, in peace she di'd
Life was desired but God deni'd.
ALSO UNDERNEATH RESTETH A WHILE
THE BODY OP JOHN ASH OF THIS
PARISH YEOMAN WHO DEPARTED
THIS LIFE THE 24TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER
1774 IN THE 74TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.

NOSTH STOKE CHUECH, 49
On the waU is another inscription which dwells
upon the unpleasant view of death —
O Reader stay and here behold
How we lay here enclosed in mould
Think how by worms we daily waist
So will they do by you at last
Repent in time, prepare to die
That tliou maist live eternally.
•Under the tower is a handsome monument, in the
centre of which is a sculpture in white marble of
a female figure sitting under a palm tree. It is to
^'the memory of Colonel Edward Brown, who
-"died 20th Sept., 1772, aged 77."
The manor of North Stoke was given in the year
-800 to the Abbey of Bath by King Kenulph of
Mercia, and it remained in their possession till the
dissolution, though neither this manor nor South
¦Stoke is mentioned in Domesday. But there was
a family which took its name from the place an
-at one time disputed the right of the monks to the
manor. In a court held by John Bishop of Bath
in 1121 Modbert de Stoke appeared to assert his
right thereto, and alleged that he had married
the daughter of Gerald de Stoke, who was
lord of the manor by hereditary right aud had
given him the manor in marriage. But it was
proved that the monks held the manor by
Eoyal grant and he was compeUed to give up his
claim. The monks were subsequently confirmed
in possession by King Henry I. and King Stephen.
After the dissolution the property reverted for
some time to the Crown, but was granted at

50 THE CHUECH EAMBLES,
different times in two portions. In 1550 King
Edward VI. granted lands here to William Paulet
Lord S. John, to be held in chief by knight's
service, and in 1589 Queen Elizabeth granted
lands here formerly belongiug to the Abbey of
Bath to Bageholte and Yardley to be held of the
manor of East Greenwich. Both these have since
changed hands many times and the present owner
of the lower portion of the parish is the Right
Hon. Stephen Cave, M.P., whose seat is at Down-
end, near Bristol. The owner of the lands which
stretch away towards Lansdo\vn was about fifty
years since the Rev. H. H. Hayes, who was also
Rector of this parish and of Swainswick. He
not only augmented the value of the living, in
which his nephew, the Rev. C. Hayes, succeeded
him, but he built in 1828 the present Rectory
house. Previous to that there was no residence
for the minister, though tradition says that an old
thatched building now occupied as two cottages
nearly opposite the present house, was the ancient
Rectory, the building beyond being the tithe barn.
The Eev. H. II. Hayes married a sister of the
Ulustrious Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence^
K.C.B., -who fell at Lucknow, and she suc
ceeded to the property, which she left to her
brother's second son, Henry Waldemar Lawrence,
esq., who is at present the owner. North
Stoke is thus a parish without a resident squire,
and there is no trace I believe of a manor house
having ever existed. Something ought to be done
for the reparation of the church, and it is a matter

NOSTH STOKE CHUECH. 51
m which the two landowners, though not resident,
should interest themselves.
The living is a Rectory formerly in the gift of
the Priory of Bath and now in the gift of the
Lord Chancellor. The present Rector is the Rev.
John Redder, M.A., of Durham University, who
is highly respected in a parish which has suffered
much in its time from absentee incumbents who
delegated their sacred duties to unworthy curates
or to those who, like a former rector of Kelston
who was curate of this parish, had their time fully
occupied elsewhere. The present Rector has more
over bestirred himself in the matter of educa
tion, and the children are now I understand
thoroughly well taught though a thoroughly satis
factory school buUding has yet to be obtained.
A reference to the churchwardens' accounts
reveal an interesting though deplorable fact. The
pews of which I have before spoken as worn out,
were erected in 1804, when we have the entries —
Paid the mason's bill ... ... ... 4 44
Paid George King his bill ... ... ... 25 18 3J
Some more work had also been done in the pre-
-yious year, and to meet these expenses the parish
sold three of their bells, for we find a credit
"by sale of bell mettal £56 0 0." There is now
only one beU left but it has a good tone. On it is
the inscription —
WM. BILBIE. CHEWSTOKE. FECIT. MR. MOSES
SMALLCOMBE. CHURCHWARDEN. 1 776.
I. TO THE. CHURCH. THE. LIVING. CALL. AND. TO.
THE. GRAVE. DO. SUMMON. ALL.

'Lssgs^s^

52 THE CHUECH RAMBLES.
In 1818 the tiling of the church was repaired and
in the same year we have an entry —
Hauling three waggon load of stones to the
Church Road from the Sleight  12 6
There are other entries at different times, which
show that the paved way beforementioned was
kept in repair out of the church rate. The three
foUowing entries are curious in their way —
1807 Posting of a letter  8
1809 paid for the tythingman's staff ... i o o
1810 new stocks and putting them up ...280
The very site of the last-named erection is now
forgotten.

_All ^AINTS, pOP^STON. — y/EST.

au faints, Corston.

ESIDE being the adjacent parish
Corston is closely connected with
Newton S. Lo. Both belong to the
same sqmre, whose park lies between
the two -viUages, and the ways of the
people in either place are therefore much the same.
Corston lies further back from the Bristol road
than Newton, and like it is shrouded from the
passer-by by a belt of trees. There is also this
much to be noted with regard to the village itself.
Instead of a market cross as in some places, or a
pump which marks the centre of Newton, in
Corston at the meeting of the ways is a fine old
elm tree whose roots are protected by a circular
stone waU.
We find from the Domesday book that at the
Conquest Corston was one of the possessions of the
Abbey of Bath. Under the heading of lands of that
church we read, "The Church itself holds Corstune."
About the time of King Henry T. the monks
exchanged this manor -with Sir Roger de S. Lo for
certain lands lying in Newton S. Lo and Stanton
Prior. This family were then lords of the manor
of Ne-wton and they held Corston tUl the reign of
King Edward II., when it passed to the family of

54 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
Inge, whom Collinson states to have been domestics
to the S. Los for several generations. In 1325
Sir John de Inge was li-ving at Corston. He was
succeeded by his son of the same name, who was
followed on his death by Sir WilUam de Inge.
The next owner of Corston was John de Inge, who
died in 1416 and was followed by Thomas de Inge,
his son and heir. In 1484 a fine of this manor and
its appurtenances passed from Richard Fitzjames,
clerk, and others to Eoger Norman, remainder to
John Storke and the heirs of his body, remainder
to the right heirs of Thomas Inge. In process of
time it came to the family of Harington, the same
which held Kelston. The history of this family is
tangled in a most remarkable manner — it is a
Gordian knot which I am happy to know one local
antiquary is doing his best to unravel. Mean
while it is clear to me that several members of the
family, some of them bearing the Christian name of
John — ever honourablein association with thename
of Harington — resided here at Corston and were
buried here, some of them having very numerous
families. There are three or four tablets to the
memory of the Haringtons in the chancel of the
church, and except a widow, who died in 1797 in
her 90th year, the last of them was WiUiam
Harington, esq., who was- born the 5th of July,
1705, and died the 10th of May, 1780. By the
Haringtons the manor of Corston was sold to
Joseph Langton, esq., through whose family it
has descended with Newton and Cold Ashton to
Mr. W. S. Gore Langton, the present possessor.

CORSTON CHURCH. 55
The manor house ia now used as a farm-house,
but at the close of the last century it was occupied
as a boarding school to which the poet Southey
was sent at the tender age of six years. He thus
describes the house in his " EecoUections" : — " The
"house had been the mansion of some decayed
" family, whose history I should like to trace if
'' CoUinson's Somersetshire were to fall in my way.
" There were vestiges of former respectability and
" comfort about it, which, young as I was, impressed
" me in the same manner that such things would
" do now — ^walled gardens, summer-houses, gate-
" pUlars, surmounted with huge stone balls, a
" paddock, a lage orchard, walnut trees, yards, out-
" houses upon an opulent scale. I felt how
" mournful all this was in its faUen state, when
" the great walled garden was converted into a
" playground for the boys, the gateways broken,
" the summer houses falling to ruin, and grass
" growing in the insterstices of the lozenged pave-
"ment of the fore-court. The features within I do
" not so distinctly remember, not being so weU
" able to understand their symbols of better days ;
"only I recollect a black oaken staircase from the
"hall, and that the schoolroom was hung with
"faded tapestry, behind which we used to have
"our hoards of crabs." From what Southey says
of the master and his arrangement it would appear
that Mr. Flower — for such was his name — was a
sort of west country ' Squeers, whose faults ho-v\'-
ever broke up the school without the aid of the
pen of a Charles Dickens. In one of his minor

56 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
poems, caUed " The Eetrospeot," -written in early
life, Southey refers to this period of his life in an
apostrophe commencing —
Corston, twelve years in various fortunes fled
Have passed in restless progress o'er my head.
Since in thy vale beneath the master's rule
I roamed an inmate of the village school.
As however the poet evidently draws considerably
upon his imagination for his facts I shall not
quote more.
The church of Corston was appropriated to the
prior and monks of Bath, and on the 10th of
November, 1321, a -vicarage was ordained here
by Bishop John de Drokensford, decreeing that —
"The __vicar and his successors in perpetuuin,
" should have a hall with chambers, kitchen and
" bakehouse, with a third part of the garden and
" curtUage and a pigeon-house formerly belonging
"to the parsonage. That he should have one
" acre of arable land, consisting of three parcels,
" late part of the demesne of the said parsonage,
" together with common pasturage for his swine
' in such places as the rector of the said church
"used that privUege. That he should receive
"from the said prior and convent of Bath one
" quarter of bread corn yearly ; and have all the
" altarage, and aU small tithes of beans, and other
"blade growing in the cottage inclosures and
" cultivated curtUages throughout the parish.
" That the religious aforesaid and their successors
" as rectors of the said church, should have all the

CORSTON CHURCH. 57
" arable land, with a park belonging to the church
" (the acre above mentioned only excepted) and
" receive all great tithes, as well of corn as of hay,
"' belonging to the said church, not assigned to the
" vicar as aforesaid. The said religious to sustain
"aU burdens ordinary and extraordinary, in-
" cumbent on the said church, as rectors thereof."
The present vicarage house is, I suppose, on the
site of the one referred to in the foregoing. Its
delightful situation, adjoining the churchyard,
gives strength to the supposition. The vicarao-e
is now in the gift of the Bishop of Bath and
Wells, and has been held since 1863 by the Rev.
WUliam Blake Doveton, M.A., of Trinity CoUege,
Oxford, who seems to Uve among the flock to
whom he ministers respected and honoured like a
patriarch of old, for in this secluded spot they
enjoy the peace, as well as the natural beauty of
Arcadia. The seclusion however is not such as
to prevent the amiable and worthy Vicar of
Corston from being widely esteemed and respected
beyond the limits of his own parish. It is with
the last named however that I have chiefly to do,
and with regard to his position there one fact will
speak more than many words of mine. Two
years after his settlement in Corston the Vicar
found it necessary to enlarge the church to pro-vide
sufficient accommodation for the congregations
that attended it.
This brings me to speak of the church, which
now consists of a western tower, nave with north
aisle and porch and with a vestry on the south
5 2

58 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
side, and chancel. It is on the whole by no means
a pretty or attractive church. It does not present
fragments of work of many dates and many styles,
but bears distinct trace of having been built or
rebuUt at four distinct periods, two of which are
ancient and two modern. The modern affect
three-fourths of the existing church. Seeing that
the manor belonged in very early times to the
Abbey of Bath, and that in the earliest mention of
the church it is their property, there is more than
a probability that they built the first church there.
There are two evidences that they did so in that
great building period — the time of John de Villula.
In the first place there is a north and south
entrance, the latter being still used as an entrance
to the vestry. Next the inner doorway of the
north porch, which until the enlargement of the
church was the north doorway of the nave, is
circular headed, having a plain round moulding
running to the ground with no impost, and sur
mounted by a plain bold hood moulding, which
is clearly late Norman work and a relic of the
first church. The next oldest portion of the
church is the chancel, which is of Early
English work and somewhat early. It has on the
north and on the south side three single-light
trefoil windows, under a hood moulding, and
splayed towards the interior. The east window
is a three-light lancet window of the same
character, and is a reproduction of the old window
which was split in the thickness of the muUions.
It is fiUed with stained glass by Powell, of London,

CORSTON CHUECH. 59
the gift of the late Mr. W. H. P. Gore Langton.
Some fragments in the windows of the nave
enabled the artist to restore the original design
and the ancient pieces are worked into the head of
the window. On the north side is the usual
priest's door and in the south-east corner of the
nave is a window which was opened by the Vicar
a few years since from traces of its form on the
exterior. It is of the same character as the side
¦windows of the chancel. The other windows on
the south side are square-headed, three-light late
Perpendicular windows. The tower is square,
surmounted by a conical top which does not
merit the name of spire. It bears on its face th
date of its erection, 1622, when also the nave was
partially at least rebuilt, and the former chancel
arch constructed.
The present Vicar found the church soon after
his'arrival not only too small for the needs of the
parish but in a very deplorable condition. Nave
and chancel were covered in with a flat plaster
ceUing. There were galleries in the nave, and the
east window was covered up by a large board on
which the Ten Commandments were painted, and
to which I shaU anon refer again. The aid of Mr.
B. Perrey was therefore obtained, and a sum of
£1,200 expended in the restoration and enlarge
ment of the church. The porch and vestry were
rebuilt, and a north aisle added to the nave. New
roofs were also put on throughout with open
timbered ceilings of the wagon beam form. Mr.
Ferrey also added a new chancel arch, but why he

60 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
should give it a quasi classical capital and shaft no
one but himself can teU. This is a blot upon
an otherwise satisfactory work. The area of the
church was reseated at the same time. In the
course of restoration an Early English cinque-
foliated piscina with credence shelf within the
niche, was found walled up in the eastern wall of
the chancel — a somewhat unusual position. There
was also found in tbe south wall a recess which
was either the sedilia or an almery. Its plainness,
and what seem to be the traces of a door having
been fixed in the front, incline one to the latter
opinion. On the recent Sunday afternoon on which I
attended service at Corston church there was a
very good congregation. The service was taken
by the Vicar. The chou' is chiefly composed of
boys who sing very well though somewhat too
loudly. They should be gentle, for they are under
the direction of a lady, Miss Doveton, who plays
the harmonium with feeling as well as with skill.
The Hymns Ancient and Modern with Appendix
are in use, and the first sung was — -
Art thou weary, are thou languid,
Art thou sore distrest ?
After the missionary hymn —
Saviour, sprinkle many nations.
The Vicar ascended the pulpit in a black gown,
and preached from Matthew vi. 10, " Thy kingdom
come." He remarked that what was familiar was
often repeated lightly or carelessly and it might

COBSTON CHUECH. 61
be so -with this clause of the Lord's Prayer. This
petition did not pray merely for the coming of
that after kingdom to which they looked forward,
but for the estabUshment of Christ's kingdom
upon earth. So long as any part of the world
was under the dominion of sin that prayer must
be said, for intercession on behaK of the mission
aries was included in it. The people he continued
did not do as much as they ought in order that
Christ's kingdom might prevail upon earth,
co-extensive -with those who are baptised in the
true faith of the Holy Trinity. That was the
kingdom for which they professed to appeal in the
prayer of the text, "Thy kingdom come." Further
he pointed out what clause immediately followed
it, " Thy -wiU be done upon earth as it is in
heaven." They should remember the words of
©ur Lord, " Not everyone that saith unto me Lord,
" Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ;
-" but he that doeth the wUl of my Father which is
" in heaven.'' In the kingdom here the believer was
preparing himself for God's kingdom which was yet
to come. From this point he impressed upon them
the necessity of doing God's wUl and proving
by obedience that they were so preparing.
Among other things they should bear their part
in missionary work, and strive their utmost for
the extension of Christ's kingdom tUl their faith was
tumed into sight and grace swallowed up in glory.
There was a coUection at the close on behalf of
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
There are not many monuments of note in the

6S THE CHUECH RAMBLER.
churchyard, but the foUowing is to the memory
of one of a family weU known and respected in the
county of Somerset for more than one generation —
JOHN STUCKEY- LEAN ESQ
A MAGISTRATE FOR THE COUNTY OF SOMERSET
BORN AT CLIFTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
14 DECEMBER, l802
DIED AT CORSTON LODGE IN THIS PARISH
23 NOVEMBER 1869
The next inscription relates to a member of the
family of Monck of Potheridge, of which there
are several members buried in Weston churchyard.
He was the o-wner of property in Corston parish,
still held by his representatives.
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE
REVEREND GEORGE MONCK
WHO DIED FEBRUARY 27, 1846
AGED 68 YEARS
ALSO
SARAH MONCK
RELICT OF THE ABOVE
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE
29TH DAY OF NOVEMBER 1849
AGED 71.
I know no more of the foUo-wing inscription
than appears on the face of it, but its rude lines
reveal a sudden and awful death, the vagueness
of the words adding pathos to the story. The
churchyard moralist seems to be always oblivious
of the strange and sometimes ludicrous effect
of putting the terms of endearment with which

CORSTON CHURCH. 63
relatives are regarding a person into his or her
own mouth. SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
MARY SWATTEN
DAUGHTER OF
GEORGE AND ELIZABETH
SWATTEN
OF KNIGHTON, BERKS
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE M.\Y 2ND, 1846
A FAITHFUL SERVANT IN THE
MILSOm's family 36 YEARS.
How melancholy was the news
To those I loved so dear
To hear my precious life was gone
Assistance — none was near
May the voice of this alarm them
That drove me from the door.
Awful and sad was my untimely death
In floods of sorrow I resigned my breath
The rushing torrent was my dying bed
No friend to close my eyes or raise my head
And whilst aftection heaves for me the sigh
In order set thine house, for thou must die.
The parish registers date from 1568 and are
more than usually curious and interesting. The
first entry is that of the baptism of "Prissilla
" daughter of Richard Horsingtou." The first
burial recorded is in 1569 and the first marriage
1586. On one of the leaves is -written a list of the
Vicars of Corston from the beginning of the seven
teenth century to the present time. There is much

¦64 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
amusement to be derived from the examination of
parish registers and by studying and comparing
them many interesting and important deductions
<;an be made, but they would illustrate subjects
foreign to the scope of these articles.
For instance, frequent entries in the Corston
registers of adult baptism show how much that
rite was neglected until sickness or the
approach of death brought the desire to be re
ceived into the Church of England. The follow
ing is the most striking of many examples of this :
1744 November 25. John Stephens (aged 51) being
in extreme danger of death and earnestly desirous of
receiving the sacrament of Baptism was baptized in his
own House and in his Bed ace. to the Form for private
Baptism of Infants. He died Dec. 2nd, 1744.
Earlier than that we have the entry of what was
probably a conversion.
November 1 6th 1729 was christened James, a black,
servant to John Harrington, Esq.
In this connection it may be remarked that the
Haringtons seem to have been quite indifferent as
to whether there was one r or two in their name.
There are in the records of vestry meetings the
autographs of several members of the family, and
in the majority of instances the name is spelt as in
the above quotation. The first entry is not the
only instance of the freedom in modes of spelling.
We read of the burial on the 12th of May, 1642, of
Letis daughter of Jeremy Martin Dr. of physic.

CORSTON CHURCH. 65
We have also such extraordinary female names as
" Gwelthian" or " Camering." The latter occurs
in the list of burials 1747, as belonging to a
member of a famUy whose name occurs fre
quently. 1747, November.
Camering daughter of John and Ann Humphries
was buried.
Every now and then the minds of the -writers
revolted from the trammels of the ordinary and
formal mode of wording entries and so we read —
Nicholas Underill and Sarah Fford were legally
coupled in the holy Estate of Matrimonie May 12
1657.
In 1753 we find among the burials
Mary Bennett buried (variolis correpta) jetatis suK
2 J heu ! nimium bre vis Eevi,
In the unkno-wn tongue in which physicians love
to obscure the nomenclature of their pro
fession Variola is the term appUed to small-pox.
The most remarkable entry is however this —
1732-3 Mar. 2nd dyed my good Friend and Neigh
bour Mr. Henry Martin of Saltford (aged 44) issue 8
sons 4 daughters and a relict which married ye Rev.
Mr. Collinson.
The clergyman who made this entry was the
Rev. James Rich, A.M., of Exeter CoUege, Oxford,
not of Trinity CoUege, Dublin. As a rule it is a
formula of complaint with men that though they

66 THE CHURCH RAMfiZER.
married their wife they did not marry the whole
family. Mr. Collinson would seem to be a
striking exception. The next Vicar was the
Rev. Hudson Martin, who held this li-ving
from 1742 to 1755, and appears also to have
held Saltford, for he is elsewhere spoken of
as of Saltford. He married AbigaU Harington,
who survived him and in 1760 obtained permission
to erect a new seat at her own cost on the right-
hand side of the south door for her own use for
ever. The Rev. Hudson Martin seems to have
been an active clergyman, and for the information
of his successors he inserted this notice on the
cover of the second volume of the registers —
Memorandum, that there is due to the vicar of Corston
every year at Michaelmas from the King a Pension
which is usually paid on demand by His Majesty's
Receiver at the audit held at Bruton about the 15th or
l6th of October, OS. But note that every incumbent
before he can receive the said pension must send up his
Collation and Induction to London to be there enrolled
in Mr. Auditor Lowndes' office in the New Palace Yard,
Westminster. The Deductions made every year out of the Pension]
by the Receiver are as follows :
The poundage at IS. ... ... o i 4
Acquittance... ... ... ... 010
The auditor's fee ... ... ... o 210
The pension ... i 6 8
Made 1 745 by 
Hudson Martin, vicar. Nett due ... i i 6

CORSTON CHURCH. 67
The payment is not now made to the Vicar, but
whether it has been duly commuted I do not know.
Hudson Martin's successor was the Rev. Arthur-
Hele, A.M., who was also Rector of Porlock
His father was a prebendary of Salisbury and
author of a " Manual of Devotion," which is not
yet forgotten. In the year 1768 it ia recorded —
Mr. John Britton buried Feb. 21.
and upon this fact the last-named Vicar has made
a curious note, Ulustrating his own Christian for
bearance but branding Mr. Britton's famUy with
a very bad character. He writes —
Mem. On John Britton's death ten shillings for a
mortuary became due to ye vicar. It was demanded of
his son but refused by him. The Vicar declined to-
prosecute him lest he should so far disgust him as to
make him desist from coming to church which at this
time he began to frequent having before been notorious
for a neglect of all religious duties. This is ye true
reason of my not suing him for ye mortuary which is ye
vicar's just right, as witness my Hand
Mar. 2nd 1768. Arthur Hele, vicar.
The belfry at Corston at present contains only
two beUs ; the late squire wished to add to the
number at the time of the restoration, but the
architect was of opinion that the tower would not
bear the strain. The first beU has no inscription,
on the second are the words —
MR. 'JOHN • ferryman CH'WARDEN 1754 . T. BILBIE
Thanks to the churchwardens' book of accounts
which also contains several resolutions of

ss THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
vestry, I am able to trace very clearly the history
of the casting of this bell by Bilbie, the famous
founder of Chewstoke, and also show the fate of
its predecessors. The story is not without interest,
as showing in what light those to whom in the last
century the preservation of our churches was
entrusted regarded their solemn charge. The
beU without any inscription was cast in 1742,
for we find the payments —
1 741. For haling the bell  ... o 14 o
1742. Haling the bell and expences ... o 15 o
For casting the bell... ... ...860
Hanging the bell and expences ... I 16 3
With regard to the second bell the foUowing
resolution is the first entry : —
January ye 24 1754
Att a vestry legally call and held att our church this
day it was agreed yt ye great and least bell shall be both
cast into one and if ye mettle of ye other shall be dis-
pos'd of and if any overplus of ye said money be left
it shall be layd out in some other addition in ye
church which is thought most necessary.
In the accounts for the year to which this belong,
the year dating from Easter, 1753, we have entry
¦of the following disbursements : —
Mr. Bilby in part towards casting two bells lo o o
Do. for 2 clappers  ... i o 6
For bawling ye bells backwards and for
wards and expenses ... ... t 10 o
For ale att takingdown and hangingye bell 030

CORSTON CHUECH. 69
The last item is significant. It next appears that
there were critics in the parish who were dis
satisfied with the tone of the new bell and
apparently doubted, as modern readers will doubt,
its equality to the old. This appears to have put
the founder upon his mettle, and he threw down
a challenge to his critics, which the churchwardens
set forth in their book in the following terms, and
obtained his signature : —
October 22nd, 1754.
Whereas a suspicion has been consorning ye good
ness of ye bell lately cast by Mr. Thomas Bilby he doth
hereby oblige himself that if ye said bell should be slot
or otherwise hurt by faer ringing or towling within one
year from ye time it was hung up he will cast ye said
bell again without any expenses to ye parish, as Witness
my hand. William Bilbie.
Immediately following this reassuring challenge
is the following receipt : — ¦
Oct. 22nd, 1754.
Received of Mr. John Humfris the sum of seven
l^ounds three shillings in ful for -last payment for casting
the too Bell for the use of Thomas Bilbie.
Received by me William Bilbie.
The vestry it would appear soon found it necessary
to take steps for the proper preservation of then-
new property and to protect the belfry from
sacrilege : —
Oct. 3otli, 1757.
Att a vestiy held this day it was agreed that if for
the future any person or persons shall get into ye tower

70 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
and ring with hammers or any otherways damage ither
•of ye bells such person or persons shall be prosecuted,
expense attending such prosecution to be paid out of ye
poors rate.
And we further agree to give a reward of two guineas
to any person or persons who shall discover any person
or persons who shall damage eether of ye bells in ye
manner above mentioned.
One old bell was left dismounted for many years
until at last it was resolved to sell it in order to
obtain money for certain additions to the furniture
of the church.
At a vesti-y held Feb. I2th, 1823, present the Rev,
William Bliss, curate, it was resolved that one old
broken bell for which a new one had been substituted
many years ago should be disposed of and the proceeds
apportioned to the payment of the expenses attendant
upon the erection of a tablet on the east side of the
chancel, containing the creed, the Lord's prayer and
the ten commandments, which were ordered to be
erected by the Archdeacon of Bath at one of his late
parochial visitations.
In the accounts for the same year we find : —
Hauling bell to Bath ... ... o 6 o
Loading &c. the bell ... ... o 2 o
New work done in the church ... 18 17 6
Received for the old bell ... ... 18 2 6
It was questionable whether the .£18 was weU laid
out in the boards covering up the east window
which I have said were removed at the restoration.
GambUng .and playing in the churchyard even

COESTON CHURCH, 71
during the hours of divine service are represented
by Hogarth as one of the -vices of his age. It
appears to have been prevalent at Corston from
the stringent means taken to prevent it. On the
23rd of February, 1786, the vestry beside giving
Mr. Holbrook, at that time churchwarden,
permission to erect a pew, resolved :^
Also that Mr. Holbrook having received an admoni
tion to suppress fives playing and other improper
practices in the churchyard, do sink such fences as he
then proposed in the said churchyard so as to prevent
such practice for the future.
The lists of payments are chiefly noticeable for
the extraordinary vagaries of spelling which they
display. We come upon the forms " sackrimonts,"
or " nayles,'' or " tyoUs " and the entry : —
1746. For two Procklimations for cattel ... 3 o
The most amusing however are the foUowing items
in connection with some reparation of the roof in
1736 :—
Paid for stoartes for ye batolmont ... I 3
For cool for too hot ye eyoroons ... o 6
There are two annual payments which I here
record for the consideration of the curious in such
matters. The first are contributions which I
traced for a considerable time to the support of a
hospital or as it became contracted "potol," but
they are before the actual formation of either of
the Bath hospitals, though concurrent with the

72 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
protracted and influential exertions which re
sulted in the opening of the Bath Mineral Water
Hospital in 1738. The contribution seems to have
been of fixed amount : —

1723.

Pd. ye hospital money ...

... 2

9

,, „ 

... 2

9

1724.

Paid 3 qr. hospit^U 
... 4
i§
1734-
For 4 quarters of potol mony
- 5
6
The following are instances of the other
sntries
to which I refer : —
1731-
Gole and marshoU stock
... 12
0
1732.
Gole and maisholl stock
... II
¦;
This no doubt is a prison charge ; the church
warden at this date used the word " stock" in the
sense of ascount, and entered the balance of cash in
hand as " coin in stock.''
_;4ll ^AINTS, )iVoOLLEY,  y^BST,

an faints, mooHep.

i|OOLLEY is stUl, as it was before the
Reformation, a chapelry attached to-
the Rectory of Bathwick. According
to the architectural fitness of things
it ought now to be attached to the
vicarage of S. James, Bath, for the Uttle building
that can be distinguished amid a small cluster of
farmhouses and buildings in the broad valley
between Lansdown and Swainswick may be very
well described as a country edition of the large
church which stands adjacent to the site of the
south gate of the city of Bath. Both are built
in the late Italian style and have a western
tower terminating in a cupola. The style is
not one to be much admired or imitated now,.
but there is a certain grace about the tower
of S. James, and I do not think Collinson is so
far wrong as he is sometimes in his ideas of taste
when describing AU Saints, Woolley, as " an
elegant modern structure." StUl instead of en
dorsing his approbation we must say that it is a
plain rectangular chamber as little adapted to the
uses of a church as can weU be imagined'. It is a
poor substitute for its predecessor, which, though I
6 2

74 THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
have seen no description of it, I have no doubt was
another of those little Norman fanes which dotted
the country round Bath wherever there were two
or three homesteads. Across the valley is
Swainswick, and though we have no mention
of the place in the Domesday Book the church
has many remains to show its Norman origin.
Langridge is further up the valley and while
its church contains Norman work of a most
interesting character, we know also that the
manor was the property of the Bishop of
Coutance to whom the Conqueror also granted
this manor of Woolley. Woolley completed a
triangle of churches which were no doubt
erected during one period. The old edifice
was however suffered to faU into decay and the
present church was erected in its place by the
piety of the lady of the manor. Books differ
as to the date of its building, but I am fortunately
able to fix the year exactly and to restore to light
the record of the fact made at the time for the in
formation of posterity, but lost sight of for many
years. Three years since when some alterations
were being made to the pulpit a piece of parch
ment was found behind the skirting with the fol
lowing inscription hitherto unpublished : —
delapsura antiqua capella
hanc splendidiorem, sola IMPENSA,
ellzabeth-a parkins de ravenfield
agro eboracensi et hujus manerii
woollei domina ^dificari jussit
anno xto i76i.

WOOLLEY CHUECH. 75
The connection of WooUey with Bathwick is as
old as the Norman occupation. In the time of
King Edward, Wilege, as it was then called, was
the property of Aluric, a thane who had many
acres in this county. His Grace of Coutance was
one of the fighting Norman bishops who did good
ser-vice to the invader on the field of Senlac, and
was rewarded by his master by the gift of most
extensive estates in this county, many of them in
the immediate neighbourhood of Bath. Among
them was " Wiche" to which WooUey was then
added. The Bishop died in 1093 and many of
his estates were taken by the Cro-wn. Not long
after we find the property we are speaking of in
the possession of the Benedictine nunnery of
WherweU, Hants, which should be remembered as
having been founded by Queen Elfride in expiation
of the murders of her first husband and her step
son. From this connection the two] places are
entered as Wick Abbas and Woolley Abbas in
the taxation of 1293. The property reverted
to the Crown at the dissolution and Woolley
was granted separately from Bathwick by King
Edward VI. in 1552 to Edward Fynes Lord
Clinton and Saye who in the same reign sold
it to WUliam Crowche, esq. It was afterwards in
the possession of the weU-known Bath f amUy of
Sherston and afterwards that of Wyatt. It was
subsequently acquired by WUliam Parkins, esq.,
who was o-wner of Charlcombe. His niece and
successor, Elizabeth Parkins, was the lady at
whose cost we have seen the church was rebuilt.

76 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
She bequeathed her property to her nephew,
Matthew Worgan, esq., who was projorietor of
some gunpowder mills in this valley.
The ecclesiastical connection of WooUey with
Bathwick has not been severed. In the ordina
tion of a vicarage at Bathwick in 1320 it was
provided that the Vicar should have ground to
build a house on the . east side of the Rector's
garden and should have " all small tithes, oblations
"and obventions belonging to the aforesaid
" church and the chapel of Woolley . . . the
" Vicar to sei-ve the aforesaid church or chapel."
The Eectory of Woolley is still consolidated
with that of Bathwick and is now held by the
Eev. George Tugwell, M.A., of Oriel CoUege,
Oxford. The service is performed by one of the curates
who walks out from Bath on Sunday afternoons
and who must therefore be excused if there is not
that punctuality in beginning the service that is
insisted upon in a large city where public clocks
are numerous and means of communication are
easy. On the Sunday on which I attended the
church the service was read by the Eev. H. Hugh
Williams, B.A., who afterwards preached from
1 Timothy vi. 12—-" Fight the good fight of
"faith." His address breathed perhaps a some
what youthful confidence in tbe perfectibility of
mankind, but it was bright and energetic in
character and was in truth a spirited harangue to
the Church MUitant.
The registers date back to 1560, but they are

WOOLLEY CHUECH. 77
merely copies, as the foUowing transcript of the
heading shows : —
The Register Book of Woolley being decayed and
almost obliterated, this is a just and faithful! transcript
of it, made by me Matthew Worgan (chappelwarden),
in the Year of our Lord 1 760.
The Register Booke of Woolley in the countie of
Somersett in the dioces of Bathe and Wells inade in the
Xlth yere of the Raygne of our Soveraigne ladie
Elizabethe by the grace of God of Ingland and France
and Irelande Queen deffendre of the faythe and in the
yere of our Lorde God one thousand and five hundred
n3mety nyne of all weddings, christenings and burialls
within the sayde Pishe as foUowethe. Pson — William Powell.
,-,,,( Anthonie Cavell.
Churchwardens I Richarde Davis.
. The first entry is —
1560. Jane Dagger, the wife of Thomas Dagger,
was buried the xxiii. day of September.
The copyist records that the entries between 1639
and 1651, as well as between 1667 and 1692 had
been cut out. In 1783 we find the foUo-wing
memorandum similar to one in the Corston
register : —
1783. The duty on entries of births, burials, &c.,
takes place from hence.
There are notices of the payment of this duty
down to 1794. Later on we come across a curious
fine for luxury that I have not met with any
where else : —
181 1. June 26 was buried Wm. Hooper of the

7S THE CHUECH EAMBLES.-
parish of Wellow, his cofin being covered with velvet,
a fine of fifty shiUings was paid to the churchwarden
which was given to the poor.
Ml-. Worgan, who became o-wner of the property
after Mrs. Parkins' death, would seem to have
been her steward while she lived, from the two
records which are inscribed in good round hand
on the last page of the register, and which are
worthy of transcription in themselves.
November the l6th, 1757.
Mrs. Elizabeth Parkins
Lady of this manor of Woolley gave the silver flaggon
and beaker and plate weight thirty ounces to this
chappel for the sers'ice of the Communion and also
the linnen, the surplice and bible.
Matthew Worgan, Steward.
And in the year 1 761 the chapel being veiy ruinous
and decaying the said Mrs. Elizabeth Parkins had it
taken down and generously erected the present edifice
at her own expense. Matthew Worgan, Steward.
In course of time Mr. Worgan suffered the fate
of aU mortals and we read —
Matthew Worgan esq. of this parish was buried
Jan. 24th, 1794, ina walled grave atthe head of the
Isle in the chappel.
Three years after the death of a workman at his
mUls receives special notice and not without reason.
1797- James Skrine of the parish of Walcot was
buried March 19th in the eighty first year of his age and a
-ivorkman in the gimpowder mills upwards of fifty years.

WOOLLEY CHUECH. 79
More remarkable still is the entry some years later
which bluntly states : —
Peter Grigg rector of this parish fifty five years was
buried Nov. l6, 1804, aged 82 years.
His was a remarkable period of the service and
must have seen many changes even in his peaceful
Uttle parish iu the course of more than half-a-
century. The following entry is of interest and it
is needful to observe that Shockerwick for the
nonce was elevated into a parish : —
Walter Wiltshire esq. of the parish of Shockerwick
was buried October 25th 1799.
The entries in the registers are, as would be
expected, few in number, but it is somewhat sur
prising that there has been no wedding in the
jjarish since 1868. It would seem as though
husbands were not to be obtained in Woolley and
so the ladies went elsewhere to find them. In the
last entry marriages were numerous but the
parties came from other parishes and some were
married by Ucense. This was evidently a quiet
out-of-the-way church in which to celebrate run
away matches.
Among the tombs in the churchyard I came
across two names still honourably represented in
the city of Bath. Under one tomb sleeps
CAROLINE BELOVED WIFE OF
CAPT. ARTHUR LYSAGHT OF THE
ROYAL NAVY, AND THIRD DAUGHTER OF THE LATE
CHARLES CUMMINGS, ESQ OF BATH
WHO DIED I3TH JUNE 1825 AGED 39.

so THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
Then we have three generations of the name of
Hensley : — JOHN HENSLEY
OF THE PARISH OF WALCOT IN THE CITY OF BATH
WHO DIED MAY I4TH l802 AGED 64 YEARS
JOHN HEXSLEY
WHO DIED MARCH IITH 1843 AGED 74
REV EDWIN JOHN HENSLEY M.A
FELLOW OF CORPUS CHRIST I COLLEGE OXFORD
SON OF THE ABOVE
DIED APRIL 15TH 1847 AGED 30.
In another part of the chu.rchyard is a lengthy
insription in memory of
REAR ADMIRAL PETER PUGET C. B
OF HIS MAJESTY'S ROYAL NAVY
WHO AFTER A LONG AND LABORIOUS LIFE
SPENT WHOLLY IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY
TERMINATED PUS EARTHLY CAREER IN THE ARMS OF
HIS FAMILY
ON THE 3IST DAY OF OCTOBTR A.D. 1822
^TAT 58.
Adieu my kindest, Husband, Father Friend, adieu
Your toil and pain and trouble are no more
The Tempest now may howl unheard by you
While Ocean smites in vain the rocky shore
Since grief and sin and sorrow still molest
The wandering vassals of the boundless deep
Ah, happier thou now gone to endless rest
Than those who still survive to err and weep.
I do not think I have before met with the
following specimen of the hortatory doggerel
epitaph : —

WOOLLEY CHUECH. 81
Boast not vain Man whoe'er thou art
Of Riches Strength or Power
For they no comfort can Impart
When thou art at thy Dying Hour
Be meek and humble while on earth
Delight in being good and just
For Riches Strength nor Power nor Breath
Will be distinguished iu the Dust.
In the churchwarden's accounts we find pay
ments of head money for sparrows, beginning in
1839 and continuing down to the year 1854, and
curiously enough for nearly the whole of that time
the accounts are examined and bear the signature
of the then Eector, the Eev. H. M. (now Preb.)
Scarth, who though, as all know, so much " an
antique Eoman" I should have thought dis
couraged the useless slaughter of the little innocent
creatures. The one bell, which has a very harsh note, was
cast in 1749, and bears the inscription : —
WOOLLEY CHAPEL, W. E. 1 749.

^olp Crinitp, Dognton.

OYNTON is a parish of ordinary size-
and with little over 400 inhabitants.
The size of its church is therefore
remarkable, for the buUding will
seat about 350 worshippers and in a
case of necessity I have no doubt that the entire
population of the place could be accommodated in
it. For these proportions it is indebted to the late
Mr. James Elkington GiU of Bath, to whom the
restoration and enlargement of the church was
entrusted in 1864. Previous to that date the
church consisted of a small nave with south
porch, a chancel, with a transeptal chapel and
tower. The alterations made affected the nave,
which was lengthened and widened, and an aisle
was built on the north side, connected with the
nave by an arcade. All this was constructed in the
early Perpendicular style, in order to correspond
with what was left existing of the old nave. The
only points of any interest are two patches of
herring-bone work on the south side. There is
also on that side between the porch and the tower
a curious and very small old window. At the
same time with the rest of the alterations new
roofs were put on the building with curved and

o I
zoH0
ft, >^H
3

0

DOYNTON CHUECH. 83-
paneUed wood ceUing and cornices. The rafters
are already bending under the weight of the
hea-vy roofing slabs that were used. The old pews
were removed and with them a western singing
gaUery, which Eudder describes as " commodious."
The area was reseated and proper arrangements
were made for warming the church. The porch
was likewise restored and the present inner door
way was then built. The tower is a plain Per
pendicular structure in three stages, embattled
but having only one pinnacle. It stands on th e
south side between nave and chancel ; on th&
north side is a transeptal chapel attached to the
property of the manor of Bury in this parish.
The narrow chancel arch and the arch to the
north chapel are of Early EngUsh character and
have not been altered in size or style. The
arch opening from the chancel into the lower
storey of the tower is of rather later date. The
chancel was rebu.Ut in very bad taste about
the year 1768 by the then Eector, the Eev»
Thomas Coker. This spoUs the appearance of the
church. It terminates apsidally with the blunt-
headed window of the period and is very narrow. It
was intended to rebuild this portion also when the
rest of the alterations were made, but from lack
of funds this portion of the plan was not carried
out. So as it now stands the church may be said
to be a union of two styles of church buUding, as
nearly as possible a century apart.
Sufficient e'vidence however remains that the
original church here was of very early date. The

S4 THE CHURCH EAMBLES.
herringbone work on the south side was built by
men who lived before Duke William set his foot
in England. The form of the Eoman basilica,
the original model for church building, had not
then been much departed from, and hence the
long and narrow nave of Doynton Church. The
visitor can see what this width was from the
chancel arch, which has not been widened with the
widening of the nave. The chancel, it is evident,
has been rebuilt ujion the foundations of the
original, and beside being narrow, is inclined to
the north, in symbolism probably of our Lord
having bowed his head upon the Cross. The
tower being to the south of the main building is
balanced by the transeptal chapel on the north
and so made the church cruciform. The addition
of Mr. Gill's aisle has destroyed its symmetry.
The alterations in the church were carried out
during the incumbency and under the auspices of
the Eector for the time being, the late Eev. Lewis
B. Clutterbuck, who was largely aided by the
Eev. C. E. Davy, Mr. Falcon and others.
The church was reopened for divine ser-vice on
Trinity Sunday, May 27th, 1866, with a choral
service, the prayers being intoned by the Rev.
— Cooper, of Clifton. The sermon in the
morning was preached by the Rev. — Rolls, of
Bath, and in the evening by the Rev. Canon
Tuaou. I recently attended evening service here, and as I
sat in the building I could not shake off the feeling
that I was in a city church, the widely differing

DOYNTON CHURCH. 85
character of the two portions of the church com
bining to convey the same impression. The
portion of the church devoted to the congregation,
though of no .irch»ological interest, possessed all
the best features of the churches now-a- days built
to accommodate large and crowded populations,
and which are spacious, light and airy, while built
in accordance with a free rendering of the canons
of Gothic art. The arrangements of Doynton
are of this character, the lofty open roof, the
open seats and the floor paved with black and red
tiles — an unusual luxury in a country church. The
congregation I am happy to say was moreover
large, and joined in the services with the utmost
heartiness, the choir singing well but merely lead
ing the people. The chancel again, of which I
had just a glimpse from where I was sitting, put
me in mind of some cf the curious churches of
which Wren erected so many after the Great Fire
and which with aU their old-fashioned arrange
ments the rambler among the bye-ways of the
city of London may still come upon, though the
progress of demolition is rapid. The organ at
Doynton is a new one and a good one, but its
present position, which is only temporary, is bad,
obstructing the already narrow chancel and bring
ing the organist in the same line of sight as the
communion table.
The ser-vice was very clearly and plainly read
by the Rector, who subsequently preached from
2 Samuel xii. 7 — -"And Nathan said to Da-vid,
" Thou art the man." He described with what art

.86 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
the messenger of God had unfolded his parable to
King David, and kindled the just anger of the
King, who aU unconsciously pronounced the con
demnation of his o-wn offence "As the Lord liveth,
-"the man that hath done thisthingshall surely die."
"And Nathan said. Thou art the man." The
preacher proceeded to show how the consequences
of his sin, as foretold by the prophet, followed
David in his after life and how his declining days
were embittered by the killing of Amnon, the
rebellion of Absalom, the cursing of Shimei, and
how afterwards the sword never departed from
his house. The lesson which is taught by this
history he enforced very eloquently and very
practically, " Be sure thy sin will find thee out."
In Domesday book we read under the heading
of the lands of the Bishop of Coutance, " The
*' same bishop held Didintone in Polcrecerce hun-
" dred, and Eobert held it of him. Alward held
" it in the time of King Edward." The place was
anciently called Didington and the name has
been at different times variously spelt Deinton,
Dointon and Doynton, the last being now the
settled spelling. The family of the Deintons
took their name from this place and held the
manor for several generations of the Earls of
Gloucester. In 1278 Thomas de Deinton sold the
manor and advowson of the church to John de
Tracy. The manor continued in the family of
Tracy for three hundred years, and Tracy park is
still the name of the park whose entrance
gates with their remarkable columns, will

DOYNTON CHURCH, 87
attract any visitor's attention. In the reign of
XJueen Elizabeth the Tracys sold the manor to Mr.
Arthur Player and others. At the beginning of
the last century Robert Langton, esq., was lord
of the manor and the most prominent monument
in the church is one of white marble with the
following inscription to the memory of a member
of this family : —
M. S. Elizabethie Langton, filia; Edward Bridges de
Cainsham, in Com. Somerset. Arm. uxoris Johannis
Langton, de Deinton, in Com. Gloucest. Gen., a cujus
morte 'Vidua vixit annos ultra quadraginta, ut Charitati
in Pauperes, Beuignitati in suos, Pietati in Deum, Curis
soluta, sese devoveret. Ob. Ann. iEtat. 83", Salutis
1702-3. Sancta Matrona suas exuvias juxta illustrium
Majorum Cineres in Ecclesia de Cainsham recondi jussit :
Sed cum inter multifaria numeros^ familite Marmora in
angustis istius Cancellis Monumento defuerit locus, in
hujvis ParochiEe Ecclesia (in qua longam bonis operibus
peragendis viduitatem consumpsit) Carolus Symes &
Amy Meredith, Nepotes et Executores, Marmor hoc
gratitudinis ergo posuerunt.
The lord of the manor now is the present repre
sentative of the Langton family, Mr. Stephen Gore
Langton, of Newton park, Bath. Tracy park is
the residence of the Rev. C. R. Davy, who is well
kno-wn and respected in Bath for his genial and
hearty co-operation in any good or useful move
ment on foot in the city. He is one of those
country gentlemen who can always be relied upon
to come forward as a neighbour whenever public
occasion caUs them.

ss THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
There is also an ancient manor caUed the Bury
which at one time also belonged to the Tracys,
It was sold by them to the StUls and passed from
the family of StUl to that of HiUman. It has
now for many years been held by the family of
the Ajners of Bury house.
There was anciently a chapel dedicated to S.
Mary the Virgin attached to the manor house.
Of this only the site is now remembered.
The living is a Rectory in the gift of the Lord
Chancellor and has been held since 1872 by the
Rev. Augustus George How, B.D., of S. John's
College, Cambridge, who after more than thirty
years hard work as Curate and Vicar of a large
Metropolitan suburban parish, was preferred to a
less laborious sphere of duty in the country.
It isworthy of note that there is a valuable charity
left by Beloved Wilkes, who by his will dated 15th
Sept. 1722, directed that the trustees, viz., the
Eectors of Doynton, Dyrham and Puckleohurch,
should hold certain property in trust, to b e applied for
the maintenance, education, schooling, quaUfying
for, putting to, and keeping at Oxford, of a lad, in
order to make him a minister of the Church of
England — such lad to be chosen by the said
trustees from either of the parishes of Wick and
Abson, Puoklechurch, Doynton, or Dyrham, and
of such parents who were not of ability to give him
such maintenance and education as aforesaid, and
that they should not choose one of their own sons —
and when and as soon as such person should have
taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts, another lad

DOYNTON CHURCH. 89
should be appointed. In 1827 an order was made
under Sir S. EomUly's Act, enlarging the power of
the trustees to elect a lad, in case none should be
f oundof the four parishes,f rom any parish in England
or Wales. In 1848 a vacancy having occurred the
trustees proceeded to elect another youth, and as
in their judgment there was no eligible candidate
from either of the parishes named by the testator
they elected a stnanger. This gave rise to a petition
being filed in the Vice ChanceUor's Court, by
a Mr. Gale of Doynton, and others, who claimed
the benefit for his son. After hearing counsel
for and against the petition the Vice ChanceUor
said there was a gross mistake on the part of
the trustees, and that the right thing was to de
clare the election invalid, that the boy Gale was
eligible, and to direct the trustees to proceed to a
new election, and to pay the costs of the petition.
The trustees appealed from this judgment to the
Lord Chancellor Truro, who ordered the judgment
of the Vice-Chancellor Shad well to be reversed, dis
missed the original petition, thereby confirming the
selection made by the trustees, and authorised them
to pay their costs out of the funds of the charity.
The present recipient of the benefits of this part of
the trust is Mr. James Lyon Bowley, son of the late
Eev. J. W. L. Bowley, Vicar of SS. PhUip and
Jacob, Bristol, who was elected in 1872. This young
gentleman who had received his early education
at the Bristol Grammar School was placed at the
Loughborough Grammar School, and while there
competed successfuUy for a Mathematical Soholar-
7 2

90 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
ship at Keble College, Oxford, and is now, October)
1876, in residence, with every prospect of a dis
tinguished university career. In addition to the
above valuable bequest " Beloved Wilkes" left
pensions of J20 per annum to two widows of
clergymen, and pecuniary allowances to other
¦clergymen's widows as far as the funds'" of the
charity would admit, at the discretion of the afore
named trustees. Dnring the past year about .£100
has been so applied. Beloved Wilkes m.ay justly
be considered as a benefactor to the Church of
England. A former Rector of Dyrham, and a member of
the leading family, the Eev. William Langton,
left in 1668 the sum of £600 in trust, one third to
be paid towards the payment of a, schoolmaster or
miistress in the parish of Doynton, and towards
apprenticing the children of poor and respectable
parents, the other two thirds for the like purposes
in the parish of Dyrham.
A commodious schoolroom was erected about
two years since on a site given about twenty years
ago by the late Mr. W. H. P. Gore Langton, M.P.
It is a mixed voluntary school, in union with the
National Society, under the charge of a certi
ficated teacher. It is well attended and fairly
supported. The population of Doynton, like that of many
agricultural parishes, does not increase. In 1841
itwas 529 ; in 1871 it had diminished to 434.

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'JBrougf)ton (SiffbrO.

low often does the actual course of
events mock at the anticipations which
we have formed of them ! My antici
pation of attending the service at the
ancient church of S. Mary the Virgin,
Broughton Gifford, was to see in his own pulpit
the Eector who had -written so delightful a history
of his parish and who was so weU known through
out the diocese for his active interest in many
good works. The extent of his local knowledge
was remarkable ; he seemed to know every inch of
ground in the parish, as he knew every ramification
of the families who had ever been owners of it,
and the examination of his church would have
been doubly interesting in the company of so
accomplished a guide.-* But no one will ever
again hear in Broughton Gifford Church the voice
of the Rev. John Wilkinson. Between him and
us falls the dark shadow of the grisly spectre
Death. The summons was brief and imperative,
a few days and he was gone, and on the Sunday
-" Though not personally known to him, I had received a Koat
oliliging invitation to visit hia church, and to draw upon his
stores ol information.

92 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
morning that I passed through the large and busy-
looking village on my way to the parish church
he had been committed to the grave barely two days.
The service was therefore a touching one, conducted
as it was by his son, the Rev. J. F. Wilkinson,
who is I beUeve curate of Bexhill, Hastings.
There was a large congregation and many wore
mourning for him whom they had lost. The
hymns, chosen from Mercer's Psalter and Hymnal,
were appropriate to the occasion. After morning
prayer was sung The Church's one foundation,
and after the pre-communion service the very
pathetic song on human life,
Brief life is here our portion.
The Rev. J. F. WUkinson preached from John xi.
9, 10 — "Jesus answered, Ai-e there not twelve
"hours in the day ? If any man walk in the day,
"he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of
" this world. But if a man walk in the night, he
"stumbleth, because there is no light in him.''
He discoursed very profitably on the necessity of
working during the twelve hours of the day for
the night would come to each when he could no
longer work. He also said that our Heavenly
Father apportions to each one of us the work
which he has to do and gives him the time needful
to do it ; we might be sure that no man was
called away before he had finished the work which
God in his wisdom saw fit for him to do. That
was the lesson taught them by the Ufe of him

BROUGHTON GIFFORD CHURCH. 93
who had laboured so long amongst them and who
had just been t;aken away, to labour manfully
whUst they might for " the night cometh when no
" man can work."
Passing as was the. aUusion in the pulpit, those
¦who have to foUow him in speaking of Broughton
-Gifford have to say more. In volumes v. and vi.
of the " Wilts Maga." wiU be found his
" History," which is constructed on the lines laid
do-wn by the Society for a parochial history, and
seems the perfection of such a work. No one can
henceforth write on the subject without acknowledg
ing their deep obligations to him and without
wishing moreover that more of our country clergy
would work as carefully and patiently as he has
done at the history of the place wherein their lot is
cast, for they possess opportunities and facUities
which no one else can obtain.
In Domesday Book we find Broctone, as it was
then spelt, among the possessions of Humphrey
de Lisle, that being one of the ten manors which
he held in capite. With the rest of the estates it
descended by the marriage of his heiress Adeliza to
the Dunstan -viUes, who built the castle at Combe
and made it the head of the honor or barony.
Broctone was then reckoned as two knights' fees,
which were enfeoffed to John Gifford in the first
half of the 13th century by the second Walter de
Dunstan-viUe. Like the other subordinate manors
Broctone did homage in the court of Castle Combe
for along period. Mr. G. Poulett Scrope has adduced
instances down to the middle of the 16th century.

94 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
The Giffords were among the most prominent
adherents of the Conqueror. One of them, Walter,
his cousin in the third degree, was not only active
on the field of Senlac but was one of the commis
sioners for the compUation of Domesday, and was
rewarded -with the earldom of LongueviUe in
Normandy, and of Buckingham in England, and
with estates in ten counties. John Gifford was
descended from Osbern Gifford, who held in
Domesday twelve manors in Wilts, he represented
the eldest branch of the family. Elias, the father
of John Gifford, died in 1248, and among his pos
sessions was the manor of Ashton, which he held
under the barony of Castle Combe. To this he
gave the family name of Gifford as his son gave it.
to Broughton. The name is still a living one, and
bas had several representations in these later days,
well known in law if not in the Senate.
John Gifford was one of the barons who took
part against King Henry III. at Lewes but was
pardoned for his "good sei-vices at the battle
of Evesham ;" with Edmund Mortimer com
manded the forces by which Llewellyn was
defeated and slain at Bluit in 1282, and was a
member of the council by whom the statute called
Conffi-matio Chartarum — one of the great land
marks in our constitutional history — was granted.
His wife waa Matilda, great niece of Rosamund
Clifford ; her first husband had been William
Longespee, grandson of the Countess Ela, killed at
an early age iu the tournament of Bljiih. Gifford's
son by his third wife, Margaret Neville, was

BROUGHTON GIFFORD CHURCH. 95
John, caUed le rych from his great possessions.
He was beheaded at Gloucester in 1322 for the
active part which he took with the Duke of Lan
caster against the favourites and the misrule of
King Edward II. He had no children and his
-wife died soon after him. Most of his lands were
confiscated but the manors of Broughton, Elston,
Orcheston and Boyton were granted in dower to
his mother. On her death, Broughton was di-vided
between Nicholas de Audley, of Helegh,Stafford, and
Fulco le Strange, of Blackmere, who had married
Katherine and Alianora, daughters of John
Gifford senior and Matilda Longespee. These
portions were subdivided and passed through
various hands, one fragment having belonged to
the Longes, of Whaddon for three generations.
Eventually in November, 1627, they were reunited
by the successive purchase of the several portions
by Su- John Hortou, who was born in 1588, and
was sheriff of Wilts in 1617. The Hortons were
a Cheshire family attracted to the West of England
by the rise of manufactures. When they had
made money in the clothing tiade they invested it
in the purchase of lands, and they are met with
in all jDarts of this district. Sir John built a
manor house here and was the last resident lord
the parish has had, living here very quietly and
attending to his estates through all the
troublous period of the Commonwealth and the
the Restoration. He was foUowed by his son
Thomas, whose son John died before his father
Thomas, his son, succeeded in 1692 but we find

96 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
that in 1722 he was a lunatic. His son Thomas
followed and seems to have been mad during the
last years of his life. At any rate on his death
the persons who claimed under two conflicting
wills, compromised the matter by setting both
aside and di-viding the estates of the family. Under
this arrangement Broughton became the property
of John Roberts, the son of one of Horton's two
sisters, and it was sold in 1789 by the Rev. W. H.
Roberts, D.D., Provost of Eton, brother and suc
cessor of John Roberts, to BenjamiiiHobhouse, esq.,
(a baronet in 1812), for .£11,590. His son, the Right
Hon. Su- John Cam Hobhouse, bart., took his title of
Baron Broughton from his manor here in 1851. Sir
Charles Hobhouse is the present lord of the manor.
The patronage of the Uving which was in very
early times vested in the Abbey of Shaftesbury,
has been retained since the Dissolution by the
Crown. The church consists of chancel, western tower,
and nave with an aisle on the north side, and a
chantry chapel and porch forming an aisle on the
south side. The arcade on the north side of the
nave is Early English in character and it is apparent
that there was here an Early English church which
was to a great extent reconstructed in the 15th
century, when the tower and jioroh were added.
The chancel has a very poor east window but on
the south side there is a pretty little two-light
Decorated window, the recess of which seems to
have formed the sedilia. The priest's door has a
trefoil head and west of it is a narrow window

BROUGHTON GIFFOED CHUECH. 07
also trefoU headed. On the north side of the
chancel arch the moulding which supported the
rood loft is very clear, and when the church was
restored the steps were brought to sight on the
south side. The Early English arches between
the nave and north aisle rest upon circular columns
and are somewhat simUar to those at S. Thomas i
Becket, Box. In one of the two three-light
Perpendicular windows which are on the north
side of this aisle are some fragments of stained
glass, among which have been identified the re
mains of a crowned figure of the Virgin. The
east window is of two Ughts and square-headed
and in the north wall is a low doorway now walled
up. The chantry chapel is di-vided from the nave
by two arches of simUar character to the chancel
arch, which is of two chamfered orders ; the shafts
are octagonal. The east window is high up, show
ing where the altar formerly was, and the piscina
is perfect. On the south side besides a three-light
Perpendicular window of similar character to those
mentioned before, there is a narrow trefoil-headed
lancet of much earlier date. The porch is simply a
continuation of the chapel westward and in the par
tition waUare several oblong apertures (now blocked
up), by which a -view of the chantry altar was
obtained from the porch. Traces of some steps
are visible in the porch, and it may be that these
led to a parvise or priest's chamber above. The
tower is square in three stages, surmounted by
plain battlements. At the north-east angle is a
square stair turret, also embattled, rising to the

98 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
height of the tower. Beneath the parapet of the
tower are some very bold gargoyles. The western
door is set under a square head, immediately
above it is a small three-light window with a bold
hood moulding. The arch which separates the
tower from the church has no shaft or capital, and
the moulding dies iuto the wall at the impost.
The church, was restored " in 1850 under the
" superintendence of Mr. T. H. Wyatt diocesan
"architect, and at a cost of J321, which was pro-
"-vided without any rate by grants from the
" Incorporated and Diocesan Church Building
"Societies and by private subscriptions.'' The
state of the church before this was done was so
remarkable that I am bound to quote the late
Rector's description of it. He says, "The area
" was divided into thirteen enclosures correspond-
" ing to the principal farms, of different sizes, but
" all so high that the clergyman at the communion
" table could not see his congregation nor they
" him. The accommodation for the poor was
" confined to the singing gaUery, which completely
" filled up the western arch and window, and to
" some few seats under it. Another gallery closed
" another window in the north aisle. The church
" being then made rather dark five attic windows
" (one for the preacher's special benefit over the
"pulpit), were inserted in the roof, which they
" extensively weakened. The damp and decay
" were such that fungi were growing on the altar
"steps. The paths were uneven and unsafe ; here
" a hard stone had resisted the tread, here a soft

BEOUGHTON GIFFOED CHURCH. 99
" one was hoUowed. Some walls were split. The
" heavy sounding board was like to tear itself by
" its weight from its holdings and overwhelm the
" unhappy preacher in the pulpit. The bases of
" the large circular pillars were cut away to fit iu
"the pews, the foundations (originally shallow)
" were undermined by vaults. The whole interior
"was burrowed. Some vaults were filled with
" water. That the roof stood was a mercy ; it
" it certainly would have gone but for the piUars
" on the south, which are much out of the per-
"pendicular, incline inwards. Had the pressure
" been the other way, the roof must have been
" split asunder." This must have been worse, I
think, than anything it has been my lot to come
across. Before I pass from the unpleasing theme,
I may repeat an instance of the misuse of
Scriptural quotations. It will scarcely be believed
that the upholders of pews here when the resto
ration was on foot referred to the Bible to support
them and instanced the text, " When thou prayest
" enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut
"thy door." It is satisfactory to know however
that even this did not prevent the adoption of low
open seats.
There is a curious brass in the church, on one of
the columns of the chantry chapel . It represents an
altar tomb, on the front panel of which is the
inscription, while standing behind it are the
figures of a herald and of Death with his fatal
dart crossed against a wand which the other bears.
Hanging between them is the shield of Long aud

100 THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
on a ribbon above their heads are the words : —
"^Quid prodest (mortue) Longe sanguine ceseri,
" Vt vivat post f unera Virtvs." The inscription
is as foUows : —
ROBERT LONGE SECOND SONE OF HEN : LONGE
OF WHAD DON IN THE COVNTY OF WILTS ESQ :
MARRIED MILLESAINT DAVGHT" OF THO : WITSEY
PREACHER OF GODS WORD : PY WHOM HE HAD
IIII. SONES : ROBERT, EDWARD, HENRY, POST
HVMVS . HE DIED AN° DNI.' MDCXX. NOVEBER
XIII. /ETA . SV^ XLVI.IN PIOVSE MEMORY OF
WHOME, HIS MORNFVLL WIFE ERECTED THIS
MORE LOVING, THEN COSTLY' REPRESENTATION.
The Life of Mann is a trewe Lottarie
Where venterouse Death draws forth lotts short & Longe.
Yet free from fraude, and partiall flatterie,
Hee shufl'd Sheilds of seuerall size amonge,
Drewe Longe : and soe drewe longer his short dales
Th' auncieut of dales beyonde all time to praise.
The foUowing inscription on a monument in the
churchyard requires no comment on the simple
story that it teUs : —
IN PIOUS MEMORY OF
ROBERT AND SARAH BULL
ROBERT WAS BAPTIZED 21 SEPTEMBER 1 7 78
SARAH 4 FEBRUARY 1 78 1
THEY WERE MARRIED 28 NOVEMBER l802
ROBERT WAS BURIED 22 SEP. 1868
IN HIS NINETY FIRST YEAR
SARAH 6 FEBRUARY 1867
IN HER EIGHTY SEVENTH YEAR

rsKtauBBUBK

BEOUGHTON GIFFOED CHUECH. 101
IN THIS PARISH THEY WERE BORN LIVED AND DIED
FULL OF YEARS
HAVING SEEN THEIR CHILDREN TO THE THIRD
GENERATION
IN THIS CHURCH ROBERT SANG FOR 6o YEARS
IN THE CHOIR ABOVE WE TRUST HE SINGS A NEW
SONG FOR EVER
IN THIS WORLD HE WAS BLIND FOR 40 YEARS
IN HEAVEN MAY HE SAY " WHEREAS I WAS BLIND
NOW I see"
DOTH GOD EXACT DAY LABOUR LIGHT DENIED
THEY ALSO SERVE WHO ONLY STAND AND WAIT.
The entrance to the churchyard is by a pretty
lych-gate, standing under which you have a view
either of a most picturesque country church, or
looking in the other direction of a beautiful
expanse of meadow land. We are told that in
the manor of Monkton in this parish is some of
the richest land in the county of Wilts, and as we
see the fine healthy cattle luxuriating in the green
pastures we can again bear witness to the minute
observation of the historian of Broughton Gifford.

©ol? Crinitg, paulton.

AULTON, though buUt in a strag
gling fashion, is a place of consider
able size and business activity, that
almost attains to the dignity of a
small country town. It stands indeed
upon the line of the most direct road from
Bath to Wells, but it owes little of its im
portance to that fact for the road is so bad
— up hill and do-wn — that every one takes one
of the other two longer but easier ways. The
wayfarer however who braves the ups and downs
of the journey to Paulton will perceive on the
right and left of him after he passes Camerton
the tall chimneys, the shafts and the black
heaps which mark a coal pit, while the red sand
stone cropping out in the roadway also indicates
the proximity of the coal measures. These pro
vide the occupation of the people and account
for the growth in their numbers during the
present century. It is interesting on this account
and also for a comparison of the price of coal to
read CoUinson's description of Paulton. He says
it is " pleasantly situated on the edge of a fruitful
" vale which extends southward and is well
"wooded and watered. The number of houses
"is about one hundred and thirty, and of the

JlOLY JrINITY, _PauLTOH, — ^^OUTH y/sST.

PAULTON CHUECH. 103
"inhabitants nearly seven hundred and fifty-
" Most of the houses stand in several irregular
" streets near the church and many of them are
"good substantial dweUings. In the parish,
" which abounds with lyas stone burnt in great
" quantities into lime for manure, are two large
" coal pits worked by fire engines, the coals are
"very good and sold at the pit at fourpence a
^' bushel." The price of coal has no doubt gone
up since the year 1791, and the] population of
Paulton has nearly trebled, for according to the
latest return it is 1,997. The men have the pale
faces of those who spend a great part of their time
underground, and the chUdren who stand about
the doors of illkept cottages have not the fresh
rosy look which is supposed to be the characteristic
of rustic infancy. The houses are stUl straggling
and irregular, and I fancy Paulton finds it has yet
to solve, without the means of large towns, the
two great problems of drainage and water supply,
which are the penalty man pays for creating
towns. Until they have been met and grappled
with the place is at anyj time liable to the visit of
an epidemic, and though I believe it is now re
garded as healthy, Paulton has been in the past
twice scourged with the most awful pestilence that
has visited our shores during the present century.
In the churchyard are two places evidently set
apart and separate from ordinary interments.
On closer inspection you perceive a short waU of
rough stones now overgrown with ivy and having
a somewhat picturesque appearance, which marks

104 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
off a smaU enclosure to the south of the church. On
the face of it is a black tablet with the following
inscription ; — IN MEMORY OF
23 MEN 23 WOMEN AND 26 CHILDREN
INTERRED WITHIN THIS ENCLOSURE WHO
FELL VICTIMS TO THAT DREADFUL SCOURGE
ASIATIC CHOLERA
WITH WHICH IT PLEASED THE ALMIGHTY
TO VISIT THIS PARISH
FROM THE 28 SEPTEMBER TO IO OCTOBER 1832
WHEN UNDER THE DIRECTING ARM OF
BOUNTIFUL PROVIDENCE
BY THE SKILL AND ATTENTISN OF THE' MEDICAL
MEN
AND EY THE CHARITABLE DONATIONS OF THE
SURROUNDING NEIGHBOURHOOD
IT CEASED
And He stood between the Dead and the Living and
the Plague was stayed.
Another portion of the churchyard is also marked
off though not so prominently, and in the centre
of it is a stone on -ivhich is the foUo-wing inscrip
tion : — IN MEMORY OF
14 MEN 14 WOMEN AND 34 CHILDREN
WHO DIED OF ASIATIC CHOLERA WITH
WHICH AWFUL DISEASE THIS PARISH
WAS VISITED FOR A SECOND TIME
BETWEEN THE gTH OF OCTOBER 1849
AND THE 4TH OF JANUARY, 1850.
"Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the

PAULTON CHUECH. 105
Lord hath wrought this ? In whose hand is the soul of
every living thing and the breath of all mankind." —
Job xii. 9, IO.
The church is not an edifice in which there is
much to admire or detain the attention long. It
has been twice rebuilt in modern times. The first
rebuUding was in 1753, when the body of the
church was re-constructed. In 1757 the tower also
was rebuUt " of stone brought from the quarries at
" Doulton on Mendip at the expense of the
"parish." The date of its erection is displayed
upon the face of it in the form of a diamond,
which at first reading seems ambiguous, but is
really made to read the same both ways, thus —
7 * 5
7
This the existing tower is very weU proportioned
with a stair turret at the south west angle. There
are some traces of earlier work about it and it is
probably buUt upon the foundations of its pre
decessor, which it is said dated from the time of
King Edward III. It contains frames for six
bells but the peal consists of five, which were all
cast by O. Bilbie in 1742, " Thomas MiUard aud
"Mr. Joseph HUl" being chufthwardens. The
clock, which has very clear and legible faces was a
gift of a lady whose famUy has been long resident
in the parish, as a thankoffering to Almighty
God for the recovery of the Prince of Wales from
his dangerous illness in 1872.
8 2

106 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
The body of the church was neglected and
aUowed to faU into a very dilapidated condition.
It therefore became necessary in, 1839 to rebuUd
it, and this was done according to the rendering of
Early English architecture then prevalent. The
hea-py roof is therefore carried by columns of the
most attenuated dimensions which look as though
they would snap under the weight and the west
end is disfigured by a huge gallery. The church
was again restored in 1868 when the area was
refitted with open seats and the floor laid with
encaustic tiles. At the same time a new chancel
was added in much better style, replacing the
recess which previously served the purpose. The
carving of the timbers of the chancel roof is bold and
forcible. A later addition was the vestry on the
south side of the chancel, an open stone screen
separating it from the south aisle of the nave.
The organ, which was given in remembrance of
the deUverance of the parish from cholera, occupies
a chamber on the north side of the chancel.
There is also a stone reredos, but it is by no
means of an artistic design.
There are several stained windows in the
church, most of them to the memory of or erected
by members of the HUl family. One has been
inserted to the 'memory of a relative of this
family, Mrs. Hurle, of Brislington, who we read
on a tablet in another part of the building as a
former resident in the parish gave £500 for the
completion of the work of 1839.
Cast out into the lower storey of the tower,

PAULTON CHUECH. 107
which owing to the existence of the gaUery does
not form part of the church, are two stone effigies,
which have been taken out of the chancel of the
ancient church. One is that of Sir John de Paulton
which was originaUy placed " on a low tomb on
" the south side of the chancel." The other figure
is probably that of a Crusader, but both are re
garded -with little respect and are in a condition
in which it is impossible to examine them carefully.
They are placed in two corners of the chamber in
which the ringers stand and are evidently regarded
as an exceUent resting place for the tools pertain
ing to the church which are heaped upon them.
In a few years more they -wiU no doubt disappear.
The church is a large one, and on the Sunday
that I attended morning ser-vice in it there was a
very good congregation. The choir which is
surpliced entered the church processionally from
the vestry and the service was of a decidedly high
character, but free from any extravagances of
attitude or genuflexion. The choir, which con
tains several men's voices, is remarkably weU
trained, and that last and most difficult lesson has
been taught the boys in it, not to shout when they
are intended to be singing. The service was
monotoned rather drearUy by the Vicar. I must
say I like to hear the service read, and rejoiced at
the loud clear voice in which the lessons and the
epistle were read by the Eev. Wilson Redder, a
relative of the former incumbent, the late Eev.
Prebendary Milward, who on a visit in the
neighbourhood, took part in the service. The first

108 THE CHUECH RAMBLER,
lesson was Daniel iii., and the famiUar iterations
which occur in the story of the manifestation of
divine power therein related rang out around the
church so that one could recognise how they were
introduced with a purpose, to heighten the effect of
the contrast in the narrative between the work of
man and the work of God. The Hymns Ancient
and Modern -with Appendix are in use, and before
the Litany we had the morning hymn —
New every morning is the love
Our waking and uprising prove.
After morning prayer —
Alleluia ! sing to Jesus.
was sung. There being a celebration of the Holy
Communion there was no sermon, and after the
offertory and the prayer for the Church MUitant
the general congregation departed.
There is no account of Paulton in Domesday as
it appears to have been part of some other manor.
In the time of King Edward III. we find there was
a family who took their name from this place.
The first of them mentioned is a certain Su- John
de Palton, or Paulton, Knight, whose reputed
effigy I have spoken of. Several other members
of this family succeeded him, and it became extinct
in 1450 on the death of William Paulton, when
Joan, the wife of John Kelly, and Agnes, the wife
of Nicholas S. Lo, were found to be his cousins
and heirs. During the early part of the present
century the manor belonged to the HiU family
before spoken of, but the present Lord of the

PAULTON CHURCH. 109
manor is Harry Molyneux Carter, esq.. Lieutenant
in the 62nd Regiment and now stationed in India.
Paulton was one of the chapelries belonging to
the rectory of Chewton, and -with it given by
King Henry V. to the Priory of Shene. " It
"appears by the registers of WeUs, that two
"chaplains had usually served the chapels of
" Paulton and Farrington ; but in 1494 an official
" degree was issued out that Thomas Golwege,
"then vicar of Chewton, and his successors, in
"consideration of the smaUness of the revenues
" of those chapels belonging to the -vicarage, should
"not be bound to find two chaplains to serve the
" chapels, but that one in future should alternately
"officiate in both." The living was formerly a
perpetual curacy in the gift of the Vicar of
Chewton Mendip, but it has recently been formed
into a Vicarage in the alternate gift of the Vicar
of Chewton and the Bishop of the Diocese. The
Eev. H. MUward, B.A., was presented in 1842
and Uved here for many years. His work was
lightened, and his popularity extended by the
activity and kindness with which his family
seconded his exertions for the good of his people.
The title of Prebendary which was conferred upon
him showed that he had won the goodwUl of his
diocesan, whilst his office of Proctor to Convoca
tion also proved that he held the confidence of
his brethren. His removal to Rodney Stoke was
universaUy regretted in the parish of Paulton,
his death, not many months after, was a cause of
sorrow to the diocese. The present Vicar is the

no THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
Eev. Thomas WUliamsom-BuU, M.A., who has, I
believe, achieved the difficult task of following a
very popular predecessor, and is much esteemed
by his people.
The foUowiog may be quoted as a curious
specimen of churchyard doggerel : —
Farewell vaine world I have had enough of thee
Now I am careless what you think of me
Your smiles I count not nor your frowns I fear
My cares are past my head Hes quiet here
What fault you have seen in me take care to shun
First look at home, enough there's to be done.

@, antreto, Cbippenftam.

ANY persons daUy become ac
quainted -with Chippenham as the
name of an important station on
the Great Western Railway, who
learn no more about it. Yet the
name, which is their only recollection of it, tells
at what period they would find that its history
began if they set themselves to study it. The
first two syllables are the same that occur in
such names as Chipping Sodbury and Chipping
Norton, and are a modification of the Saxon
word " chepyng," a market place. The last
syUable " ham," here signifies a viUage, so we
know that Chippenham first came into im
portance as a market town in the time of the
Anglo-Saxons, just as we know that East Cheap
and Cheapside have been places of busy trade for
the same long period, and that in Bath Cheap street
indicates that the city was a market town in early
times just as clearly as the existence of the
Market place teUs a similar fact to the visitor
respecting the city of to-day.
WTien England was spUt up into seven or eight
kingdoms, and Somersetshire, WUtshire, Berk
shire, Hampshire and part of Devonshire formed

m THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
the kingdom of Wessex, North Wiltshire was a
great forest and the hunting place of the king.
The manors of Chippenham, Calne, Bromham,
Corsham, Melksham and Warminster, formed a
fine demesne, which was the property of the
Crown, and Chippenham was the hunting seat of
the King of Wessex, who in 827 became the
Overlord of AU England. Some forty years after
the Danes made their first incursion under Hunger
and Hubba, who in their third campaign came
westward by way of Reading, and says one of the
chroniclers, " they fought at Chippenham, and
" there was Hubba slain ; and a great hepe of
"stones layed coppid up where he was buried."
Canon Jackson who has worked out the history of
Chippenham in voL iii. of the " WUts Maga.,"
gives this as the first mention of the name of the
place. After the accession of Alfred the Danes
continued their ravages, and in seven years had
robbed him of all his kingdom north of the
Thames. Its connection with the great English
lawgiver is the proudest thing of which Chippen
ham can boast in its history. It is absurd to
imagine that he had here a royal palace and a
strong fortified city ; it was a quiet retreat of
which he was as fond as Her Majesty is of
Balmoral, with this additional reason for being so —
it was near the frontier from which his chief
anxiety arose. An event of considerable im
portance to the ladies of the Court happened here,
and no doubt excited the same interest in their
breasts as a simUar occurrence would now in the

CHIPPENHAM CHUECH. 113
breasts of their stUl fair descendants. Alfred's
sister, jUthelswitha, was married at Chippenham to
Burhed King of Mercia, and the wedding was cele
brated with royal splendour in " the villa regia,
"which is called Cippenham." The private
residence caUed the Palace marks the site
which tradition assigns to the site of the King's
house. The field now called Englands is reaUy
the Inland or home-field, probably to this royal
dweUing. The Danish leader Guthrum aware of Alfred's
residence, entered Wessex in 878 and took up his
position at Gloucester. Thence he made a night
march upon Chippenham, and disturbing Alfred
in his Christmas feastings, drove him from home
and compelled him to take refuge in Athelney,
How he came thence, compelled the Danes to
break up their quarters at Chippenham, and over
threw them at .(33thandune, is matter of English
history. At his death he left his manor of
Chippenham to his daughter Alfritha, wife of
Baldwin, Count of Flanders. At her death it
reverted to the Cro-wn and so remained for many
centuries. It is mentioned in the reign of King
Edward the Confessor, when there was a church
here of which Bishop Osbern was rector.
The fact that we have no mention of Chippen
ham during the wars of King Stephen is further
e-vidence that it was not a strong fortified place
and that the Danes were only attracted to it by
the chance of capturing the king. The early
Norman kings however divided the manor and

114 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
granted it away to several persons and reUgious
houses. The manor of Sheldon forming the
western half of the parish, and the lordship of
the Hundred of Chippenham, were granted by
King Henry IIL in 1231 to Sir Walter de
Godarville, from whom it descended by marriage
to Sir Godfrey Gascelyn. This family held the
manor from about 1250 to 1424, and the borough
stUl has a memorial of them in the dexter shield
of then- borough arms, which is that of Sir
Walter Gascelyn. The heiress Christina, in
whom the line ended, sold the estate for £1,000
to Walter Lord Hungerford, the High Treasurer,
whose famUy held Sheldon with the intermission
of one or two forfbitures for two centuries and a
half. In 1664 Sir Edward the Extravagant sold
it to Eichard Kent, esq., of London, afterwards a
knight and M.P. for Chippenham. But the curse of
the last of the Hungerfords seemed still to lie on the
estate, for the new o-wner got into difficulties and his
property was sold by order of the High Court of
Chancery in 1698. Sheldon was purchased by Sir
Eichard Hart of Hanham, Gloucestershire, who
resold it in 1710 to Mr. Norris of Lincoln's Inn.
This gentleman was resident here and several
members of his family are buried in the church.
The property descended from them to the famUy
of MarshaU. Mr. Gabriel Goldney, M.P. for the
borough, is now lord of the manor of Chippenham,
Sheldon and Lowdon.
Eowdon, formerly a rough down now traversed
by the road to Bath, was charged by King

CHIPPENHAM CHUECH. 115
Eichard I., about 1190, with a pension o
£7 10s. to Hodierne, who appears to have been
his nurse. In 1250 the estate was granted to the
¦widow of Sir Godfrey S. Maur, sometimes called
"Agnes de Roudon." Her son Henry sold it to
Nicholas Husee, whose family held it tiU 1392, a
period of 142 years. This family Husee or
Hosatus has been mentioned previously in con
nection -with several other places ; their arms,
" three boots sable," is the second of the two shields
in the arms of Chippenham. The Husees sold
Eowdon to Su- John Erleigh, of Beckington,
Somerset. His only daughter Margaret married
Sir Walter Sandes Knight, and they sold Rowdon
to Walter Lord Hungerford in 1434. " Some of
the Hungerford famUy," says Canon Jackson,
" resided at Rowdon house," and during the CivU
War a party of the Parliament forces who gar
risoned it after the battle of Round way Down
were captured here by the Royalists. It went with
Sheldon to Sir Eichard Kent, and on the sale of
his property was bought by Mr. Thomas Long of
Monkton near Melksham. Several of the Longs
lived at Rowdon and were buried in Chippenham
Church — in the chancel I suppose. Their grave
stones have now been set up on the waUs of the
new vestry. They record the memory of " Thomas
"Long of Rowdon who died 21st May 1691," of
"Eichard Long died 22nd October 1691," and
"Thomas Long died May 19th 1730" and of
their wives.
Lowdon Ues to the west of Chippenham an

116 THE CHURCH EAMBLES.
since 1272 has been attached to the manor of
Sheldon. The lordship of the Hundred of Chip
penham fell to the Cro-wn on the forfeiture of
Lord Hungerford 1540, and was sold by King
Edward VI. to Thomas Lord Darcy, K.G., who
sold it to Sir William Sherrington of Lacock. It
was subsequently held by the Danvers family of
Dauntsey, and it was forfeited by Sir John the
regicide. King James II. granted it to Charles
Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough, and from him it
descended to Mr. Mordaunt Fenwick, who sold it
m 1854 to Mr. Joseph Neeld. The forest of
Chippenham and Pewsham was granted by King
James I. to the Duke of Buckingham, who was
stabbed by Felton. It was disafforested in 1630,
and the property has been divided among the
descendants of the Earl of Anglesey, to whom it
had been granted. One portion was bought by
Mr. Lysley, whose family are owners of the Lodge
farms at Pewsham.
.There are three other portions of this parish
which were granted to religious houses. AUington
was given by King Stephen to the nunnery of
Martigny, and having been transferred in ex
change by them to the priory of Monkton
Farley, came at the Dissolution to Sir Edward
Seymour, afterwards the Protector Somerset,
with the bulk of their property. On the
death in 1749 of Algernon, Duke of Somerset,
¦without heirs male, Su- Charles Wyndham
succeeded to his earldom of Egremont and
some of his estates. AUington was among the

CHIPPENHAM CHUECH. 117
number and was sold by this family to Mr.
Neeld in 1844. Monkton, the pretty domain on
the other side of the Avon, now the residence of
Mr. West Awdry, was given by the Empress
Maude to Monkton Farley Priory, and went with
the rest of their property at the Dissolution. By
the marriage of Lady Elizabeth Seymour with
him Monkton became the property of Thomas
Lord Bruce, afterwards Earl of AUesbury. In
1686 it was sold to Mr. Arthur Esmeade of Calne,
from whom it passed by family arrangement, first
to the Edridges and then to Mr. G. M. Esmeade.
There are monuments to both families in the
parish church.
Stanley Abbey, which has now totally dis
appeared, stood on the eastern extremity of the
parish and was founded by the Empress MatUda,
and further endowed by her son King Henry II.
and by King Edward I. It was a Cistercian
house. At the Dissolution the principal part of
the estate was purchased by Sir Edward Baynton
of Bromham, and remained with the owners
of Spye park until some years since when it
was purchased by Mr. Gabriel Goldney who,
besides possessing the actual site upon which
the Abbey stood, has a valuable collection of
documents belonging to the Abbey, which has
been examined by the Historical Manuscripts
Commission. Having said thus much of the somewhat lengthy
manorial history of Chippenham, it still remains
to add that the borough was incorporated in

L

118 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
1554 by Queen Mary. Previous to that there was
a bailiff who had been no doubt the chief officer for
the management of the Crown lands, but as these
grew less by successive grants his authority was set
at defiance by several rival powers in the county.
By the charter granted on the 2nd of May, 1334,
as the Hungerford estates were at the time under
forfeiture, being held by the Crown untU the heir
came of age, advantage was taken of the oppor
tunity to slice off a portion and endow Chippenham
with its present borough lands. " The conditions
"annexed to these lands were that the profits
" thereof should maintain two burgesses in Par-
" liament, and keep in repair the bridge over the
" Avon and a high footway called the Causeway
"leading to Derry hUl." These borough lands are
still managed by the Corporation, but curiously
enough the rights of commonage are not obtained
by apprenticeship, as is usual, but are attached to
the occupancy of certain houses known as " burgage
houses." It appears that these, which are about
139 in number, stand on the sites of the houses
that were existing at the time the charter was
granted, and that their various privileges have
been jealously denied to aU houses built since.
Formerly they possessed also the right of voting
but this was swept away by the Reform Act. The
Municipal Corporation Act also re-organised the
Council, which consists of a Mayor, Aldermen and
Councillors, but the limits of its jurisdiction are so
narrow that it is a body of little importance, the
real work of local government being discharged

CHIPPENHAM CHURCH. 119
by an Urban Sanitary Authority. Perhaps some
day the borough bounds may be made co-extensive
with the limits of this district and the two powers
merged into one. The borough now sends only
one member to Parliament, but it once assumed a
vital importance in political history when a
question respecting the Chippenham election over
threw a ministry. This was in 1742, when Sir
Robert Walpole found himseK in a minority of 16
on the question and resigned his office, ha-ving
served as Prime Minister of England for the
notable period of 21 years.
In the last century Chippenham was a most
important centre of the cloth trade and several
fortunes were made here by the manufacture.
The introduction of machinery however removed
the cloth trade from the west and that of Chippen
ham declined -with the rest. There are several
tablets at the west-end of the nave of the church
which are worthy of note as showing that the
family of the present member for the borough has
been closely connected for two centuries with the
prosperity of Chippenham. One tablet records
that— NEARE THIS PLACE
LYETH THE BODY OF ALICE
THE WIFE OF HENRY GOLDNEY CLOTHIER
AND THE DAUGHTER OF MR RICHARD SCOTT
WHO WAS INTERRED THE I4TH DAY OF APRIL 167O
AND WAS BAPTISED THE IITH OCTOBER 163I.
There are adjoining tablets to members of the

120 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
family of Scott, clothiers, down to 1714. One of
them I subjoin —
HERE LYES THE BODY OF GEORGE
SCOTT CLOTHIER WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
AUGUST 24TH A.D. 1698, ^TAT. SUAE 44,
Trust not vain man in health or strength.
Or any worldly store.
For strip't and naked you must go
Where I am gone before.
But trust in God and keep his laws
And then lay blame on me
When you come here unto ye gi'ave
If death part God and thee.
The Church of S. Andrew is a strange medley
of many styles and many dates. As a building it
cannot claim the attention of the archaeologist,
though it contains within its waUs one or two
objects of interest to him. Until the alterations
of 1876 also it could not be said to fulfil the
requirements of a good parish church, but now
besides being enlarged, it is being freed from the
gaUeries, plaster ceilings and the rest of the un
sightly additions of a period of decadence. When
the restoration committee have received the
amount of public support necessary to enable
them to complete the work they have in con
templation, they will I think give the parish a
very largo, but on the whole very satisfactory
church. As we have previously seen there is docu
mentary evidence that a church existed here before
the Norman Conquest, but of the primitive

CHIPPENHAM CHURCH, 121
Eomanesque buUding no trace remains. Of its
Norman successor we have one simple but very-
handsome remnant in the old ' chancel arch which
being now too smaU for its original purpose is pre
served as an entrance to the vestry. Ou the south
side of this arch was a squint which some church
warden, I am told, cut down to the ground about
half a century ago, making it a doorway. It has
been swept away altogether by the insertion of the
new chancel arch which is upwards of 30ft. in
height and of proportionate width. The chancel
has now been almost entirely rebuUt, a new vestry
constructed and an organ chamber added on the
north side. The fine old organ has been removed
from the western gaUery and when restored -wUl
be placed in this chamber.
On the south side of the church are two chapels,
one against the chancel, the other against the
nave. The former dedicated to S. Mary the
Virgin, was buUt as a chantry chapel by Walter
Lord Hungerford, who obtained a license from
King Henry VI. for the pm-pose. The founder is
distinguished as the only member of his family
who obtained the dignity of Knight of the Garter.
This chapel is often caUed the Baynton Chapel
because in a corner of it is a monument to Andrew
Baynton, esq. On his tomb is the inscription : —
ARMIGER HOC TUMULO JACET HIC GENEROSUS OPACO
ANDREAS BAYNTON QUI NOMINATUS FRAT ;
QUEM GENUIT MILES BENE NOTIS UBIQUE EDWARDUS
HUJUS ERAT HERES NUNC REQUIESCIT HUMO.
A. DNL 1370.
9 2

122 THE CHURCH EAMBLES.
He Uved at Eowdon house, which was the
property of the Hungerfords and so probably it
happened that he was buried in this chapel. The
founder of the chapel was buried in SaUsbury
Cathedral. There existed the office of warden of
the service of S. Mary ni this church.
The chapel of S. John Baptist was built by the
BayntonS of Bromham -with their predecessors,
the Beauchamps. It appears to have had two
stories as it bas now unfortunately, owing to an
unsightly gaUery, and it has been suggested to
me that the upper one was the chapel and the
lower one the guild room of the fraternity of S.
Katherine, which existed in connection with this
church. Their altar was endowed with lands and
houses, as were the chantries.
There are notices of a third chantry dedicated
to the patron saint of the church, S. Andrew, but
its position is uncertain. Some years ago in the
removal of some seats a flat halfstone was dis
covered which refers to a chantry founded by
— Clerk and Alice his wife but affords no means
of identffication. The Vicar favours me -with the
foUowing conjectural restoration of the inscription
on the stone —
[PRIEX PUR l'AMES DE . , ,]
CLERK ET ALIS SA FEMME
FOUNDOURS DE UNE CHANTERIE
A CEST [AUTEL DIEU DE LUR
AMES AIT MERCY AMEN.]
That is to say it probably read " Pray for the

CHIPPENHAM CHUECH. 123
" souls of — Clerk and Alice his wife, f oimders
" of a chantry at this altar (?) God have mercy
" on their souls."
A monument to Sir G. Prjm and his lady,
who lived at AUington in this parish, spoils what
Aubrey considered the best window in the church
which is on the south side of the chapel of S. Mary.
The monument consists of three effigies, beneath
which are two slabs. On one of which is the
epitaph —
The monument of Sir Gilbert Pryn Knt. who married
Mary, the eldest daiighter of Jayne Davys, daughter to
Sr Wymond Carye Knt, Lord Warden of the Stannaries,
Master of the First Fruits office and Knight of ye
Bathe. The said Sir Gilbert having issue by the said
Marye his 'wife, J children, 2 sonnes and 5 daughters,
5 of which, 2 sonnes and 3 daughters are dead ; the
other 2 daughters, namely the eldest of aU Fraunces,
is married to Sir Franeys Seimour, Knt, youngest sonne
of the Lord Beauchamp, sonne and heire to the now
Earl of Hertford ; and the second daughter named
Seimour, married to Sir George Hastings, Knt. second
brother to Henry, now Erie of Huntingdon.
On the other slab are three rhyming couplets. The
first is placed beneath the figure of a man, a tree,
and the figure of a woman, and is as foUows : —
Eche man's a plant and every tree
Like man is subject to mortalitie.
Five branches broken off have this explanation—
These branches dead and fallen away are gone
From us until the Resurrection.

124 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
The twofold representation of a man, a tree
grafted, and a woman, is accompanied by the
lines —
These grafted thus by Wedlock's sacred dome
(God grauntej may flourish till those other come
Erected 1628
He was buried June 21, 1627. She the 20th Jan. 162S.
The body of the church originally consisted of a
nave and south aisle. These are in the late Per
pendicular style in so far as they have not
been affected by still later alterations. These were
numerous, as the north side was rebuilt in 1655
and again pulled down about the beginning
of the present century, when it was rebuilt
with the plain ugly windows then held good
enough for a church. At the same time the roof
was concealed by a flat plaster ceiling, supported
along the line of what should be the arcade
between the nave and south aisle, by cu-cular
pillars. The tower arch, apparently Early English
work, is covered up by a singing gallery of
unusuaUy large dimensions. The church was
refitted about 30 years ago -with open seats, plain
but comfortable. A plan of the arrangement of
the church pre-vious to that happens to be in
existence, and it is a most curious, I may
almost say amusing, sheet. The pulpit, reading
desk and clerk's seat were side by side, half down
the nave, the clerk being nearest the avenue, the
pulpit adjoining the waU. To suit this arrange
ment the seats i,o the east of the minister faced

CHIPPENHAM CHURCH. 125
the west, those to the west faced the east and
those to the south faced divers ways. In the
Hungerford Chapel was the Vicar's pew. The
chancel was left bare of seats as a place not used.
At that time there was a large square pew in
front of the squint before spoken of occu
pied by the tenants of the Spye park property
in the parish. This was surrounded by some
carved work, which was removed and hidden
away above the ceiling ; being one day discovered
it was taken to Spye park. At the same time
that this was discovered some portions of a stone
screen were also found above the plaster of the
ceiUng. It is believed that they formed part
of the chancel screen, and having been pre
served in the vestry till now they are to form
part of a screen which has been designed for the
new vestry, in conjunction with the old chancel
arch. We want no further e'vidence of the somnolence
that once characterised the services than the old
arrangement of the church. This has been removed
however and I am glad to say that the other traces
of incompetent handUng are being rapidly effaced.
In connection with rebuilding the chancel the
north waU of the nave has been removed in order
to add a north aisle which, I am told — and am
only glad to hear — ^that the increasing demands
for sittings necessitated. The architects are
Messrs. E. and J. Darley, who have adopted
what I venture to think a very judicious mode
of treatment. Though the style which prevails

126 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
in the church is of later date than one would
¦wish to imitate now, they have thought it
best to preserve the general character of the
building rather than show both portions to a dis
advantage by erecting a north aisle of an earlier
character, especiaUy as there are scarcely any
traces of Early English work. As far as possible
whatever of the old work was worth preserving
has been preserved. Thus as a new east window
in five lights has been constructed, the old -window
is now the window of the organ chamber, the
north windows of the old chancel are now in the
vestry, and a smaU old Norman window has been
placed in the eastern end of the north waU of
the chancel. A similar principle has been pursued
throughout. This is the extent of the work at present in
hand, but it is also intended to remove the existing
ceiling of the nave, raise the walls and add
a clerestory with a range of square-headed
three-light windows. The nave wUl then be
covered with a plain open timbered roof, simUar
to that of the new chancel. In lieu of the present
piUars moreover a range of nave arches -will be
inserted, the design of the columns of the
Hungerford Chapel being, I suppose, followed.
The cai-rying out of this work is however con
tingent upon the necessary funds being subscribed
by the public. Looking at the number of wealthy
landowners who are neighbours to the town
there ought to be little difficulty in this. When
finished the church wUl be a very commodious

""-1

CHIPPENHAM CHURCH. 127
and uniform buUding, and too large, I fancy,
for anything but a choral service. The pitch
of the nave will have to be depressed in order
not to rise above the string course on the tower.
The ridge of the roof of the aisles wiU hide
the clerestory windows from view on the exterior
where the expanse of slate will be somewhat
unpleasing. The square tower is low in -itself and has a low
spire. It looks altogether stunted in connection
-with the large church to which it belongs.
According to common tradition the tower was
built by Lord Hungerford, founder of the chapel
of S. Mary, and his arms, encircled by the Garter,
are stUl preserved against the present belfry.
However, as Aubrey teUs us, " The steeple was in
" danger of faUing about 1633 and was reedified
" but not so high by about 15 feete by Sir Francis
" Popham, Knt., whose armes are stiU in stone in
"the tower.'' According to the churchwarden's
books the tower was also rebuUt, the whole
costing £320, towards which Popham, then M.P.
for the borough, gave £40. His arms on the
west front are now Ulegible. The tower is not
affected by the present restoration.
The church bells of Chippenham are eight in
number, and, as the fifth bell tells us " These
"beUs were aU cast by A. Rudhall, Gloster, 1734."
The eighth beU adds the information, "John
" Norris, esq., and Anthony Guy, gent., Church-
" wardens." The fourth beU moreover was " the
"gift of John Norris, esq." The seventh beU is

128 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
inscribed with the motto of the borough seal and
the name of the bailiff or mayor of the year.
"Unity and Loyalty. Samuel Martyn, gent.,
"Bayliffe, 1734." The other bells have those
aspirations which Rudhall was fond of placing on
his beUs. Thus the first says —
Let us ring
For the Church and King.
The second bears his stereotyped phrase, "Peace and
" good neighbourhood," the third, " Prosperity to
" this town and parish," and the sixth, " Prosperity
" to the Church of England."
In the north aisle a place has been found for
the tablets of Mr. John Ely, who was an attorney
in the town — lawyers have always abounded in
Chippenham — and some members of his family.
The foUowing is the inscription to the memory of
John Ely — NEARE TO THIS PLACE
LYETH THE BODY OF JOHN ELY, GENT.
SOMETIMES BURGESSE OF THIS TOWNE, WHO
DIED NOV. 25TH, 1663.
'Tis well I am stone, for to preserve his name,
Who was, if mortal may be, without blame.
In his religious, civil practice, just ;
In his calling no traytor to his trust.
If this report consuming time shall weare
Aud wipe out,— search Heaven's Records, 'tis there.
"Mary," his "relict"— why cannot English people
be content with the English word widow? — died

CHIPPENHAM CHURCH. 129
October 19th, 1671, and under the record of that
fact are the following lines : — ¦
The table of my life was black and white
Some clouded days I lived to see, some bright
But now there is no mixture, all is cleare
Tis perfect sunshine, I am with my deare
Of whom the world was not worthy now I
Happy once more in his blest company.
The famUy seems to have dealt in poetical in
scriptions, for another John Ely who died in
1676 at the age of 23 has the following emblematic
epitaph — •
Though death would not upon his head
The almond tree permit to grow
Yet shall the vertues of the dead
In dust and ashes bud and grow.
The only stained window in the church is at the
east end of the south aisle, and it represents the
dedication of Samuel to the service of the
Temple, Christ disputing with the doctors, the
child Christ in Joseph's workshop, and Christ
blessing the Uttle children. It is " to the glory of
" God and in memory of WUliam Lewis, who
"died January llth, 1866, aged 36 years, and
"WiUiam HaU Lewis, his only child, who died
" August I7th, 1868, aged 13 years. This window
"was given by Elizabeth Lewis, -widow and
" mother of the above."
About the year 1150 the Empress MatUda
bestowed the Rectory of Chippenham upon the
monastery of Monkton Farley together with the

130 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
chapelry of Titherton Lucas. The Prior
appointed the Vicar with a smaU stipend. The
smaUness of the stipend was by no means
exceptional in such cases, but the Vicars of
Chippenham were not thankful for small mercies.
They twice appealed to the Bishop for an increase
in the amount and were each time successf uL But the
Prior and monks made a counter appeal contending
that the income was now " immoderate," and in
consequence the still-existing ordination was made
on the 20th April, 1272, whereby the Vicar is ordered
to pay a pension of 40s. to the priory and to provide
proper ministers for Titherton chapel at his own
cost. This connection has never been severed,
and the Vicar of Chippenham is still Rector of
Titherton Lucas and maintains the services of the
chapel of S. Nicholas. The monks of Farley seem
to have been always ready to add to the
responsibilities of the Vicar of Chippenham, as at
one time in reply to some inquiries respecting the
church at Slaughterford they alleged that it was
held as a chapelry of Chippenham. This associa
tion however if real was not lasting. Atthe dissolu
tion the Rectory was granted by King Henry
VIII. on the llth December, 1546, to the Deau
and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford, then newly
founded. The King in this way was enabled to
find ample endowments for several institutions to
which he desired to be a benefactor. The
Vicarage of Chippenham is stiU a coUege living,
and the Rev. John Rich being senior fellow when
it became vacant in 1861, was presented.

CHIPPENHAM CHURCH. 131
I attended evening service in the church
recently, but as .the arrangements were all
temporary it would not be fair to describe
them. The prayers were read by the Vicar
and the sermon was preached by one of the
curates from 1 Kings xxii. 8 — " And the
"king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There
"is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah,
" by whom we may enquire of the Lord ; but
"I hate him ; for he doth not prophesy
" good concerning me, but evil." The Hymns
Ancient and Modern are in use. There is one
remark which I would make for the beneflt of
the Restoration Committee. I observed that a
few of the pews were retained for certain persons
in the front of the church. These I trust wiU be
removed, for surely the world has existed long
enough now for the proudest of us to know that
class distinctions may not be borne into the house
of God, that social greatness will avail him
nothing at the mercy seat.

?. aregorp, iBccfeington,
f OUND the name of Beckington hangs
the lustre of vanished glories. It is
stUl a place of considerable size and
contains more than one large building
that wUl attract the attention and
deUght the eye of the archseological visitor. It is
however now no more than an ordinary agri
cultural vUlage. What has it been ? A strong
castle almost as old as the Conquest, tbe birthplace
of one of the most celebrated bishops of the
diocese, a resting place of Charles II. in his flight
from Cromwell's " crowning mercy " the battle of
Worcester, and a notable centre of the West of
England cloth manufacture. Let us see what aU
these statements mean.
Near the church is a fine old building -with the
mullioned windows and gables of a mansion of the
15th century. But it is much older than that as
the thickness of the walls testify. It is called the
castle, and the tradition of the place has always
been that it was built at the same time as the
church. A confirmation of this was obtained
recently in the restoration of the church, when
on the stones in the tower, which belong to
the Norman church, were found the same banker
marks as on the walls of the castle. Evidence

g, pt^GOF^, JSpQKINGTON,  goUTH,

BECKINGTON CHURCH. ISS
has also been found of a flagged way about ten
feet broad, extending from the principal entrance
of the castle some thirty or forty feet towards the
western porch of the church and of a moat on
three sides of the castle. The site is commanding,
and Alfred's Tower Stourhead, Cranmore Tower,
Ammerdown Tower, Beckford's Tower Lansdown
and the White Horse Hill at Westbury, are
embraced in the -view. The position must also
have been a strong one, -when instead of the smoke
of Frome in the distance and the railway trains
sweeping through the valley dotted with home
steads, the lord of the castle looked forth upon
the trees of Selwood forest and its dappled herds.
Bechintone, as it is styled in Domesday, was
granted by the Conqueror to Roger Arundel.
But the first family of note after the Conquest
which possessed it was that of the Erleighs, or de
Erlega who derived their name from a lordship near
Beading. They owned iu the county of Somerset,
beside the manor of Beckington, those of
Durston Babcary, Michael's church, the manor and
hundred of North Petherton, and the manor of
¦ Somerton Parva, which has derived from them
the name of Somerton Erie or Erleigh. John de
¦ Erleigh is the first of the name that appears in
connection with Beckington, and he is known to
have been settled there in 1161. He died four
years after, lea-ving a widow, Adela, and a son
WiUiam who succeeded him. This WiUiam is
certified to hold a knight's fee in chief of the
King, and that by his fee he had a right to be his

134 THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
chamberlain. He founded the priory of Buck-
land, and among his gifts to it was the church of
Beckington. To him succeeded John, William and
Henry. The last named was sheriff of the united
counties of Somerset and Dorset in 1228. He was
succeeded by his son Philip, who died about 1280.
His son and successor John served -with King
Edward I. in his wars against Scotland. He was
Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset in 1281 and 1288,
and in the reign of King Edward II. Knight of
the Shire for Somerset. He died in 1324 and was
succeeded by his son John, who died in 1338,
seized of the manors of Beckington, Somerton, Bab
cary and North Petherton, leaving a son and heir
— John,_ aged four years. This child when he
^ew up was knighted, and married Margaret,
daughter of Sir Guy de Brien, Knight of the
Garter. He accompanied the Black Prince in his
invasion of Spain on behalf of Don Pedro, and
was present at the battle of Nazieres and in other
engagements. In one of these he was taken
prisoner by the enemy and in order to obtain the
great ransom that they demanded was compeUed
to sell a large portion of his ancestral domains.
His son John succeeded to the manor of Beckington
and married Isabel, daughter of Sir John Pavely.
He died -without male issue, lea-ving only three
daughters who had married respectively Sir John
S. Maur, Sir Walter Sondes and Sir WiUiam
Cheney. This Sir John was brother to Richard,
sixth Baron Seymour. They were descended from
Nicholas, first Baron S. Maur, so created by writ

BECKINGTON CHUECH. 135
of summons 29th July, 1314. The fifth holder of
the title was summoned to Parliament by the
name of Seymour, from the 20th of August, 1380
to the 3rd October, 1400.
Sir John S. Maur was succeeded by his eldest
son John, who married Elizabeth, daughter of
Thomas Lord Cobham. Their son. Sir Thomas,
married PhUippa, daughter of Sir Edward
Hungerford. Their son, John of Rode, who
married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard
Choke, and had three children — Sir William S.
Maur, and two daughters, Margaret, wife of
WiUiam Bampfylde of Poltimore, and Anne, wife
to Robert Stawel, esq. Sir WiUiam S. Maur
succeeded, and died leaving a daughter Margaret
who' died without children. Her estates were
therefore distributed among the descendants of
her father's sister and the manor of Beckington
went to the family of Bampfylde.
The Erleighs if they did not buUd certaiidy
inhabited the castle which was the seat of their
famUy during its long residence here. The S.
Maurs however deserted it, probably on account
of the adjacent country becoming clear of trees,
and built a new house in a more sheltered part of
the parish. This is stiU known as Seymour's
court, and is regarded as the manor house. They
no doubt converted the old castle into its present
form, enlarging its arrow slits into mullion
-windows and raising the roof which was previously
flat. They would use it as a dower house. It is
a buUding weU worthy the attention of the

1S6 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
student of domestic architecture, for I believe its
arrangements have been as little as possible
disturbed, and the -visitor sees what were the
domestic surroundings of his ancestors two or
three centuries ago. " Behind the fireplace of the
" drawing-room (now used as a kitchen) is a cavity
"capable of holding three persons in standing
" posture. Again on the right side of the ancient
" stone chimney is a recess that would contain one
" man in a sitting posture.'' There is likewise " the
"original ' well ' or 'turnpike' stair. Each step
" composed of one block of oak blackened by time ;
" this is placed in a tower on the north-east front of
" the buUding. During recent repairs the remains
" of a flight of stone steps were discovered in the
" thickness of the wall near the top of the house.
"The steps (five in number) were well worn and
" gave evidence of great age ; they led down to the
"south angle of the castle, possibly to an early post."
Tradition, ever ready, avers that there was an
underground passage extending from the castle to
Oldford, a village some distance on the road to
Frome, and it is stated that there are people now
living who have entered it from either end.
More interesting is it to know that a top room
at the south angle is pointed out as the priest's
hole. "This was very difficult of access,
" but a flight of stairs recently put in gives
" a better opportunity of visiting a room dis-
" tinguished from all others in the house by the
"glazing of the -windows in an ecclesiastical
'' fashion." This chamber, or at any rate the castle,

BECKINGTON CHUECH. 137
claims the fame of another BoscobeL The writer I
have before quoted, thus states the story which
I give for what it is worth. " It is also said
"that Charles II. stayed one night in the castle
" during the troublous times after the defeat at
" Worcester, and that the following night CromweU
"was close upon his heels, and he also staid tiU
" morning. However this may be, it is an
"incontrovertible fact that at that period the
"manor belonged to Sir John Bampfylde, whose
" brother-in-law. Sir John Coplestone, of Coplestone
"and Warleigh, High Sheriff of Devon, brought
" off with his powerful interest Sir Edmund
" Wyudham, on the occasion of his being implicated
" in Penruddock's rising. This Sir Edmund was
" brother of Colonel Francis Wyndham, who having
" married the heiress of the Gerards of Trent,
"was able to afford an asylum to his king.
" It is a singular fact that ' The Boscobel Tracts '
"are quite silent as to the wanderings of
" Charles II. from Abbots Leigh, Bristol, to
" Castle Gary, where he was met by his future
" host. It is improbable that the king would wish
" to pass through Wells and Shepton Mallett, as
"both places were garrisoned against him, when
"he could pass comparatively secure by way of
" Philip's Norton and Beckiugton to Frome, where
" is still pointed out the house where his highness
" passed one night in the flight from Worcester.
" And that Kiug Charles did pass through Beck-
" ington is conclusively proved by an entry in one
" of the registers of the parish church."

138 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
In the beginning of the last century the manor
of Beckington was sold to John Ashe, esq., who
-was a considerable landowner in Somerset and
Wiltshire, and is buried with several of his famUy
in a vault beneath the south aisle of the church.
He was succeeded on his death in 1658 by his
second son John, in the possession of the manor
of Beckington, which was by him left by will to
John Methuen, son of his sister Grace, wife of
Paul Methuen, esq. This John Methuen was
Lord Chancellor of Ireland in the reigns of King
William and Queen Anne. His son, the famous Paul
Methuen, sold the manor to his uncle, Anthony
Methuen, but it has since been sold again and the
Rev. Henry Shepherd is the present lord of the
manor. Thomas Bekynton, one of the most famous
bishops of Bath and Wells, was the son of a
weaver, and is believed to have been born at
Beckington. Hence the verse quoted by Leland —
Beckingtona mihi dedit ortum ; Balnea Fontes
Fasces—
Beckington gave me birth and Bath and Wells
dignity. He was brought up at Winchester, and
being placed by William of Wykeham on the
foundation of the school passed to New College,
Oxford, of which he became a fellow and proceeded
to the degree of LL.D. The renown of his
learning caused him to be chosen as one of the
superiutendents of the education of the young
King Henry VL, and by the influence he thus

BECKINGTON CHUECH. 139
obtained and the good use he made of his
opportunities he attained high honours. In 1423
he was made Prebendary of York, in 1424 Arch
deacon of Bucks, Prebendary of Lichfield in 1436,
of London in 1438. He was besides Eector of S,
Leonards-by-Hastings, Vicar of Sutton Courtney,
Berkshire, Prebendary of Bedwin, Canon of Wells,
Master of S. Katherine's Hospital and Dean of
the Court of Arches. He was moreover Private
Secretary to King Henry VI. from 1438 to 1443.
He seems to have enjoyed the confidence of his
royal master in a marked degree, as indeed
his remarkable industry . and his capacity
for business merited. In the Ashmolean
collection is an interesting volume of letters
which he -wrote in this position. He was
always watching his opportunity of a bishopric
and it is interesting in this connection to mention
that he sent as an offering to gain the favour of
the Pope, " a piece of the finest cloth," from
England which he caused to be dyed of a scarlet
colour on its way at Florence. In 1443 he was made
Bishop of Bath and Wells, which office he held
tUl his death in 1465. He administered the
affairs of his diocese -with firmness and decision,
and besides his monument is remembered in the
city of Wells for the architectural additions which
he made to the cathedral and its surroundings.
The conduit also in the market place was his gift.
Beckington church is a large and handsome
edifice, and from its restoration in 1873 under the
direction of Mr. J. B. S. Aubyn, of London, is in

140 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
very good condition. The extent and character of
the original can be readily imagined from the
traces of it that are left. The Norman work is
chiefly apparent in the tower which though it has
been pulled about by later buUders has not been
pulled down. The belfry windows are distinctly
Norman and are very fine. Within the tower can
be also perceived two Norman windows now
blocked up, that on the south side by a very extra
ordinary buttress. The lean-to of the original
roof can be seen and the Norman church was of
course much narrower than the present one and
had no aisles. It was rebuilt in Perpendicular
times on a much larger scale and two entrances of
the Norman church were preserved as there is
a porch on the north and south side. There are
traces of there having been a chamber over the
north porch. The aisles were added on the
north and south side of the nave originally as
chapels, as evidence still existing shows. In the
chapel on the north side of the nave there are stiU
the piscina and the reredos of the altar, analogous
to that of the altar of S. Nicholas in the church of
the Holy Trinity, Bradford-on-Avon. In the
south aisle the piscina exists, though the drain
has been cut away and near the squint in that
aisle there is also a small almery. The tracery of
the windows is new ; good Perpendicular windows
having been inserted in place of the domestic sashes
made before Queen Anne was dead. The nave has a
clerestory of small two light windows, square-headed.
The roof is a plain timbered one, the portion over

BECKINGTON CHUECH. I4I
the nave and the south aisle being original. In the
north aisle, where are some grotesque animals as
corbels supporting the wall posts, the timbers are
new, replacing a flat lead roof removed at the
restoration. The rood turret is discernible on the
outside and in the interior the entrances to the
steps and to the loft have been carefully preserved.
The cote for the sanctus beU is stUl in existence.
The chancel, which has been paved with
encaustic tUes, fitted with carved oak choir seats
and in various ways adorned, is chiefly interesting
on account of two niches on the north side, con
taining recumbent effigies. There is a single
female figure of the date of about 1370 or 1380,
which is probably one of the daughters of John de
Erleigh. The other two figures of a knight in
armour of the close of the 14th century and of
his lady, -with two cherubs at her head, are
probably John and Margaret Erleigh.
In the floor of the chancel is a, memorial brass
with the effigies of a knight in armour and a lady
in the costume of the period, and the foUo-wing
inscription : —
ffilc tatet 3of)e3 Scpntinaut atmlg tt ffiUfatctSoi iimr eiUB '
sul ciulSem Jdfies ofilt U Die (Sctofii: a i9ut mlllmo cccdmD'
<it;us ale ppciEtur Sens, ^mcn.
The piscina with a credence shelf within is
perfect, as are the sedilia. The chapel on the
south side of the chancel, now used as an organ
chamber and vestry, is chiefly worthy of attention
on account of the enormous square headed window
which occupies its south side. It is separated

W THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
from the south aisle by an interesting Jacobean
oak screen. In the floor of the vestry is a
brass with the foUowing inscription : —
9rape im V^t solsles oE jlotn (Sompton, anO 3E)iptt tfa tnite.
to&lcfi Jloiin Icceasel tl)e liU. hap of iSctobec i>e pcare ot ouc
ijKV mccccci upon totose sotoUa $\j\i taPe meccp. I^men.
Above it are the effigies of John Compton and
his wife and beneath it are the figures of their
five children. On either side is the figure of an
angel bearing the anagram of John Compton — a
tun or barrel upon which are the letters "J-
" Comp." There are other brasses in the church,
on a small one on the wall is the lion rampant of
the Longs. On the floor of the nave is one with
the following inscription, bearing reference to the
staple trade of the place —
T w
HERE LYETH BURYED THE BODY OF
THOMAS WEBB CLOTHEMAN WHO
LYVED IN THE FEARE OF GOD AND
DEPARTED THIS TRANSITORY
LYFE THE IITH DAVE OF AUGUST
IN THE YEARE OF OUR LORD GOD
ONE THOUSAND FYYE HUNDRED
EYGHTY FYVE BEING OF THE ADGE
OF 74 YEARES.
The most notable monument in the church is the
mural tablet on the north side to the memory of
the poet Danyell who succeeded Edmund Spencer
as poet laureate to the court of Queen Elizabeth.
The monument was erected to his memory by a
lady to whom he was tutor in his youth, and who

BECKINGTON CHUECH. I43
marred the grace of her act of remembrance by an
advertisement of her own titles. The inscription
reads — " Here lyes, expectinge the second coming
" of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the dead
"body of Samuell Danyell, esq., that excellent
" poet and historian, who was tutor to the Lady
"Anna Clifford in her youth, she that was sole
" daughter and heire to George Clifford, earl of
" Cumberland, who in gratitude to him erected
" this monument to his memory a long time after,
"when she was Countesse Dowager of Pembroke,
" Dorset and Montgomery. He died iu October,
"An. Dom. 1619.^'
There are several stained windows in the church.
The east window is in three lights, representing
the Baptism of Our Lord, the Last Supper, and
Christ the shepherd of his people. It was
inserted I believe in memory of the father of the
present Eector. The window on the south side of
the chancel contains the figures of S. Andrew and
S. Gregory and was inserted to the memory of
" Henry Sainsbury, 49 years Rector of this parish,
"born August 22nd, 1768, died October 31, 1841"
and other members of his family. On the north
side of the chancel there is also a large square
headed window containing the figures of the four
evangeUsts. It has been suggested that the
insertion in churches of large windows of this
shape was due to the desire for plenty of light
acquired by the weavers in their work during the
week, as they are of frequent occurrence in
Somersetshire churches. The east window of the

144 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
north aisle is a pretty two-light one, not modern
which has been fitted with glass iUustrating the
life of S. John Baptist. The window is to the
memory of " Elizabeth Langford, died December
"6th, 1838, aged 79 years." The subject is
appropriate on the supposition that the chapel was
dedicated to the Baptist. We know that a chapel
in this church was so dedicated, as John Cooper,
an ancestor of the Earl of Shaftesbury, by his
wiU left 40s. in order that he might be buried
beneath the high altar of S. John Baptist in the
church of Beckington. There is a large west
-window of very poor design forming ten equal
sized panes which are filled with stained glass to
the memory of "Mary Edgell of Standerwick
"court, died March 29th, 1872, aged 93 years."
There are several monuments also to members of
the family which o-wn Standerwick Court, the
westermost window on the south side of the church
has been indeed blocked up to accommodate
these memorials. They seem to have devoted
themselves nobly to the naval profession — the
safeguard of England's freedom. The gallant
sailor whose name is commemorated in the
following words served his country well and faith
fully on sea and on land —
HENRY FFOLKES EDGELL ESQ.
OF STANDERWICK COURT,
REAR ADMIRAL OF THE RED SQUADRON,
DEPUTY LIEUTENANT AND MAGISTRATE FOR THE
COUNTY OF SOMERSET,
WHO DIED I4TH DAY OF JUNE, 1844, AGED 78 YEARS.

BECKINGTON CHUECH. 145
He had passed the allotted age of man and had
well-nigh reached four score, yet his widow, to
whose memory the west window has been erected,
survived him for 28 years, and died at the advanced
age of 93. Their son adopted his father's pro
fession and before his death in the spring of the
present year had attained to even higher rank in
it, fulfilling the offices of superintendent of Haslar
hospital and of aide-de-camp to the Queen. A
plain and simple monument in the churchyard
marks the grave of
VICE. ADMIRAL HARRY EDMUND EDGELL, C. B.
ONLY SON OF THE LATE REAR-ADMIRAL H. F. EDGELL
AND OF MARY HIS WIFE,
BORN MAY 7TH, 1809, ENTERED INTO REST
FEB. 4TH, 187I.
In speaking of the restoration of the church it
should be mentioned that it involved the removal
of a western singing gallery, thus throwing open
the tower which has a flat panelled arch and stone
¦vaulting. The old fashioned pews were removed
and open seats substituted. The stone pulpit was
added at the same time ; the font is original. It
is a plain octagonal one, supported on eight pUlars
rising from an octagonal base. In the restoration
the plaster was also removed from the walls and
they were left bare. This I cannot help regretting
for it gives the church a cheerless, untidy appear
ance, which is very unpleasant. Mr. E. A,
Freeman when he visited this church remarked
that the effect of the inside was thoroughly spoiled

14e THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
by the appearance of the bare rubble walls. If
the interior was finished -with fine ashlar it would
be reasonable to have it uncovered, but there was
no sort of reason for scraping off the plaster from
the rubble walls and so exposing the rudeness of
the material and making the church look as if it
were turned inside out. The old custom was to
cover rough walls inside with plaster and the
sooner modern architects condescend to return to
the old paths the better. I may add that it would
be easy — and such a course has been pursued in
several churches — to leave bare an interesting
trace of the former church, such as a patch of
herring-bone work or the two closed windows in
the tower.
The Eectory of Beckington was apportioned
untU the Dissolution to the priory of Buckland.
It is now in the gift of and held by the Eev.
Sainsbury Langford Sainsbury, M.A., of Trinity
College, Oxford. This gentleman's family have
been intimately connected with the parish and
church of Beckington for many generations.
One of his ancestors I believe was Rector of
Beckington in 1710 ; among the interments in
the chancel are the foUowing: — "Here lies the
" body of WiUiam Sainsbury, late rector of this
"parish died March 10th 1772 aged 41. Also
" William Sainsbury late rector of this parish died
" July 8 1778 aged 65." The foUowing inscription
preserves the memory of a distinguished prede
cessor in the sacred office — " Sub hoc saxo recon-
'' ditum jacet corpus Alexandri Huish, hujus eccle-

BECKINGTON CHUECH. I47
" sise olim rectoris qui obijt decimo quinto die
"Aprilis mdclsviii." He was one of the editors
of Walton's Polyglot Bible and had a European
reputation as an Oriental scholar. He was also a
strong Royalist, and it is needless to add that he
suffered a good deal during the Civil War and the
Commonwealth. I was present at the morning service recently
and was impressed by the warmth and heartiness
of the service and by the good number of the
congregation. The choir, unsurpliced, was nu
merous and well trained. The Ancient and Modern
Hymns were of course used. The service was
taken throughout by the Rector who read the
Litany from the Litany stool at the entrance to
the chanceL
Beckington Church has six bells, which were
cast by Thomas Bilbie in 1756— "H. EdgeU
" esq and Mr Skurray C.H.W." One was recast
in 1811 : this bell with one other is now cracked.

%, ji5icf)ola0, TBiDDestone.

HE village of Biddestone lies to the
north of the main road from Bath to
London, the lane leading to it skirts on
the one side Hartham Park and on the
other the broad domain of Lord
Methuen. Considering that it is not on any line of
trafficand that it contains apurely agricultural com
munity, its houses are rather large and well-looking,
many of them being of the picturesque style of the
Tudor age. Biddestone is a merging of two parishes
into one. The smaller one, Biddestone S. Peter,
which was a rectory, has been absorbed into the
larger one, Biddestone S. Nicholas, which is a
vicarage, and its church has disappeared, ha'ving
been destroyed about 30 years since. The prac
tice of removing needless churches without the
consent of Parliament has lasted much longer in
the country than in large cities. The Biddestone
churches each possessed one feature of surpassing
interest to the archseologist — a bell turret of which
there are scarcely any other examples extant and
which is confidently believed to be preNorman in
fashion. The ardent student of church architec
ture will make a pilgrimage to Biddestone to see
the bell turret alone. The skill with which by
the aid of corbels the turret is balanced upon the

^, j^ICHOLAS, ^IDDESTONE.  ^OUTH.

BIDDESTONE CHUECH. I49
gable of the nave is a remarkable instance of the
ingenuity of the old builders.
The rectory of S. Peter was the older foundation
of the two, as is evidenced by the fact that the
presentations in the Sarum Registers were
originally to the Rectory of S. Peter : it is only
after 1719 that they are to S. Peter -with
Biddestone S. Nicholas. The church how
ever which was removed about 1840, was not
older than the 15th century — "This buUding,"
says Mr. E. W. Godwin, " consisted at the
"time of its final demolition of a nave and
"south porch, with a turret on the west waU.
"A blocked-up arch in the east wall of the nave and
" another in the north wall, with a piscina attached
"to the latter, proved the former existence of a
" chancel and chantry chapel. The chapel had
" been destroyed when the church was rebuilt, for
" under the blocked-up arch a three-light window
" had been inserted of the same date as the other
" Perpendicular work. The chapel and its piscina
" were of the 13th century.'' It is satisfactory to
add that the turret of this church was not des
troyed, and that though altered is still preserved
iu the grounds of Castle Combe.
The two turrets were much alike, and an
account of the way in which they were con
structed is interesting from their simplicity.
Mr. E. W. Godwin writing of that of S.
Nicholas says — " The wall is first crossed by a
"block of masonry projecting in the form of a
" corbel east and west, upon these two corbels and

160 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
" upon the tabling of the wall rest (oblong planned)
" piers with a kind of nook shaft or moulded angle,
" which piers give support to the cardinal faces of
" an octagonal spire or conical roof, the diagonal
"faces being supported by small convex corbels
" which spring from each side of the four piers.
"The whole is theu strengthened by being divided
"by a stone partition running east and west."
The spire is of much later date than the other part
of the turret, probably of the 18th century. As
to the actual age of this form of turret there is a
great divergence of opinion, since there are many who
deny that the English before the Norman Conquest
had the power of building in stone. Mr. Walker
who described the two in " Examples of Gothic
" Architecture," wrote — " It will be seen that that
" of S. Nicholas is in point of style much older than
" that of S. Peter, which latter comes under the
" denomination of Perpendicular English, while the
"former from the string course under the spire
' downwards is decidedly Norman. The one seems
" to have been copied from the other, and most
" probably the original design was executed on the
"old church of S. Peter, which must have been
" pulled down, and has thus been perpetuated.
" Whether this was the primitive form of the bell
" turret in Saxon times would be a curious inquiry,
" and not without interest." The opinion that the
design is of that age is strengthened by the fact
that in the " Benedictionale of S. .^Etholwolde" is a
representation of a bell turret, which though it has
a different roof is built on exactly the same plan as

BIDDESTONE CHUECH. 151
this of Biddestone, and I see no reason to doubt
that the conception is older than the arrival of the
Normans, who were not the introducers of buUd
ing in stone, as the church of S. La-wrence, Brad
ford-on-Avon, testifies. Similar turrets are to be
seen also at Leigh Delamere, Corston, Acton Tur-
ville and Boxwell in this neighbourhood, and at
Burnsey in Oxfordshire.
The church of S. Nicholas consists of a nave,
chancel and south porch, but only the inner door
way of the porch and the font are of the same
date as the lower part of the beU turret. The
doorway, though the capitals are still there, has
been deprived of its shafts, but its square head
has been preserved, the arched tympanum having
not, as is frequently the case, been cut away, and
on it is carved in low relief a cross, encircled by a
beaded band. The font is very large and lined
with lead. It is of the usual tub form, surrounded
on the upper part with a simple chevron. At the
corners of the pedestals are four bosses now shape
less, which no doubt were originally carved in the
form of heads.
A second chancel was added to increase the
space in the church in the early part of the
present century, " which has at first sight an
" ancient appeara,nce from being built of old
"materials." Whether those materials came
from the church of S. Peter I am not aware. The
chancel proper has an Early English lancet
window north and south, and a two-light
Decorated low side window in the south west

152 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
corner. A lancet window of the same period on
the north side is blocked. In the nave we have
trace of the north doorway with a very bold Early
English hood moulding, though it is partiaUy
blocked up. The chancel arch is semi-circular in
form and of the same thickness as the wall which
supports the turret, but its early character has
been destroyed by the addition of Perpendicular
mouldings. Canon Jackson states that Edmund Smith,
commonly called Rag Smith, the friend of Steele
and Addison, author of "Phcedra and Hippolytus,"
and translator of " Longinus on the Sublime,"
died at Hartham in 1709, and was buried in the
church of S. Nicholas, but there is no monument.
There are several monuments to members of the
Wastfield family, the earliest bearing date 1652.
One to the memory of " Mi-. WilUam Wastfield
" son of Richard Wastfield senior gent ; he di'd
" July ye 21st 1728 aged 23" has some curious
lines — he was evidently a sailor : —
In danger great was I
Yet I returned to see
My friends before I die
Boreas' blast and Neptune's wave
Have tost me to and fro
Yet I at length by God's decrees.
Doth harbour here below.
When we at anchor did arrive
And many of our fleet
Yet once again we must set sail
Our General Christ to meet.

BIDDESTONE CHUECH. ISS
The present state of this little church is to
be pitied. The tracery of the west window
has been cut away to make a doorway to the
western gaUery which accommodates the organ
and choir. The walls have been yeUow ochred
for many generations. The nave is blocked up
with high square pews and has a flat plaster
ceUing. In order to give more light some common
sashes have been inserted immediately beneath
the ceUing. WTiat an apology for a clerestory 1
Some Vandal, whose name happily for him has
not been preserved, has actually painted the font
in imitation of granite ! Ruskin has denounced
the falsehood and the sham of the marble and
granite wall papers wherewith we cover our
passages and our screens, but this is an embodied
lie which is worse than either.
I attended service at this church on a recent
Sunday morning when the prayers were read by
the Vicar, the Eev. John Emra, M.A., of BalUol
College, Oxon. The general thanksgiving was said
as I like to hear it — by all the congregation. The
hymns of the S.P.C.K. are in use and at the end
of the prayers the hymn —
O, worship the King,
All glorious above,
was sung, and after the precommunion service —
Jesus where'er thy people meet.
The choir was composed of the school children
who did not seem very weU behaved. There
was a point also in the demeanour of the congrega-
11 2

154 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
tion which must be offensive to any who reverence
the house of God. The men and youths of rustic
congregations generaUy remain outside in the
pathway, gaping at those who go in tiU the last
moment, and seize their hats and rush out of
church before the amen to the benediction is said
as if they desired to reduce the time they devoted
to the ser-vice to the least possible number of
minutes. At Biddestone they have also the
irreverent notion which I have commented upon
elsewhere that the siUs of the church windows are
designed for no better purpose than as recepta des
for their hats, of which therefore a little heap
appears in each window. It is strange that no
one can teach them the unseemliness of the
practice.-*- After the precommunion service the Vicar
preached from Psalm cxli. 1 — " Lord, I cry unto
" thee : make haste unto me ; give ear unto my
" voice when I cry unto thee."
At the conclusion of the service I entered into
conversation with the schoolmaster, who advised
me to walk on to Slaughterford, in old docu
ments Slaughtenford, and at his recommen
dation of the beauty of the walk of a mile and a
half across the fields I did so. I was richly
rewarded. A delightful country lane, bounded by
hedges bright with berries, or walls overgro-wn
-with i-vyand many mosses, leads across the head of a
* Irreverent practices of the kind here described are by no
means confined to Biddestone, though every instance is not
mentioned in these j ages.

BIDDESTONE CHUECH. 165
beautiful valley which is closed in at the further
end by Lansdown, Granville's monument being
plainly discernible. The lane reaches at last a
little brow, at the foot of which a smaU purUng
stream pursues a winding tortuous course like the
Wye in miniature. It bends in a loop to the
right and then, as though changing its mind, to
the left, and so meanders down the vaUey.
To this stream is locally given the beautiful and
expressive name of the Wavering brook. It rises
near Nettleton, comes down through Castle Combe
and Ford, and, known in its course below as Box
brook, it joins the Avon just below the Bathford
paper miU. Aubrey states that " in the graveUy
"streame are excellent troutes." From the
point just spoken of the lane bends and
descends a sort of gorge underneath a wood, in
which nestle two cottages, the homes probably of
two of Lord Methuen's keepers. We next come
to an old quarry caUed " Clow Quar," to which is
attached the tradition so prevalent with regard to
old freestone quarries in this district — it supplied
the stone with which the Bath Abbey was built.-*-
We pursue the course of the stream, pass a little
sequestered paper miU and reach Slaughterford.
The name is a sanguinary one, and Aubrey tells
ns, " That in this parish was a great fight of old
" time is the constant tradition of the inhabitants,
" and that a Danish King or General of the Danes
" was kiUed. The farmer's sonne of HaU f arme in
* For a letter on "Bath Stone" by Mr. J. T. Irvine, see the
Bath Herald, 18th Nov., 1876.

166 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
"the green, where now the quarre be, looking
" back towards Slaughterford was shot through or
" over the walle of the Park." On the brow of
Ford hill, on the west of the parish, are some
ancient works, and at no great distance are Bury
Camp and the old Castle of Combe. Slaughterford
is also midway between Bury Camp and Yatton
Down, on which some -writers think King Alfred's
famous victory of Ethandune was achieved. Probably
some engagement or skirmish therefore took place
here in early times, and " It is likely it took its
"denomination from the flight and slaughter.
" Hereabout groweth great plenty of a good vul-
"nerary herb caUed Dane's blood. They doe
" believe it sprang from the blood of the Danes
"shed here in battle." Dane's wort is found in
many districts, and the people generally have this
notion respecting it.
Aubrey also says, " Here is a prettie smaU
church the most miserably handled that ever I saw,
the very barres are taken out of the 'windows ;
here have been two good south windows and the
doores are gone, and the paving it serves for any
use, viz., weavers. The font gone to make a
trough." The church remained in this neglected
state until 1823 when the body of it was rebuUt
in a fashion that calls for no description. The
tower, an ordinary square Perpendicular one,
has been preserved. When I saw the church
it was prettily decorated for the harvest festival
and the best endeavours had been made to
tone down its native ugliness. The font,

BIDDESTONE CHURCH. 167
which offered the only promising subject for
treatment, is a modern one, given in memory of
certain grandchUdren of the Eev. John Emra. I
saw here a custom which I have not seen any
where else — the names of the owners painted
in large white letters on the doors of the pews.
The manor and rectory of Slaughterford were
given by King Stephen to the nunnery of Martigny,
which gave them in exchange to the priory of
Monkton Farley. At one time the prior held that
this church was a chapelry to Chippenham, but it
was soon after attached to Biddestone and so it
has remained ever since. The presentation is now
vested in Winchester CoUege to the rectory of S.
Peter, and the vicarage of S. Nicholas, Biddestone,
together with the vicarage of Slaughterford.
Part of Biddestone was held under the barony
of Castle Combe. Eeginald de Barnivale was
manorial lord of another part in the time of
King Edward II. A subsequent o-wner sold it in
1424 to Walter Lord Hungerford, the High
Treasurer, and it was forfeited in the attainder
of Lord Hungerford of Heytesbury. Lord
Methuen is the present lord of the manor, and it
has been in his famUy for some generations. W.
H. A. Poynder, esq., of Hartham, also owns lands
in this parish.

©. Peter, ^atfegfturp.

ARKSBUEY is not a viUage worthy
of a visit on account of its church
which may be very briefly dismissed,.
but it is prettUy situated and its
scenery is altogether different from
that in the immediate neighbourhood of Bath.
It lies just beyond the range of hills that encircle
the city, and the 'winding Avon which presents
itself in so many of the landscapes I have
described, giving each a certain likeness to the
other, is here several mUes to the north. The
houses of the -viUage are straggled in a most
picturesque manner down the sides of a pretty
little gorge which opens out on the north side
of the high road nearly opposite the church.
The Eectory stands on somewhat high ground,
a pleasant avenue of trees leading to the house
from the road. The terrace-like lawn on the
farther side commands a most delightful pros
pect. It forms the head of the little ra-vine
I have before spoken of ; immediately below
it are two or three rich pastures which slope
suddenly down into the hollow with the biUowy
graceful curves which nature assumes in her

p. f ETER, JvIaRKSEURY  JVoi^H ^AST.

MARKSBURY CHURCH. 159
gentlest aspects. In the middle distance clumps
of trees, the foUage stUl thick upon them though
the season was fai- advanced at the period
I am speaking of, added to the park-lUje
beauty of the scene. Away on the left hand
could be seen the hamlet of Hunstreet, where
is the home of the squire of the parish who
bears the good old West-country name of Popham.
In the far distance the Mendips threw up their
rugged masses of solid blue against the bright
clear sky, and right ahead one looked across the
'wide expanse of country in search of the glisten
ing grey streak that would mark the Bristol
Channel. But the eye returned with lingering
pleasure to the pretty prospect of wood and
meadow immediately in front of it, and half
expected to see the horned deer start from their
coverts and scamper across the foreground. The
scene however is of a more domestic type, and
grazing cattle complete a picture which an artist
might paint as that of a land of peace and plenty.
The history of the parish of Marksbury can be
traced back to a very remote period. It is on
record that in 926 King .^ithelstan gave to his
son >S;thelm the manor of Merkesberie and he
afterwards bestowed it on the Abbey of Glaston
bury. During the Danish wars the monks lost it,
but King Eadgar restored it to them about 963
and they continued in possession thenceforward to
the dissolution, it being recorded in Domesday
that " The Church itself holds Meresberie." After
the dissolution of Monasteries the manors of

160 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
Marksbury and Hunstreet were granted in 1544
to Eichard Watkins, alias Vaughan. Both
properties have now been held for several genera
tions by the Pophams, whose seat is at Hunstreet;
The Uving of Marksbury is a Eectory in the gift
of the lord of the manor.
The church of S. Peter consists of a chancel,
nave and western tower. The buUding is small
and plain, and probably dates from the Norman
period, but considerable repairs at different times
and successive coats of yellow ochre have robbed
it of any interest it may have possessed within or
without. Yet the square tower is in one sense
the most remarkable in all the country round.
Under the auspices of some bygone churchwarden
whose name has not been preserved, this tower
has been adorned with four pinnacles which sur
mount the comers Uke attenuated pyramids and
in themselves impart to it a sufficiently absurd
appearance. But in addition to this the tower has
another feature which makes it truly laughable.
Each pinnacle is capped by a weather vane. This
multiplication of indicators if unnecessary is not
in itself objectionable, and like many other pretty
toys no doubt when new seemed thoroughly
satisfactory. But now the truthful indicators,
grown old and stiff jointed, are weary of the
ceaseless vagaries of the errant wind, they wUl
not heed his buffet ings, and each choosing his own
point of the compass now stands fixed, point
ing in four several directions. Sorely tried parish
in which the wind blows four ways at once !

MARKSBURY CHURCH. 161
The nave is lighted by four windows, small
and square, in two Ughts, high up in the
wall and deeply splayed. The porch is on the
north side, and in the south wall there is on
the exterior the trace of a former doorway ; but
it is impossible to examine the interior on
account of a thick coating of yeUow wash. The
church was partiaUy restored at the advent of
the present incumbent about thirty years since,
when a gaUery at the west end was removed, and
the high square pews which covered both nave and
chancel were replaced with open seats. At the
same time the nave was paved with red and black
tiles. Two years since the chancel was restored,
indeed almost rebuilt. A new chancel arch was
constructed and a new open roof put on. The
chancel arch has no capitals or columns, the double
ogee moulding running to the ground. But its
position is most peculiar ; it is not in the centre
of the east wall of the nave but close to the north
side. The east window was likewise filled with
stained glass by Bell and Son, of Bristol, at the
expense of F. L. Popham, esq. The chancel floor
was laid with encaustic tiles, and altogether it
may be said that the fittings of the church are
very good.
The congregation when I attended morning
service was not so, it was rather small. The
choir consisted of the school children, a batch
of truly rustic urchins, presided over by the
schoblmistress who played the harmonium. As
usual with choirs thus constituted the chUdren

162 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
made up for the thinness of the congregation
and the defects of their own musical training by
the loud voice in which they sang. The service
was read by the Vicar, the Rev. Edward Henry
Langford, B.A., of Sidney College, Cambridge.
The Hymns Ancient and Modern with Appendix
are in use, and after the Litany " Rock of ages"
was sung, and after the precommunion service
Have mercy on us, God Most High.
The Rector preached from 2 Corinthians iv. 18 : —
" We look not at the things which are seen, but
" at the things which are not seen ; for the things
" which are seen are temporal ; but the things
" which are not seen are eternal."
Over the west door of the church is placed a
tablet with the following inscription in raised
letters ; — LAUDA DO
MINVM IN
SANCTVM EIVS
1627
Over the place of the former door in the south
wall is a similar tablet with the words —
DOMVS MEUS VOCABITVR
DOMVS ORATIONIS PRO
OMNI POPVLO 1634
On a monument on the south waU of the chancel
is the following inscription : —

MARKSBURY CHURCH. 163
MEMORISE SACRUM
TAM NATALITIUM SPLENDORE QUAM
MORUM SUAVITATE ET RELIGIONE
CONSPICU.E MARGARITA CARR NAT^
A GULIELMO CARR DE FARNHURST INTRA
SCOTIUM QUI lACOBI REGI FUIT CUBI-
CULARIUS ET A FRANCISCA UXORE EJUS
PR.ENOBILI COBHAMORUM FAMILIA
ORIUNDA QU^ AB HAC AD VITAM
MELIOREM VICESIMO SEPTIMO ANNO
DOMINI M.D. ^TATIS SUJE ANNO
VICESIMO REPENTINE.
C.5:PERUNT L.ETO VENIENTEM SYDERVE PLAUSU
IN M^STE LACHRYMENT GENS ABEUNTE MORE.
It appears from the registers that Margarett
Karre was buried March 30th, 1661.
Outside, on the south wall of the chancel, is this
curious inscription ; —
ELIZABETH WIFE OF JOHN COURT, DAUGHTER
OF STEPHEN
WHERLOCK, DIED IITH JULY, 1653, AGED 26.
Come hither friend and thou shalt see
Mine, thine and all men's destinie
For as thou art, so once I was
As I am now such is thy case
Soon for to be, that done then goe
And Bessie Court did tell thee soe.
The tower contains a peal of six beUs which
were cast by WiUiam Bilbie, of Chewstoke, in
1782. The first is inscribed "Ed. HiU, church-
"warden. My treble voice makes hearts rejoice."
The second and third bells are aUke " Ed. HUl,

164 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
"churchwarden. WiUiam BUbie, fecit." The
fourth and fifth are the same with the addition
of the date 1782. The sixth bell being cracked
was recast in 1820 by T. Mears, of London.
I may add that on inquiring to what use a very '
iieat and pretty looking buUding near the Eectory
was devoted, I leamed that it was a school buUt
about three years since for the joint use of the
parishes of Stanton Prior and Marksbury. It
cost ;£800, the whole of which was subscribed by
the lando-wners and parishioners aided by Govern
ment grant.

p. ^OHN ^APTIST, fROME  )VeST.

^. 31o&n IBaptist, jFrome.

HE first gUmpse that we obtain of
Frome through the mist of ages is as
we stand side by side with the famous
S. Aldhelm in the depths of Selwood
Forest. For mUes on every side
stretch the giant trees, covering a tract of coun
try so large as sometimes to be called Selwood-
sbire. The timid creatures of the wood gaze at us
¦with affrighted eyes, we hear the sweet notes of the
birds in the boughs overhead and the blind-adder
creeps away through the undergrowd;h beneath our
feet. Presently we come upon a Uttle bubbling
stream teemingwith fishasthe long-billed birds that
dart over its surface know fuU well. FoUowing its
course we enter a lovely gorge whose fertile slopes
ascend on either side from its reedy banks. From
the vantage ground of its summit the eye can
range at wiU over the thick trees and open glades
of the Great Forest.
Here it seemed good to Aldhelm, the great Ab
bot of Malmesbury, to establish a monastic house,
and accordingly he placed here about the close of
the seventh century a ceU of Benedictines which
he dedicated — with .a propriety to the surroundings
of the spot which must have been designed — to
12 2

166 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
S. John Baptist, the preacher of the fields and
desert places. Nearly at the same time he buUt
the little church of S. Lawrence, at Bradford-on-
Avon, which we stiU have. WUliam of Malmesbury
says " Fecit et aliud csenobium juxta flu'vium qui
vocatur From," and adds " Stat ecclesia ibi adhuc."
It is supposed that the inmates of the monastery
were dispersed during the Danish wars. Selwood
Forest was of great strategical importance during
these invasions. King Alfred retired through it to
his refuge at Athelney, and though the learned stiU
dispute the site of jSlthandune there is no doubt
that beneath the shade of the same great woods
he massed his forces for his " crowning mercy."
As time went on the Umits of the forest were
steadily curtailed and various portions were cut off
preparatory to their final destruction, by the pro
cess known to English law as enclosure, and to
modern chUdren of our tongue in new lands as
clearing. Selwood was finally disafforested in the
reign of Charles I., but the woods remained for
more than a century longer round about Frome
and the old name still clung to them. The place
is even now known as Frome Selwood. In its last
state the fine old Forest descended to the basest
of uses. It became a harbour of thieves and
marauders who were the scourge and terror of the
neighbourhood. It became moreover a manufac
tory of frauds, for here coiners carried on unmo
lested their base fabrications, and rnany deeds of
darkness were perpetrated in the once home of the
dappled deer, the huntingplace of English Kings.

FROME CHURCH. 167
These evils were met by the erection of a new
church in the district still known as Woodlands
and the cutting up of the forest into small farms.
Frome has thus lost its evU repute, and it has
gained the reputation of one of the finest dairy
countries in England. The farmers of this dis
trict give their attention chiefly to dairy farming,
and I may say that the butter and cheese pitched
at Frome market is held to be of unrivalled
quality. The park at Longleat is a last and beauti
ful remnant of the once Great Forest and the Mar
quis of Bath has trees therein which are more than
ancestral, and suggest a long train of thought to
the pensive wanderer among them.
Frome is also one of the places which held its own
against the general decline of the West of England
cloth trade, and a very extensive manufacture is
carried on here ; it is indeed the staple occupation
of this active little borough. The to-wn is healthy,
clean and well kept, but the directions of the
streets, winding and intertwining over the face of
a sharp declivity, resemble the watercourses on a
steep road. They are a perpetual record of how
the town grew up and they carry our thoughts
to some of the clusters of houses — a higher
name would be out of place — which we come
across in the Forest of Dean, where the same
process is going on which went on in Frome two or
three centuries ago.
In Domesday Book we find that " The King
" holds Frome. King Edward held it. It never
"was assessed, nor is it known how many , hides

168 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
"there are. Of this manor the church of S.
" John of Frome, holds eight carucates of land,
"and also held the same in the time of King
" Edward." In the reign of King Henry II. the
greatest part of Frome was in the possession of
the family of Fitz Bernard. About the time of
King John William Branch acquired by marriage
with the heiress of this family their property at
Frome and elsewhere. On his death in 1280 he
was succeeded by Nicholas Branch, who with
Eoberga his wife, held the manors of Frome and
la Vallice with the hundred of Frome by the
service of one knight's fee. The Branches were
succeeded by the Winslades, and from them the
property passed in 1305 through their heiress
Elizabeth, to Edmund Leversege. The Leverseges
remained here until 1706 when the line became
extinct in the male Une. Their seat, Vallis house,
was situated about a mUe west from the town.
The dining haU still remains adjoining the VaUis
farm, and is now used as a carpenter's shop. It
is of the time of King Henry VII. and the roof
is almost perfect. Vallis is a most romantic ravine
which winds away towards Mells. Its name is
another form of that of Falaise in Normandy,
and is an old French word signifying a bank or
sloping hill.
The manors of Frome Branch and Vallis, to
gether with the hundred of Frome were devised
by the last of the Leverseges to Lionel Seaman,
esq., who had married his only daughter Frances.
The Rev. Lionel Seaman, D.D., Vicar of Frome,

FROME CHURCH. 169
succeeded to them at the death of his namesake
and sold them in 1751 to John Earl of Cork and
Orrery ; from him they have descended to the
present holder of the title, the popular and highly
esteemed lord lieutenant of Somersetshire.
Edmund Leversege, esq., in the year 1606 dis
posed of the manor of East Woodlands, together
with all his lands in East Woodlands, West Wood
lands, WaU Marsh, Clink, and in the forest of
Selwood, to Sir Thomas Vavasour, Knight, who in
1611againsold them to Sir Thomas Thynne, Knight,'
Fiom Sir Thomas these possessions passed with
many others to his son. Sir Henry Frederic ThjTine,
created a baronet in 1642, and they have been held
by his successive descendants ever since, who have
won many honours by their distinction in the public
service. Thomas Thynne, the son of the last men
tioned, was created in 1659 Baron Thynne of War
minster and Viscount Weymouth, and upon his
second cousin, and the second in succession from
him, Thomas, Viscount Weymouth, was conferred
in 1789 the dignity of Marquis of Bath.
" Longleat's towers" have a stronger claim upon
our recollection and admiration than even the hold
which their beauty possesses, in that they afforded
a shelter to one of the most holy of the seven
bishops who stood up so nobly for freedom against
the despotism of the last of the Stuarts, aud whose
sufferings were the proximate cause of the blood
less EngUsh Revolution. Ken, Bishop of Bath
and Wells, was committed to the Tower in 1688,
for refusing to read the Declaration of Indulgence,

170 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
but he was unable to bring his too scrupulous
conscience to justify the overthrow of the tyrant,
and consequently in 1689 was ejected from his see
for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to
WiUiam III. Thenceforward he spent his time in
retirement at Longleat, either in study in the
apartments allotted to his use within that stately
mansion, or in meditation on the lovely brow
caUed Heaven's Gate. He was seized with his
last illness at Sherborne in the year 1710 and
resolved to " go to the Bath" for relief, but resting
on his way at Longleat he went to his bed, from
which he never rose again, and died on the 21st
March. His desire was to be buried " in the
churchyard of the nearest parish within his diocese,
under the east window of the chancel, just at sun-
rising." Frome fulfiUed this condition, and his
resting-place is here -without the east end of the
church under a curious monument which Lord
Houghton describes —
A basketwork where bars are bent —
Iron in place of osier ;
And shapes about that represent
A mitre and a crosier.
The ugly stone erection which someone has placed
over the tomb is as effectual as the removal of his
remains to deny the good prelate what he wished
in the choice of the place of his interment — that
the first rays of the morning sun might glint
across his earthly resting-place. Instead the
hea-vy canopy envelops it in perpetual shade.
Though of so old a foundation the church of

FROME CHURCH. 171
S. John Baptist possesses scarcely any features
of archaeological interest. It is a buUding of very
composite arrangement, the chancel arch and
eastern portion of the nave being of the thirteenth.
century, the rest of the nave, the windows in
the aisles and the lady chapel of the fourteenth,
the clerestory, the tower and the chapel of S.
Andrew of the fifteenth, whUe the chapel of S.
Nicholas goes over into the next century. It is
known that the church was entirely rebuilt in the
reign of King Stephen, but of that church only
one or two doorways remain. Built into the
tower are stones of the primitive church.
The present Vicar, the Rev. W. J. E. Bennett,
M.A., of Christ Church, Oxford, was presented
by the Marquis of Bath in 1852, and on his
arrival found the church in a thoroughly dUapidated
condition, the churchyard -without overgrown -with
nettles and -within the arrangement of pulpit,
reading desk and clerk in its most rampant form. In
the course of four years he got rid of the organ gaUery
and rearranged what may be caUed the furnish
ing of the church. In 1862 the restoration of the
fabric, which was in several places faUing to
pieces, was commenced under the direction of Mr.
C. E. Giles as architect. It was speedily found
that as one crumbling waU was rebuilt the one
adjoining it was equally rotten, and with the
exception of the tower which has been under
pinned, the whole of the church has been rebuUt
stone by stone. We are assured that every
thing has been replaced as it was before, and

172 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
if the people of Frome aUowed their church to faU
into a ruinous state I do not see that they can
complain of anythingthemodernarchitect has done.
StUl the fact remains that this is a new church ;
and it is moreover covered with such a wealth of
omament that even the leamed members of the
Somersetshire Archseological Society differed in
deciphering its history. On one side stood Mr. J.
H. Parker, accepting the local story, which is
backed up by the architect of the restoration ; on
the other Mr. E. A. Freeman and Mr. C. E. Davis.
I am satisfied with the evident fact that this
church was built upon the Norman foundations,
hence the long narrow nave and chancel. To
obtain additional spaces aisles were added on the
north and south side, and to obtain additional
light a clerestory was added. The tower is an
instance of the same mode of construction as at
Calne, and of which examples may be seen at
Exeter and Ottery S. Mary, of a single tower on
one side forming a transept. An arched doorway
in the first platform of the tower overlooking the
church and a smaU window in the opposite waU of
the nave indicate the position of the rood loft. I
am told that there are the remains of a piscina
probably belonging to an altar on the rood loft.
There were also several chantries in the church,
one as old as 1135. I agree with Mr. Freeman in
thinking that the three westernmost bays are a
later addition than the rest of the nave, and with
regard to the west front, from which some would
have us think the church was buUt backward, I

FROME CHURCH. 17S
can only say that successive meddlers have
rendered it irredeemably ugly.
So much for the structure of the church, it
remains to indicate its adornments. It is weU
known that the Vicar sympathises with some of
the extreme -views of what is known as Ritualism,
and his name is associated with one of those
decisions of the Privy CouncU which are a theme
of perennial controversy in Church newspapers.
Neither the Bennett judgment nor any other
points in the Vicar's theology concern me here.
But the Vicar is also strongly imbued with the
notions of the mediseval revival and has put them
into practice in this church to an extent which
must be seen to be understood. Everything is
splendid and costly, but it is also invested -with a
mystic symbolism that even with the aid of his
cwn guide to the church I fear I shaU not
accurately convey.-* The first indication is obtained
* Tliis guide ia a curiosity in the way of spelling for one thing.
The name of the place is spelt " rroome," which is said to he
in the " diocess" of Bath and WeUs, and the word pew is made
" pue." Its matter also is remarkable, and its language to my
mind not always free from ambiguity. Thus speaking of the
chapels the Vicar says " Those ancient chantries offered in the
olden times for the souls welfare of those who are gone. They
are not put to the same use as once they were, hut we have
done the best we can to retrieve the desecration which they
have suffered, and they will serve once more it may he hoped
to the glory of God in services of the church." This passage
which was convenient for quotation is a fair example of the
tone of the explanations given of the meaning of the various
parts and ornaments ol the church. Is such a cloudy style as
tills fair, is it consonant with the solemnity of the subject—
which ia the doctrtae of the church on various points ?

174 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
outside in approaching the church on the north
side. On one side of the steps leading up to the
north porch is a series of very beautiful sculp
tures by Forsyth, Ulustrating the Stations of the
Cross. At the north porch, over which is the
par-vise, the series ends 'with the Crucifixion.
Over the south porch is a sculpture by Ezard of
Bath, of SS. Peter and John at the Gate Beautiful.
Outside the western doors are four large but
handsome figures of the evangelists, and in corres
ponding positions within S. Aldhelm the founder
of the church, S. Alban the first English martyr,
S. Andrew the patron saint of the diocese and S.
George of England* In the tabernacle outside
is correctly enough a statue of the Baptist.
Turning our attention to the nave, which is weU
arranged, with low open seats, we find the
windows on either side in the aisles iUustrate ten
scenes in the life of S. John Baptist, and the
subject is continued in the west window of the
aisle. The large west window contains the figures
of SS. Andrew, John Baptist, John the EvangeUst
and Peter. Between the arches of the nave
traces were found of old paintings and so in each
spandril on the north side has been placed a large
gUded medalUon iUustrating one of the miracles
©f our Lord ; the south side when complete will
Ulustrate the parables. The new timber roof of

-* Describing these the Vicar writes, "AU has its spiritual
meaning. It is not to be looked upon as a mere work of art.
We learn as we look. As we gaze we reflect."

FROME CHURCH. 175
the nave excites the ire of Mr. Freeman because
it is of the Norfolk instead of the local type. It
is truly remarkable in church restoration how
architects when they are caUed upon to put some
thing fresh persist in inserting that which,
beautiful as it may be in itself, is out of harmony
with the rest of the building. On the north
side of the nave is a handsome modem stone
pulpit, and on the south side a brass eagle lectern.
Before I leave the nave I must add that the
stained windows of the aisles being far off and
the clerestory windows far above fiUed -with
monastic glass, it is painfuUy diffioult for the con
gregation to read the hymns or collects. This is a
grave objection to what has been done.
Upon the chancel the greatest care has been
bestowed. The walls are covered -with paintings
in a subdued tint, by Clayton and BeU ; carved
oak screens part off the chapels on either side,
and a stone screen and gates shut out the congre
gation. A series of seven steps leads up to the
"altar." The floor is laid with encaustic tUes
and the roof is gUded and decorated and adorned
¦with the figures of angels. The reredos of
Carrara marble is in the form of three tabernacles
in which are representations of Moses striking
the Eock, the Manna, and the institution of the
Sacrament. The large east window above is
designed to carry on the history " so as to present
"the whole of the doctrine of the Catholic
" Church in one view." The table itself is covered
with a white altar cloth. On it stands twelve

176 THE CHURCH EAMBLES.
candles -with a cross in the centre. On the step
below is a candelabra of seven candles on either
side. Below again are two gas standards. Then
on the north side is a table with the book stand
for the service, and on the south side a table for
the ahnsdish. Also on the south side are three
canopied sedilia, and to the west of aU this the
usual staUs for the choir. In a word, everything
in the church is artistically subordinated aud leads
up to the" altar."
The chapel on the north side of the chancel is
occupied by the organ. The rest, beside ha'ving
the floor laid with encaustic tUes and the windows
fiUed -with stained glass, have been restored as far
as possible to their preEeformation form. For
instance, in the chapel of S. Andrew are aU the
arrangements of an altar, on the altar stands a
cross and two candlesticks and behind is a triptych.
On the south side of the altar the piscina has
been restored and on the north side is a crucifix.
Suspended from the roof a lamp hangs before the
altar. The east window was filled -with stained
glass in 1848 by the Marchioness of Bath to the
memory of Bishop Ken. In the chapel of S.
Nicholas on the north side of the nave is placed
the font, but in the lady chapel adjoining it the
reredos and altar are far more elaborate than in the
chapel of S. Andrew, and it has this pecuUarity that
its decoration hasbeen subscribed to only by persons
whose name is Mary. Chairs are placed in
these chapels also, and I suppose therefore they
are actuaUy used for services.

FBOME CHURCH, 177
The tower contains a peal of eight bells* of which
the oldest are three cast by John Lott, and bearing
his famUiar trademark. The fourth and fifth bells
are the oldest, the fourth is inscribed —
I • AM • HEE • FOR • lOHN ' LOTT • MADE ' MEE
-I- ANNO • DO • MI • NI • 1624.
It has also the Prince of Wales feathers, &c., on
¦ the waist. On the fifth is the more formal record
handing down the names of the churchwardens to
an admiring posterity —
WATER • BEARENS " lOHN " PATTMAN + ANNO ' DO .
MI • NI • 1624. I'L. C. W. ^
The tenor beU is a later work of the same foundry,
and is inscribed —
WILLIAM • WHITCHURCH ' ANDREW ' ROGERS
C • WD • 1662. I ¦ L ^
* The Vicar explains "the uses of the several bells accord
ing to the ancient customs of the Catholic Church and ot the
pariah." He says, *' The first or treble bell is used as the
Sanctus bell. It is rung at the Celebration of the Blessed
Sacrament, i.e., three times when the Priest elevates the Sacred
Body of the Lord, and three times whtn he elevates the Sacred
Blood By this is signified to the Parishioners who from sick
ness or other inibility are unable to come to Church that then
is the time to remember the great sacrifice of the Cross.
Though absent in the body still by the Sanctus beU thus sound
ing their memories and their prayers may go up to God in
spiritual communion. It is a beautiful ancient custom, now
being gradually restored in Catholic Churches." Speaking of
- the second bell he remarks, " No doubt the use of this beU
was originally to call the people to early mass. . . . The
original use of the bbll in its full integrity has now been
happily restored. Every morning you may hear the bell, and
the priest is at his post again offering the great sacrifice for
. God's people even as of old." The restoration of the Angelus
heU is deferred until more accurate accounts can be obtained
from the continent «! its use and meaniug.

178 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
The first bell was cast by WiUiam Cockey in 1724,
and the second by the same founder in 1740. The
sixth beU is inscribed —
"Mr. Wm. Barton and Mr. Joseph Clavey, C. W.
Wm. Cockey, bellfounder. 1746."
The third bell is from Chew Stoke —
" Josiah Ames and Timothy Lacy, churchwardens, 1788.
Wm. Bilbie, Chewstoke, fecit."
The seventh has an imposing legend—
" The Right Hon. the Lord Bishop of Exeter, vicar ;
Robert Blunt and Geo. George, churchwardens ;
Robert Wells Aldbourne, Wilts, fecit. 1792."
I attended morning service here on Epiphany
Sunday and will do my best to describe the cere
monial. As the beUs ceased and the organ took
up the strain a chorister entered the chancel and
fetched the large processional brass cross which
was deposited there. Immediately afterwards, for
once without the sound of any preliminary
prayer, a procession entered from behind the organ
and went into the chancel. First came a verger,
or sacristan as he is officially styled, in a long
black gown, and bearing simply a staff. Then
foUowed two choristers bearing lighted tapers, and
then the cruoifer or crossbearer. These three had
crimson cassocks, the rest of the choir, who came
after them, wore black ones. The ministers, who
came last, were distinguished by wearing birettas
as well as by the posture of their hands and the
peculiar inclination of their heads. Closing up
the rear came the Vicar himself wearing a black

FROME CHURCH. 179
cassock and short surplice with a yellow sUk stole,
and a gold chain round his waist apparently
supporting some badge. The choir having bowed
to the altar and taken their seats, the taper
•bearers retired and the service commenced. The
prayers were intoned by one of the curates and
the responses chanted very weU by the choir. For
the Gloria Patri the choir and priests faced to the
east whUe some females in the congregation bowed
their heads. The same formality was observed by
some at every mention of the name of Jesus and
at the " Holy, holy, holy'' of the Te Deum. Some
females also bowed to the altar on entering the
church as is usual in Eoman Catholic churches. The
lessons were fairly read according to the fashion
of churches in which plain speech is eschewed.
It may be mentioned as a curious circumstance
that during the first lesson the heavy rain beating
on the roof entirely drowned the reader's voice, at
least so far as those sitting less than half way
down the nave were concerned. The coUection of
hymns in use is the " Hymnal Noted," and during
the singing of a hymn at the conclusion of the
morning prayers the verger reappeared in front of
the chancel, the crossbearer took up his cross and
preceded by these two the Vicar left hia seat and
went to the pulpit. On the piUar above this was
hanging an ebony and ivory crucifix, but now the
processional cross was also set up behind the
pulpit. Having read the notices for the week the
Vicar pronounced the formula " In the name of
the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost," touching

180 THE CHURCH BAMBLEB.
himseK as he did so once on the forehead and
twice on +he breast. He then gave out his text,
Matth e-n ii. 9. The star, which they saw in
"the east, went before them, till it came and
" stood over where the young child was," and
preached upon the adoration by the Magi.
I had hoped in coming to the church that I
should hear the Vicar preach and I saw him
ascend the pulpit with gratified curiosity, for I
thought, apart from the nature of his teaching,
there must be something in the manner, in the
inteUectual power of a man who had developed
practices so distasteful to many, that would impress
the hearer. I am bound to confess that I was
thoroughly disappointed. The Eev. W. J. E.
Bennett is neither effective nor powerful as a
preacher. His phraseology is ingenious, but his
words are never soul-stirring, they have never
that impetuous fiery flow whereby the earnestness
of the speaker silences the calm judgment of the
hearer acd carries him beyond himself. Further,
Mr. Bennett's delivery in the pulpit adds nothing
to the effect of his words. His health is I suppose
far from good for his voice comes and goes and
his manner is painfully peculiar ; in fact it
would be an effectual barrier to his public
speaking in any other office. The matter of his
sermon, though to me equaUy remarkable, may
be aUowed to speak for itself. He set out by
remarking from what little things the greatest
results often flow. Men judge by outward
demonstration, and if there is nothing remarkable

FSOME CHUECH. 181
about anything they pass on and give it no heed.
Yet if they would give attention to what is before
them they would be led on to the greatest glory.
Applying this principle to the Epiphany he said it
was an insignificant event, yet it led to great
results. He described the little child sitting on
His mother's knee, and the arrival of great kings
or wise men from the East, such as the Jews had
never seen before, to pay Him adoration. They
prostrated themselves before Him and acknow
ledged Him as King of kings. They brought
presents to Him, gold — because the riches of all
the earth belonged to Him ; frankincense — to
express their worship of His Godhead ; myrrh —
their admiration of the purity of His manhood.
He wished to call attention to two points in con
nection with this event. First, as Jesus did not
choose that His Godhead should be suddenly
manifested but aUowed it to be gradually perceived
through the flesh, we should not expect it now.
Neither was it. Take the great sacrament of the
Gospel, th3 Holy Eucharist ; suppose a Jew or
heathen to come into that church at eight o'clock
on that Sunday morning for the first time and see
them all kneeling devoutly, the priest and his
attendants saying the words of consecration
laid down in the liturgy, the incense, an emblem of
prayer, sending up its grateful perfume, the choir
chanting their hymns of praise, all in adoration,
what would he say ? He would see bread — the food
of all, wine — the fruit of the grape, both coiamon
things, and he would be surprised to see so

182 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
much ceremonial directed towards such little
things. So did the Jews stand by wondering at
the Magi adoring a little baby. But as there
was hidden beneath the flesh the Godhead of
Christ, so the bread does but cover the body of
the same Christ, the wine is but the outward form
of the blood of Jesus. With this explanation the
heathen would understand why they bowed down
in adoration and employed so much ceremonial
observance. Jesus is more wonderful in this than
in anything else in the wide world : once
manifested literaUy to the Magi, he is now
revealed in the mystery of this Holy Eucharist
every day upon a thousand altars as the priest
says " This is My body." Just in the same pro
portion as the Magi worshipped God made
manifest in the fiesh, so do we in the Sacrament,
one is the continuation of the other, and -with
out that we should have no authority for worship
ping and adoring Christ as we do under the veil of
the Sacrament. In the second place the preacher
pointed out that as the star in the east guided the
Magi to Christ, so the star of faith led us to the altar.
If they had not followed they would not have
found the infant Jesus. So you (he said) if you
have not the teaching of the Church, if you do not
do good you do not find the infant Jesus on the
altar. This is what I am most anxious to point
out, the necessity of following a star : if you have
not a star you cannot foUow, but when Jesus
vouchsafes one to you you should follow. As the
Magi had long tracks of desert to pass over, and

FSOME CHUECH. 185
had to encounter the opposition of Herod, so
you have doubts and troubles, the hindrances
suggested by an unbelieving age, the load of sin,
and of your o-wn excuses. AU these are difficulties,
and if you yield to them you wiU never come to the
place where the young child lies. If you submit
your own wUl and understanding to the teaching
of the Church, as earnest seekers after truth,
you wUl be found at the steps of the altar with
other faithful Christians. The preacher likened
those who wandered from the teaching of the
Church to some friends of his crossing the Alps,
who would not trust the guide and so perished in
a crevasse. Finally he spoke of the presents
which the Magi brought, myrrh, frankincense,
gold, he said, brethren, I wish it was so now, you
have it but you keep it at home in your closets, you
hide it in your banker's hands. Why 1 Because
the star does not lead, you are kept in your own
country which is the world. If you had the star
would you not, kneeling in adoration before the
altar, put away all the things of this world, would
you not say " Jesus, king of grace, king of glory,
what is anything I bring to what thou hast given
me — Thy own body. Thy own blood." Give your
self up to God and when you have laid down all
your treasure, if you could gather together aU the
jewels and precious things upon the earth in one
great heap before the altar where Jesus is for
your adoration, it is nothing to one crumb of that
life-giving body which he stretches out to you
from His throne.

184 THE CHUECH RAMBLES,
After the sermon the same procession as before
conducted the Vicar back to the chancel where he
knelt for some time on the steps before the altar
whUe the offertory was taken. The bags were
received upon an alms dish at the entrance of the
chancel by a chorister, who bore the dish to the
Vicar who laid it upon the table or altar and then
said the concluding prayers, facing the east. He
turned to the people to pronounce the benediction,
raising his hand above his head at the name of the
Father, and crossing himself as he named the
Son and the Holy Ghost, then turned theatrically
to the east again. Finally the two small tapers
were brought again from the vestry and the pro
cession being re-formed left the church as it had
entered it.
Such was the morning service in the ancient
parish church of Frome ; there had been two cele
brations of the Holy Communion earlier, and the
Litany would be said in the afternoon.

d 1. Sf

m.^r'f rim

^. JVllCHAEL, JVIeLKSHAM  ^OUTH,

?. 9@icf)ael, 9@ellisi)am.

|HE clean and interesting town of
Melksham is a place of very great
antiquity. It was a town of consid
erable importance in the times of
the Kings of Wessex, and during the
reigns of the early English kings it was the princi
pal place in the hundred to which it gives its
name, and the name itself of Melksham, or " Milk
vUlage," shows that the broad and fertile meadows
which here extend on either side of the Avon must
have been at a very early period cleared and laid
do-wn for the pasture of cattle.
We find in fact that before the Norman Conquest
Melksham was the property of Harold, the son
of Earl God wine, and by his accession to the
throne became part of the possessions of the
Crown. It remained vested in the Crown for
two centuries, and the forest of Melksham, or
Blaokmore as it was also called, was a favourite
hunting place with several of the Norman and
early Plantagenet kings. In the "Magna
Britannia" it is stated that a county court was
held here in the reign of King Henry II. , in
which Ealph de GlanviUe, who held the office of

186 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
Chief Justiciary from 1181 to 1185, and other
Barons sat as judges to decide the claims of the
different heirs to the property of Geoffrey de
MagnavUle, Earl of Essex, when a fine was
levied, and the contested estates were divided
between the claimants. Hence probably has
arisen the tradition by which it has been sought
to explain a curious local name. Part of Melk
sham is called the City, why, it is not kno-wii, but
some have made out that the royal hunting -visits
exalted Melksham to great importance and that
one of the kings estabUshed here a court with
royal jurisdiction. The fact is far different. In
early days when the king travelled the whole of
the court travelled with him, and so the whole
machinery of government had a shifting centre.
Parliament was not then settled in S. Stephen's
Chapel, but met at court, and the law courts were
not settled at Westminster tiU 1224.
The judges travelled with the king, all
causes being heard in the presence of the king
himself. So unfortunate suitors had to dance up
and down the country in pursuit of justice wherever
the royal whim led them. Thus it was that on
one occasion a court was held at liilelksham. It is
on record that King Henry II. was here on the
Feast of the Conversion of S. Paul in 1183, and
King John on the 8th, 9th and 10th of December,
1204, when James de Potterne was one of the
five Justices in attendance. On each of these
occasions fines were passed. Britton also states
that Melksham Forest, the wardenship of which

MELKSHAM CHUECH. 187
was usually united with that of Chippenham, was
the scene of many of the hunting exploits of King
Edward I. The relative importance of Melksham
among the to-wns of the county is very clearly
shown by an account of the sums paid by this
and other royal manors in Wiltshire, as preserved
by Madox in the " History of the Antiquities of
" the Exchequer." " In the first year of King
" John there was a tallage of the King's manors
"in WUtshire. To that taUage the town of
" Malmesbury paid one hundred shUUngs, Calne
"ten marks, Melksham twelve marks, Cumb
"(Castle Combe) forty shUlings, Saresbury
" (Sarum) forty shUlings, and other towns their
" respective sums."
In 1260 the Abbess of Lacock had a special
grant from Khig Henry III. of forty acres out of
the forest of Melksham near the Wansdyke, which
she was to enclose in lieu of a right of cutting
wood which had been given by the King to the
founder of that institution. The King then, says
Canon Jackson, settled the manor and hundred of
Melksham upon Amicia, Countess of Devon, for
life, subject to a rent of £48 a year to the Crown.
She was a member of a powerful famUy, being
daughter of GUbert de Clare, Earl of Hereford
and Gloucester, and wife of Baldwin de Eedvers,
seventh Earl of Devon. Afterwards the King
conceived the pious intention of founding
obits in Ambresbury Church for the souls
of Prince Arthur of Brittany — to whose soul King
John had not allowed much rest on earth, — and for

188 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
that of Eleanor, Arthur's sister, — whom, on account
of her better hereditary right to the throne, her
relations in possession had kept safely under look
and key in Bristol Castle, and whose body, on her
death in 1241, was carried by the King's permis
sion from the priory of S. James', Bristol, to the
Abbey of Ambresbury for interment. The King
also included in the arrangement of prayers his
own soul aud that of his Queen when they should
die. In order to obtain these benefits from the
prioress and nuns of Ambresbury, he conferred
upon them the fee farm rent of £48, made up to
.£50 by the Exchequer, with the reversion of the
manor on the death of Amicia. We find that this
aiTangement was subsequently altered and the
manor itself made over to the prioress and her
sisters, upon condition that they paid over aU
profits above £50 a year to the Countess of Devon,
and after her death to the Crown. King Edward
I. reduced this rent to £30 a year, and it was
subsequently brought down to £13 13s. 7d., so
that the net value to the monastery at the disso
lution was £80 16s. 4d. King Henry VIII., in
1014, granted a charter for a fair on the 17th of
July ; it is now held on the 27th.
King Edward I. committed the custody of
Melksham and Chippenham forests to Matthew
Fitz John, Governor of Devizes, and Britton
states that he was charged with having wasted
and destroyed the woods under his care and was
consequently deprived of his appointment, though
it was subsequently restored to him in 1301. I

MELKSHAM CHURCH. 189
believe other explanations are offered for the
surrender of his estates but I mention the state
ment because it shows one of the ways in which
the gradual removal of the forests maintained for
the royal pleasure was effected, even their trusted
guardians taking part in their destruction.
After this we do not find further mention of
Melksham in history, and the conclusion ia obvious
that it sank into' insjgoificance. Camden does
not mention it, and Leland is also silent respecting
Melksham or a bridge here. In enumerating
the bridges over the Avon he mentions Eey bridge
near Lacock, and Staverton bridge, and as
Melksham Ues between the two it is scarcely
possible that a bridge here could have escaped
his attention. The bridge therefore which was
rebuUt early in the present century must therefore
have been later than his time. The introduction
of the cloth manufacture caused a revival in the
activity of the town, and in the last century " fine
" broadcloths and kerseymeres were made in very
"considerable quantities,'' and the trade is still
carried ou to some extent.
In 1816 Melksham assumed to take a more am
bitious position among the to wns of the West country
and essayed to rival the city of Bath. Several
mineral springs rise near the town from the beds
of the Oxford clay. One of them is a sulphurous
chalybeate and two are saline. Upon the dis
covery of one of the latter in the year named an
analysis by Dr. Gibbes, of Bath, was obtained,
and a company was formed -with a capital of 7,000

190 THE CHURCH BAMBLEB.
guineas, to which members of the Long, the
Awdry and the Methuen families were considerable
contributors". An engineer was called in, and a
reservoir constructed ; a spa and hot and cold
baths were erected and a crescent built aa the
nucleus of a new town. But the fame of the
new spa was transient, a few -visitors came at
first out of curiosity and they found that Melksham
could in no point -with advantage to herself chal
lenge comparison with the Queen of the West.
Melksham spa speedUy passed into a mere tra
dition for the curious, the pump room being now
converted into a school. Among the ¦visitors who
sought health at its waters was Sir Massey Lopes,
who -visited it in 1822 after his two years' impri
sonment in Exeter gaol for corrupt practices at
the notorious borough of Grampound.
The name of Melksham Forest stUl survives as
that of a scattered district, situated about a mUe
from the parish church to which a recent event
has given importance in connection with the present
subj ect. The difficulty of ministering to the spiritual
wants of the inhabitants of this outlying
neighbourhood has been recently met by the
munificence of the Eev. E. L. BarnweU, a gentle
man who has of late years resided in the parish
and has now crowned a long series of benevolent
deeds by the gift of a new church. On a site at
the foot of Sandridge hill given by T. J.
Heathcote, esq., a plain but commodious church in
the Eary EngUish style has been erected from
the designs of Mr. C. Adye, Bradford-on-Avon,

MELKSHAM CHUECH. 191
accommodating 180 persons. The church of S.
Andrew, or the Forest church as it is popularly
named, was consecrated on the 16th of November,
1876, by the Lord Bishop of Salisbury, in the
presence of the Ven. Archdeacon Buchanan and a
large assembly of the clergy of the diocese. The
Bishop preached from James v. 16 — " The effectual
"fervent prayer of a righteous man avaUeth
" much." The Eectory of Melksham was anciently in the
gift of the Cro-wn until it was granted, with all its
appendages, to the canons of the Cathedral of
Sarum by King John in the time of Bishop
Herbert Poore, by deed dated at Falaise, on the
4th June, 1200. The gift was charged with an
annual bounty of £2 15s. 8d. to be distributed on
the anniversaries of King HenTy II. and III.
amongst the attendants belonging to Sarum
Cathedral. Edward Carne, Doctor of Decretals
was Vicar at the survey of King Henry VIII.
The chapelry of Earlstoke has just been separated
from Melksham and formed into a Vicarage.
Seend was similarly treated some years since.
The Dean and Chapter of Salisbury present
to the Vicarage, and the late Vicar was
the Eev. Matthew Wilkinson, D.D., formerly
Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge. He took
high classical and mathematical honours when at
Cambridge, and on the formation of Marlborough
College in 1843 was chosen its first head-master,
an office which he held for nine years. In 1852
he accepted the Eectory of West Lavington, and

192 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
subsequently (in 1873) the Vicarage of Melksham
where he died in 1876. He was greatly esteemed
and respected, not merely -within his own parish but
in many spheres of activity beyond. Besides being
a justice of the peace and taking an active interest
in the affairs of the county, he was for some time
Eural Dean of Salisbury, and in 1870 received a
prebendal staU. He published more than one
volume of sermons and was also a select preacher
to the University of Cambridge.
We have seen that in its origin and early
history Melksham has many points of similarity
to Chippenham. We have evidence in the church
also of as great antiquity as in any existing
portion of S. Andrew, Chippenham. At the east
end of the chancel are some of the flat buttresses
which mark the work of Norman builders, and
which are probably of the same age as the former
chancel arch of Chippenham Church. The rest
of the church is however of late Perpendicular
date and does not call for much remark. Accord
ing to the original plan it consisted of nave
and chancel with a central tower between, but in
1843 this was removed aud consequently the
nave now appears remarkably long. There is on
the south side of the nave a transeptal chapel and
west of it a former chantry chapel with the
famUiar square-headed windows of this district.
The porch is on the north side. When the tower
was removed on account of its insecure state it
was rebuUt at the west end and considering the
period at which this was done there is not much

MELKSHAM CHUECH. 193
to say against it ; it is very weU proportioned
¦with regard to the church. The existing clerestory
windows must have been inserted at the same
time. Otherwise there has been Uttle tampering
with the fabric which is well preserved and forms
a handsome and large church, well placed in the
centre of the to-wn and not cramped up amid
houses, for it is surrounded by a large churchyard
as Wren wished to place the churches of London
after the Great Fire. How much a foreground of
greensward adds to the holy and peaceful aspect
of a church or cathedral !
I -visited Melksham Church under aspects as
unfavourable as could well be imagined. The
close of the last year and the beginning of the
present were alike in one respect at least, that
Sunday was always a wet and dismal day. It was
on the wettest and most wretched of these that I
made my pilgrimage to Melksham. Part of the
road which then I traversed is famUiar to me
from pre-vious journeys in these rambles, but on
that particular Sunday morning the new and the
old were alike a land unknown. It is a mere
euphemism to say it rained, a curtain of water
hung between me and the horizon, and to dis
tinguish the colours in the landscape was a sheer
impossibility. It is clear to me therefore, and I
think it must be to my readers, that if the town
of Melksham under such conditions appeared a
clean and pleasant one, it must be so indeed ; if
even then the number of good public buUdings
was noticed, the evidence of public spirit must

194 THE CHUECH RAMBLES.
be indeed real ; and finally if the parish
church struck me on such a day as a building
worthy of its high use, it must be so indeed.
Perhaps however there ' is something in the
air of Melksham conducive to cheerfulness, for
I discovered that the careless indifference which
has grown up in some towns and keeps the people
from service has no foothold here. Unpleasant as
the morning was there was a large congregation,
made up of various family parties whose weekly
habit it evidently was to come to church every
Sunday. The churchwardens of Melksham like
wise are wise in their generation and make good
provision for the comfort of the people — I was never
in a church that was more satisfactorily warmed.
The Vicar, the Eev. Prebendary Francis Warre,
took the service at S. Andrew's Forest church
on that particular morning, and the prayers were
read and sermon preached at the parish church
by two of his curates. The desks for the two
ministers are placed on the north and south
side of the chancel and a stone pulpit with
a particularly awkward means of ascent, at the
north-east comer of the nave. In the other
arrangements of the interior there is much that I
should like to see altered, and from the simple and
yet careful character of the service — free from
either extreme of slovenliness or superstition — I
am sure the Vicar wUl agree with me, In saying
this I am not an advocate for any party in the
Church, but I assert that modern notions require
certain alterations of the utilitarian arrangement of

MELKSHAM CHUECH. 195
pews which prevaUed forty years ago— such as that
which exists at Melksham, where the seats face divers
ways and are crowded right up into the chancel.
The people thus sit beyond the minister, some in the
same Une as he and some even nearer the centre of
the chancel, so that he seems hemmed in by the
congregation, and you cannot fix your eyes
upon him without staring also at a number
of worshippers. There was a young lady so
placed in my line of sight that she seemed to
be reading out of the same book as the clergy
man himself. Such things as these are manifestly
objectionable, and the seats, if not occupied
by the choir, should be placed back in the
rear of the ministers. Again there is a
priest's door on the south side of the chancel by
which many people enter, and whether early
or .late pass across the chancel to their seats
considering neither the unpleasantness to the con
gregation of a constant passing before their eyes
nor the irreverence of a distracted attention.
The west end of the church is also disfigured with
an old-fashioned singing gallery wherein is placed
the choir and the organ, and as a result the
singing, on the part of the congregation at least, is
not what it ought to be. The gallery should
be demolished, for there is space already pro
vided on either side the chancel which could
be adapted to the use of an organ chamber, and
with the choir placed in the same part of the
church I think a marked improvement would
ensue in the musical portion of the service.

196 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
In these observations I am only finding fault
with the furnishing of the building ; with the
tone of the service I was well pleased. I was
able to thoroughly enjoy the beautiful and compre
hensive prayers of the Church as I heard them from
the lips of the clergy of Melksham, and the lessons
were read clearly and impressively. After the
preCommunion service the Eev. Francis Slater
preached from Ephesians v. 16 — " Eedeem the
" time." His sermon was a very sensible address
on the value of time. He said it had been
observed by philosophers that men were always
complaining of the shortness of life and yet
acting as if it were never coming to an end.
This was one of the inconsistencies of which we
had so many in daily life and the most injurious
to our prospects. Yet time was a property sent
by God in different proportions to all, the talent
given to us to improve for our benefit. Time was
inseparably connected with eternity, it was a prelude
to a state of endless existence. Pursuing this
line of thought the preacher enlarged in a very
practical manner upon the importance of a right
use of time, its fleeting nature and the fact that
when lost it never returns. The service concluded
with the prayer for the Church Militant.
Aubrey makes note of a curious inscription not
now existing. He says, " In the chancel is an
" inscription for Isaao Selfe, a wealthie clothier,
"who died ye — day of — 1656, in the ninety
" second yeare of his age, leaving behind him a
"very numerous offspring, viz., 85 in number

MELKSHAM CHUECH. 197
" The north or Daniels' aisle belongs to Binegar
" -within this parish, where is a very ancient house
"that belonged to the Daniels, now seated at
" S. Margaret's, j uxta Marlborough." The Daniels
were a famUy who came out of Cheshire, and
were in course of time succeeded by the SeKes, a
very ancient name in this place. It occurs in an
Inquisitio post mortem as early as 1253. The
number of the posterity of the Isaac mentioned is
not so remarkable when we learn from the WUtshire
Visitation of 1623 that he had two sons and twelve
daughters who were aU married. The eldest son
was then represented by daughters. The second
son married twice and the only representative of
his second marriage was Isaac Selfe, who married
Penelope, daughter of Charles Lord Lucas. His
daughter, and ultimately sole heiress, married Thos.
Methuen of Bradford, who died in 1733, whence
the family property of Binegar, properly Beanacre,
has. descended to the present Lord Methuen.
We also find in the church interments of many
members of the local famiUes of Awdry, Long,
Bruges, Lopes and Heathcote. A weU-known
famUy of West-country clothiers is represented here
by Francis and Penelope Horton who died respect-
ivelyin 1695 and 1699. I also copied the foUowing :
JOHN EDWARDS FREEMANTLE, ESQ.,
LIEUT. -COL. OF THE ROYAL BUCKS MILITIA,
FORMERLY OF THE COLDSTREAM REGIMENT OF
FOOT GUARDS
HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE AT BATH
2IST MARCH, l80S, AGED 43.
14 2

198 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
The east -window is fiUed -with stained glass in
three lights, representing the Nativity, the
Ascension and the Eesurrection. There are two
side windows also, and a brass plate records the
fact that " To the glory of God and in memory of
" their beloved parents, Ealph Ludlow Lopes, and
"Elizabeth his wife, of Sandridge park, have
" erected the three -windows in this chancel m.d.
" 1876." In the east end on the south side is a four-
light window containing the figures of SS. Peter,
Paul, John and James the Great. It is " In memory
" of Thomas Heathcote, of Shaw hiU, clerk, and of
" EUen Wyndham Catherine his youngest daugh-
" ter, who both died in the month of January, 1859."
Melksham Church has a peal of six beUs,
which were cast by Abraham Eudhall, and bear
some of his characteristic inscriptions. The first
beU says — " A. E. cast us all, 1703. Henry Long."
The second, " Prosperity to this place, A. E.,
"1703." The third, "God save Queen Anne.
" Peace and good neighbourhood. A. E., 1703."
The sixth says, " Bohun Fox, Vicar. Isaac Selfe,
" esq., Jacob Selfe, gent., churchwardens. A. E.,
" 1703. Jeremy Audrey, clothier, Thomas
"Flower, gent., churchwardens, 1702." The
fourth beU is of later date and is the work of
Thomas EudhaU. It is inscribed, "George Moor,
" John BuU, churchwardens. T. E., 1768." The
fifth was recast by some one else, for we read on
it, "John Smith, Vicar. Thomas Bruges, esq.,
"James .Bull, gent., churchwardens. James
"WeUs, Aldbourn, fecit, 1808."

r A

' J

X0 .

illiP ^t^^^l^^>w '-{[ 'i'

°^

<

^. 3(ames, CroiDbriDge.

N end had come to the continuous
rain ; the weather had changed and
the first frost of the New Year lay
thick and white upon the ground as
I made my way early on a recent
Sunday morning to Trowbridge. The hoary gaoler
of Nature's beauties. Jack Frost, was welcomed most
heartily as an old famUiar friend whose face had
been too long absent, and who had been expected
in vain long before he came. But there were
also good and sufficient reasons why his fetters
lay upon the ground with more than usual
severity. The earth was saturated through and
through with moisture, and the foliage had scarce
thrown off the raindrops of the last shower when
the frost came. So the roads were not hard
bound but caked with a thin layer of ice which
cracked and crumbled under foot. The trees and
hedges were decked by the sportive fingers of the
Cold Imp with a twofold beauty. There were aUke
the charm of the forms of the water crystals and the
grace of the beautiful snowy mantle which they
threw over the crests of the trees and the hedges
But it was only after passing from the level road

200 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
and mounting the hUl at Bathford that the fuU
beauty of the wintry scene came into view. The
Warley woods in the immediate foreground,
Hampton down on the left, the raUway
embankment on the right and the valley through
which the Avon winds its way into Bath lay before
me, with a white veU cast over the entire*
landscape. The effects of snow are curious and
remarkable, but there was a more delicate
beauty pervading this scene. While the moisture
which lay upon every leaf and stone and blade
of grass had stiffened and whitened under the
cold, the coating of crystals was not sufficiently
thick to be opaque and the bright colour of the
grass — which the wet warm season had made
peculiarly verdant — shone through it. The effect
cannot be illustrated better than by comparison of
a very different effect in nature, that of the
pecuUar kind of agate known as the sardonyx
which has a pearly white half revealing the rich
tint below. Except that the subcolour in the
landscape was green, the analogy is complete, but
the memory of that scene is more grateful to my
mind than the contemplation of many jewels.
Amidst the variations of these beautiful effects
I passed through Bradford on to the great centre
of the WUtshire clothing trade — Trowbridge.
This Trowbridge is not mentioned as such in the
Domesday record but it does not follow that it did
not then exist. The Norman scribes, -writing
from ear, were very inaccurate in setting down
English names of places, and often made very

TBOWBBIDGE CHUECH. SOI
ludicrous mistakes. In this case they have trans
formed the name into Stiaburg. This was not am
etymological shot, though the name has much
perplexed inquirers. Leland caUs the place
Thoroughbridge, Camden Trubridge, Gough.
Trolbridge. The true meaning is the bridge by
the Trowle. Trowle or Trole is stiU the name of
a hamlet and a common west of Trowbridge. The
bridge was over the Biss, the tributary of the
Avon on which the town is buUt. Stiaburg was
held 'with eight other manors by Brictric, one of
the king's thanes, whose father had preceded him.
He is generaUy identified -with the man who was
the Ambassador of King Edward the Confessor
at the Court of Flanders. It is said that the
Conqueror's wife Matilda, in revenge for some
imagined slight upon her when at her father's
Court, induced her husband to confiscate his
estates and bestow them on herself. With.
some of them she endowed foreign monasteries.
If so, Brictric must have been enabled to regain
bis estates at MatUda's death, which it is kno'wa
occurred before the compUation of the WUtshire
Domesday. In the year 1100 we find the lordship of Trow
bridge belonging to Edward Deureux, commonly
caUed Edward of Sarisberie, the famous sheriff
who was such a large landowner in the county.
His daughter Maud, the foundress of Monkton
Parley Priory, was given in marriage to Humphrey
de Bohun, whose famUy appear to have had
some interest in it. Probably some of .them buUt

a02 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
the castle here in the period of castle buUding
which accompanied the struggle for the succession
among the immediate descendants of the Conqueror.
At any rate it is the castle that first brings the
place into notice in history. On the accession of
King Stephen the then Humphrey de Bohun
declared for the Empress, and when the King,
alarmed at the strongholds which the Bishop of
Sarum was building in WUtshire, came down into
the West, threw himseK into Trowbridge Castle
-with a strong garrison. Having taken Salisbury,
Malmesbury and Devizes, the King laid siege to
Trowbridge and made several unsuccessful attempts
to take it. After he had remained some time
before it the progress of events recaUed him to
London, so he retired leaving a garrison at Devizes
to annoy his foes as much as possible. This they
seem to have done and to have nearly destroyed
Trowbridge Castle, which is not again mentioned
in history. Every trace of it has now disappeared,
though tradition says that the bowed form of the
principal street of the town is caused by fol
io-wing the line of the Castle moat. It was in
mias when Leland -visited "Through Bridge," as he
styles the town, and he thus speaks of it, " The
" CasteU stood on the south side of the to-wne, it is
" now clene down. There was in it seven gret
"toures, whereof peaces of two yet stande." He
also teUs us that " There is a fayre standing place
" for market men to stand yn in the hart of the
" toune and this is made VIII square, and a pUlar
" in the middle as there is one in the Malmesbyer

TBOWBBIDGE CHURCH. £03
" far larger than this." It is to be regretted that
this cross, when removed in 'widening the street
about the beginning of the present century, was
destroyed. Though the Castle passed away the honour of
Trowbridge assumed great importance, a larger
extent of lands in the northern division becoming
subject to it. The famous Ela, the wealthy heiress
of Edward of Sarisberie, brought the lordship to
William Longespee in marriage, and their
daughter Margaret took it as part of her do-wry
to Lacy Earl of Lincoln. Thence it descended
through AUce de Lacy in 1300 to Thomas Plan
tagenet Earl of Lancaster and Leicester who
presented to Trowbridge Eectory in 1313 and was
beheaded at Pontefract in 1321. On his death it
was granted by the Crown to John de Warren
last Earl of Surrey and Joan de Burs his wife,
with reversion to WilUam de Montacute Earl of
Sarum. It afterwards came to John of Gaunt
Duke of Lancaster, and so the property became
attached to the Duchy, and on the accession
of King Henry IV. this became vested in the
Crown. Camden teUs us that " The Court of the
"Duchy of Lancaster for this county was held
" annuaUy in this town about Michaelmas." King
Henry VIII. granted this property to Edward
Seymour, Earl of Hereford, his brother-in-law,
who afterwards became the Protector Somerset.
His estates were forfeited, as we know, on a charge
of treason towards the close of the reign of King
Edward VL, but Queen Elizabeth restored them

204 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
to his son, and they again became the property of
his famUy. One member of it inherited the
Trowbridge estate and was created by King Charles
I. Lord Seymour, Baron of Trowbridge. The
manor of Trowbridge afterwards passed into the
famUy of the Duke of Eutland by the marriage
of Lady Frances Seymour, daughter of Charles
Duke of Somerset, with John Marquis of Granby,
who afterwards became Duke of Eutland. In
1809 the manor of Trowbridge was purchased
from ' the Duke by Thomas Timbrell, esq., of
Trowbridge, WUliam Stancomb, esq., is at present
lord of the manor.
Trowbridge is now noted as one of the chief
centres of the West of England cloth manufacture.
The actual date of the introduction of the trade
into the place is not known, but Aubrey in his
" Natural History" states that it was transferred
hither from Seend, and conjectures that the water
at the latter place was " not proper for fulling and
" washing the cloth, because being impregnated
"with iron it gave the white cloth a yellowish
" tincture." Leland says " The Toune standithe
"on a rockky hill, and is weU buUdyd and
" flourisheth by drapery," and he mentions the
name of several clothiers who had "buUdyd of
"late dayes dyvers fine houses in this toune."
Many large fortunes have been made here in the
trade, though of course it has had its fluctua
tion, even, we may beUeve, down to the present
time. The foUowing statement from a writer
of 1567 may therefore be read -with interest ; the

TBOWBBIDGE CHUECH. 205
crude ideas which in old times they entertained
of the means desirable for the encouragement of
trade are perhaps not more amusing to us than
many of our notions may appear to those
who live hereafter. He says of Trowbridge —
" Not long since it was in good plight through the
"exercise of clothing but now lately it is im-
" poverished by the deathe of such as occupied
"that arte ; a common thinge it is in townes of
" the west countrie, to ebbe and flowe in pros-
"peritie, bycause they depend for the most part
" upon the drapinge, and as two or three quicke
" occupiers are able to sett a hole towne on flote,
" by reason of the great nombres that they sett on
" worke, so the deathe or other decay a few suche,
" bringeth many tymes whole towns to wrack and
" desolation. It were to be wished therefore that
"the statut which sendeth clothiers to to-wnes
"weare severely putt in execution for thearbye
"both some conveiance used in comers of the
" countrye should be the more easUy espyed and
" the townes, the only nourses of good artes the
" better mayntened."
The people of Trowbridge can make a singular
and remarkable boast regarding the Throne of
England — that two of our Queens were the
immediate descendants of a Trowbridge cloth
manufacturer. Among those engaged in the
' staple trade in the 17th century none held a more
honourable position than the family of Langford.*
* I have to thank Captain Thomas M. Langford, E.N., for
the following notes respecting his family which he has collected.

S06 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
M.a.rj, one of the daughters of Edward Langford,
esq., was wooed from apparently somewhat worldly
motives and won by Henry Hyde, esq., of Dinton,
near Salisbury. Their third son was born in
1608, and the now forgotten clergyman who held
him at the font and bestowed upon him the name
of Edward would have been a prophet indeed if
he had foreseen that the then helpless child would

He -writes— " I'rom authentic records it appears that this
family was seated in the county of Wilts at an early period.
In the roll of Edward III. we flnd Le Sire de Langford, Port
d'Argent et Gules Pales de I'ecu, chef d'azure, un Leopard
passant d'or. Several manors and estates formerly their pro
perty in that county still bear the names appended, viz..
Steeple Langford, Little Langford. &c., &c. About the year
1680 there were three brothers of the name— Edward, Jolm
and Kohert Edward. The eldest lived at Trowbridge, had issue
Mary, she married Henry Hyde, M.P. for Dinton, Wilts, 1592.
By him amongst other children Bhe became mother to Edward
Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, Lard Chancellor ; and through the
marriage of his daughter Anne with James Duke of York,
great grandmother of Mary and Anne, Queens of England.
The chief property thus passed into the family of Hyde. Of
the two brothers of Edward Langford, of Trowbridge, Robert,
who is described as of Studleigh, near Calne, Wilts, migrated
into Somersetshire, and bought an estate at Hallatrow, in 1620.
John Langford, the other brother, retired to a small paternal
property, near floss, in Herefordshire. Edward Langford, the
eldest son of the above, in 1715 joined the forces raised in sup
port of James III., commonly called the First Pretender, and
was at the battle of Preston Pans. After the ruin of the
Stuart cause he was compelled to seek safety in flight and re
tired to Penzance in Cornwall, and purchased the estate of
Trungle ; had issue a daughter, Constance, married to Samuel
Pellew, who had amongst their issue Edward, Lord Exmouth.
Monuments of several of the family are in Farley Church,
near Trowbridge."

TROWBRIDGE CHURCH. 207
one day win his way to the peerage and the Wool
sack, would be known to the men of his own time
as Earl of Clarendon and Lord High ChanceUor of
England, and would be remembered by posterity
as the historian of the great CivU War, which
during his manhood was to harass the land. When
he was ChanceUor to King Charles II. his
daughter was chosen as a maid of honour and
here attracted the attention of James Duke of
York. He married the Chancellor's daughter,
and though she died before her husband came to
the throne and to the oppression of a free people,
she left behind her two daughters, Mary and Anne,
who both became in course of time Queens regnant
of England — of whom there are only five in our
history. The Eev. Canon Jones in investigating
a romantic and apocryphal story respecting
Clarendon's marriage, remarks in the " WUts
Maga" regarding his Trowbridge ancestry —
"Another fact that we may notice as testifying to
" the good standing and social position of the Trow-
" bridge connections of Lord Clarendon is the
"custom that he seems to have introduced, and
" which was foUowed by his famUy, of invariably
" quartering the arms of Langford and (these only)
"¦with those of Hyde. There were other coats
" which they might have borne in their shield ; but
" we never find them using them." The connection
of the Langfords with the royal famUy is there
fore not merely a coUateral one but one of which
Trowbridge people may well feel somewhat proud.
The church at Trowbridge is a weU-proportioned

SOS THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
and large parish church which not only weU
subserves the purpose of a place of worship for a
large toivn but possesses much to interest an
archaeological -visitor. It stands in the centre of
the town closely surrounded by houses — so closely
indeed that I saw a sign just opposite the westem
door pointing out the back entrance to a pubUc-
house. As it appeared that none but those passing
to or from the church would see this notice the
juxtaposition seemed to me somewhat unseemly.
Nevertheless though so closely shut in the church is
not concealed from view on account of its graceful
spire, by the possession of which it proclaims that
Trowbridge is a parish in the diocese of Sarum,
and that its buUders were influenced by the ex
ample of their beautiful cathedral.
The tower is western, the church consisting besides
of nave and chancel. The nave has north and south
aisles -with north and south porches, though one of
these is not now used. The windows in both the
aisles and in the clerestory are of late Perpen
dicular date. The parapets are casteUated, re
minding one of the church of S. Julian, WeUow,
in the next county. The general body of the
church dates from the latter part of the 15th.
century, and the arches of the nave, five in
number, with clustered columns are very grace
ful and justify the character which Leland
gave the buUding of " lightsome and fair."
They axe however simply copies of the originaL
The whole of the church underwent a very
elaborate and thorough restoration in 1848, under

TROWBRIDGE CHURCH. 209
the direction of Messrs. Manners and GiU, Bath.
It would appear that this work was not under
taken before there was necessity for it. A con
temporary account of the then state of the church
gives us so remarkable a picture, not merely of
the decay into which the fabric had been aUowed
to fall, but also of the base uses to which it had
been degraded, that I think it is quite worth
whUe to repeat the substance of it here. The
columns of the nave aU inclined inwards ha'ving
been thrust out of the perpendicular by the
J roofs of the aisles. The foundations had been
weakened by the construction of vaults close to
them and in some cases even beneath them. The
waUs of the nave were kept from faUing by iron bars
which passed right across the church. The roof of
the nave was much sunk, the main timbers being
decayed at their bearings and the carvings fiUed up
with repeated coats of paint. The east window was
nearly stopped up by a Grecian altar piece, and the
western arch was blocked up by the organ. The
whole of the tower indeed was closed and the
handsome panelled arches north and south waUed-
in and forgotten. The beautiful little western
porch was the fire engine house ! In the lower
part of the tower the warming apparatus was
placed and here also the ringers stood to ring
the bells. The rare fan tracery vaulting had
been ruthlessly broken in making holes for the
bell ropes and also for the clock weights. The
church itself as far as the first arch was choked
with gaUeries. Nearly the whole area was covered

210 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
¦with pews of various heights, sizes and shapes,
and their floors were in many cases the only
covering of the vaults beneath. Add to this fact
another, that the level of the floor of the church
was considerably below that of the ground out
side, and I think we have evidence enough that
health was as Uttle regarded under the old
system as safety and beauty. The exterior was as
bad as the interior, the tracery was decayed, the
mullions split, and high pitched roofs on the aisles
in great part hid the clerestory -windows. The
top of the spire was bent considerably out of
place, and beiog olumsUy held together by several
bars and bands of iron, was in a very perilous state.
The reparations which had to be carried out
were therefore on a very extensive scale, and it is
the more to the credit of the architects that they
foUowed the original design with such scrupulous
fidelity. The spire had in great part to be rebuilt
and the columns in the nave were aU taken do-wn
but carefuUy replaced. The ceiling of the nave
has also been restored from the original, which
was much decayed. It is of oak, flat, and orna
mented with angels bearing shields, carved bosses,
and tracery. The spandrils rest on the canopies of
the curious niches which occupy the space between
the clerestory -windows, and which are, I am
assured, original. At the same time the high roof
was removed and replaced by a flat one of lead,
the holes in which the original rafters rested being
discovered during the restoration.
The visitor to this church shoidd take particular

TBOWBBIDGE CHUECH, 211
notice of the grotesque gargoyles upon which an
amount of labour has been bestowed which it is
rare to find away from a monastic establishment.
Monks, it is well known, spent unlimited time in
working out the curious fancies that entered their
minds. Some of the gargoyles are modern, but
these, good and spirited as they are, wUl be
readUy distinguished from those that are original,
and represent all kinds of imaginary animals in
the most painful and ludicrous of postures. Half
devil, half dog, half bird or half quadruped, some
times an animal with the head of a crocodile
forcing his own mouth open with his hind leg, the
claw of an eagle — they defy description.
The chancel is all new, and has a high pitched
open timbered roof of oak. In taking down the
former chancel fragments of a church of much
earlier date were discovered. The east -window
was filled with stained glass, the gift of Miss
Waldron at the time of the restoration. It con
tains the figures of the four Evangelists under
canopies, and in the centre Ught Moses holding
up the brazen serpent. There are three other
windows in the chancel containing emblems and
monograms. The stone reredos is very plain, but
the two chairs within the communion raUs are
very beautifully carved and are evidently foreign
work. The two porches, which are unusuaUy
lofty, were adorned with niches, which had been
much cut away, but were restored ¦with the
rest. The north porch has been adapted as
an organ chamber and for this the floor of the

212 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB,
par-vise, which existed above it, has been taken
away. A handsome carved chimney piece, taken
out of this chamber, has been placed on the north
side of the chancel, in the robing room, which is
itseK worthy of attention as one of the oldest
portions of the church.
The arrangements of the church are very good
the area being fitted with low pews. Owing to
the narrowness of the nave there is not an avenue
up the centre of the church. The musical arrange
ments are remarkable as a solution of a frequent
difficulty. It was evidently thought undesirable
to place the choir in the chancel, and possibly
there was also a difficulty in obtaining either of
the chapels as an organ chamber. The organ is
therefore placed as I have said, and the choir at
two long seats north and south of the nave. The
efieot of the singing was thoroughly good for
it was congregational. Bickersteth's Hymnal
Companion is in use, and the first hymn was the
favourite — Sons of men, behold from far.
Hail the long expected star,
Jacob's star that gilds the night
Guides bewilder'd souls aright.
The second hymn was Cowper's, stUl more famUiar
God moves in a mysterious way.
The congregation was a large and thoroughly
representative one, apparently embracing aU classes
of the community. The service was taken in the
absence of the Eector by a recently appointed
curate, and evidently young minister, who read

TROWBRIDGE CHURCH. 213
the full morning service and afterwards preached
a very good sermon most clearly and distinctly, so
as to be audible in all parts of the building. It
must have been a considerable strain upon him
but he displayed no sign of fatigue. He preached
in the black go-wn from 1 Kings x. 6, 8 — " And she
" said to the king. It was a true report that I heard
" in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom,
" Howbeit I believed not the words, untU I came,
" and mine eyes had seen it, and behold, the half was
" not told me : thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth
"the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men,
" happy are these thy servants which stand con-
" tinually before thee and that hear thy wisdom."
He dwelt with considerable force upon the familiar
and beautiful story of the Queen of Sheba who
came so great a distance in order to hear for
herself the -wisdom of Solomon, and described
how she had been induced by the reports she had
heard in a far country to take a toUsome journey
to see what she had heard of and enjoy its advan
tages, and then very eloquently applied the simile
to the gospel in-vitation, asking if we were not all
dwellers in a far country, having not merely a
report but a full and free invitation to come to
the court of the great King and to dwell with him,
not merely to visit him but to be adopted as his
children ? He took the points of the narrative
which were presented in his text and developed
their teaching upon the application he had given
the subject. The sermon was rather a long one
for him to undertake at the close of such a heavy
IS 2

214 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
service, but it was weU worked out and very
edifying. The brass eagle lectern is a very handsome one
and surrounded by the emblems of the four
apostles. Its ornaments consist of copper laid on
brass and the effect is very good. It is the gift of
Mr. Alexander Mackay, the parish churchwarden,
a gentleman whose munificence in the parish is
well known.
Trowbridge steeple contains eight bell3,'all cast
in the first year of the century by James Wells of
Aldbourn. The inscription on seven of them is
uniform — " James Wells, fecit. 1800 SI Waddon,
" Eichd Casswell Chwardens." The eighth has a
couplet —
MAY ALL I SUMMON TO THE GRAVE
THE BLESSING OF A WELL SPENT LIFE RECEIVE
JAMES WELLS, ALDBOURN, WILTS
FECIT 1800
There are two chapels in this church, one on the
north and one on the south side df the chancel.
The north chapel is the property of the Clark
family, and is fitted with open seats having carved
standards and elbows, and is separated from the
north aisle by a low carved screen. It is interest
ing in that it has a very handsome carved ceiling,
which was very carefuUy repaired at the time of
the restoration. The piscina exists in the east
wall and on the south-west buttress are evident
traces of the former existence of the rood steps.
This chapel, I was informed, is traditionally known
as the ladye chapel. In it is a stained window

TROWBRIDGE CHURCH. 215
iUustrating various incidents in the Old Testa
ment : — " Erected in Memory of John Clark,
" Justice of the peace of the Counties of Wilts and
" Somerset who departed this life June 12th 184&
" Aged 66 years, by Thomas his only Brother."
The south chapel was the manorial chapel, but
the present lord of the manor, Mr. W. Stancomb,
recently surrendered it to the Eector, thus paving
the way for the possible removal of the organ and
the reopening of the south porch. The roof is a
modern one, consisting of oak ribs springing from
carved angels and divided into compartments.
This is stated to be after the original which was
found hidden by plaster and whitewash.
Though there is no monument to commemorate
the fact, in this chapel is the most important
interment, except one, in the church. In the
parish registers, which are very carefully preserved
in almost a perfect condition from the beginning,
is the following entry under the head of burials : —
"August 1665. The Right Hon. Charles Lord
" Seymour, baron of Trowbridge, was interd in
" his Vatt in Trowbridge Church this 7th day."
When the church was restored the ground was
dug out in order to lower the floor of this chapel
and the " vatt" or vault was uncovered. It was
of considerable size, walled in and arched in fine
stone and approached by a narrow flight of steps.
One coffin was found in it, the exterior case of
wood was decayed but the leaden shell was perfect
and very properly was replaced in the earth
unbroken. In high relief on the coffin were the

216 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
arms of the Seymour family and a brass plate
with the foUowing inscription : — " Corpus Caroli
" Domini Seymour Baronnes de Trowbridge obiit
" vicesimo quinto die Augusti Auno domini 1665
" Su« setatis 45."* This chapel contains the monu
ment of another lord of the manor — "Thomas
" TimbreU Esq who died February 19th 1820 aged
" 61 years and of Sarah his wife who died Novem-
" ber 21st 1819 aged 60 years." Underneath this is
another tablet " to the memory of Carolina MatUda
" wife of George Crabbe clerk and daughter of
" Thomas Timbrell gent, who died July 1st 1834
" aged 38 years.'' Another inscription in this
chapel merits quotation at length. It says : —
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
WILLIAM EVERETT WALDRON, ESQUIRE,
ELDEST SON OF THE LATE JOHN WALDRON, ESQUIRE.
Disinterestedness was the prominent feature of his
character. He had the singular felicity of never
having made an enemy and of never Jjaving lost a
friend. In times of unprecedented excitement and
agitation, and amidst the varied and conflicting
interests of this populous town, he discharged his
magisterial duties with so much firmness and mode
ration as at once to have satisfied the ends of
justice and to have secured the confidence and
respect of every class.

* I may be allowed to suggest that it would be worthy of the
noble family of the Duke o£ Somerset to ijiace in this chapel,
still popularly styled the Duke's aisle, some record of this
ancestor of theirs.

TROWBRIDGE CHURCH. 217
He died on the Fourth day of April in the year
of our Lord 1833,
And by his death an only sister was bereaved of
the most unremitted and devoted attentions fraternal
love could bestow.
ALSO OF MARIA, ONLY DAUGHTER OF JOHN
WALDRON, ESQ.,
BORN DEC. i8tH, 1785, DIED JUNE 24TH, 1872.
This lady carried on the good and generous work
which her brother is thus recorded to have per-
fbrmed, and was a great benefactor to many Bath
charities. In the south aisle is a window to her
memory placed there by the Thring family. The
four Ughts contain the figures of Martha, Mary,
Mary Salome aud Dorcas ; above these are Ann,
S. Mary the Virgin and Elizabeth, and below the
emblems of Faith, Hope, Charity and Patience.
The subject of the window adjoining, which iUus-
trates the history of the Shunammite's son, is
appropriate since it is placed to the memory of the
two young children of " George and Anne Webb
" of this town." The first died in 1858 and the
second who was born in that same year was
taken at the age of ten years ; in her memory the
bereaved parents erected "the infant sohool.house
" adjoining S. Stephen's in the Courts."
The tablets which were placed with considerable
freedom on the columns of the nave were removed
in the restoration of the church to the tower, and
there are two Latin inscriptions to persons of the
name of Yerbury which are worthy of notice.
One of them is as follows : —

218 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
M S
GVLIELMI YERBURY GEN : ET
henrici, coll : mag'd : soc : med : doc
FRATRUM CCELIBUM INTEGRORUMQE. VIT^
QVORU : MANIFICENTIA SUPREMIS illuxit tabulis
QUIBUS VTERQE nostris
ille et vicinis
bradfordi>«, rhodi.« et beckingtoni^
prospexit egenis
f GVLIELM : "I f LXXIX Oct 9 MDCXCVIII"!
obie :J bathoni^ I AnoJ et svbtvs jacet !
RVNT I HENRIC : I ^to I Lix Mar 25 MDCLXXXVI I
'-oxoNi^ J Ubideniqb. sepultus j
The other is to the memory of a Eoyalist soldier
of the same name and his wife. He died in 1690,
and his epitaph was written in the freshness of
the idea that the violent death of a bad king was
enough to win him a martyr's crown. Edward
Yerbury was the man, " qui flagranti nuper ci-vili
"bello pro fide Carolo Martyri proestita lare pro-
" fugus, Plimuthi obiit, ibiq. dormitoru inveuit."
Edgell is another name which is familiar in this
district ; there are several of their monuments in
the church belonging to the early part of the
present century, showing that they were clothiers
in this town.
Much more time might be spent with considera
ble interest and amusement in spelling over the
monuments iu this church, but the chancel contains
one which eclipses all the rest, and to see which
alone some would make a special visit to the
church— that of the poet Crabbe. Crabbe was

«a>

1,

Jhe flECTOP^Y AT X'^O'WBRIDGE,

TROWBRIDGE CHURCH, 219
born in 1754 at Aldborough in Suffolk, and went
to London at the age of twenty-six to find a patron
for his poetic music. He was worth three pounds
less than nothing — his capital being borrowed
money, and was in a very pitiable position until
he made application to Edmund Burke. The
great statesman received him kindly, and by his
approbation opened the way for him to obtain
pubUc appreciation. He advised the young poet
to take holy orders, which he did, and was
appointed to a curacy in his native village. Sub
sequently by Burke's influence the Duke of
Eutland appointed him his domestic chaplain and
became his friend for life. After occupying
several other Uvings he was presented by the Duke
to the Eectory of Trowbridge in the year 1815,
and preached his first sermon there on the 5th of
June. " There he lived and worked tUl he died
" — discharging his duty untU within a week of his
" removal ; ha'ving been so richly gifted with health
" and strength that he had not omitted the duty
" on a sabbath once for forty years —
' ' The children's favourite and the grandsire's friend
" Tried, trusted and beloved."
" In the autumn of 1830 the world was closing
"over him. Age had sadly bent his once taU
"stature and his hand trembled ; and on February
" 3rd, 1832, he died ; almost his last words to his
" children being ' God bless you ! be good and
" ' come to me.' " In the chancel is a handsome
marble monument to his memory by Baily, the

220 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
Bristol sculptor, erected by public subscription.
On it is the foUowing inscription : —
sacred to the MEMORY OF
THE REV. G. CRABBE, LL.B.,
Who died on the 3rd of February, 1832, in the 78th
year of his age, and the i8th of his services as
Rector of this Parish.
Born in humble life he made himself what he was ;
Breaking through the obscurity of his birth by the
force of his genius,
Yet he never ceased to feel for the less fortunate ;
Entering, as his works can testify, into the sorrows and
wants of the poorest of his parishioners.
And so discharging the duties of a pastor and a
magistrate as to endear himself to all around him.
As a writer he cannot be better described than in the
words of a great poet, his contemporary, —
"Tho' Nature's sternest painter, yet her best."
Tliis monument was erected by some of his affectionate
friends and parishioners.
Mr. S. C. Hall, from whose interesting and
valuable reminiscences of the poet my previous
quotation was taken, thus describes his personal
appearance at the time he was Eector of Trow
bridge : — " In the appearance of Crabbe there was
" little of the poet, but even less of the stern critic
"of mankind, who looked at nature askance, and
"ever contemplated beauty, animate or inanimate, —
" The simple loves and simple joys, —
"'through a glass darkly.' On the contrary, he
'' seemed to my eyes the representative of the class
" of rarely-troubled and seldom-thinking EngUsh

TROWBRIDGE CHURCH. Sit.
"-farmers. A clear grey eye, a i-uddy complexion,
"aa if he loved exercise and wooed mountain
" breezes, were the leading characteristics of his
" countenance. It is a picture of age, ' frosty but
'^kindly' — that of a tall and stalwart man
" gradually grown old, to whom age was rather an
"ornament than a blemish... He was one of those
" instances of men plain, perhaps, in youth, and
" homely of countenance in manhood, who become
"absolutely handsome when white hairs have
"become a crown of glory, and indulgence in
"excesses or perilous passions have left no lines
"that speak of remorse, or even of errors
" unatoned." Crabbe's biography was written by
his son, the Eev. George Crabbe, whose wife's
monument in the south chapel has been described.
Crabbe was succeeded in the li-ving by the Eev.
Francis Fulford, M.A., of Exeter College, Oxford,
who was preferred to this living from a curacy at
Fawley near Southampton by the Duke of Eut
land, to whom he was related. He was also con
nected by marriage with the famUies of Drum-
mond and Percival. During his incumbency he
exerted himself to improve the spiritual condition
of the parish, and was mainly instrumental in the
buUding of Trinity Church, at a cost with the
schools of upwards of J6,000. Pre-vious to that
time, except the little church of Staverton within
the parish but two miles from the town, holding
150 people, there was only the parish church to
accommodate the population which then numbered
10,000. The Eev. F. Fulford was highly esteeme

S2S THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
by his parishioners, he belonged to what is some
times caUed the Broad Church school in the
Church of England. In 1841 he exchanged the
li-ving and became minister of Curzon-street
Chapel, Mayfair. A few years after he was con
secrated Bishop of Montreal and Metropolitan of
Canada. On his death in 1869 he was succeeded
by the present holder of the see, the Eev. Ashby
Oxenden. Not far from Crabbe's monument is that of the
next Eector during whose ministry the restoration
of the church was carried out. It is —
TO THE MEMORY OF
JOHN DAVID HASTINGS, M.A.,
PREBENDARY OF SARUM,
Who as Rector of this parish for the space of nearly
28 years, approved himself.
To the Glory of God's grace, wherein he trusted.
In the Ministiy and stewardship of the Gospel,
Simple, Zealous, Faithful ;
In Works and Labours of Love,
Ardent, Unwearied, Abundant ;
And in the Relations of private Life,
Courteous, God-fearing, Exemplary ;
Who has, also, left behind him.
As material evidence of his self-denying exertions
The Parish Church Restored,
The National Schoolrooms built,
The adjacent Almshouses founded ;
And whose latest care was to provide a succession of
able and faithful men in the Ministry he had
himself fulfilled.

TROWBRIDGE CHURCH. S13
The loving veneration of parishioners has dedicated
this monument in pious honour,
HE WAS BORN ON THE lOTH JUNE, iSoO,
HE DIED ON THE I3TH OF APRIL, 1869,
AND HIS REMAINS LIE BURIED IN THE CEMETERY
OF TROWBRIDGE.
Feed the flock of God which is among you — And
when the chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a
crown of glory that fadeth not away. — I Peter v. 24.
He was strongly attached to the Evangelical
party in the Church of England, and the " succes-
" sion of able and faithful men in the Ministry"
referred to are the nominees of the trustees of the
Eev. C. Simeon into whose hands the patronage of
the living has passed. The present Eector, the
Eev. Horace Meyer, M.A., of S. Catherine's
College, Cambridge, has held the living since the
death of the Eev. J. D. Hastings, and is, I un
derstand, as much respected and highly regarded
by his flock as either of his distinguished pre
decessors. Over the porch is the memorial of a humbler
officer of the church whose long service is worthy
of record here. May we suppose that during the
half century that he was clerk his voice was as
welcome in the congregation as that of the bird
whose name he bears is in the aerial choir ?
STEDFAST IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
DIED ON THE lOTH DAY OF MARCH, 1844,
WILLIAM NIGHTINGALE,
THIRTY SIX YEARS VESTRY CLERK AND PAYMASTER
OF THE POOR AND DURING HALF A CENTURY
THE RESPECTED CLERK AND SEXTON OF THIS PARISH,
AGED 79 YEARS.

S24 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
There must be some secret for long life in the
office, for the present clerk, if I understood him
aright, immediately succeeded this man, and he
looks capable of rivalling the latter's time of
office. I heartily hope he may long remain for he
is most obliging, his reminiscences are most inter
esting, his information respecting the church very
complete and his care of the fabric undoubted.
James Terumber, a wealthy clothier of Trow
bridge, who is believed to have been a contributor
to the buUding of the church, " builded," says Le
land, "a notable fair house in that toune, and gave
" it at his death with other landes to the finding
" of 2 cantuarie prestes yn Througbridg Chirch.
" This Terumber made also a little ahmse-house
" by Throug-bridge Church, and yn it be a 6 poore
"folkes having a 3 pence a week by the week to-
" wards their fyndynge." This charity has dis
appeared, and the chantry of course was abolished
at the Eeformation, but the subject is one of
interest since the original deed of endowment,
dated 1483, is still preserved in the church. It
has been edited with an introduction by that tire
less antiquary, the Eev. Canon Jones, in vol. x.
of the " Wilts Maga." He says of it " On several
" accounts it is au interesting deed. Not only is it
" rare to find a document of this date and character
"written in English, but there are contained in it
" many incidental notices relating not only to the
" rules observed by the inmates of the Almshouse
"which owed much to Terumber's munificence, but
' also as to the names of the principal contributors

TROWBRIDGE CHURCH. 226
" to the erection of the very beautiful church at
" Trowbridge, which is described as ha'ving been
"then 'newly bielded.'" The deed and the
article upon it will well repay perusal.
The intfoduction of machinery in the manu
facture of the cloth led to many disturbances, and
iu Trowbridge to the burning of a Mr. Naish's
factory. The following monument in the church
yard is to the memory of a young man who was
taken and executed for the ofience — it was
generaUy thought unjustly. My informant, an
old inhabitant of Trowbridge, recollects hearing
his father and mother discussing the event, and
the belief was that Helliker's brother was the actual
culprit and therefore from fraternal loyalty he
would not endeavour to save himself. The follow
ing monument was set up : —
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
THOMAS HELLIKER
THE THREAD OF WHOSE LIFE WAS CUT IN THE
BLOOM OF YOUTH.
HE EXCHANGED MORTALITY FOR IMMORTALITY
MARCH 22, 1803,
IN THE I9TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.
The fatal catastrophe which led to this unfortunate
event is too awful to describe. Suffice it to say
that he met death with the greatest fortitude and
resignation of mind. Considering his youth he
may be said to have but few equals. He died a
true penitent, being very anxious in his last
moments that others might take a timely warning
and avoid evil company.

226 THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
This tomb was erected at his earnest request by
the cloth-making factories of the counties of York,
Wilts and Somerset, as a token of their love to
him and veneration for his memory.
In 1876 the stone was restored by the weavers of
the district, and the following addition made : —
This stone was formerly placed over the remains of
THOMAS HELLIKER,
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 22ND DAY OF
MARCH, 1803,
AGED 19 YEARS.
At a time of great disturbance throughout the
manufacturing districts of this county he was con
demned for an offence against the law of which he
was afterwards believed to be innocent and de
termined rather to die than give testimony which
would have saved his own life but forfeited the lives
of others. Some of the cloth makers of this
county being desirous to perpetuate the remem
brance of such a heroic act of self sacrifice have
restored this monument in the year of our Lord
1876.

\ Pi*"

;A:LL ^AJNTS, J-ULLINGTON,  ^AST.

au faints, luUinffton.

ULLINGTON has almost the appear
ance of a model village. Not, that is
to say, of a new-fangled cluster of
houses — the whim of a noble-minded
but inexperienced philanthropist —
which seems from the staring bran-newness which
it opposes to the varied tints of fields and trees,
and hills and sky around it and above it, as if
it were hated by Nature : a thing that has not
yet learned to obey her laws, and to accept
the conditions under which alone she will
throw over the habitations of men a corner of
her mantle of beauty and put them in harmony
-with herself. On the contrary the little homes
of LuUington have formed part of this pretty
landscape for a period far beyond legal memory,
and studious care has manifestly been taken
that it shaU enjoy the full benefit of this ad
vantage and appear in every respect an old
English vUlage. Beyond the church there is really
no building worthy of particular notice, yet in
the general appearance of the village there is an
indefinite charm which strongly impresses the
visitor, as he suddenly comes upon it from a country
lane which diverges from the main road to Frome,

¦'"=— 8

328 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
and shows him Wolverton Church on his right
hand as he passes along, and Eoad and the ugly
spirelets of Eoad hUl on his left. The population
of Lullington is a purely agricultural one and only
numbers about one hundred and fifty souls. There
is no great house in the parish, but it is the
property of the owner of the adjoining parish of
Orchardley, and it is to the house there that
the people look for their head.
The history of the land is a simple one. In
Domesday the name is spelt Loligtone, and we
learn from that authority that the manor was held
in the time of King Edward by Earl Harold. In
the distribution of the spoil after the field of
Senlac, Loligtone was included as one of the long
tale of manors with which that weU rewarded
prelate, the Bishop of Coutance, was made rich.
Orchardley fell likewise to the same o-wner.
It was perhaps found diffioult to manage these
properties from a distant see ; at any rate in the
course of time we find that Lullington has become
the property of the priory of Longleat, Wilts,
which held it of the Duchy of Lancaster as of the
honor of Trowbridge. At the dissolution of the
lesser monasteries in 1536 this institution fell and
Lullington was granted to the prior of Hinton
Charterhouse. But he himself was respited, not
pardoned, and he soon had to surrender his
property to the king, who in 1541 granted
LuUington to the Earl of Hertford. The Earl
sold it the next year to Sir John Thynne
-with the Longleat estate and it remained the

LULLINGTON CHURCH. 229
property of the Marquis of Bath's family for
several generations. About the end of the last
century it was sold, I believe, to Thomas
Champneys, esq., son, of a Wiltshire baronet,
he resided here in great splendour as Squire
Champneys in his father's lifetime and made
himself notorious by his vagaries. For many
years the rural f§tes and masquerades of Orchard-
ley were maintained with lavish expenditure.
Between 1790 and 1820 Champneys says in
a letter to Tlie Bath Herald that he laid out
above .£100,000 in his own immediate neighbour
hood, and thereby did his duty to his country as
an liereditary Etiglish gentleman. The hereditary
idea was his great foible. Letters in the Herald
about 1800-10 describe the popular rejoicings at
various famUy events, the grand festivities at
" the mansion," the feudal devotion of the tenantry
to the Squire, and the fanciful improvements
in the beautiful grounds of Orchardley — particu
larly the great artificial lake — with detail and
enthusiasm which seem to indicate Champneys as.
the -writer, and correspond completely with the
romantic effusions he penned in later years from
various gaols. He aimed to be the paladin of
popular liberty in Frome, but when the threatened
French invasion demanded general organisation,
he enthusiastically promoted the formation of the
Frome Selwood Volunteer Corps of Infantry, and
was named Colonel Commandant. The Govern
ment refused their services, but accepted a similar
offer next year, when the corps was placed under
16 2

230 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
different command. Mr. Champneys' boundless
extravagance involved him in debt, and from
1820 till his death he was constantly in one prison
or another, although he succeeded in due time to
the ancestral domain, and his wife to the estates
of Sir Eoger Mostyn, her father. The latter
were however hampered by litigation. Sir
Thomas was also involved in several other law
suits through disputes with the Vicar of Frome,
Mr. Ireland. He claimed to be hereditary sexton
and being resisted wrote a satirical poem caUed
" Hieromania," in which were several passages
reflecting both on Mr. and Mrs. Ireland.
Champneys' last great exploit (I think) was when
Frome was first given a member, to contest the
borough on Eeform principles against Mr. Sheppard,
the woollen manufacturer of the town. The town
was embroiled in avery sanguinary election contest
which Sir Thomas Champneys' " loyal tenantry"
and bludgeon-men greatly aggravated, following
him into the to-wn in procession every morning.
Eventually soldiers were called into keep the peace.
Sir Thomas Champneys was extremely proud of
a relic of Charles I. in his famUy. It was the
monarch's counterpane, used the night before his
J execution, and was employed by the Chanijmeys as
a christening robe.
Among his other expensive amusements Sir
Thomas Champneys erected a massive and im
posing castellated gateway at the entrance to
Orchardley park from Lullington. This is
called the Duke of Gloucester's gate, from some

LULLINGTON CHURCH. 231
sort of tradition that a Duke of Gloucester once
passed through there. At present the age of
the masonry is self-evident, but hereafter when
time and decay have done their work, the
date " 1434" which is placed prominently on
the front of the erection may deceive and
perplex the curious in those matters. There
were, I am told, traces of some sort of building
to justify the idea that there had previously
been some building there, but to assign a date
1434 to that which was put up within the memory
of living man is at least amusing.
The present lord of the manor is the Eev.
WiUiam Arthur Duckworth, though he has suc
ceeded to the property so recently that when I
visited the church he had not come to reside at
Orchardley. His father, WiUiam Duckworth,
esq., who died in July, 1876, caused the church
to be restored in 1862 just as Orchardley is now
to be done, he also built the pretty aud charmingly
situated house which is occupied with a parsonage,
and he did much more that it is not worth while
here to enumerate.
The school buildings however at the top of the
little slope leading up to the church must be
mentioned. They include a public clock as well
as the schools and master's house, and are some
what of the Tudor style. They are surrounded
by a line — not at aU crowded however — of
beautiful shrubs, among which- the barberry is
just now in full bloom. The place has thus a
very open and inviting appearance so that the

233 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
most wilfuUy idle child cannot here say that school is
" a horrid place." I am not surprised therefore to
learn that it is well appreciated in the country
round and that there are upwards of seventy
children on the books, a number equal to half the
population of Lullington.
Upon the planting of the churchyard the same
care has been bestowed. The grass is as green
and as good as on the best kept lawn ; yew,
cypress, laurel and the like, are gracefully placed
in different parts of it, and one long path, running
westward from the gateway, parallel with the
north side of the church, is an avenue of like
character. At the end of it is a very large vault
— really a house in the earth. An open flight of
stone steps leads down to it, and above the
chamber is an erection in the form of a tombstone
on which is inscribed " Sepulcrum Gulielmi
" Duckworth sibi et suis 1862." Two or three
unusual varieties of ivy are planted round the
church, but are pre vented, from overgrowing the
walls. The church itself is a remarkable and highly
interesting building. Though it had no apparent
connection with the Abbey of Bath, yet both its
plan and its age are those of the parish churches
which the monks of that house erected. How
the various portions of the building as it now
• stands have been put together by successive
builders is in some respects a puzzle. The original
church is assigned to the reign of King Steijhen,
and this date is fixed by the fact that the figure of

LULLINGTON CHURCH. 233
Sagittarius, which was a badge adopted by that
monarch, and therefore freely used in art in
his day, occurs prominently in some of the
Norman carving which adorns the church.
This building it seems to me consisted only
of a nave and eastern tower. To this, two
additions have been made. The first was a
chantry chapel, which with the south porch
occupies the whole of the south side of the nave,
and belongs apparently to the close of the
thirteenth century. It is separated from the nave
by one arch only of late Early English character
supported on two pillars with very vigorously
carved foliated capitals. The east window is in
two lights with a quatrefoil head and with sill
high up in the wall indicating the altar place ;
the south window is similar, of three lights, but
the present tracery is new. There is in this chapel
an almery, and the basin and drain of the piscina,
but the canopy is gone.
The second addition was the chancel made
about thirty years later than the chapel. It
is of Decorated character, and the east window
is of the famUiar threefold form. On the north
and south side is a square-headed Decorated
.-window, and on the south wall to the west of
the priest's door is another small and very
pretty window which is perhaps within the limit
of the original church. The tower is very broad
and massive in appearance ; it is Perpendicular
work of the Somersetshire type with an octagonal
stair turret at the south-feast angle. The tower

234 THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
h surmounted by a plain battlement with new
pinnacles. The belfry windows are Perpen
dicular, filled with stone pierced in quatrefMls ;
the windows in the lower stage correspond 'with
those in the chancel.
The tower arches are interesting. The arch
towards the nave rests upon three Norman
columns, north and south, of which the centre one
is twisted. The capitals are carved 'with the gro
tesque figures in which the sculptors of the day in
dulged. They consist of the figures of strange
animals, but whether these are intended for the
animals which symbolise the four Evangelists, as
some suppose, or are simply flights of imagination,
I do not undertake to say. The arch above is not
circular but pointed in form, and the chevron
ornament is carried only a part way round it from
the piUars on either side. It is evident on exam
ination that this is an alteration of the original
form of the arch, which probably was found too
weak for the pressure of the tower. The old
stones were built into the new arch as far as they
would go. The arch on the chancel side is of the
same form but quite plain, and the piUars have
simply cushion capitals. Further, there are only
two piUars on the south side and the third on the
north side supports nothing. The entrance to the
turret staircase occupies the place where we should
look for the third column on the south side, and it
was apparently pared away to make room for
some extension in the tower. The window on the
north side of the nave and lighting the puljiit is

LULLINGTON CHUECH. 235
the oldest in the church— small, high up and
deeply splayed. Much of the nave walls was
found to be decayed and had to be rebuilt when
the church was restored, but there are still many
traces of the Norman work about it. It has, as
as we should expect, an entrance on the north and
on the south side. The south porch has an inner
doorway of Norman character. The flat head
has not been cut away and stiU shows the traces
of former colouring. Possibly this porch was
shifted westward in building the chapel, into
which a doorway enters from it. On the north
side of the nave the Norman corbel table is stUI
preserved with its thickly-clustered and quaint
corbels. From these the attention quickly passes
to the splendid north doorway itself, which has
been engraved by Britton in his " Architectural
" Antiquities," and is indeed the glory of the
Church. It is the most elaborate and beautiful work
of its kind in the neighbourhood. The door
way is flat-headed with plain side-posts, but
beyond these are two columns, one of which is
twisted ; the capitals are carved with grotesque
animals, though some of these are seriously muti
lated. One of them is the figure of Sagittarius
previously referred to. The tympanum contains a
sculpture of two animals gnawing at a tree, whose
branches are marked with the pearl line so
characteristic of Norman work. In this group
some have professed to discover a struggle for the
Cross, but I confess I cannot strain my imagina-

THE CHUECH EAMBLES.

tion so far. This panel is framed by a series of
quatrefoils which seem almost like au early sug
gestion of the ballflower. Above this is a semi
circular arch with projecting mouldings so as to
be some sort of shelter to the doorway. The
chevron moulding is carried round the innermost
side and then there is a succession of fiendish faces,
eighteen in number, which cast most brutish
looks on the passer below. The outermost edge
is adorned again with a pearl line. Above all this
rises a half elliptical pediment in which is the
figure of our Lord, seated on the clouds, with
His right hand raised in the attitude of bene
diction and iu His left something which may
possibly be intended for a model of the church.
Many conjectures have been ventured as to what
is typified by this doorway. Thus a corre
spondent of the " Gentleman's Magazine" as long
ago as 1794 described it, and by some strange
mistake read the figure in the niche as "the
" Virgin Mary in a sitting ^Dosture holding on her
"knees the Holy Child." I should imagine the
writer judged not from the doorway itself but
from the engraving which accompanies his com
munication. This is very rude and inaccurate
in the highest degree. His error however has
been followed by many since though no one who
sees the arch itself can doubt that the figure is
that of our Saviour. The idea of the sculptor
appears to my mind to be clearly this. There
is our Lord coming in glory with His Church
and therefore trampling under foot and subduing

LULLINGTON CHUECH. 237
the spirits of evil and wickedness which are
eloquently depicted in the expressive swinish
faces which form the arch below Him. The semi
circle in which these are ranged — the form of the
rainbow — is frequent enough in ancient pictures
of the Day of Judgment, or Doom pictures as
they are called, to express the gathering together
of all of the class of persons or things represented
by it. The animals in the tympanum below,
Gluttony and Lust quarrelling for the bitter
sweet fruits of this world's delights, have
evidently their place in this explanation of the
sculptures. The sculptor expected that those
who saw his work would give it a two-fold mean
ing, for the present and for the future, such as
is applicable to nearly all we learn in the house
of God. In the first place the building of the
¦church was it was hoped bringing the power and
might of Christ's gospel to combat and conquer
the powers of sin, while this itself as we aU know
is but a prelude to the final triumph of our
Eedeemer over the prince of this world and all
his subjects.
1 am conscious that I expose myself to some
danger in offering this reading, because there
are persons who expect every allegory to be
carried out with aU the minuteness of Spenser,
and if an interpretation does not satisfy this
sort of test they reject it. It may therefore be
worth while to point out that we can only expect
to find out the general idea which guided the
designer's hand ; this was subordinate to his

238 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
primary object, which was decoration, and its
detaUs were modified by the exigencies of his
material. I may add that the capstone of all
contains a representation of a globe surmounted
by the cross, such as we have in the regalia, and
such as the Eev. Preb. Earle suggests may have
surmounted the curious inscription on the porch
of the church of S. Leonard, Farley Hungerford.
This is a contemporary instance of the use of the
design. The font is a magnificent relic of the same
period as this porch. It has a plain base, above
which it is encncled with an arcade of semi-circu
lar arches interlacing, in the fashion which it is
supposed gave the idea of the pointed arch. Eound
the upper part is a Une of ornament with masks
which are considerably defaced. Eound the side
of the font is carved this inscription : —
HOC FONTIS SACRO PEREUNT DELICTA LAVACRO.
On the top edge is another inscription of which
however only portions can now be deciphered.
The stained glass which fills the windows is
very good and some of it of unusual character.
The east window is very well coloured ; it illus
trates the text " As in Adam all die, so in Christ
"shall all be made alive." The three-light
windows on the north and south sides of the
chancel treat of incidents related in the New
Testament. The subjects on the north side are
" This beginning of miracles did Jesus," " They
" did all eat and were filled," " Eeceive thy sight.

LULLINGTON CHUECH. 339
" thy faith hath saved thee ;" on the south, " In
"the name of Jesus arise up and walk," "I
" perceive ye are too superstitious," " His chains
" fell off from his hands." These windows are
not fully coloured as in the usual way, but are of
a uniform tint, the effect being something like
a sepia drawing. They have however a very
delicate effect, the figures being drawn with great
skiU and expression. In the south wall of the
nave is a -window of similar character depicting
the touching scene in which our Lord said, " Of
"such is the kingdom of heaven." The two-
light -window under the tower is a specimen of
Belgian work for it bears the signature, " J. L.
" Vanderporten, Bruxelles." It contains the
figures of S.S. Maria and Joannes, drawn with
greater roundness of outline than appears in
much English work and richly coloured. On a
brass plate below we read " To the memory of
" Constance Lydia Benyon, who died 1854,
"aged 49, daughter of Samuel Yate Benyon,
"esq., of Ash, Salop, this window is dedi-
" cated by her sister, Margaret EUzabeth Duck-
" worth of Orchard Leigh, 1862." The two
windows in the chapel are to the memory
of members of the Duckworth family. That on
the tomb is " in memory of Samuel Duckworth,
" a master of the High Court of Chancery, only
"brother of William Duckworth, of Orchard
" Leigh. He died at Paris, December 3rd, 1847,
"and was buried at Montmarte." The story
told by the east window is an affecting one — it

240 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
teUsus of the eldest son of the house, who going
forth with a noble ambition to serve his country,
was carried off at the opening of his career, at the
entrance to a field of glory by an enemy against
whom human weapons avail not. The window is
"In memory of George Duckworth, Capt. 5th
" Dragoon Guards, eldest son of Wm. Duckworth,
" of Orchard Leigh, who died of cholera off Varna
"on his way to the Crimea with his regiment
'' Aug. 24th, 1854, aged 28." The subject for the
window is appropriately chosen in one of the most
affecting of the deeds of mercy which the
Evangelists record. The words it illustrates are
" There came unto Jesus a centurion beseeching
" Him," and we think directly of that distracted
father in whose heart natural affection triumphed
over the pride of race and of conquest, so that he
came to the feet of Jesus, he a Eoman citizen
beseeching the carpenter of Nazareth. We see
him too as he returns to his house, relieved,
satisfied, but with the longing of poor groping
humanity to test and prove the truth of the
Saviour's gracious words, and we see the servants
running eagerly to their master with their glad
tidings, and his heart leaps as he learns that his
son lives. Happy are Christian parents who
know of their chUd that when "the fever left
" him," and he passed beyond the veil, that it was
" life's fitful fever," and that he now sleeps well
where the wicked cease from troubling and the
weary are at rest.
The living is a vicarage in the gift of the lord of

LULLINGTON CHUECH. 241
the manor, and with it is united the rectory of
Orchardley, a still smaller parish than LuUington.
The two are at present held by the Eev. A. B,
Medley, B.A., Oxon. This gentleman is to be
heartily congratulated upon the appearance which
his church presents at the time of divine service.
The church is comfortably fitted with open seats,
and the difficulty of arrangement which is often
found so great in churches with a central tower
has been successfully encountered. The pulpit
and lectern are placed out just in the nave, and
there is room for the organ and the choir under
the tower. The tower arches cut off from view the
upper part of the east window, but the chancel is
well arranged and the effect is very picturesque,
the whole appearance of the church being that of
a fabric well cared for aud respected. It is also
weU attended, for when I was present at morning
service on a recent Sunday there were upwards
of fifty persons in the congregation. Looking at
the fact that the population is purely agricul
tural, and therefore has occupations which with a
considerable show of truth are made the excuse
for staying away from the church, it is something
for the Vicar to be proud of that more than a
third of the population are found at morning
service. In the evening I was told there was
always a much larger congregation, and the
week-day services are also weU attended. The
ser-vice was read very well and impressively by
the Vicar, who also made himself distinctly
heard even in the Communion service. This

242 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
again is a difficult thing to accomplish in a
church of this form. The hymn book in use is
" The Hymns Ancient and Modern," and the
singing was very good. The choir is composed
of the school chUdren, and though it contains
several girls' voices is well trained and sings
without shouting, by this alone contributing
largely to the decency and order of the service.
An unfortunate mishap disturbed the harmony
of the musical part of the service however.
Something happened to the organ in the middle
of the Venite in consequence of which its music
stopped and the rest of the singing was un
accompanied. If the result was pleasing under
these circumstances we may safely conclude that
it would be so at other times. As the Holy
Communion was to be administered, the Vicar
dispensed with a sermon.
In this church there is a remarkable absence
of monuments or inscriptions and there are very
few in the churchyard. I at first supposed that, as
is too often the case, the memorials of the dead had
been negligently destroyed in the restoration of
the church and arrangement of the churchyard.
On inquiry however I was satisfied that this is
not the case. As I am informed not one was
removed from the interior and only one headstone
was accidentally broken in the churchyard. The
utter absence of any tablets within the walls is
remarkable, and seems almost to point to some
local feeling against them. There is one monu
ment however just without the priest's door

LULLINGTON CHUECH. 243
which merits description, as a legacy of 40s.
a year has been left for its repair. The surplus is
appUed in the distribution of bread at Christmas
simUar to that of many in the city of London.
Despite the provision for its repair the inscription
has been allowed to become defaced, but I am
happy to learn that it is intended to restore it as
far as possible, fhere is a record preserved of
the inscription as follows. On the north side in one
compartment : — HERE
LIETH JOAN THE
WIFE OF ANTONY
KING, WHO DIED JANY. 5TH,
1756, AGED 69 YEARS.
My only Joy and Husband dear
Weep not for me tho' I lye here
'Twill be thy doom and no thou must
One Day like me be turn'd to Dust.
In the second compartment on the north side : —
IN MEMORY OF
RICHARD POBJOY
NOV. 2ND, 1702,
50 YEARS OLD.
In Adam's fall
We here on earth are bound
Until we rise
In Christ for to be crown'd.
On the south side the inscription is partly U-
legible :

244 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
IN MEMORY OF
WILLIAM OBORN,
. . . IST, 1725,
AGED 7 YEARS.
Come hither mortal cast an eye
y may prepare to die
doom and know thou must
at last be turned to dust.
ALSO HERE
LYETH THE BODY OF
MARY, WIFE OF WILLIAM
OEORN, SHE DEPARTED THIS
LIFE MAY 22ND, IN THE YEAR
OF OUR LORD, 1 743, AGED
87 YEARS.
At the east end of the tomb is a monogram cf
W. O. and on the west end the monogram E. P.
The deed of feoffment instituting the Oborn trust,
has not I think yet appeared in print and I
therefore subjoin its provisions here as part of the
history of the church.
1742. Dec. II.
Indenture tripartite between
Robert Hayward of Frome Selwood,
malster of the 1st part, Mary Oborn, of
Lullington, widow, of the 2nd part,
( Edward Morgan, clerk, minister of
and < Lullington, and Thomas Cannon, Ch.
' warden of Lullington, of the 3rd part.
Witnesses, that in consideration of ;£'20 paid to Hay-
ward by Mrs. Oborn, sd Hayward with consent of
Mrs. Oborn, Hath granted, &c., to E. Morgan the
Minister L, T. Cannon Ch. warden All that plot

LULLINGTON CHUECH. 245
of arable or pasture contg by estimation ij acres
lying about the mill called Kerther's Mill near to and
on the south side of Coleway adjoining on the north
side thereof to the land of the late Mr. Henry BuU
deceased on the east side thereof to the land of the
Lord Viscount Weymouth in a tyning called Morgan's
tyning on the south side thereof to the lands of the
said Henry Bull now of Mrs. Smith and on the W.
side thereof to the lands of Mrs. Prowse in possession
of Samuel Fisher all of which premises are in the
parish of Froome Selwood and now in the tenure of
Antony King tenant to Hayward lately purchased by
said Robert Fownes Esq. with all rights etc to have
and to hold said plot said E. Morgan and T. Cannon
to their and either of their successor or successors
minister and ministers ch. warden and ch. wardens
of the parish church of Lullington to the only use of
the same for ever. Upon Trast that all the rents.
should be received by Mrs. Oborn for her life and
after her decease by the minister and ch. warden for
the time being to lay out so much as is necessaiy and
sufficient for repairing a tomb erected by her in the
. churchyard in memory of Richard Pobjoy and William
Oborn her late husband deceased and the rails and
pales round the same the remainder yearly on Christ
mas day to be laid out in the purchase of bread for
such poor persons of the parish of Lullington either
receiving alms or not receiving alms as the minister
and churchwardens shall think fit and proper and on
no other trusts or for any other purpose whatsoever.
Endorsed Mr. Hayward | j^^^^ ^^ Feofi-ment
trustees i " Dec 1742.
17 2

%, Latorence, EoaD.

jHE church of Eoad is a handsome
and well-restored building, consisting
of chancel with vestry, nave with north
and south aisles and tower. The chief
feature of the church is the square
western tower. This is of late Perpendicular date,
not much earlier than the Bath Abbey Church, and
is remarkable for the great length of its sides in
proportion to its height, which gives it a peculiarly
massive effect. At the north east angle is a stair
turret, and the corner of the battlements above
this is called the king's chair, from a tradition that
Prince Charles in his flight after the battle of
Worcester ascended the tower of Eoad church,
and from the point indicated scanned the country
Tound for any signs of his pursuers, the Parlia
ment soldiers.
The restoration was commenced in October,
1872, under the direction of Mr. C. E. Davis, of
Bath, and included the addition of an organ
chamber and vestry. In the course of the work
several interesting traces of the smaller church
which previously stood upou the site were discovered,
and in excavating within the present nave the work
men came across the foundations of a smaller and

*^"^l

P-T, J-A-WI^ENCE, flOAD,  j^Oi^TH ^AST,

EOAD CHUECH. 347
earUer tower, so it is evident that in buUding the
present tower another bay was added to the nave.
The earliest portion of the present church is assigned
to about the year 1470, but the nave and north
aisle are of later date. The tracery of the
Decorated windows had been cut away and
replaced by Perpendicular work, and this had
again been removed in favour of domestic case
ments when Mr. Davis came to work. He restored
the windows in the Perpendicular style, and filled
them with cathedral glass. The nave has a
clerestory, but in 1770 a new roof was put on by a
Trowbridge architect, who removed the walls as
low as the sills of the windows and inserted
segmental-headed substitutes of a very ugly type.
His windows have now been removed, and new
ones substituted in accordance with the traces left
of those he destroyed. A Perpendicular timbered
roof was at the same time constructed. In the
south aisle the covering of plaster has simply been
removed, and the oak timbers which are in
exceUent preservation once more exposed to view.
The original roof of the north aisle also remains, of
the wagon-beam pattern which Mr. E. A. Freeman
so much admires as characteristic of Somersetshire
churches. The roof of the chancel and the tracery
of its windows are new. The squints on either
side of the nave and the lower portion of the rood
steps have also been preserved. In the waU of the
new vestry has been made a niche for portions of
two twisted piUars and mouldings of the older
church found in the course of the restoration.

248 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
At the east end of the south aisle there are the
remains of a chantry chapel, the piscina of which
was found in the wall and restored to its place.
History is altogether silent regarding this chapel
or its dedication. There is likewise in this chapel a
handsome tomb, whichis nameless, though tradition
says it is the burial place of one of the S. Maurs.
On the wall above are remains of decorations which
were no doubt brighter when they were first
uncovered than they are now. There was then
found the figure of the Virgin, and fleurs-de-lis in
gold on a claret ground. A little to the right is a
vacant niche, the tracery of which having been cut
away was restored at the restoration. There were
also traces of colour on the walls, flaming stars and
Catherine wheels in gold being discernible. The
greater part of the slabs of the tomb was found to
be worked out of older tombs, the back of one of
the caps having a square fillet and large hollow
moulding which was at one time completely gilded
over. Immediately behind the arch and cornice of
the tomb was a rougher arch, on one of the stones
of which was part of the coloured representation of
the martyrdom of S. John in the cauldron of
boiling oil. In the waU close by was a piece of
plaster on which was painted the flowing hair
and back of the head of a human figure, and
the gilded ground was bright despite its age.
The mural decorations here must at one time have
been very rich. The centre boss in the roof of
this chapel is pierced for the chain from which
hung the lamp that always burned before the

EOAD CHUECH. 249
altar. Ou removing the plaster from the walls of
the north aisle a small reredos and piscina were
discovered, and no doubt there was a chapel here
corresponding to the south side. A holy water
stoup, found in the course of the work, has been
replaced near the north door. Near it also stands
the font, an octagonal one, in exceUent preserva
tion. The pulpit formerly stood on the south
side of the nave, and a niche thereby is said to
have been the place of the hour-glass. The new
pulpit is a very handsome one of Hamhill stone
and stands on the north side.
The east window is filled with stained glass to
the memory of the wife of the late Eector. The
subject of the window is the Ascension, very
beautifuUy carried out by Messrs. B. Lavars,
Barraud and Westlake, London. The two side
-windows of the chancel contain the figures of
SS. Stephen and La-wrence (the patron saint),
and of SS. Chrysostom and Augustine.
The present Eector, as patron and curate, started
the scheme of restoration in 1870, prompted thereto
by a gift of J50 from the Eev. Preb. Palariet.
The west window was given by the Eector's sisters,
Mrs. Keary and Mrs. Oke, and the timbered roof
was his own gift. He also added a piece of ground
which was his property to the churchyard. It
should be added that the success of the work was
to a large extent due to the energy, influence and
liberality of Captain Noad, E.N., for many years
churchwarden, and a much respected resident in
the parish.

250 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
The church was reopened after the restoration
on the 17th of June, 1874, when there was a
large assembly of clergy, and the Lord Bishop of
the diocese preached from Acts ii. 42.
The present Eector, the Eev. William Samways
Oke, B.A., of Wadham College, Oxon, formerly
Eector of Eowde, Wilts, had by that time come
into enjoyment of the Uving.
The Sunday morning on which I visited Eoad
Church was a fine one, but it certainly foUowed some
very unpleasant weather. This is given me as one
of the reasons for the smallness of the congregation.
Beyond the choir seated in the chancel there were
not more than a dozen persons, and the aisles.
were empty. The viUage of Eoad has gradually
moved away from the church down to the river,
and I am told the people prefer the paved way to
the hideously ugly but weU-heated church at Eoad
Hill to the muddy lane leading to their parish
church, in which the heating arrangements are a
failure.'*- The appearance of the church also is
cheerless, for the rubble walls are rough and bare,
the restorers having had the barbarity to leave
them bare of plaster. Who is responsible for
this '? Surely not the architect, who has publicly
protested against the practice, and the frescoes
discovered in the com-se of the work must have

* I am informed that the congregation was further dimin
ished on that occasion hy the fact that the Rector was preaching
at Wolverton a funeral sermon on a very old parishioner welt
known in Road.

EOAD CHUECH. 251
shown him, if not his employers, how the walls
should be left. The Curate, the Eev. J. Oilman,
read the service, but the effect would have been
better without a conflict between choir and clerk,
simUar to that which I have observed in a few
other churches I have -visited. The choir at
tempted to intone the responses, the clerk
asserted his position in the service -with a clear
loud voice.
The Eectory of Eoad has the misfortune to be
annexed to Wolverton, where the Eector always
Uves, the present Eector ha-ving recently built a
new rectory house on the Bath road. The great
strength of Dissent in the parish is however an
inheritance from former days. The late Eector,
the Eev. Charles Glossop, was presented to the
living in 1811, and though he lived till 1873 to
the advanced age of 91, he remained Eector to the
last. At his best he was a clergyman of the old
school, upon which responsibilities hung lighter
than they do upon the men of to-day, and his
duties were performed by a succession of curates.
The present Eector maintains schools at Wolverton,
has taken measures to provide an infant school for
Eoad, and altogether I trust he will revive the
drooping energies of the Church.
In the course of the restoration several Norman
ledge tombs were discovered. One of these has
been placed in the hagioscope on the north side
and others form the steps to the tower. Several
pieces of moulding, &c., found in the course of the
work have been built round the chimney of the

f- 3(iit!^emACr*S»r*-?r7-

252 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
heating apparatus so that they may not faU to be
preserved. On a wooden tablet near the north door are
painted the following curious epitaphs : —
DECIMO TERTIO DIE DECEMBRIS ANO DNI 1623
OF lOHN. HELLIERD GENTLE. WHO DYED THIS DAY.
Wee that are livinge have iust cavse to say
That never man dyed more Christian like death
Which to vs appeared even by his last breath.
As terefore his body doth herevnder rest
So dovbtles his sovle in heaven is blest.
For we finde in te Scriptvre by sacred record
That blessed are they who dy in the Lord.
God gravnt vs all then his mercy and gi-ace
So to end this life that in heav'n we may have place
Tliere to remaine for ever and ever
With Abrm and Isaack and this my deare father.
PER ME NA ; HELLIERD FILIUM PRDCI lOHIS.
TO THE MEMORY OF N. NATHANIEL HELLIERD, LATE
RECTOR OF THIS PLACE WHO DEPARTED THIS
LIFE NOVER. 20, 1650.
Heere gatherd to his Father lies
An object of our obsequies
Whoo died desird and liu'd becloud
To most well knowne by th' bell approud
His name present may well preuent
A larger line on's' monument.
PER ME ROBERTM. FILIUM.
Eoad formed part of the possessions granted by
the Conqueror to Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutance,
who held it, according to Domesday, as three

EOAD CHUECH. Sli
manors, which included Wolverton. After the
death of the prelate the land was bestowed upon
Eanulf de Farfy who being a Norman lost it again
in 1205 when the estates of the Normans in Eng
land were seized by the Crown. After this it was
granted to the S. Maurs and descended -with their
Beckington property untU 1566 when half of
the manor was sold by John Stawell, esq., to
Thomas Webbe, esq., 'who afterwards acquired the
whole property, and in 1589 sold it to the Hunger
fords. It was afterwards in the possession of the
Hortons, of Chattey house, Wolverton, who sold
it to Eobert Holton, esq., of Farley, who sold it
again to the Andrews, of Mangotsfield, Glouces
tershire. The present lord of the manor is E. T.
D. Foxcroft, esq.
The Church has a fine peal of six beUs, five
of them cast by the weU-known Somersetshire
founders at Chewstoke. The first three are in
scribed — ¦
MR. WILLIAM TUCKER AND MR. HENRY BATTEN
CHURCHWARDENS 1753-
THOMAS BILBIE FECIT.
The fourth and fifth have —
THOMAS NOADES AND BENIAMIN HAWKINS CH.
WARDENS. THOMAS BILBIE FECIT 1753-
The sixth must have been recast at a later date —
HENRY BATTEN POOLE AND JOHN THOMAS
CHURCHWARDENS.
T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1817.

%, latorence, Stanton prior.

ilTANTON BUEY, an outUer of the
inferior oolite, is a hill about six
mUes from Bath off the lower WeUs
road, and on the line of the Wans
dyke which is here in good preserva
tion. The hiU is capped by a very perfect British
camp, long free from the tramp of warlike feet.
It is now a rabbit warren, and as you climb to the
commanding plateau little heads start up in the
grass and little feet scamper over the walls to
the holes which abound in every direction. The
summit of the hiU is 500 feet above the level of
the sea, and the view therefrom is consequently
most commanding. In clear weather the Breck
nock and Malvern beacons, nearly sixty mUes
distant, are plainly discernible. In the other
direction the tower at Stourhead can be seen, and
nearer at hand Dundry hUl and the Mendips.
Most interesting too is the view across the plain
through which the Avon winds some miles to the
north. The tower of Keynsham Church stands
up proudly in the midst of it, and here and
there several other familiar viUage churches peep
through the trees. Eising against the northem

':f^;l^*^^'-*
p. J^AWf^ENCE, ^TANTON f^lOR  ^OUTH.
STANTON PBIOB CHUECH. 255
sky are Kelston Eound hill, Lansdown with its
tower, and some of the houses of Bath.
Nestling under the south side of the hill is the
pretty little agricultural village of Stanton Prior.
Its population is small, only 126 at the last
census, and is graduaUy diminishing, but never
theless it has its little parish church with its
square Perpendicular tower, standing up as clearly
as that of Keynsham. It is to the care of the
monks of Bath that this community owes the
original foundation of its church. King Eadgar
in 965 granted the rectory to the Abbot. Warner
quotes from the deed of gift from a MS. in the
library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge : —
'' Ego Eadgar divina aUubesoente gra rex et
'' primicherius totius Albionis ruris partem ali-
"quantulam bis quaternis prefer semissem e,sti-
" matam mansiunculis in loco qui dicitur Stantun.
"^scwig abbati ad ecclesiam Sancti Petris quse
"sita est in urbe Achamanensi, in perpetuam
" possessionem libenter admodum largitus sum.
" Depreeds tramque hunca abbatem omnesque. . .
" ut suarum preoum pro me non cessent fundere
" oramina." In Domesday book we are told that
" The Church of S. Peter at Bath holds Stanton,"
and it Temained with these owners until the
dissolution. Its distinguishing title of Prior
preserves the memory of this for though the
establishment was always called an Abbey, its.
head was only a Prior after the time of John de
Villula. There is no doubt that there was here originaUy

256 THE CHUECH EAMBLER.
a Norman church, for in the restoration which
was carried out in 1869 some of the stones were
found built up in the walls of the present church.
Those which had any carving upon them have
been preserved, and the fragments of two ledge
tombs with incised crosses have been placed in
the north wall of the chancel. The walls are of
remarkable thickness, aud the proportions of the
church, which consists of a nave and chancel
with the late addition of a western tower, foster
the notion of its antiquity. The chancel and
north porch are Early English in character. The
porch is of unusual size and on its eastern side is
a curious recess with a stone slab, too short to be
a tomb. What its pmpose was it is difficult to
say, it may be a memorial of one who wished in
dying to be like S. Swithin, or it may have been
to receive doles of food distributed perhaps by
former priors of Bath.
There is an ancient holy water stoup on the
south side and a still more ancient one more
rudely cut in the jamb of the doorway inside the
church. Above the arch on the outer side is a
tabernacle which still bears traces of old colouring.
There are traces that the ornamentation on this
has been chipped off with hammer and chisel, so
carefully and thoroughly did the English image -
breakers work. It contained a figure either of
the patron saint or S. Mary the Virgin. On the
north side of the nave is a similar tabernacle of
later date.
The restoration of the church, which was done

STANTON PEIOB CHUECH. 257
at a cost of £600, began by the removal of a
western gallery, a plaster ceiling and the thick coat
ings of whitewash which had completely fiUed up
the sculptured work on the monuments. It was
found that the walls were thoroughly decayed on
the interior, and nothing remained but to coat
them with fresh courses of stone. More fortunate
in the matter of the roof, the architect, Mr. C. E.
Davis, found the original timbers in good con
dition and had only to clear them and lay them
once more bare to view. They are ornamented
with bosses which are in the form of leaves except
two which are shields. On one of these are the
arms of the Abbey of Bath and on the other those
of the Hungerford family. The roof of the chancel
is new, and so is the chancel arch. Built in the
wall above this arch are what the architect believes
to be fragments of a former stone screen. The
font has the usual plain octagonal basin, which is
placed upon a circular base of earlier date. The
pulpit is of stone, new and very appropriate.
The lectern is made of pieces of old oak taken out
of the church. The chancel is tiled and there is
an effective plain stone reredos. The nave is
fitted with low open seats and accommodates
about eighty persons. The general effect of the
church is good, and when I attended service on
a recent Sunday morning there was a good con
gregation to whom the service was most care
fully read by the Eector, the Eev. William S.
Browne, M.A.
This is another of those secluded spots of

r»jMj<Mir-vh'il,il>riF^-'^*fT'Tri-°ni'^T'T-TI ¦" ' II TTM

258 THE CHURCH BAMBLEB,
which happily there are many, where the true
spirit of our National Church is faithfuUy carried
out. There was no sermon — the communion
being administered. The sUver chalice and cover,
with date 1574, are still in use.
All the windows in the chancel are fitted with
stained glass by Lavers and Barrand. The triple
east window represents Our Lord's Agony, the
Crucifixion, and the Burial, the side windows
have figures of SS. Peter, Paul and Lawrence-
One on the north side, a very thin lancet, is
much admired, and is stiU more remarkable from
being cut out of an older Norman fragment. At
the west end of the church is a new window, out
of harmony with the tower arch, fitted with
stained glass by Hardman, representing Our Lord's
appearance to S. Mary Magdalene. Beneath it is
the following inscription : — " To the glory of God,
"and in memory of James Phillott, M.A., for
" fifty years Eector of this parish, who died
" December 30th, 1865, aged 88, and of Caroline
"his wife, who died May llth, 1852, aged 72.
" This window was erected by their affectionate
" children in the year of our Lord 1869." They
both lie buried in the churchyard, and the tomb
there records the additional fact that the Eev.
James Phillott was for the eleven years preceding
his incumbency curate of this parish. He claims
a place in the annals of the city of Bath as the
last of the Masters of S. John's Hospital under
the old corrupt system.
There is but one beU in the tower with the legend

STANTON PEIOB CHUECH. 259
JOHN WEVER AND lOHN WHITE, CH WARDENS, 1 736.
THOMAS BILBIE CAST MEE.
On the north side of the nave is a richly carved
and very singular monument of the Commonwealth
period. On one side of an altar the father and
mother are represented kneeling, and on the other
the sons in gradually diminishing succession. In
a recess above are larger figures of the husband
and wife kneeling, the latter -with an infant in her
arms. The inscription is in gold leaf, on a slab
about a foot square : —
Christ is our head, our hope, our life, and wee
His members live in him, though dead wee bee
He died for sinne, si'ners to free from paine
His die to sine, and rise with him again.

rThomse Cox Ar.
I Thomas primogen

.28", 16S0 43
( 10 5 17

Mem. J l.qu discess. .lEtat. Ao.
Joaha uxoris Ancr. (77 ) if,AA
l^Marije filial

Aug. I 23 ) 1644 38
£6 May I 4 1 2

In the tower is a monument to one of the Lono'
family : — MARMOR HOC SEPULCHRALE
IN ^TERNAM
MERITO CONSECRATUR
MEMORIAM
, ROBERTI LONG
' ASMIGERI.
QUI PIUS ATQ. PROBUS NECNON BENE NOTUS EGENIS
FAUTOR, AD EXTREMUM PERSTITIT USQ. DIEM;
TANTI MORTE VIRI QUID NON AMISIMUS, UNDE
QUOD DOLEAT PIETAS, PAUPER, AMICUS HABET.

S60 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
ANNORUM PARITER ET LAUDUM
PLENUS
TERRAM CQELIS MUTAVIT
FFEBRUARII DIE DECIMO NONO,
SU^
ANNO /ETATIS NONAGESIMO
PRIMO,
SALUTIS VERO
1697.
Collinson in his " History of Somerset" makes
a statement that at Stanton Prior was born GUbert
Sheldon, who was made Bishop of London at the
Eestoration, translated to the Archbishopric of
Canterbury in 1662, and in 1667 was chosen
Chancellor of the University of Oxford in the
room of Lord Clarendon. The theatre which he
there erected preserves the memory of his name
among those who know little else of him. The
story of his birth in this parish has no foundation
in fact, but as it has gained considerable currency
on CoUinson's authority, it will be well distinctly
to set it at rest. The name Sheldon does not
occur at all in the Stanton Prior registers, and the
Stanton which was the Archbishop's birthplace, is
a hamlet in the Shropshu-e parish of EUastone.
Inquiries on the subject produced the courteous
letter which follows, and has sufficient interest in
connection with our subject to justify its insertion.
EUastone Vicarage, Ashbourne ;
March loth, 1877.
Dear Sir, In a bedroom of a farm at Stanton in this
parish there is a tablet with this inscription : —

STANTON PRIOR CHUECH. 261
Sheldonus ille primus prsesulum pater
Hos inter ortus aspicit lucem lares.
O ter beatam Stantonis villse casam,
Cui cuncta possunt invidere marmora.
In an old register of Baptism I find an entry to this
effect : —
" 1598. — Gilbert, the son of Roger Sheldon and his
wife, was baptised the xxvj"" of June."
An asterisk is placed against this name, and a foot
note states — "This Gilbert Sheldon was Archbishop of
Canterbury in ye year 1663,'' and a later hand adds,
'He died 1677." I think some one told me Sheldon's
father was a gardener or labourer at Alton.
Believe me.
Yours faithfully, E. H. BlRLEY.
The oldest Parish Eegister dates from 1572.
On the fitrst page is -written,
Staunton Prior Regyster Booke
Amio dni. 1572, tempore Johannis
Prymer Rectoris ibidem.
The names of Holbrook, Brookman and MUlard
are frequent from 1572 and 1573 to within the
last few years, but the altered mode of life of this
railway age sweeps away into far distant spots the
representatives of many an old family, and the
place which has been theirs for centuries knows
them no more. There are no entries of special
interest in the Eegister of Baptisms, but some of
the names are curious : for example, from 1701 to
18 2

.t

262 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
1720 there are several notices of children born to
John and Gartery Holbrook. This is very probably
an old provincialism for Gertrude ; indeed Ger
trude Holbrook, widow, was buried here in 1747,
probably the same person. Diana Baker occurs
six or seven times from 1740 to 1790, but is twice
.spelt Dinah.' Christian is the name of a woman
who was married in 1599. AquUa Luppiatt
appears in 1618, Flower Lansdowne in 1697. It
is also to be noted that the word " daughter" is
very commonly written " daf ter."
Under the head of weddings, in the time of the
Protectorate, in the year 1653, occurs the following
notification according to statute : —
I doe approve of John Long for Register of the Parish
of Stanton Prior, chosen by the inhabitants thereof for
this parish ; and accordingly he was sworn the loth day
of Januaiy, 1653. Robert Long.
Further on is an instance of the exercise of his
functions. The intention of marriage between John Brookman, of
Stanton Prior in this County, Husbandman, and Joana
.Sanders, of the parish of Keynsham, single woman,
was published in the parish churcli there upon three
severall Lord's days, sc. the 15th, 22nd, and 29th days of
January, 1653, according to the Act of Parliament in
that behalf made.
Ffebruary ye 1st, 1653. John Long.
The above-named John Brookman and Joana Sander

STANTON PRIOR CHURCH. 263
were maried the ffirst dai of Ffebruarie, 1653, before
Alexander Popham. Alexander Popham.
In one entry of marriage the name of the
woman is omitted. Perhaps she made the mis
take which blushing brides sometimes do, and in
her impatience to use her new name forgot to
'write her old one for the last time —
Mr. Thomas Day and his wife was maryed ApreU ye
29, 1746.
Under the year 1746 —
I, Geo. Fiddes, Rector of Radstock, do certifie that
I married by license Samuel Purlewent, Rector of
Stanton Prior, and Mary Davis, of Ing'scomb, widow,
on the 15th day of June, 1746.
Mr. Purlewent died in 1775. His chUdren, Peter
and Anne, were baptised here in 1747 and 1749.
It would be interesting to know what relationship
these bore to the gentleman buried in Weston
churchyard who left a curious bequest to the
Freemen of Bath. Among the entries iu the
register of burials may be noticed —
William Evans, Parson of Prior Stanton, was buried
the 6 day of ApreU, Ano. Dni. 1615.
Robert Burdon, parson of Prior Stanton, was buried
the 22 of March, 1659.
Collonell Thomas Long, of Stanton Pryor, Esq., was
buried the six and twentieth day of May, Anno Domini.
1682.

264 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
Rob. Long, Esq. was buried March the 3rd, 1 69 J,
aged 91.
There is a comparatively recent gap in the burial
register from 1753 to 1777. There are several
notices of briefs published in church on special
occasions : —
For captived seaman by the Turks, dated Aug. loth,
1670, published October 23rd following.
Mr.JohnVamam )^^_ ^^ri^n^.
John Holbrook )
Collected los. 6d., which was. sent to the Bp. by
Robert Ffry, Apparator, Dec. 15, 1670.
For Meere in Wiltshire, burnt &c., published Aug.
13, 1671. Wm. Richmond 1 Church
John Brookman \ wardens.
Collected is. 6d.
For Luton in Bedfordshire, burnt, &c., published
June I, 1672.
For Sugar Howse in London, burnt &c,, published
July I, 1672.
For Scrattage in Heslon parish in Middlesex, burnt
&c., i^ublished July II, 1672.
Richard Grace 1
Matt. Long [ ^h- wardens.
for Nether- Wallop in Soutliamptonshire, published
Aug. 22, 1673. Collected 3s. iid.
John Holbrook, Senior
Matthew Long, Ch. wardens.
An account of what moneys was given by the
inhabitants of .Stanton Piyor for ye redemption of

STANTON PRIOR CHURCH. S€5
captives out of Turkey, the twelfth day of November
anno dom. 1680. Sum total i 18 9.
Mr. Nathaniall Till Adams, Rector.
Ffrancis Richmond 1
Matthew Long \ Churchwardens.
Which sum was paid to Mr. Nathaniel Till Adams,
Rector of Stanton Pryor, ye fourteenth day of November,
one thousand six himdred and eighty.
In the first year of the raine of King William and
Quen Mary, a brief was got at for the Swiss Prodestants.
A.D. 1689. To which was given by
Robert Long, esq.  £4 o °
FoUowed by a long list of names with their several
contributions, amounting altogether to £5 i2s. lOd.
AprU 28, 1695. Collected in ye parish of Stanton
Prior towards ye brief for ye fire of Warwick, ye sum
foUowing, ;^4 19s. id.
This includes £4 lOs. 6d. given by Eobert Long
esq.

r'-LirgagPiwM

^. ii5iclbola0, Ea00tocfe.

ADSTOCK lies upon the line of the
old Fosse way as indeed the name
does to a certain extent imply. It is
the "road stoc" or village on the
road. The sufi&x which is common
enough in the slightly altered form of stoke,
here appears in its' original shape. In early
English speech the " stoc" was the outlying
hamlet or -vUlage of a hundred, and only gradually
acqtiu-ed a name of its own. This one had not
obtained separate mention when Domesday was
compiled. But -when the cluster of cottages on
the edge of the hundred of Kilmersdon grew in
number and men wanted to speak of it, they
found the means of pointing it out in the old
road which was already wonderful as the work of
a byegone people. Eadstock was given by King
WUUam II. to Eobert Fitz Hamon, Earl of
Gloucester, and was held of his successors in the
earldom for several centuries. In the reign of the
first and second Edward the De Montforts, lords of
Wellow, held Eadstock under the Earls. In 1340
PhiUp de Wellesleigh held the manor of Eadstock
and after his death it passed to WiUiam Banistie.
He died in 1348, leaving one daughter and heiress.

^ 'J

RADSTOCK CHURCH. 267
Joan, whose second husband was Sir John Hill,
Knight. Their son, Eobert HiU of Spaxton, held
this property, and was succeeded in 1426 by
another John. After him the property again came
to a daughter, who married Sir William Say,
Knight, but as she had no children she was suc
ceeded by her aunt, Elizabeth, .wife of Sir Jolm
Cheyney, esq. He had four daughters and co
heiresses. One of these marrying Edward
Waldegrave, esq., the manor of Eadstock with other
property was transferred to him, and is held by
the present, representative of that family, Frances
Countess Waldegrave, wife of Lord Carlingford,
who achieved distinction in statecraft as the Eight
Hon. Chichester Fortescue.
" Frances Countess Waldegrave" is a name very
familiar to raUway travellers who often see it —
upon coal trucks, for this lady almost set the
fashion by which the peerage now owns without
shame when it is connected with trade. Being
the owner of coal-pits she trades in her own
name, and is no less known in trade than she
is conspicuous in the aristocratic circles of the
metropoUs. There are a number of coalpits at
Eadstock, and the town has aU the ugly un-
-wieldUiess arising from rapid growth. The
fro-wning chimneys which belch forth smoky
clouds blackenmg and poisoning the fresh pure
air of heaven, and the black heaps which load
it with grimy dust, mark the mouths of the
pits. Several prosperous tradesmen have rebuilt
%eir houses in a substantial style, other-wise we

f **^B«gBlF.a°J ..jftt— -^

268 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
have the buildings of a vUlage in the midst
of a town, clustering together at varying levels
with the vaguest notion of streets. Again two
railways run through the place but they have
been laid level with the road and so two white
gates keep back the horses while the engine is pass
ing, and when that is gone your carriage may jump
and jolt over the rails as best it can. However
hateful these things may be to the mere theorist,
I am of course aware that they are the natural out
come of the state of freedom in which we live, and
I answer before they speak those readers in Ead
stock who wiU be offended at -vi'hat I say, by adding
that the closer inspection of the growth of new
towns by the central government would without
doubt be attended by other and greater evils than
those which I have here gi-umbled at. But at the
same time it is evident that h ereaf ter large sums will
be expended by the local authority on improve
ments to remedy the mistakes committed in the
formation of the place. And as we see Eadstock,
or any similar place now, with the population
formed before man has had time to arm it with
those contrivances of water supply and the
like by which he renders our highly artificial
civilisation possible we are strongly tempted to
echo Cowper's half true, half false complaint —
God made the country and man made the town.
What wonder then that health and virtue, gifts
That can alone make sweet the bitter draughts
That life holds out to all, should most abound
And least be threatened in the fields and groves.

RADSTOCK CHURCH. 269
Though the to-wn is in just the inchoate condition
which is to be expected from its history, I was I
confess surprised to find the church also infected
by the grimness of the atmosphere and sharing in
the ugliness of the rest of the buildings. We
might have hoped to see the little church which we
know once existed here, but churchwardens and
the Church Building Society have been at work
and we have a building with not a single stone,
except perhaps part of the porch, of the slightest
degree of interest. It is known that there was
a church here in Norman times, and its form
was preserved in the present buUding until
the lateral extension of the nave about thirty
years since. Anything more unholy than the
present arrangement and state of the church it has
not been my lot to see. The tower was originaUy
a Perpendicular one, but its west window has been
cut away and replaced by one of the blunt-headed
¦windows which preceded the Gothic revival.
Then about forty years ago the north wall of the
nave was taken away and the church enlarged
— I cannot say a north aisle was buUt — so
that now the nave is a square chamber, in
one corner of which is the chancel arch.
Instead of an arcade in the nave there are a series
of square wooden props, painted in imitation of
oak, which are bolted to the roof as in the ma
chine room of a factory through the flat plaster
ceiling which covers all above. The likeness to a
factory is increased by the square gaUery which
extends round two sides, and the broad flight of

270 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
stairs which leads up to it from the floor of the
nave. The walls too have been coloured do-wn but
the coat sadly wants renewing. The chancel was
rebuilt in the last century in very bad taste and is
invisible to half the people in the church. It has
no east window, but over the table is a representa
tion of the Last Supper, in a style distinctly
suggestive of scene painting and nothing more.
It would be well therefore if it were removed.
In passing from the structure of the church to
its furniture we go from bad to worse. The high
square pews face various ways and -were made by
someone who expected the congregation neither to
have Prayer Books nor to kneel at any part of the
service. There is no ledge or place for one's book,
there is no kneeling-stool, nor is there room
between the broad seat and the front of the pew
to kneel on the floor without great difiiculty.
What is worse the pew in which I was placed was
offensively dirty. The heating pipes are laid above
the floor, though no doubt the expense of excavating
has been saved in the hope of rebuilding. But the
doors are numbered with large printed labels such
as we see on the pens at cattle shows. The nave is
chiefly lighted by two windows, one of which rises
above the other to match the precipitous pilingup of
the clerk's desk, reading-desk and pulpit beside
it. When the minister reached the top and stood
behind the faded velvet cushions of the pulpit an
impassable barrier seemed placed between him
and the congregation. I pity the speaker or
preacher who strives at such a distcince, great in

EADSTOCK CHUECH. 271
reality and greater in effect, to bring the minds of
his hearers into sympathy -with his own, and to
make their hearts responsive to his teaching.
The oldest part of the church is the south
wall, and attached to this is the porch in which
is a stone -with an interesting sculpture of the
crucifixion, and another with two figures. But
even here the hand of desecration has been. A
public gas lamp is fixed to the exterior, and the
supply pipe for this is carried carelessly through
the porch from the church in a fashion scarcely
tolerated in a bUnd aUey. Speaking of the ex-
exterior, this uninteresting buUding stands at the
foot of a churchyard, singularly bare of monu
ments, which extends away up the hiUside. Within
the enclosure is a cottage, once possibly a school,
so near to the church that in the view it seems
to form part of it, and in fact does encroach upon
the path to the upper part of the churchyard.
Its removal is Urgently needed, and I am glad to
know wiU take place by the kindness of Lady
Waldegrave, whenever the rebuilding of the
church is undertaken. The same lady has recently
given an acre of ground for the extension of the
churchyard. The Eector has long contemplated rebuilding the
church and holds the nucleus of a fund for the
purpose. But when once begun the work -wiU
have to be thorough and complete, and he would
not be justified in undertaking it without the sub
stantial support of the parish. This it is sur
prising to find he does not get. The lady of the

r

212 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB,
manor is by no means neglectful of the interests of
her people, and nearly every winter we read in the
newspapers that Lord Carlingford has been down
to start the lectures of the season. Why then is
the church so sadly neglected ? Perhaps because
whenin Somersetshire the owners have the beautiful
church of Chewton Mendip to attend and so have
never endured the discomforts of the miserable
bam which servos as a church at Eadstock. The
clergy of the Church of England are very generous
and in then- zeal for the restoration of the house
of God have often out of their personal resources
done that which is the clear duty of the parish. And
it is a melancholy phase of human nature that in
many instances so-called Churchmen have held
their hands from giving what they might to the
restoration of their parish church, saying " The
work won't suffer, if we don't give, the minister
will." But this sort of feeling only exists among
the ignorant and mean-minded, and it is surprising
to find there is any suspicion of backwardness in
applying to the maintenance of the worship of
God some small portion of the revenues which
smaU and great derive from the Eadstock coUieries.
The present state of Eadstock church daUy cries
shame upon all those who have the means or the
influence to assist in any way in erecting a buUding
worthy of its sacred purpose.-*
* The lay memhers of the Eadstock Church Committee have
ivritten respecting these remarks very lengthy letters which
appeared in the Bath. Herald of April 28th, May 12th and 19th,
1877. I think it fair to them to state that they assert that a Com-

RADSTOCK CHURCH. 27S
I attended service here on Palm Sunday, but
the suiToundings rendered it impossible that the
service should be satisfactory. The organ is placed
in the western gaUery along with the choir whose
singiQg was much too loud, as their noise during
the rest of the service was more than was neces
sary or seemly. I was pleased however to learn
that on the succeeding Easter day this was to be
remedied. With the approval of the congregation
the choir would then appear in surpUces and be
placed in the chancel. It is hoped eventuaUy
to buUd a new chancel to the nortli of the present
one, and turning an arch on the north side to use
the existing structure as an organ chamber.
The ser-vice was very admirably read by the
Eector in no mutUated Jorm, concluding -with the
prayer for the Church Militant. His sermon was
a clear declaration of the degree of honour which
the Church of England pays to the Virgin Mary.
His text was Luke i. 38 — " And Mary said. Be
hold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it unto me
according to thy word. And the angel of the
Lord departed from her." On that day, he said
mittee -was formed in OctoDer, 1873, and plans approved for the
restoration o; the cliurch. Tunds were promised to the extent
of £1,800, Lady Waldegrave giving £500, but in the following
spring a third and more extended plan was brought up, and
the Rector "practically refused" to sanction any other. The
committee then adjourned sine die, leaving the Rector tu
collect the additional funds. 1 hough I cannot see vhy the
Eector should he caUed upou to do this, still I contend that if
he cannot the people should take it up, it matters little who
begins so that the House of God is made a worthy one.

274 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
commonly called Lady day, the Church commemo
rated the Annunciation, or coming of the angel to
the Virgin Mary. It was therefore a suitable
season to consider her character and hear about
the mother of our Lord. If they thought of it
the title of mother of Jesus, involving as it did a
closer relation to the incarnate Son of God than
could be vouchsafed to any other human being,
was the highest that could be given upon earth.
They would not wonder therefore that admiration
for her had sometimes degenerated into something
dangerously like the worship due only to her Son,
though she, as much as any other sinner, needed a
Saviour. Neither could they wonder that men's
minds had revolted against this and denied to her
her true honour. As meipbers of the Church of
England however they should know where their
true position was between the two. And it was
well that they should consider the matter, for the
Eoman Catholic Church had recently promulgated
a new doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of
the Blessed Virgin Mary which might be only a
step towards the still more fearful doctrine of the
assertion of her divine nature. The preacher then
proceeded to observe the beauty and steadiness of
character manifested by the Virgin in the passages
in which she was mentioned in the Scriptures, and
remarked that it was the honour put upon her
that exalted her in men's eyes. Our Lord seemed
to have anticipated this feeling when iu reply to
the woman who declared a blessing rested upon
his mother. He said, " Nay, rather blessed are thev

J

RADSTOCK CHURCH. 275
which hear my word and keep it." One effect of
the honour paid to the Virgin Mary was the man
ner in which the weaker sex had ever since been
regarded by Christian nations, who paid them a
respect which was not even now accorded by
other religions. In conclusion he pointed out the
error of the Eoman Catholic Church which had
lifted her into a place fearfully like that which
should be accorded to her Divine Son. This was
due to the fact that they had forgotten too much
the manhood of Christ and aUowed it to be swal
lowed up iii His divinity, so that they had been
led to make her a mediator and advocate between
God and man instead of the man Christ Jesus.
The living of Eadstock is a manorial rectory
held by the Eev. Horatio Nelson Ward, M.A.
This gentleman, as I have shown, is placed in very
disadvantageous circumstances, but though he is
prevented from performing his service worthily,
he has during the many years he has lived in the
parish faithfully discharged the other portion of
his duty, and with his family is highly esteemed
by his people. I can only hope that he may yet
see the fruition of Jiis hopes in the rebuUding of
his church, and that I may yet hear him read
morning prayer in a new aud worthy building.
I have spoken before of the evidences that this
church was of Norman foundation. On the Suu-
day of which I have been speaking another proof
of this truth had been restored to the church in a
manner pleasing to the arcliEeologist and highly
gratifying to the Eector and his famUy. Some

S76 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
years since a plain large Norman tub font which
had been cast out of the church was discovered in
a farmyard, and by the care of the Eector was
brought into the churchyard -with a view to restor
ing it to its original use when the church was
rebuilt. But a lady in the parish by the sale of
her work raised a sufficient sum to have the font
cleaned and replaced in the church. This she
caused to be done during the absence of Mrs. Ward
from home. So there I saw it, to be used for the
ih-st time on Easter-day. It is a handsome font
and well worthy of the care that has been bestowed
upon its restoration.
The tower contains five beUs. Four are plain
but the fifth is inscribed with a legend which tells
the history of the whole peal —
CHARLES. SIMMES, CH. WARDEN I74O BILBEE CAST
ALL WE.

}M\^ '

' *1 > i,;

i!!j'.:iiiJ.niliuiriiV^^^^^  iu> ¦¦ »

 nl

¦jgag;:^ g^Ty^^^^^iggC-^ _

^. jJOHN PapTIST, JVllDSOMEF^ J^Oi^ON,  ^OUTH f AST.

^. 3fo&n leaptist, a^iDsomer
Jl3orton.

wo miles to the west of Eadstock is
Midsomer Norton, a large and far
extending parish, which also lies in
the coal district, though the viUage is
clean and tidy in comparison with
the former. The origin of the name is not
certain, but it is said that the prefix Midsomer
came into use from the viUage being built on
the middle of three branches which unite into
the rivulet Somer. Certain it is however
that a babbling stream runs through the main
street, and as it is kept free from rubbish and
made to fall over several miniature cascades it
forms a very pleasant feature in the scene,
with some plump, weU plumed ducks swim
ming over its surface and diving into its
waters. Examining the medley of confined iU-
built cottages and substantial freestone ^jremises
of which the place consists I came across a fine
old bam almost hidden from view by the Bank.
It has been much knocked about and seems now
to be committed to the charge of cottagers to lead
it further on its way to destruction. But it has
19 2

srtfsjmii^vssamiis^

278 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
apparently bsen of cruciform shape, and was
probably the rectorial barn. Norton used to be
Norton Friars, and the rectory is said to have
belonged to the Priory of Merton in Surrey ; the
name is still entered on the books of Christ •
Chmxh as Norton Canonicorum.
This manor was one of the many with which the
Conqueror rewarded the fidelity of the Bishop of
Coutance. We read in Domesday " Ulvera holds
' of the Bishop Nortone. Alwold held it in the
' time of King Edward and gelded for five hides."
The Bishop soon parted with most of his manors,
and this one was subsequently in the possession of
Alured de Lincolnia, or Nichole, as the French
records call him. He died in 1264, and his nearest
heirs were found to be Eobert Fitzpaine, son of
Margery his eldest sister, Beatrix his second sister
and Albreda his third sister. In the division of
his property Norton was assigned to WUliam de
Gouiz, husband of the second sister. When he
died in 1299 he was found to possess half a knight's
fee in Midsomer Norton, which he held in chief
of John de Vivonia. Joan and Alice were his
daughters and heirs. In 1307 Adoman de Archiaco
granted to John de Vivonia and Eeginald his son
a fourth part of the manor of Midsomer Norton
then certified to appertain to Chewton-under-
Mendip. The line of this family ending in
daughters, the manor of Welton in this parish
passed to the second Cecilia, who had married
John de Beauchamjj of Hatch, and this manor,
together with her share of Midsomer Norton,

MIDSOMER NOETON CHUECH. 279
descended in that family for several generations.
The elder sister Joan, who inberited the rest of
Midsomer Norton, married Eeginald Fitz Peter,
and her share came to Peter Fitz Eeginald and to
Eeginald Fitz Eeginald ; the last named died in
1329 leaving Eeginald Fitzherbert his heir. A
granddaughter of his Alice married Sir Thomas
West, knight, ancestor to Earl Delawarr, to whom
she brought the faroily estates. He died in 1417,
seized of a moiety of this manor and a moiety of
the annual fair held on AprU 25th. He was
succeeded by his brother Eeginald. The other
moiety was held at the time by the famUy of
Brook, and descended from them to the Chedders,
Newtons, Lord Lister and Sir Thomas Griffin.
The manor of Welton belonged in 1375 to
Matthew Gournay, lord of Farrington Gournays
and being 'confiscated with the rest of the land,
of that family was granted with them to the
Duchy of Cornwall, and as part of such is now the
property of the Prince of Wales.
CoUinson states that there was also a rectorial
manor in this parish which belonged to the
Canons of Merton in Surrey. At the Dissolution
this manor was granted to Christ Church, Oxford
whose property it still is. The living is a vicarage
in their gift, and is at present held by the Eev. W.
Morrison, M.A.
Downside was a hamlet in this district, but
it has been cut off as an ecclesiastical parish
and is a vicarage in the gift of the Vicar of
Midsomer Norton, held at present by the Eev.

2S0 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
W. W. Leay, M.A. The church was buUt in
1837-38, and is called Christ church. Downside is
better known to the outer world however by the
Eoman Catholic CoUege of S. Gregory, which is
carried on by the Order of S. Benedict, the same
as Prior Park College. Downside is a coUege in
connection with the University of London, and
its candidates often take a high place in the
examinations. The Downside discussion, which
attracted considerable attention some years ago,
was waged by the Eev. Edward Tottenham, of
Bath, and the Eev. Dr. Brown of this college.
Of the church of Midsomer Norton little that
is good can be said, for it was rebuilt in the year
1832. The original church was built without
doubt in Norman times, and of this there were
several interesting traces in the former church,
which had been altered and enlarged in Decorated
times. Some portions of the old building are
now preserved in the grounds of the pleasantly
seated vicarage. From the accounts which are
preserved of it it seems to have had the handsome
Norman doorways with rouud heads aud zig-zag
mouldings. The remains which are preserved
include the tympanum of a Norman doorway which
is ornamented with a rudely carved zig-zag ; also
some portions of the corresponding moulding and
capital, about 40 feet of a parapet simUar to one
at S. Peter's, Oxford, of the date about 1420.
There are also another piece of parapet and frag
ments of three pinnacles of about half a century
earlier date. The old Norman font is also in

MID80MEB NOSTON CHUECH. 281
existence in somebody's garden, and I believe
that it is to be replaced in the church in place of
the present small and unsuitable one.
The tower was rebuUt before the rest of the
church, probably about the year 1620, which is
roughly cut on the arch which once opened into
the church. But the massive masonry at the base
is distinctly older, and may be in part a relic of the
original Norman building. At any rate it is
e-vident that the existing tower was built upon
the foundations of its predecessor and preserves
pretty closely the same proportions. One feature
which renders it remarkable is the figure of King
Charles II. in full bottom, wig and robes of state
in a niche on its southern face. The union of
Church and State was we know very close and
poUticaUy very important at the particular period
of our history in which he lived, but we seldom
find the church which threw down the images of
the saints setting up the statues even of kings.
The story which explains the presence of this effigy
is as follows : — The local tradition runs that the
King once paid a -visit to Welton manor house,
then occupied by the Harbord family, members
of which were in favour -with him and his father
The -vUlagers rang a merry peal in honour of their
sovereign as in duty bound, and while his gracious
majesty appreciated their loyal intentions, his
sense of harmony was offended by the circumstance
that the beUs were cracked. He therefore sent for
some of the viUagers in the morning and informed
them that he had given orders for the broken beUs

282 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
to be recast at his expense. The inscription on the
bells record this legend. The first and second
bells, the work of Thomas Bilbie, are inscribed : — ¦
THE GIFT OF KING CHARLES THE SECOND.
T. B. F. 1750.
On the third beU the Bilbies broke into rhyme
after the manner of their family : —
TWAS CHARLES THE SECOND OUR GRACIOUS KING
WAS THE CHIEF CAUSE WE EIGHT BELLS RING.
T. B. F. 1750.
The fourth, fifth and sixth bells have simply the
date — ANNO DOMINI I623.
On the seventh bell we have —
JOHN HARRIS LANSDOWN AND EICHARD BATT
CHURCHWARDENS, 1 793. REPENT I SAY BE NOT
TOO LATE THIS LIFE AT ALL TIMES READY MAKE.
THOMAS JAMES BILBIE, CHEWSTOKE, FECIT.
On the eighth beU — •
MR, SYDENHAM POYNTZ FOR MADAM HOOPER AND
MR. GEORGE HARRIS, CHURCHWARDENS.
THOMAS BILBIE, FECIT 1 750.
Before we pass away from the story of King
Charles' visit, it may be stated that the oldest
monument preserved in the church is to tha
memory of one of the Harbords, his entertainers.
It is in the north aisle, and the inscription is as
foUows, the dates being blank : —

MIDSOMER NORTON CHURCH. 283
HIC JACET CORPIS (sic)
GULI : HARBORD
DE WELTON GEN : SEPULT :
DOROTHEA UX : SEPULT : FUIT
CAROL : HARBORD EOR : FILlUS
EQUES AURAT : EX GRATIA REGUM
CAROLI PRIMI ET SEDI. SUPVISOR
GENERAL -. HUNC LAPIDEM PRIORE
DELETO, PONI JUSSIT ANO
DNI 167S.
It is not clear from this what office it was that
Sir Charles Harbord held, but by the courtesy of
George Wilmshurst, esq., keeper of the Eecords of
the Duchy of Cornwall, I have found the surmise
that it pertained to that Duchy to be correct. He
informs me that the office of Surveyor General
(Supervisor Generalis) is an ancient office in the
Duchy of CornwaU, though it is not filled up at
present, and in certain documents among the
records of the dates 1663-4 and 1672, mention is
made of Sir Charles Harbord, knight, as
being then Surveyor General. I further learn
that in the year 1660, immediately that is on the
restoration of the Stuarts, WUliam Harbord
was appointed to be auditor of the Duchy
in conjunction -with one John Fisher. This was
in all probabUity the father of the knight. Sir
Charles Harbord, jointly with the Earl of Berks
and others, obtained a grant from the Crown of
the manor of West Pennard, theretofore part of
the estates of the Abbots of Glastonbury and

284 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
which had been given to the Duke of Somerset, on
whose attainder it reverted to the Crown. This
grant is dated 2nd July, 1632. He is therein
described as " Charles Harbord of London, esq.,"
but soon after this he became Sir Charles Harbord,
knight. It is extremely probable that the resi
dence of the family at Welton was for the dis
charge of duties in connection -with the extensive
estates of the Duchy in the neighbourhood.
As an iUustration of the nature of these duties a
correspondent informs me that Jno. Tooker, esq.,
of Midsomer Norton, a leaseholder, under the
Duchy of CornwaU, petitioned the Earl of Danby,
Lord High Treasurer of England, with reference
to the renewal or granting of certain leases of
portions of the Duchy Estate at Midsomer Norton,
of which he had become owner by a Wm.
Champneys, senr., such portions being held of the
Duchy by a lease which seems to have comprised
considerable other property. The object of the
petition was for a separate lease of that part
which Mr. Tooker had acquired. Under
neath this petition is the official order, dated 28th
February, 1679, in these words : — "My Lord
"Trea'r is pleased to referre this petition to S'r
"Charles Harbord, Knt., his Ma'tie's Survey'r
" Gen'l, who is desired to rej)ort the true state of
",the case, and whatt he thinks fitt to be done
"thereopon." (Signed) " Ch. Bartie." Sir Charles
Harbord then reported on the matter recommend
ing a lease of the whole property to Mr. Tooker for
a fine of £500 to be apportioned between himself

.: rn- JI — -^^..f.. - Ji.^ iHPffirWl

MIDSOMER NOSTON CHUECH. 285
and the other two persons interested in the por
tions not bought by him. The report concludes
thus : — " AU which I humbly submitt to yo'r
" Lo'p's wisdome — C. Harbord." To this is added
the official order giving effect to the report. This
order commences, " Mr. Survey'r Gen'l," and goes
on in formal language to direct that the lease shaU
be granted to Mr. Tooker alone, but as to the two
parts not belonging to him, such lease to operate
for the benefit of the respective owners. — This is
signed " Danby," and is dated " Treas : Chamber
^'Mar. 19,1678-9."
The body of this church was pulled do-wn to the
ground in 1830, being rebuilt on considerably
larger dimensions. It was consecrated in 1832
during the incumbenc}"- of the Eev. Arthur AsgiU
Col'viUe. The work cost upwards of .£4,000 to
which the Church BuUding Society contributed
£500 on its customary conditions as to free seats.
Beside contributions from the Duchy of CornwaU
of £300, and from the Dean and Chapter of
Christ Church of £100, I see in the subscription
list that Downside College gave £50. The church
thus buUt consists of a nave and two aisles in the
Perpendicular style of the period. Though no
doubt it was a very elegant building according to
the ideas of the time at which it was erected it
could not now be so regarded, and in several of
its features it m-gently needs alteration. To this
the Vicar and the parish are fuUy alive, and a faculty
authorising aU that it is proposed to do waB
granted by the Bishop, who cordially approves

286 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
the scheme, on the 7th December, 1875. The
object in view is threefold. In the first place
there is no chancel visible on the exterior and the
small space marked off as such on the interior is
altogether inadequate to the purpose. It is pro
posed therefore to remove the present east wall
some twenty feet further to the east and so buUd
a chancel in the same style as the rest of the
buUding, but surmounted by the parapet saved
from the former church. This would carry the
church out almost to the churchyard wall, and if a
slight addition to the ground could be obtained in
that direction it would be very desirable. Secondly
gaUeries run round the church, and in the western
one is placed the organ and the choir, with the
royal arms on the panel in front. The organ is a fair
one, buUt in 1855, and several times repaired and
improved since, and the choir which I heard in
the service of Easter Day is a very good one ; it
is therefore the more to be regretted that it is so
badly placed. When the chancel is built there wiU
be space by turning an arch across each aisle
for a vestry on the north side and for the organ
on the south. Then too the choir will be placed
in its proper position in the chancel, and I may
mention to show the unanimity that prevails that
a member of the congregation will give them
surplices whenever this can be done. Though
curtailed at the east end the galleries wUl remain,
but to remove the sham of thin deal panels
painted in imitation of oak and to give the church
a more open and elegant appearance it is proposed

MIDSOMEE NOSTON CHUECH. 2S7
to substitute open ironwork for the present fronts
— a very ingenious proposal as it seems to me.
The stairs to the galleries wUl be placed in the
tower. Thirdly, it is intended to do away
-with the present high and exclusive pews and
substitute open seats. This is a change absolutely
necessary if the service is to be performed properly.
As is usual under such a system as that now
existing, a belief has grown up that proprietary
rights attach to some of the seats, but the
building is too modern to have any chapels which
are private property, and in removing the pews
the assumption of exclusive privileges in the
parish church wUl be exploded.
The immediate cause of the elaboration of these
plans was the gift by Mrs. Savage, of Norton
house, of a very handsome stone pulpit. The pulpit
is a very beautiful one of Caen stone, with a most
admirably conceived figure of the angel of the
gospel sculptured in white marble forming the
front of it. At the same time the oak eagle lectern
was given to the church by the same lad.y. A
desire to make the rest of the building as worthy
of its purpose as this pulpit and lectern gave
birth to the scheme of improvement. I trust that
having laid his plans so carefuUy and so thoroughly
the Vicar may have the happiness to see them
speedily fulfilled.
I was present at the Easter Day ser-vice in his
church and was much pleased with the careful and
simple manner in which he conducted it. The
Vicar preached from Ephesians U. 4, 5 — " But God

288 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
" who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
" he loved us, even when we were dead in sins,
" hath quickened us together -with Christ." Upon
these words he delivered an appropriate and forci
ble address upon the great mystery which is com
memorated on Easter Day. The offertory was
taken afterwards, the Easter vestry of 1873
ha-ving adopted the custom of the weekly offertory.
The buUding was very tastefully decorated with
primroses and green leaves, by Mrs. HoUwey and
young ladies of the congregation. I am also
informed that Easter was the occasion of a pleasing
presentation. Mrs. Morrison has given her services
as organist for the last three years, but has now
yielded her place to the schoolmaster. The con
gregation however testified their appreciation of
what she had done by the presentation of a silver
cream-jug and sugar basin.
On the north wall of the Church is a monument
of stone, painted to represent marble, with the
following inscription ; —
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
MRS. ANN HARRIS
OP WELTON IN THIS PARISH
WHO DIED MAY 27TH I719, AGED 22 YEARS.
This pious lady endowed a school for the education of
forty poor children.
Wide is the shade true charity supplies
Its fruit on earth, its growth above the skies !
Induced by gratitude the trustees of her charity have

.^

MIDSOMER NOETON CHUECH. 289
erected this monument to perpetuate her memory a
former one having fallen into decay by lapse of years —
ANNO DOMINI 1817
"The Righteous shall be held in everlasting
remembrance.''
Mrs. Ann Harris, who in an indenture appointing
the first trustees is described as a spinster, left the
sum of £744 to be invested in the purchase of an
estate which should maintain a school for the
education of 40 poor children of the parish, and
for the apprenticing of some of them as far as the
money would allow. Mr. Moore of Charlton was
her executor, and during his lifetime was sole
manager. After his death the Vicar and Church
wardens were appointed to manage the school and
three feoffees to hold the property. The school
was at first kept in a house on what is called the
Island, the master living there and receiving,
according to the 'wiU, £20 per annum. But the
salary was too small for a competent person, and
accommodation was required for more than 40
boys ; new schools were built in another part of
the village by the exertion of the late Vicar, Eev.
C. O. Mayne, in 1841, at a cost of £1,006, towards
which a sum of £277 was obtained from the
funds of the charity, w^hich has since contributed
a considerable share towards the maintenance of
the school. The old schoolhouse was occupied in
part as a reading-room for 27 years, but not having
been used of late bj' the working men for whom
it was intended, and the institution being unable

a«rwBcarTC»'«r«i«'Wif3wjr?W5;p««E!PS5fft:

S90 THE CHUECH EAMBLER.
to pay the rent the reading-room was closed about
two years since. The estate produces now about
£108 per annum.
Beneath a raised tombstone in the churchyard
rest the mortal remains of the late Vicar, who
worked long and weU in this parish. Ihe tomb is
IN MEMORY OF
CHARLES OTWAY MAYNE M.A.
OF CHRIST CHURCH, PREBENDARY OF WELLS
RURAL DEAN OF FROME AND 34 YEARS VICAR OF THIS
PARISH
DIED 23 APRIL 1867 AGED 59 YEARS
" Christ is all in all."— Col. iii. 2.
" Then shall the Righteous shine forth in the kingdom
of their Father." — Matt. xiii. 43.
There are several monuments of the Savage
famUy in the church the oldest being that
IN MEMORY OF GEORGE SAVAGE
HE DIED
JULY YE 6th 1747, AGED 37
Another of their monuments is remarkable on
account of its evidence of longevity — a father and
mother both upwards of 80 and five children
upwards of 60. It is
SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF WILLIAM SAVAGE ESQ
WHO DIED JANUARY 1 784 AGED 80 YEARS
ALSO ANN HIS WIFE
WHO DIED DECEMBER I79O AGED 82 YEARS

MIDSOMER NORTON CHURCH. 291
ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF
THEIR SONS AND DAUGHTERS
WILLIAM WHO DIED SEPTEMBER iSoi
AGED 66 YEARS
GEORGE WHO DIED JANUARY l802
AGED 62 YEARS
SARAH WHO DIED OCTOBER l802
AGED 60 YEARS
JOHN WHO DIED JANUARY 1807
AGED 62 YEARS
JAMES WHO DIED FEBRUARY iSlJ
AGED 70 YEARS.
The latest is a marble monument on the north
side of the chancel, who was a magistrate and
Deputy Lieutenant for the county : —
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
THOMAS SAVAGE ESQ.
¦ OF NORTON HOUSE
IN THIS PARISH
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE AT BATH
MAY I4TH, 1859,
AGED 73 YEARS.
Outside on the east wall of the churchyard are two
slabs, evidently taken from the interior of the
church, but now so much defaced that no trace of
an inscription is visible. Eemains however are
apparent of the arms of the Bulls who at one
time owned the property of Norton Hall in
Chilcompton. A slab stone in the churchyard commemorates
a most melancholy catastrophe : —

$92 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
IN THIS GRAVE ARE DEPOSITED THE
REMAINS OF THE 12 UNDERMENTIONED
SUFFERERS, ALL OF WHOM WERE KILLED
AT WELLS WAY COAL WORKS ON THE 8TH
NOV., 1S39, BY THE SNAPPING OF THE
ROPE AS THEY WERE ON THE POINT OF
DESCENDING INTO THE PIT. THE ROPE
WAS GENERALLY SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN
MALICIOUSLY CUT.

JAMES KEEVILL AGED
MARK KEEVILL
JAMES KEEVILL, JUN.
KICHARD LANGFORD
FARNHAM LANGFORD
ALFRED LANGFORD
JAMES PEARCE
WILLIAM SUMMERS
WILLIAM ADAMS
LEONARD HOOPER DOWNING
AMOS DANDO
JOHN BARNETT

OF MIDSOMER
NORTON

4n IS13
45 151317
24
20 J
13 )J OF WELTON
41 I OF RADSTOCK

THIS STONE WAS ERECTED AT THE EXPENSE
OF THE MASTERS OF THE COAL WORKS AT
WHICH THE LAMENTABLE EVENT OCCURRED.
The accident happened at 4 a.m. on the morning
in question ; the men were coming to work, and
directly their weight came on the rope it gave
way and they fell a depth of 756 feet, " by which
frightful catastrophe,'' says a second edition of The
Bath Herald, on the same evening, " they were all
dashed to pieces and consigned to instantaneous
death. So terrible was the shock to life and limb

MIDSOMER NORTON CHURCH. 393
in falling this tremendous depth, that out of the
twelve bodies only one was sufficiently entire to
be instantly recog-nised ; the rest were literaUy
smashed and dissevered limb from limb." From
the same paper we learn that the coronei-'s jury
returned a verdict of " Wilful Murder against
some person or persons unknown," it being sup
posed that the rope, which was new and strong,
had been maliciously damaged. The accident
occurred on Friday, they were buried on Sunday,
120 miners of the district acting as bearers. There
was a concourse of not less than 4,000 people.

20 2

%. a^arp ^aglialene, ilangciDge.

HIS is a picturesquely situated and
interesting church nestling in the
hollow beneath Lansdown. It is a
small church, one of the many claim
ing it is said to be the smallest in
England. It consists of a chancel nave, south
porch and saddleback tower. Its general character
i3_^Perpendicular, but its stout rough walls testify
to an earUer origin, and there are still preserved
t'fi'o or tln'ee most interesting portions of the
primitive church. The inner doorway of the
porch is Norman with recessed shafts and bold
zig-zag moulding. On the right-hand side is
a holy water stoup. The chancel arch however
is the most noticeable feature in the building_
It is a semi-circular Norman arch, about seven
feet wide. It has very bold and handsome
mouldings and has been carefully restored to
its original form a few years since under the
direction of Mr. C. E. Davis. This was not a
restoration in the ordinary sense ; the weight
of years has driven the jiiers somewhat out of
the perpendicular and so given the arch an
elliptical form. The stones were therefore taken

.T. i.-*f vrjj-LTirL, ¦vA-'^ T. tBt*

p. JVIaj^ JVIagoalene, ^angridge, — ^outh,'

LANGRIDGE CHURCH. SOS
down and then securely put together again. Some
years since the sexton discovered when an old
waU was puUed down a curious old sculpture
which had been carelessly built up in it. It
represents the first two persons of the Trinity as
some suppose, since the principal figure is in the
act of benediction, or the Virgin with the infant
Saviour in her lap ; it is a simple piece of work
evidently of the same date as the chancel arch,
above which it has now been placed in the
belief that there is its original position. The font
is of Early English design, being of about the
same age as the tower, which consists of two

The church was partly restored and the chancel
enlarged by the addition of an apse in 1870. The
area is filled with new open seats and the arrange
ments are good. I attended service here on a
winter's evening and there was a very good con
gregation for so smaU a building. The singmg
too was very good, and I recoUect that the effect
of the favourite hymn from Hymns Ancient and
Modern — For thee, O dear, dear country,
was very touching. The service was taken by the
Eector, who also preached from 1 Kings xxi. 20—-
" And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me,
" O mine enemy 1 And he answered, I have found
" thee ; because thou hast sold thyself to work
"evU in the sight of the Lord," and amid the j
fathering gloom of the short-lived day delivered

S96 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
au excellent homily to his people upon the folly
of expecting happiness to grow out of tbe root of
sin and dwelling with considerable force upon the
consequences of evil doing.
Langridge is returned iu Domesd.ay book, where
the name is spelt Lanclieris, as the property of the
great Bishop of Coutance. In 1314 Adam Ie
Walishe or Walshe is found to hold the manor of
Langridge with the advo-n-son of the church, and
this family remained its liossessors for many
generations. They made this their chief place of
residence, says Collinson, and many of them were
buried in the parish church. Their manor house,
now a farmhouse, is stUl in existence, close to the
church, and is interesting on account of its
tower which dates from the 13th century. They
were succeeded by the Walronds, who also
resided, and were buried here. They likewise
were long possessors of Langridge until iu
the beginning of the eighteenth century one of
them sold the manor to William Blathwayt, esq.,
whose descendant. Captain Blathwayt of Dyrham
Park, is its present owner. The living is a
manorial rectory held by the Eev. Christopher
Brome Barrow, M.D., of Caius College, Cambridge.
It may be mentioned here that his rectory house
occupies the site of a Eoman villa, of which
several remains have been at various times dug up.
The church, besides its own intrinsic merit,
contains more than one monument of interest. In
the north-east corner of the church is the effigy
of a woman in the dress of the thirteenth century.

LANGRIDGE CHURCH. 297
having her hands raised in a supplicating manner.
It bears no inscription, but it is in aU probabiUty
the monument of some member of the Walsh
family, possibly the founder of the church.
Another monument which undoubtedly belongs to
the Walsh family is a brass fixed in a large grey
stone, which was originaUy placed in the chancel
floor, but which the Eector has prudently removed
to the wall of the nave. It bears the inscription —
3111c Sicet Kofietto ajBalsije, arrnlB. dul oJltt seitl trie wensls
iPsll anno Bmi. miUimo ccrcritif, cuius anlmtc iiioplcietuc Sens
amen.
Collinson speaks of a portrait also of the said
Eobert Walshe, and issuing from his mouth a
acroU -with the words, " Miserere mei Deus,"
but this has I believe since disappeared. Another
memorial brass consists of the figure of a woman
with the foUowing inscription —
jUic iacet 3E[i;a<iet<i aSUallctie 9ue oiirt xiS trie mens, aplis
anno 23mi. mccc'czlt. iiUDti9m uxor Sotiecti SHaallctjc atinloec gut
iacet In cacella (stf ecdie suae alabs jisiclet. Sens. amen.
There are also monuments to the memory of
members of the families of Walrond and of Powe,
on one stone being the words : —
HERE LYETH THE BODI OF PENELOPE POWE 1615.
In the churchyard is an interesting gravestone
to the memory of an old soldier who though he
died only two years since entered the army
seventy years ago. The story of his life reopens
a closed chapter of English histoi-y and brings us

398 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
into the field of the fierce wars of the great
Napoleon. The monument in question is
IN MEMORY OF JOHN STONE
WHO DIED 2ND FEBRUARY 1875
AGED 87 YEARS
LATE OF THE 32ND REGIMENT
WAS AT THE BATTLES OF
COPENHAGEN l807
ROLEIA, SALAMANCA, NIVE,
VlMERA, PYRENEES, ORTHES,
CORUNNA, NIVELLE, TOULOUSE.
It wiU thus be seen he took part in some of the
most glorious achievements of the British army,
and the narrative of his experiences is worthy of
introduction here. He enlisted in 1806 in the
32nd Eegt., and was discharged in July, 1823,
after a service of 17 years and two months, of
which upwards of 16 years were served abroad.
He early smelt powder for he was at the taking of
Copenhagen in 1807. He landed in 1808 at High
Mountain Bay under Gen. Spencer, and joined the
forces of Sir A. Wellesley in the Peninsula. He
was present at Eoleia, and at the defeat of Marshal
Janot at Vimiera. Subsequently he foUowed Sir
John Moore in his march into Leon and shared
the privations of the terrible retreat which ended
in the splendid 'victory of Corunna. He here
received a gunshot wound in the leg while close
to Sir John Moore, and about the same time that
the latter received his mortal wound. Stone was
left on the field and became prisoner to the French.

LANGRIDGE CHURCH. 390
Having been kept in hospital at Valladolid tUl his
wound was healed he was marched to Madrid.
While he was there the prisoners formed a plan
for escaping from the convent in which they were
confined, and Stone and four or five others tied
their rugs and blankets together and let themselves
do'wn from a window three stories high. The
rope they had thus made broke and the men
who were on it at the time falling to the ground
were severely injured. An alarm was raised, but
though pursued by cavalry Stone effected his
escape from Madrid. Without the walls he fell
next morning into the hands of guerillas with
whom he had to remain nearly eleven months
till he could be sent to Gibraltar. On his arrival
there in the autumn of 1810 he was sent back to
England and rejoined his regiment on the home
station. He went out with it again to the
Peninsula, and took part in the attack on the forts
by the light companies of his division previous
to the battle of Salamanca. He was -with General
Bowes, who was the first to mount the waU. On
reaching the ladder the General was shot down
and so was the Brigadier Major who foUowed him.
A shot then smashed the ladder and so Stone and
the other men were obliged to retire. At
Salamanca he was shot in the leg, and again at
the Pyrenees he had a similar wound. Neverthe
less he served through the series of engagements
in which WeUington beat Soult back step by step
— ^the battles of Nive, Nivelle, Orthes and
Toulouse. By all these varied experiences he

300 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
had well earned his discharge and the medal and
nine clasps with which he was rewarded.
There is now only one beU in the tower of
Langridge Church, but that is a preEeformation
one, and bears the inscription —
Si JLmtsem Qt SReSona S i^ttftaelt.
CoUison speaks of two others of equal antiquity,
which seem to have existed in his time. On the
first was the inscription- Cane 3(a]^annej£ ^$n.
And on the other —
S>tt nomen tramtnt IienetrCctum.
I should be glad to know if any book of church
wardens' accounts is preserved in the parish which
throws any light upon the fate of these bells. I
expect there is little doubt they were sacrificed to
pay for some repairs to the fabric.

3 --^ JJl II'.T (I jn

^. jJoHN ;PaPT1ST, J<EYNSHAM  )VeST.

^. 3fof)n OBaptist, me^nsfjam.

EYNSHAM, "Smoky Keynsham," as
it was once proverbiaUy caUed on
account of its foggy climate, is a
large country town on the highroad
from Bath to Bristol, with a longer
and more varied history than is generally possessed
by places of like character, and yet, strange to say,
few have more completely lost all trace of their
past. The stranger passing through the length
and breadth of Keynsham would but for its
church gain little idea of the early history of
the place. Yet its history goes back beyond the
clear light of known fact to the dim dawm of
tradition. It goes back to the early British period,
before our English forefathers had put off in their
barks from the lowlands of Jutland, before even
Csesar had stormed the chalk cliffs of Albion, to a
time when the face of the land was covered with
thick woods, when our now poisoned rivers were
teeming with fish, and the wild boar and the wolf
and all the creatures of the forest wandered where
now man alone may tread in freedom. To that
period has the monkish annalist referred a story

n^iw^agj^ngajni

302 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
which reads like a faint cojDy of the Irish national
legend, wherein S. Patrick induced all the snakes to
Commit suicide
To save themselves from slaughter.
We are asked to beUeve that Keynsham derived
its name from S. Keyna, daughter of Bragham,
Prince of that part of Wales which was afterwards
called after him Brecknockshire. He was the
father of a family of saints. The daughter whom
I have mentioned grew up a very beautiful lady
and was sought in marriage by many suitors.
But she refused them all in consequence of a per
petual vow she had made, whence the Welsh
named her Keyna the Virgin. At length to escape
the attention of her admirers she left her native
country, and crossing the Severn and the Avon
came here and asked permission of the King of
this district to establish her hermitage where
Keynsham now is. He granted her desire, but
told her the place was not safe to live in because
it was infested with serpents. But the tongue of
S. Keyna was as powerful as the glance of
Medusa ; she prayed and all the reptile were
turned into stone and became the ammonites which
abound in the quarries, and which naturalists call
Cornua Ammonis. With tangible proof like this
who can doubt the truth of the legend? The
standing stones of Stanton Drew have even
been ascribed to her, but details are wanting.
Mr. Poole, iu a recent treatise on the
legends of Somerset, completes the story of the

KEYNSHAM CHURCH. 383
.saint after she had rid herself of the snakes.
" Here in this solitude the Holy Virgin passed her
" life, and was found by S. Cadoc, who wished her
"to accompany him home, but the inhabitants
" would not allow it. However some time after
" the saint, admonished by an angel, returned to
"the place of her nativity, and there, on the
" summit of a lofty mountain, she took up her
" abode, obtaining a spring of water by her inter-
" cession. Here she remained for many years,
" practising wonderful austerity untU the time of
" her dissolution, of which she was warned by a
" vision, in which she saw a pillar of fire resting
" on her bed (the bare pavement strewn over -with
" a few branches of trees) ; and two angels, who
" seemed to take off her hair cloth and to clothe
"her -with fine garments warning, her to make
" herself ready for the marriage feast of the Lamb.
" On awaking she found herself in a fever, which
" she regarded as the precursor of death, which
" soon took place. During her last moments she
" was comforted by angels ; and so sweet a
"fragrance proceeded from her body, that the
" bystanders seemed to be in Paradise."
My readers in Bath wiU remember too that at
Keynsham lived the employer of Bladud the leper.
But to come to information that is reliable, the
large manor of Keynsham was held at the time of
the Great Survey by the King, and to it were
attached eight houses in the city of Bath. Half a
hide in the parish was held by the great Bishop of
Coutance. Great part of this hundred was a royal

304 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
chase, and Leland tells us that in his time there
was hard without Keynsham a park of the King's
walled with stone. In 1224 Ealph de WUinton
was appointed by King Henry III. warden of the
forest or chase of Keynsham. It subsequently
became attached to the honor of Gloucester, and
was held by the great Earls of that name until
1170. WiUiam, Earl of Gloucester, had at the
dying request of his son Eobert founded at Keyn
sham an Abbey of Black Canons, which he dedi
cated to the honour of God, the blessed Virgin
Mary and SS. Peter and Paul, and in the year
named he bestowed upon it the manor and
hundred of Keynsham. His gift was confirmed
by GUbert de Clare, a subsequent Earl, and suc
cessively by King Edward II. in 1318, and by
King Edward III. in 1337. This abbey was
enriched by many subsequent gifts, so that at the
dissolution its revenues were £419 14s. 3d. The
abbot and monks subscribed to the King's supre
macy on the 18th of August, 1534, and surrendered
on the 2.3rd of January, 1539. The buildings of
the Abbey are said to have been large and magni
ficent, but none of them now remain. If it seems
strange that such a fiue establishment should have
been so completely swept away, some light may be
thrown on the point by the record that on the 5th
of July, 1535, King Henry VIII. let to farm
the site of the Abbey of Keynsham to John
Panter for a term of 21 years, together with a
close called "Covent Orchard," consisting of 15
acres, at a yearly rent of six shillings and eight-

KEYNSHAM CHURCH. 305
pence, the tenant to repair the houses and build
ings. This individual was not likely to trouble
about preserving the Abbey, and there is evi
dence in tbe story which I must tell of the subse
quent disposal of the manor, to show that the
Abbey Church and buildings were only regarded
as a quarry whence stone might be obtained for
the purposes of the owners. The people of Cairo
have treated the Pyramids in the same fashion.
King Henry VIII. settled the manor of Keyn
sham on Queen Katherine Parr, his sixth
wife, whose name sticks in all school boys'
memories because of the singular fact which is
recorded of her — "and she outlived him." She
then married Sir Thomas Seymour, Lord High
Admiral, who was therefore thought to be aiming
at the Crown, and on suspicion of treasonable
ambition was sent by his own brother, the Lord
Protector, to Tower hiU. His wife died iu 1548
and the property reverted to the Crown. In 1550
King Edward VI. granted the manor and hundred
of Keynsham, the manor of Brislington and all
their belongings to Sir John S. Lo, Knight, for
the period of sixty years. This lease was in part
given up, and in 1552 the King granted Estover
and Westover in the parish of Keynsham, the
church and rectory and other property to Thomas
Bridges, esq. But in the grant are excepted the
lead and beUs in and upon the site of the
monastery, which are reserved by the Crown.
This Thomas Bridges was a courtier in the
previous reign, and at the funeral of King Henry

306 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
VIII. bore the dragon standard between two
sergeants-at-.arms with their maces. He was son
of Sir GUes Bridges, of Coberley Gloucestershire,
and brother of Sir John Bridges, created Baron
Chandos of Sudley Castle, Gloucestershire, in
1554. The family is said to have derived its origin
from the old Montgomeries of Brugge Castle
Shropshire, whence the name. Thomas Bridges
was sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1550, and in
the reigii of Queen Mary was an officer of the
Tower under his brother. Lord Chandos. By his
wUl dated October 18th, 1559, he left £40 towards
repairing the bridge and causeway of Keynsham
with as much stone of the late Abbey Church
there as might be needful for the repair of the
said bridge provided it was done 'within two years
after his death. This shows the fate of the Abbey
which was pulled down to build a house for the
Bridges family who resided there for many years,
and whose monuments crowd the chancel of the
church. But they subsequently abandoned it,
and falling into disrepair it was pulled down in
1776 when certain remains of the Abbey were dis
covered. Within the last few years the site has
been again uncovered, and the bases of certain
columns and fragments of rich pavement are
exposed to view. They have been visited by Mr.
J. T. Irvine and other antiquaries, and described
in two or three archaeological publications. The
present Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, the
Governor of Madras, is the representative of the
Bridges family but the property in this neighbour-

KEYNSHAM CHURCH. 307
hood wiis sold some five and twenty yeai-s ago and
aU connection with this district is broken.
With regard to the manor and hundred of
Keynsham, exclusive of the Bridges property.
King -lames I. granted it by letters patent
dated March 6th, 1613, to Anne Whitmore, of
London. It remained in the hands of her descend
ants tiU towards the close of the last century, when
it was purchased from the family by Edward
Lyne, M.D., whose descendants have held it ever
since. Harford Lyne, esq., J.P., is the present
lord of the manor.
Keynsham bridge before spoken of is the only
ancient bridge between Bath and Bristol, and so
in a western rising, such as Monmouth's rebellion
it was of importance to hold it or destroy it, lest
the contagion of revolt should spread into Glouces
tershire, and so run on northward. Students of
English literature may Uke to be reminded that
in describing the journeyings of Tom Jones from
Prior Park and of Sophia, whereby they both
reached Upton, Fielding evidently took them across
this bridge.
Like most of the western towns Keynsham was
in its day a seat of the clothing trade and a con
siderable woollen manufacture was carried on
here, but it graduaUy feU off, though in CoUinson's
time many of the poor were employed in spinning
for the Bradford, Trowbridge and Shepton
clothiers. -Then the construction of the Bath
turnpike roads made Keynsham a halting place on
the great road from London to Bath and Bristol.

SOS THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
The principal inn is named the Lamb and Lark.
The Lamb in these signs is often derived from the
Lamb of the Eevelatiori, and it would be easy to
see how this sign came dowu from an ecclesiastical
source. "The History of Signboards" however
has the following passage : — "At the present day
" there is a Lamb and Lark at Keynsham, Bath, and
" in Printing House lane, Blackfriars. It is a typical
" representation of the proverb, ' Go to bed with
"the lainh and rise with the larTc^ " which proverb
I may add is as old as the nursery tale of " Little
Goody Two Shoes." The introduction of railways
robbed the great roads of their traffic, and the
comparative desertion of the Bath and Bristol
road is almost melancholy to look at. Keynsham
is more fortunate than many other halting places,
inasmuch as the destroyers of the stage coaches
put one of their own stations here, and Keynsham
now appears in a new character, which renders its
prosperity dependent upon the prosperity of
Bristol. Many of the busy people of that city
have built villas out here at Keynsham, so that they
can live away from the sight and sound of trade.
The place in this way seems to be growing rapidly,
and with the rows and rows of houses that are
being put up on the outskirts of Bristol the two
may some day meet.
The Church of Keynsham is a remarkably large
building and not devoid of architectural interest.
It consists of a chancel with south chapel, nave
with north and south aisles and western tower.
The date of its foundation is not known, but it

KEYNSHAM CHUECH. 309
was in existence in 1292. The chancel is the
oldest part of the church and is probably original.
It is Early English in character, and on the outside
several arrow-headed windows are visible which
have been blocked up by monuments on the inside.
In the restoration they have been very carefully
preserved. The east window is modern and is
fiUed with stained glass representing the Adoration
by the wise men, the Crucifixion and the Eesur
rection. It is " in memory of Edward Stephenson,
late Major in her Majesty's 3rd regiment of
Infantry, died 29 Aug. 1848 aged 58."
The north and south sides of the nave are of
very different dates. The pillars on the south
side are of the 14th century, those on the north are
late Perpendicular, and so slender as to cease to
be graceful. They do not seem substantial enough
for the weight they carry. There is a correspond
ing difference in the exterior, though the windows
nowall have Perpendicular tracery. Thesouth aisle
and the chapel, which is in continuation of it, and
of the same date, have a plain parapet, the
moulding beneath which is filled with the famiUar
ball flower ornament. There is a handsome south
porch with a tabernacle for the figure of a saint
over the outer door, and stone vaulting within^
The arch of the outer door and the crowned heads
which terminate its weather moulding are modern.
On the north side there is a doorway now waUed
np from which Mr. Earle would be incUned to
arcue the former existence of a Norman church.
This aisle has a casteUated parapet, beneath which
21 2

310 THE CHURCH BAMBLEB.
are some most grotesque gargoyles, interesting and
amusing as these productions of grim monkish
humour always are. One over the west window
particularly impressed me. It bears a far-off resem
blance to a cat, and is clinging sideways in desperate
terror to a very narrow moulding. Its attitude
expresses in every line anguish on this account ;
its head moreover is t-wisted back, and across,
its face, which is turned full towards the beholder,
flits that sudden spasm of pain which we know
accompanies a cricked neck. What the exact in
tention of the maker was in any of these
grotesques, whether satirical, humorous or didactic,
we cannot now tell, but the things suggest
to me such readings as the above, and as I gaze
the idea grows till the things at last seem almost
Teal. The Church was originally of the same type as
Somerton, Stoke-under Hambden and Frome, with
a central tower on the north side. The stump of
this can stUl be seen ; the belfry arch was a very
fine one with leafy capitals representiug oak-
leaves and acorns wreathed round the columns.
The Church had then u, handsome west front as
Frome has now. At each corner is a little turret
and the marks of the side doors now blocked are
fUstinctly visible. The centre has of course been
destroyed in building the present tower. The
cause of this change inthe structure of the Church
is given in a rare and curious church brief which
is preserved in the vestry. Though it is somewhat
lengthy, as aU legal documents and partioulariy

KEYNSHAM CHUECH. 311
Toyal proclamations are, I think it wiU be of
interest to my readers, as we have not before come
across anything Uke it : —
Charles, by the Grace of God, King of Engkind,
Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c.,
to all and singular. Archbishops, Bishops, Archdeacons,
Deanes, and their Officials ; Parsons, vicars, curatts,
and to all spiritual Parsons, And also to all Justices of
the Peace, Maiors, Sheriffs, whatsoever they be, as well
within Liberties as without, to whom these presents
shall come, greeting.
Whereas by the humble supplication and Petition of
the Inhabitants of the Towne and Parish of Keynsham,
in our County of .Somerset, As also by several Cer
tificates under the hands of our right trusty and right
well-beloued lohn Lord Poulet, and under the hands of
our trusty and well-beloued subjects, Sir Ralph Hopton,
Knight of the Bath, Sir Ferdinand Gorges, Sir Francis
Popham, Sir John Horner, and Sir Robert Hopton,
Knights ; Thomas .Smith, Francis Baber, William
Francis, Robert Cuffe, John Harrington, Arthur Pyne,
William Caliill, William Bassett and Anthony Stocker,
Esquires, Justices of the Peace within our said County,
And by seuerall AfKdauits we are credibly given to
understand that the Parish Church of Keynsham, in our
County aforesaid, being a very faire large and substan-
tiall Church, and a great ornament to the sayd Towne,
is lately most lamentably ruinated by reason of a
most disasterous misfortune by Tempestuous weather,
happening upon the thirteenth day of January, 1632,
Which continued in a most fearefuU manner, being in
termixed with hideous Clapps of Thunder and flashes
of Lightning about sixe of the clock in the aftemoone

312 THE CHUECH EAMBLER.
of the same day. And by reason of the force thereof in
a moment threw down the Steeple or Spire of the
Tower, which in the fall thereof crushed downe like
wise the greatest and principallest parte of the body of
the said Church, Chancell, Vestry, Pulpit and Seates,
and defaced the Pauement also, And the Tower being
therewith erased from the Top of the foundation, And
the Glasse Windowes for the most part utterly
rent and Torne, And that part whicli is standing
is subject to a further ruyne unless some speedy
course bee forthwith taken. The repayring of
which ruynes and decayes as aforesaid by the
judgment of men well-experienced in such workes will
Amount unto the Summe of Sixe Hundred Ninety or
Seven Hundred Pounds at the least, The said Parishioners
being men of small ability (they for the most part being
poore handicrafts men) are of themselves, though willing,
utterly unable to undergoe this so great a burthen and
are likely by reason of their inabilitie to become
destitute of a Church for the Celebration of divine
Worship, And therefore they have most humbly
besought us that according to our Princely zeale to
works of this nature we would be graciously pleased to
commend the furtherance of so godly and religious a
worke to the charitable consideration and beneuolence
of all our louing weldisposed subjects within certaine
counties and places of this our Realme hereafter
mentioned. Not doubting but that all good Christians
will (for Common Charity and zeale to Religion) bee
ready with all willingness to extend their liberall con
tributions towards the effecting of so necessary and
Religious a work.
Know yee that wee tending the humble prayer and
request of all our foresaid Justices, and the Severall

KEYNSHAM CHURCH, 313
AfRdauits of the truth of the matter made unto us on
their behalfes, and amongst all pyous works and deedes
of Charity, Esteeming the house of God to bee the
pryme place and most needful to be estabUshed and
maintayned of Our especiall grace and Princely com
passion, have giuen and granted and by these Our
Letters Patents do giue and grant unto my well beloved
Subjects the Inhabitants of tbe aforesayd Towne and
parish of Keynsham, and to their Deputy and Deputies
the Bearer or Bearers thereof full power, licence and
authority to aske, gather, receive and take the Almes
and charitable Benevolence of all our loving subjects
within our counties of Somerset, Cornwell, Devon,
Dorset, Wilts, Berks, Southampton, Buckingham and
Gloucester, Hereford, Surrey and Middlesex, with our
Citties of London and Westminster with the Subburbs
and Liberties thereof, and in our Citties of Bristol,
Bathe, Welles and Exeter, Our Towne and County
of Poole, our Citties of Salisbury and Winchester, our
town and county of Southampton with our Isle of
Wight, our Citty and University of Oxford, our Citty of
Gloucester with the county of the same, our Citty of
Hereford and in our Borough of Southwarke, and in
all of the Citties, Townes, Corporate, Priviledged
Places, Parishes, Villages, and in all places whatsoeuer
within our said Counties, and not elsewhere for and
towards the reedifying and repayring of the said Church.
Wherefore we will and command you and require of
you that at such time and times as the sayd Inhabitants
of Keynsham, their Deputy and Deputies, the Bearer or
Bearers hereof shall come and repaire to any your
Churches, Chapels or other places, to aske and receive
the gratuities and charitable beneuolence of our said
subjects, quietly permit and suffer them so to doe with-

314 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
out any manner your lets or contradictions. And you,
the sayd Parsons, 'Vicars and Curats, for the better
stirring up of a charitable devotion, deliberately to pub
lish and declare the tension of these our Letters Patents or
the Coppy or Briefe hereof unto our said subjects, upon
some Sabbath when as the same shall be tendred unto
you, exhorting and persuading them to extend their-
liberal contributions in so good and charitable a deed.
And you, the churchwardens of every parish where
such collections is to bee made (as aforesaid) to collect.
and gather the almes and charitable benevolence of all
our loving subjects as with strangers as others. And
what shall be by you gathered to be by the minister
and yourselves endorsed on th^ backside of these our
Letters Patents or the Coppy or Briefe thereof, in words
at length and not in figures. And the summe and.
summes of money so gathered and endorsed to deliver
to the Bearer or Bearers of these our Letters Patents,
and to no other person when as thereunto you shall be
required. Any Statute Law, Ordinance or Prouision-
heretofore made to the contrary in any wise notwith
standing. In witness whereof we have caused these our Letters
to be made Patents for the space of one whole year next
after the date hereof to endure. Witness our selfe at
Westminster, the i6th Day of January, in the ninth-
yeare of our raigne.
Dawe.
The repairs from the proceeds of this brief were
made in 1634, and the new tower was erected at
the west end. It is of mixed Perpendicular and
debased work, and though on examination it
shows faults which betray its late date, its general

KEYNSHAM CHURCH. 315
effect is good, and its appearance from the distance
imposing. It forms a prominent feature in the
view from many spots for miles round, and to
anyone entering Keynsham, it stands in a com
manding position. It is divided into three stages
by string courses, and the parapet has a danoette
moulding, the triangular spaces being pierced with
trefoil opening. It also is said to have been erected
from materials afforded by the ruins of the Abbey
Church. The tower is almost aU that remains of the
work done by the restorers of 1634, but they also
placed iu the chancel a plaster ceiling arched and
divided into panels with various bosses, and in
the centre a shield charged with the arms of
the Brydges family. They placed over the nave
an ugly plaster ceiling which with the mutilated
chancel arch gave a hideous appearance to the
church. At the same time a chancel screen of very
poor design, surmounted by the royal arms, was
erected ; it is now placed on the south side of the
chancel. In 1862 the church was very admirably restored,
and the contrast between the church as it was and
as it is is very instructive. The old chancel arch
has been replaced by a new one of suitable design,
the richly panelled oak roofs of the north and
south aisles have been restored by the munificence
of a lady, and instead of the plaster ceiUng iu the
nave there is now a handsome open timbered roof,
designed after traces which were discovered of an
older one. The chancel was restored and a new

316 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
roof placed upon it by the family of the Duke of
Buckingham ; the base of the former tower
restored and the old vestry removed, the old
chantry on the south side of the chancel— as to
the builders of which I have no information — being
now used for that purpose. But moreover the
present open seats take the place of high, ugly
pews, and the present proper arrangement of
reading-desk and pulpit is instead of the old-
fashioned boxes ascending one above the other
half-way dowu the nave, with an extinguisher
suspended above the higher one. The work carried
out in 1862, under the direction of Mr. B. Ferrey,
was very valuable, and seems to me to have been
done in a satisfactory manner.
A new font was placed in the church at the
same time, the gift of all the trades who had taken
part in the work. The old font, resembling in
form the pedestal of a sun-dial, now stands at the
east end cf the nave. Eound it is carved " The
gift of Henry Bridges, esq., 1725." The pulpit is
of oak and bears date 1634.
The most interesting feature in the church is
however the carved oak screen which separates the
chapel from the south aisle, and which I take it
once extended across the chancel also. There are
few such screens to be found in the district.
Banwell has one, but I have not found one in the
course of these rambles. This of Keynsham is a
very beautiful piece of Perpendicular work. It
has been carefully cleaned and is very well
preserved. The arch of the chapel is remarkably

KEYNSHAM CHURCH. 317
thick and flat panelled. In the chancel is a double
piscina, and the present entrance to the pulpit led
originally I suppose to the rood loft.
WeU as the church has been restored it
appeared to me from the state of the windows
when I visited it that it has not yet been made
weather-tight, and it struck me that the house of
God is not treated with that reverent care which
we expect. I walked round the churchyard and
I was never in a worse kept one. There was no
path round the church, but grass and nettles had
been aUowed to grow across the graves and every
where else so that in some places I was literally knee
deep in them. Then too I fouud that the
beautiful porch is thought worthy of no better
purpose than to shelter the fire-engine. Is not
the parish w'ealthy enough to find some shed to
cover this useful machine without desecrating the
parish church 1 Against the side of the porch
there is a wooden shanty to serve as a coal-
cellar for the heating apparatus. I was surprised
also to see that on a handsome marble monument
set up in 1876 the following doggerel —
Affliction sore long time I bore
Physicians were in vain
Till God did please that life should cease
And ease me of my pain.
The living of Keynsham is a vicarage in private
patronage. It is at present in the gift of the Eev.
Alfred Peache, M.A., Downend, Bristol, and is
held by the Kev. John Henry Gray, M.A., of

318 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
Trinity College, Dublin. The prayers were read
by the curate and the vicar preached when I was
present. The service is strictly Evangelical in
character, the hymn book in use being the late
Eev. Prebendary Kemble's " New Church Hymn
Book." The chancel is occupied by the monuments of
the Bridges family. On the north side within the
Communion raUs is a large altar tomb, on which
is a recumbent efiigy iu armour of the first of the
family buried in this Church — Henry Bridges, esq.,
who died on the 14th of April, 1697, and is
honoured with a long Latin inscription. Over his
tomb is a Eenascence canopy in the form of two
arches above which are two flesh-coloured figures,
the intended solemnity of whose appearance is
completely destroyed by the fact that one of them
is headless. The opposite wall is covered with a
most extravagant monument to the memory of the
fourth in descent from him — Sir Thomas Bridges,
K.B. The monument represents the knight in the
robes of his order kneeling under a canopy sup
ported by twisted columns. From his arm hang
the ribbon and badge of the Bath. He wears a
golden crown on his head, and on either side
under separate canopies an angel offers him
another crown. The canopy above his head is
intended to represent the clouds in which comes
an angel with a trumpet, and in his mouth
a ribbon -with an inscription which is now
Ulegible. On the panel beneath is the foUowing
inscription : —

KEYNSHAM CHURCH. 319
TO THE MEMORY OF SIR THOMAS BRIDGES,
KNIGHT OF THE NOBLE ORDER OF THE BATH,
SON OF SIR THOMAS BRIDGES, OF KEYNSHAM,
KNT. AND OF ANNA, ONE OF THE DAUGHTERS
AND HEIRS OF SIR EDWARD RODNEY, OF
RODNEY-STOKE IN THIS COUNTY, KNT. WHO BY
HIS FATHER WAS DESCENDED FROM THE RIGHT
HONOURABLE AND MOST ANCIENT FAMILIE OF
THE LORDS CHANDOS, BARONS OF SUDLEY >'
CASTLE IN THE COUNTY OF GLOUCESTER; AND
BY HIS MOTHER FROM THE ILLUSTRIOUS DUKES
OF NORFOLKE AND SOMERSETT. HE RECEIVED
HIS HONOUR ON THE I9TH OF APRIL IN THE
YEAEE OF OUR LORD 1661, AND ON THE 23D
OF THE SAME MONETH ATTENDED AT THE
CORONATION OF HIS MAJESTY KING CHARLES
THE SECOND. AND ON SATURDAY THE FIRST
OF JUNE IN THE SAME YEAR 1661, HEE EX
CHANGED HIS TRANSITORY FOR AN ETERNAL
WEIGHT OF GLOEY, AND IN HOPES OF A
GLORIOUS REUNION WITH HIS IMMORTAL SOUL.
NEARE UNTO THIS PLACE RESTETH HIS EARTHLY
AND MORTAL PART.
Reader, if thou haste ought that's deare.
Express 't by thy compassion here,
Soe may noo force of destiny
Cause future floweings from thine eye ;
Know that the neighbouring earth enshrines
The casket of a gemme divine ;
Nature on one all sweetness plac'd,
T'other embellished was by grace ;
Of both the full perfections join'd,
Beautyes and virtues rays combined.

S20 THE CHURCH BAMBLEB.
A peerless brightness to compose,
¦Which death ecclips'd ev'n as it rose ;
And rend'ring it as short as bright.
Left us envelop'd in an endless night.
In summe there lye his parents worthy chief
Delight and hopes, tlieirgreatest joy and grief.
Christ was his life, who taught him soone to dye.
And gave by death a blest eternity.
This knight, like his lather who erected the
monument and is also buried here, were noted
Eoyalists and sacrificed much of their fortune in
the Stuart cause.
A lady of the family is honoured with a
curious inscriiatioii —
TO THE RELIGIOUS MEMORIE OF MRS. PHILLIP
BRIDGES, WIFE OF EDWARD BRIDGES, ESQ. AND
BELOVED DAUGHTER OF SIR GEORGE SPEKE,
KNIGHT OF THE HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE
BATH, WHO DIED THE 6tH DAY OF DECEMBER
1628; HER AGE 34.
Here under buried lyeth, but lives above,
A female Joseph for her father's love ;
Loving and loved of her beoved mate,
His care-away, and stay unto his state ;
Whom winter's chill that all things elce decaies
Nipt off before the autumn of her dales ;
.Seven buddes she left behind, her fruits of grace
Are with Her gon vnto the heavenly place,
Where we which now do part with grief, with joy shall
meet
When GoD shall raise up us, and tread death under feet.
The foUowing also on a lady is a strange doggerel
inscription —

KEYNSHAM CHUECH. 321
HERE LYETH THE BODY OF ANNA, TIIE DAUGHTER
OF MR. THOMAS AND MRS. MARY LEMAN, WHO
DEPARTED APRIL 23, 1633, ^TATIS SVJE, I9.
Grim death, the eater meate doth give.
By that which did me kill, I live ;
The grave devours me, but I shall
Live to see its funeral ;
After some ages more are spent.
The gluttonous grave shall keep a lent.
The next on a member of the same sex has the
most merit of the three. The name of Flower is
a frequent one in Saltford Church and others in
the neighbourhood of Bath —
MRS. JOANE FLOVER.
Anag. — Love for anic.
Having by love fulfiU'd the law, she dies.
That natvre's law might have its sacrifice.
Be not thov curious, reader, to knowe
The jewel in earth's cabinet below ;
If an inscription will give content,
This stone can tell she liv'd as innocent
As here she lies : If saints receive their blis.
Precious in God's sight this jewel is.
If this please not, reade thou her name, and find
The express characters of her sweet mind.
To be where she's, think thov it noe disgrace.
An element should be in its proper place.
Thus earth to earth — like is of like desir'd.
And thou expect the like when life's expir'd.
Noe triumph, death ! that sovldier's not slayne.
That trumpet's sounds can raise— to die is gayne.
Carendo potius quam fruendo beneficium agnoscimus.

S22 THE CHURCH BAMBLEB.
There are not many other monuments of note
in the church. I copied the foUowing —
THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED
TO THE MEMORY OF
EDWARD LYNE, ESQ.
THE REPRESENTATIVE OF AN ANCIENT
AND RESPECTABLE F.AMILY
AND POSSESSOR OF THE MANORIAL RIGHTS
OF KEYNSHAM.
HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE
THE I5TII DAY OF SEPTEMBER, l8l8,
AT HIS HOUSE LANSDOWN CRESCENT, BATH,
IN THE 63RD YEAR OF HIS AGE.
HIS MORTAL REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED
IN WALCOT CHURCHYARD
ACCORDING TO HIS DESIRE.
The following inscription on a tomb set up in
1813 is also worth transcribing —
Meek was her temper
Modest was her life
A Tender Mother
And a loveing Wife
But now she's gone
Much like a harmless dove
To join the Blessed
In the realms above.

P, J'llCHOI.AS, ^I^OMHAM,— JJOJ^TH,

%, 5l3icf)0las, TBrom&am.

1

i

ALFWAY between Melksham and
Devizes stands Bromham, one of the
most picturesque and most pleasing
villages I have yet seen. It is. at
a remarkable elevation. The old
London road as far as Melksham is a continual
ascent, and in that cleanest of country towns we
feel that we are at a great height .above the sea.
But to reach Bromham another steep hill has
to be mounted, and then a charming drive
between flowery banks and thick hedges leads
through a most beautiful country to the village
wc seek. I went there on a clear bright
morning in September, whose afterglory seemed
designed to console us for a wet and a broken
summer. There was therefore nothing of the
softening mellow effect which a summer sun casts
over the landscape, the outlines of trees and
hedgerows stood out sharp and clear, and the
shape of tbe hills seemed embossed upon the sky.
Between Bromham and Melksham one feels I
should imagine as far away from the haunts of
men as is possible in any cultivated portion of this

324 THE CHUECH EAMBLER,
island. In the distance are the Wiltshire downs,
and the heights of Eoundway and the Cherhill
white horse are familiar friends easily recognised.
Between them and us we only see a broad strerch
of well-tilled fields, dotted here and there with
l^lantations of trees, dotted here and there with
snug homesteads and their comfortable hayricks
and surroundings. Some of these farmhouses we
find too as we pass close by them have stood
since the reign of our first queen regnant Queen
Elizabeth, and some perhaps longer. With the
exception of these dwellings, which seem indeed a
necessary part of the scene, we are free from the
thought of man ; we may truly say we are in the
wilds of Wiltshire.
There is reason to believe that the Eomans if not
the British worked iron here, an iron furnace and
other indications to that effect having been dis
covered. According to Sir E. C. Hoare the Eoman
station of Verlucio was in this parish, about a mile
north of the present village. The first time how
ever that Bromham appears in the records is in the
reign of King Edward the Confessor, when it was
the lordship of Earl Harold, afterwards King.
After the Conquest it is said to have been granted
by the Conqueror or Eufus to the monks of Battle
Abbey. There is a house near the church and an
estate adjoining called Bromham Battle, and also
a piece of ground of nearly 100 acres, called
Abbot's wood, which is exempt from tithes. In a
description of the boundaries of Melksham forest
it is mentioned that the Forest was in some part

t^

"igLaM'ireTgiMWjjgn-j

BROMHAM CHURCH. 325
bounded by lands belonging to the Abbey of
Battle. Lord S. Amand who died in 1403 was
owner of old Bromham house. Among the charters
in the British Museum is a Latin decree regulating
the appointment of chaplain and burials in the
Chapel of S. George at Semington, which decree
issued from Eichard Beauchamp, Bishop of Sarum,
and was executed in the parish church of Bromham
on the 28th of May, 1470.
Eichard Beauchamp Lord S. Amand dying
-without issue his manor of Bromham came to
his cousin John Baynton of Falstone, who had
been attainted of treason in 1473, but the at
tainder was reversed in 1504. In 1538 Sir E.
Baynton of Bromham was lord of the manor of
Whaddon. He was Latimer's patron aud died in
France in 1544 whUe attending King Henry VIII.
as Vice-Chancellor. It is thought that at the dis
solution of monasteries the Abbey land at Brom
ham was also granted to this famUy who became
of great influence in the county and whose monu
ments we have met with in other places. There
were lands attached to a chantry chapel in Brom
ham Church, part of which were granted in 1565
to one Simon Sloper.
The Bayntons were succeeded by their descend
ants the Starkys the last of whom died in Aus
tralia. The estates were sold in 1864, when the
Crown bought the larger part of the parish.
The other purchaser was John W. G. Spicer, esq.,
of Spye parls who is lord of the manor. The
population of Bromham has been decreasing for
22 2

/

rrraaUWEiwrBiar

S26 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
some years, as in other places where the decline of
the western cloth trade has left no other occupation
than agriculture. Houses have disappeared too,
but since the property has passed to the Crown
many improvements have been effected and the
downward tendency may now be arrested.
The Church of S. Nicholas consists of a nave
with south aisle, central tower, chancel and private
chapel. It is evidently a church of Norman
foundation as its plan to a certain extent shows.
Moreover besides the porch on the south side there
is the trace of a door walled up on the north side
of the nave, as well as of some narrow arrow-
headed windows also of early date. The general
style of the nave is Perpendicular, -with four
square-headed windows on the north side. The
piUars in the nave are octagonal, the windows of
the south aisle large four-centered, corresponding
with those in the chapel. The roof of the nave is
an old timbered one, but the aisle is covered with
plaster. I imagine that this could be removed
with good effect as the bay adjacent to the tower
has a flat stone groining with a large pendant
different from anything I have yet seen in our
country churches, and this was entirely covered
with plaster until a few years ago.
The chancel aisle or Baynton Chapel is very
rich in beauty and interest both within and
without. It is believed to have been erected at
the same period and by the same persons as the
chantry attached to the Church of S. John,
Devizes. It is crowned by battlements, and these

BROMHAM CHURCH. 327
are richly carved with roses and other devices,
surrounding a number of shields charged with
the arms of different families to whom the Bayn
tons were aUied. At the ends of the label
mouldings of the windows the figures of angels
were placed also carrying shields, and over the
east 'window is the flgure of an angel holding an
infant child. The gargoyles, as may be supposed,
are very weU studied and grotesque. The clear
ness and freshness which the carving still retains
is not the least remarkable feature of the chapel
considering the open situation in which it stands
— at a great height and exposed to the wind off
Salisbury Plain. It shows that the old builders
could find Bath stone that was durable.
The original roof of the chapel remains, painted
in blue and gold, with many shields still bearing
traces of the colours with which they were once
richly blazoned. The old wood screen separating
the chapel from the chancel and the aisle is stUl
preserved, and there is the canopy where a statue
has once stood and the recess of the altar place.
Hung round the walls were once the armour, the
banners and the trophies of the Bayntons, but time
has done its work, and one by one they have
dropped from their rusty nails till only a helmet
and a gauntlet remain— imperfect memorials of the
prowess of men long since forgotten. The most
striking monument in the chapel is an altar tomb
of alabaster standing in the centre of the chapel.
It is surmounted by a recumbent figure of a knight
in fuU armour. It bears no name or inscription

; 328 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
by which to identify it, but it has been sadly
i mutUated. The chapel is now kept in a proper
I manner, but years ago it was the place in which
I the school chUdren were placed. During divine
I service they amused themselves by carving their
¦{ initials and dates aU over the monument. I
I was told, by a lady who had examined it with
f greater care than I was in a position to do,
I that these desecrations began as far back as the
1 reign of King James I.
' But the chief interest of the chapel centres
i in some remarkably fine brasses which have
i> escaped the greed of church robbers with more
j than ordinary success. They show very clearly
\ how lasting is a memorial of brass for the
|! delicate and diffioult work upon the metal re-
; mains as clear and sharp as when first cut, the
: practised eye can even trace the marks of the
tool. But what is more unusual is that the wax
ot different colours, with which the shields were
emblazoned and the dresses of the figures shown,
still remains on portions of the brasses and its
brightness is undimmed.
The most interesting in this respect is the
monument under the canopy at the north-east
end of the chapel. It is to the memory of a
: lady, name unknown, and consists of a female
j; figure in brass with the following inscription on
j a brass scroll —
\ SANCTA TRINITAS UNUS DEUS (MISERERE.)
I The last word is gone. Opposite it is a monument
\ of Purbeck marble of similar foi-m to the memory

BROMHAM CHURCH. 329
of Su- Edward Baynton and his two wives.
Inlaid in the wall are six figures in brass and
the family arms. The figures represent the
Knight kneeling at the altar with his family ;
they are in a remarkably good state of preserva
tion, beneath is the following inscription —
Here lyetli Sir Edward Baynton knight, within the marble clad
By Agnes Ryce his first true wyfe that thyrteen children had ;
Whereof she left alive with him at her departure three :
Henry, Anne, Elizabeth, whose pictures here you see.
The 2gth day of August she deceased af Christ the yere l
These little figures standing represent the number here ; / ^'^
Then marryed to Anne Paklngton, his bound wife she was.
For whose remembrance here entombed these lines he left in brasse
Ao Dni 1578.
The list of brasses is completed by the figure of a
man in armour let into a stone on the fioor of the
chapel. Eound the stone runs the foUowing
inscription —
ORATE PRO ANIMA JOHAN. BAYNTON
AMIGERI FILII ET H^REDIS ROBERTI
BAYNTON MILITIS, CONSANGUINIS ET
H/EREDIS RICARDI BEAUCHAMP, DOMINI
DE SANCTO AMANDO ; QUI OBIIT ULTIMA
DIE OCTOBRIS, ANNO DOMINI MDCXVL —
ANIM/E PROPITIETUR DEUS. AMEN.
Coming to modern interments, a small marble
commemorates a lady of considerable note in her
day — " Lady Anne Wilmot, eldest daughter and
" coheiress of John, Earl of Eochester. She was
"the wife of Henry Baynton, esq., and after his
" decease of the Honourable Francis Gre-vUle,
^' Obiit Augusti octavo, 1703."

S30 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
A plain slab in the floor records the name of —
JOHN EDWARD ANDREW STARKY
OF SPYE PARK, WILTS,
ELDEST SON OF THE REV. JOHN STARKY, D.D.
.BORN 6 MARCH, 1799,
DIED 12 JAN., 1843,
AGED 43 YEARS AND ID MONTHS.
HE MARRIED 17TH APRIL, 1 833,
CHARLOTTE, FIFTH DAUGHTER OF
WILLIAM WYNDHAM OF DINTON, ESQ.,
IN THIS COUNTY,
EY WHOM HE HAD FOUE CHILDREN
OF WHOM 3 SURVIVE HIM,
2 SONS AND ONE DAUGHTER.
This tomb and the chapel itself is under the
loving and appreciative care of his widow who
still survives, and who has placed some handsome
stained glass in the east window of the chapel
in memory of her son, the last male representative
of his family — " John Baynton Starky ; he died
" Sept. 30th, 1872, and was buried at Singleton,
"New South Wales."
The chancel ha'ving become very dilapidated itwas
rebuilt by the Eector in 1865, but I am told with
strict fidelity to the original. The style is Ealry
EngUsh with a triple lancet-headed hooded east
window, with side windows of the same character.
The chancel has an open high pitched roof boarded
above the rafters, each pair of which has circular
ribs, the whole being stained and varnished. It
is paved with black and red tiles, and inside the
rails with encaustic tiles. There is a handsome

BROMHAM CHURCH. 331
reredos right across the east wall, the stalls are of
oak handsomely carved, and the whole arrange
ments are thoroughly good. The architect for the
work was Mr. Slater of London. The opening
services for the new chancel were held on Sunday,
15th January, 1865, when sermons were preached
by the Lord Bishop of the diocese the late Dr.
Hamilton. In the morning his lordship preached
from John ii. 10, and in the afternoon from
Isaiah Iiii. 1. A further addition was made to the
church ten years later when the peal of six bells
was recast by Warner and Co., of London. They
were fixed on the 25th of October, 1875, when
special services were held.
The Rector and Patron is the Eev. Edward
Betenson Edgell, M.A., of BaUiol College, Oxford,
who read the service on a recent Sunday morning
when I was there. There was a very good con
gregation and the whole of the service was
impressive and in order. Even the school children
were attentive and weU behaved. They sit in
front of the congregation while the organ and
choir are at the west end of the church. Hymns
Ancient and Modern with Appendix are in use.
The Eector preached from John v. 6, " WUt thou
be made whole 1" He impressed very strongly
upon his people the necessity for them to seize for
themselves the means of salvation, taking the to me
unusual view of the character of the impotent man
at the pool of Bethesda that he was impotent in will
as well as in body, and that his waiting for someone
to lift him down when the water was troubled was

3SS THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
his fault and not his misfortune. At the same time
his remarks were pointed and cutting and con
tained some sound practical teaching for his people.
The national pride in the strength and courage
of the English race continuaUy finds exaggerated
expression in senseless exhibitions of mere brute
force and of foolhardy daring. At the moment
of -writing walking a thousand miles in a given
time seems the latest absurdity ; in 1732 a
pretence at flying by sliding down a rope from
a great height was the popular delight. In
that year a sailor slid down from the gaUery of
the Monument of London to the Three Tuns
Tavern in Gracechurch street, and the next day
the performance was repeated by a waterman's
boy. The proceeding became a frequent one ;
many accidents happened, until at last the law
interfered. It wiU probably surprise my readers
to . hear that the folly extended even to quiet
Bromham to the serious injury of the church
tower. In a rhyming chronicle for the month of
December, 1735, inserted "in "The Gentleman's
Magazine for that year I find the foUowing —
To Bromham in Wilts, came the highflying Stranger,
Whose whimsical Project the Church put in danger.
His Rope from the Weathercock stretch'd by the People,
Away brought this ¦wild Fowl, and part of the Steeple.
He perch' d on a Tree, and escaped J smaU pain,
Tho' a Rope in the End will I doubt prove his Bane.
May a Brief have these NUMPS who puU'd at the Bottom,
i Precedence te take of the Wisemen of Gotham.

BROMHAM CHURCH, 333
This church tower seems to have been an un
fortunate one, for I read in a newspaper bearing
date July 17th, 1766, the foUowing paragraph : —
On Sunday se'ennight in the afternoon the Inside of
the Church at Bromham in Wiltshire received great
Damage from a violent storm of Thunder and Lightning.
The Northwest .Side of the Steeple was split in several
Places and many Stones were displaced. The Bolt of
the Lock of the Clock Door was shivered to Pieces.
There are several monuments of interest in the
church besides those in the chapel which have
been already described. At the east end of the
south aisle is a most curious inscription in the
sober punning style which the publication of
" Euphues" made so common in England, and of
which I have previously come across many
instances. It runs —
ELIZABETH EYRE
THE WIFE OF THOMAS EYRB, GENT. AND DAUGHTER
OF JOHN YERBURY, GENT.
DEPARTED THIS LIFE, AUGUST 29TH 1637.
Heere lies an Heire who to an Eyre was joyn'd
And dyinge left a little Heire behind
Hard hearted death heerein was somewhat mild
Hee tooke the mother, but hee spar'd the Child
Yet the one's more happy farre then is the other
The Child's an Heire on earth, in heaven the mother
'Where with triumphant Saints and Angells bright
Shee now enjoyes her blessed Saviour's Sight.
I give the foUowing inscription because of a
history that is attached to it : —

'J2iiisieeaK:ixs::s^:i^fv^i3m^iViMii»

SS4 THE CHURCH EAMBLER.
H. S. E.
GULIELMUS NORRIS ARMIGER,
HOSPITH LINCOLNIENSIS SOCIUS LEGUM
MUNICIPALIUM PERITUS,
PATRONUS ET ASSERTOR
REBUS ADVERSIS MAJOR, PAR SECUNDIS,
SUMMIS ET ANIMI Er CORPORIS FACULTATIBUS
SPARTAM QUAM NACTUS EST ORNAVIT
QUI INVIDBT MINOR EST
DUM PROLIS NUMEROSA
FELICITER INSERVIRET COMMODIS
LABORIBUS ET ^TATE CONFECTUS
PLACIDE OBDORMIVIT 7 SEPT. A.D. 1 730,
POSTQUAM ANNOS SEPTUAGINTA ET QUATUOR
IMPLEVERAT
NE PATRIS OPTIMI DE FAMILIA SUA AMPLISSIME
DE PAUPERIBUS CLIENTIBUS QUAM MAXIME
PROMERITE
PEREAT MEMORIA
HOC EXIGUUM IMMENSI AMORIS PIETATIS
ET GRATITUDINIS MONUMENTUM. F. F.
JOHANNES NORRIS ARMIGER
H^RES ET EXECUTOR TESTAMENTARIUS.
I supposethis high sounding praise was as truthful
as most of the compliments that are turned into
Latin to shield them from the gibes of the 'vulgar.
But it seems to have been highly distasteful to the
Eector for the time being, who, animated I believe
by personal feeUng, wrote the foUowing lines and
set them up in the chancel over against it : —
HENRY SEASON, M.D.
WHO DIED NOV. YE lOTH, I775,
AGED 82 YEARS.

BROMHAM CHURCH. SS5
Tis not the Tomb in marble polished high.
The sculptured Urn, or glittering Trophies nigh.
The classic Learning on an impious stone
¦Where Latin tells what English blushed to own,
Can shroud the guilty firom the Eye of God,
Incline His Balance or avert His Rod :
That Hand can raise the Cripple and the Poor
Spread on the way or gathered at the Door
And blast the ViUain, tho' to altars fled,
Whorobs us living and insults us dead.
25, Austin Friars, London. J. RoLT.
This Dr. Season was a noteworthy character, the
forerunner of Old Moore, Zadkiel, and the rest of
the tribe. He was the son of a weaver at
Bromham and was brought up to his father's
business but picked up sufficient knowledge to
practise as a physician, and seems to have
obtained an M.D. degree from some Scotch
University. But he also professed a knowledge
of astrology, and from sorrowing lovers and such
like foolish people obtained profitable employment.
He also compiled a prophetic almanack, the first
of the series of trashy and lying publications
which are now sold by thousands every year. He
resided in a small house by himself till he died at
the advanced age of 82. The verses wiU not now
be found on his monument as some of Mr. Eolt's
descendants, knowing the feelings -with which they
were written, obtained permission to erase them.
It is weU therefore to record them here.
There is now built into the wall over the fire
place of the vestry a double monument consisting

336 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
of two busts in the costume of the period, and
this inscription : —
HUGO WEBBE ANNA WEBBE
HUJUS ECCLESIAE QUON UXOR GEORGII WEBBE
DAM RECTOR QUI OBIIT FILII HUGONIS WEBBE
NOVEMB 12 ANNO DOM QUR OBIIT NOVEMB 1 7
1597 1617
ILLE PARENS CONIUX FUIT HAEC MONUMENTA
MARITUS HAEC POSUIT SPONSAE FILIUS ILLA PATRI
GEORGIUS WEBBE S. THEOL BACH
PASTOR ECCLESIAE
DE STEEPLE ASHTON.
Of the early life of the George Webbe herein
mentioned little is known except that he was a
native of Bromham and what is said of him here.
He became however in after Ufe a man of high
standing in the Church and reached the bench of
Bishops. In the reign of King James he was
Eector of Bath, and at the accession of King
Charles I. was chosen one of his Majesty's chaplains.
In 1634 he was made Bishop of Limerick, and he
died in 1641 at the post of duty. Having been
taken and imprisoned by the Eoman CathoUc
insurgents of the time he caught the gaol fever
which proved fatal to him. Britton states that
" Bishop Webbe is said to have been one of the
" best preachers of his time, and his compositions
" which have been published show that his style
" excelled in purity and elegance that of his con-
" temporaries. His principal literary works are a
"translation of some of Terence's Comedies,

BROMHAM CHURCH, 337
" sermons and other treatises on practical divinity,
" and several school books."
I may mention here also another native of
Bromham, the Eev. John Collinson, whose father
was at the time of his birth curate of this parish.
Collinson is remembered as the author of " The
History of Somerset," published in 1791, a work
which despite its faults is the only one for the
entire county yet in existence, and which enshrines
many facts which but for it would have sunk into
oblivion. Let those who count the imperfections
of CoUinson's book, and there are in it some
grievous imperfections, remember that with all
our modern study of archseology and our county
societies neither Wilts nor Somerset has yet pro
duced a county history. Nor do they seem
likely to.
On a characteristic freestone tablet on the north
waU of the church is the following inscription : —
TEMPORA MUTANT ET NOS
MUTAMUR IN ILLIS
MARGERY SEAGAR WIFE
OF ROBERT SEAGAR
DEPARTED THIS LIFE
IAN. i8TH 1618
BLESSED ARE THE DEAD
WHICH DY IN THE LORD
THEY REST FROM THEYRE
LABOURS AND THAY
WORKES FOLLOW THEM
REV 14 13
On a stone now in the wall of the tower, not I

388 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
ta.Ticy its original position, are two curious rude
pictures engraved. One consists of an hour-glass
resting on a skull and crossbones, the other a
skeleton in its grave clothes. On a scroU above
them are the words, " Death is swallowed up in
" victory,'' and on a scroll below " Pulvis et umbra
" sumus." Beneath is the inscription : —
Over against this place two sisters lye
Who were translated in their infancy
Mary the eldest led the way and death
Soon after seized sweet Elizabeth
But bee it knowne death did it for the best
That they the sooner might lye downe to rest.
And let them rest within that bed of clay
Until their joyful resurrection day.
Near this I found what from its date, 1640, and
from its simplicity, I believe to be the earliest
form of a very familiar couplet —
As I was so are ye.
As I am so shall you be.
Bromham Church however is a hallowed shrine
to the student of English literature, because
beneath its shadow rests the body of the great
lyric poet — Thomas Moore. At' the age of 38, six
years after his marriage, the poet came to live at
Sloperton cottage, a pretty little rustic dwelling in
a most beautiful part of this parish, and here he
remained until his death. His choice of this situa
tion was probably guided by the fact that it was
within easy reach of Bowood, the seat of his
constant friend the Marquis of Lansdowne. Mr.

BROMHAM CHURCH. 339
S, C. Hall in his memoir of the poet writes of this
spot : — " The forests and fields that surround
" Bowood neighbour the poet's humble dweUing ;
" the spire of the village church — beside the portals
" of which he now ' rests' — is seen above the adja-
" cent trees. Labourers' cottages are scattered aU
*' about : they are a heavy and unimaginative race
" those peasants of WUtshire : and knowing their
^' neighbour had -written books, they could by no
" means get rid of the idea that he was the writer
"of 'Moore's Almanac !' and perpetuaUy greeted
^'him with a salutation in hopes to receive in
"return some prognostic of the weather, that
" might guide them in arrangements for seed-time
-" and harvest. Once, when he had lost his way —
"wandering tUl midnight — he roused up the
" inmates of a cottage in search of a guide to
" Sloperton, and found he was close to his own
-" gate. ' Ah ! sir,' said the peasant, ' that comes
" of yer sky -scraping ! "
During his life at Sloperton he had many afilic-
tions ; his five chUdren all died, two after they
had arrived at man's estate — Eussell at Sloperton
in 1842 soon after his return from India, where
ill-health had compelled him to resign his command
in the 25th regiment, Tom in Africa in 1846 in
the French ser-vice. The poet himself lived to
the age of 72, and died at Sloperton on the 25th
of February, 1852. He is buried under a plain flat
stone on the north side of the churchyard. His
beloved Bessy sur-vived him several years to
cherish his memory in the cottage where they had

340 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
spent so many happy years. She died on the 4th
of September, 1865, and is buried by his side.
Moore was born a Eoman Catholic, and though
he never publicly renounced that faith he died a
Protestant. His wife was a Protestant, and he
regularly attended the parish church at Bromham.
On his death-bed he received from the Eector
the sacrament of the Church of England, and our
beautiful burial service was read over his grave.
The Eector, the Eev. E. B. Edgell, who can speak
to these facts, who buried both the poet and his
wife, stiU discharges the duties of his sacred
office, and the visitor to the grave of Moore at
Bromham can hear, as I have done, the recol
lections of the Eector whose ministrations the
poet attended thirty-four years ago.

y'j'

^. l^atjbenne, ^. Eatfjecinc.

"""**f.

WINDING country lane leads away
from Batheaston Church, skirting the
hUlside from Batheaston and com
manding the beautiful valley which
lies between it and Box, then turning
away into the still more secluded vaUey beyond
which are Marshfleld and Cold Ashton. In the
bottom babbles and splashes the Uttle brook known
aa the Stam which empties itself into the Avon
close to where this lane ends in the London road.
It was a fine autumn morning after heavy rain,
when I passed into this rustic solitude. The air
was clear and the wind cold but there was no sun
shine. The departing rain clouds veiled the sky and
everything around was covered with moisture.
The pearly drops hung on the grass blades, whose
bright verdure contrasted strongly with the russet
hues of the leaves, which the wind was sweeping
from the trees tiU they fell across the road like a
snow storm and covered stones and such odd
things with their particoloured mantle in the merci
ful manner in which they always do at the season
of Nature's annual death. There was plenty indeed
to be covered here for the great gale of the 14th of
October, 1877, had blown down the branches of
some trees, had torn others up by the roots, had
23 2

342 TBE CHURCH RAMBLER,
beaten in many roofs and had done general and
incalculable mischief. The stones under foot, and
the high banks which guard the road on either
side as if it were a Devonshire lane, were weeping
rain drops, and at every few yards a swollen and
rapid stream of pure clear water from some spring
in the hillside gushed forth into the water courses
beside the road. I was thus reminded that I
was in the vaUey whence the city of Bath draws
a large portion of its water supply.
Going on along the lane I came to several
interesting gable houses, one of which in particular
presented a piebald appearance, only haK its
original roof being retained and the other half
replaced by modern tiles. Perched against the
hillside was a small and new looking schoolhouse,
out of which presently came a goodly company of
boys marshalled by the schoolmistress and marched
before me on the way to the church. Another
turn in the road and dirsctly facing me was the
ancient mansion, S. Katherine's Court, and the
little parish church nestling behind it. This
manor being one of the most secluded and
beautiful spots round Bath, my readers will be
prepared to hear that though not mentioned in the
Great Survey it had from time immemorial been in
the possession of the Abbey of Bath. The monks
had here a grange, gardens and a vineyard. A
curious lease of about 1520 is in existence granting
to Thomas Lyewelyn the " capital messuage S.
" Katherine's Court." It describes the property
thus — " The court of the same between the Church-

S. KATHERINE CHURCH, 343
" hey and the house, and coming in a entrey, and
'• on the ryght hand a hall, and behinde the hall a
'¦ whitehouse, (dairy) and on the side of that a
" parlor and a butterye on thone side ; with a
" chimney bothe in the hall and in the parlor ; and
" betwene the said whitehouse and the parlor, a
" steyres of ston going into a chamber, celed over
" the parlar with a chimney in hit ; and over the
" hall a wol loft ; over the entrye coming into the
" house a chamber, and by the entrye a vacant
" grounde, and over and under chambers, and also
" a other hall called the lower hall, with a vaute
" undernethe, and over a malt lofte, and adjoyning
" to the same 2 chambers, on above, and the other
" beneathe ; and at thende of the same hall on
" other malt lofte, with a myll called a quyver,
" and a place undernethe to wynow malt — all this
" under on roffe."
Portions of the old house still remain and
the whole has a thoroughly antique appearance,
except for the conservatories which flank it on
the lower side, and it stands on a long terrace
looking down upon its broad garden. The front
on the church side is plainly that of an Elizabethan
manor house, and as I wandered round this old
English house I was irresistibly reminded of
Bracebridge HaU. The figures of old Christy the
huntsman and pretty little Phcebe flitted before
the mind's eye, methought I heard the jovial
tones of the squire's voice, and the whole of the
characters that people Washington Irving's dainty
sketches cfime crowding into the memory.

344 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
The church is a small one, consisting of chancel,
nave with south porch and western tower. The
tower arch rests on Norman capitals, and there is
a small Norman window. Otherwise the church is
of Perpendicular date with square-headed Per
pendicular windows. It is small and well pro
portioned but there is of course nothing of an
ambitious character in any part of its design to
call for special remark, neither has it the interest
which extreme age gives to some of our
diminutive churches. Placed as it is however it
is remarkably picturesque and herein lies its
chief merit. The church was rebuilt by Prior
Cantlow, 'and the east window is filled with
stained glass to his memory. In the lower part of
it are remains of the old glass with the inscription —
ORATE . PRO . ANIMA . DM . JOHIS .
CANTLOW . QUONDM . PRIORIS . HANC.
CACELLA. FIERI. FECIT. AN. DM. I49O.
Beneath this there are the arms of the Abbey
(the key and the sword crossed) and a mitre, and
in the upper part of the window are roses and
suns many times repeated. There are sufficient
of these and other fragments of old painted glass
to show that all the windows were once so filled.
John Cantlow was the last prior but two that
presided over the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul at
Bath. We first find his name in 1489, and he
died in August, 1499. During his term of oflfice
the Archbishop of Canterbury visited the Abbey.
He seems to have been a good prior, as beside

S. KATHERINE CHURCH. 345
what he did in this parish he rebuilt the Hospital
of S. Mary Magdalene in Holloway, Bath.
The church has not been much interfered with
since Cantlow's time, except that the roof has been
covered with a coved ceiling. The tower has also
been repaired, but the following statement
engraved on a stone in it apparently goes beyond
the facts. " This tower and north side wall of the
church was rebuilt in ye year 1704, Henry
Bianchard, esq., and Mr. John Tyly, Church
wardens." Two windows on the south side of the
chancel, are adorned with coats of arms, and this
inscription —
IN MEMORY OF COL. JOSEPH HOLDER STRUTT, OF
TERLING PLACE, ESSEX, AND S. CATHARINE'S
COURT, SOMERSET, BY WHOSE BEQUEST THE
CHURCH WAS ENTIRELY RE-SEATED, REPAIRED
AND ALSO FURNISHED WITH PL.^TE FOR THE
HOLY COMMUNION IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD,
1846.
The font is a Norman one of large size, adorned
with interlacing arches of the pearl ornament.
The original pulpit of wood is also preserved,
fitting a niche in the north wall of the nave. It
was a very nice piece of work, and Collinson
says it is " formed in Gothic niches, which are
" painted, or rather retain the colours with which
"they were once painted, of red and yellow.' Of
this I know nothing, for a country house-painter
has been allowed to daub it over with staring red
and green, and he is in course of treating the
chancel arch in similar style, according to a sort of

346 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
schoolboy Gothic design which he has traced out
on the waU. It would not be such a difficult
matter to clean the wall after him as it would be
the pulpit.
Against the north wall of the chancel is a sort
of altar tomb upon which kneel the figures of a
man in half armour and his wife. Below are
figures of their daughters and one son, the last-
named kneeling at a reading desk. On the monu
ment is the following inscription : —
HERE LYETH THE BODY OF CAPTAINE
WILLIAJI BLANCHARD WHO DECEASED
THE 7TH DAIE OF APRIL ANNO DNI 163I
Bianchard thou art not heere compriz'd
Nor is thy worth characteriz'd
Thy justice, charitie, vertve, grace
Doe nowe possesse a highere place
For unto Heaven (as we reade)
Good workes accomijanie the dead.
There are many other monuments in the chancel
to members of the Bianchard family.
In the porch, above which is the usual niche, is
a curious old stone with thefoUowing inscription :—
NEERE THIS RESTETH YE BODY OF GEORGE
YE SONN OF WILLIAM AND ELIZABETH DYER
GRANDSONN OF GEORGE AND ELINOR DYER
WHO DIED JULY YE I9 ANO DOMN. 169I
Death knows noe Faces but doth all ingage
Youth subject here as well as Riper age
In the churchyard is an altar tomb on which is
following the inscription : —

S. KATHERINE CHURCH. 347
NEAR THIS TOMB LYETH THE BODY OF JOHN
FECKENHAM, OF THE PARISH OF MARSHFIELD,
SON OF THE REV. THOMAS FECKENHAM, AND
ALICE HIS WIFE, DAUGHTER OF JOHN HARINGTON
OF KELSTON, ESQ ; WHO DIED NOVEMBER 3D,
1743, AGED 42.
The living of S. Katherine was anciently a
chapeh-y or a vicarage attached to Batheaston,
and the union of the two parishes has never been
broken. When I was present morning service
was read, as I believe it usually is, by the Eev. E.
Drummond. There was a fair congregation in
proportion to the size of the church. The sermon
was from Titus i. 15 — " Unto the piu'e aU things
" are pure ; but unto them that are defiled and
" tmbelieving is nothing pure ; but even their
" mind and conscience is defiled." The necessity
of holy living was very clearly and emphaticaUy
enforced upon the little gathering.
After the dissolution of monasteries this manor
-^^'a3 granted by King Henry VIII. to Ethelreda
Malte, together with Kelston and Batheaston.
This lady as has been said married John Haring
ton and the loss of the registers of S. Katherine has
placed impassable difficulties in the way of tracing
out the difficult but interesting pedigree of his
famUy. Tradition says that Sir John Harington
parted with this manor of S. Katherine in order to
pay the expenses of entertaining her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth at Kelston House. Its next
possessors were the Blanchards who held it for
several generations tUI the line ended in Elizabeth,

J

S4S THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
daughter and heiress of Henry and Quiriua
Bianchard. She married James Walters, esq., of
Batheaston, and had an only daughter, Quirina,
who married Thomas Parry, esq., from which
family it passed by marriage to Hamilton Earl.
It was sold to the Hon. Col. Strutt from whom it
has descended to the present possessor, the Eev.
E. Drummond.
The tower contains a peal of four bells one of
which was recast in 1616. The other three are
preEeformation bells cast by unknown founders.
The second bears the inscription —
SmtU jttatu &xsi pto TyTodis
The third— £inctt Necallae (Sci jiro ISails
These inscriptions are preceded by a floriated cross
and foUowed by a grotesque lion's head, found also
on bells at Curry Mallet and East Chinnook. The
founder's mark, E. L. and a bell with W under
neath, is not identified, though it occurs on bells
in different parts of England. The fourth bell is
from the unknown founder T. G. It is inscribed —
Sancte lo^annes taptlste <Bn (to l^ifobis t. g.

p. JVlARy THE yiF(aiN, ^WANS-SVICK.  pOUTH.

^. a^arp tfje mxQin, %'mm^itk.

EOM none of the good old coach roads
which still serve the old-fashioned
wayfarer from Bath can be obtained
a better picture of the city, shut in
by its surrounding hills, than from
the Gloucester road. Leaving the highway to
London at the boundary of Swanswick parish
the road quickly rises above the level of Grosvenor
and Kensington and widens our horizon, so that
instead of merely looking back upon the street
in which we just now stood we look down the
vaUey of the Avon upon the houses and churches
of the city. Opposing hills appear to close them
in and also to keep down the dark smoke
which ever marks the habitation of civilised
man, so that the buildings of the city seem
to peep through a veil like a Spanish beauty.
The road still rises and they pass out of view,
till only the houses at Larkhall and the well-
proportioned tower of S. Saviour remain to
remind us of them. The Dead MiU brook
babbles along at the bottom of the field below,
and facing the hUl-side on which we stand rises
the long bare ridge of Lansdown, which of all
the Bath hills is the only one that wears a
24 2

350 THE CHUBCH RAMBLER.
frowning aspect. The Eoyal School and the other
buildings on its side, which stand outlined against
the sky, have from this point a solitary appearance.
The last time I looked upon this scene was upon
the crisp frosty morning of Christmas Day, 1877.
The white frost, which had hardened the mud
under foot and given an invigorating freshness to
the air, had been long delaj^ed and many things
that usually perish before the winter comes still
retained their summer greenness. Instead of
•continuing on the high road I turned down the
narrow lane which leads to Swanswick. To look
.at the hedgerows — in spring the home of violets
.and primroses, but now covered with the frost
thick aud white — one would not think that it was
;so late in the year, for there were leaves still on
the bushes dyed with the rich and v.aried hues
which autumn imparts. Further on the lane
¦dips into a hollow and a babbling stream
which comes out of a field on the upper side
crosses it and falls like u, sort of miniatnie
Niagara, from a height of some four feet, into
the watercourse below, whence it rushes down to
the Dead Mill brook. Our attention however
:speedUy passes beyond the hedges which close us
in on either side to the charming view beyond, for
few who pass along the high road above know how
delightfully the little village of Swanswick is
placed in this secluded spot. It nestles at the foot
oi the hillside above which rises the compact
grass-covered mound of Charmey down. Across
the narrow valley, in appearance so near that

SWANSWICK CHURCH. 351
you could throw a stone into it, stands the
little village of Woolley with its one farmhouse
and clustering cottages ^ — in front of aU — its
queer Uttle church, which though not inviting
to look at has yet a quaint character of its own.
Further on, half hidden by a roll in the hiUside,
nestle the houses of Langridge. And then the
vaUey winds away amongthoseotherhillswhich are
but the southernmost sentries of the Cotswolds.
The ancient British stronghold of Little Solsbury
which crowns the parish of Swanswick is supposed
by the Eector to have been the site of the city of
Bath of the period, and he gives colour to the
notion by showing how thoroughly it commands
the different valleys which wind a >vay from Bath
in various directions. Eeferring my readers to
*' Ancient and Modern Bath" for the further dis
cussion of this point, I may say that in going
merely to the vUlage of Swans'wick they have a very
considerable foretaste of the extensive prospect to
be gained by climbing to the summit of Little
Solsbury. The undoubted antiquity of the stronghold of
Solsbury gives Swanswick an early importance
and there is no doubt that the village itself is an
ancient one. Some ingenious persons have sought
to connect it with King Bladud by twisting the
name into the form Swine's-wick. But the first
syllable either is the name of some old English
owner of the place or is to be accounted for by
the tradition that Swegen, King of Denmark,
rested here to receive the homage of the Westem

352 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
thegns after his conquest of the kingdoms. Many
would spell the name Swainswick, and the fine
old brass in the church has " Swayneswick" upon
it. But the Eector says that when he came to the
parish, only the few said Swainswick and the many
said Swanswick. The directingposts were all Swans
wick, the church books are Swanswick, and the
house names have been altered to Swainswick only
in his time. He looks upon Swainswick as one of
' tliose literary revivals to which -we are exposed in
I these days, and by which things are turned out of
I their natural course of growth or development,
j and made to assume the guise of some previous
I era. I am glad to find myself in .agreement with
I so excellent an authority and print Swanswick in
I this article. I have found to my great regret how
I much local names are mauled about and deprived
I of all their identity and " fossil history," partly by
I the careless haste of the days in which we Uve,
partly to please the caprices of some squire, and
partly by the igaorant cleverness of people who
meddle with what they do not understand and seek
to improve upon the forms which language has
naturally assumed. It needs ceaseless watching in
these days to keep our " well of English undefiled.''
Swanswick isnot mentioned in tbe Great Survey,
and the first record of it is in the reign of King
Edward III., when in 1358 we find the manor held
by .Sir Matthew Gournay, knt. In 1399 William
Schawe, parsou of the church of Swayneswyke,
and Thomas Norton, chaplain of the same, granted
to Edmund Forde and Johanna his wife this their

SWANSWICK CHURCH. 353
manor, with the advowson of the church and all
of their lands and tenements which they were
possessed of in Swayneswyke, Tatwyke and the
city of Bath. It descended through the hands of
the Blunts and others to Eichard Dudley, D.D.,
some time fellow and tutor of Oriel College,
Oxford, and afterwards Chancellor of Salisbury
Cathedral, who in 1529 bestowed the manor and
advowson upon his coUege for the maintenance of
two f eUows and six exhibitioners. In his memory
the provosts and fellows obliged themselves to
celebrate yearly a commemoration with a Placebo
and Dirige on the feast of S. Luke the Evangelist.
This celebration — ^like many of those things
which dying men arrange for ever — has passed
away but the property still remains in the hands
of Oriel College.
Within this parish was a smaller manor of
Tatwick, now a hamlet, which after the Conquest
was given to the monks of Bath. In 1327 certain
lands were purchased here of Elias de S. Alban
to endow a chantry in the church of the Holy
Trinity, Cold Ashton.
In this quiet -viUage was born one of the fire
brands of the great struggle with the absolutism
of Charles I. I mean WiUiam Prynne, who was
born in the year 1600 and was in his day a boy at
the Bath Grammar School as it then existed. He
lived here at Swanswick and was in favour of the
Corporation, for he was a grandson of WiUiam
Sherstone, the Mayor who entertained Queen
Elizabeth. He was a learned barrister and they

354 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
made him Eecorder of the city, an office of which
he was deprived when his troubles came upon him-
For his writings against the vices of the Court he
suffered the piUory twice, was fined J5,000, had
his two ears lopped off, afterwards the stumps of
these cut away and the letters S L, for seditious
libeller, branded on his cheeks. Nevertheless he
opposed the rule of Cromwell as unconstitutional
and took part in the restoration of Charles IL, to
whose first parliament he was sent as member
by the Corporation who also restored him to his
Eecordership while the King made him Keeper
of the Tower Eecords. In this office he did much
good service by studying and publishing extracts
from the records. The Eev, John Hunter looked
upon him " as the great historical lawyer of his
" time," but I think he no more approached in this-
respect to John Pym than in others he reached
the' first rank of the great spirits of this remark
able era. But his life deserves close study as
strictly representative of a certain phase of English
feeling at the time, and it is needful to point
out to those who draw hasty conclusions respect
ing the Parliament men that he was thoroughly
in earnest and thoroughly conscientious in his
proceedings. Attention to his career would pro
bably teach some students of history a reason
for the faUure of Puritanism which does not
affect the integrity of the Puritans.
The church of Swanswick is a small and in part
ancient building, and is in one or two respects
very peculiar. Like most of the chui'ches in the-

SWANSWICK CHURCH.

355

immediate neighbourhood of Bath it is of Norman
foundation and preserves as relics of its first form
a plain but substantial Norman font and a Norman
south doorway with chevron moulding. The
tympanum of this doorwjiy has disappeared and
its place is supplied by a piece of wood. The
church now consists of a western tower, nave with
north aisle and south porch, and chancel with
chantry chapel on the north side. The tower is
jieculiar, standing ¦within the church. Its west
wall is the west wall of the nave, and it opens
into the church with two bold Early English
arches ornamented with corbels. It is evident
that the north wall of the church once ran in a
Hue with the north wall of the tower aud that
the aisle which is Perpendicular in char.icter was
buUt ou later. The window also on the north side
of the tower was evidently once an external one.
The tower which has the saddle back roof of
the neighbourhood was not part of the original
church ; hence the way in which it is built inside
the nave. The plain chancel arch is Early English,
without capitals or shafts. It is cut away on one
side where evidently the rood steps went, and in
the opposite wall is a small window which probably
lighted the rood loft. Ou the south side there is
also a very good Decorated window aud an
apparently handsome benitier, which is unfortu
nately covered up by the high old-fashioned pews.
The north chapel is separated from the chancel
by one of the late paueUed arches which are not
infrequent in tbis neighbourhood. We read thei

3,56 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
story of its original use in the high sill of the
four-light Perpendicular east window, the bracket
beside it on which once stood the figure of a saint
and the piscina on the south side. It seems likely
that they were fond of statues in this church for
there are several rests on the arches of the nave
that cannot have been for any other purpose. On
the north side of the chapel there is apparently
one of those nameless arched recesses of which
another may be seen in the church of S. Julian,
Wellow, which seem to be made as memorials of
the dead though not as tombs. I am sorry that this
is entirely blocked up by seats — new ones. I
would suggest that when the new seats are fitted
in the nave that the benitier be left uncovered.
If space is very valuable it is quite possible to
have a movable board so that, while advantage
is taken of the space during the hours of service,
the curious like myself can at other times
examine the most interesting features of the
church. On the north side of the chapel there
is a small doorway for the accommodation of
the family at the manor and on the outside is a
small holy water stoup. The original bolt upon
this door is still used — a substantial bar of oak
which drops into hollows in the wall on either
side. The chancel was rebuilt about fifteen years
since in a very substantial and satisfactory manner.
It has a triple lancet-headed east window and a
handsome stone reredos, though for my part I
object to the introduction of granite columns into

SWANSWICK CHURCH, 357
the fabric of country churches. The Laudian
window on the south side was preserved in restor
ing the chancel to show that the chancel replaced
was entirely of that period.
I may add that there is/, modern pulpit and
reading desk both of stone, and the church is
evidently beiug graduaUy reseated. I suppose
that after this is done the roof will be seen to.
In the aisle the original timbers apparently re
main, but they have been plastered and white
washed out of knowledge. The nave has a flat
ceiUng with a most common place and unecclesias-
tical grating in the centre for ventilation.
Moreover the walls are held together from side to
side by iron bars. The thick coating of yellow
ochre on the tower arches could also be removed
with advantage, and I have little doubt that those
to whom the church is at present entrusted will
see to these things as their means allow.
The present Eector of Swanswick is the Eev.
John Earle, M.A., Prebendary of WeUs, formerly
Fellow and Tutor of Oriel College, Oxford. While
he has won local fame by his researches as an
archseologist and by his " Guide to the Knowledge
of Bath, Ancient and Modern," his reputation as
a philologist is greater and wider, and recently,
on the death of Dr. Bosworth,he was elected for the
second time Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the Uni
versity of Oxford. He is a distinguished member
of the noble band of teachers who are graduaUy
leading the EngUsh people to value their mother
tongue at its true worth, and, while they do

— i

358 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
homage to the literature of Greece and Eome, not
to neglect the rich treasury which their own fore
fathers have bequeathed to them. His work on
" The Philology of the English Tongue" is a monu
ment of his knowledge of the history of our
speech, and has afforded to me a delight similar to
that afforded by the books of the Archbishop of
Dublin. When not engaged at Oxford, Mr. Earle
retires to his rectory here, which is, I should
think, as prettily placed as any of the pleasant
rectories and vicarages which surround Bath.
I attended morning service in his interesting
little church on Christmas morning, and was
entirely pleased with its aspect and its service on
this great festival. The building was decorated
for the season, but with that rigid simplicity
which pleased a large number of Churchmen
better than the most elaborate and artistic adorn
ments. Bunches and 'wreaths of hoUy were
placed in all suitable positions — my readers must
have remarked how well the holly was berried this
season — and in various parts of the church
different texts worked in white upon crimson
banners were placed. Over the door as you
entered were the words " I bring you glad
tidings.'' Eunning along beneath the upper edge
of the reredos were the words " Peace on earth,
good-wiU towards men ;'' on the reading desk
'• Unto us a child is born," and on the pulpit
" Unto us a Son is given." The congregation was
a large and admirably representative one, a gather
ing of men, women and children of all ages and

SWANSWICK CHUECH. 359
conditions in that little community to honour the
birthday of Christ. The chapel, though not occu
pied by any manorial owners, was well filled, and
that by the members of one famUy, which the
season had gathered together ag.<iin into one band.
The impressive words of Isaiah and S. John,
which the Church has chosen for this day, were
read by a son of this house, and I must admit
that in a country church I much like the custom'
by which a layman may read the lessons, when
they are read so distinctly and so well as they
were here.
The service began with Wesley's grand hymn.
Hark ! the herald angels sing.
The hymn-book in use being one compUed by a
former Eector for the use of the church and re
printed in 1866. The service was read by the
Eector in those clear impressive tones in which
those who know him can hear his love of the
language he is speaking, and can feel a lingering
emphasis here and there ou a word which is
peculiarly eloquent to his mind. The anthem was
".Let us go unto Bethlehem," sung with much
feeUng and expression by a thoroughly rustic but
most able choir. The organ, which was the gift in
1875 of Edward EoUs, esq., of Swanswick, is well
suited to the size of the church and the choir is
well trained with the same object. But a stUl
more pleasing feature was the heartiness with
which the congregation joined in the singing, giv
ing a warmth and devotion to the service which

S60 THE CHUECH EAMBLES,
it could gain by no other means. After prayers,
the hymn was sung —
Christians awake, salute the happy morn.
There was no sermon on account of the communion,
and the general congreg.ation left after the prayer
for the Church Militant.
There is an ancieut and interesting fifteenth
century brass in this church on a stone which
seems once to have formed part of a raised tomb.
It consists of the figure of a man praying, and
underneath the inscription —
JBrate p aia ffiOmttlil ffotUc Be StoapncstDpfte armlBCti nut
oSllt iHli. Bie dFetruarfl, So Bnt. mccccttrli. ct a Stjnt
itegis ?E!entfrf Hi post conjuestri xBiii cut ale vpiciet JBeu.
On three scrolls rising above his head are the
words —
CreBo 8UoB IteBemptor meus Bitlt. et In notilssfino Bie
Be tena surrectiirus sum. «Si In carne meo BlBebo IBeu
salBatore meu.
The most important inscription in the church is
the following on the north side of the chancel : —
THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED
IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE OF
JOHN HAYGARTH, M.D., F.R.S.,
LATE OF LAMBRIDGE HOUSE IN THIS PARISH.
IN PUBLIC LIFE HE MAY BE REGARDED
AS A PHYSICIAN
WHO ADVANCED THE CAUSE
OF MEDICAL SCIENCE BY HIS WRITINGS
AND EXERCISED MUCH SAGACITY
IN HIS TREATMENT OF DISEASES.

SWANSWICK CHUECH. 361
AS A PHILOSOPHER
HE IS KNOWN TO HAVE ADDED TO THE STOCK
OF WELL AUTHENTICATED FACTS
CONCERNING THE INFLUENCE
OF THE MIND UPON THE BODY.
AS A PHILANTHROPIST
HE WAS UNWEARIED IN HIS EXERTIONS
TO DIMINISH THE AMOUNT OF HUMAN MISERY
ACTIVE IN HIS ENDEAVOURS
TO SPRE.\D THE BLESSI.NGS OF EDUCATION
THROUGHOUT THE L/VND
AND ARDENT IN HIS PLANS
TO INCREASE THE COMFORTS OF THE POOR.
IN PRIVATE LIFE HE WAS STRONG
IN HIS DOMESTIC ATTACHMENTS
CONSTANT IN HIS FRIENDSHIP
TENDER IN HIS SYMPATHIES
AND ABOUNDING IN GOOD WILL TO ALL.
HE DIED
IN RELIANCE ON THE ATONING BLOOD
OF HIS SAVIOUR
JUNE lOTH, 1827,
AGED 87 YEARS.
There is one stone containing a curious series of
inscriptions for different members of one family,
which I have copied —
NEAR THIS PLACE RESTETH THE BODY OF
WILLIAM LONG OF THE P.-VRISH OF BOX WHO
DEPARTED THIS LIFE JULY YE 9TH, I70I,
Come hither mortall cast an eye
Then go thy way prepare to dye
Read here thy doom for know thou must
One day like me be turned to dust.

362 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
NEAR THIS PLACE RESTETH THE BODY OP
MARY THE WIFE OF WILLIAM LONG WHO
DEPARTED THIS LIFE MAY THE 3RD, 1702.
These near related friends whom death did sever
Death at last have brought them both together.
NEAR THIS PLACE RESTETH YE BODY OF JOHN
GRIFFIN OF THIS PARISH WHO MARRIED
MARY YE ONLY CHILD OF WILLIAM AND MARY
LONG WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE MARCH
THE I2TH 1712, AGED 39 YEARS.
The greave is but a fineing pot unto believing eyes
Fer there its flesh shall lose its dross and like the sun
shall rise.
ALSO NEAR THIS PLACE LYETH THE BODY
OF MARY GRIFFIN RELICT OF JOHN
GRIFFIN. SHE DYED MAY I3TH, 1 733.
Thus generations pass away '
And leaves their bodys in the clay.
LIE NEAR ANN, EDWARD, ELENOR AND SARAH
SCUDAMORES, THEIR GRANDCHILDREN.
Without the eastern wall of the church, in a
position reminding one of the grave of Bishop
Ken, lies a splendid block of Aberdeen granite —
a grandly simple gravestone on which some
affectionate hand had recently placed a cross of
Christmas roses. It bears the following in
scription : —
HENRY EDWARD CARRINGTON OF
BATH OBIIT FEB. 5TH, 1859, AGED 53.
THIS MONUMENT IS PLACED NEAR
HIS REMAINS BY AFFECTIONATE
FRIENDS AND FELLOW CI'"IZENS.

SWANSWICK CHURCH. 363
He was a journalist of whose memory Bath may
weU be proud. The management of a public
journal, whatever some may say, is an office of
grave responsibility, for its influence is great for
good or for evil. Carrington so managed his
newspaper as to win the respect and esteem of his
fellow citizens, and though they are not a very
demonstrative race they gave proof of their regard
for him, not merely on his grave, but in his life.
Under him, in the old days of high-priced papers,
in the time before the telegraph and the express
train had made a revolution in the newspaper
press, the Sath Chroiiicle reached its highest
pitch of prosperity ; he won for it that good name
as a journal, that reputation of respectabiUty,
which is to newspapers what a patent of nobility
is to men.
The tower contains a peal of six bells all cast by
C. and G. Mears of London, in the year 1846.

%, Peter, Dgrf)am.

jJANSDOWN is the one place in which
a battle of modern times has been
fought in the neighbourhood of Bath.
Happy the city whose annals are so
free from bloodstains ! Anyone who
ascends our highest hill and goes to the north side
to look at the monument which marks the spot
where brave Sir Bevil Grenville fell, can also look
down upon a broad expanse of country which his
map will tell him is the southernmost corner of
Gloucestershire. Opposite him with a broad space
between rises another hill covered with trees.
Nestling at the foot of this is the little vUlage of
Dyrham, now the model of a peaceful manorial
village, with its collection of houses clustering
round the gates of the manor house, a fine build
ing of the Eestoration period which almost touches
the ancient church, standing to the west of it.
Tbis pretty spot was the scene of another battle
far back in the dim mists of antiquity. The re
searches of archseologists have satisfied them that
the famous battle of Mons Badonicus iu 520 was
not in the neighbourhood of Bath at all. Though
this may be a detraction from our historical
importance I can give up the doubtful honour

^^.,.*%

^. f ETER, pvE^HAM. 

DYRHAM CHURCH. 365
without a sigh. It leaves us however only one
other important battle in the neighbourhood.
That took place here at Dyrham and was a most
decisive engagement in the course of the English
Conquest of Britain. In the year 577 the
Gewissian chiefs, Cuthwine and Ceawlin fought
the British at Dyrham and gained a most decisive
victory. The three British kings CommaU,
Condidan and FarinmaU who opposed them were
slain, and their three cities of Gloucester,
Cirencester and Akeman or Bath, were taken.
This was an important step in the conquest of
the western part of the country. This however
had held out obstinately after the subjugation of
the rest of the country, and Dr. Guest, whose
views on the subject have great weight, considers
that the Britons were never driven out, but
graduaUy became amalgamated with the invaderst
Since that time Dyrham has had no event of
importance to record, but has gone on its way as a
peaceful country viUage. The manor house, which
according to the county history was built " after
*'a design of the ingenious Mr. Talmen" in 1698
is a fair specimen of the mansion of the period and
looks very well from the road. But it is curiously
placed close under the hiU, which rises imme
diately behind it, so that the deer sporting in the
park close to it are higher than the roof of the
house. Among the paintings which it contains
are the frescoes by Cassali from FonthiU Abbey,
which were obtained for the former Theatre Eoyal
in Beaufort square, Bath, but which were removed
25 2

366 TEE CHURCH RAMBLER.
hither when it was found that the smoke and heat
of the building were spoiling them.
In Domesday book we find the following entry
— " William, the son of Widen holds Dirham, in
" Grimboldeston, hundred of King Edward."
The same William held three hides of this manor
with which Durand the sheriff had endowed S.
Mary of Pershore by the king's order, which Earl
WilUam had given to Tarstin, the son of Eolf
with this manor. This manor was soon after
transferred to the Barons de Newmaroh, who were
descended from Bernal-d de Newmarch (de novo
Mercatu) who came over with the Conqueror.
We find that Henry de Newmarch, son of WilUam,
died seized of this manor and left it to his brother
James, who died in 1216 leaving only two
daughters, Isabel and Hawise. According to the
pleasant customs of the times John Eussel, of
Berkshire, purchased the wardship of these
maidens and caused the elder of them Isabel to
marry his son Ealph Eussel, who by right of his
wife became possessed of Dyrham. Their
daughter Maud, dowered with this property,
married Eobert Walerand, a man of considerable
note, and who was governor of S. Briavel's Castle
and warden of the Forest of Dean, and four times
sheriff of Gloucestershire, in the reign of Henry
III. As they had no children the property
reverted to William Eussel her elder brother.
His son Theobald was ancestor of the family of
the Duke of Bedford. He was succeeded at
Dyrham by his sou WUliam Eussel, who died in

DYRHAM CHURCH. 367
1276. He was succeeded by Ealph Eussel, and
after him came Sir Maurice Eussel who died in
1404 leaving two daughters, Margaret and Isabel.
The former was married to Sir Gilbert Dennys
Knight, the second married Sir John S. Lo and
after his death Sir John Drayton. This knight
sold his moiety of the manor to Sir Gilbert Dennys
who died seized of the whole property in 1423.
He was succeeded by Maurice, then followed Sir
Walter whose son Sir WiUiam was the last of the
family to hold Dyrham. He sold it in 1571 to
George Wynter, esq., brother to WUliam Wynter,
of Lydney, in the Forest of Deau.
He is buried beneath a very imposing monu
ment in the south aisle of the church. The figures
cf a man in armour and a woman in the dress of the
period rest upon an altar tomb beneath a canopy
supported by fluted columns with Corinthian capi
tals. Against the wall four sons and seven daughters
are represented as kneeling with their hands
clasped. On a tablet is the following inscription : — ¦
GEORGIO WYNTER ARMIGERO (QUI ANIMAM
EFFLAVIT XXIX DIE NOVEMBRIS ANO DMI
I581) ANNA WYNTER UXOR PIA CHARO
CONJUGI HOC MONUMENTUM POSUIT
STATUENS : CUM ET IPSA, DEI JUSSU, VIT^
HUJUS STATIONEM PEREGERIT, HIC lUXTA
MARITI FUNUS SUUM QUOQUE REPONI UT
QUIBUS VIVIS UNUS ERAT ANIMUS, EISDEM
ET MORTUIS , UNUS ESSET CORPORUM
QUIESCENDI LOCUS, SUB SPE FUTURAE
RESURRECTIONIS.

368 THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
Eound the base of the monument are these
words : — MOLE SUB HAC PLACIDAM
CAPiUNT EN MEMBRA GEORGII WYNTER!
REQUIEM, DURES PERS.\EPE LABORES QUI
SOLIDA IN TERRA, QUI FLUCTIVAGANTIBUS
UNDIS ET PACE INNOCUA SI.MUL ET
PUGNACIBUS ARMIS SUSTINUIT P.\TRIAE,
DUM PUBLICA MUNIA GESSIT ANNA FUIT
QUONDAM HAEC ILLI FIDISSIMA CONJUX
UNDENAS THALAMI SOBOLES TULIT ISTA,
VIRILES QUATUOR, ET SBPTEM GENEROSO
STEMMATE NATAS.
His son John also, who succeeded him in the
manor, was one of the bold sailors of which the
reign of Queen Elizabeth furnished so many. He
was Vice-Admiral to Sir Francis Drake in his
famous voyage round the world. He married Mary
the daughter of Sir William Brouncker, of Erle-
stoke, Wilts. His son Sir George married Mary,
daughter of Edward Eogers, of Canningtou,
Somerset, and died in 1638. His sou John married
Frances, daughter of Thomas Gerard, of Trent,
Somerset, and died in 1668 leaving only one
daughter, Mary, married to William Blathwayt,
«sq.* This gentleman, who was of Cumbrian

-'' With regard to this marriage a correspondent "J. W. R./*
sends me tke following story, whicli. was told hiin hy a
member of the -Blathwayt family :— He says that Mary Wynter
had a suitor for her hand, a rnembei- of an old English
county family, whose estate was some mites on the other side
.of the city of Bath, and is still occupied by a descendant ol

DYRHAM CHURCH. 369
descent, occupied posts of considerable position in
the Governments before and after the Eevolution.
He was one of the commissioners for trade and
plantations and clerk to the Privy Council in the
reigns of King Chai-les II. and King James IL, as
weU as in the reign of Kiug WUliam III. and
Queen Anne. He was also Secretary at War
under King William III.
The property has remained iu his family ever
since and the present lord of the manor is George
WUliam Blathwayt, esq. His father was Lieut.-
Colonel George William Blathwayt, who had
served in the 23rd Light Dragoons and iu the
King's Own Dragoon Guards. He died on the
14th of May, 1871, at the age of 74. He resided
in Bath for mauy years and took a most active
interest iu some of the local charities, while as
chairman of the Somersetshu-e Magistrates of the

the same family. During a visit of this suitor to Dyrham
he there met, also on a visit, a young gentleman, William
Blathwayt hy name, who then held an appointment about the
Court of Charles 11. In a very short time the young country
squire was led to suspect that the courtier found more favour
inthe eyes of Miss Wynter than he did, and he appears to
have determined to put an end to his suspicions in rathel
a summary manner, for being out one day in the park with
his supposed rival, with the ostensible object of shootiog a fat
hack, he managed to put a bullet through the hand of liis
companion. Although the occurrence passed oif as an accident
it -was shrewdly guessed to have been intended te have a more
fatal character. It had instead the result of showing the
squire that he was no longer a welcome guest at Dyrham, while.
the young courtier, under the kind nursing of Miss Wynter,
soon recovered from his wound and married the heiress.

370 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
Weston division he won the affection and esteem
of many who stiU remember this typical English
country gentleman. Speaking of him at the time
of his death The Bath Herald says :— " One of
"the features of English society which deeply
" impressed the late Count Montalembert was the
" extent to which the landed gentry and others
" discharged onerous duties without receiving any
" emolument for their services. Colonel Blath-
" wayt was a fine type of the class which Monta-
" lembert found such pleasure in extolling.
" Bluff and hearty in his manner he not only
" found time to attend to his magisterial duties
"but also to take a warm interest in some
" of the charitable institutions of our city-
"Honest and straightforward himself, he had
"an innate abhorrence of all that was crooked
" and mean in others, and his language to evU doers
" was often as vigorous as his feelings were intense.
" As a politician he was consistent in his allegiance
" to the Conservative party throughout his career.
" Declining parliamentary honours when offered
" by his friends, he preferred lending the weight
" of his counsel and influence to secure the attain-
" ment by others of a dignity which he more than
" once declined. Indeed in all the relations of Ufe
" whether as a landlord, magistrate, neighbour, or
" within the narrower circle, where his loss is so
" acutely felt, his conduct was kindly and exem-
" plary, and no one wiU dispute his claim to be
" ranked among the best of our local worthies."
The church of Dyrham is very prettily ap-

DYRHAM CHURCH. 371
preached from the west side. The pathway is cut
like a terrace on the hillside, and you walk between
a long avenue of trees at the end of which the old
church tower faces you.
It is not a church that would detain the archae
ologist long, in fact a fine brass is the chief thing
to interest him in it. But is admirably arranged
as a parish church, and in providing for the com
fort of the present the traditions of the past have
been carefully respected. I saw the church for the
first time under very favourable circumstances —
a few weeks after it had been restored and reseated.
The present seats are polished open seats but I saw
some decayed portions of the old high pews outside
the buUding, and I can fuUy believe what the
clergyman of a neighbouring parish assured me,
that the Eector of Dyrham by his wise and judicious
alterations had effected a revolution in his church.
The church consists of a western tower, on the
south side of which is the porch, a nave and chancel
with aisles continued the whole length of the
building. These were of course chantry chapels
originaUy, but the screens which once enclosed them
have disappeared, giving the chancel a bare appear
ance, which the new arrangements tend very much
to remedy. It is mainly a Perpendicular building,
though there is some decorated work. It is lighted
on the south side by four late Perpendicular
windows, on the north by four two-light square-
headed windows.
A -visitor to this Church is struck by the degree in
which it preserves traces of its history. The plain

373 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
Norman font tells us that a place of worship existed
here in those early times, while the fabric itself
is the work of later centuries. Under the
arch which affords evident traces of having been
the place of the rood steps, stands that which
supplanted the rood loft — a very good Laudian
pulpit with high sounding board. It is not what
we should put in the church at the present day
but it is very good of its kind, and I am glad
when clergymen forbear, as the Eector of Dyrham
has done, to remove what is of historical value.
Though the church has been reseated one or two
of the best of the old seats have been preserved
and placed among the school seats in order to
leave a record of what preceded the change made
in 1877.
In the floor of the south aisle is a flat stone in
which are inlaid two large efBgies in brass repre
senting Maurice Eussel, who died in 1401 and
Isabel his wife. Underneath the figures are the
following monkish verses : —
MILES PRIVATUS VITA JACET HIC TUMULATUS
SUB PETRA STRATUS MAURICE RUSSEL VOCITATUS
ISABEL SPONSA FUIT HUJUS MILITIS ISTA
QU/E JACET ABSCONSA SUB MARMOREO MODO ALTO
CGSLI SOLAMEN, TRINITAS, HIS CONSERAT AMEN
QUI FUIT EST ET ERIT. CONCITA MORTE PERIT.
Though this is covered by the seats there is a
very sensible arrangement by which it can
be uncovered without difficulty in a very few
minutes.

DYRHAM CHURCH. 373
On the south side of the chancel is an interest
ing memorial of a very worthy parish minister
who bestowed his substance in doing good for his
people. It is a perpetual admonition to the
congregation —
YOUR LATE PASTOR PETER GRAND
BEING DEAD YET SPEAKETH
BE DAILY DEVOUT IN PRIVATE
AND IF OPPORTUNITY SERVES IN PUBLIC PRAYER
FREQUENTLY RECEIVE THE HOLY COMMUNION
¦WITH HUMBLE, PENITENT, FAITHFUL, CHARITABLE
AND THANKFUL HEARTS.
LIVE SOBERLY RIGHTEOUSLY AND GODLY
FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS.
THE PEACE OF GOD BE' WITH YOU ALL IN
CHRIST JESUS
AMEN,
HE DIED NOV. 9TH, 1 792,
AGED 74.
The memorials of former ministers are very well
preserved and indicate in more than one instance
remarkably long service. A painted board in the
chancel speaks of the " Eev. Mr. Mervin Perry,
" Eector of Dyrham for 58 years, who died Dec.
" I7th, 1753, aged 85." The west window, whose
fault is too bright colouring, is
DEDICATED BY HIS SURVIVING SONS
TO THE memory" OF SIR GEO. ABERCROMBIE
ROBINSON BART. WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
IN THE FAITH AND FEAR OF GOD, 1 853, AGED 73 YEARS
It is also

S74 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
IN MEMORY OF HIS ELDEST SURVIVING
SON THE REV. W. SCOTT ROBINSON, M.A.
RECTOR OF THIS PARISH FOR 47 YEARS,
WHO DEPARTED THIS |LIFE ON HIS 7IST
BIRTHDAY, JAN. 9TH, 1875.
On the south wall is a very large monument in
the classical style, a very good specimen of the
work of the period to which it belongs. Upon it
is the inscription — DOM
TRIN ET UNO
IN PIAM MEMORIAM JOHANNIS
ET FRANCISIAE WYNTER
NECNON MARIAE OBSEQUENTISSIMAE
IPSORUM FILIAE ET H^REDIS
PRO ANTECESSORIBUS SESE ET POSTERIS
TABULAM HANC CUM CONDITORIS
QUAE PRIUS DESTINATA
NUNC PERFECTA
GULIELMUS BLATHWAYT
CLARISSIMUS ET AMANTISSIMUS
CONJUX
DD DD CC
ANNO SALUTIS
MDCCXI
All the arrangements of the chancel are
entirely new and reflect the highest credit
upon the good taste of the Eector, for while
handsome and substantial there is nothing
showy about them. The low screen is of Caen
stone and is a very pleasing design. The lectern
and staUs are, as they should be, of oak. The

DYRHAM CHURCH. 375
cushions within the Communion are ladies' work,
and I have rarely if ever seen anything of the
kind so elegantly designed and so beautifully
worked. Altogether this is quite a model church,
the only dissight in which is the homely doorway
which forms, I imagine, the private entrance of
the family from the great house.
I have spoken of the connection of the Dennys
family with the manor in ancient times. Sir
WiUiam Dennys and Anne his wife, daughter of
Maurice Lord Berkeley, founded a guUd in the
Church of Dyrham in the year 1520. The deed
by which it was founded and the rules which
governed it are preserved, and though too long to
insert here are of much interest, as showing the
exact character of such institutions. The proctors
of the guUd were to make their annual account
"within Dyrham Church, within the Trinity
" Chapel," which has been identified with the west
end of the south aisle. In the outer wall of this
chapel there is one of those curious -windows which
some call leper's windows but about whose exact
purpose I believe authorities are not agreed.
In the restoration of the church one or two dis
coveries were made regarding this chapel. Traces
of the piscina were found and its position ascer
tained. A portion of an inlaid pavement, composed
of very beautiful tiles, was discovered, and being
preserved in sitii is once more trod by the feet of
worshippers in the church. I believe the design
is to be copied and the chancel paved in the
same way.

376 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
The present Eector is the Eev. Wynter Thomas
Blathwayt, M.A., who conducted morning service
on the occasion of my visit to the church. The
hymn book in use is the third edition of Hymns
Ancient and Modern, the first being that transla
tion of the Dies Irae beginning —
Lo ! he conies with clouds descending,
the second the beautiful Epiphany hymn —
The people that in darkness sat.
There is a very good organ and the choir consists
of the school children who sing remarkably weU.
Altogether there was a pleasing tone about the
ser-vice. I may note that at Dyrham the congre
gation takes a literal interpretation of the rubric
regarding the Lord's prayer, that the people shall
repeat it, " both here aud wheresoever else it is
"used in Divine service,'' and therefore say it
after the minister in the Communion service.
It happened to be the twenty-sixth Sunday after
Trinity and the Eector, taking his text from 1
John iii. 3 — " And every man that hath this hope
"-in him purifieth himself even as He is pure" —
explained to his people with great pains the
arrangement of the Church calendar. He then
went on to show what was the teaching of the
Church in celebrating the season of Advent, and
drew his listeners' minds on very easily and very
beautifully to the higher hope of which the text
speaks and of which the Church would have us
think. The wisdom of the framers of our Prayer-
book is nowhere more apparent than iu the special

DYRHAM CHURCH. 377
services which they have appointed for different
seasons, and the subject is therefore an inviting
oiie to a preacher. The Eector of Dyrham
based upon it a very practicable and profitable
discourse. Dyrham has a peal of six bells. The fifth bell
is the oldest, its date being about 1280. It bears
the following inscription in Gothic capitals : —
Sctos fflampanam Suucti iStatli Sanam,
Between the first and second words is a head of
King Edward I., between the second and third
the head of Queen Eleanor, and in the two
remaining spaces the head of the King repeated.
Bells with royal heads are scarce. There are
none in Somerset ; the same two sovereigns
who are pourtrayed here occur at Winston iu
Gloucestershire, at Nettleton in Wiltshire, and at
Bottisham iu Cambridgeshire. Kiug Edward III.
and Queen Philippa occur at Stonleigh, Warwick
shire, and S. Peter at Gowts, Lincoln. Another
King occurs at Christchurch Prior}'', Hants, and
Frodringham, Lincolnshire, and yet another on
S. Oswald's sanctus bell at Chester Cathedral.
The third and fourth of these Dyrham bells are
by the early Purdues of Bristol, and bear simply
the date ANNO DOMINI 1638.
The second bell is inscribed literally as follows : —
WYNTERI FAMAN SONET HEEC
CAMPANA GEORGS 1650
WILLIAN PVRDVE AND RICHARD PVRDVE CAST
ME 1650.

378 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
The tenor bell has
W. R. P. GLORIA DEO IN EXCELSIS
JOHANNES WYNTER ESQVIAR JOSEPH SMALCGMBE
C. w. 1669.
These Purdues were founders at Closworth. The
treble bell was added in 1835 (there had been
only five before) by the exertions of Mr. England,
father to the present parish clerk. It was cast st
Gloucester by T. Mears, jun., who succeeded John
Eudhall in 1834. It is inscribed —
T. MEARS GLOUCESTER AND LONDON FECIT 1835.
The churchyard, which is quite on the hUlside,
contains an unusual number of the ugly altar
tombs. The examination of the inscription is as
usual amusing ; the poets of the graveyard on the
slightest provocation overleap the rules of grammar
in search of a rhyme, for instance —
Two sisters here together lies
Till Jesus calls them to arise.
The foUowing, which bears the date of the
Waterloo year, is the most ambitious flight I came
across here —
There is no protection that can save
Us Mortals from the silent Grave,
But Mankind must yield their Breath
Unto the fatal stroke of Death,
In Love she lived, in Faith she died.
Life was begged but was denied.

, , ';?«^'' T V-^'^fSr;} f lUa.' ***^
?, J^ATHERINE, pREAT pH ALFIELD,  JNOKTH ^AST.

^. Eat&mnc, <25reat C&alfielD,

IS Grace of Gloucester and Bristol,
a year or two since, iironounced his
episcopal condemnation of junketing
in connection with archfeological pur
suits, but those with deeper experience
of archaeological meetings know that a little junket
ing is a remarkable help to success. It is true
that the time for these meetings is chosen at the
warmest and brightest season of the year, that a
good plan for the day is laid down, that weU-
informed and polite guides are provided, that
hospitable people throw open their doors to the
pilgrims, and that everything conspires to make
the pursuit of knowledge as pleasant as possible.
It may appear to the practical minded Bishop
that this is more like play than work, but these
aids, whUe agreeable, are also necessary in
finding some of the out-of-the-way places to
which archseologists bend their steps. To show
the difficulties that attend a single-handed pursuit
of archseological knowledge at other seasons than
when county societies assemble, I may describe
the adventures which would befall a traveUer from
Bath to Great Chalfield in the month of February.
In the first place before he has reached the top of

380 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
Bathford hill he will regret that he is compelled
to do part of the work of a steam roller in making
a macadamised road. Then as he enters upon the
miry, wheel-grooved road that leads down to
South Wraxall he will be strongly persuaded of
the mischief wrought by stone wagons and wUl
wish that in some way their proceedings might be
regulated. If this is his first -visit to Great
Chalfield, or if his memory is uncertain as to the
road, he will be gratified to find that the cross
posts ujjon which he relies to direct him, like those
on Kingsdown want an arm, so that he can gain
no information from them. If he asks at the only
house he finds on the road he will be met with the
stereotyped answer — strange inits character to those
only who know not the customs of country people —
" I'm strange in these parts. I never heard tell of
" it." Supposing him however not to lose his way
he will go on through windmg lanes covered with
rough stones tUl they end at the gate of a field and
he wUl make the last three quarters of a mile of
his journey by a wagon track over grass and
plough land. Alighting at last in a barton more
than ankle deep in mud he will have reached the
object of his quest. Such is the plain unvarnished
story of what a pilgrimage to Great Chalfield
would be in winter.
The place is well worth seeing however. It
is the completest picture of an old English
manor house that can be seen anywhere in the
neighbourhood of Bath. StiU surrounded by
its ancient moat stands the old manor house

GREAT CHALFIELD CHURCH. 381
of Great Chalfield, its frontage almost intact,
and flanking it on the west side are grana
ries and farm buildings extending above and
beside the old gateway. On the opposite
side of the green in front of the house, and
directly facing the visitor as he passes under the
gateway, is the little church of S. Katherine, just
large enough for the small parish to which it
belongs. To complete the picture of this old
house it should be said that the water of the
moat turns a mill which occupies the site of one
mentioned in the Domesday survey.
The manor house was evidently buUt in the
fifteenth century, and is ascribed to Thomas-
Tropenell, who died in 1490, and with his wife
Agnes is buried in Corsham Church. Parker says
— "The North front is nearly perfect, with the
" porch and its groined roof, the haU in the centre
" flanked by a gable and buUding at each end,
" each with an oriel, that nearest the church being
" of singular beauty. The whole front is one of
"the most elaborate and finest that we have."
The visitor now however who goes round to the
left of this fine oriel ¦wiU find — an orchard. The
guest chamber to which it belonged was puUed
down some years since, the hall cut into rooms,
and the distinctive features of the interior of the
house effectuaUy destroyed. Yet Parliament will
not pass that moderate little biU by which Sir
John Lubbock would endeavour to save a few of
our ancient monuments !
The church has not suffered so much on the

I™.

382 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
exterior as the interior. It consists of a nave and
chancel and a south chapel. The entrance is at
the west-end, where there is not a porch in the
ordinary sense, a groined hood merely projecting
over the door. Eesting on the west waU is the
little bell turret with its crocketed spire, all
probably of the date of Henry VII. There is
space in this turret for two bells, but only one
hangs there now, and that is not used. The
inscription on the beU runs —
ANNO DO MI NI l622 R.P.
and it has also the arms of England and France
crowned. The name of the founder is the well-
known one of Eoger Purdue, of Closworth.
The south chapel with a very fine stone screen
were erected by the builder of the manor house
and bear his arms. Like the rest of the church
this chapel is thickly covered with whitewash, but
there are evidences that it was originally covered
with frescoes. It has a three-light Perpendicular
window, whose deep sill marks the altar place,
while the piscina still exists to the east of it. The
stone screen is now placed across between the
nave and chancel. The south wall of this chapel
has been extended eastward and the east wall of
the church brought to meet it, so that there is
now a square chamber south of the chancel and
•opening into either by arches which are very ill-
"constructed. A block of stone has been left to
hide the awkwardness of the arch mouldings
¦cutting obliquely on the capitals. Tbis undesir-
-able addition -n-as made by Eobert Neall, esq., as

GEEAT CHALFIELD CHUECH. 383
the initials on the door and the date 1775 indicate.
The fine piscina, with shelf supported by female
head crowned, was probably taken out of the
chancel. The east and west windows are three-light
Perpendicular windows, containing fragments of
old glass. There is a small lancet-headed window
to the north of the nave, and a two-light square-
headed window on the north side of the chancel.
The following entries on a fly-leaf of the register
wUl explain the present state of the church : —
The church of Chalfield magna was set in good
repair, A.D., 1719, viz., the roof was new laid a large
buttress set upon the north side and the body of the
church was new laid. John Lewis, Rector,
Thos. Miles, Churchwarden.
The Chancel was set in good repair, anno domini,
1722, cost 3. 5. 8. J. Lewis, Rector.
The Chancel was again repaired, A.D., 1747.
John Lewis, Rector. 4. 4. 8.
The floor of Chalfield Church was raised one foot
and eight inches and new laid, new forms were set up
and the whole church white-limed and painted and a
canopy placed over the pulpit, A.D., 1765.
Clement Glynn, Rector,
T. Miles, Churchwarden.
The Chancel was again repaired, viz., the roof new
laid and ceiled, the floor raised one foot and three
inches and the seats painted, a.d., 1765.
C. Glynn, Rector, cost 15. 14, 6.
T. Miles, Churchwarden.

384 THE CHUECH EAMBLES,
Whatever may have been the object of this
raising of the floor I do not know, but it is to be
regretted because it has cut off the bases of some
of the columns in the chancel and caused consider
able injury to the screen. The ceilings are of the
thoroughgoing plaster kind and the whole place
is covered -with white or yellow wash, even the old
tub font has a thick yellow layer upon it. The
fittings of the church are of the plainest aud
oldest kind, and the ivy is forcing its destroying
bonds through the south window of the church
and between the stones of the porch. It is a pity
that no one comes forward with the small sum
necessary to put this interesting little edifice in
good order.
The register is comiilete and well preserved ;
the first volume written on vellum dates from
1545 to 1812, being of course a copy down to
1579. Down to 1605 there is no entry but of
the Eyre family who succeeded to this property
by marriage with the hen-ess of the Tropnells,
and held it for many generations. It is worthy
of note that the entries went on through the
Commonwealth period without any disturbance,
though it is said that the house was occupied as a
military post during the Civil war. In looking
at the modern register, I saw there had been no
marriage solemnised in the church since 1858.
The motto of the Tropnells was le joug tyra
bellemeni, and the device of a yoke for oxen is
frequently found in the decoration of Great Chal
field. The death of the last male of the family aa

GEEAT CHALFIELD CHUECH. 385
related in an old pedigree printed by Walker, is -
so remarkable as almost to make one suspect
x'omance. It says, " the son, being at Mans estate ,
" dyed by an unfortunate accident as he was
" hunting ; he put a pair of dog couples over his
" head, persued his sport, and, leaping, over a
" hedge, the end of the dogg couple wch hung at
" his back, took hold of a bough, and kept him
"from ground untill he was strangled." The
property therefore passed by an heiress to the
Eyres and thence to the last Duke of Kingston,
who sold it to Eobert Neale, esq., of Shaw house,
Melksham. The Dowager Lady Burrard is now
lady of the manor. The living is a rectory held
by the Eev. Eobert Parker Little, B.A., of Sidney
Sussex College, Cambridge, though I am told he
is at present in India and has been for some time
past. On the south waU of the church is a monument —
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE
REV. RICHARD WARNER
THE LATE VENERABLE, PIOUS
AND BENEVOLENT
RECTOR OF THIS PARISH
(IN FAITH AND PRACTICE A TRUE CHRISTIAN),
HAVING ATTAINED THE AGE OF 93 YEARS,
9 MONTHS AND 9 DAYS.
HE EXPIRED
ON THE 27TH OF JULY, 1857,
DEARLY BELOVED
AND DEEPLY LAMENTED.
He was instituted in 1809, and was also Eector

386 THE CHUBCH EAMBLES,
of Chelwood, Somerset. There is no mention
however on this monument of his only title to
enduring fame. This venerable clergyman had
been for many years curate of S. James, Bath, and
was the author of " The History of Bath," which
won for him the distinguished title of the historian
of Bath — a title which despite all the investigation
of the present day no one has yet arisen to dispute
with him. The history was published in the year
1800, so that he lived the lifetime of many men
after finishing the chief work of his life. It is
given to few men thus to outlive their own genera
tion. Yet he preserved a remarkable mental
vigour to the last.
The only ancient monument is a stone in the
floor with the following inscription : — ¦
HERE LYETH THE BODY
OF MARGARET HORTON
LATE WIFE OF EDWARD
HORTON OF CREATE
CHALDFEILD IN THE
COUNTY OF WILTS, GEN.
AND ELDEST DAUGHTER
OF SIR WM. DODINGTON
LATE OF BREAMORE IN
THE COUNTY OF SOUTH
HAMPTON, KNIGHT,
WHO DEPARTED THIS
LIFE THE 30TH DAY OF
NOVEMBER, 1670.

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^. ^arg t&e aiirgin, '^Bitton,

|HE most beautiful tower and the most
interesting church which the traveller
can find on either side of the Avon
between Bath and Bristol are the
tower and church of S. Mary the
Virgin, Bitton. No church within reach of the
city of Bath 'will better repay the archseologist-
for a visit, none wUl please him better for the
careful manner in which the fabric has been
preserved — the silent records of its long history
which are contained in its stones remaining
undefaced, while the practical mind is satisfied
with the completeness of its arrangements as
a parish church for the people of the present
day. But the ordinary wanderer, who heeds
none of these things, will be weU repaid for the
trouble of climbing a well-kept turret staircase
by the delightful view he wiU obtain from the top
of the tower. Below him is the large churchyard
thickly covered with tombstones, and beyond the
pretty Vicarage whose gardens two generations of
possessors have made famous among lovers of
horticulture throughout England. Even at this

388 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
height he can .admire a fine Wellingtonia on the
lawn. The Avon wanders, like a sUver thread in
the path of one who has lost the right way,
through the beautiful meadows extending beyond
and dotted here and there with barns and
homesteads. Hills close in the scene on either
side. Towards the north rises Kelston Eound
HiU with its famUiar crest of trees, and beyond it
the hiUs which enclose the valley of Bath. The
houses of North Stoke can be seen on the hiU-side
and the student of the topography of Eoman
Britain knows that away thence used to come
the Via Julia to the entrenchment which he can
see about half a mile beyond the Vicarage. Away
to the north too trends the celebrated Golden
Valley. On the south side the ancient Mendip
hills rise in solemn grandeur against the sky,
whilst in the immediate foreground the thin line
of the Midland raUway embankment extends
across the scene. Though the beholder knows
that he stands midway between two great cities
he sees nothing of either of them. Keynsham,
whose position is similar, betrays signs of Bristol
as unmistakable as Eedcliff street, but Bitton is
unaffectedly a country viUage. Yet in the midst
of a thoroughly rural scene two taU chimneys rise
above the trees 'with a very business-like aspect.
One of these belongs to the Swinford Lead
Works, at the place where tradition says Bladud
crossed the Avon, the other is that of the large
and flourishing Paper MiUs belonging to the
Messrs. SomerviUe.

BITTON CHURCH. 389
It is easy to imagine this piece of country
covered with trees, and the parish is the site of
the Forest of Kingswood which covered it until it
was disafforested as some say in the reign of King
Henry III. In the Great Survej' it is recorded
that Dons, one of the King's thanes, "holds
"Betoneof the King, and he held it in the time
" of King Edward." The same record says — " In
" the time of King Edward this manor paid a
" farm of one night, and it does the same now."
That is to say it found a night's entertainment for
the court. Those who held the outlands of a lord
as customary tenants paid him a certain portion of
victuals and things necessary for human life, which
rent they caUed a feorm, from the Old English
Jeormian to feed. This rent was changed in the
reign of King Henry II. to a money payment,
but we still have the words farm and farmer.
Nowadays of course we can bring our food sup
plies to us from Penzance to London and even
further. But in the old time it was not so, and
adopting the other alternative the Old English
kings, in the days when rents were paid in kind,
took their court through their dominions, and
stayed in each place till they had consumed what
was due to them there. It is also worthy of note
before we pass by this entry that whereas we
reckon time by so many days our forefathers
reckoned by so many nights. So it is in this entry,
and hence we have in our language the words
fortnight, se'ennight.
With regard to subsequent owners of this

390 THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
parish we find that Adam d'Amneville held it by
grant of King Henry II., and that his son Eobert
died seized of it in 1232. By marriage 'with an
heiress of this family the manor passed to David
le Blount. His son Da'vid died seized of it in
1339. It passed from his son Eichard to other
branches of the family, and in 1408 it was in the
possession of Eobert Blount, who with his tenants
had a right to heath and wood and coal in Kings-
wood chase. Sir Simon Blount who died in 1477
left a daughter Margaret married to Lord John
Hussey, who was beheaded at Lincoln in 1538-
for riots in that county.
BaiTS court in this parish was a fine house-
spoken of by Camden, but now removed. It was
built by the family of Barr, the last of whom.
Sir John Barr, was married to the daughter of
Thomas Eugge or Eigge, and Katherine the
last heiress of the ancient family of de Button.
Lady Barr, who was born at Charlcombe, died
without children in the memorable year 1485..
Her heirs were the descendants of Sir John de
Button who died in 1382, and by one of them Barrs-
court came to Sir Thomas Newton, who was
of Welsh descent. Sir Thomas Newton's father
was Sir Eichard Cradock, Lord Chief Justice of
England, who married Emma, daughter and co
heiress of Sir Thomas Perrett of Islington, and
according to Leland dwelt or was born at Trenewith
(Newtown) in Powisland and so was called Newton
after that place. The fourth in direct descent from
Sir Thomas was Sir Theodore Newton, who was

BITTON CHUECH. 391
lord of this manor in 1608. He married Penelope,
daughter of John Eodney, of Eodney Stoke,
Somerset, and his son was Sir John Newton, bart,
who died •without issue and is buried in Bristol
Cathedral. He was the last of the Newtons of
Barr's court and the estate in this parish passed
from him to a Lincolnshire branch of the famUy«
In the chantry chapel of S. Katherine in the
Church of S. Mary the Virgin, Bitton, there is a
memorial to one of these : —
HERE LIETH THE BODY OF SIR lOHN NEWTON,
BART. THRICE BURGESS OF PARLIAMENT. A
MOST LOVING HUSBAND, CAREFUL FATHER, &
FAITHFUL FRIEND. PIOUS, IUST, PRUDENT,
CHARITABLE, VALIANT, & BELOV'd OF ALL.
HE WAS BORN IVNE YE 9TH, A.D. 1626. BEING
THE SON OF THOMAS NEWTON OF GUNWARBY
IN THE COUNTY OF LINCOLN, ESQ ; AND DIED
MAY 3IST A.D. 1699. HE MARRIED MARY THE
DAUGHTER OF SIR lERVASE.EYER OF RAMJPTQN,
IN THE COUNTY OF NOTTINGHAM KT. THEY
LIV'D HAPPILY ALL THEIR TIME TOGETHER
WCH WAS 55 YEARS, BY WHOM HE HAD ISSUE
FOUR SONS & THIRTEEN DAUGHTERS. THIS
MONUMENT WAS ERECTED AT THE CHARGE OF
HIS YOUNGEST SON GERVAS NEWTON, ESQ.
There are stones in the floor of the chapel re
cording the burials of the Whittucks, the Weares,
and members of other local famUies, otherwise
there are not many monuments in the church,
which for the sake of the buUding is not to be
regretted. The following on the north side of
the chancel has now become almost illegible : —

392 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
MEMORI.E SACRVM lOH : SEYMOR MILITIS : COMIT :
GLOVCES :
QUI NON MINUS ILLUSTRIS ANIMI DOTIBUS
EXCELLUIT, QUAM PR.EILLUSTRI ET NOBILI
ORTU CLARUIT. MORTEM OBIJT NOUEMCRIS
I7MO. ANNO EPOCHE CHRISTIANS 1663.
Si moueat virtus Lachrymas, defuncta. Viator,
Sistat, officii sic memoratq ; tui.
Se pietas fato prjebet Crucianda superbo.
At quamuis Jaceat non quafi vita, tamen
In te certabant Virtus et nobilis ortus
Quis prior : Heu ! fato cessit utrumq ; tuo.
Vives, non iiomnt hcec monumenta mori.
Tu bene vixisti uita an felicior estes
An obitu, fieri Questio jure potest.
Sic iuxit Patrife lumen, sic occidit, eheu !
Fallimur, in Ccelo jam noua Stella micat.
Vivito lit inclusus vixit modo nobilis Heros,
Certa licet fuerit ut Arnica venit.
Age peripatetice Dum intueaiis Cineres defuncti mort.
, , , en facel , . . breui fortasse tuas.
On the south side the chancel is a plain stone
with very rude letters, bearing the inscription : —
HERE LYETH BENEATH THIS
PLACE THE BODY OF lOHN
BURNLIE VICAR OF BITTON
AND PREACHER OF THE WORD
OF GOD WHO DECEASED
THE 22TH DAY OF MAY
ANNO DOMINI 1627.
On the south wall of the nave there is a very
curious monument. The tablet is surrounded

BITTON CHUECH. 393
with the usual scroll work of the period but
underneath is a curious device, the more striking
because it has been recently repainted. It consists
of a grinning skull crowned with a wreath of
laurel and winged with broad pinions like a
bat's. It is to the memory of Francis Stone,
who died on the 9th December, 1641, and other
members of his family, and it bears the following
lines : —
Abeve their soules crowned with eternall bliss
Triumph in saints and angells liappines
Below their bodies rest waiteinge to bee
Call'd forth in time to immortallitie.
The Abbey of Keynsham held lands and rents in
Bitton, West Hanham, Upton and Oldland, which
were purchased in the name of John Becket and
others in trust for the Abbey in 1387.
To explain the very short chancel and remark
ably long nave of this church, Mr. E. A. Free
man has advanced a theory that it is built on the
site of a Eoman basiUca. The neighbourhood of
the Via Julia and the fragments of Eoman ware
which have been dug up from time to time in the
Vicarage grounds and in the churchyard, prove
that the Eomans occupied this spot, and there
still remain untouched stones which were placed
in their present position by builders in the
period next after the Latin, so that the idea
dovetails in with the facts we possess. Though
it cannot be regarded as anything more than
an ingenious and startling flight of imagination,

394 THE CHUBCH EAMBLER.
it is an interesting one and carries our thoughts
back to the origin of the rules which govern
church building. The form of the Gothic churches
which we so justly .admire was not newly
invented for the service of the Church of Christ.
Here is another instance of a law of development,
it grew by the force of surrounding circum
stances, out of what was already existing.
When Christianity prevailed over Paganism in
ancient Eome the followers of the new faith
assembled in the basilicas or justice halls and
afterwards buUt their own churches upon a simUar
plan. The semicircular apse has given place to
the chancel in the Western Church while in the
East there have been other developments from the
same starting point. The subject is interesting
and suggestive. Eanke remarks that — " We
" sometimes feel astonished that such a purely
"secular building of the heathen as the basilica,
" should have been converted to the purposes of
" Christian worship, but in this fact there isa remark-
" able significance — the apsis of the basUica contained
" an Augusteum, the assembled statues of such
" Emperors as had received Divine worship.
"These were replaced by the images of Christ
" and his apostles as they are seen in many
" basilicas to the present day. . . As on the coins of
" Constantine the labarum with the monogram of
" Christ is seen to rise above the conquered Dragon
" so did the worship and name of Jesus exalt
" itself over the vanquished gods of heathenism."
The existing nave of the church of Bitton is

BITTON CHUECH. 395
•essentially Norman in character and it presents
the usual features of a nave of that period — great
length and height in proportion to its width. The
Norman corbel table is preserved on both the
north and south sides and there is good reason for
believing that the north wall has never been dis
turbed except for the insertion of the present
two-light windows. There are traces in the wall
on the interior — and the manner in which these
traces have been preserved and are left uncovered
is beyond all praise — of two or three plain round-
headed Norman windows which have been walled
up. But there are two fragments of greater
interest than these. Near the east end of the
north wall are distinctly to be seen the large
stones of an archway of much earlier date than
the Norman Conquest, and near the ground is a
block of masonry which the least tutored observer
would see is of the same character as that in the
little church of S. Lawrence at Bi-.adford-on-Avou.
It is undeniably primitive Eomanesque work,
done by those English ancestors of ours whom
people will call Anglo-Saxons and believe such an
amount of untruth about. This archway was the
entrance either to a north tower or north transept
in the first church on this site. On the south Mde
the foundations of a corresponding transept have
been found, though the archway has been replaced
by a very late Perpendicular window, pointing to
the conclusion that it was destroyed in the
abolition of chantries. On tbe north side how
ever interments have been allowed in times gone

396 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
by so close to the church that any simUar evidence
has been swept away. Again the present chancel
arch, which stone for stone replaces a late Norman
one removed in 1843, is built within a stUl older
arch, the rough capitals of which can still be seen
on the chancel side. On the nave side there is an
old string course of the same date as the first
arch and above it a portion of a carving of which
no one can positively say what it is, but it might
be, and is generally believed to be, the feet of the
holy rood. The Vicar is of this opinion and says
he has a fragment which is evidently the arm of
the crucified Christ. On the south side the
Norman entrance a plain but good doorway stiU
remains and apparently this section was not dis
turbed by the Perpendicular builders, though find
ing a rough piece of stone at the end of one of
the mouldings they carved it and finished it in
their own style. There is a finer doorway on the
north side from which the chancel arch is copied.
This must have been either the western entrance
or a north entrance ; I am inclined to think the
latter as more in character with the plan of the
church. It is now within the church at right
angles to the west wall of the chantry chapel and
there are some which think it has been shifted. I
do not fancy myself that it is far from its original
position though its eastern side has been cut down
to make room for other work.
In the chapel are one or two small effigies
evidently of ecclesiastics which have been found
at various times in the church. Near it are two

BITTON CHURCH. 397
fine monuments which have been raised up and
placed in the wall to secure them from injury.
One half raised, half incised, represents a cross-
legged knight with a shield bearing the arms of
de Button. A similar stone, with a floriated cross,
is to the memory of Emmote de Hastings.
Next after the Norman 3 came the buUders of
the chantry chapel of S. Catherine on the north
side of the nave. This was built about the end
of the 13th century by Thomas Button whose
famUy took their name from this place, and who
was chosen Dean of WeUs in 1284, and pro
moted to the see of Exeter in 1292. Mr. Irvine
thinks that the figure on the right hand side of
the north porch of Wells Cathedral represents him
as a Bishop. His uncle, William Button, was
Bishop of Bath and WeUs from 1248 to 1264, and
- so was his brother, another WilUam Button, from
1267 to 1275. Thomas of Exeter built thi^
chantry over the bodies of his father and mother-
and it was consecrated in 1299 as is shown by the
deed of consecration which is still in existence at
Worcester. It is a large and well proportioned
chapel separated from the nave by two plain
arches. It has three very rich sedilia and piscina,
though the iconoclasts have somewhat damaged
the corbels. The east -window is in three lights
without cusps. On the north side are six single
light windows with trefoil heads deeply splayed
with good hood mouldings on the inner side. Only
one of these I think is original, the rest are copies
inserted when the chapel was restored in 1822,"
27 2

398 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
There is a western door with a window on either
side but there is no trace of an outside door.
The Perpendicular work in this church is con
siderable and remarkably good. The chancel was
probably buUt at the close of the fourteenth
century ; it has a stone groined roof of two bays
of a very handsome character. The east window
is in five lights and very simUar in character to
the east window of S. Mary Eedcliff. There is a
piscina and three sedUia which are not so ornate
as those in the chantry chapel. The small vestry
on the north side is curious, for it is of the same
date as the chancel and has a groined stone roof.
The external roof was also of stone but this not
proving water tight has been covered with slates.
The tower, which as I have already said is a
most handsome and weU proportioned one, is in
three stages with a staircase turret on the north
side capped with a small spire. The buttresses
are diagonal, and from the set offs at each stage
rise crocketed pinnacles. The summit is battle
mented and smaller pinnacles spring from the
battlements. There is a well proportioned western
door at the termination of the hood moulding of
which are two heads which are generally con
sidered to be those of King Edward III. and his
Queen Philippa of Hainault, The upper part of
the tower is evidently of later work than the base
though those who finished evidently respected the
plan of those who began it and preserved the
unity of the whole. It was probably commenced
at the same time as the chancel and finished by

BITTON CHURCH. 399
somewhat slow degrees. It was pointed out when
the Somersetshire Archaeological Society visited
the church in 1876 that the fact that part of this
tower was buUt in the reign of King Edward III.
confirmed the opinion of Professor WUlis that the
Perpendicular style came in earlier than many
people are incUned to think. The buUders of the
tower must have removed a portion of the south
waU of the Norman nave, respected the doorway,
and then rebuilt the rest, replacing above it the
Norman corbel table. That they did use up eW:'
materials a curious evidence was found not loiig
since in rebuilding one of the buttresses which
had become insecure. A large stone which formed
part o£ it was found on being puUed out to be the
npper part of a Norman ledge tomb, and as it is
now laid in its place the floriated cross can be
seen. A still longer stone in the next buttress is
no doubt the remainder of the tomb.
So much for those who in past times have built
the church of Bitton ; it is now time to speak of
two who in the present day have done a work of
regeneration for the buUding. The Eev. H. T. v'
Ellacombe, who is so well known in aU du-ections
as the great authority on the subject of bells,
came to Bitton in 1817 as curate, and became
Vicar of it iu 1835. He was a man of remarkable
energy and then very much in advance of his
time in the matters of church restoration and
church services. The condition in which he found
Bitton Church must have been truly deplorable.
Churchwardens in the previous century had

400 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
employed John Wood, of Bath, to restore the
church and he had covered the chancel with plaster
and ornamented the chancel arch with rosettes, a.
similar character to those in his houses at Bath.
He did a similar work at Llandaff Cathedral, and
there he placed a pagan altar such as might be
dug up from the ruins of an ItaUan temple. Here
at Bitton he was content with a Doric reredos.
Mr. Ellacombe removed all this and found beneath
the plaster the late Norman chancel arch spoken
of above which he replaced by the present one in
1843. He also restored the chantry chapel, cut
down the pews, and in fact carried on the work of
careful restoration of his church until the end of
his incumbency. He was also the means of build
ing three new churches in the then large parish of
Bitton, since by these means divided into smaller
ecclesiastical districts. In 1850 he was preferred
to the Eectory of Clyst S. George, Devon, which
he still holds, and though 88 years of age, he has
he tells me now in the press an illustrated
" History of the Church of Bitton." I am glad
to hear that the history of so interesting a church.
is to be told by one who possesses so many facts
which no one else has or can obtain. But the most
remarkable fact about the book will be that it is
the work of a man verging on ninety. An active
and laborious life has truly not exhausted his
energies. He was succeeded at Bitton by his son the
present vicar, the Eev. H. N. Ellacombe, who has
worthily carried on his father's good work. The

BITTON CHURCH. 4OI
present handsome hammer-beam roof in the nave
and the open oak seats with carved bench ends
have been added during his incumbency. Excep
tion is taken in some quarters to the roof as out of
character with the Somersetshire roofs, but the
answer is cogently given that this is not a Somer
setshire church, nor is it, as are all those which
have the roof spoken of. Perpendicular in charac
ter. The fact is the south waU inclines outward,
-and the thrust of the hammer-beam roof is best
suited to those conditions. The waU posts rest on
handsome carved stone corbels representing the
plants of the Bible, the lUy, the bramble, the vine
and so on. The great merit of aU this work is
that it was done in the parish and by Bitton
people. These corbels, which are very fine and
natural, were carved in the church from nature.
The roof and the seats were entirely the work of
local carpenters under the direction of the Vicar.
They are proof what a parish can do to maintain
its parish church when it is so minded, and, I
may add, when it has such a Vicar to lead it in its
work. With regard to the name of the place Eudder
says — "The river Boyd runs through and gives
" name to the parish which hath been variously
" 'written in different ages, as Betune in Domes-
" day book. Button in other ancient records, and
"latterly Bitton, all which are supposed to be
"contractions of or corrupt modes of writing
"Boyd town, that is the town upon the river
^'Boyd." The name is a hard nut for the Midland

ll

402 THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
Eailway porters — try aU they 'wiU they' cannot
disguise it as is their custom, and if this were
only an important station their vociferation would
for once really be of use to the passengers.

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N the first half of this century the
western corner of North Wilts was
almost classic ground, for on it abode
three of the acknowledged poets of
the day. I have already spoken of
Moore at Bromham and Crabbe at Trowbridge.
WiUiam Lisle Bowles, for 48 years Vicar of Brem-
bUl, was perhaps more thoroughly identified with
the district than either of them. He came of an
old Wiltshire family, though born in 1762 at King's
Sutton, Northamptonshire, of which parish his
father was Vicar. His mother -was daughter of
the weU-known Dr. Grey, chaplain to .Bishop
Crew, of London. WUliam Lisle Bowles took
his degree in 1792, entered holy orders, and after
taking a curacy in WUtshire obtained in 1804 a
prebend's stall in Salisbury Cathedral, and in 1805
he received the living of BremhUl. He held
this charge for forty years so that the best
portion of his life was spent here and its
history is closely associated with this place. He
left Bremhill for Salisbury, being appointed
Canon Eesidentiary, and died there on the 6th of
AprU, 1850, at the advanced age of 88. The

404 THE CHUECH RAMBLER.
following record of his life was written by his
successor in the parish register : —
"The Rev. W. L. Bowles, Canon of Salisbury
Cathedral, died April 6th, 1850, and was buried in the
Cathedral of Sahsbury, April 13th, 1850. He was
instituted to the living of Bremhill in the year of grace
1805, and resigned it when unable any longer to fulfil
the duties thereof, in January, 1845, having held it
forty years. He was a man of no ordinary mind, and
has bequeathed a memorial of himself to posterity in
various printed sermons as well as in his volumes of
poems and local histories (whereof the best is his
' History of Bremhill'), and casually is his ' Life of
Bishop Ken. ' I imagine that his prose will survive his
verses ; but many greatly admired his sonnets.
' ' His controversy with Lord Byron on the merits of
Pope, which once drew great attention, is already
almost forgotten. The churchyard of the parish abounds
with epitaphs which he wrote and set up for many of
his poor parishioners. The fragrance of his name is
still pleasant and grateful to the people here ; they loved
him for his Christian simplicity, kindness and truthful
ness. I preached a funeral sermon, on the day after his
burial, as the last tribute that could be paid him in his
own parish.
"April, 1850. " Henry Drury."
Mr. S. C. Hall in giving his recollections of him
says : — " For more than sixty years he was con-
" tinuaUy writing poems, which if they did not
" place him among the highest of the poets gave
"to him rank more than respectable." Only a
smaU portion of his writings is likely to live, but

BREMHILL CHURCH. 405
they aroused the strongest feelings of approbation
inthe minds of some of the most distinguished of
his contemporaries. Coleridge held him to be one
of the first of our English poets " who combined
" natural thoughts with natural diction — the first
" who reconcUed the heart with the head." He
expressed himself as under great obligations to
the sonnets of Bowles and wrote —
My heart has thanked thee Bowles for these soft strains.
Whose sadness soothed me like the murmuring
Of wild bees in the sunny showers of spring.
Charles Lamb endorsed Coleridge's words and
'wrote to him — "Coleridge I love you for dedi-
" eating your poetry to Bowles, genius of the
" sacred fountain of tears." Eobert Southey in a
letter respecting one of his poems told him — " I
" should have known it to be yours by the sweet
" and unsophisticated style upon which I en«
" deavoured now almost forty years ago to form
" my o-wn." I think it necessary to repeat this
evidence to show to those by whom Bowles -wUI
never be read that he was a real influence in the
literature of his day. His chief prose works are
the " Life of Bishop Ken,'' and the " History of
BremhiU." His controversy with Byron, CampbeU,
and others, whether Pope was a poet of the first
rank wUl be longest remembered by Byron's Une —
And Pope, whom Bowles says is no poet.
Bowles did not say so, but then Byron did not
stick at a lie when he wanted to demolish an

406 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
opponent ; the British peerage is liable to the
meteoric appearance of characters with this want
of scruple, though happily they are rare.
He took great delight in ornamenting the
beautiful grounds of his vicarage and adomed it
with altars dedicated to friendship, sundials,
temples and grottoes. He had Slso a chair in
which he would seat his visitor, and tell him with
harmless vanity a long catalogue of distinguished
men and women who had sat there before. In
appearance Mr. Hall says "he seemed a happy
" blending of the country farmer with the country
" clergyman of old times," and recalled the " por-
" traiture of parsons of the days of Fielding and
" SmoUett." He was one of the most simple-minded
men that ever lived — Moore, to whom at Sloperton
he was a favourite visitor, exclaims, "how
" marvellously by being a genius he has escaped
" being a fool " — and of his eccentricities there are
innumerable stories.
His first effort to bring his Muse into print is
very droll, though I think there are many people
in the present day whose ideas are just as unprac
tical. In early youth, he was innocent enough to
apply to a printer at Bath,-* to know if "he would

* A printer who served the seven years ot Ws apprenticeship
in The Herald. ofBce -writes from Birmingham :— " The remarks
" and anecdotes on Mr. Bowles carry my memory back nearly
**40 years. The Bath Herald and the poet were no strangers,
"and it strikes me forcibly the Bath printer alluded to in the
"anecdote must have been old Mr. William Meyler, th&
" father of the late C. G. Meyler. I can recollect hearing, iu

BREMHILL CHUECH. 407
give anything for fourteen sonnets," to be pub
lished " with or -without a name." The purchase
was declined ; so the simple man, who fancied he
mi-iijht thus pay the largest debt he ever owed,
seventy pounds, " thought no more of getting rich
by poetry." Yet they were afterwards published
(in 1793} and sold well.
In the very delightful pages of the journal of
Julian Charles Young I find some most amusing
anecdotes respecting him. Mr. Youngdescribes him
as "a clever, well-read, humorous, single-hearted,
but eccentric person — morally brave as a Uon,
physically timid as a hare. It was a matter of"
equal indifference to him whether he had to
measure swords with Lord Byron, the merits of
Pope the battle-field, or to -wrestle with deans-
and chapters, church patronage the bone of con
tention between them. But to confront a situation

"the early part of my apprenticeship, the old journeymen
"who worked on The Bath Herald—the Williamses (father
**and sons) and Trotman — talking of Mr. Bowles and his-
•* manners when correcting his proofs— whether contributions
" to the columns of The Berald or proofs of his work I cannot
" say— how he would walk about the oflice sometimes puzzled
" for a word to suit his rhyme or measure, when he would
"appeal to the ioumeyman printer for the same, and fre-
"quently receive and adopt the suggestion of the workman."
If WiUiam Meyler was (as is very probable) the printer to
whom Bowles's youthful sonnets were offered, the refusal wa»-
kindly given because it is known that in after years they were
intimate friends, and the early volumes of Meyler's newspaper
contain much of the poet's work. It was probably over some
of these contributions that the help of the compositors was-
called in as described.

408 THE CHUECH RAMBLER.
invol-ving the slightest personal risk was beyond
his powers of nerve. For instance, he never
entered my doors without first sending his
footman forward on a reconnoitring expedition,
to ascertain that there was no stray dog or
cat prowling about for his special discomfiture."
The richest of the stories of his nervousness I
cannot repeat here, but when at Bowood he was in
a great state of agitation because Lady Lansdowne
had given him a bedroom on the ground floor
where there was nothing to prevent thieves from
getting in and cutting his throat. He remon
strated and then complained that by way of
rendering his mind easier Lady Lansdowne had
transferred him to a room so high that in case of
fire he should be burnt to a cinder before he could
be rescued. He determined to go home, but a
heavy thunderstorm changed his mind again and
he was finally placed under the protection of the
poet Eogers. The next story illustrating his
absence of mind was, it must be admitted, dis
owned by the hero of it, but the evidence of the
gatekeeper in the matter is perhaps more reliable,
and there is more than one divine, even among
the Soots, who has been similarly unhappy in the
management of a pony. Mr. Young says : —
"A Uttle distance out of Calne, on the road to
Derry hUl, there used to be, and may be still, for
aught I know to the contrary, a turnpike. One
very hot day in summer, Bowles, astride of his
favourite old pony, with the reins dropped on its
neck, was seen by three or four stone-breakers by

BREMHILL CHURCH. 409
the roadside, absorbed in the perusal of a book.
Although the rider and his pony thoroughly
understood each other, each ministering to the
other's infirmities, yet, on this occasion, the former
finding himself, it is presumed, inconvenienced by
the occasional stumbling of his veteran ally, and
frequently interrupted by his straying to the road
side to graze, he dismounted, tied him to a gate,
walked on a few yards, seated himself on a
verdant bank, and surrendered at discretion to
the captivating influence of the book in hand.
When he had half digested the chapter he had been
devouring, he arose, pondered on it, argued it out
aloud ¦with himseK, opened the book again where he
had left off, and, forgetting the pony altogether
sauntered leisurely up the hUl, reading as he went,
till he arrived at the turnpike-gate. On reaching
this famUiar spot, which he had been almost in
the daily habit of passing through for years, ¦with
his eyes stiU riveted on his volume, he shouted
out, with a lusty voice, ' Gate,' — then inserted his
hand into his breeches pocket, took from it the
toU, which he had already paid in going to Calne,
and offered it to the gate-keeper. ' What is this for,
Sir V said he. ' Why, for my pony, you goose,'
was the answer. ' But you have no pony ; and if
you had, you paid me already in the morning.'
On hearing the man say he had no pony, Bowles
cast down his eyes as if he had expected to see it
between his legs ; then became strangely confused,
and only through the suggestion of the man, was
enabled to remember where he had left the animal."

410 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
The recorded history of the parish of Bremhill
goes back beyond that Norman Conquest which
too many of us stUl ignorantly regard as the
beginning of English history. In the year 938
King Athelstan gave Breme to the Abbey of
Malmesbury. The descriptions of the boundaries
in such old deeds are very curious — and more
than that they are instructive for they show how
clear-headed were those early forefathers of ours.
Canon Jackson transcribes the boundaries of
Breme thus : — "From Wrokcumbe to Merkendene,
" then along the water course to the Street, thence
"to Cadebume : from the source of the said
"burne (sirmm) straight to Avene : along Avene
" to ChristemaUord : thence to Huckam (Cook's
"Elm f) : thence to the Great Tree, from the
" same to Sandsete, and so the Cliff : thence to
"Stizelway : from the way to Blackmore, and
"from the More to Wrokcumbe aforesaid."
As is thus seen the old name of this place was
Breme and in the description of the parish in
Domesday there are named " quattuor acrse spineti
" et sUvse una quarantena longitudine et tantundem
"latitudine." Upon this the editor of the WUt
shire record remarks — "This description would
" seem to give us the key to the etymology of the
"word which is now commonly spelt' BremhUl.
" This is however a comparatively recent corrup-
"tion, an older form being Bremele or Bremel
" and in more recent times Bremble, which is
" clearly derived from the Anglo-Saxon word
" bremel or brembel, a brier or bramble." In a

BREMHILL CHURCH. 411
MS. relating to the property of Malmesbury
Abbey of the date 1379 we also read of this
parish, "pasturee bosci et gravae nihil valet per
" annum proptu multitudinem spinarum et umbram
" ramorum arborum."
The grange of the monks of Malmesbury in
this parish was bought at the Dissolution by the
Bayntuns of Bromham. The Marquis of Lans
downe is now lord of the manor and owns the
gTeater part of the parish. The Hungerfords
held Cadenham in this parish from 1504 tiU the
beginning of the last century and here is the
church of Foxham, which is called a Eectory, and
is annexed to Bremhill. The residue of the
Hungerford property at Studley passed by the
marriage of Henrietta Maria Hungerford, to
whose memory the west window in Calne Church
is dedicated, to the famUy of Baron Crewe.
I may state that in this parish close to the
boundaries of that of Chippenham stood Lokes-
well Abbey, founded by the Empress Matilda and
her son, afterwards King Henry II. ; also its
successor, Stanley Abbey. This Cistercian Abbey
has entirely disappeared, and of its history we
know little. Bowles speaks of it at length in his
" History of Bremhill," and corrections and
additions to his information have appeared from
time to time in the " WUts Maga."
Aubrey speaks of a postEeformation altar
monument in the chancel to one of the Hunger
fords of Cadenham which has disappeared, but on
the north side is a very large monument with bust

412. THE CHUBCH BAMBLEB.
to George, eldest son of Sir George Hungerford, of
Cadenham. The long Latin inscription states that
he was educated at SalLsbm-y and Oxford, studied
the law in London, was an accomplished musician?
" clarissimi Purcelli fautor semulus," passed some
time in Holland, was M.P. for Calne, and died
in 1698, aged 24. There is a grave-stone to his
brother, Walter Hungerford, of Studley, who was
also M.P. for Calne.
The church consists of western tower with nave,
north and south aisles, and south porch and
chancel. The tower is square with massive
buttresses placed at the angles. It is very im
posing in character. At its north-east angle is
some long and short work supposed to be First
English, and the existence of a northem doorway
now blocked up points to a very early foundation.
The general character of the church is
Perpendicular with casteUated parapets and
grotesque gargoyles, but the chancel is Early
English and two of the arrow headed windows
are still in existence, while the Hungerford
memorial blocks up another. The south wall of
the chancel is out of the perpendicular. On this
side is the priest's door, now blocked up, which
would lead directly to the pretty vicarage house.
The church was restored about twenty-eight
years ago when a western singing gallery was
removed and the nave arches and chancel arch
rebuilt. There is therefore nothing to say of the
interior of the church except that it is in good
condition and comfortably seated. There is a very

BSEMHILL CHUBCH. 4IS
substantial late Norman font. The chancel has a
stone vaulted roof but unfortunately this is
painted blue and dotted with gilt stars.
Bowles speaks of the roodloft as standing in his
time, but it has since been swept away ; I
think this requires some explanation. The
porch, which is vaulted, with some handsome and
weU-preserved carving at the intersection of the
ribs, has a smaU parvise above, which Bowles says
was used as a schoolroom in the last century. On
the roof of the nave stiU stands the cote for the
sancte-beU. The east window is filled with stained glass
representing the nativity, crucifixion and resur
rection. It is to the memory of " Joannes du
" Cane, mari Indico submersus,obiit VII. Kal. Quint.
" 1853 aetat 25 ; EUis Fletcher equo diffusus obiit
" X. Kal. Sept. 1854 aetat. 21, Franciscus Samuelis
"White,inHibernialacusubmersus,obiit III. Non.
" Aprilis 1855 aetat. 19." The west -window iUus-
-trates the miracles of the woman with the issue of
blood, of feeding the multitude, and of Jairus's
daughter, while there is another compartment
devoted to the text " I am the Ught of the world."
It is in memory of " Henry Drury, Archdeacon of
" WUts, and during 18 years vicar of this parish.
" The stone- work and glass of this window were
" given by parishioners and friends in 1864."
In the churchyard are tombs of the Fddrups,
Pinnigers, and other weU-known local famUies.
Many of the verses inscribed on these tombs were
penned by the poet-vicar.
28 2

J^U THE CHUBCH BAMBLEB.
The living of BremhUl is a vicarage in the gift
of the Bishop of Salisbury, and now held by the
Eev. Edward Paroissien Eddrup, M.A., of Wad-
ham CoUege, Oxon, and Prebendary of Salisbury.
When I attended the morning ser'vice the
prayers were read by the Vicar in an impressive
manner — though he altogether omitted from
the preCommunion service the coUect for the
Queen.'* The hymn-book in use is Hymns
Ancient and Modern with Appendix, and the
musical jDart of the service was very well con
ducted. The Vicar preached from Matt. viii.
26 — " Then He arose and rebuked the winds and
the sea, and there was a great calm." He described
the geographical character of the sea of Galilee
and the kind of sudden squall to which it was
thence subject. He showed how each of the three
evangelists who describe this scene added some fact
omitted by the others, and he described to his people
in homely but forcible language the peril of the
disciples, which led them to make their remarkable
appeal to our Lord. He pointed out that the
miracle was not the cessation of the storm but
the stilling of the waves also, which under
ordinary circumstances would go on beating for
hours. In drawing the lessons of the text he
spoke of the ship as the type of Christ's Church"
and also of the human soul. He spoke of another'
-sleeper in a ship — Jonah, and asked his hearers if
they carried in their hearts aught like Jonah 1
-» This a correspondent tells me is his custom.

BREMHILL CHURCH. 4IS
In conclusion he urged them to cast out such a
spirit and to be sure that they had the aid of
Jesus to calm aU the storms that might arise in
their life's voyage. It was an excellent and
practical discourse, based directly on the text
The church has a peal of six beUs cast at
cUfferent times. The first bell is the oldest as it
bears date 1685, the second has a date two years
later. The second and fourth beUs came from the
Aldbourne foundry. The former is inscribed —
-VVJI. BUTLER AND JAJIES BEWLEY CH. WARDENS,
JAS. WELLS, ALDBOURNE, WILTS. FECIT 1826.
The latter is of much older date —
JOSEPH THRUSH AND ROBERT HORTIN CH. WARDENS
R. WELLS, ALDBOURNE, FECIT 1770.
The remaining two are the work of Abraham
Eudhall of Gloucester, and bear two of his
characteristic sentiments.
On one we read —
JIAY THE CHURCH OF ENGL.4.ND EVER FLOURISH
A. R. 1786.
On the other —
I TO THE CHURCH THE LIVING CALL
AND TO THE GRAVE DO SUMMON ALL.
A. R. 1786.

r.ViaHmnmal

%. 3[o6n OPaptist, Detii?e0*

EUNEL, the engineer of the Great
Western Eailway, is responsible for
shutting De-vizes to a considerable
degree out of the great world. He
foresaw rightly enough that the new
relations between towns and districts brought in
by railways would overpower all others. This be
trayed him into thejmost ruinous of aU passions — a
love of change for its own sake, or for the glory it
brings its author ; so he led the new highway
from London to the West, away from the track of
the fine old coach road from London to Bath, on
which Devizes was a stage, through green meadows
where the towns had to come to it. Thus the main
tide of daily traflac now sweeps along miles to the
north of Devizes. The burgesses of Devizes have
good reason to complain that their town deserved
better treatment and they may add that, wonderful as
has been the growth of Swindon, the interests of the
company must to a certain extent have suffered.
There is now, it is true, an alternative way
from Bath to London through De-vizes, but with
that meaningless|]obstinacy which baffles every one
who tries to think well of the administration of
one of the finest of our railway systems, the

Xo I

> a

a.<zX
o

Wir'''il  m

DEVIZES CHURCH. 417
directors so arrange the trains as to make the
line from Bath to Devizes practicaUy useless to
business men.
Yet the town that is left thus deserted is the
capital of the northern division of WUtshire, and
has been an active centre of trade since the 12th
century. Old FuUer said, " The market is very
" celebrated and it is the best and biggest town
"for trade in the shire," and its corn market is
stUl one of the largest in the west of England.
It is no longer " most occupied by clothiers" as in
Leland's days, for the manufacture died out her 8 in
1828. It is however a borough whose earUest
charter was granted by the Empress Matilda and
it is also an assize town. Though so unfortunate
in the matter of the raUway it took its part in the
previous movement for the improvement of
internal communication — the canal system which
the raUways so soon superseded. The Kennet and
Avon Canal which passes through Devizes was
commenced in 1794 and not finished till 1805.
This portion of it was a very costly work as it is
carried over the hiU to the north-west of Devizes
by a series of twenty-nine locks.
To turn however from what De-vizes is or is not
in the present day to consider its origin, it must be
said that all the authorities agree that the to-wn
grew up round a castle here. The name shows
that it was a s6rt of border town. Devizes, often
caUedthe Devizes, and that contracted into the Vies,
is derived from the Latin name ad divisas, at the
boundaries. What the boundaries were which are

418 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
thus commemorated, with which question is involved
the origin of the towTi, have been freely discussed by
local antiquaries. Some would put the date as
far back as the Eoman period, and on the strength
of the discovery of some pottery of that age
would imagine a Eoman strongbold here. Such sug
gestions are in some way flattering to local vanity
but to discuss the question is beyond my puipose.
I may however say that when the writer of "A
History of Devizes" calmly asserts that " it is the
" Danish language from which, far more than the
" Saxon, our own is derived," I am not prepared
to listen to the further theories he may evolve.
In caUing everything that was English before the
Norman Conquest Saxon, he errs with many
greater men, but what can we say of a man
whose love of a theory so confuses him that he
can pretend the impress of the Danes upon the
language of the English to have been deeper even
than that of the Normans, who were much more
complete conquerors.
The only Devizes Castle of which we have any
record was built by Eoger Bishop of Sarum and
ChanceUor and Treasurer to King Hem-y I. He
was a powerful and ambitious prelate and obtained
the elevation of his nephews to the sees of Lincoln
and Ely. He began three other great castles at
Old Sarum, Malmesbury and Sherborne, and there
is no doubt that he wished to give the Church a
compact authority equal to that of the great feudal
barons. This castle of Devizes was a very strong work,
it is admired by all the contemporary chroniclers

DEVIZES CHURCH. 419-
and Leland says, " such a piece of castle work, so
" costly and strong, was never afore or since set
" up by any Bishop of England." As befitted so
redoubtable a fortress it has played its part in
more than one episode in the history of England,
and its first duty was as a prison for a no less
distinguished prisoner than Duke Eobert of
Normandy, the unfortunate eldest son of the
Conqueror. Whilst here he seems to have enjoyed
considerable freedom, but he was afterwards re
moved to closer custody in Cardiff Castle. On
the accession of King Stephen, Bishop Eoger threw
in his lot with the usurper, believing that he
eould gain from him better terms for the church.
Finding himself disappointed in this expectation
he carried his aid over to the side of the Empress.
He was however arrested by theKing by stratagem,
and a descent was made on his castle of Devizes
which was held by his wife, Matilda Eamsbury,
and the Bishop of Ely. The place was prepared
to sustain a long siege, but under the threat of
star-ving the Bishop and hanging his son. King
Stephen obtained its surrender and speedily
reduced the other episcopal castles. Devizes he
made a royal castle, and the Bishop died in 1139,
after seeing all the work of his life undone.
During the civU war that followed the landing
of the Empress Matilda, it was held for the King
and was the one important stronghold in the West
which held out for him. In 1140 Eobert Fitz
herbert, a mercenary in the service of the Earl of
Gloucester, took the castle by a night surprise. In

420 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
the next year it was retaken for the King by
¦ Hervey, Count of Brittany, an ancestor of the
famUy of the Marquis of Bristol and of the
present Bishop of Bath and Wells. He was
besieged by the peasantry of the district, for the
whole west country was under the influence of the
Bristol Castle party, and after the capture of King
Stephen he abandoned it. When misfortune
came to the Empress and her brother was captured,
she fled to Devizes, and being beleaguered here
tradition says she escaped in a cofiin to Gloucester.
She returned in 1142 and, from the grants and
documents dated from Devizes, she seems to
have held her Court here for a time.
Her son. King Henry IL, acknowledged that
the Castle had been unjustly taken from the
possession of the See and promised to restore it
when his throne was secure, but the fortress was
in reality too strong to be trusted to any subject,
and in the end an arrangement was made by
which he kept it on making an equivalent grant
to the Bishop. Here it may be remarked that
Dr. Guest wished to show that the divisce com
memorated in the name Devizes were those
where the Eoman road from London to Bath
stooped down into Welsh territory. But Canon
Jackson in editing Aubrey's " Wiltshire Collec
tions," has shown that the boundaries of three
adjoining manors — Eowde, Cannings and Potterne,
met at the point where Bishop Eoger built his
castle, and has produced evidence which leaves
little doubt that here is the origin of the name.

DEVIZES CHURCH. 421
As the social system of the country settled
gradually down to modern forms, the castle lost its
importance and was finally left to destruction.
Leland says that a large portion of it went
to buUd Mr. Bayntun's house at Bromham and
other buUdings in the neighbourhood. During
the CivU War the keep was stUl standing and was
held mainly for the king, for though the Devizes
m.en sympathised with the Parliament they were
too timid to commit themselves, and the defeat at
Eoundway park of Sir WiUiam Waller and the
subsequent fall of Bristol left the Eoyalists in
command of the West of England. But when
Bristol was taken bj^ the army of the Parliament,
the general to whose genius the changed fortime
of war was due, was sent on to Devizes by Fairfax
and he stormed the castle and took it on the 23rd
of September, 1645, -with a loss of five men. His
party caused the castle to be destroyed and little
more than the ditch and mound of the keep can
now be seen. Local tradition says CromweU's
horse charged down the lane on the north side of
the church and that the mark of his shot can still
be seen in the walls of the church of S. John
Baptist. I can only perceive natural perforations,
and though not very odious, this imputation
must be added to the long Ust of groundless ones
which have been made upon his fame.
The story of the castle has more interest in
connection with my subject than has yet ap
peared. Bishop Eoger was not only a castle
buUder, for the two churches of Devizes were

1

422 THE CHURCH BAMBLEB.
both founded by him and the necessity for
two such is the best argument I know to show
that the town is older than the castle. All
Norman work is massive and impressing, but
there was a peculiar solidity and strength about
Bishop Eoger's building and his masonry was
so firmly jointed as to excite remarks from the
chroniclers. William of Malmesbury says —
" He erected extensive edifices at vast cost and
"with surpassing beauty, the courses of stone
" being so correctly laid that the joints deceive the
"eye and leads it to imagine that the entire wall
" is composed of a single block." The truth of
these remarks can be seen by the chancel and
tower of the church of S. John Baptist, whose
walls remain as he left them, and though they
have stood for six hundred years seem capable of
lasting as long again.
The same vaulted roof which now looks down
upon the communicants of the Church of England
witnessed a far different scene when instead of
Queen Victoria King Henry III. sat upon the
throne. The justiciary Hubert de Burgh who
in 1217 destroyed the fleet of the last foreign
invader of England by throwing quicklime in
the sailors' eyes, and who as minister was true
to Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canter
bury, the author of the Great Charter, was dis
graced after the death of the great patriot and
confined in Devizes Castle. But de Burgh
had many friends, some even among the knights
who were charged with the custody of his person.

DEVIZES CHUECH. 423
They determined to assist his escape, aud on
Michaelmas Eve, 1233, they carried him, loaded
-with fetters as he was, out of the castle and
deposited him on the steps of the high altar of
the church of S. John Baptist. The Eoman
Church, as part of that marvellous system
which in ages of ignorance and barbarity
gave Holy Church such commanding influence,
claimed the right of sanctuary — that any offender
against the laws, whatever his offence, was safe
from the pursuit of justice if he could escape to
certain of her shrines. Such a privilege it may be
supposed resulted both in good and Ul, but it was
sternly insisted upon. The Governor of Devizes
Castle, a soldier, trembling for his own safety,
disregarded the pretensions of the priests and haled
de Burgh back to his dungeon, and for this he had
the praise of the King. But such an outrage upon
the church could not be lightly passed over, and
Eobert Bingham, Bishop of Sarum, in whose
diocese it had taken place, hastened to Devizes
and demanded the restitution of the prisoner.
This being refused he pronounced a solemn sen
tence of excommunication upon the whole garrison
of Devizes, and then 'went on to London. The
Bishops, in a body, made complaint to the King of
the violation of sanctuary, and his Majesty was
compelled to order that de Burgh be taken back
to his place of refuge in the church. This was in
the middle of October. Secret instructions how
ever were sent to the Sheriff of Wilts to blockade the
churchyard, and by preventing any food or assist-

424 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
•ance being brought to him to starve him out, as he
had been once before in his chequered career at
Merton, in Essex. But his friends were on the alert,
and a strong body of horsemen rode up on the day
after his return to the church, scattered the
Sheriff's men and carried him away to a place of
safety. As we now look at this peaceful country
town and listen to the service in its church, we
find a difficulty in picturing in the mind these
strange scenes, which our forefathers wrought in
the same spot and within the same walls.
Bishop Eoger's church was of the usual Norman
shape, that is cruciform, consisting of nave and
chancel, north and south transepts, with central
tower. His nave has disappeared and his chancel
has been very much cut into in the formation of
chapels ; his transepts remain though the windows
have been modernised. But the grand oldtowerstill
stands in all its glory, and reminds us of the stiU
grander tower of Tewkesbury Abbey. It is
oblong in plan as these central towers frequently
are, the measurement from north to south being
half as much again as from east to west. It is in
two stages above the roof of the chancel, and is
surmounted by an embattled parapet and pinnacles
which are not original. The upper stage is orna
mented with an arcade of narrow semicircular
arches in which are the belfry windows. In the
lower stage are six semicircular windows with
Norman mouldings which are now walled up, but
were evidently intended to throw light down into
the church. There is a semicircular stair turret at

DEVIZES CHUECH. 4S5
thesouth-westcorner which previous to the addition
of aisles rose directly from the ground. Within
the tower rests upon four arches, those, east and
west being semicircular, and those north and south
pointed by position. They rest at each corner
upon triple columns with cushion capitals and
square abaci, adorned with the hatchet moulding
which is very frequent in the buUding. The
arches are adorned with the chevron moulding
and outside a line of pearl. In the hollow between
the two on the western arch there was until about
1820 a curious ornament which Britton describes
as "A series of about 48 basso-relievo figures
"representing a peculiar sort of bottle running
"round the arch, and in the centre is a key-stone
" with an angel's head and thistles sculptured on
" it." A short distance above these arches are the
remains of an arcade of intersecting Norman
arches running round the tower. The arches
have the chevron moulding and the capitals are
variously carved. On the other sides the inter
section is simply of two arches, but on the east
the arches are larger and the intersection is triple
so that the effect looking towards the altar was
richer than in looking in any other direction.
The original design was that these arches should
be open to the church, as weU as the windows above
them which I have previously described, so gi'ving
a very striking lantern effect. CJnhappUy in that
jjeriod of torpor a few generations ago, when the
Church suffered such grievous harm, a platform
was put in below this arcade to form a ringing

426 THE CHUECH RAMBLER.
loft and this beautiful work has in consequence
been much damaged. I trust that this plat
form wiU be removed for the sake of the appear
ance of the church as well as for the sake
of the respect due to the building. It is a
memorial of the degradation which the beautiful
art of bell ringing has for many years suffered
and which has in some places led to scenes and
doings that have been a desecration of the
sacred edifice. In Devizes I am happy to know
that bell ringing has been restored to its proper
position. In consequence of some difficulty 'with
the paid ringers a company of amateur ringers
has been formed aud, as a sufficient number of
volunteers have come forward to afford the
necessary reliefs from time to time, the plan has
worked very well for some two years. I am glad
to note any effort of this kind to raise the
character of a portion of the service of the house
of God, which is too often done in an indifferent
and thoughtless manner.
The transepts have been a good deal cut about
for the insertion of Perpendicular windows, but
on the north and south side the original string
course and parts of the round-headed windows
remain, giving an effect that is decidedly curious.
It is clear that the walls have not been disturbed,
and the roof is I think of the original pitch. The
s.ame remark applies to the walls of the chancel ;
they are original with arches out through them.
We thus find on the original outer walls which
are within the present church, the original Norman

DEVIZES CHURCH. 4S7
corbel table, ornamented with grotesque heads,
carried right along the south side of the chancel
and the east of the transept. The smaU and
handsome Norman window in the north wall
of the chancel is original, though it has
lengthened ; the east window of the same been
-character is a restoration of the date of 1844.
Previously to that a Perpendicular east window
had been inserted, and then in the last century
as Mr. Kite tells us, the lower part of the east
wall of the chancel was panelled with wood
in the Grecian style, and an oil painting of the
Eesurrection placed above it, the east window
toeing bricked up. This was happily removed and
the window restored, as well as the arcade of
intersecting arches like those in the tower, which
originally no doubt went all round the chancel.
"The stained glass in the window with medallions
bearing different devices belongs to this period.
On the south side the piscina, resting on a dwarf
¦column, still remains. The roof is the original
stone vaulting divided into two bays by a transverse
arch which springs from richly carved capitals.
It will be gathered I think from this description
that looking eastward from the nave the original
aspect of the church is very well preserved. I am
sorry to say that the beauty of the mas,sive Nor
man work is marred, if not destroyed, by the gross
vandalism of some bye-gone guardians of the
church. There is evidence that the chancel w.is
originally decorated with frescoes but that is no
excuse for the dreadful mixture of house painter's

428 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
colours with which the east end is bedaubed. For
instance, the ground colour is a sort of brown and
then the beautiful mouldings and so on are
"picked out " — to use a word from the vocabulary
of such decorators — with green and yellow. The
stone vault above is painted a cerulean blue and
bespangled with conventional gilt stars, carefully
arranged at equal distances. The builders never
meant to figure the " blue vault of heaven" in this
fashion, and I trust the better taste of the present
day wUl cause a speedy change.
The chapels are both of late Perpendicular
character. That on the north side opens into the
chancel and transept by means of two arches and
Ughted by large Perpendicular windows on the
north and east. It is e-vident from the outside that
in this east window there was formerly an altar
place but it is itseK now blocked up with a huge
board reciting the various bequests which the
church enjoys. No one can read these as they are
and I do not think the board is much use. Some
years since traces of lettering were found on the
moulding on either side of this window. Only
that on the north coiUd be deciphered ; it was
ORATE p. BONO STATU RICARDI LAMB,
but who this Eichard Lamb is, whose good estate
the worshipper was requested to pray for, is not
known. In the decoration of this chapel is the
device in the form of a rudder which is found in
other WUtshire churches. The roof is flat of oak,
very beautKully divided into compartments. In

DEVIZES CHURCH. 429
this chapel now stands the organ, a good instru
ment, said to be in part of very great age. The
organ case is a good specimen of carved work of
the Queen Anne period.
The south chapel is much larger and more
richly decorated. It has a five-Ught east window
and two large windows on the south side, under
neath one of which is a priest's doorway with a
canopy, richly ornamented with crockets and
finial. The window was evidently an altar place,
and on the north side of it is a small almery.
There are four canopied niches in the chapel.
The roof is of the same character as that of the
other chapel, but it springs from carved figures of
demi-angels. On the exterior the buttresses are
highly decorated and the embattled parapet is
ornamented with square panels containing quatre-
foUs and a row of Tudor roses. Eising above the
roof in the centre of the east wall is a tabernacle
which once contained the figure of a saint. From
the similarity of the work in this chapel to that
at Bromham Church this chapel has been ascribed
to the same founder as the chapel there founded by
Eichard Beauchamp Lord S. Amand. It can be
stated in confirmation of this that several members
of the famUy held at different times the castle and
manor of Devizes.
The transept roofs have not been preserved like
those of the chapels ; they are flat and ceiled.
There is a transom beam across one arch opening
into the aisle to bear the thrust of the tower.
The same purpose is served on the other side by
29 2

430 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
iCo. ugly iron bar. In the north transept there is
a trace of the door, now blocked up, which led
into the rood loft turret, and in each transept are
hagisscopes, cut when the transepts were built.
The Norman nave, as I have said, has almost
entirely disappeared, the Perpendicular builders
having cut an arcade of five arches on either side
and added north and south aisles. The nave is
the least interesting part of the church as the
windows have all modern tracery. The centre of
the nave has a boarded roof which was made
some ten years since ; the aisles have plaster
¦ceilings. On the east wall, which is of course
part of the Norman tower, is a patch of diajaer
work. Another evidence of the Norman founda
tion is the two porches on tho north and south
-.sides. The south porch is modern ; the north
porch is of the same dute as the aisles, having
plain doorways without shafts or capitals. On
the outside is a small tabernacle for the figure of
the patron saint and below it the small window
of the parvise.
Two of the nave windows contain modern
stained glass, one showing the best and the other
the worst features of modern work in the art.
To speak of the wcrse first. On the north side is a
window to the memory of the Eev. Edward James
Iiines, Eector of this parish and cf Stockton,
Prebendary of Salisbury, who died in 1788. It
is the work of " George Harris^ LL.D., F.S.A.,"
but both in drawing and colour is unworthy of
its position. For example, let me just describe the

DEVIZES CHURCH. 431^
tracery Ughts. The sky or background is blue, in
which are two grey rainbows or cloud rolls and upon
each of these is seated an angel. One of them re
joices in a ruby robe and wings half violet, half
green ; the other has a violet robe with wings half
ruby and half green. I wiU not carry the descrip
tion further. On the south side is a new window in
memory of Mr. George Simpson, the founder and ¦
for 56 years the proprietor and editor of a well-
known county newspaper, the Devises and Wiltshire
Gazette, It is also in memory of his wife and four
of their children. The window which is in three
lights shows the Holy Sepulchre after the Eesur
rection. In the centre light an angel holding a
scroll on which is 'written " He is not here,
He is risen," looks into the tomb, in the
side lights are the three Marys, SS. Peter and
John. Angels in the tracery openings bear scroUs
on which are the texts, " I am the Eesurrection
and the Life," and " Blessed are the dead which die
" in the Lord." The window, which is by W. F.
Dixon, of London, is a remarkably pleasing one,
particularly commendable for the rich and
judicious disposition of the colours. The back
ground, the garden of Joseph of Arimathea, is
occupied with foUage which to my mind is the
best work in the window. The colours have that
translucent character which is the greit charm of
ancient glass, and the trees with their crimson
fruit glisten like gold as the noonday sun pours
through the window.
The living of Devizes is a rectory in the gift of

432 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
the Crown, which stiU has so much of its former
connection -with the borough. The present Eector,
who has been here about three years, is the Eev.
John Hart Surges, D.D., of Trinity College, Dublin.
He came hither from Birmingham, where for
many years he had charge of Bishop Eyder's
parish, a very poor district in which he worked
with great zeal and success, and left permanent
evidence of his good work in the schools which he
established. He devoted his energ'ies mainly to
his parish, but he took part in public affairs
upon the question of education, and was a member
of the original Birmingham School Board. As
one of the leaders of the political minority in that
wonderful borough, he needed great earnestness
of purpose and wisdom in enforcing his views to
win, as he undoubtedly did, the sincere respect
both of Churchmen and Dissenters. I find he is
remembered in Birmingham as a very earnest,
devoted, and self-denying clergyman, and I find
in Devizes that his ardent zeal for the spiritual
and temporal welfare of the people, while it has
roused upon some points some uncompromising
opponents, has also awakened a most enthusiastic
admiration among his people. Fresh from the
metropolis of Eadicalism he has much to teach the
Devizes people with regard to the social problems
which present themselves to every local govern
ment. He h.as thrown himself iuto this work
with as much enthusiasm as into his parish duties,
while he has also undertaken the task of
restoring his churches. The sister church has

DEVIZES CHURCH. 433
been dealt with first, but if he is enabled to
carry out his plans, aU that I have shown
to be wanting in the Church of S. John Baptist
wiU be well and ¦wisely done. Dr. Burges is one
of those sturdy Churchmen who occur here and
there as a glory to the church, and seem absolutely
tireless in doing good works for the people among
whom their lot is cast.
I recently attended evening service in this
church, which is weU fitted with modern open
seats, though the arrangements of the chancel are
not as good as they might be. The singing was
very good, the hymns being taken from Hymns
Ancient and Modern with Appendix. The Eector
preached from Mark x. 21 : " Then Jesus be-
" holding him, loved him, and said unto him, One
"thing thou lackest." He said his subject was
one of great importance, in these days of large
profession there could be scarcely one of more
importance than to distinguish the false from the
true. All is not gold that gUsters, and there is
much that is not truly Christian ; many a nature
not grounded in Christ presents much that is
pleasant, and though only a wild flower it is stiU
a flower. The strongest worldling and the weakest
believer may seem to run side by side, but there
is a vast difference between them. This was the
gist of the discourse, and the preacher proceeded
to show eloquently but charitably that there are
many men in the world whose deeds are noble and
admirable, but who are not Christians, because
they have not that new birth of which Jesus

434 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
speaks. Upon the clause " Jesus loved him" he
took an admirable position with regard to such
characters, and pictured the Saviour loving them
and longing to carry them over the one step which
separated them from happiness. In conclusion he
impressed upon his hearers, in ringing emphatic
words, the danger of resting upon mere outside
profession of religion, and of thinking that because
they pass muster in the eyes of the world they
have done all that is needed for their soul's
salvation. The beUs, formerly six in number, were in
creased to eight in 1747. The fourth and fifth
are the oldest, and are the work of John Wallis,
of Sarum. One is inscribed —
J. w. 1610. HOPE VfELU
and the other —
16 10. J. W. FEARE THE LORD.
The third bell is inscribed —
VIVAT REX ET FLOREAT GREX ANO. DOMINI 1677.
R. P. W. C. T. C.
The seventh is of the same date — •
JOHN JORDAN AND MATTHEW FIGGINS
CHURCHWARDENS 1677 R. P. W. C. T.Jc.
The tenor beU was also cast at the same time —
RICHARD HILLIER, MAYOR, GNT,, CHAELES DANVERS,
SQR., RECORDER. ANNO I677. R. P. W. C.
The founder's initials are those of Eoger Purdu
and the bells came from his foundry sit Salisbury.
The second beU does not bear any founders

DEVIZES CHURCH. 435
name, but is supposed to have been cast at
Aldbourne. It is inscribed —
MR. JAMES SUTTON, MR. JOS. WILLIAMS, RIC. SMITH,
CHURCHWARDENS 1697.
The two additional bells, which are the first and
second, were the gift of William WiUy, esq., then
member for the borough, who was probably
prompted to the act by a desire to encourage local
industry as they were cast at Devizes by James
Burrough. Mr. Kite says this foundry was on
the south side of the churchyard. The bells are
duly inscribed — ¦
THE GIFT OF WM. WILLY, ESQ. MR. TRIS GODWIN
AND MR. WM. ADLAM, CH WARDENS.
JS. BURROUGH FOUNDER. 1 747.
There are two memorial brasses in the church,
both in the south chapel. One is modern, to the
memory of Mary, wife of the Eev. William
Maskell, of Broadleaze, who died in 1847. The
other, though late, is ancient and interesting. It
is to the memory of John Kent, esq., who was in
1628 town clerk and mayor of Devizes, and at his
death two years later justice of the borough. He
also represented Devizes in Parliament during the
reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James I.
The monument consists of a flat slab of stone in
which are inlaid two effigies, one of John Kent
himself in his robes, the other of his wife in the
dress of her period. Above are the arms of Kent
and below a tablet with the following inscription
and verse : —

. 436 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
HIC, SVB EODEM TRISTI MARMORIS SPECTACVLO
SEPVLTV.M JACET CORPVS JOHANIS KENT SENIORIS
DOCTISSIMI VIRI, GENEROSI, NVPER DEFVNCTI,
CVIVS ABSENTIAM SATIS DEPLORBNT, QVEMQ
CASSVM LVMINE NON IMMERITO LVGEANT OPPI-
DANI ; DVM VIXERIT, ILLI TAM FERVENS IN DEVM
EXISTEBAT PIETAS VT INDE PLACIDA IPSIVS CON-
SCIENTI.E, TRANQVILLITATE ACQVISITA TERRA
IPSO SE FRVITVRVM ESSE C^LO DICERETVR, TANTA
IN SINGVLOS A SVMMIS AD IMOS AMICITIA V"
INTER ADHVC IGNOTOS IN HOC OPPIDVM ADMI-
RANDA BENFFICIA, IMMOBTALITATIS STERNA
EREXISSE TROPH^A VIDEANTVR. VIVET IN
.STERNUM IVSTORUM MEMORIA. OBIJT AO.
^TATIS 72 PRIMO DIE OCTOBRIS AO. DNI. 163O.
Vita probum, pietas Sanctum, finisq beatum
Te censent, vitce fama perennis erit.
Nee tantum pietatis honos neq finis Olimpo
Fulgeat hie laudis non moritura dies
Solo deo mihi sola salus.
Attention is attracted in the church by a marble
monument showing Britannia holding in one
hand a rod bearing the cap of liberty and weeping
over a medallion bust which she holds in the
other. The subject of this bust and of the monu
ment was the Eight Hon. George Heathcote,
Lord Mayor of London, who died in 1768, aged
68, having represented the borough in three
Parliaments. Heathcote is a well known Wilt-
.shire name, but we scarcely expect to find in this
old church the tomb of a byegone dispenser of
Mansion-house hospitalities.
A stunted obelisk occupyingaprominent position

DEVIZES CHURCH. 437
on the west side of the churchyard records a sad
and terrible catastrophe which befeU, as I believe,
a wedding party who went boating on a Sunday
at a then favourite place of resort near Devizes.
On one face of the pedestal is the inscription,
gradually becoming defaced : —
IN MEMORY OF THE SUDDEN AND AWFUL
END OF ROBERT MERRIT AND
SUSANNAH HIS WIFE ELIZABETH
TILEY HER SISTER MARTHA
CARTER AND JOSEPH DERHAM
WHO WERE ALL DROWNED IN THE
FLOWER OF THEIR YOUTH IN A
POND NEAR THIS TOWN
OF DEVIZES ON SUNDAY
EVENING THE OF JUNE I761.
On another face we read —
REMEMBER THE SABBATH.
And on a third —
THIS MONU.MENT AS A SOLEMN MONITOR TO
YOUNG PEOPLE TO REMEMBER THEIR CREATOR
IN THE D.\YS OF THEIR YOUTH WAS ERECTED
BY SUBSCRIPTION.
There are those in the present day among men
we respect and honour who would recommend
such Sunday amusements as this unfortunate
party was indulging in. I cannot say I agree
-with them, but I am at least glad that they have
so far influenced pubUc opinion that such a
Pharisaical inscription as the above would not, I
think, be set up now.

%, atiDreto, €a0tle Comtie.

yiNTEE gives place to Simng — not
aa one actor who has played his part
leaves the stage to the next, but
slowly and reluctantly, with many
backward glances, and sometimes
with attempts to regain the power that he finds
is slipping from his grasp. So it comes to
pass that after Nature has yielded to the soft
refreshing influence of two or three spring-like
days. Winter again seizes her in his chiU grasp
and the warbling melodies of Spring die away
in the harsh whistling of the easterly wind.
The struggle however between the two seasons —
if there is any — is short, and men see little of it ;
what they are apt to call the conflict between the
two is rather the boisterous display of Winter's
energies. A day therefore in which the two seasons seemed
to be in joint and peaceful possession of the domain
of Nature is worthy to be marked with a white
stone. To pursue the fanciful thought, they were at
peace but all the power and pomp of each was re
cognised by the other, and all his attendant train
was with him ; they were like meeting sovereigns,
though they met not on a field of cloth of gold
but upon earth's verdant carpet, which smiled and

,rri!;|iri..',ii|

s
,0 t

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CASTLE COMBE CHURCH. 439
blossomed at the touch of Spring. Except for the
perennial solace of the green grass which Nature
keeps ever before the weary eyes of the sons of men.
Winter had held the earth in bondage for many
months. The tall trees tossed their bare branches
in the wind like gaunt spectres of their Mid
summer beauty, and only in a few sheltered nooks
had the early buds of Spring burst forth. The
clouds had the rigid square-looking outlines and
duU hue which mark a winter sky. Through all
and above all however shone the welcome sun,
shedding over the landscape the sweet and balmy
influences of Spring with a force which nothing-
could resist. The east -wind, the ^olian foe of
Englishmen, blew boisterously, but for once in
vain. On Bannerdown the snow as if fresh
fallen lay in long patches beside the road and
in the fields. This remnant of the snowstorm of
three weeks before looked strange and out of
place in such a scene.
Dipping down behind the ridge on which
Colerne stands, the road left both the snow and
the east wind behind, and crossing the road which
goes from Bristol to London by way of Marshfield
passed into a beautiful valley where the new found
Spring reigned supreme. Through the bottom
tbe Wavering Brook wound its many-looped way,
its surface, chopped and rippled by the breeze,
reflecting the bright rays of the sun at aU angles
and in all directions, like countless prisms. On
the other side rose the beautifully wooded cliff
behind which lay Biddestone. Further on the road

uo THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
dipped again to the level of the stream which
rippled under a very simple bridge just opposite a
row of trim and pretty little houses which showed
that the 'viUage of Castle Combe was reached
There are quaint old houses here with Tudor win
dows and walls thick enough to haK fill one of the
rooms of a villa put up by a modern " contractor."
In the centre of the -village stands the old market
cross, a well-preserved relic of the days when
cloth- weaving was the occupation of Castle Combe,
which could then aspire to the dignity of a
town. To the west of the cross is the church, a
fine building with a 14th century tower. Passing
through a gateway to the west of the church we
come to the manor house, which very suitably,
in the midst of the natural beauties in which it
is embosomed, is an unpretending building. It
stands in the midst of an exquisitely beautKuI
hollow, which must be the combe from which the
name of the place was taken. In front of it
stretches a grassy lawn, and at the foot of this runs
the above-mentioned Wavering Brook before it
enters upon its winding course. Eising behind
the house are the beautiful gardens for which it is
famed and opposite it, springing directly from the
banks of the stream, is the prettUy wooded slope
which encloses the combe on that side. The
valley is closed in at the lower end by the viUage,
the church tower and a few roofs being visible
through the trees ; at the upper end the view is
ended lij a turn in the valley, the tree-covered
slope on the hither side jutting out into a sort of

CASTLE COMBE CHURCH. 44I
promontory. The look-out tower which is buUt
at this point occupies the most commanding
position on the estate and directs us to the site
of the castle spoken of in the name of the place.
As we muse under the bright sun in this delightful
spot the many beautiful pictures of English
country life in which our literature is rich come
crowding into the memory. Here is the place to
sit -with Spenser and read the beautiful allegories
of the " Faery Queene.'' Milton's muse at Horton
could not have had a more lovely resting-place.
The trees are not thick enough for the Forest of
Arden, but there the "native burghers of this
desert city" stand gazing at the intruders with then'
liquid eyes, all their light and graceful bodies in an
attitude of timid curiosity. They are mostly
of the true fawn colour, but there is one of
spotless white, making us think of Wordsworth's
white doe of Eylstone. But they have taken
fright and scampered off through the trees ; we
too must turn away from the enchanting scene.
By the equally wise and kind permission of the
present owner the people of the place are allowed
to ramble over this domain between the hours of
service on Sunday, and the sternest opponents of
the Sunday Society must admit that the boon
is one from which nothing but profit can be
derived. There is nothing in the least degree
earth-binding or hurtful in the privilege ; one
gOQS forth from the worship of God to see Him in
His works, from the temple made with hands to
the temple which He has created.

442 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
There is said to be sufficient evidence to prove
that a British camp existed at this place, and the
Fosse way which the Eomans made from Bath
through Cirencester to Lincoln passes on the
north side of the parish. In the Great Survey
" Combe'' and " Come" are mentioned ; one is
Combe Bassett and the other Castle Combe.
Castle Combe was then one of the many manors
possessed by Humphrey de I'Isle, among which
were Broughton Gifford, Colerne, Biddestone and
Hartham. Together they formed the barony of
Castle Combe, and as such 'were held by his direct
heirs for nearly two centuries. The records of
this barony have been very well preserved and
.ire naturally of great interest from the light
which they throw upon the history of a consider
able portion of the county, and also from their illus
tration of byegone customs and forms of tenure.
In " The History of the Manor and Barony of
Castle Combe," by the late G. Poulett Scrope, the
whole subject is very carefully and exhaustively
treated, and from the circumstances I have named
the work has more than the usual interest of such
a history. My information in sketching the
descent of the manor for the present purpose is
drawn from this source.
Adeliza De I'Isle, the daughter and heiress of
Humphrey of the Domesday book, married in the
reign of King Henry I. Eeginald de Dunstanville
and brought him as her dower this long list of
manors. Either he or his son, who bore the same
name, built the Castle of Combe, of which the

CASTLE COMBE CHURCH. 443
only trace now remaining is the " pit" or dungeon,
dug out a few years ago. This made Combe the
" caput" or head of the barony, and rendered its
subsequent history so valuable. The last in the
direct line of the DunstanvUles died in 1270,
leaving an only child a daughter, married to
Sir Eobert de Montfort, by whom she had a
son WiUiam, heir to the property. She however
married again and by "the courtesy of England"her
second husband enjoyed a life tenure of his wife's
estates, just as we have seen that the husband at
that period sometimes took the title which belonged
to the wife's family. Young de Montfort tired of
waiting for his property sold the reversion, as
young heirs do even to the present day, and
Bartholomew Lord Badlesmere bought it in 1309
for £1,000, and obtained possession four years
after. He did not live here, and from his time
the Castle was allowed gradually to fall into ruin.
On the death of Giles, Lord Badlesmere in 1338,
his immense possessions were divided among his
four sisters. Castle Combe falUng to Margaret, the
wife of John Lord de Tibetot. It may be men
tioned that at this time the subject manors were
separated from Castle Combe, but they were held
in legal phrase as " parcel of the bai'ony," and
paid an annual composition in lieu of feudal ser- -
vice. The amount of these compositions was''
fixed, some at 2s. a year, and so by the gradual
decrease in the value of money it came to pass in '
the I7th century that they were abandoned as not
worth collecting. AU such obligations were after-

444 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
wards abolished by Act of Parliament. It is
interesting thus to see how naturally and gradually
in this country worn-out customs have dropped
away like dead leaves and the new ones have
gro'wn up in their places.
Sir Eobert Tibetot or Tiptoft died in 1732,
leaving as co-heiresses three daughters of the ages
of six, four and two years. According to the
pleasant and gentle manners of the time, Sir Eichard
Scrope, Lord of Bolton, and at the time Lord
High Treasurer, paid the King 1,000 marks for
the wardship of these maidens. Then, stiU in
accordance with the manners of the time, he
betrothed them to three of his own sous, so as to
secure their estates in his own family. Two of these
matches were carried out, and Milicent the second
daughter brought Castle Combe to Stephen Scrope.
From the time when this arrangement was made,
that is from the year 1372 to a few years ago.
Castle Combe was held by the Scropes in unbroken
succession through 11 generations. Instances in
which the same name has thus persisted from
nearly five hundred years are remarkably rare.
The family of Scrope too was ancient and honour
able, and its dignities have been thus described
by Sir Harris Nicholas : — " Though some of
" of the titles anciently possessed by this
"family are dormant and the rest extinct,
"few persons were more distinguished in the
" fourteenth, fiftenth and sixteenth centuries, and
" Shakespeare has given immortality to no less
" than three individuals of the name. The House

CASTLE COMBE CHURCH. 445
' of Scrope was ennobled in two branches—
"Scrope of Bolton, and Scrope of Masham and
" Upsal, and its members shared the glory of all
"the great victories of the middle ages. An
" unbroken male descent from the Conquest, if not
"from the time of Edward the Confessor, and
" the emphatic declaration of the Earl of Arundel,
"corroborated by the statement of many others
" made in 1386, that the then representative
" of this family was descended of noble and
" generous blood of gentry and ancient ancestry,
" who had always preserved their name and
" estate iu dignity and honour, sufficiently attest
" their antiquity and importance, whilst the mere
" enumeration of the dignities which they attained
" between the reigns of Edward II. and Charles I.
"proves the high rank they enjoyed. In the
"period of 300 years, during more than a century
" of which the barony of one branch was in abey-
" ance, the House of Scrope produced two earls and
"twenty barons, one chancellor, four treasurers,
"and two chief justices of England, one arch-
" bishop and two bishops, five knights of the
"garter, and numerous bannerets — the highest
" military order in the days of chivalry."
The last descendant and heiress of this line was
Emma Phipps Scrope, who married in 1821 George
JuUus Buncombe Poulett Thomson, descended
from a collateral branch of the family who took
ou his marriage the name of Scrope. He repre
sented Stroud in Parliament from 1833 to 1867
and was an antiquarian of no mean note. He died
80 2

4k6 TRE CHURCH RAMBLER.
at Fairlawn, Cobham, on the 19th January, 1876,
ten years after his wife. They had no chUdren
and the property passed by purchase to the
present lord of the manor, E. C. Lowndes, esq.
The church of S. Andrew is a large and noble
building consisting of a western tower, nave with
north and south aisles, south porch and chancel.
With the exception of the tower however it has
not the charm of undisturbed antiquity. The
very evil habit of digging graves close to the
foundation walls of the building, which " in some
" cases indeed had been battered to pieces to afford
" due width to the grave,'' reduced the waUs to a
very insecure condition, and in 1850 and the
following year the church was in great part pulled
down and rebuilt, exactly upon the old lines, at the
expense of Mr. Poulett Scrope. He tells us in his
account of the place that some rude carved stones
of an early age were found at the time in the walls,
but the chancel was the oldest part of the then
existing church, the Eev. J. Hunter referring its
foundation to the twelfth century. The earliest
and most curious piece of work now in the church
is the Early English east window of the chancel.
It has five lancet-headed lights, but the head of
the window instead of being pieced with tracery is
of solid masonry with a quatrefoil in the centre.
Its history is remarkable, as it was discovered in the
rebuilding of the church after having been closed
up in all probabiUty for nearly four hundred years.
Aubrey says, "behind the chancel is a strong
" place, perhaps for preserving records,'' and in the

CASTLE COMBE CHURCH. 447
old church there was a strong stone-vaulted
buUding at the east end of the chancel -with a two-
Ught -window on the south side, which was entered
from the chancel and was used as a vestry. Mr.
Scrope says it dated from the fifteenth century,
and as the window was strongly secured with iron
bars it was apparently intended as a place of
safety, and as will be seen presently there were
special records to be taken care of in this parish_
The court rolls of 1468 shed light upon the erection
of this building, for they record the theft of " one
"missal of the value of fourteen marks, one sUver-
" gUt cup of the value of eight marks, one silver
" cup of the value of five marks and one pax brede
"of the value of fifteen shillings," which were
stolen from the church on the 12th of March by
one Eichard Hackell, tinker, whom there seems to
be good reason for identUying -with Eichard
HaohUd, churchwarden, who was one of the legal
guardians of the said property.
There are chapels on the north and south^side
of the chancel with paneUed ceUings. That on
the north belongs to the Scropes who are buried
in the vault beneath, and the ceiling is covered
with shields showing the aUiances contracted by
the family. Most of the stained glass in the
church was given by Mr. Scrope and is similarly
of an heraldic character. The glass is good, but
I confess I do not like that sort of thing in a
church, particularly when angels are introduced
into the design to bear some of the shields.
Better taste might prevail at this day than to fiU

THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
the windows of the house of God with emblems
of human vanities. An exception to the general
character of the stained windows is one on the
south side of the chancel, which is the gift of the
Eector. It illustrates the text " Suffer little
children to come unto me," and is not only rich
and beautiful in colouring but what is still more
rare, correct and natural in the drawing of the
figures. In a recess in the manorial chapel is an altar
tomb of very great interest. It bears the efiigy
of a knight in ring armour who by his arms was
one of the DunstanvUles, owners of this place,
though which of them there is nothing to show.
Mr. Scrope searched in vain for any inscription
which would enable him to identify the knight
-«'ho has slept for so many centuries beneath the
spot. From the will of Eichard Hallwey, a clothier of
the place, proved in 1454, it appears .that there
were then four altars in the church in addition to
the high altar. They were dedicated to S. Mary
the Virgin, Holy Cross, S. Nicholas and S.
Andrew, the patron saint of the church. The
south chapel, called in Aubrey's time the Fastolf
aisle and having then in the window the coat of
ai'ms of Sir John Fastolf, is now used as an organ
chamber. The nave of the church is lofty and well pro
portioned, opening into the aisles by three arches
ou either side, which rest upon clustered columns.
There is an abundance of light as there are in

CASTLE COMBE CHURCH, 449
each aisle three of the square-headed windows
which we often find in a parish of clothweavers,
beside a range of clerestory windows and a rose
window above the chancel arch. This is a very
handsome window, but the chancel arch, which
we are told has been carefuUy replaced in its
original position, is most interesting. It is certainly
weU preserved, and how it escaped the iconoclasts
is a marvel. It consists of six figures under
tabernacles ranged round the arch like the figures
on the north porch of Bristol Cathedral which
gave rise to such an unhappy dispute. The figures
are S. Peter who bears the key, S. Andrew mitred
and bearing his cross, S. James with pilgrim's staff
and cocklesheU, and three other figures not
identified, two of them female. The roof of the
nave is timbered and of the wagon form.
The font is a very interesting piece of Early
English work, almost unique in having a bookrest
on the side of the basin as part of the original
design. The tower is lofty and imposing, with bold
angular buttresses, giving it an octagonal form ;
they have crocketed finials at each stage as weU as
above the paneUed battlements. At the south
east corner is the stair turret, which rises above
the tower and terminates in a handsome spire.
There is a westem door, above which is a hand
some PerpendiciUar window with lofty taber
nacles on either sides, the statues in which are
aU new. The arch opening into the nave is lofty
and weU-proportioned. The roof of the tower is

459 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
handsomely groined with fan tracery, simUar to
the roof of the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul, Bath.
The exact date when this tower was commenced
is gained from a document among the Castle
Combe papers known as Wycestre's MS., being
written by WilUam of Worcester, who was steward
here at one time. In the year 1434 is an entry —
Memorandum, that in the I2th year of King Henry
VI. the new work or foundation of the belfry was begun
at the church of Castle Combe.
This tower was buUt partly at the expense of
the clothiers of Castle Combe and partly with
money left under the will of Sh' John Fastolf.
On the deajb of Sir Stephen Scrope in 1408 big,
widow Lady Millicent married within a year this
doughty knight. He appears in the Paston Letters
as a gentleman who thoroughly understood the
art of minding his own interests, and there was
no doubt some foundation of fact for the marvel
lous creation whereby Shakespeare has made his
name immortal. We have here to do however
with the Fastolf of history not of Shakespeare,
and we find him not only enjoying the Castle
Combe estates during the life of his wife as he
was lawfully entitled to do, but holding to them
after her death to the exclusion of the heir which
he had no right whatever to do. He did so how
ever, and as he lived to the age of 80 the poor heir
was kept out in the cold for a most unreasonable
time. He died in 1459, and according to the
fashion of the time — not altogether a bygone one

CASTLE COMBE CHURCH. 451
perhaps — he sought to compound for his sins by
beneficent bequests to the poor, to churches aud
to shrines. As some of the property of which he
thus disposed was said not to be rightfully in his
possession this was certainly a very generous pro
ceeding. We have in the Paston Letters the very
interesting story of the fate of his seat Caistor
Castle ; here the Eector seems to have obtaiued a
sum of some £4,000 and to have used it in accord
ance with the directions of the will. The FastoK
aisle probably gained its name from being built
with these funds.
The living is a rectory in the gift of the Lord
of the Manor, and is at present held by the
Eev. Eichard Cooper Christi^, LL.B., and
Scholar of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. This much
respected parish minister has laboured earnestly
and faithfully in this parish for 32 years,
and StiU displays the vigour and energy of
youth, I attended morning service in his
church on a beautKul April morning, and was
impressed with the solemn and earnest tone of the
service, he reading morning prayer. The singing
too was of the animated character which we
generaUy find when the hymns Ancient and
Modern are used. There is no gorgeous ritual, but
the lofty and handsome church with the clear Ught
pouring in through its different windows seemed to
me one of the most beautiful and imposing I have
yet looked upon. The Holy Sacrament was
administered, and the number of communicants was
very large for a country parish.

45S THE CHUROH RAMBLER.
The Eector of Castle Combe had the right
from time immemorial of holding a court for the
Probate of Wills, and the little room at the east
end of the chancel contained the records of this
court. Modern legislation has taken away this
right however, and the records were removed to
Salisbury a few years since.
The church does not possess a peal of bells as we
should expect. In the last century Mrs. Scrope
proposed to put up a peal of seven bells, but was
dissuaded on account of the bad habits which the
ringers often contracted. A protest at that period
against the too frequent desecration of the belfry
is noteworthy. Two old beUs were therefore
taken down and one large one cast instead.
Aubrey speaks of three bells. One still exists in
the small spire, and bears this inscription — •
Sancte (Srcsote ota iito nobis.
The other bell hangs in the middle of the tower ;
it was cast in 1766 by Tiler, of Gloucester. It
bears one of EudhaU's favourite legends —
I to the church the living call
And to the grave do summon all.
There are several specimens of weak churchyard
doggrel at Castle Combe. For instance take the
following lines on the shortness of human life — ¦
Reader thy days are but a span
So short is life, so frail is man.
Then since thy days so fast decrease
Learn wisdom's ways to die in peace.

CASTLE COMBE CHUBCH. 453
The next is a variation on a somewhat frequent
form —
Weep not for me, my friends I leave behind
Since in the Lord I trust His grace to find
For all must die, and He's the best to know
The only time and when we're fit to go
Therefore submit to fate and think it best
When Christ the Lord shall call us home to rest.
Strange that such stuff as this appeals more
strongly to the popular mind than the grand and
simple words of the Old Testament upon which
they are in some fashion based.

@). ^arp tbt Slirgin, Detii^es,

I EVIZES is peculiarly rich in the
possession of two large churches,
both ancient and imposing, under
the charge of one Eector. There
is every probability that the Church
of S. John Baptist was buUt for the use of the
garrison of the castle and that the Church of
S. Mary the Virgin was the church of the
to'wnspeople. They are both of Norman founda
tion, and it is diffioult upon any other hypothesis
to account for the erection of two such large
and handsome buUdings as they must have been
in the tweKth century. Time, which leaves
its mark upon all things, especially upon ancient
churches, has dealt differently with the two.
AU the interest of S. John Baptist now attaches
to the remarkably fine Norman work which
still remains, making it one of the most interest
ing remains of a building of that period in
the county. At the sister church on the other
hand, though its chancel is of very nearly the
same period, the nave was entirely rebuilt by
Perpendicular builders and admiration in the
church is directed to it as a beautiful and singu
larly perfect specimen of the work of that period.

DEVIZES CHUBCH. 465
The archseologist who talks to the good people of
Desdzes about their churches will find himseK
ingeniously drawn into comparisons between
them, and the result wiU make him echo the
exclamation of Capt. Macheath when he had
to make an equaUy embarrassing choice. This
rivalry between the people of S. Mai-y's and
the people of S. John's, so long as it is generous
and leads to the careful and loving preservation of
their respective churches, is not perhaps undesir
able. If it is pressed further however the visitor
is fortunately not compelled, like Gay's hero, to
choose between the two. It is impossible to compare
buildings of such widely different character, and
Devizes may be content to pride itself on possess
ing fine examples of the best work of the earliest
and the latest periods of true church architec
ture on a large scale in this country.
The church of S. Mary the Virgin consists of
chancel, nave with north and south aisles, south
j)orch and western tower. The chancel, as has
been said, is Norman, very Uttle later than that of
S. John's, which in its general features it
resembles, though the masonry is not nearly so
flne. The original buttresses remain, with the
corbel table both on the north and south sides.
On the inside it has a vaulted roof resting on
well-carved capitals. An arcade originaUy ran
round the walls, but this has been cut away on
the north and south sides, to make roomfor the late
Perpendicular windows which were inserted
centuries after the walls were built because of the

456 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB,
want of "more light." Distinct traces of the
arcade remain however, and I believe there is
some talk of restoring it thou.gh I should hesitate
myseK before taking such a step. The arcade
on the east wall is we are told a restoration,
certainly a careful one, made in 1852, when
the present small Norman east window was
inserted above it. The floor of the chancel which
had been raised considerably above its original
level was lowered by the present Eector and
very handsomely paved, with reference to which
a brass plate on the wall tells us "To the
" Glory of God and in memory of Ann Badger
"who deceased 10th March 1871 aged 82 and
" Elizabeth Coward who deceased 20th June 1875
" aged 89 this tile pavement was given by Thomas
" Badger 1875."
The next jjortion of the church in order of date
is the porch, which is a very beautiful specimen of
Norman transition. Its parapet is assimilated to
that of the nave, but the outer doorway is of great
interest showing us the characteristic Norman
mouldings and deep splay on an arch of the Early
English form. The capitals from which the arch
springs are Early English, and the shafts are
dwarfed, being only about a foot in length. It
should be added that above the inner doorway is
a niche for a statue. The existence of this porch
leads to the supposition that the present nave is
built upon the Norman foundations. This indeed
is so, and on the north side the original courses
of masonry can still be seen.

DEVIZES CHUECH. 457
The nave consists of five bays and like the aisles
has an embattled parapet, but that of the nave is
enriched by the buttresses rising above it in the
form of pinnacles. The rood turret, hexagonal in
form, also rises above the roof at the north-east
comer. The builders of this church seem to have
been good carvers and fond of statues. While
there are several bold and well-cut gargoyles on
the nave, and jolaces for statues inside and outside
the church, the most interesting feature of the
outside is a beautiful statue of the Virgin and
Child which stands in a rich tabernacle rising
from the eastern end of the ridge of the roof in the
usual position of the sancte bell. Though this
tabernacle .appears now in a shaky condition all its
damages are those of time, and it is easy to see
how well the figure of the patron saint was carved.
Seeing that Cromwell's soldiers were actually in
the town it is strange that this statue escaped the
hammers of the iconoclasts — after all the Lord
Protector was not so bad as his fellow-countrymen
make out. Still its preservation is remarkable,
and I trust that steps will be taken to make its
position secure, so that it may still stand where it
has stood so long, till Time can moulder away all
the lines on the good hard stone.
Within the nave is divided from either aisle by
a unKorm arcade of five pointed arches springing
from octagonal shafts with plainly moulded
capitals. Above is a r.ange of five clerestory
windows in three lights, of the same character as
those in either aisle. The chancel arch being cut

458 THE CHUBCH RAMBLER.
through a Norman waU, is of unusual thickness
and panelled towards the nave. On either side of
it are lofty tabernacles in which once stood statues
which must have been nearly life size. Below these
are hagioscopes opening into either aisle. The
entrance to the rood stairs stiU exists and though
the loft has of course long been swept away, the
entrance to it above remains and is very properly
preserved and indicated by a neat oak door.
The tower arch is lofty and well proportioned,
¦with very deep mouldings. The chief glory of the
nave is however its roof which is of o.ak. It rests
upon bold and beautifully carved corbel heads,
which seem as sharp and perfect as when they
¦were first put in their places. They represent a
king, queen and bishop, each of which occurs four
times. The roof is boarded and rises to a point ;
the tie beams and cornice have hollow mouldings
adorned with paterae, which are very judiciously
coloured ; the space above the beams is filled ¦with
pierced tracery. " In each compartment between
"the ridge and the cornice a single purlin is
" introduced, and in the two at the extremities an
" additional rafter, at the termination of which a
" demi-angel bearing a shield projects from the
" cornice at either end." The roof also preserves
in a curious manner the history of this part of the
church, for round the cornice in one compartment of
the roof is the following inscription in black letter :
(State lito als SSHilll. gmji^ QUf ista ecclfam Cert
fecit tut obllt prima tic mensis iunii anna sni
mlllo cccc mUf.

DEVIZES CHURCH. 469
When we are to pray for the soul of WUliam
Smith, who caused this church to be built, who
died on the first day of the month of June, 1436,
it must be understood that only the nave is spoken
of, nor do I see upou what ground some have
caUed WiUiam Smyth the founder of the church.
With regard to the interesting question who and
what this good Churchman was, our information
begins and ends ¦with the evident fact that he was
a member of the distinguished family of the Smiths
which is to be met ¦with wherever the English
name is known and which has many branches,
some of which have attained to high distinction
There was a Eobert Smyth Mayor of Devizes in
1420 who may have been his brother, and in 1474
John Smyth became rector of Devizes, while in
the same century one or two chantry priests are
spoken of with the same variation upon the usual
way of speUing the family name.
The tower is square and of lofty proportions in
three stages. The buttresses are angular and
crowned at each stage, as well as at the top of the
tower, with a crocketed pinnacle. There is an
embattled parapet, and generally the tower is of
the same date with the nave. The stair turret is
on the south side at the east eud, and rises above
the parapet. On the west side of the tower is a
doorway, and above it a large Perpendicular
window in four lights, which are divided in half
by transoms. On either side of the window is a
tabernacle for a statue. These correspond in position
to those beside the ch.ancel arch but are smaUer.

460 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
In the beKry is a peal of six bells. Three of
these cast in 1663 by WiUiam and Eoger Purdue,
Salisbury. The first is inscribed —
1 AM THE FIRST ALTHOUGH BUT SMALL I WILL
BE HEARD ABOVE YOU ALL
KATAREN STRONG, JANE DREW 1 663. W. P. R.
P. D. P. S. W. C. I. P. M. P.
The second has also its legend —
1663. T. p. HENRY Johnson's rector of this
TOWNE
I AM the SECOND IN THIS RING THAREFORE
NEXT TO THE WILL SING K. M.
The fifth quotes scripture —
GIVE UNTO CEASAR THE THINGS THAT ARE
CEASARS AND UNTO GOD THE THINGS . . .
JOHN DREW AND PHILLIP STRONG CHURCH
WARDENS 1663 W. P. R. P.
The tenor bell says — -
FEARE GOD AND HONOUR THE KING ANNO
DOMINI 1663
COME WHEN I CALL TO SARVE GOD ALL TO
SING HALLIUIAH
JOHN DREW AND PHILLIP STRONG CHURCH
WARDENS W. P. R. P. J. M.
The other two were cast in 1696 and 1701 by
WiUiam and Eobert Corr, of Aldbourne. The
fourth bell is the older and is inscribed —
ON EARTH BELLS DO RING ; IN IIE.WEN ANGELS
SING HALLELUJAH, ROB. COR
OLIVER EDWARDS. JACOB LARRANCE CW.
WIL COR 1696

DEVIZES CHURCH. 461
The other simply says —
C. W. W. C. 1701. RICHARD BUNDY AND JOHN HILL
I speak of this church of S. Mary the Virgin
as I see it now, but it must be remembered that
it has just passed under the hands of the Eector,
and thtit before he came to it some of its beauties
were hidden from view. A plaster ceiling half
concealed the beautiful roof ; it was he who had
the courage to pierce this and lay bare the
beautiful panelling behind. And without any
modernising touches he has brought the entire
building into excellent order, as satisfying to those
who come to see all things in the service of the
Church of England done decently and in order, as
to those who on archaeological thoughts intent
come to muse over the departed glories of the
past. The want of funds has prevented the
reparation of the west window, the mullions of
which arc very much decayed, but I understand
that it is intended to rejDair it and fill it with
stained glass. There is an abundance of light in
the church and those who are so minded may be
encouraged to give memorial windows. I am
glad to hear that the Eector has a fixed plan for
the subjects so that the beautiful range of
clerestory windows for instance may not be
marred by conflicting styles and designs. Among
other things I also hope that thought wUl be
taken for the safety of the statue of the Virgin
and Child on the nave gable.
The way to enter this church is from the
31 2

462 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
western door. Then one sees, framed by the
tower arch, the beautiful perspective of the nave
with its range of clerestory windows and noble
roof in all its glory. Facing one are tbe tall
tabernacles once gorgeous with the figures of saints,
and beyond, the Uttle Norman chancel with a
beauty distinctly its own about its simple strength.
The Sunday afternoon on which I was present
was a singular occasion, that of the monthly
service for school children who were placed in the
centre of the church. After the hymn from
Hymns Ancient and Modern —
Heavenly Father, send Thy blessing.
On Thy children gathered here,
in which the young voices sweetly joined, the
Xiitany was read by the curate. Dr. Burges then
entered the pulpit and taking his text from
Ecclesiastes xii. i — " Eemember now thy Creator
^'in the days of thy youth,'' addressed the
children in a simple and direct manner. He
said it was commonly thought that a wrong
thing confessed was done with and forgotten. This
was not so, in every heart was a secret book in
which everything was recorded that men did, and
though they might think things were forgotten
they were then locked up in the heart. He did
not think that anything was really forgotten.
Like a sheet of paper covered with blots, so the
book of memory was blotted with the wicked and
naughty things done in the years of life, and
those who were called late in life had a stormy

DEVIZES CHURCH. 403
eventide and troubled going down into the valley
of life, even though they were to enter the haven
at last, because they had the memory of their
sinful past. Why did he say those things to their
children ? That they might besaved from doing evil
things which hereafter they would be forced to
remember, and which would make their evening
of IKe sorry and troubled. He proceeded to
iUustrate the text by stories from his o'wn pastoral
experience, and by examples drawn from the
Bible. These he sought from the children and he
questioned them from the pulpit as to theirkno wledge
of the Bible history. Except for a shyness in
speaking the answers were ready enough, and
there was something very pleasing in the service
which seemed to be a return to the custom of the
early Christian church in catechising on Sunday
afternoons. The Eector undertakes a hea-py task
in preaching at this church on Sunday afternoon
in addition to two services at S. John's. I trust
he will not overtask his strength, though he is
just one of those Churchmen, greedy of hard
work, who are likely to do so. Meanwhile let
those opponents of the Church of England who
have nothing to do but to dispute over the ritual
judgments of the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council and the disciplinary orders of the Court
of Arches, go to Devizes and learn a different
story. After the service there was a distribution of
bread to a number of old women which is, I am
told, a weekly custom. There were anciently

464 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
several doles in connection with this church and
the stone which looks like an altar tomb outside
the south door of the chancel was probably the dole
stone. There are few monuments in the church and no-
ancient brasses. There are however the grave
stones with the hollows in which brasses were
once laid, and it is evident that this church has
suffered like many others at the hands of the
sacrilegious robbers. The present absence of
monuments is explained by the indifference with
regard to their preservation which apparently
existed on the part of the guardians of the church
down to very recent times. There was a
monument in the chancel to the memory of a
Eector of Devizes, the Bev. Hem-y Johnson, who
died in 1681. Though the opening lines of the
lengthy Latin inscription POST TANTOS LA130RES
TOTIDEMQ : SERMONES
HIC DEMUM QUIETE SILET
clearly showed its right to a position there, it
was removed so late as 1854 to the floor of the
nave where of course it will soon be obliterated.
The removal of the whitewash from the walls
of the church in 1854 brought to light the fact
that it was once covered with frescoes. Beneath
the remains which were first found traces of a
fine set of frescoes were discovered, probably of
the same date as the nave itself, and if so confirm
ing the notiou conveyed in other -ways of the

DEVIZES CHURCH. 465
¦ornate character of the building. These however
were now quite iUegible : the second series, some
of which were still in a recognisable state, were
of a later date, perhaps as late as the reign of
Queen Mary. All these things vanish when they
are exposed to the light, but Mr. Kite who saw
them, and to whose information I am indebted for
all I can say about them, teUs us that opposite the
south porch was a picture of the assumption of the
Blessed Vu-gin Mary, who was seen with a flowing
robe surrounded by the glory and ascending through
the air attended by angels. Further to the east
was the favourite subject of S. Christopher, which
has already been mentioned in connection with
the church of S. Christopher, Ditteridge. Says
our informant — " The saint was according to the
-" usual custom represented as fording the river
-" bearing on his shoulder the Infant Saviour and
" steadying his steps with a huge staff. On his
^' head (which was tumed as in the attitude of
" addressing the Holy ChUd), was a covering of
" ermine resembling a turban. The Saviour was
" represented in a dress of orange colour, the folds
" shaded with red and black, with long flowing
" hair and a mUd placid countenance ; the head
^' was encircled by a nimbus of a circular form,
" the right hand upraised and in the left an orb
^¦'surmounted by a cross." The other remains
were detached in so fragmentary a condition that
no guess could be hazarded as to their meaning.
There were traces of an ornament running round
the waUs beneath the roof line, and of scrolls

466 TEE CHURCH BAMBLEB.
bearing black letter inscriptions, but none of these
could be read. The feeling of the present day is
however against such adornments, and the interest
in them is purely historical.
Mr. Kite has gone very carefuUy through the
chm-ch wardens' accounts for this parish and some
interesting results of his investigations 'will be
found enshrined in the " Wilts Maga."

mf)mion.

I HADDON, which is popularly said
to contain some of the best meadow
land in England, stands on a pleasant
elevation within a gun-shot of Melk
sham, whose roofs and chimneys just
appear through a screen of trees. Winding at foot
is the river Avon ever present in beautiful spots
in this neighbourhood, while the prospect is most
extensive, stretching away toward Bath on the
one hand and towards Salisbury Plain on the other.
Here and there gentlemen's houses, farms and
viUages dot the scene, which is a typical English
landscape. The name of Whaddon as explained
on the authority of the Rev. Canon Jones is a
very good one — the wood on the hill. Don or dun ,
akin to down, is a familiar ending meaning hill,
and the former syllable is the old word coed or coit,
a wood, which forms part of so many names as
Codford, Chittern, Widhampton.
At the time of the Great Survey Wadone was
held under the King by Alured a military thane,
who had .also held it in the time of King Edward.
In 1254 the Inquisitio post Mortem speaks simply
of Henry de Whaddon. In 1342 and 1351 Sir John
de Holt, knight, was lord of the manor of

468 THE CHUECH EAMBLER.
Whaddon, and in 1401 it belonged to Sir John
Eoche. One of his daughters and co-heiresses
brought the property in marriage to the Beau
champs, from them it descended to the Bayntuns
and in 1538 Sir Edward Bayntun of Bromham
house was lord of the manor. A few years after
it passed partly by purchase to the Longs. The
first we meet with in connection with this place is
Henry Longe of Whaddon who had been pre
sented to the living of Whaddon in 1545 and was
executor to his father's will in 1558. He was the
son of Henry Longe of Trowbridge and grandson
of the first of the family, Thomas Longe of
Semington, who died about 1509. There can be
no doubt that this branch of the Longs was con
nected with those of Wraxall and Draycot, but this
cannot be traced in the pedigree. They were
scattered about this district from very early times
carrying on their business in wool, which has been
the foundation of many fortunes as well as, accord
ing to the proverb, the foundation of London
Bridge. There is reason for thinking that Thomas
Dong of Semington was the nephew of Eobert
Long of Wraxall, who was knight of the shire
for Wilts in 1433, and is the first of whom we
have any exact record. Henry Longe of Whaddon
married Mary daughter of Thomas Horton of
Iford, an early member of another great clothing
family, and had a son, Henry Longe of Whaddon,
who died in 1612 and was buried at Whaddon.
There is a brass to his memory in the floor of the
chancel. It bears the coat of Long very well en-

WHADDON CHUECH. 469
graved — Sa. sem^e of cross crosslets, a lion rampant
arg. two flaunches ermine. The inscription is
HERE RESTS THE BODY OF HENRY LONG
WHO DIED
THE FIRST DAYE OF MAIE l6l2
AND THE TENTH YEAR OF THE
REIGNE OF KING JAMES.
His son Sir Walter Longe of Whaddon- had the
manors of Whaddon and Steeple Ashton and was
-a distinguished member of the Long Parliament.
He was member for Bath in 1627 and for Lud-
gershall in 1640. He was one of the celebrated
band of patriots sent to the Tower by King
¦Charies I. on the dissolution of his thu-d Parlia
ment ; he was prosecuted in the Star Chamber
and fined 2000 marks in 1628. He strenuously
opposed the pretensions of the Crown on the
Tonnage and Poundage question, and at Edgehill he
had his horse shot under him while charging the
King's forces at the head of a troop of horse which
he had raised himself. In 1647 the army brought
a series of charges against him which he refuted,
but in August he fled with others to France be
cause, says HoUis who was with him, " the princes
of the Philistines loved them not." Clarendon
styles him " one of the chiefs of the Presbyterian
party ;" he was one of those who opposed arbi
trary acts on the part alike of King and Protector;.
He returned at the Eestoration and was made a
baronet. His son Sir Walter Long, who was born
in 1627 and died in 1710, was the last in the direct

470 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
line of the Longs of Whaddon. The property
was afterwards held by a descendant of a younger
branch of the same family. Walter Long of
Wraxall and Eood Ashton was born in 1712 and
died in 1807,and is buriedat Whaddon ;heiQherited
WraxaU through his grandmother Catherine,
daughter of John Long of Wraxall, she died in
1726. He left his estate to Walter Long of South
Wraxall and Eood Ashton, son of Eichard Godol-
phin Long, knight of the shire for Wilts, born
1761 died 1835. This family still hold the pro
perty and have assumed the arms of the elder
branch of the Longs.
The house of the Longs here was pulled down
about 1855 and a farmhouse erected in its stead.
There is a view of the house as it was seen on
May 7th, 1684, in " Dingley's History from
Marbles," which has been reprinted by the Camden
Society. With regard to the Rectory of Whaddon, which
is now united to that of Hilpertoii, the Additional
MSS. in the British Museum afford an interesting
record. The performance of the Divine service
by the Eev. WiUiam Shipman offended Matthew
Brunker and others who were probably Puritans,
and in consequence of their representations he
was ejected. The following document is the
order for the appointment of his successor, and ia
worthy of quotation if only to show in how
orderly and business-like a way things were
managed under the much abused Cromwell. The
notice might be that of a Committee or Commission

WHADDON CHUBCH. 471
of the present day except that it is too well
expressed. Know aU men by these presents that whereas the
Rectoiy of Whaddon in the county of Wilts is void by
the ejection of William Shipman, late Rector thereof,
and Mr. Richard Bryan is by Walter Long, esq. , the
patron thereof, nominated thereto, the Commissioners
for approbation of publique preachers having received
a testimony in the behalf of the said Richard Bryan of
his holy and good conversation, upon perusal of due
consideration of the premises, and finding him to be a
person qualified at and by the ordinances for such ap
probation is required. Doe by these presents certitie,
confirm and allow him the said Richard Bryant to be
and continue in the said sequestried Rectory as Publique
Preacher there and to receive, possess and enjoy Houses,
Gleab lands, Tithes, Rents, Duties and Profitts whatso
ever incident and belonging to the Rectory of Whaddon
aforesaid in as full and ample manner as being present
Incumbent he ought or might enjoy the same. In wit
ness whereof they have caused the Comm. seal to be
hereunto atfixed and the same to be attested by the
hands of the Register by His Highness in that behalfe
appointed. Dated at WhitehaU the Twentieth day
of August One Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty
and Six.
It is sealed with the common seal of the " Com
mission for approbation of Publick Preachers."
The chapel, of which I do not know the dedica
tion, was once a highly interesting building. It
was evidently founded by the Normans, and the
south porch contains some good Norman work,
the tympanum of the inner doorway being

472 THE CHUECH EAMBLES,
adomed with a raised Byzantine ornament. The
capitals of the chancel if they were cleaned of
their thick incrustation of whitewash would
probably prove to be Norman cushion capitals,
like those supporting this doorway, the doorway
walled up on the north side is evidently very
Early Norman work. There is trace on the out
side of a rood stair, and apparently one or two
niches for statues on the inside. But a once
quaint and interesting little church has. suffered
cruel damage at the hands of the Longs. At the
beginning of the present century they pulled down
the chancel and rebuilt it with a north aisle in
order to make room for a family vault of huge
dimensions which is underneath. Against the
north wall of this aisle is a very large marble
monument with the following inscription : —
SACRED
TO THE JIEMORY OF
WALTER LONG
OF THIS PLACE, OF SOUTH WRAXHALL,
AND OF THE CITY OF BATH, ESQ.,
ONLY SON OF THOMAS LONG OF SOUTH
WRAXHALL, E.SQ.,
BY M.^RY HIS WIFE.
NATURE AND EDUCATION
COMBINED TO QUALIFY T:\YM FOR GAINING THE
ESTEEM
WHICH THE SUAVITY OF HIS M.INNERS
AND AN EXCELLENT UNDERSTANDING CONFIRMED •
WHILE EARLY HABITS OF APPLICATION,
A MEMORY RENDERED POWERFUL
BY JUDICIOUS EMPLOYMENT

WHADDON CHUECH. 473
G.U'E ACCURACY TO HIS JUDGMENT AND ENERGY
TO HIS LANGUAGE.
HE WAS .\N ELEG.4NT SCHOLAR,
A CHEERFUL COMP.-VNION AND A WORTHY MAN.
TO HIS NUMEROUS TENANTRY
HE WAS CONSPICUOUSLY MUNIFICENT
AND WHEN THfe .DANGERS OF THE COUNTRY
CALLED FOR EXTRAORDINARY AID
HE NOBLY DEVOTED THE PRODUCE OF THEIR LABOURS
TO THE DEFENCE OF THEIR LIBERTY.
HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE
ON THE i8TH day OF JANUARY, 1807, IN THE
95TH YEAR OF HIS AGE,
WHEN HIS REMAINS WERE DEPOSITED IX THIS
MAUSOLEUM,
WITH THREE OF HIS SISTERS,
ELLEN LONG, WHO DIED 28TH FEB., I787, AGED 70,
AND
ANN LONG, WHO DIED 29TH DEC, l8o2, AGED 8g,
HIS SISTER MARY LONG,
DIED 20TH AUGUSr, 1 776, AGED 66,
AND WAS BURIED AT WRAXHALL,
WITH THESE
AND THE SURVIVING SISTER K.VTHARINE LONG,
HE SHARED THE BLESSINGS, RECIPROCAL
AND DESERVED AFFECTION.
On the west side of the aisle is a beautiful marble
monument by Westmacott, Ulustrating the ]3assage
from Job — " Thou shalt come to thy grave in a
" full age like as a shock of corn cometh in his
" season." An angel is reaping in the corn field
of life, while another heavenly messenger poised
in mid-air —
Points us to heaven and leads the way. >

474 THE CHUBCH BAMBLEB.
On a tablet beneath is the following inscription —
IN MEMORY OF KATHERINE LONG, SPINSTER,
THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF THOMAS LONG, OF
SOUTH WRAXHALL,
IN THE COUNTY OF WILTS, ESQ.,
SHE DIED ON THE IJTH JANUARY, 1814, IN HER
97TH YEAR.
THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY THE REV.
CHARLES COSWELL, CLERK, THOMAS BRUGES,
ESQ., WHO SHE WAS PLEASED TO APPOINT HER
RESIDUARY LEGATEE.
The vault is reached by a flight of broad stone
steps which go down at such an easy angle that
they extend right along beside the north wall of
the church. This excavation close to the wall
has of course sapped its foundation and it is
gradually heeling over. Altogether the church is
in a ruinous condition. The strain on the north
wall has cracked the chancel arch, and the roof of
the chancel is so broken that a bird has built its
nest in it ; I saw it fly round the church and then
up through the ceiUng to its nest and through a
crack above out into the fresh air. A helmet,
-surmounted by the lion crest, and some gauntlets
hang on the wall, and the old clerk, who has been
at Whaddon fifty years, told me he could re
member when the rest of the suits of armour
still hung there. The weathercock, dated 1687,
which fell down a year or two since, is also pre
served in the chancel. Some wooden palings for
communion rails have been nailed down on the

WHADDON CHUBCH, 475
gravestones of the early Longs who are buried
here, and the chancel arch has been cut into to
make room for the sounding board of the old and
rickety pulpit. The floor is covered with the
splashes of the last whitewashing. The pews are
of the high family coach pattern in which you sit
face to face, and in so ruinous a condition that
when I rested a piece of paper on the edge of one
to write it gave way.
Divine service is held here on Sunday afternoon,
and when I was present was read by the Eector,
the Eev. Thomas Hem-y Tate, M.A., of Trinity
College, Cambridge. There is no musical instru
ment in the church, and there was no singing.
There was however a sermon from 1 John v. 3 — 4
"This is the lov(; of God that we keep His com-
" mandments : and His commandments are not
" grievous. For whatsoever is born of God over-
" cometh the world : and this is the victory that
" overcometh the world, even our faith." The
preacher took a very mournful view of life, say
ing that we had in it much to endure and little to
satisfy us ; that the more a man weans himself
from this life the better he is for it. He described
the future as the untarnished handiwork of God
in such a tone as to infer that he meant there was
nothing divine iu the present. A very young
child, happily too young to understand what was
said, yawned, and thereupon ensued what the
reporters in the House of Commons call " a scene."
The preacher stopped, gazed sternly at the un
fortunate babe, exclaimed in icy accents, "If yon

1

476

THE CHUECH EAMBLES.

'• cannot behave better in church you had better
" leave it," and then went on with the next
sentence of his discourse as if nothing had
happened.

1 CO.

1 «
\ °

I fli.

^. TPartfjolometu, Cors&am.

O parish that has been spoken of
in these articles has claimed such
high lineage and jaeculiar respect as
Corsham. It has been necessary
heretofore to speak of royal gifts and
royal -visits not a few, but in this place there is much
more. Here has been a regular abiding place of
royalty, and it is proudly called by its people
" this ancient royal manor." It still enjoys many
peculiar rights and ancient privileges which have
survived those swept away in the abolition of
feudal tenures. The history of the church in all
cases involves so much of the history of the parish
th.at some of the history of Corsham is necessary
to elucidate the mute record of the past which is
written in the stones of its ancient church. Very
often the incidents thus to be told are food for
the curious few and nothing more, but in Corsham
this is not so. The past is not a shadow but a
living influence, moulding the lives and feelings
of the people. They understand the ancient
dignity of the place, and while they feel that it
raises Corsham to the dignity of a town they look
to others to respect it according. At the re
opening of the restored parish church the Ven.
32 2

478 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB,
Archdeacon of Bristol, in the innocence of his
heart aud in his desire for a striking antithesis to
adorn a singularly eloquent speech, referred to it
as " this humble village church" and the disturb
ance among the laity was almost enough to
interrupt the speech. I must own that I admire
this feeling ; it is a healthful and honourable one.
The people of Corsham thereby enjoy the chief
advantage of the English municipal system of
local self-government without any of the re
sponsibilities, pecuniary and otherwise, which
weigh upon ratepayers iu boroughs ; they have a
strong local feeling, the value of which it is
difiicult to overrate. They have a warm affection
for the place of their birth, they are proud of
belonging to Corsham, they are proud of their
venerable church which they have recently restored
with striking unanimity, and they are proud of
the noble and enlightened family which presides
at Corsham Court. It is not always that pride is
so well and justly grounded.
Corsham was a royal manor from the earliest
record that we have of it in the time of the
early English kings, and it continued in the
hands of their Norman successors till the time of
King John who granted it to his second son,
Eichard Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall, a brave
and gallant English prince who was elected King
of the Eomans and who but for his early death
would probably have been a distinguished wearer
of the Imperial diadem, which in these our days
has been revived for the Kaiser Wilhelm.

COBSHAM CHUECH, 479
On the death of his grandson Edmund in 1299
the property reverted to the Crown, but the
succession of famous owners did not fail. Two
years after it was settled upon Princess Mary,
daughter of King Edward I., when she entered
Ambresbury Nunnery. In 1307 King Edward II.
gave it to his favourite Piers Gaveston. In 1358
King Edward III. and Queen Philippa spent the
summer in this neighbourhood and divided their
time between Marlborough and Corsham. The
king afterwards settled it upon his daughter
Isabella who married Ingebram de Courcy, one
of the French hostages after the battle of Poitiers
who remained in England with the Kiug. He
was created Earl of Bedford. Corsham after this
formed part of the dower of several Queens and
hence is justly called Corsham Eegis or Corsham
Eeginffi. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth the
lands called Corsham parts were granted to a well
known favourite. Sir Christopher Hatton. In
1575 however the manor was sold to Thomas
Smyth, au ancestor of Lord Strangford. He
farmed the customs, hence Aubrey says — "the
"' great howse at Corsham was built by Customer
" Smyth : he rented the customs then of Queen
"Elizabeth for twenty thousand pounds per
"annum." The date 1582 on the oldest part of
Corsham Court teUs when this work was done and
how much of it remains. I may mention here
with regard to the previous house that Leland
says — ¦" Mr. Baynton in Queen Anne's days pulled
" down by licence a pece of this house to help

480 THE CHUECH BAMBLEE.
" his buUdings at Bromham." This Mr. Baynton
seems to have been quite a Communist in his
destruction of ancient buildings in this neighbour
hood. In 1602 his son Henry sold Corsham to
Edward Hungerford of Eowdon, who afterwards
became Sir Edward of Farley Castle. In this
family it remained till the time of the spendthrKt
Sir Edward of the Eestoration. He disposed of
the property to Eichard Kent, esq., M.P. for
Chippenham. Eichard Lewis, esq., of Ediugton
Priory, bought it in 1694 aud dying in 1706 was
buried in Corsham Church. In 1746 it was pur
chased by Paul Methuen, esq., heir to the great
diplomatist of the same name.
This diplomatist came of a singularly ancient
family, its founder having accompanied Eadgar
.^theling out of Hungary and settled in Scotland.
Malcolm Canmore bestowed upon them the barony
of Methuen in Perthshire, whence the family
name. His descendants appear to have held high
official positions in the northem kingdom and one
of them was created Baron Methuen by King
James V. They appear to have come to England
in the reign of Mary Queen of Scots and were
kindly received by our Queen Elizabeth. Like
many other good families in the west country a
branch settled in Wiltshire and engaged iu the
clothing trade. Paul Methuen was the son of the
Eight Hon. John Methuen, Lord ChanceUor of
Ireland. Born in 1672 he early entered upon a
diplomatic career, aud held many important
embassies in the course of his life, besides high

COBSHAM CHUBCH. 481
offices in the home government. He was created
a- Knight of the Bath on the revival of the order
in 1725. Voltaire styled him " one of the best
" ministers that the English ever employed in an
"embassy," but his name is chiefly associated in
history with what is called the Methuen treaty,
which he concluded at Lisbon to give the wines of
Portugal an advantage over French in importa
tion into England. The provisions of the treaty
were not .abandoned by our ally in 1836, so that
his work lasted long and, as any student of our
social history knows, had very important results.
He made the splendid collection of paintings
which is the glory of Corsham Court. He died
without children, aud the present owner, the Eight
Hon. Lord Methuen, is descended from his relative
and successor another Paul.
Leland, who calls " Cosham, a good uplandish
" town," says thiit " old Mr. Bonehomme told me
"that Coseham appertained to the Earldom of
" Cornwall and that Cosham was a mansion place
" belonging to it where they sometime lay. All
" the men of this townlet were bond so that upon
"a time one of the Earls of CornwaU hearing
"them secretly lament their fate manumitted
" them for money and gave them the Lordship of
" Cosham in copyhold to pay a chief rent." The
facts are much as the old gossip relates them.
The grant which was made by the first Eari is
still preserved in the manor chest, which contains
some interesting documents and good impressions
of seals. Canon Jackson says — " He granted to

483 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
" them the lands in fee farms free of those
"services paying annuaUy to the lord 110 marks.
" From that time the farmers in fee held their
" lauds to them and their heirs, elected a bailiff
" who was also coroner and sheriff of their own in
' lieu of the Earl's ; had their lands tried in their
"own court by writ of right and not by the
"common law ; were exemi^t from serving on
"juries except within their own manor, &c."
Among the privileges which I have said are stiU
in full force is this of electing a baiUff who is also
Coroner for the liberty.
In 1285 Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, obtained a
charter for a Wednesday market. This was dis
continued, but in 1784 Mr. Paul Methuen buUt a
new market house and endeavoured to revive the
market but without success and the building now
stands idle in the High street. It surely could be
made to serve some use.
Within the liberty of Corsham there is also a
Eectory manor which was granted by King
WilUam I. to the monastery of S. Stephen, Caen.
Alien priories always held property in England
upon a precarious tenure and their devices were
numerous to avoid seizure, which the Crown was
generally ready to practice upon a slight pretext.
This perhaps helps to account for the way in which
this manor passed about, being successively the
property of different alien priors. At the
Dissolution it was sold into lay hands. It now
belongs to G. Goldney, esq., M.P. for Chippenham;
hence his responsibility as lay rector for the

COBSHAM CHURCH. 483
restoration of the chancel of Corsham Church.
The gift to the vicarage however passed from the
priors to the lord of the manor, who is at present
the patron. Britton says, " The Vicar of Corsham
" possesses very extraordinary privileges, having
" episcopal jurisdiction within the parish."
The name Corsham was anciently spelt Coseham
and Cosham. The latter syllable is of course
ham a dwelling. With regard to the former
Canon Jones, the accepted authority on WUtshire
names, says — " I am inclined to think that the
"former portion of the name is from the Cornish
" cis a wood. It may however be from cors a
" marsh." Before passing away from the history of the
parish of Coi-sham it is necessary to refer to a
native who was a very distinguished man in his
time, though he is more remembered now by the
gibes of his greater contemporaries, and by the
notice that Johnson took of him by including him
among the English poets whose lives he wrote,
than by hisown works. A gossiping topographical
writer of the last century says —
The Church here is a handsome Edifice with a Spire
Steeple and a Musical Ring of Bells. The Fields here
abouts instead of Hedges are inclosed with walls of
Stone piled upon one another without any mortar. The
Parish which is very large is sprinkled up and down
with many pretty Seats. On the south east side of it is
the Old House by the River where Sir Robert Black-
more famous both as a physician and a poet was bom.
Blackmore took his degree of M.A. at Oxford in

484 THE CHURCH BAMBLEB.
1676 and after some experience as a schoolmaster
entered the medical profession. His political
sympathies gained him the ofiice of Physician in
Ordinary to William III. at the Eevolution. He
wrote in his prosperity many poems. Leigh
Hunt says — " He composed heaps of dull poetry,
" versified the psalms, and by way of extending
" the lesson of patience wrote a paraphrase of the
"Book of Job." Swift referring to the title of
two of his works said he
Undid Creation at a jerk
And of Redemption made d  d work.
Johnson however found merit in his verse and we
may believe that though now forgotten his poems
were read and admired in his own time. Cibber
adds that he was " a worthy man and a friend to
" religion." Corsham Church reciuires a two-fold description
as it was and as it is, for it has just been restored
and altered and the portion of chief interest to
archseologists has been swept away. Still strongly
as I object to change for the sake of change I
must say I cannot view this work in the same
Ught as would the poet Morris and his Society for
the Protection of Ancient Buildings. The parish
church was built for public worship and the
changes which are necessary to maintain it for
that purpose ought to be made despite the long
ings of art that it may become a beautiful ruin.
Granting the destructive necessities of the case I
think they have done their task at Corsham as

COBSHAM CHUBCH. 584
well as theypossibly could. They have exchanged
a cramped gallery-burdened, I may almost say
unholy, building for a noble and handsome parish
church in which the whole congregation can come
as one to the mercy seat.
The church is of Norman foundation and the
nave is still of this character. One or two of the
original Norman piers and arches remain and
these have formed the copies for restoring those
which had been cut awaj'. There are thus four
arches on either side resting on cylindrical Norman
columns with cushion caps. They are all with one
exception semi-circular. Above a small Norman
clerestory window was uncovered during the
restoration, another proof that here the original
fabric has not been disturbed. A timbered roof
of the wagon beam form has just been uncovered
from the plaster with great advantage to the
church. There are both north and south aisles,
and in the north aisle there is a good Norman
doorway on which the chevron moulding has
been restored. All the windows however are
later, the demand for more light having
doomed the originals. On the north side are
three two-light windows, the head tracery being
of the form which is compared to segmental
triangles. The west window is a large three-light
Perpendicular window but those at the ends of
the aisles are Decorated windows, one of them
particularly good. Somebody in the last century
added a small portico of a debased classical
character at the west end in connection with the

486 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
gaUeries. It has been closed up now, but I am
glad to say is not removed, for though its effect is
quaintly incongruous it marks a passage in the
history of the church. On the south is a small two-
light Decorated window and a large three-light
Perpendicular window. Between these is the
large and handsome Perpendicular porch with
embattled parapet. There is a parvise above the
porch with a window on the south ; on either
side of this is A little Gothic niche.
Of nicest workmanship that once had held
The sculptured image of some patron saint.
On the west side, from which the people come
from the town, is also a large and richly carved
tabernacle. The porch is vaulted within with the
head of a king at the intersection of the ribs, and
with crowned heads as corbels supporting it at
each corner. Over the inner doorway a statue
once stood, but now a tablet occupies its place,
with the following inscription : —
IN THIS CHURCH PORCH
LYETH THE BODY OF WILLIAM
TASKER GENT WHO CHOOS
RATHER TO BE A DOOR KEE
PER TO THE HOUSE OF HIS
GOD THAN TO DWELL IN
THE TENTS OF WICKEDNESS
HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE
IVN THE 20TH AN 1684
AGED 89
All the porch burials with the like humble

COBSHAM CHUECH. 4S7
inscriptions were prompted by the celebrated
example of S. Swithin, to whom we owe the forty
days' rain which tradition maintains to be neces"
sary to christen the apples.
The chancel is Perpendicular in character and
has chapels on either side. The east window is a
very late one in three lights with very flat head.
In the waU on each side of it is a panel the height
of the window, and at the bottom of this a pedestal
for a statue. One of these is the original one
brought back to its right position, the other is
new. The reredos is a simple stone panelling
copied from traces which remain of that which
formerly went round the waUs of the chancel.
The wall below, as weU as the floor, is covered
with encaustic tUes. The roof is a flat panelled
one and almost all new. There is a large
Perpendicular window on the south side of the
chancel now flUed up with the monument of
Elizabeth Harington, who died 31st December,
1791. On the north side there is a small window
and beneath it a tablet with this inscription —
NEAR THIS PLACE LYETH THE BODY OF
MARTHA THE WIFE OF JOHN SMITH OF
CORSHAM ELDEST DAUGHTER OF
LEONARD SMITH OF CRANFIELD GENT
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 20TH
DAY OF SEPTEMBER I669
Short was my life, yet live I ever.
Death has his due, yet die I never.
Near it is the oldest monument which I could
find in the building—

4S8 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
QUAE PER FEMINEVM
SPARSA EST PERFE
* CTIO SEXVM
(lector) in HAC VNA
TOTA SEPVLTA IACET
EDW : REDE AR : HOC
DISTICHON IN MEMO
RIA ANNAE UXORIS
DE EXINCLYTA FAMILI
A BAYNARDORUM DE
LECHAM ORIVNDAE
HIC INCIDI CVRAVIT
QUAE OBIIT AVGVST 23
1615
Corsham is to be included among the Wiltshu'e
towns which were once the seat of the English
wool trade. An old writer says —
The Woollen Manufacture is the chief Employment
and Support of the Place, here being not only some
considerable clothiers but a Wool stapler of the same
surname and very likely of the same Family as Mr.
Stump the clothier of Malmesbury.
In connection with this the following lengthy
inscription set up in the chancel by the then
reigning family to the memory of two local
worthies, is not without interest —
JOHN AND THOMAS
HVLBERT OF THIS TOWNE OF
COSHAM CLOTHRS YE SONNS OF JAMES
HVLBERT OF ESTON WITHIN THIS PRISH
CLOTHR DECEASED JOHN THE ELDEST AGED 49

CORSHAM CHURCH. 4S9
HAPPILY EXCHANGED THIS LIFE YE 3D SEPTEMBR
1626 THOMAS YE YOUNGER AGED 53 FINISHED HIS
COVRSE YE i6tH OCTOBR 1632 OF WHOSE POWERFUL
PRAYERS UNTO GOD AND MOST CHRISTIAN DEPARTURE
WAS
WITNESS WH MANY OTHERS YT WERE THEN LIKEWISE
PRESENT
Two brothers neare inteixed here doe lye,
Whose love to each, whose trade, whose charitye.
Whose zeale to God whose tiotli to all was svch ;
As they seem'd one, of all admired mvch.
John was the eldest a man discreete and stovte
Faithfvll and jvst in all he went about
By seniority he first obtained
The blessed port that Thomas since hath gained.
Thomas was endowed with such rare parts
He no wayes needed to be taught the Arts,
And thovgh he kept him to his trade of cloth.
Yet was he divine and a Covtyer both
A father strict, yet tender o're his childe,
A loveing neighbour and a master milde,
Who never did ye needy poore contemne,
And God enrich't him by ye hands of them.
Each like to other in ye choicest parts
Each brothers prayse speaks th'other his desarts ;
O're whose dvst doeth this monvment remaine,
Scarce two such brothers hath ye world again.
SR ED. HUNGERFORD KNT. OF YE NOBLE ;
ORDER OF YE B.ITHE AND YEN SHEFE OF THIS
COUNTY OF WILTS ; WHO HATH CAUSED
THIS TO BE ERECTED IN
MEMORY OF THESE BROTHERS ASjWELL
FOR THEIR PIOUS AND PROFITABLE

490 THE CHURCH BAMBLEB,
CONVERSATION TO ALL, AS FOR THEIR
CONSTANT FAITHFUL RESPECT TO
HIM IN PARTICULAR, AND ESPECIALLY
FOR THE PRAYSWORTHY SERVICE THAT THO
HULBERT DIED HIM IN THAT YEAR 1632
This is close to the south chapel which is separated
from the nave by two panelled arches whose
mouldings end without capitals in angels bearing
shields. It has a flat oak roof, and is lighted by
three large four-light Perpendicular windows —
two on the south side and one at the east. At
the east end is the vestry enclosed by a curious
old wooden partition.
The north chapel or Tropenell aisle belongs to
the manor of Neston in this parish, and is some
times erroneously called the Hanham aisle from a
family which once owned the property. It is now
the most interesting part of the church and has
been restored by the present squire of Neston,
G. P. Fuller, esq., with due care for its ancient
features. It is separated from the chancel by a
broad arch such as is usually found over tombs,
without any capitals. It is lighted by three
Perpendicular windows, the east window being a
very fine one. On the south side is a piscina still
preserved. The stone screen on the western side
is very beautiful, having in a modified form the
fan tracery which is the glory of the roof of the
Bath Abbey. In the middle of the screen is a
good crocketed doorway. In the chapel are two
altar tombs. The larger immediately under the
arch is that of Thomas Tropenell, who died in

COBSHAM CHUBCH. 401
1490. The shields on the tomb are those of
Tropenell and Ludlow, for his wife was Agnes
(or Margaret) Ludlow, of Hill Deverill. There
are traces of an inscription round the tomb,
which was legible in Aubrey's time. I therefore
copy his description of it —
About the limbe of this Monument is : An ox
yoke, then this writing, JIjs. (ttfits. J!la?atcnus filfns £Del fiKus
BaaiB, fiUiis iiaatle Uirolnis salDct nos. A yoke. After every
oxe yoake, which I suppose was the crest or cogni-
zauuce, the same writing repeated again. Under that
writing, in the next moulding, is, — A yoke — (fra bclleincnt
— A yoke — axi.&i.i.e. "he will draw well." Under
this monument is a little freestone vault, where he and
his wife's bones lye.
This Tropenell was the projector of Great Chalfield
manor house and in that connection I have spoken
of their cognisance, the yoke and the motto, " le
joug tira bellement," with the fatal meaning it had
for the last of the race. There are modern tablets
in the chapel to the memory of —
JOHN FULLER OF NESTON
BARRISTER AT L.\W D.L.
A M.4GISTRATE FOR MIDDLESEX AND WILTS
DIED MARCH 30TH 1839 AGED 74.
ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF
JOHN BIRD FULLER
OF NESTON D.L.
BORN MARCH 6tII iSoI
DIED M.'^.Y 27TH 1872.
The additions which Mr. Street has made to
the church consist in a TJiviad chancel arch.

492 THE CHUBCH BAMBLEB.
allowing a proper connection between the two
parts of the church, and a handsome tower
forming a sort of south transept to the church. It
is a square tower with a pierced parapet, above
which rises a shapely spire. It is true to the
tradition of the church to have aspire, and the tower
altogether harmonises very well with the general
appearance of the building. For this the parish
is largely indebted to the liberality of Mr. Poynder,
of Hartham.
But what has been removed ? Things both
good and bad. As I have said, the church had
formerly au Early English tower, but the spire
was taken down in 1812 because I suppose it had
been aUowed to become insecure. The Eariy
English arches, interesting as they were, cut off
the chancel from the nave, and therefore they and
the tower which rested upon them have been
removed. But there were other obstructions in
Corsham Church, huge and hideous galleries
blocking up the building and intercepting the
sound in every direction, while the pews were
some of the highest and ugliest box pews that I
have ever seen. But even this was better than
what it was forty or fifty years ago when the
clerk's desk, pulpit and reading desk formed a
bridge above the chancel arch. The desks 'were
on either side, and the pulpit bnilt up above them,
so that the minister to go into the chancel went
under the pulpit. At that time the clergy said the
Communion service at the west end of the chancel
because if they stood within the rails uo one would

COESHAM CHUECH. 493
bear them. Happily all this with its attendant
train of evils has passed away.
The work of restoration was long in contempla
tion, but various circumstances in addition to its
manifold difliculties delayed it. It would have
been undertaken by the late Vicar, the Eev. J.
Pym, but his sudden death frustrated his plans
and took from his parish a beloved minister whose
memory is still sweet among his people. At last
the work was taken in hand in 1875 largely by
the action of the Hon. Paul Methuen ; at the
vestry meeting which was then held large promises
of assistance were given by Lord Methuen and the
other landowners of the parish, funds have been
forthcoming asthey wereneeded, and the restoration
has been completed without a debt. From the
beginning to the end of the work the master spirit
has been the Vicar, the Eev. George Linton, M.A.,
of Trinity College, Cambridge, who did not
aUow a long and wearisome Ulness to deter him
from his heart's desire, and who is to be cougratu-
leted on achieving that which will make his name
long memorable in the annals of Corsham parish.
A young and energetic man, devoted heart and
soul to the duties of his office, and respected and
esteemed by all classes and all opinions among his
parishioners, I am sure all who know either the
Vicar or his parish will join with me in the heart
felt hope that he may be spared for many years to
minister in the noble building to which he has
done so much to make it worthy to be the house
of God.33 2

494 THE CilUSCH EAMBLES.
Owing to the extensive nature of the alterations
the church was closed for nearly two years, and
during that time the services were held in the
riding school of Corsham Court by the kindness
of Lord Methuen. The parish church was re
opened on Thursday, 13th June, 1878, when the
people of Corsham assembled in overflowing
numbers in the beautiful building. They found
instead of the old pews the nave fitted with
open oak seats and the chancel with staUs,
and instead of the old joinery a handsome
stone pulpit and an eagle lectern of oak. The
opening service was a notable one, for the
Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, the
Ven. Archdeacon of Bristol and nearly forty of
the clergy of the district were present. Morning
prayer was read by the Vicar, the first lesson by
the Hon. and Eev. B. P. Bouverie, the second by
Canon Jackson, and the collects by the Eev.
M. O. Alison (curate). The BishoiD afterwards
preached a controversial sermon from Matt.
xii. 32 : " Whosoever speaketh against the
"Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him,
"neither in this world nor in the world to
"come." Before doing so however his lordship
expressed, in a few hearty and well-chosen wordsj
his joy at the completion of a work which had
done for the church what he feared at the outset
was impossible.
Among the wise principles which have guided
the restoration of Corsham Church is the deter
mination of the Vicar that the subjects of the

COESHAM CHUECH. 495
stained windows which may be given to the
church shall follow a plan which he has set down.
It is a pity that this course has not been more
generally adopted in large churches, it would
greatly add to the charm of the beautKul produc
tions with which the revived art of glass painting
can now adorn them. The scheme selected by the
Vicar of Corsham consists of subjects from the IKe
of Our Lord and the Acts of the Apostles. Three
-windows have at present being inserted. The
fine east -window of the Neston Chapel is fitted
with a representation of the Last Supper, while in
the lower lights is shown Mary weeping at the
Holy Sepulchre. The design is good in drawing,
and a mass of very varied colour is well managed
and modulated. The Eenascence ornament with
which the tracery is occupied, apparently after
one of the old masters, is curious in effect. This
window is erected by the High Sheriff, and in
memory of John Fuller, who died 3rd March,
1839, aged 74 ; aud John Bird Fuller, who died
27th May, 1872, aged 72. The east window of
the chancel is, from its appearance, not to have a
stained glass, and it is of course at the mercy
of the lay Eector, but I hope that as the rest of
the windows are filled individual feeling will give
way, as it has done in many similar instances, such
as the Bath Abbey Church, to save the general
harmony of the building. The west 'window is
already filled with a large and continuous
representation of one subject — S. Peter in
prison — " He smote Peter on the side and

406 THE CHUECH EAMBLER.
"raised him up saying. Arise up quickly^
" and his chains fell off from his hands." This
is a very successful attempt at a thoroughly
realistic treatment and the large masses of colour,
chiefly brown and blue, are very well handled.
Beneath it is the inscription — " To the glory of
" God and in memory of their late master, Eobert
" Torrens, esq., who died at Corsham December
" 23i-d, 1874, this window is dedicated by Henry
" and Elizabeth Wass." The remaining window,
the gift of Mrs. Pratt, is a smaller one in the south
aisle and depicts the angel appearing to the
disciples directly after the Ascension — " Ye men
" of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
" Heaven V
Corsham enjoys upon very good grounds the
reputation of being a very healthy place. From
its elevated situation its air is very bracing and
its position ou the oolite renders it healthy in
other ways. Walpole's " British TraveUer" tells
the foUowing story : —
Corsham stands on a dry stony soil, and therefore
not very fertile ; but it is a most pleasant village ; and
if we may credit the continuance of their lives and the
monuments of their dead in the Churchyard it is the
Seat of Health and Long Life. 'Tis common to see
Inscriptions of 80 and 90 and some too of 100 Years
and beyond on their gravestones ; and not many years
ago a Fellow of the College of Physicians was stopped
at the J?ed Lyon here going to the Bath, to which it is
il common halting place, being accosted by some aged
Beggars of both Sexes and inquiring Their Age, one of

CORSHAM CHURCH. 407
the Men said he was above an Hundred and that
another old fellow that stood by him was anigh Six
Scour (in the Country Brogue) at which the Doctor
expressing his Surprise the Mendicant added that the
Christmas before Ten o'em danced a Morice-dance at a
neighbouring Gentleman's House who among them all
made above a Thousand Years.
My own examination of the tombstones in
Corsham churchyard confirms this evidence as to
the longevity of the people, and in fact I do not
know any viUage or town round Bath where you
would meet so many people past the allotted space
of human life — " three score years and ten," still
hale and hearty as in theiryouth. In the old church
yard is a very interesting tombstone, which I
am glad to see someone looks after and maintains
in a legible condition. It is to the memory of an
old woman who stands out as a remarkable
character even a'^.ong the Methuselahs of
Corsham. The stone is —
IN MEMORY OF
SARAH JARVIS
DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE
IITH DAY OF DECEMBER I753
IN THE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH
YEAR OF HER AGE.
SOME TIME BEFORE HER DEATH
SHE HAD FRESH TEETH.
I am informed that this wonderful old lady was
an inmate of the poor-house and that the overseers
of the day were at the expense of this memorial. 1
do not know whether there is any physiological

498 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
objection to her new set of teeth, but it must be
understood that she cut them, and did not obtain
them from a dentist, which the inscription may be
thought to leave open. The case of Sarah Jarvis
has not been investigated by Mr. W. J. Thoms.
On one tombstone bearing date 1853, 1 saw that
the words spoken by Laertes of the dead Ophelia
had been inscribed.
Lay her i'the earth and from her pure
And unpolluted flesh let violets spring !
A ministering Angel shall she be.
The old churchyard is on the north side of the
building, contrary to the usual superstition, which
avoids the aspect because I suppose the sun never
shines upon it. The new part of the churchyard
on the south side was consecrated by the Lord
Bishop of Salisbury on the 26th of August,
1794, the Eev. W. Lewis being vicar. The yew
tree, which true to tradition stands in it, was
planted by Mr. Benjamin Young, churchwarden,
on the 27th of March, 1796. Mention may also
be made of a vague tradition tbat in the south
east comer of the churchyard are buried a number
of men killed in making Box tunnel. Some say
fifty some say ninety ! The Vicar, who has been
good enough to search the register for me, finds
three burials so distinguished. It would be inter
esting to know exactly how many lives were
sacrificed in the long and dangerous work, and
whether the Box registers can throw any light
upon the subject.

CORSHAM CHURCH. 499
The parish registers date from the year 1563.
In one of them occurs the following curious
entry —
Memorandum of Swete's Hole in Minty Mead,
August 4th, i6o6. Here William Swete and — Bricker
fought with swords concerning a woman, and in
Fray the former was slain and the latter acquitted ; this
Hole is open'd every year to perpetuate the memory
thereof. I believe the tradition still remains and the hole
still pointed out. Curious in another way are the
entries at a later date sho^wing a system of trafiSck-
ing in seats which reminds one of the auctions held
at the Plymouth Church, Brookljoi. I find in
1649 a
Memorandum that John Wadman deceased late of
the parish of Corsham hath by his last will and testa
ment given unto John Haces of Wisliop in the same
parish and to his heires for ever one pew or seate lately
erected or built and standing in the bell free of the
parish chm^ch of Corsham which is approved of and
acknowledged by the Vicar and Churchwarden now
being. This strange custom which generaUy went on in
the way of sales or exchanges, continued at inter
vals down to the present century, though the
entries mostly occur in groups. It appears to me
from the wording of them that there was no idea
of establishing troublesome and unlawful rights
in the freehold of the church, but simply that
householders put up at their own expense the

500 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
cumbrous pews then in vogue — we read in 1738
of "the new deal seat belonging to Eichard
" Fowell, Vicar" — and then retained the owner
ship of what they had made, and felt themselves at
liberty to dispose of it as they pleased. Such
ideas with regard to the House of God are happily
gone in our day, we may trust never to return.

^(£^»»M» u.

%, 9@icf)ael, JKington ^. ^ic&acl.

ILTSHIEE has an archfeological
society, part of whose business it is
from time to time to wander over
the county and visit the places and
buildings of historical and architec
tural interest in which the land is so rich. And
K its learned leaders call uji the shades of those
who in the past flitted across these scenes, it
obtains visions of early English kings, with
their attendant thegns, of King Mitred flying
before the Danes from Chippenham, or coming
np out of the marshes of athelney to defeat
them at Edington, or of King Stephen storm
ing the castle of De'vizes ; of proud barons
and haughty prelates struggling for political
mastery, or of abbots and monks living amid fat
pastures and singing in stately churches their
masses for the repose of the souls of j)ious
benefactors ; of the gaUant Wiltshire gentlemen
who rode out for King or for Parliament in the
Ci'vil Wars, or of the quaint love-plots and worldly
wUes which show human nature the same under
Plantagenets, Tudors and Stuarts, as under Queen
Victoria. These and such as these are the visions
which potent magicians like Canon Jackson

602 THE CHUROH RAMBLER.
summon up from the musty records of the past,
unless they go still further back to study the
Titanic works of pre-historic man at Avebury and
Stonehenge. But if archseology were a creed
instead of a study, the most sacred place of
pilgrimage to Wiltshire archseologists would be
the village of Kington S. Michael, the birthplace
of the two great apostles of their cult — John
Aubrey and John Britton. It is certainly a
singular circumstance that these two men who
stand so entirely by themselves in the history of
the county — if I may not say of English Uterature
— should have been born at a distance of 146
years within the narrow limits of the same parish.
People are very fond of finding remarkable
coincidences which are not coincidences at all, but
this is a pure and simple coincidence, for there was
no family connection between them to enable one to
say that their zeal for antiquarian research ran in
the blood, nor are there any local circumstances
to account for it. The place is not a university
to turn out men from time to time moulded in the
same cast of thought, nor can it be supposed that
there is any peculiar virtue in the air or in the
soil, for in fact, except that there is now at the
Eectory a much respected Wiltshire archcsologist,
their studies have never made a footing in their
native parish.
John Aubrey was a very good instance of anti
quarian taste in the rough, of the first promptings of
that interest inthe doings and surroundings of the
past which has won so many members to the ranks

KINGTON S. MICHAEL CHURCH. 503
of archasological societies. He no doubt set do^wn
much that was valueless, believed much that was
untrue, but he was one of the first to think
worthy of preservation the local recollections and
traditions which he heard at the dinner table and
in his rides, and so made a store of facts and
anecdotes which are most valuable to-day. He
saw the men around him using the beautiful
MSS. from Bath, and Malmesbury, and Braden-
stoke to stop casks or to scour guns, and he
regretted the wanton destruction of valuable
records, while othere were blindly indifferent.
We live more than two hundred years later and
some of us pretend to laugh in our superior
wisdom at old Aubrey's gossiping memoranda.
Yet the power of ignorance is still so strong that
we cannot pass into law Sir John Lubbock's BiU
for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments.
The times may change but we do not change in
them so much as we think.
Aubrey was born at Easton Piers or Easton
Priors on 12th March, 1625. Easton Piers, a
hamlet in the parish of Kington S. Michael, was
the inheritance of his mother, the hen-ess of Isaac
Lyte. A quaint autobiography shows how early
he began his collection of curious facts ; but he
was unhappy in his life, for neither his worldly
affairs nor his numerous love chases prospered,
and in 1670 he was bound to sell his property at
his birthplace. After this he spent his time in
¦visiting different friends, untU he died suddenly
at Oxford while ou a journey west, and is buried

504 THE CHURCH RAMBLES.
in the church of S. Mary Magdalene. Oxford was
his University, and though the troubles of the
Civil War had driven him home, he had returned
to it afterwards. Nevertheless the entry in the
register in 1667, is " John Aubrey, a stranger, was
" buried June 7."
The name of John Britton is associated with a
series of splendidly illustrated works on the
antiquities of this country, which represent the
unremitting labours of more than 50 years. In
such works as "The Cathedral Antiquities of
England" and " The Architectural Antiquities of
Great Britain,'' he brought to bear upon the
illustration of ancient buildings the best artistic
power of the day and the most highly developed
resources of copperplate engraving, and the
success he met with showed that he had not
reckoned in vain on the public appreciation of the
first worthy representations of the great buildings
of the past. He more than any other man that
could be named helped to educate the public mind
to that spirit of respect, admiration and earnest
study, of which we boast in these days. But the
life of John Britton is interesting in another way,
in that he was a " self-made" man in the very best
sense of the word. He was born on the 7th Julj',
1771, in a cottage still standing in the main street
of Kington S. Michael ; the son of a village
shopkeeper with a long family, and taken to
London at the age of 16, he served a six years'
apprenticeship in the bottling cellar of a tavern in
Clerkenwell, in this misery having a parallel

KINGTON 8. MICHAEL CHUECH. 505
experience with Charles Dickens. For seven years
after he earned a poor and precarious livelihood
in various ways. He tramped down to Plympton
in pursuit of a beloved maiden who wisely refused
him, and on his return sought in vain a post as
cellarman at the White Hart Hotel, Bath. At
last he turned his attention to literature, and to
indicate by one statement the position to which
he attained a party of friends invited him to a
dinner at Eichmond on his 74th birthday and
subscribing a fund of J1,000 formed a Britton
club m order to produce some permanent mark of
their esteem for him. At his own wish this
eventually took the form of the " Autobiography''
in two volumes, which is a well-told story of as
remarkable a career of self-help as any Dr.
Smiles has described. Britton died on New
Year's Day, 1857, at the advanced age of 86 and
was buried in Norwood cemetery.
'The memory of these two Wiltshire worthies
has been very properly honoured by the erection
of a handsome stained glass window at the east
end of the south aisle of the parish church.
Beneath it is a brass with the following
inscription : —
AT THE RESTORATION OF THIS CHURCH
A.D. 1857
THIS WINDOW WAS ERECTED BY PUBLIC
SUBSCRIPTION
TO THE MEMORY OF TWO NATIVES OF THIS PLACE
ALIKE DISTINGUISHED BY THEIR WRITINGS
ON THE COUNTY OF WILTS

506 THE CHUBCH BAMBLEB.
JOHN AUBREY F.R.S.
BORN AT EASTON PIERS MARCH 12, 1 625
DIED AT OXFORD JULY, 1697
AND
JOHN BRITTON F.A.S.
BORN AT KINGTON S. MICHAEL JULY 7, I771
DIED IN LONDON JAN. I, 1857
LAVS DEO.
In the days of the early English kings this
parish was crown property and hence its name of
Kington. In 934 King iBthelstan conferred
property here upon one of his officers, ^theline.
The deed is printed in the " New Monasticon,"
and is sufficiently interesting to claim insertion
here : —
I, yEthelstan, King ot the Anglians, raised by the
hand of the Almighty to the throne of all Britain,
freely give to my faithful servant ^theline a certain
portion of land, to wit, 15 cassates (farms) in a place
called by the natives At Kingtone ; to hold it with all
rights, &c., thereto belonging, free from the irksome
yoke of bondage, so long as he lives, to leave the same
for ever at his death to any heir he pleases. If any
one (which God forbid) swollen with insolence, shall
dare to infringe or curtail in any matter great or smaU
this my writ of gift, let him know that at the last day
of Judgment when the Archangel's trumpet shall sound,
he, together with the traitor Judas (called by the
Sower's holy see, the Son of perdition), and with all
impious unbelievers who deny that on the altar of the
Cross Christ took away the sins of the world, shall
perish everlastingly in fiery torment.

KINGTON S. MICHAEL CHUBCH. 507
This grant is made in the year of our Lord 934, at
the town of Buckingham.
-f Athelstan, King, &c.
-1- Constantine, 'Viceroy, and many others.
The same king in 941 granted lands here to the
Abbey of Glastonbury, and in 987 a much larger
gKt was made by ethelred the Unready, so that
the Abbot was lord of the manor here and
derived a considerable revenue herefrom. At the
dissolution of monasteries the property passed to
Nicholas Snell, the Abbot's Steward, who accord
ing to Aubrey played his cards remarkably well.
Foreseeing the fate which hung over his em
ployers he "milked" the revenues which he received
in their behalf ; they would have gained nothing
at that time by protesting and so perforce submitted.
Thus when the blow came he was in possession
of a sum of .£803 for which he purchased the
estate in 1545. This gentleman prospered by his
manoeu-vre, he married weU, became sheriff of the
county in 1565, was sent to Parliament for
Chippenham in 1555, for Wilts in 1557 and for
Malmesbury in 1570. He died in April, 1577,
and was buried in the chancel of the parish
church. His grandson. Sir Thomas Snell, a sailor,
married a daughter of Sir Eobert Long of
Draycot. Aubrey remarks that " he was a good
"astrologer ; understood navigation ; was a
" captain in the Island- voyage." With regard to
the word astrologer here used it may be worth
whUe to remark that when the truths of the
science we caU astronomy began to be separated

508 THE CHUECH BAMBLEB.
from the fiction of what we call astrology it was
quite an open question which way the terms
should go, and for some time the true science of
the stars was called astrology. From the con
nection this seems to be Aubrey's meaning. Sir
Thomas Snell died in 1612, and his only son
and successor, Sir Charles Snell, seems to have
been a boon companion of Sir Walter Ealeigh.
He died unmarried in 1651 and the property was
divided between the representatives of his three
sisters. Anthony Wood, who got himself into trouble
through Aubrey, as most people do wb o repeat
idle gossip seriously and publicty, called him " a
"shiftless person, roving and maggoty -headed."
This was by no means true. Canon Jackson says,
"He was regarded as a good naturalist. He
" certainly noticed the iron ore at Seend, near
" Devizes. He made many other clever remarks
" on geology long before the principles of that
" science were systematically laid down ; pointed
" out mineral springs that became afterwards and
"for a while popular, and though much of his
" natural history mayread very oddly at the present
" time it seems to have been fully up to the mark
" of the sciences of his own. The same may be
" said of his antiquarian gatherings." I would
add to this clearness of observation in another
direction which argues yet more strongly a
practical mind. Enough has been quoted from
time to time in these pages to show that without
being a religious sympathiser with the monks he

KINGTON S. MICHAEL CHUBCH. 509
recognised the good work which some of the,
monastic institutions did and saw the disturbance .
of social arrangements which their arbitrary
destruction caused. Part of his interest in local
traditions too was because they told him of
popular rights which were being taken away or
forgotten, and he recorded them as a sort of
protest against what was being done. For
instance he says in his preface, " In my
" remembrance much bath been enclosed and
" every year more and more is taken in. Anciently
" the Leighs, that is pastures, were noble large
"grounds, as yet the Demesne lands at Castle
"Combe are. So likewise was all between
" Kington S. Michael and Draycot Cerne common
" field. Then were a world of labouring people
" maintayned by the plough as yet in Northamp-
"tonshire, etc."
In speaking of Kington S. Michael he tells us
more precisely how this was done. " Mem :
" That before the Eeformation the Parke at
"Kington S. Michael was in common -with the
"Lord Abbot's tenants ; aud that the grounds of
"the copie-holders in Kington were to their
"houses, scil: westward of their houses did
"in the Abbots time extend to the ditch in
"Eyding. This ground rans north from the
" Mansion house and was taken away from the
" tenants to enlarge his prospect and pasture by
" Nicholas SneU. Also the tenants copy holders
"had parceUs belonging to their respective
" Copie-holds in the westfield, their common was
31 2

510 THE CHURCH BAMBLEB.
"enclosed which was also taken from them by
" their new Land-lord Snell. So heretofore they
"were able to keep a whole plough, but, since
" having but work enough for half a plough they
tl were poorly and needily." The name of Snell
means " sharp" and this gentleman seems to have
been worthy of it. The story of his proceedings
is, I think, interesting, because the enclosure of
common lands is a pressing question in the
present day.
About three-quarters of a mile north of the
church stood the Priory of S. Mary, a house of
Benedictine nuns, never more than ten in num
ber. Aubrey was told that it was founded by
the Empress MatUda, but neither the name of the
founder nor the exact date of foundation is known,
though it is said to have existed before 1155. In
connection with the priory was a house for two
pauper women, for whose maintenance the prioress
received six marks a year from the Crown. In
1221 a writ was addressed to the Treasurer of the
Exchequer to pay 40s., " for the construction of a
" house in the Priory of Kington for the use of the
"two Eleemosinary Damsels dwelling there during
" the King's pleasure."
The prioress also kept what was in fact the
boarding school of the period, and Aubrey is very
emphatic in praise of her bringing up of the
young ladies under her charge, in the practice
of all the domestic virtues. She seems to have
had as many as twenty or thirty under her care.
The prioress also possessed the Eectorial tithes of

KINGTON S. MICHAEL CHUBCH. 511
Kington S. Michael and presented to the Eectory ;
she presented to the Vicarage of Twerton near
Bath, and one or two word-traces of her owner
ship remain in the names of fields in that parish.
The church of Kington consists of a western
tower, nave with north and south aisles, south
porch and chancel. The last-mentioned is the
oldest part of the building, the chancel arch being
of twelfth century work. It is circular in form,
somewhat depressed by the burden of years, and
rests upon the usual cushion capitals. The other
Norman work is in the porch, the inner door of
which has Norman shafts supporting an arch of
the flfteenth century. The general character of
the chancel is Early English, aud round one of the
windows is a very delicate tooth moulding of that
period. The east window, when Aubrey saw it,
was of the reign of King Henry VL, and con
tained three flgures in stained glass, representing
Thomas Nye in the robes of a lawyer, Margaret
his wife, and Christina their daughter. The last-
named was Prioress of Kington S. Michael, and
died in 1454 while holding that ofiice. She
probably gave that window. It disappeared
however under the hands of churchwardens, who
put in its place a window we should not now
tolerate in a dweUing-house. This has now
happily given place to a hooded Early English
-window in character with the rest of the buildingj
and fitted with very handsome stained glass, the
gKt of Herbert Prodgers, esq.
The nave has Early EngUsh arches, and it is

513 THE CHUECH EAMBLES,
recorded that some of the windows in the south
aisle once had slender marble shafts of the same
period. The east window of the same aisle is
Decorated, and beside it is a piscina, showing there
was once a small altar here. The tower is a poor
looking structure of the date 1725. The north
aisle was rebuilt a quarter of a century later, and
has a still worse appearance. The Early English
font is preserved.
The records supply links in the history of this
church which are missing after a simple examin
ation of the fabric. Michael of Ambresbury was
Abbot of Glastonbury from 1235 to 1253,
and under his vigorous and beneficent rule
much was done for what in these days
would be called the public improvement of the
parish of Kington. Among other things the
parish church was restored, and in honour of
the good Abbot rededicated, the name of S.
Michael the Archangel being chosen out of com
pliment to him, according to a custom which still
obtains in certain quarters in the present day.
Aubrey, who went over this church and described
it much as one might do in the present day, says
that the fashion of the windows of the church
speak the reign of King Henry IIL, in which the
Abbot lived. He also says, " I doe guess Michael,
" Abbot of Malmesbury, built the steeple, and I
"believe did set the spire upon the old tower,
" which is too weak and cracks, and will shortly
" fall. The tower is by the windows much older
than spbe." In his " Natural History of Wilts,"

KINGTON S, MICHAEL CHUECH. 613
speaking of the fall of Calne steeple in 1645,
before recorded, he adds, " Such will be the fate
" of ours at Kington ; one cannot persuade the
" Parishioners to go out of their own way." This
state of indifference continued till the great storm
of 1703. This, which swept away Winstanley
and his lighthouse from the Eddystone rocks, and
is regarded by meteorologists as the greatest storm
of modem times, was also fatal to Kington steeple.
Hence the present tower. The north aisle was
probably damaged by the fall, as it was rebuilt
not many years after.
Aubrey teUs us of part of the porch which has
now disappeared — " Over the keystone of the arch
" of the south door is a head crowned, which I
" guess to be King Ethelred, whose seat this was.
" Also a Gothic arch over the north door.'' The
rebuilding of the north aisle has removed every
trace of a north porch, but the former existence
of one was to be expected in a church of Norman
foundation and the record is of interest.
The church was in a very melancholy condition
on the induction of the present -vicar in 1856.
Monumental tablets cut mto the mouldings,
and high box pews blocked up the whole area of
the church and fiUed up the space be^eath the
chancel arch, so that it was impossible to see the
communion table. The pulpit, reading-desk and
clerk's desk were in their usual edifying agglom
eration by the first pier of the nave westward
from the chancel arch. The vicar immediately
set himself with great energy to remedy this state

514 THE CHUBCH SA3IBLER.
of things, and not only was the fabric repaired but
the interior of the church reduced to order and
made worthy of its high purpose. The area is
now fitted with low open seats, properly arranged,
the chancel is paved with encaustic tiles, and
there is a handsome reredos in Box stone of an
Early English character. All the arrangements
befit the orderly performance of divine service.
A window on the south side of the chancel is
filled with a very beautiful stained window, by
Gibbs, of the Good Shepherd. It is "in memory
"of Edward Eowlandson, M.A., 18 years curate
"of this parish, who departed this life June
"llth, 1854, aged 51 years, erected by his
"parishioners and friends A.D. 1857."
The Vicar of Kington is the Eev. Edward
Charles Awdry, B.A., of S. Catherine College,
Cambridge. He is not only respected iu his
parish for a faithful ministry of more than twenty
years, but he is also an archseologist of no mean
note in a county which abounds in archseologists.
He bears a name too which has many titles
to respect in Wiltshire. On the Sunday morn
ing on which I was present he read morning
prayer. The hymn book in use is Hymns Ancient
and Modern, and the singing hearty and
good. There was an administration of the Holy
Communion after the service, so the vicar,
advancing to the east end of the chancel, did not
give out any text but addressed his people upon
the lesson of the day, with a homely and pressing
exhortation to come to the holy table. There was

KINGTON S. MICHAEL CHURCH. 51S^
a quiet earnestness pervading the service which
befitted an ancient parish church.
Aubrey's father and mother are buried in the
south-east corner of the chancel. He hoped " to
" Uve so long to erect a Uttle inscription of white
" marble to the memory of his father, about an
" ell high or better," but it was not done. The
inscription then existing was —
HIC jacet QUOD RELIQUUM EST RICHARDI
AWBREY ARMIGERI QUI OBIIT 22 DIE
MENSIS OCTOBRIS MDCLIL
His grandfather Lyte and other members of that
famUy are buried in the nave.
It is also worthy of record here as fitting in
with the records of Kelston and Marshfield, that
there is on the south west side of the churchyard
a raised tomb with the following inscription
nearly Ulegible : —
HERE LIETH THE BODY OF WILLIAM HARINGTON
VICAR OF THIS PARISH 34 YEARS : WHO DEPARTED
THIS LIFE JULY 1 3, 1 75 1, IN THE 64TH YEAR OF
HIS AGE. ALSO SARAH HIS WIDOW, DIED JULY 28,
1 7S3. AGED 59. HE WAS SON OF JOHN HARINGTON
OF KELSTON, CO. SOMERSET, BY HIS FOURTH
WIFE HELENA, DAU. OF BENJAMIN GOSTLETT OF
MARSHFIELD, CO. GLOUC. : AND WAS BAPTIZED
AT KELSTON.' HIS WIFE SARAH WAS DAU. AND
COHEIRESS OF THOS. HARRISON, OF BATH, AND
HAD NO ISSUE.
In the churchyard are some curious poetical
inscriptions. One rans—

516- THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
While blooming health was on my cheek displayed
By pale disease my inward parts decayed
My time was fixed by gracious heaven's decree
To which resigned I waited patiently
At last a stroke my treinbling form assailed
My strength forsook me and my spirits failed
Nature exhausted I could no further go
For Death arrived and gently struck the blow.
The next is even more curious in its attempt to
" point a moral ;" —
Pause here and think, a monitory rhyme
Demands one moment of thy fleeting time
Consult life's silent clock, thy bounding vein ;
Seems it to say health here has long lo stay ;
Hast thou the vigour of thy youth ? All eye
That beams delight ; a heart unused to sigh !
Yet fair youth, oft times healthful and at ease
Anticipates a day it never sees
And many a time in silence thus aloud
Exclaims prepare thee for an early shroud.

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I HAT truth is stranger than fiction is
a saying variously understood. It
is undoubtedly true as applied to
science that the Protean changes of
the simple but far-reaching laws of
nature — such as that which holds the whole
universe together and makes the apple fall to
the earth — are far more wonderful than any
thing that it has entered into the mind of
man to conceive. Archseology is so entirely a
branch of the study of human nature that it
has no laws. Its simple duty is a collection of
facts, and it can never hope to piece out their
broken story by the most subtle invention or the
most careful induction of what ought to have
been. Nevertheless there have been archseological
romances, perchance there will be again. Men
have given reins to their imagination, have supplied
links of connection between different parts of a
story, invented motives where none were apparent,
and painted in the bare outline of their picture
'with the glowing colours of a fervid imagination.
Colder and more searching investigation of facts
coming after has dissipated the an-y fabric, and
has often shown that an event for which the most

618 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
heroic machinery had been brought in proceeded
from the most simple and matter-of-fact causes.
Yet the wildest dream of the most superficial
student was never so passing strange as the story
which has to be unfolded in this last article. It
is in every aspect so marvellous that the mind
naturally relegates it to the region of fancy, and
one is not surprised that when the discovery at
Bradford-on-Avon of the Uttle Church of S.
Lawrence was first made known it was generally
received with doubt. People were asked to believe
that a little church built 1,100 years ago — and buUt
in stone at a period when, according to the received
authorities, men built only in wood — after having
been lost to its sacred purpose for 700 years and
gone through vicissitudes enough if not to destroy
it, at least to change it beyond all recognition,
had been discovered in a chance survey of the
town and restored to its original use, with the
stones of its venerable walls still standing in most
part as they were left by the early English builders.
But the facts have been worked out one by one
by the patience of the Vicar, an archseologist whose
statements are always to be relied upon, until a
chain of evidence has been supplied Unk by link
which carries conviction to the most sceptical
mind. Here then, with every word of it proved
to demonstration, is an archseological romance such
as no one has ever dared to invent. In repeating it
in these columns it wiU be better to follow the natu
ral order of events, and in order to dispense -with
turesome references to authorities it may be s.aid that

BRADFORD-ON-AVON CHUROH. 519
aU the facts wiU be stated on the authority of the
Eev. Canon Jones, who is quite able and wdling
to hold his own with any opponent who would
fain join issue with him respecting his "Saxon
Church." The monastery founded at Frome by S. Aldhelm,
Abbot of Malmesbury and afterwards the first
Bishop of Sherborne, has been spoken of in con
nection with the Church of S. John Baptist. The
same active and earnest churchman founded a
monastery at Bradford-on-Avon also dependent
on Malmesbury. This monastery was simply a
little church with a lodging for three or four
priests who acted as missionaries in this then
uncultivated and thinly populated district. Brad
ford stood on the eastern verge of Selwood Forest,
and the foundation of this monastery shows one
of the ways in which the truths of Christianity
were spread throughout England, then, like a new
country, but half cleared of its primaeval forests.
The successors of Augustine in the see of Can
terbury wasted their time in disputes with their
Celtic brethren regarding such questions as the
tonsure and the date of Easter, and forty years
after Augustine's landing, in the birthyear of S.
Aldhebn, Birinus landed in England to attempt
the conversion of the West Saxons. Malmesbury
itself was probably an outcome of this work, and
in its turn sent fresh workers forth just as do
modern missionary settlements in pagan lands.
The forest trees have long since disappeared before
the march of civilisation, and the Gospel is pro-

520 ¦ THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
fessedly accepted by all, but the little church to
which one makes a pilgrimage inthe nineteenth
century is that which was built in the eighth by
the piety of S. Aldhelm.
Three centuries later comes the second event in
its history. In the year 1001 King Ethelred
bestowed the monastery, with the adjacent manor,
on the Abbess of Shaftesbury. The reason given
for this grant shows the troublous nature of the
times. The feeble king was unable to beat off the
fierce attacks of the Danes, and he gave this retreat
to the nuns as a safe refuge and " a hiding place
" for the relics of the blessed martyr S. Eadward
" and the rest of the saints." Thekingordered that
when peace had been restored they should return
to Shaftesbury, but that if the Abbess chose some
of the number should remain in the monastery
which in this grant is termed a coenobium, the
correct term for a building of the kind.
Another century rolls away and then we have
William of Malmesbury writing his life of S.
Aldhelm in a work " Gesta Pontifioum,'' which is
held to have been completed in 1125. He tells us
that the monasteries at Bradford and at Frome
had then been destroyed, whether by the Danes
or the English he did not know. But he also
says — " And there is to this day at Bradford
" a little Church which Aldhelm is said to have
"founded and dedicated to the blessed S.
" Lawrence."'* This remark by WiUiam of
* Et est ad hunc diem eo loci Ecclesiola quam ad nomen
tieatissimi Laurentii fecisse predicatur.

BRADFORD-ON-AVON CHURCH. 531
Malmesbury is of the greatest importance in
establishing the identity of the little church now
existing at Bradford with that built by S. Aldhelm.
The Abbess of Shaftesbury remained in un
disturbed possession of the Bradford property
until the Dissolution, when the Eectory and
Prebendal manor were granted to the Dean and
Chapter of Bristol. The lay manor, in which
the little church was included, was held by
different people under successive grants for a
term of years. One or two surveys of the manor
render it possible to trace the history of the
church in the seventeenth century. In 1629 its
sacred purpose was still remembered, for we
read —
Gifford Yerbury holdeth by copy of Court RoU,
dated the 9 day of December Ao 12 Jacobi Regis, one
fair messuage with a chappel annexed, one double dove
house and divers houses. . . .
In course of time its walls became encrasted with
parasitic buildings which soon caused its character
to be forgotten, and hid it from those in after
times who had keen eyes for ancient buildings.
In 1712 a charity school for 65 children was
opened at Bradford by the exertions of the
Vicar, the Eev. John Eogers. Three years later
Mr. Methuen, who had then become the copy
holder, gave a home to this school within the
walls of the Uttle church, which by this time
or at possibly an eariier period, was divided
off into two. The chancel was used as a

522 THE CHURCH RAMBLER,
cottage, the chancel arch having been walled
up and large flues inserted. A floor and oeUing
were inserted into what had been the nave and
porch, and herein the school was held for f uUy
a hundred and fifty years. In the conveyance of
the property to the school trustees the property is
said to be " in or near adjoining to the churchyard
" in Bradford aforesaid, commonly called or known
" by the name of the skull house," so that in the
interval it must have sunk to the use of a charnel
house, for which its nearness to the churchyard no
doubt recommended it.
Coming on to the present century the new study
of archseology arose and careful examinations
began to be made of all buildings possessing any
remains of ancient work or architectural beauty.
Bradford, known to be singularly rich in such
buUdings, had always been a place of great
interest to Wiltshire antiquaries, but the little
church was quite hidden from their view. On
the north side was a large shed, used by a neigh
bouring woollen factory, on the south a coach
house and stable hid the chancel and there was
also a modern house built against the south side of
the nave. Approaching within a few feet of the
east end was what Leland, in his time, called " a
" very faire house of the building of one Horton, a
" riche clothier." The western side alone was
exposed to view, and here in order to obtain more
light some large windows had been put inthe 17th
or 18th century, in too feeble imitation of the
primitive Eomanesque work to suggest any idea

BRADFORD-ON-AVON CHURCH. 523
«f the characteristic building which they disguised.
A mantle of ivy further served to hide the true
character of the little building. Moreover no one
expected to find any trace of it, for the statement
of WiUiam of Malmesbury that the monastery at
Bradford was destroyed in his time was accepted
as conclusive by every succeeding writer. And as
the general theory up to the time of the discovery
of this little church was that the English at the
period in which S. Aldhelm lived always built in
wood, there was little room for thinking that any
portion of such buUdings could have survived the
lapse of time.
Nevertheless the finding of some stone coffins
and marks of burials led to the conclusion that the
site of the old monastery must be near to that of
the charity school, and the discovery of two ancient
stone figures, of which more may be said hereafter,
imbedded iu the east waU of the building
confirmed the impression. These were at one
time taken out and set upon the porch of the
modem buUding on the south side of the fabric.
The next and crowning incident in the story is
the discovery of the little church by the Vicar.
In preparing a history of his parish for the meeting
of the Wiltshire Archfeological Society, at
Bradford, in 1857, he visited the chapel of S.
Mary, Tory, on the very highest point of the hUl,
which stands on the north side of the town.
Looking down from this height upon the roofs of
the town, with his mind full of thoughts of the
past and gazing towards the supposed site of the

624 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
monastery, his eye was attracted " by three lines of
" roof slightly higher than the rest which seemed
" to indicate the outline of the nave, chancel and
"porch, or it might be transepts of an ancient
" church." He immediately descended the hill to
look at the buUding more closely. Though the
many ways in which it was surrounded and dis
guised prevented a complete or satisfactory inspec
tion, his original idea, that there were here at least
some remains of the ancient monastery never left
him, and from this day began the long labour of
the identifying and restoring to its ancient use the
" little church" of S. Lawrence. The work was in
every way a hard one. First of all, to acoejjt the
buUding as of the age alleged required men to
overhaul the accepted views as to the way in
which Englishmen built before the Norman
conquest. Mr. Freeman, Sir Gilbert Scott and Mr.
Petit, all high authorities, declared its extreme age,
but the passage from William of Malmesbury,
already quoted, was not discovered until 1871.
Then indeed the friends of the Uttle church had evi
dence of what it was and could boldly tell the
theorists that they must modify their theories to
fit the very substantial fact which stood before
them. In 1872 an article in the Baturda'y Beview
summed up the question for and against the
building. Eeferring to the statement of William
of Malmesbury the writer, in whom it is not
difficult to recognise the historian of " The
" Norman Conquest," said " We see no objection
"to this belief, except the vague notion that

J

BRADFORD-ON-AVON CHURCH. 635
' Aldhelm, at the end of the seventh century, or
beginnmg of the eighth, could not have buUt
'anything. But this is simply the dream of
'people to whom all old English history is a
blank, who fancy that all ' the Saxons' lived at
one time, and who sometimes argue as if Beda's
account of the rudeness of Scottish buildings in
the seventh century proved something about
' English buUdings three or four hundred years
' afterwards. The masonry is certainly smoother
than most early Eomanesque work, but Wilfrith
' had already built at Eipon ex polito lapide. In
' fact, as we see the matter, we have William of
Malmesbury's statement on the one hand ; we
' have a mere superstition on the other. We have
'very Uttle doubt as to which of the two we
' should choose.'' There are stUl people who will
call the English before the Norman conquest
Saxon, but even they no longer doubt the genuine
ness of this building.
Again the conveyance of the property though so-
smaU was diffioult and troublesome. The portion
occupied as a cottage was purchased in 1872, but
the remainder belonged to the Charity School
Trustees, and therefore the requirements of the
Charity Commissioners had to be consulted and
fulfilled before the property could be transferred.
Perseverance however wUl overcome every diffi-
culty,and atlength the Commissioners wereinduced
to consent to the removal of the school if the pur
chasers would find another house suitable for the
school and make a transfer. With some difficulty
85 2

THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
this was done, and the " little church,'' thus
strangely rescued, was vested in trustees, of whom
the Vicar of Bradford is one by virtue of his
office. The last duty was the removal of modern in
crustations and traces of the " base uses" to which it
had come. This is hardly yet complete perhaps^
but enough has been done for all practical
purposes, and the visitor can thoroughly see
how the little church looked when it left the
hands of S. Aldhelm's builders. He can see
and handle their large rough stones, he can
see their marks as clear and fresh a.s those of a
mason of to-day and he can realise the spirit which
animated the art of those far-off ancestors. To
explain what Canon Jones has effected under
this head it is necessary to describe the building
It will be seen from the plan that the building
was originally in the form of a cross. The
southern limb is the only part that has been
removed but the foundations of this have been
clearly traced out and the eastern wall of it is
still standing as part of a modern house which
covers its site and leans against the south wall of
the nave. Inside this house, which is about 300
years old, the plaster h.as been removed and there
ia the outer side of the nave wall can be traced
both the roof marks of this lost portion and also
the places into which the stones of the west wall
of it fitted. Canon Jonesis of opinion that this was
the dwelling-house for the priests, or for the
acristan, of the little church. That it was not a

BRADFORD-ON-AVON CHURCH. 527
porch is shown by the simple character of the
doorway to the church compared with the public
entr.ance on the north side.

GROUND PI-VN.'*
In first of all examining the church on the out
side one is struck with the great height compared

The inside measurements o£ the building are—
„¦. to w. »- to s.
yave 25£t. Sin. 13ft. 2iQ.
Chancel 13ft. 2in.
Porch 9ft. llin.

10ft. Oin.
10ft. Sin.

528 THE CHURCH RAMBLER.
with its area, and the large size of the building
stones. The latter is easily accounted for in this
neighbourhood, and the former shows that the
drawings of churches which we find in MSS. of
like age with this building are not exaggerated in
height. Canon Jones gives a familiar instance
from the Bayeux tapestry iu the church at
Bosham, which is associated with the life of
Harold. Each portion of this Bradford church
measures more in height than in length or breadth.
The next thing to observe is that all the
decorative work, even the apparent buttresses, is
cut out of the stone, as some think after the wallo
were built, at any rate none of it is constructively
distinct. All round the building a series of plain
panels, as it were, is sunk in the wall, so as to
leave at regular intervals slightly projecting
pilasters which look Uke the forerunners of the
fiat Norman buttress. The "stepped bases'' of
many of these pilasters is another point of agree
ment with tenth century drawings. The wall
below these not being cut out forms a base to the
whole. Above the stringcourse runs the arcade
before referred to. Cut out on large square
stones are a series of flat pilasters with bases and
capitals supporting plain semicircular arches.
These originally ran all round the building except
on the porch where the tabling of the roof rests
on the pilasters to the exclusion of the arches.
Their peculiarity is that they are cut irrespective
of the joints in the stone, which occur sometimes
.at the end and sometimes in the middle of an

BRADFORD-ON-AVON CHURCH. 539
arch. On the east wall of the chancel the pilasters
supporting these arches are moulded, as well as
the larger pilasters in the lower course — an early
e-vidence of the special reverence attached to this
portion of the church. In the eastern gable of
the nave are the remains of the similar pilasters
which formed part of an arcade cut above the
chancel roof, being stUted in increasing height to
the centre. On the north side of the porch there
was apparently a similar arcade, of which the
centre pilaster remains. Before leaving the
outside of the buUding it may also be remarked
that when this little church was built the con
gregation did not read, and little light was
required. In fact there are only two windows as old
as the church, one in the south wall of the chancel
and one in the south wall of the nave. These are
small, high up and deeply splayed.
Entering the church, the two doorways in the
porch are alike in character, the arch springing
from a plain string course, and being ornamented
Uke the pilasters with a slight moulding formed
by a series of segmental roundels. The width of
the doorway is less at the foot than at the spring
ing of the arch. It is remarkable that one steps
down from the nave into the chancel, the floor of
the latter being lower than that of the former.
From the nave, a floor which divided it into two
stories has been removed, and also the large flue
before mentioned. In doing this, most of the
stones of the chancel arch were discovered, and so
fortunately this has been restored to its original

530

THE CHURCH RAMBLES.

condition. It is only 3ft. 5in. wide, and is
thoroughl}' characteristic of primitive Eomanesque
work ; it is distinctly
as Mr. Freeman is fond
of saying more Bomano,
and like the work in
the waUs of Eome done
in the reign of Honorius.
Eestored to what is believed
to be their original position
in the chancel wall are
the two figures of angels
before referred to. They
are beUeved to be of
the same date as the build
ing and are therefore
of very great interest.
Mr. Freeman, in the last
volume of "The Norman
Conquest," speaking of
the little church says
— " Bradford, besides its
"value as a work of
" architecture, gives us
" also what I believe is a
" solitary example of the
"sculpture of so early a
" time." From the engrav
ings of this primitive work
of art (for the use of which
I am indebted to the kind
ness of the Eev. Canon Jones) it will be seen that

BEADFOSD-ON-AVON CHUECH, 531
the angels have their wings expanded and the
nimbus rouud their heads. Each bears what is
supposed to be a napkin, and it is beUeved that
there was once a central figure of our Lord. They
are executed iu low relief, and though rudely, still
with consider.able force.
Such is the building as it now stands clear of
obstructions ; floors and ceilings removed from
within, .and the accumulations of centuries cleared
away from without, so as to bring the base line of
its walls once more into view. The writer just
quoted says of it — " Small in size but by no means
"rude in workmanship, far more finished than the
" buildings of Benedict in the north, showing in
" its arcades .a near likeness to the works of
" Honorius — let us rather say of Stilioho — on the
"gates of Eome, the old church of Bradford-on-
" Avon still lives a witness of the form-s which the
" arts of Eome took ou EngUsh soil while Wessex
" was still a land which had to struggle against the
" Mercian on the one side and the Briton on the
" other." And simply on this ground, as a precious
archasological relic, it surely is well worthy of
rescue and careful preservation. Butit nowsatisfies
not only assthetic but also practical tastes. The
" little church " serves an important purpose in the
church work of the pa,iish of Bradford. Itwas
built originaUy to carry on a missionary work and
to introduce the truths of Christianity among the
early inhabit.ants of this neighbourhood ; now a
thousand years later, it serves as a meeting place
for those parochial agencies by means of which the

532 THE CHUECH EAMBLES.
good work then beg'un is still carried on, and the
congregation of the large parish church to the
south of it sustained and administered to. It
stands within the ancient limits of the parish
churhyard, and is therefore in every way con
venient and suitable for this purpose. In the
house which stands on the site of the priest's
dweUing place, bible classes, sewing-classes, meet
ings of the Girls' Friendly Society and similar
gatherings are held. It thus supplies a, need of
the clergy in these days which is often met by the
establishment of a church house. The church has
once more been furnished in the simplest and
most unpretending way, as a house of God,
and here daily prayer is said on week days, and
devotional services held preparatory to the Holy
Communion. It was on one of these occasions
that I was present. A communion table has been
placed in the chancel which for some centuries
was used in the parish church, preserved since
the restoration of that building, when it was
superseded. The reading desk and lectern, both
of oak, have a memorial interest having been
given in memory of the Eev. George E. Melhuish,
an earnest and seK-denying Curate of the parish
for many years. On the desk is a brass plate
bearing the following inscription —
IN . PIAM . Z\IEMORIAM . GEORGII . EDVARDI .
MELHUISH . QUI . NOVEM . ANNOS . HANC .
PAROCHIAM . FIDELITER. CURAVIT. LECTERNUM.
SEDEMQUE . IN . RECITATIONEM . PRECUM .
POSVERUNT , LIBENTER . MERITO ,
COMPRESBYTERI . TRES . A.D. 1875.

BEADFOBD-ON-AVON CHUBCH. 533
The service of which I speak was held on a Saturday
evening, and there was a considerable congregation
of young people, intending communicants. Some
prayers, selected from those in the Book of Common
Prayer, and supplemented by others from a form
prepared by Canon Walsham How e, were read by the
Eev. W. A. Merewether, curate of the parish, and
some hymns were sung, the Vicar presiding at' the
harmonium. Then the Gospel for the next day
was read by the Vicar, who based upon it a
solemn and impressive address showing his hearers
what it taught them as to the frame of mind in
which they should come to the holy table. It
seemed to me a most happy and useful service,
affording an opportunity for closer and more
famUiar address than is allowed in the full church
service, and yet free from the debasing of sacred
things which sometimes makes other attempts to
gain the same end objectionable.
The Vicar of Bradford-on-Avon, who in the
midst of the cares and responsibilities of a large
parish has planned, and toiled, and written for
S. Aldhelm's Church with untiring zeal and per
severance for nearly twenty years, has now the
pleasure of seeing the claims which he has put
forward for the little church generally and
authoritatively recognised, and of handing it on
to future generations with a twofold claim to
their admiration and care. As a memorial of the
past it surpasses in interest any church of the
west country, and few churches anywhere have a
history so remarkable. The mere utilitarian

534

THE CHUBCH EAMBLES.

moreover cannot jjass it by, for it is now as
useful in the service of God as when its
massive walls were first raised. And I will add
that the worthy Canon may have the further and
more personal happiness of knowing tbat he com
mands unanimous approval for .-ill that he has
done in and for the Church of S. Lawrence. ..i.

INDEX.

A.
./Ethelm, son of .^^thelstan, 159.
iEthelswitha marriage of, 113.
Ailesbury Estates, 1-17.
Aldhelm S , 165, 519.
Alfred at Chippenham, 112.
Alfritha of Flander.s, 113.
Alured, a Thane, 467.
Aluric, Thane, 75.
Ambresbury Abbey, 187.
Amer family, 88.
d'Amneville Adam, 390.
Ancient Bell-Turret, 149.
Ancient Ironworks, 324.
Andrews family, 253.
Arthur of Brittany, 1S7.
Arundel Roger, 133.
Ashe family, 138,
Aubrey's Collections, 27, 502.
Awdry family, 197.
Awdry Rev. E. C., 514.
Audley family, 95. B.
Badlesmere Lord, 443.
Bagdown hill, n.
Bagehote family, 50.
Bampfylde family, 135.
Eaynton family, 117, 121, 325, 411,
468, 450.
Banistie Wm., 266.
Baptism delay in, 64.
Barnivale Reginald de, 157.
Barnwell Rev. E. A., 190.
Barrow Rev. C. B., 296.
Bath Abbey, 49, 53, iS5, 255. 342.
Bath British, 351.
Bath and Wells Episcopate, 57.
Bathwick, y;^.
Battle Abbey^ 324.
Baynard family, 29.
Beauchamp family, 278, 325, 429,
467.

Beckington, 132.
Bekynton Bishop, 138.
Bell-founder's Challenge a, 69.
Bell-lore, 68, 128, 163, 177, 214, 281,
348, 376, 415. 426, 434. 460.
Bell-turret, an ancient^ 149.
Bells —
Beckington, 147.
Burnet, 34.
Bremhill, 415.
Bi-omham, 331.
Castle Combe, 452.
Chippenham, 127.
Corston, 67.
Devizes, 434, 460.
Dyrham, 377.
Frome, 177.
Great Chalfield, 3S2.
Lacock, 33.
Marksbury, 163.
Melksham, 198.
Midsomer Norton, 281
North Stoke, 51.
Paulton, 105.
Radstock, 275.
Road, 253.
S. Katherine, 34S.
Stanton Prior, 25S.
Swanswick, 363..
Trowbridge, 214.
Woolley, 81.
Benedictines, 75.
Bennett Rev. W. J. E., 171.
„ Sermon of, iSo.
Biddestone, 148.
Bird's Nest in a Church, 474.
Bitton, 387.
Bianchard familj', 347.
Blackmore Sir Richard, 483.
Blathwayt family, 296, 36B.
Blathwayt Rev. W. T., 376.
Blount family, 390.
Bluet family, 29.
Bohun Humphrey de, 202.
Book of Lacock, 13.
Bowden hill, 11.

SS6 INDEX.

Bowden park , x6.

Churchyard sports, 71.

Bowles Rev. W. L. (poet), 403.

Cistercian friars, 117.

Box Tunnel, its fatalities, 498.

Clerical malice, 335.

Bradford-on-Avon, 517.

Clinton and Saye, Lord, 75.

Branch family, 168.

Clothing trade, the, 205.

Brasses—

*' Clow Quar," 155.

Baynton, 329.

Clutterbuck, Rev. L., 84.

Compton, 142.

Collinson, 337.

Cutte John, 36.

Colville Rev. A. A., 285.

Kent, 435.

Coker Rev. T.

Longe, 100, 142,

Cork, Earldom of, 169.

Lopes, ig8.

Cornwall, Duchy of, 279,

Maskell, 435.

Corsham, 112.

. Walsh, 297.

Corsham, royal manor of, 477.

Bremhill, 403.

Cor.iton Church, 53.

Brictric, a Thane, 201.

County Court, ancient, 186.

Bridges family, 305.

Coutance, episcop., 74, 86, 252, 27S,

Brief for Church Restoration, 313.

296, 303.

Bristol 36, 38.

Crabbe, poet, 219.

Bristol Mint, 27.

Crowche William, 75.

British Camp, Stantonbury, 254.

Cutte family, 38.

British Stronghold, a, 351.

Britten Wm., 45.

Britton, Antiquarian, 11, 502.

D.

Bromham, 323.

Brotherly love commemorated, 225.

Browne Rev. W. S., 257.

Dane's blood, a herb, 156.

Bruges family, 197.

Daniels family, 197.

Burgage privileges, 118.

Danvers Sir John, ri6.

Burges Rev. Dr., 432.

Danyell, the poet, 142.

Burgh Hubert de, 422.

Darcy Lord Thomas, 116.

Burhed, King of Mercia, 113.

Darley, architect, 125.

Burnet Church, 34.

Davenport Rev. W., 17.

Burrard Lady, 385.

Davis Mr, C E., architect, 246, 257,

Button Bishop, 397.

294.

Davy family, 84, 187.
Decorated Architecture—
Lacock, IQ.
c.
North Stoke, 46.
Trowbridge, 233.
Cantlow, Prior, 344.
Dedications-
Carrington Henry E., 362.
S. Cyriac, Lacock, 9.
Carter family, 109.
S. Michael, Burnet, 34.
Carthusians, 12.
S. Martin, North Stoke, 44.
Castle Combe, 438.
All Saints, Corston, 53.
Cave family, 50,
All Saints, Woolley, 73.
Centenarians at Corsham, 496.
Holy Trinity, Doynton, 82.
Champneys, Sir Thos,, 229.
S. Mary the Virgin, Broughton
Chantries, 122, 248.
Gifford, ^i.
Cheney family, 134.
Holy Trinity, Paulton, 102.
" Chepyng," occurrence of name, 1 1 1.
S. Andrew, Chippenham, iir.
Chippenham, S. Andrew, iii.
S. Gregory, Beckington, 132.
Cholera, record of, 103.
S. Nicholas, Biddestone, 148,
Christie, Rev. R. C, 451.
S. Peter, Marksbury, 158.
Christmas service, a, 360.
S. John Baptist, Frome, 165.
Church desecration, 269.
S. Michael, Melksham, 185.
Church strong room, a, 446,
S. Andrew, Melksham, igi.
INDEX. 637

S. James, Trowbridge, 199.

Early English Architecture—

All Saints, Lullington, 227.

Biddestone, 152.

S. Lawrence, Road, 246.

Broughton Gilford, 96.

S. Lawrence, Stanton Prior, 254.

Castle Combe, 446.

S. Nicholas, Radstock, 266.

Corston, 58, 60.

S. John Baptist, Midsomer Norton,

Doynton, 83.

277.

Keynsham, 309.

S. Mary Magdalen, Langridge, 224.

Langridge, 294.

S. John Baptist, Keynsham, 301.

Lullington, 233.

S. Nicholas, Bromham, 323.

S. Andrew, Chippenham, 134.

S. Katherine, 341.

Early Christianity, 394.

S. Mary the Virgin, Swanswick,

Eddrupp Rev. E. P., 414.

349-

Edgell Rev. Edward, 331, 340;

S. Mary, Dyrham, 364.

Edridge family, 117.

S. Katherine, Great Chalfield, 379.

Edwin, a landowner, 12.

S. Mary the Virgin, Bitton, 387.

Effigy at Langridge, 296.

S. Martin, Bremhill, 403.

Egremont Earldom of, 116.

S. John Baptist, Devizes, 415.

Ellacombe Rev. H. T., 399.

S. Andrew, Castle Combe, 438.

Ellacombe Rev. H. N., 400.

S Mary the Virgin, Devizes, 454.

Emra Rev. John, 153.

Whaddon, 467.

Epitaphs, curious, 48, 49, 63, 8r, 100,

S. Batholomew. Corsham, 477.

no, 120, 123, 128, 152, 163, 218,

S. Michael, Kington S. Michael,

243, 252, 317, 318, 333, 335, 348,

501.

362, 378, 392, 483, 486, 488, 516.

S. Lawrence, Bradford-on-Avon,

Erleigh family, 115, 133, 141.

517-

Esmeade family, 117.

Deed of gift, a.d. 938, 410.

Estcourt family, 22.

Deinton family, 86.

Delawarr earldom, 279.

Delisle Humphrey, 442.

F.

Dennys family, 367.

Despoiled chapel, a, 328.

Falcon Mr., 84.

Deureux Edward, 201.

Farfy Ranulfde, 253.

Devereux Col., 17.

Fastolf Sir John, 448.

Devizes, 416, 454.

Fastolf, his character, 450.

Devon, earldom of, 18S.

Feorm, custom of, 389.

Doles, 464.

Fitz-Bernard, 168.

Domesday book, 12.

Fitz-Hamon Robert, 37, 266,

Doveton Rev. J. B., 39.

Fitz-James, 54.

Doveton Rev. W. B., 57

Fitz-John Matthew, 188,

„ Sermon of, 60.

Fitzpaine Robert, 278.

Downside, 279.

Font in a Farmyard, a, 276.

Doynton Church, 82.

Font in a Garden, a, 281.

Drokensford Bishop, s^'

Foolish Fe-it, a, 332.

Drummond Rev. R., 347-

Foxcroft Mr. E. T. D., 253.

Duckworth family, 231.

Frescoes obliterated, 464.

Dudley Richard, D- D-, 353-

Fulford Rev. F., 221.

Duel, curious record of, 499.

Fuller Mr. G. P., 490-

Dunstanville family, 93, 442-

Funeral, a, 47.

Dyrham, 364.

Funeral luxury taxed, 77.

Dyrham, battle of, 365.

Fynes family, 75.

E.

G.

Earie Rev. John, 357.

Gargoyles, quaint, 211.

Earistoke, igi.

Garino-es Alice, 14.

538 INDEX,

Gascelyn family, 114.

J-

Gifford family, 94.

Giles Mr. C. E., architect, 171,
Gill Mr. J. E,, architect, 82.

Jewel Bishop, 16.

Gilman Rev. J., 251.

Glastonbury Abbey, 159, 507,

K.

Glossop Rev. Chas., 251.

Gloucester, Earldom of, 304.

Kelly family, 108.

Godarville Walter de, 114.

Ken bishop, i6g.

Goldney family, 114, 117, 119, 4S2.

Kent Richard, 114.

Gore-Langton family, 54.

Keynsham, 301.

Gouiz Wm. de, 278.

King's Chair at Road, the, 246.

Gournay Sir Matthew, 352.

Kington S. Michael, 501.

Gray Rev. J. H., 318.

Kite Mr., 465.

Great Chalheld, 379.

Great Storm of 1703, 513.

Grigg Rev. P. , 79.
L.
Guild, an ancient, 375.
H.
Lacock, Book of, 13.
Lacock Church, 9.
Harbord family, 281, 283.
Lacock market charter, 14.
Harington family, 54, 347, 515.
Harman Rev. J , 45.
Lacock monastery, 13, 187.
Lackham, Manor of, 29.
Harold. 324.
Lacy Alice de, 203.
Hart SirR., 114
Lancaster, Duchy of, 203.
Langridge, 294
Langford family, 205,
Haselburj', 15.
Hastings Rev. J. D , 222.
Hatherop Priory, 12
Langford Key E. H., 162.
Hatton Sir Christopher, 479.
Lanfiton family, 54, S7, 90.
Lansdowne, ]\Iarquis of^ 411.
Hayes family, 50.
Head-money for sparrows, 81,
Latimer Bi.shop, 325.
Heathcote Mr. T. J., 190.
Hele Rev. A ,67.
Lawrence family, 50
Leay Rev. W. W., 280.
Heroism recorded, 29S
Ledge tomb.s, 251, 256.
Henton Priory, 13.
Legend of S Keyna, 302.
Herring-bone masonry, S2.
Le Strange family, 95.
Hill family, 108, 267.'
Leversege family, 168.
Hilman family. 88.
Lokeswell Abbey, 411.
Hobhouse family, 96.
Linton Rev. G., 493.
Hodierne, the King's nurse, 115.
Lisle family, 93
Holt Sir John de, 467,
Longe family, 95, 115, 197, 468.
Holton family, 253.
Longespee Wm., 12, 94, 203. |
Hooper Wm., 77.
Longleat, 169. i
Horton family, 95, 253.
Lopes family, 197
How Rev. G A , 88
Lowden, Manor of, 115.
,, sermon of, 85.
Lowndes Mr E.C, 446.
Huish Rev. Alexander, 147.
Loyal thank-oftering, a, 105.
Hungerford family, 114, 115, 121
Ludlow family, 30. |
127, 13s, T57, 257, 4TI, 489.
Lullington, 227.
Husee (Hosatusj family, 115,
I.
M.
Iconoclasm. 256.
Malte Ethelreda, 347, I
Inge family, 54,
Manners and Gill, architect-S, 209.
Ironworks ancient, 324
Manor house, ancient, 343.
INDEX.

539

Mansel Lord, 17.
Manumission deed, 4S1.
Marksbury, 158.
Marriages under the Commonwealth,
262.
Marshall family, 114.
Martigny nunnery, 116, 157.
Martin Rev. H., 66.
Medisevalism at Frome, 173.
Medley Rev. A. B , 241.
Melhuish Rev, G. E , 532.
Melksham, 185.
Merewether Rev. W. A., 533.
Methuen family, 138, 157, 197, 4S0,
493. 521.
Meyer Rev. Horace, 223.
Midsomer Norton, 277.
Mildmay Sir A , 16.
Milward Rev. H , 108.
Minatory deed, a, 506.
Mint at Bristol, the
Mock-antique building, a, 231.
Montfort family, 266, 443.
Monkton Farley, 16, 116.
Monumental trust, a, 244.
Monuments— Ash. 48
Badger, 456.
Baynard, 29.
Baynton, 121, 329.
Bianchard, 345.
Bridges, 318.
Brown, 49.
Bull, 100, 29 r,
Burnlie, 302.
Carr, 163.
Clark, 214.
Clerk, 122.
Court, 163.
Coward, 456.
Cox, 259
¦Craljbe, poet, 220.
Cutte, 35.
Danyell, poet, 142.
Doveton, 35.
Duckworth, 2J2.
L)yer, 35, 345.
Eddrupp, 413.
Edgell, 144, 21S.
Ela de Sari.^beri, 15,
Ely, 128.
Eyre, 333.
Feckenham, 345
Feilding, 28, 29.
Flower, 321.
Fforde, 360.
Ford, 34.

Freemantle, 197.
Goldney, ng.
Grand, 373.
Harris, 288.
ilastings, 222.
Haygarth, 360.
Heathcote, 436.
Hellier, 32.
HclUerd, 252.
Helliker, 225.
Hensley, So.
Hill lob.
Horton, 197, 386,
Hulbert, 4S0.
Hurle, 106
Johnson, 32.
King, 243
Long, 259. 362.
Longe, 469
Ly.saght, 79.
Lyne, 322.
Mayne, 290.
Monk, 62
Nightingale, 223,
Norris, 334.
Oborn, 244.
Paget. 80
Paulton de, 107.
Perry, 373.
Pinniger, 413.
Pobjoy, 243.
Powe, 297.
Pryn, 123.
Rooke, 32.
Savage, 290,
Scott, 120.
Seagar, 337.
Season, 335.
Selfe, 196.
Seymour, 392.
Seynt Maur, 141.
Shakespear, 29.
Sherington, 26.
Starky, 330.
Stone, 393.
Stuckey Lean, 02
Strutt, 345.
Swatton, 63.
Talbot, 28,
Timbrell, 216.
Waldron, 216.
Walrond, 297.
Wastfield, 152.
Webb, 142.
Webbe, 336.
Yerbury, 218.
Moore, poet, 338.

640 INDEX.

Moore, death of, 340.

Parish registers, 63, 77.

Mordaunt, E. of Peterborough, 116.

Paulet family, 50.

Morrison Rev. W., 279.

Paulton Church, 102.

de Paulton family, 108.

N.

Parkins family, 75.

Parochial Probate Court, a, 452.

Pedder Rev. J., 51.

Names, curious, 65, 262.

Pension, a vicar's, 66.

Neeld family, 117.

Perpendicular Architecture

Neglected church, a, 209.

Beckington, 140.

Neglected churchyard, 317,

Biddestone, 149.

Newmarch Baron de, 366.

Bitton, 398.

Newton family, 391.

Bremhill, 412.

Norman Architecture—

Broughton Gifford, 97.

Beckington, 14a.

Burnet, 34.

Bitton, 394.

Corston, 59.

Bromham, 326.

Doynton, 82.

Burnet, 34.

Dyrham, 371.

Chippenham, 121.

Lacock, 19.

Corsham, 584.

Melksham, 192.

Corston, 58.

North Stoke, 45.

Devizes, 424, 454.

Road, 246.

Kington S. Michael, 512. ^

S. Andrew, Chippenham, 124.

Langridge, 294.

S. Katherine, 344.

Lacock, ig.

Trowbridge, 208.

Lullington, 232, 235.

Perverted text, a, 99.

Marksbury, 160.

Phillott Rev. Jas , 258.

Melksham, 192.

Pisciculture, 19.

Midsomer Norton, 280.

Plantagenet Thos., 203.

Radstock, 275.

Player Mr. Arthur, 87.

Road, 251.

Popham family, 127, 159.

S. Katherine, 344.

Potol money, 72.

Stanton Prior, 256.

Poynder family, 157.

Swanswick, 355.

*' Priest's hole," a, 136.

Whaddon, 471.

Prynne William, 353.

Woolley, 75.

Puritan ejectment, a, 470,

Norris family, 114.
North Stoke Church, 44.

Pym Rev. J., 493.

North Wiltshire forest, 112.

Numerous posterity, a, 196.

Q-

0.

Queen Katherine Parr, 305.

Oke Rev. W. S., 250.

Orchardleigh, 229.
R.
Oriel College, 353.
Osbern. Bishop, 113.
Radstock, 266.
Ow William de, 29.
"Rag" Smith, 152.
Oxenden Rev. Ashby, 222.
Rectorial barn, a, 278.
Rectorial manor, a, 482.
P.
Red Maids' Hospital, 38.
Remote village, a, 380.
Restoration of Church^
Palace at Chippenham, 113.
Corston, 59.
Palairet Rev. Preb., 249.
Paulton, 106.
Parish accounts, 51, 68.
Chippenham, 120.
INDEX.

54t

Beckington, 139.
Trowbridge, 210.
Orchardleigh, 231.
Road, 246,
Stanton Prior, 256.
Radstock, 269.
Midsomer Norton, 280.
Bitton, 400.
Bremhill, 412.
Corsham, 492.
Saxon Church, Bradford, 517.
Rich Rev. James, 65.
Ritual at Frome, 178.
Roach Rev. E. 0,, 23.
,, sermon of, 23.
Road, 246.
Roberts family, 37, 96.
Roche Sir John, 468.
Roger of Sarilm, 418.
Roman remains, 393, 418.
Roman road, 10.
Roman station, 324.
Rosamund, 94.
Rowden manor, 114.
Royal brief, a, 311.
Royal manors, 112.
Royal pedigree, a, 205.
Ruinous church, a, g8.
Russell family, 366.

S. Alban Elias de, 353.
S. Aubyn Mr. J. B. S., architect, 139.
S. Keyna, legend of, 302.
S. Lo family, 53, 108, 305.
S.Maur family, 115, 116, 134, 203,
215. 248, 253.
Sainsbury family, 146.
Sandy lane, 11.
Sarisberi Edward de, 12, 201.
„ Lady Ela, 12, 14, 15, 203.
Sarum, episcopate, 191.
Sanctuary, privilege of, 423.
Savage, of Nortun, Mrs., 287.
Saxon bell turrets, ist-
Saxon church at Bradford, 517-
Seaman family, 168.
Scrope history, the, 444.
Season, almanac maker, 335.
Seend. 191.
Selfe family, 197.
Selwood forest, 165.
Seventeenth century restoi-ation, 315.
Seymour of Sudeley, 27.

Sheldon, manor of, 114.
Shaftesbury, Earls of, 144-
,, Abbey, 520.
Sherington family, 16, 18, 26, 116.
Sherston family, 75.
Sheldon Archbp., his birthplace, 260.
Shepherd Rev. H. 138.
Slater Rev. Fras., ig6.
Slaughterford, battle of, 155.
Sloper family, 325.
Smith family, a member of, 458,
Smith, poet, 152.
Smyth *' Customer," 479.
Snell family, 507.
Solsbury Little, 351.
Sondes family, 134.
Southey, poet, 55.
Spa at Melksham, 189.
Sparrow slaughter, 81.
Spicer family, 326,
Sprye Rev. Theo., 39.
,, sermon of, 41.
*' Squeers," a West-country, 55.
Stancombe family, 204.
Stanley Abbey, 15, 117.
Stanton-bury, 254.
Stapleton family. 17, 31.
Starkie family, 325,
Stawell John, 253.
Still family, 88.
Storke family, 54.
Stoke Modbert de, 49.
Strangways family, 18.
Strype memorials, 26.
Swanswick, 349.

T.
Talbot family, 16-33.
Talbot Mr. C. H., 10, 25.
Tate Rev. T. H., 475-
Temmes, Abbess Johanna, t6.
Terumber, a munificent clothier, 224.
Tewkesbury Abbey, 37.
Thankoffering, a loyal, 105.
Thynne family, i6g.
Tibetot Lordde, 443.
Timbrell family, 204.
Titherton Lucas, 130.
Tooker family, 284.
Tracy family, 86.
Tropnell family, 384, 490.
Trowbridge, igg-
Tugwell Rev. George, 76.

543

INDEX.

v.
Vallis and Falaise, i68.
Vandalism at Biddestone, 153.
Verlucio, Roman station, 324.
Vicarage, ordination of a, 56

w.
Waldegrave, earldom, 267.
Walishe Adam de, 2g6,
Wall-paintings at Frome, 175.
,, ,, Road, 248.
Walrond family, 296.
Ward Rev. H. N.. 275.
„ sermon of, 273.
Wardenship of maidens, 445.
Warner Rev. Richard, 385.
Warre Rev. Prebendary, 194.
Warren John de, 203.
Watkins, alias Vaughan, 160.
Wavering brook, the, 155.
Weavers' windows, 143.
Webbe family, 253.
Webbe Bishop, 336.
de Welle.sleigh family, 266.
Wessex, Kingdom of, in.
Westmoreland, Earl of, 17.
Whaddon. 467.
Wherwell nunnery, 75.
Whitson Alderman, 38.
Wilinton Ralph de, 304.
Wilkinson Rev, Dr., igi.
Williams Rev. H. H., 76.
Williamson-Bull Rev. T., no.
Wilkes, Beloved, 88.
Wilkinson Rev. T., gr.
Rev. j. F., 92.
Wiltshire family, 79,
Windows (JMe.mouiat.)—
Aubrey and Britton, 505.
Benyon, 239.
Du Cane, Fletcher, White, 413
Doveton, 35.

Duckworth, 239.
Edgell, 144.
Fuller, 495.
Glossop, 249.
Heathcote, 19S.
Innes, 430.
Ken (Bishop), 176.
Langford, 144.
Lewis, 129.
Nye, 511.
Phillott, 258.
Robinson, 373.
Kowlandson, 514,
Sainsbury, 143.
Simpson, 431.
Stephenson, 309.
Thring, 217.
Torrens, 496.
Windows (Notable) —
Beckington, 142.
Castle Combe, 447.
Chippenham, 127.
Corston, 59,
Frome, 174.
Lullington, 238.
Marksbury, 161.
Melksham, igS.
Paulton, 106.
Road, 249.
Stanton Prior, 25S.
Trowbridge, 211.
Winslade family, 168.
Witham, Romish priest, 11.
Worgan Matthew, 76.
Worcester, Bishop Johnson of, 32
Woolley Church, 73.
Wyatt family, 75.
,, Mr. T. H., architect, gS.
Wynter family, 368.

Y.

Yardley family, 50.
Yerbury family, 21&

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