^7f^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. chairman declared the resolution carried. The thanks of the meeting were then given to the worthy and reverend chairman." Having thus stated the rise and progress of this restoration, and some of the difficulties witli which we have had to contend, and which have been happily sumiounted, let us hope that before the close of the present year our labours will be brought to a hapjjy termination, and be the means — " Of blessing thousands, thousands yet unborn, Through late posterity." Before a more detailed description of the interior of St. Mary's is given, I cannot resist the temjitation to introduce Wordsworth's view of the interior of a Gothic Church, so descriptive of our own, in the following beautiful lines : — ^ -^ ^ '1' H- " As chanced, the portals of the sacred pile Stood open ; and we entered. On my frame, At such transition from the fervid air, A grateful coolness fell, that seemed to strike The heart, in concert with that temperate awe And natural reverence which the place inspired. Not raised in nice proportions was the pile, But large and massy ; for duration built ; AVith pillars crowded, and the roof upheld By naked rafters intricately crossed, Like leafless underboughs, 'mid some thick grove, All withered by the depth of shade above. Admonitory texts inscribed the walls, Each in its ornamental scroll enclosed, Each also crowned with winged heads — a pair Of rudely-painted cherubims. The floor Of nave and aisle, in unpretending guise, M as occupied by oaken benches, ranged In seemly rows ; And on the floor beneath Sepulchral stones appeared, with emblems graven, And foot-worn epitaphs, and some with small And shining effigies of brass inlaid." ^ -f ^ On entering the church by the western door, the visiter feels, on beholding the striking effect produced by the clustered columns, the numerous arches, the elaborately-carved roof, the splendid nave and aisles, the ricldy-stained windows, and the charm thrown over the whole by its sacredness and antiquity, that " the palace is not for man, but for the -^^o»o#..H-<^8^S^^ ^ ■XT), !\ oW^^- fc>; >^<^^^'^-rko^o^^*-4--<^^>-^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. Lord Grod." The church consists of a chancel, nave, four aisles, and two small chantries. There are l>ut few other churches in England that have fou)- aisles and a nave. The following are their several measurements : — ^ ^ ^ ft. in. From the screen to the altar . , , 146 7 Total width from north wall to south . , 85 a ft. in. ft. in. The nave . 95 5 long, by 20 11 broad. The north aisle . 76 4 20 2 The second north aisle . 76 4 12 5 The south aisle . 82 6 20 The second south aisle . 81 3 12 3 The north chantry . 25 5 18 2 The south chantry . 25 15 2 The chancel . 51 2 21 3 ^ ^. ¥ w. We ■will now give a brief account of the arrangement and fittings-up of the church : and we would first notice the ©rgan. It is always a difficulty with church builders and restorers where to j)lace this instrument. It had hitherto occupied an unsightly gallery, projecting considerably into the nave of the church, and thus destroying its proportions, blocking up the tower arch, and concealing the -western window. This galleiy having been removed, it became evident to all that, to replace it, even by one of a more correct style and character, would be to mar the effect of the whole restoration. Where to place the organ was a subject that occupied our anxious con- sideration. It was at length determined, though the design was novel, and its practicability doubted by many, that it should be divided into two parts and erected within the tower arch, against the north and south side of the tower, thus adding twenty feet to the length of the building, which would much improve its proportions and preserve undisturbed the western window, the beautiful panelled arch of the tower, and the nave of the church. The old organ was built by public subscription in the year 1709; little of it now remains, except the open diapason in the swell of the present instrument, which is in excellent preservation, and exceedingly fine, and, having never imdergone any "improvement," is a good specimen of old pipes. The great organ and swell are on the south side of the window, and the choir organ, with the pedal pipes, on the north side; the bellows and feeders being inside the window, level with the sill, and extending the whole width of the tower. By this arrangement, the effect of the instru- ment has been increased ; its tones are powerful and exquisitely sweet. Tlt-<3S8SS>-^-^o^<^^-^388^^'^-H'^^to<»)J^»4-<38SS^^- W ■ ■ -^i. Ii ii n' ii -<3888e>-H-^ortions, are emblazoned various texts of Scripture, suitable to the precincts of the Holy Table. The late JSIrs. Jenkyns, of Wells, left fifty guineas for the " fitting up the altar- piece in St. Mary's Church, and furnishing the same with apjiropriate pa-ssages from Holy Scripture, calculated to impress the mind with an awful sense of our love and duty toward.^ God." The Eastern SBtnllofa) is filled with stained glass, by Mr. Wailes, of Newcastle, and may justly be considered one of his best works; the compartments between the mullions are filled with niches, containing figures of our blessed Lord, the Virgin !Mar)', St. Jolm the Baptist, and the fom- Evangelists; under each is a cherub holding a scroll, on which appears an appropriate inscription. The tracery of the window is exceed- ingly ricli and chaste; it is filled with angels and cherubim bearing sliields or scrolls, on which are placed either texts of Holy Scripture or some sacred emblem. There is also over the chancel door a small obituary A>H^-o^-^-<»>^»^-<^888^^' THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. ^ apparatus is concealed from view, is simple in construction, and effective and inexpensive in operation. The fire is placed under the vestry, at the north side of the chancel. This room is entirely new, and rendered fire-proof; it is panelled with wainscot, and generally admired for its convenience and chasteness of design. From the rotten state of the roof of the old vestry the clergyman was frequently in danger of a shower bath, nolens volens. The numerous visiters who daily frequent St. Mary's church show not only that this restoration has attracted considerable attention, but that a great interest is felt in the subject of church restoration. Persons have travelled one and even two hundred miles to see the character and progress of our work. Who would, a few years since, have dreamt of individuals taking such a journey for such a purpose ? It is gratifying to find that what we have done has met with general approbation. We are not so Utopian as to suppose that we have satisfied or can satisfy the views and tastes of all. This were a task no mortal ever achieved. We have had obstacles, arising from limited resources, from parochial objectors, and from the building itself, which are known only to ourselves, and which we have not been able entirely to surmount. We have, nevertheless, done our best under the circumstances, not only to preserve it from destruction, but to restore it to its fonncr beauty. We have not sought to revive papal superstitions and embellishments, " thus casting stumbling-blocks in the path which truly leads to the sanctuary," but to maintain its decency and its character as a Protestant place of worship, so far as we have been supported and encouraged by the precepts and examples of Holy Writ, and the doctrines and usages of our apostolic Church.'"' In our zeal for the restoration of our churches, and our love for anti- quity, there is a danger of running into extremes, and of introducing orna- ments and adopting practices not according to " Protestant use," thus ^ ^^'^ From the days of the Reformation there have prevailed three schools in regard to rites, ceremonies, vestments, and church decorations: — the Puritan, the Laudean (as afterwards named), and the Anglican ; of which last Hooker was the most able and judicious exponent. I humbly profess to be a diseiple of Hooker. The Laudean school was popishly ceremonial in its notions; and wished to retain, with or without reason, whatever had grown up in the course of the darkest ages. The Puritans, on the contrary, would allow nothing for which a text of Scripture could not be produced; but their notions fairly carried out recoiled upon themselves, for if a white surplice is not enjoined in the New Testament, neither is a black Geneva gown. Hooker maintained, with great sobriety, that the Church might, in matters indifferent, prescribe what is for order and general edification; and that decent rites and ceremonies are not of necessity contrary to the Word of God because they are not mentioned in it. The compilers of our Prayer Book ahly and judiciously set forth this idea in the Preface to the Prayer Book, with the additituis on the services of the church and on ceremonies. These documents should be carefully studied Rt this eventful period of our history. 7J^.H^-<^S8$^)|(- THE CHURCH OF ST. M4UY MAGDALENE. countenancing the abominations of Popery, and saddening the hearts of the Lord's people. If men did l)ut remember the maxim, " Medio tutissimus ibis," from how many evils and extravagances would they be preserved ! While I have no sympathy with those who would fit up our churches with all the gorgeousness and superstition of the Church of Rome, neither have I any fellowship'"' with those who censure or condemn every building that is not " run up," as the phrase is, in the meeting-house style ; or who, while they dwell in their own " ceiled houses," grudge every fartliing that is spent in beautifying the house of God. I know that the Almighty dwells not in temples made with hands, and that it is not the splendour of architecture which will attract His presence, or fix His residence. I know that He will come down as benignantly, and abide as graciously, when His servants have assembled in the rude village church, as when they meet in vaulted aisles and under canopied ceilings. This, however, does not meet the question; for the mean building may have the Shekinah with it, as well as the magnificent: but is this any reason why we should rear only the mean, if we have it in our 'power to build the magnificent ? The Almighty was content to have a tabernacle, destitute of wealth, while his people were in the wilderness, and harassed by their enemies; but when He had given them abundance and peace. He required a temple, of wlilch it was said, " The house that is to be builded to the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent." And when that house arose, it was the wonder of the earth ; the gold, and the silver, and the precious stones were lavished on its walls, and the temple penetrated into the skies, a glorious and effidgent mass, as though it had descended from above, or, rather, as if it had been reared l)y immortal hands. We do think that when, with every token of approval, Jehovah took possession of a structure on which architecture had exhausted all its powers, and wealth had poured all its treasures. He gave evidence that churches, inasmuch as they are temples reared to His honour, ought to exhibit the opulence of the builders, and to be monuments of the readiness of piety to devote to the Lord the riches derived from His bounty. It is no token for good in our country, that while other structures are advancing in magnificence, churches are built of a less expensive style and character. If we compare ourselves with our ancestors, it may be said that we build more costly mansions and luxurious houses. If we want (a) " We are told tliatwhen the excellent George Herbert undertook the rebuilding of the church of Layton, he made it so much 'his whole business that he became restless till he saw it finished, and that for decency and beauty it exceeded all others.' It is decency and beauty such as Herbert would have approved — such as our own pure and apostolic church sanctions, and nothing more — which should be universally adopted in our ecclesiastical buildings." — Marklaiid's Remarks on English Churches. ■M^^- ^ -H^' ^ t ^--H'?F.<>»>T}^H-K^8S8^>^ (A, THE CHURCH OF ST. M.ARV MAGDALENE. Who does not feel the strength and eloquence of the following reuiaiks from one of our Homilies ? — " If a man's private house, wherein he dwelleth be decayed, he will never cease till it be restored up again. Yea, if his barn wherein he keepeth his corn, be out of reparations, what diligence useth he to make it in a perfect state again ! If tlie stable of his horse, yea, the stye for his swine, be not able to hold out water and wind, how careful is he to do cost thereon ! And shall we be so mindful of cur common base houses, deputed to so vile employment, and be forgetful of the house of God, wherein be entreated the words of our eternal salvation, wherein be administered the sacraments and mysteries of our redemption ? '' At the Reformation, the cluu'ches were probably in a good state of preservation; no country could vie with our own in the number and magnificence of its sacred edifices. The suppression of the monasteries, however, tended in no small degree to hasten the destruction of our churches. The monasteries having been seized by the Crown, Some of them were reduced to a state of ruin — others entirely demolished. And if a few of the conventual churches were allowed for parochial uses, who was to repair them when in a state of decay ? A secular spirit prevailed, and the idolatry of superstition was superseded by the idolatry of covetous- ness, through which many churches were despoiled, even of the plate barely necessary for the decent administration of the Holy Eucharist. And if we pass on to the reign of Elizalwth, the opposition of those divines and their followers who had imbibed the doctrines and discipline of the school of Geneva rendered any attempt towards beautifying and adorning churches useless. It was regarded and declaimed against as popish and superstitious ; parochial churches were, therefore, allowed to fall into decay, or, if repaired, it was done in a plain and inelegant manner, comi)letely at variance with the richness and style of the pi-eceding age. It was, however, in the subsequent century that they were laid waste by the ruthless hand of violence.'"' " The mutilations to which they have been visibly subjected were not the work of the Reformers, but are to be referred to the Rebellion in the next century, a political and ecclesiastical r ^ ^ ^ Y against the disorder which prevailed, the traffic which was carried on, and the spirit of tlie world which reigned throughout the assembly. All that was accessory to this, and this only, he e.\pellcd from the hallowed place; the costly splendour of the building He left unmolested and unreprovcd." — " Remarks on Monumental Architecture, by John Bacon, Esq., F.S.A. ;" read at the Quarterly Meeting of the Exeter Architectural Society. (.1) "The object of our Reformers was not to banish indiscriminately everything whicli li.id belonged to the Church while under the power of Rome in this country. They would not cut away that which might be preserved and healed ; they removed only those errors which had arisen from neglect of Scripture and disregard to the traditional interpretation of the primitive Church." — Rev. J. H. I'indar's Sermons on tlie Common Prayer. >^*^ -^K^888S>-H^«^K •^^888^--ff<>^-^C<>» -^-<^888e>-4-)f^o The orders which the House of Commons issued in 1643-44, for the abolition of all Church ceremonies and appendages, led to consequences, which are mentioned by Dr. Heylin in these words : — " Hereupon," he says, "followed such an alteration in all churches and chapels, that the churchwardens pulled down more in a week than all the bishojw and clergy had been able to raise in two weeks of years ; such irreverences, too, in God's public service, and discontinuance of it in many places, that his Majesty was compelled to give new life to it by proclamation — an event which only showed the king's good meaning, with his want of power." Melancholy trophies, indeed, did these sacred fabrics now present to the eye of the nation I — trophies, alas ! of the victory of sacrilege and church hatred, over apostolic piety, order, and afiection."'' To tliis period may be traced the spoliation of our churches, and the commencement of pews and whitewash. '«' Chappell's " Collection of English Airs," quoted by Mr. Markland. "" It is no other than tragical to relate the carriage of that furious sacrilege, whereof our eyes and ears were the sad witnesses, under the authority and presence of Linsey, Toftes, the sheriff, and Greenwood. Lord, what work was here! What clattering of glasses ! what beathig down of walls ! what tearing up of monuments ! what pulling down of seats ! what wresting out of irons and brass from the windows and graves ! what defacing of arms ! what demolishing of curious stone- work, that had not any representation in the world, but only of the cost of the founder and skill of the mason ! what tooting and piping on the destroyed organ pipes ! and what a hideous triumph on the market-day, before all the country, when, in a kind of sacrilegious and profane procession, all the organ pipes, vestments (both copes and surplices,) together with the leaden cross, which had been newly sawn down from over the green yard pulpit, and the service books and singing books that could be had, were carried to the fire in the public market-place ; a lewd wretch walking before the train, his cope tr.niling in the dirt, with a service book in his hand, imitating, in an impious scorn, the tune, and usurping the words, of the litany used formerly in the church. Near the public cross all these monuments of idolatry must be sacrificed to the fire, not without much osten- tation of a zealous joy, in discharging ordinances, to the cost of some, who professed how much they had longed to see that day. Neither was it any news, on this guild-day, to have the cathedral now 1 O^ 20 --H-Nf H-^888S>-^ # I ^ ^ z. m. >Tlr -^. -%. ^^88S^4-«')f^^<^r^H' Tlt^ ^. ^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. If we pass on to the Restoration, when the deprived clergy returned to their forlorn and desolate churches, we shall find them not only borne down by age and infirmity, but so impoverished and straitened in their circumstances by successive trials and afflictions, that they were destitute both of the means and the power of restoring the breach which had been so recently and wantonly made. All they were able to do to their chui-ches was, to " strengthen and secure such parts as seem decayed and dangerous. "(»' What was in their case inabihty, in the succeeding generations grew into indifference and neglect, ilen were satisfied with keeping our churches in tenantahle repair, and the cheapest mode by which this could be accom- pUshed was sure to meet their approbation. Hence the introduction of the lath-and-plaster system, by which so many of our churches have been disfigured; and from that period, to the beginning of the present century, what indifference has been shown by churchmen to the pre- servation of our churches! How few new ones have been built; how many old ones have been allowed to fall into decay, or deprived of their ecclesiastical character ! To what shall we impute this change in the views and conduct of the peojjle? ilay we not atti'ibute it to our departure from Catholic princi- ples;""' to the slumber wliich seems to have overspread the minds both of clergy and laity ; to the low standard of religious doctrine and practice, especially during the last century ; to the abuse of power in the office- bearers of our church, and to the ignorance and want of architectural knowledge in those who have professed to restore or build them ? What, for instance, has been done for the restoration or preservation of the church of St. Mary ISIagdalene, Taunton, during the last two centuries ? Judging from the parish accounts, large sums of money have been expended ; and If they had been properly applied, instead of presenting, as it recently did, sometliing between a " cathedral and a ruin," it woidd have been in a state of perfect repair, a great blessing to the parish, and the glory of the <^|^>^ )l^ )«^ open on all sides, to be filled with musketeers, waiting for the major's return, drinking and tobaccoing as freely as if it were turned into an alehouse." — Bishop Hall's " Hard Measure." " From the first opposition to the decorous ceremonies of the national church, by the simple Puritans, the next stage was that of ridicule and obloquy. They actually baptized horses in the churches, at the fonts :'| and the jest of that day was, that the Reformation was now a thorough one in England, since our horses went to church." — D'Israeli's " Curiosities of Literature." !»' White's Selborne. (•>' No one, I hope, can be so ignorant "as to suppose I intend Roman Catholic. I mean the "one Catholic and Apostolic Church" of the Nicene Creed. '-The whole body of men throughout the world professing the faith of the Gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ according unto it, not destroying their ohti profession by any errors everting the foundation, or unholiness of conver- sation, are and may be called the visible CathoUque Church of Christ." — Declaration of Facts and Order owned and practised in the Congregational Churches, London, 1059, 4to., p. 18. -)f^-<3SS8^-H-^o»>)i^-H-<^888^)f^- & ^. tH ^ ^ 7^ ^-<^88se>-^ ^=4'^o&>?I~h4 T THE CHURCH or st. mary magdai.ene. neighbourhood. But how have our parochial funds been spent ? Not in preserving the fair proportions of the edifice, not in preventing its decay, not in jiroviding for the increased population of the parish ; but in erect- ing galleries, pulling down chancel screens,'"' blocking-up windows, white- washing, colouring, and plastering pillars and walls ; building high sc^uare pews, and a hundred other unwarrantable disfigurements. !May we not also ascribe many of the evils we are now suffering to the system of jobbing — not unusually practised in former days? May we not also trace to the same source the opposition to church rates ? The old practices of " church work and jjarish pay " have not only ruined many of our parish churches, but alienated the affections of many from our communion. It is not intended by these remarks to cast any reflection upon indi- viduals, but to expose a system which, it is feared, is practised in some parishes in the present day, — of appropriating money raised by a church- rate to any but church purposes. I have taken the following items, verbatim ef literatim, from two or three pages of a rate-book made about fifty years since : I need scarcely say tliat such are not found here now : — £ J. rf. >ry own Bill . . . .720 Paid Dame Stibbs for turning on tlie Water . . . .18 6 Paid the men for forcing the Engine 2 3 Dinners and Beer at tlie Sessions 6 6 The Processioning Dinner . .200 To Punch, Wine, Brandy, Beer, &c. 2 14 Paid for Kinging for good news .110 Paid 12 men for being in Church all night 12 Expenses at the same time for Eat- ing, Drinking, &.c. . . .10 Paid one year's run of the water . 3 12 Paid for Drink at Shorediteh, on the Perambulation . . . 16 Gave 3 men for carrying the Pillory from Ihe Castle door to the Church after the Man was Pillored .010 Paid Visitation Dinner . .270 North Street Pump repaired .036 Trying the Engine . . . 10 Beer for Keeby at the Bells .026 Gave a Woman to go out of Town 6 Paid for 2 Hedgehogs . . .007 Paid Mr. Hooper the Visitation Supper 19 10 The Church has suffered much in consec£uence of the miserable stipends paid to the clergy, especially in our large towns and cities. They have a larger amount of labour, and more claims on their resources, than in rural districts, and their incomes are usually much less. The tithes of town parishes are generally in the hands of deans and chapters, or of lay impropriators, and the amount paid in lieu of tithes to the incumbent iS of a very trifling amount ; the rest of his stipend is supplied by fees and Easter offerings.'''' This is an evil that cries aloud for a remedy : it ought f*^ The gallery across the chancel and south transept was taken down in 1824 ; the gallery in the small noith aisle was erected in 1708, and removed in 1826. C"' This is a very objectionable mode of collecting a clergjinan's stipend. It is no uncommon thing to hear persons say, if a elcrgjman does not preach or act according to their notions of H-^3888^^- ^ I ^ ^ ^ )J^ ^ 7K-<^888^-^-«'^o<^7^H-^3888^7f^-' rik ¥ ^. Tiir. nuiRcH cr st. mauy maodalevr. not so to be. The rule of tlie Gospel is, " that those Avho preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel." The incumbent, in too many cases, unable to meet the numerous demands on his limited means, has been driven to hold other cures, or engage in tuition to eke out his existence ; perhaps non-resident, and only able to perform Divine Service in his own parish once on a Sunday. This painful state of things has shown itself not only in the increase of irreligion, and the decrease of Church feeling and affection, but in the ruinous state of many of our once beautiful parish churches, for where there is no love to God, there wiU be none to His liouse.'"' Can we wonder at the spread of dissent during the last century? May it not be laid down as an axiom, that it will make its way in exact proportion to the neglect of the people by the ministry of the Church ? When we consider that a few years since there was only one resident parochial clergyman in the whole town of Taunton, is it a matter of surprise that there should be now ten dissenting meeting-houses, all within a very few hundred yards of the parish church pC"' I do not find fault with this; those who have dissented from the church have done no more than their duty ; the church, alas, has neglected hers ! Though no one can be more sensible than I am of the evils of division, or more desirous of unity in the church, I have never considered it any part of my duty to inveigh against those who dissent from us, in a parish where the church was inadequate to supply the spiritual food which the population needed. It has been my desu'e to remove the evil, instead of complaining of the consequences; to increase the powers of the churcii; to enlarge its tents, -H ^ ^ ^ ^ right or wrong, that they will, in order to show their ill-will and their consequence, withhold their Kaster oflerings, by way of punishment. Clergymen ought not to be exposed to the ill-nature and unchristianlike conduct of such individuals ; it is true, these offerings are especially exempted from the operation of the Tithe Commutation Act, and may be recovered before the justices of the peace, under the Small Tithes Act, by 4 & 5 Vict, c. 36 (See Burn's Ecclesiastical Law, ninth edition, by Dr. Phillimore). But who would like to engage in the disagrecahle duty of enforcing these **dues ?" Some further legislative enactment on this subject would be of service to the Church, and a great benefit to "poor vicars." i:i) ** Wherefore all they that have little mind or devotion to repair and build God's temple, are to he counted people of much ungodliness, spurning against good order in Christ's Church, despising the true honour of God, with evil example, offending and hindering their neighbours, otherwise well and godly disposed, 'i'he world thinketh it but a trifle to see their churches in ruin and decay. But whoso doth not lay to their helping hands, they sin against God and his holy congregation. For if it had not been sin to neglect and slightly regard the re-edifying and building up again of his temple, God would not have been so much grieved, and so soon have plagued his people, because they buildcd and decked their own houses so gorgeously, and despised the house of God their Lord- It is a sin and shame to see so many churches so ruinous, and so foully decayed, almost in every corner!" — Homily for Repairing and keeping Clean and Comely Adorning of Churches. t''l Not many years since there was only one duty at St. James's in this town, Tlie clergyman held two other cures in addition; and for the three seivices, after riding about twelve miles on a Sunday, received for his services about £()0. I am glad to say there are now eiglit clergymen in {he town. -^^^8S8^-Hrt(o«^^K--<388Se^)<^' ^ 7»( m ^ ^ 4" * T ^ ■nir; church of st. mauy maodalene. and strengthen its stakes, that it might be indeed the people's church, and thus to take away all reasonable pretence for separation. Restore to the clergy what they ought to enjoy, and they will then be able, without " pastoral aid," or " curates' fund" societies, to provide for the spiritual wants of their now, in many cases, destitute parishes. This is, however, I fear, a consummation devoutly to be wished, rather than seriously to be expected ; but are there no means by which the evil may be lessened, if not entirely removed? I ventured not long since to introduce to the notice of the Archbishop of Canterbury, a plan of which his grace was pleased to express his approval. It was to give a power to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to advance money to the patrons of livings, at a certain rate of interest, a portion of the principal to be paid off every year, and the whole in tliirty years, for the purchase of the great tithes of the parishes of which they are the patrons, for the purpose of again annexing them to the livhiff. The plan is precisely the same as that which enables incumbents to obtain aid for tlie erection of parsonage houses, under what is called the " Gilbert Act." I have reason to believe that if a plan sometliing like the one I have suggested were adopted, the tithes of many of our large and populous parishes would again gradually revert to their rightful owners.'"' " If lay-impropriators would but consider by what fraudulent means these tithes were originally taken from the church ; if they would but remember for how many centuries this property has been devoted to sacred purposes ; if they would but allow their minds to dwell upon the repulsive and startling effect which is produced by the fact, that where God once had all. He has now so little and they so much ; I cannot but think that what may not be rer[uired by justice would be supplied by piety, and that the offerings of a free-will devotion would, in a far more noble and effectual manner, do that which legislative enactments might perhaps do, but perhaps could not do without committing injustice."''*' "When Robert Boyle " understood what a ^ ^ f** Burnet states, in his memorial to tlie Princess Sophia, in 1703, as one consequence of the great titlies being diverted, " the poor curate, who says the prayers, hath scarcely bread to eat — a miserable case !" He further adds, that Queen Mary and Archbishop Tillotson were upon councils to have raised a fund to buy in the advowsons and impropriations so diverted, and to have " endowed the parochial churches with them again — God send it one day in your highness's power (p. 79.). — In 1663, the excellent mother of the heavenly-minded Nicholas Ferrar "came to a resolution to restore the glebe lands and tithes to the church of Little Gidding, which some fourscore years before had been taken away. Tlie following is an extract of the prayer which accompanied the gift: — " Be graciously pleased. Lord, to receive to the use of Thy church this small portion of that large estate which thou hast bestowed upon her, the unworthiest of Thy servants. Lord redeem Thy right, whereof Thou lust been too long disseised by the world, both in the possessions, and in the person of Thy hand-maid." — " Wordsworth's Eccles. Biog.," vol. v., p. 159. '''* Speech of James R, Hope, B.C.L., in the House of Lords, on behalf of the Deans and Chapters against the Ecclesias-tioal Duties and Revenues Bill. -r¥.-<^^^^^^- ^r¥.-<^m>-¥^^^omo^*^-<^^>^ W.' m THE CHUnCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. sliare he had in uupropriations, he ordered very large gifts to be made to the incumbents in those parishes, and to the widows of such as died Ijefore he had resolved on tliis charity." '''' How many widows' hearts would " dance for joy," and how many over-worked and ill-paid incumbents and poor vicars would gratefully acknowledge the justice and bless the memory of all who would " go and do likewise I" The Church has likewise suffered grievously from the abominal)le pew system — I mean not the building only, but the Church itself. Most cordially do I r joice at the war commenced against pews, and trust it will cease only with their entire extermination. " Perverted taste, perverted feeling, perverted |)rincij)les have reared them, and we have borne with yL them so long only because habit has accustomed us to this abomination." Among the many reasons that may be' advanced for their abolition, I would introduce the following : — 1. Because the pew si/ stem tends to keep the poor from our Church. It is painful to find how the affections of many of our poor are alienated from the Church of England, and, in many cases, this may be traced to the exclusive system unhappily introduced amongst us. The poor are almost literally shut out of our Church. One great box after another has been erected till there is no longer room for them ; or if " accommodation," as it is called, be found, it Is usually the furthest from the clergyman, or under a gallerj^, or in the darkest and coldest place In the church : sometimes stoves and tables are introduced into the rich man's pew, which, in addition to his crimson curtains, brass rods, and soft cushions, make a small sitting- room for his family. It is in vain to call the Church of England the poor man's Church whilst, upon her present system, she is emphatically the Church of the rich ! I believe it may be said that there is no other Church ^ in existence which thus favours the rich at the expense of inconveniencing the poor ! C"' This practice is severely censured by the Word of God. <■'' 2. Because pews occasion a loss of room in our churches. It is gratifying to see how many new churches are springing up in every part of our country. May this glorious work continue, till there shall be " a fold for eveiy sheep and a shepherd for every fold!" We must not, however, in our zeal for the erection of new churches, forget the old ones. Ought we not to make the most of the accommodation which they afford? In most old churches, by a different arrangement of pews, or, what would be much better, by ^ their entire destruction, a large increase of sittings might be obtained for ^ ^ r¥. '^' See " Burnet's Lives." •''I There were no free sittings for the poor in SL Mary's church previous to the present arrange- ment ; there are now between 300 and 400. The population of the parisli is 801 'J. 1'^' See James ii., 1^6. )»t-o^-^-<388SO--H*)l^' •-<38$S^)lt-<><^-)hcA> 0^)^K^888^-^«-^^S^ ^ ^ ^:- •i* ^v THE CHURCH OF ST. MARV MACDM.ENE. the benefit of tlic i)ari»!luoncrs. The fact has been clearly proved, that at least one-Jifth of the available space on the floor of a church is lost by the erection of pews.'"' 3. Because peics excite quarrels, and perpetuate angry feelinrjs. Any interference with a parish pew has been looked upon as a trespass and an invasion of rights, and been the fruitful source of most distressing scenes and excited feelings. A whole parish has sometimes been kept in a state of ferment for months, and even years, on account of some real or imaginary injury connected either with the erection or appropriation of a pew. Wliere is the clergyman who has not been called upon to endeavour to allay the bad feelings between his parishioners on this vexata qnastio ? How often has he been told by some unkind and unfeeling member of his flock, that he does not choose to come to church till the churchwardens have provided him a pew ! Oh, when will men learn wisdom, and cease to hazard their souls' eternal welfare by these unchristian and petty quarrels ? 4. Because peics afford every facility for irreverent behaviour. ^Tiat talking, sleeping, carving names, and all kinds of improprieties''' are some- " The fact is sufficient, that wliere 300 sit in large square pews, 400 can be accommodated in open benches, which are both cooler and really more comfortable." — " The Advantage of Open Seats," a paper read before the Kxeter Architectural Society, by the Reverend J. Medley, A.M. We hwe gained nearly -lOO additional sittings by the present arrangement ''•1 I have known of cases in which cards have been introduced. & I -^^omo#.H-^3888e>-' '-^< -rH-<3SS8C^-H-^<>»)l(-H--<^S88S^ ^ J7& THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. families, and are to be seen either quite empty or not nearly full ; and it is a rare event to find the individual who habitually absents himself from church, or has more room than he wants, offering to give up his unoccupied sittings so long as he can possibly retain thern."^ "■ It is a notorious fact, that the great sticklers for their vested rights as pew-owners are the most irregular attendants at church, and that many of them seldom enter it, — mighty supporters of the outer frame-work, hut caring nothing for that which is ' all glorious within ;' ready to spend their last shilling in defence of an illegal purchase, but indifferent to the ivelfare of hundreds of the poor, who have none to speak for them or appeal in behalf of their invaded rights F ^^'> This " dog and manger" system, as it has been called, has brought with it an innumerable train of evils. The rudeness sometimes shown to an individual, if he have unfortunately strayed into the wrong pew, is dis- tressing in the extreme. I have myself heard such unkind and ill-natured remarks, and witnessed such unbecoming scenes in churches which I have served, that the recollection at this moment fills me with pain and sorrow. <■'' I will only add, — 6. Because icherever open seats have been introduced, a large increase in the congregation, especially of the poor, has invariably followed. What is the great object of the Christian ministry ? The glory of God in the salvation of souls ! Everything, therefore, that is conducive to this great end must be a blessing. The most pleasing results have followed In all churches where pews have been abolished.'''' There has always been a large augmentation of regular attendants upon the preaching of that Word " wliich is able to make men wise unto salvation, through faith wliich is in Christ Jesus." It may be asked, do we really propose that the congregation should seat themselves where and how they can, as places may happen to be vacant? By no means. All that we insist on is, the necessity of getting rid of *** I have been informed of a parish in this diocese, the church of which is seldom little more than half full, yet the proprietor of a boarding-school is obliged to take his pupils to church by turns, i. c, half in the morning and half in the evening, because the accommodating ^ew-holdeis will not allow them to occupy the empty seats! Would that this were a solitary Cdse ! Does it not call for episcopal interference ? Who, that has any love to God or man, would wish to see such an abominable system continued ? ""I See Reverend J. Medley, on the subject of Open Seats. (^' I have on several occasions been obliged to stop the ser\"ice, in consequence of some dispute between the rival occupants of a pew. CI Tlie Rev. J. Medley has most satisfactorily shown, in the paper already referred to, and which 1 should like to see circulated in the shape of a tract, — " That the pew system is not only contrary to all sound principles of architecture, and fatal to all excellence in the interior .Trrangement of a church, but that it is alike inconvenient, illegal, and michristian, and that the arguments in its favour, and the objections raised against the system of open seats, properly understood, are fallacirus and untenable." ■^>o ^• ^^888S^-H-)>(^»>)H-H-^3888S>-' ^. m ^ ¥ th A.. ^ THE CIIUIICII OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. distinctions between rich and poor in the house of God, of affording accom- modation to all, and of destroying the great unsightly packing-boxes wliich at present deform our churches. Every householder in the parish should have a definite jilace allotted to him for himself and family. Let our seats be ajipropriated, but let them be unenclosed; of one imiform pattern, and so arranged that high and low, rich and poor, "shall worship one with another." Courtesy and regidarity ■would assign seats which would not be distiu'bed. There must, however, be 7w exclusion. With regard to the chstribution of seats at St. Mary's, the Bishop proposes, when our repairs and restorations are comjjleted, to issue a conmiission for the purpose of appropriating them to the parisliioners. The conmiissioncrs will therefore relieve the churchwardens from a very onerous duty : they will, it is supposed, allot to those who are regular attendants at church a sufficient luunber of sittings for their accommodation. Those who do not attend the cliurch cannot, of coiu-sc, need them ; nor -will any have more sittings than they actually require for their own use. The system of monopolising and trafficking''* in seats will, it is hoped, be for ever abolished, and that, in accordance with the principles of om* holy faith, the injunctions of the Church, and the law of the land,' (b) it we s hall not overlook the claims of all the parishioners to be seated, if sittings can be afforded them." I here give several extracts from the judgment of Sir John Nicholl, in the Arches Court, in the case of Fuller v. Lane, ii., 419, as to the law of parish pews : — "By the general law, and of common right, all the pews in a parish church are the common property of the parish : they are for the use, in 4» ^- <"' I am acquainted with a church, not many miles from Taunton, in which the pews, a few years since, were claimed by six or eight individuals. In the same parish an individual who purchased a seat of the churchwardens for a few shillings, immediate!}* went atid sold it to a gentleman for Jiv.' pounds, of course pocketing the difference. "While I am writing these pages, a spinster has applied to the churchwardens to have certain sittings hitherto standing in her name transferred to some other party, she being about to leave the town. Thii has usually ht-en done on payment of hdlf-a-crown. The churchwardens very properly fold her that they could now do no such thing. She said she thought it was a very hard case, for she had lost five sittings already, and hod only eleven Uft .' There is another practice connected with pews, very injurious to the interests of the Church of England, and which, by throwing the seats open, would in some measure be prevented. In large towns wliere there are several churclies, it is not an unusual practice for persons to hold pews at each church ; so that on one Sunday they are at one church, and the next at another, — here in the iDoming, there in the evening, just as they may be attracted by their favourite preacher, or, as a person told me the other day, he came to SL Marj-'s once a quarter, just to assert his right to his pew ! — and he might have added, "for the pleasure it will give me of turning out intrudtrs." If such semi-churchmen did but consult their own edification — value the esteem of their own clergy — desire the welfare of the Cliurch^or wish to render obedience to the law of the land, they would do what their duty bids them, — attend their proper place of worship, the parish church. I'') Fuller V. Lane, 2 Add. Kep., 424. 28 *H')«e«-)i^*-4-^3888^- ^ TlIP; CIIURLH OF ST. MAIIY MAGDALENE. l¥: * & common, of the parishioners, who are all entitled to be seated orderly and conveniently, so as best to provide for the accommodation of all The churchwardens are bound in particular not to accommodate the higher classes bci/oiid their real tcanfs, to the exclusion of their poorer neighbours. No faculty is deemed here, or at conmion law, good, to the extent of entitling any person who is a non-parishioner to a seat even in the body of the chvu-ch. " Whenever the occupant of a seat in the body of the church ceases to be a parishioner, his right to the pew, however founded, and how valid soever dming liis continuance in the parish, at once ceases, though the contrary is very often supposed ; as for instance, that he may sell or assign it, or let it to rent, as part and jtarcel of his property in the parish. " The result, on the whole, of these faculties is, that in many churches the parishioners at large are deprived, in a great degree, of suitable accom- modation, by means of exclusive rights to pews, either actually vested in particidar families, by faculty or prescription, or at least, and wliicli is the same thing as to any practical result, supposed to be so vested. I add this last, because in very manj' instances these exclusive rights are merely r^-^^ suppositious, and would turn out, upon investigation, to be no right at all. •^Sj^^ With respect to the poor, indeed, every possible reason exists why no ^ concessions shoidd be made at all likely to infringe upon their due accommo- ^ dation in the several parish chm'ches. It is to be presumed that they arc the persons most in want of religious instruction ; and their title as such to receive it is expressly recognised by the divine Founder of Christianity himself." How many evils have been introduced and continued in the Church of England, and how many magnificent and costly structm'es have been allowed to fall into ruin, in consequence of the apathy and indifference of her professed members! She has indeed suffered from the ravages of Popery, from the violence of fanaticism, from the inroads of dissent; but, after all, her greatest foes have been those of her own house. There have not been wanting men who have boasted of their orthodoxy and churchmanship, and theu- love of the venerable institutions of their country, and their dread of any supposed innovation ; but who, alas ! have seldom shown the sinceiity of these professions by any corresponding fruits. It too frequently happens that the man who is the loudest in his profession of attachment to the Chm'ch is the least willing to support it. Ask him to contribute of the abundance with which the Lord hath blessed liim, and then, like the shade of Creusa — " Deseruit, tenuesque recessit in auras." ^. ^ >^-<>^<>^-<^888^^^<>^)lrH-K^8S8S-^ -)f(oMo & -<^888^-H-^<>M<>r<^"H--38^^ m>o THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. Oh, that all the nominal members of the Church, and ministers of the Church, the reformed Catholic Church of our land, breathed the full spirit of her formularies, imbibed the full power of her doctrines, and cxemphfied theii" full force in their lives I Then no labour woidd be esteemed too great, no sacrifice too severe, in order to advance her welfare and increase her usefidness. Tlie unhappy divisions by which the Church of England is rent in twain is a source of deep regret and of much anxiety, not only to her professed members, but to all who desire the welfare of our common coimtry. It requires but little sagacity or foresight to perceive how these things must terminate if peace be not speedily restored, and if Infinite Mercy prevent not. The lip of Truth has said — and who shall gainsay it ? — " A house divided against itself cannot stand." We would have all things done "decently and in order," because the Church herself enjoins it, and the word of God commands it ; but surely the judgment and prudence of those may be questioned who seek the revival of ornaments and ceremonies many of which are of doubtfid authority, wliile others are acknowledged to be "things indifferent in themselves," especially when their introduction cannot at the present time but be injurious to the interests of the church. '^^ If wisdom be given to our rulers to discern the signs of the times and allow to public opinion its due weight, the Anglican church may yet be saved. But it is quite clear, that if they do not take up the matter, others will; and that what might have been, by God's blessing, wisely arranged by those to whom it more especially belongs to order such matters, will be left to the chances of popular discussion and the decisions of an unsuitable tribunal. The safety and usefulness of the Church consist not in her rejection or adoption of these outward observances, but in the Divine blessing and her spiritual eflSciency. If it be right to agitate the revival of these matters, the present is certainly not the convenient season. The people of the country are perisliing for lack of knowledge; they are asking for bread, — it were cruel to give them a stone. They are craving for spiritual sustenance, — we should not offer them a scorpion. If we must contend, let it not be for the introduction of crosses or surjjlices, candlesticks or credence-tables, but for "the faith once deUvered to the saints." If we '•) " Whatever little advantages may be compassed by these practices, they are certainly very dangerous ones, as tending to divide that Church whose only strength and safety consist in its union. These projects have been once already tried, with a very lamentable success. For the miseries of the Civil War were not owing to the separatists and sectaries (for these were afterwards brooded in Cromwell's army), but to the quarrels and distinctions made between Church-of-England men themselves. These unhappy differences kindled Ihe first coals of the Civil War, and blowed up the whole nation into flames. And if this be not warning svfficient against trying the like eiperi- metitt in future, J know not what iV— Dr. NichoU, on the Common Prayer, Pref Ed. 1710. -^IH3$88e>-4-*^<><^7f(-^ ^ ^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAODALENE, must strive, let it be who shall most advance the welfare of the Church, by the multiplication of her temples, the education of her children, the augmentation of her bishops, priests, and deacons, and the advancement of every other oljject that will most facilitate and best secure the publication of that Word by which alone men must be saved. These objects would, indeed, be worth contending for, not by men only, but by the angels in heaven. Let the Church attempt great things, and expect great things. She is not straitened in God, but in herself. Her field of toil is the " world." Let her spliere of action be enlarged, her charity expanded, till this scene of her labom's shall bud and blossom as the garden of the Lord. In her triumphant march to subdue all to the sceptre of the Redeemer's grace, let her remember that, in the memorable words of Bishop Hall, there must be " no peace with Rome ;" Popery must be destroyed, it cannot be reformed. Blessed be God, the spirit that rose up at the call of Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, breathes in the Church of England still, and, at whatever cost, will stand between the ti'uth and Rome. The Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, is the only weapon which the Saviour authorises and the Holy Ghost will bless. <"' Jesus lifted up from the earth must still di-aw all men to himself. The bleeding Cross is still the banner Ln whose sign we overcome ; the love of Chi'ist must still be the constraining motive. I still hope we can see, amid these alarming tokens of strife and wrath, signs of better things and a brighter day, ivhen our breaches shall he healed and when tve shall be thorouf/hh/ humbled and penitent. Do we not, in the midst of the spiritual sterility which the judicial withholding of the dew of God's blessing has brought upon the Church and the world, discern " a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand?" — a token that the heavens shall again be opened, and copious showers of grace be once more outpoiu'cd upon the Church, to refresh the parched and withered soil, and to make it once more bring forth the mani- fold fruits of the Spirit, to the glory of Clu-ist and the blessing of His people ? Amid the conflicting opinions and unseemly dissensions by wliich the Church is divided, disijnieted, and injm-ed, there are still those who are attached to her doctrines and her discipline, her ceremonies and her fomnilaries — men who value their pri\ileges, who are awake to a sense of their responsibilities, and who desire to co-oiwratc with her in the glorious work of encircling the earth with the sacred girdle of evangelical truth and apostolic order.""' I»> " Our weapons are faith, hope, charity, righteousness, truth, patience, prayer unto God ; and our sworde, wherewith we smite our enemies, we beate and hatter, and beare down all falsehoode, is the IVordf nf Cod. With these weapons, under the banner of the Crosse of Christe we do fight, ever having our eye upon our Grand Master, Duke, and Captiin — Christe." — Ridley, liishop and Martyr. t**) To every colony of Britain she has resolved, God being her helper, to send forth a bishop. ^ L -)f^-<^888^-H^o< m >^)l^-H-^^888^^ ^ <>^>o THE CHURCH OF ST. MARV MAGDALENK. The conllUC^-*- -^.-<3^8^-H7l«A>))r-4 f THE CHURCH OF ST. MAI!Y MAGDALENE. ^ 4* 4. ^^ ?^ linen for the communion. To a few young men my thanks are also offered for their kind present of a splendidly-bound bible, prayer-book, and altai- scr\'ices, and to ^Ir. Davis, buUder, of this town, for two handsome chairs to be placed within the communion enclosure. To the churchwardens of the parish, Messrs. Cox, Easton, and Jeboidt, my especial acknowledgments are due, and are here most willingly and cordially offered, for the great aid they have rendered me on this occasion, and for the diligent, patient, and unwearied manner in which tliey have ilischarged the difficult duties of their office. To the various religious communities in the town, I take this opportunity of stating how much I appreciate the kindly feelings they have manifested, and the assistance they have afforded me in the restoration of the parish church. To the niunerous subscribers to this work, and to those who have kindly contributed to the Eestoration Fund, I here present my grateful thanks. The whole of the expenses connected ^vith tliis undertaking is likely to exceed seven thousand pounds, upwards of four thousand of which had to be provided on the responsibility of the vicar alone. This sum is much larger than was at first contemj)lated, and I regret that there is still a large deficiency to be provided for; I hope, however, that my friends, and those of the Chm'ch, will not be " weary in well doing," but that they wiU aid, by their exertions and contributions, the advancement of that day — which wiU be the happiest one in my life — when the chiu'ch of St. ilary Magdalene shall be completely finished, and the cliiu-ch account balanced. To my parishioners — those over whom the " Holy Ghost hath made me overseer" — ^my thanks are due for the interest they have felt, and the good feeling they have shown, in tliis undertaking. Few have lieen the differ- ences of opinion that have existed among us — especially latterly ; the wonder has been, tlmt in a large parish like this, and in a work of such magnitude, they should have been so few. Nothing has occurred, and I trust never will occur, to interrupt the harmony of our friendship, or impede our usefulness ; we shall, I hope, though we may occasionally chffer on other matters, be always found united in any effort to promote the welfai'e of the town and the interests of moi-ality and religion. We have been engaged in a work of which we may justly feel proud ; om* chiu"ch is not only the glorj- of the town, but of the surroimcUng country ; and it is to be hoped that what we have done will have the effect of inducing the parishes in our neighbom-hood to foUow our example. Above all, it wiU call down the Divine approbation, and I take it to be the happy prelude of brighter and better days for the Church of England in this parish. AYlien we are slumbering in the sUent tomb, many shall rise up to call God blessed )^ ^ y^ ^4^-^88^-H7«^^^>^^^>-^^3888S^' 33 ^ P^)^-<>^^-^K^888^^-^<><^)frH--<3888^ ^ ^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. iu this temple of his gi'ace. Oh ! it is the cheering thought that many precious souls shall be born there that has animated and cheered us on in our difficult, and sometimes almost insiu-niountable, path. Suffer, however, the word of affectionate exliortation. Take care that you never again allow your chui'ch to fall into a state of dilapidation. Not only will its condition be the criterion of your own rehgion, but the mode of conducting Divine Service and every- thing else in the parish will be sure to be influenced by it. Cheerfully con- tribute to its support — away with the utilitarian view that considers anything good enough for a church ! Let us serve God, not only with the best member that we have, but provide everything of the best for His service. Love yom* chiu-ch ; dibgently attend the services performed there ; pray for a blessing on the labom-s of the clergy, " and we beseech you, brethi'en, to know them wliich labom* among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you ; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work sake. And be at peace anrong yourselves." Your own interests are identified with her welfare : " they shall prosper that love Thee !" As it was in the first ages of the Church, so it is now. " Not by power or by might, but my spu'it, saith the Lord." Without the influences of God's Holy Spirit, om- "beautifid house" will be bereft of its glory; it will be the casket without tlie precious jewel ; hke the parched and barren soil without the gentle dew or the fertilising influences of the sun. So will all our efforts be, without the dew of God's blessing and the llfe-givinsr influences of the sun of righteousness. May God, in his abimdant mercy bestow upon us " showers of blessings," and make the Church of our fathers — nay, our own Church — to us and our children, none other than the house of God and the gate of Heaven ! MS!Uililll/;'//M% ^ ^ ^ .^^.. ■^ •^ii^TSA. !S>V, 2 P <1 M o ta H A )J^-<3S8S^-H')«^^^^»^- 9toDitional i^otice^ connecteii tuitt) St* i^rg'si (itt)mcf) anti ti^e ^oiuu of Taunton* ^ I ^ -^ ^ N^ Suffragan Bishops— Archdeacons— Biographical Notices of the Vicars of St. Mary's— Momimeptal Inscriptions, &c. N the year 1535 an Act was passed by the Legislature, setting forth that certain dioceses in England required the aid of Assistant or ^uffrapn 23tsfiopS, who were to be "honest, discreet, spiritual persons, learned, and of good conversation." The bishop of the diocese was to name a fit and proper person as his suffragan, who was to be approved by the King, and by him recommended to the Archbishop of Cantei'bury for consecration. V Taunton is one of the places appointed as the see of such bishops. In the year 1538, William Finche, Prior of Breniar, was con- secrated Bishop of Taunton, to act as a suffragan to the Bishoj) of Bath and Wells. We are not able to furnish the names of liis successors. The Act authorising the appointment of suffragan bishops was repealed in 1553, after the accession of Queen ilary, but revived again in 1559, under Ehzabeth, and is still in force. It is much to be desired that the powers conferred by it were again enforced ; for that there has long been a general desu'e for adthtional bishops in the Anglican Church is unquestionable. The population of England and Wales at the passing of the above Act did not, perhaps, exceed two or three millions ; it now probably amounts to sixteen. If we compare the duties of the EngUsh and Irish bishops, we shall find the latter, after the reduction in the number of sees by the Act in 1833, supcrintenchng, on an average, about one hundred incumbents each ; while the English dioceses contain, on an average, fom- hundred and -^-^^SSSO-H-^^M^^*^ ^ -tJ^-<^SS8^- =«7lto<»o^(.^-<38SS^)H- -)J^.v Robert Phillimore, Advocate in Doctors' Com- mons, &c., vol. i., p. 21-6. The clumsy piece of legisbition, in the shape of the " Ecclesiastical Functions Act," is, as it deserves, justly and universally reprobated. One fruit of tliis measure is the proposal that the see of Bath and Wells should be united to that of Salisbury ! When a bishop is incapacitated by age or infirmity IVoiii discharging the duties of his office with comfort to himself or benefit to the Church, why cannot he be allowed to r<»>)t(-H---3888^^^' ¥ W: ^♦H388SS^-H*^^«o)>^'H- ^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MAUY MAGDAl.ENF.. Walter St. Quintin, 1244. He died 15th Cal. Jan. (Dec. 18th), 1263. William Biu-nell, it is believed, was the next. He was arclideacon in 1 294. Gilbert de Molendinis was instituted 17 Cal. Jun. (May 16th), 1298. Peter de Aveburi, 1301. Henry de Chanington, 1308. Robert Harewood, Dec. 12th, 1320. William Thi-inghuU, 1371. Thomas Arundel was made Archdeacon of Taunton at the age of 22, 1373. He was the son of Robert Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, and was consecrated Bishop of Ely on the 6th of April, 1375. In 1380 he was made Lord Chancellor of England, and translated to the see of York on the 3rd of April, 1388 ; and was the first that was ever removed from thence to Canterbury. He received his pall on the 19th of February, 1396. He resigned to Richard II. his post of Lord Chancellor, which he had held for ten years. Being convicted of liigh treason (with the Earl of Arundel, his brother, who was beheaded), he fled to Rome, and his see was given to Roger Walden, Dean of York. Arundel was, however, restored by Henry IV. on his accession to the throne, for which favour the necessary steps were taken to procure of the clergy a tenth for the crown as a subsidy. The king, not contented with a tenth, afterwards attempted to obtain greater subsidies from the clergy ; but the archbishop vigorously opposed them, urging, among other reasons, that though the clergy did not serve personally in the king's wars, yet they were not idle, inasmuch as they daily prayed for the king and the realm, as well in time of peace as war. To which the prolocutor of the house of convocation, Sir John Cleyn, replied, " It was no matter for their prayers, so the king might have their money." This prelate severely punished the Lollards or Wickliffites, and forbad the translation of the Bible into the English language. He died on the 20th of February, 1413, exactly a month before King Henry IV., and was buried in the cathedral church of Canterbury ; to which he had built a fine spire, called to this day Arundel steeple. He left to his palace at Ely a magnificent table, ornamented with gold and precious stones, originally belonging to the King of Spain, and sold by the Black Prince to this bishop for 300 marks. He had the generosity to obtain, by his influence, the see of London for Roger Walden, his adversary, who had succeeded him in the see of Canterbury, after his flight to Rome, but was dispossessed of it on his restoration. Neapohtanus Cardinalli?, 1383. Ralph de Ergham, 1391. He was elected Bishop of Salisbury in 1375, from which see he was translated to that of Bath and Wells in 1388. He built the inn, called the George, in Wells, and erected in that city a college, at the end of a lane, called College Lane, for fourteen priests ; gave ornaments and plate to the church to the value of £140, and appropriated to the ch.ipter the parsonage of Pucklechurch. He died in 1401, Thomas Polton or Pulton, Aug. 12th, 1403. He Mas D'jan of York ; Bishop of Hereford, 1420 ; Bishop of Chichester, 1423 ; K^888^-H-^^^#>^H-^3888£^^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. from which see he was translated to that of Worcester, 1426. and was buried in that city. He died at Rome, Nicholas Calton, Sept. 1st, 1416. Adam Molines, LL.D., 14-40. He died in 1440. He was of the baronial family of the ^lolines ; Dean of Salisbury ; Bishop of Chichester, 1445 ; and Lord Privy Seal. He was slain at Portsmouth by mariners sA^ hired for that purpose by Richard, Duke of York, 1445. Andrew Hales was admitted Jan. 19tli, 1445; Archdeacon ofWells, 1450. Robert Stlllington, LL.D., was collated April 20th, 1450 ; Archdeacon of WeUs, 1465. He was Keeper of the Privy Seal and Lord Chancellor of England ; was con- secrated Bishop of Bath and Wells, 16th of March, 1466, in the room of John Phreas, who had been elected, but died before consecration. This bishop firmly adhered to the house of York, against that of Lancaster, and countenanced Lambert Simnell in opposing Henry Yll., for which he was imprisoned at Windsor in 1487, and, after four years' confinement, died in May, 1491. He was buried in the chapel of Our Lady, in the cloister of Wells cathedral, which he himself had built, and which was afterwards destroyed (together with the great wall of the palace), by Sir John Yates ; and within the memory of those who had seen his funeral, his bones were turned out of the leaden coffin in which they were interred. Richard Langport, INIay 14th, 1487. Ohver Iving was instaOed July 12th, 1490. He was sometime Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and Registrar of the Order of the Garter, and Canon of Windsor ; one of the Prebendaries of St. Paul's ; elected Bishop of Exeter, 1492, from which see he was translated to that of Bath and Wells, in 1495 ; and Secretary of State to Edward IV. and V., and to Henry VII. He laid the foundation of a new abbey church at Bath. ^ WilHam Worsley, LL.D., was admitted Feb. 18th, 1492. Robert Sherburn, A.M., was installed Dec. 16th, 1496. Jolm Ednam, S.T.P., was installed May 27th, 1505. Robert Honywood, LL.D., was installed Aug. 18th, 1509. He died Jan. 22nd, 1522, and was buried at Windsor. Thomas Cranmer, S.T.P., succeeded in 1522, and in 1533 was made Archbishop of Canterbury. He was born at Aslaeton, in Nottinghamshire, and was Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. He was a theological and polemical writer, eminent for his piety and learning, and for being the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury ; but his political character, on account of the variations of his conduct, is differently treated by historians and controversial writers. He assisted in setting up Lady Jane Grey, for which treason Queen Mary pardoned him, but had him burnt for heresy at Oxford, 21st of March, 1556, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. -38S8^-H- t^38^^-H-^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ y^ K^888^-H'^<><&^H--^8S8^>-^ ^ TlIK cmilini OF ST. MAKY MAOPAI.KN E. John Redrnayne was Archdeacon of Taunton in 1547. It is iincertain how long before this lie lieltl this office, or -wlicther ihrre wore any lietween him and Cranmer. He died in November, lo51, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. John Fitzjamcs, A.M., May 22nd, 1554. Justinian Lancaster, 1560. Philip Bisse, S.T.P., was installed May 28tli, 1584. He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford ; was a learned man, and a great lover of books. He had an extensive library, which, at his death, he bequeathed to Wadham College, Oxford, then newly founded, in which is preserved his portrait at full-length, given by the foundress. He died in ]Gl;i, and was buried in the chancel of Batcombe church, in this county, where there is an inscription to his memory. Matthew Sutcliffc, LL.D., was installed Jan. 30th, 1586. Peter Lilyc, S.T.P., 1604. He died in 1614. Samuel "Ward, S.T.P., was installed April 29th, 1615. He was Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, chaplain-extraordinary to King James I. and one of the four divines sent by him to the synod of Dort. He wrote several tracts, and some valuable manuscripts of his are now in Emanuel College, Cam- bridge, of which he was Fellow. In 1()(>9 he became Master of Sidney College, in that university. He assisted in translating the Bible, and was a most excellent governor and exact disciplinarian. Being one of the assembly of divines, and of the religious committee, he was, therefore, esteemed a puritan. But in the civil wars of Charles I. he was one of those who consented tliat the college plate should be coined for the use of his majesty ; for which he was deprived of his ecclesiastical preferments, March 30th, 1C48, when he was plundered and cast into prison, where he contracted a disease which put a period to his life, in great poverty, about six weeks after his release. Several of his letters are in the collection of Archbishop Usher. William Piers, S.T.P., was installed Dec. 19th, 1643. He was the eldest son of Dr. William Piers, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and was rector of Kingsbury. He was eminent for his abilities and virtues, yet in 1G54 lie was sequestered from his preferments, and, for mere subsistence, married a low woman, who had a little farm, on which he laboured, thrashing his own corn, and selling his apples, butter, eggs, poultry, clieese, &-c., in the markets of Ilminster and Taunton ; but worse misfortunes befel him, for he became godfather to a child called Charles, and for this suffered imprisonment, from which he was not released till the restoration of Charles II., when he was made doctor in divinity, prebendary of Wells, and rector of Christian-Malford, in Wiltshire. He died in April, 1G82, aged seventy, and is buried in Wells cathedral, where there is an inscription to his memory. Edward Waple, S.T.P., installed April 22nd, 1682. Edmund Ai-cher, S.T.P., was mstalled July 26th, 1712. om^^^ -^^-<3888^-H^^W^^»^-<^S88^- 7tt^888^-H7ie>«c^H-^^8S8^H»f THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. ^ ^ George Atwood, S.T.P., 1722. Lionel Seaman, M.A., 1753. Francis Potter, M.A., 1758. William Wilies, M.A., 1761. Thomas Camplin, LL.D., 1767. John Turner, M.A., 1780. George Trevelvan, LL.15., son of Sir John Treveljan, Bait., 1817. Anthony Hamilton, A.M., Precentor and Canon Pes. of Lichfield, &c. ^ t &>o Kd ^ ^ ?t( )H Y The following is a list of the J^itHXS of St. Mary ilagdalene, Taunton, from the year 1558, when the parish registers commenced : — ■ Dowel was vicar. He was succeeded by Thomas Woodland, Oct., 1568. He died 1604. John Goodwin, D.D., 1604. Edward Clark, March, 1628. He is said to have been a pious and learned man, and was succeeded by George Newton, Jan. 16, 1631. He was a native of Devonshire, and was born in 1602. He began his ministry at Bishop's Hull, near Taunton, and was presented to this vicarage by Sir William Portnian and Mr. Robert Hill. When the "Book of Sports" came out, by order of Council, in the reign of Charles 1., and was commanded to be read in churches, he told his congregation that he read this book as the commandments of men ; and he then immediately read the twentieth chapter of Exodus, as the commandments of God ; but as these liappened to be contradictory to each other, he acquainted the people that they were at liberty to choose which they liked best. In the time of the civil commotions, when Taunton became the seat of war, he spent a vcar or two at St. Alban"s, in Hertfordshire, and preached in the aboey church there ; but some time after the famous siege was raised, he returned to his charge, with two or three other ministers who had accompanied him in his absence. His preaching was plain, profitable, and successful. He was eminent for his meekness and prudence, and kept out of Taunton those divisions that did so mucli mischief in other places. In 1654 he was, by ordinance of parliament, one of the assistants to the commissioners for ejecting scandalous, ignorant, and insufficient ministers and schoolmasters. By the act of uniformity he was deprived of his living ; but after he was silenced, convinced that it was his duty to continue his ministry, he took care to preach at those times when he might be least exposed ; but notwithstanding his caution, lie was apprehended for preaching, and imprisoned for several jTnrs. After he obtained his liberty, he became the first pastor of the congregation at Patd's Meeting, in Paul Street, in this town, sometime between 1672 and 1677. He died June 12th, 1681, aged seventy-nine, and was buried in the chancel of St. Mary's Church. His works were, " An Exposition and Notes on the seventeenth chapter of John," folio; "The Christian's character epitomised, a sermon on Psahn xci.,v. 16." "A sermon at the funeral of Mr. Joseph Allein, and an account of his life;" " A sermon ^ -^K^888^-H^^<>^f^<>^^^X^88S^-4-«')lt<>» ^ ^ TIIK CllUncri OF ST. MARY MAHDALENE. at the funeral of Lady Farewell;" and "A thanksgiving sermon, on the lltli of May." lie had, during his incumbency, two very pious and zealous assistants, viz. — 1. Tristram Welman, who was brother to Edmund Welnian, Esq., of Ilminster, and of the Rev. Tiiomas Welman, vicar of Luppitt, near Iloniton, who was preaching in St. James's church on the very day the siege of Taunton was raised by the parliamentary army, in 1C45, he was a pious and learned divine, and nephew of Mr. Simon Welman, of Taunton, the ancestor of the respectable family of Welman, of Poundisford Park, and of Isaac Welman, of Upcott House, near Bishop's- Ilull, the son of Simon Welman, and who first occupied the mansion at Poun- disford. Tristram was equally eminent with his brother Thomas for his talents, benevolence, and piety. He preceded the Rev. Joseph Allein as assistant to the Rev. George Newton ; was married, and appears to have died somewhat suddenly in 1C50. His uncle, Simon Welman, with his ftnnily, then living at Taunton, were regular attendants at St. Mary's church, where most of his children were baptized, married, and buried, and he himself was interred here the 14th of October, 1670. 2. Joseph Allein. He was born at Devizes, in Wiltshire, and was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. In H).')5, he became assistant to Mr. Newton. He was a faithful and zealous minister, diligent in preaching and catechising in the church, and visiting " from house to house," testifying to all the " glorious Gospel of the blessed God." After a life of suffering for conscience' sake, he died at the early age of thirty-five years, and was buried within the communion rails at St. Mary's Church. Emanuel ShariJC, April, 1663. The father of this gentleman dying in possession of the rectory of Badialton, left him the advowson, of which he was deprived till the Restoration, and his family, consisting of a wife and five children, were forced to spin for a livelihood. During the Cromwell usurpation he wandered up and down Devonshire, teaching school at Dipford, Ugbrook, and Dartmouth. A great man offered him preferment if he would give up his principles, but he refused it on such terms. He retired at last to Marldon, which is a chapelry belonging to the vicarage of Paingtcn, where he found quiet and support until the Restoration, when he not only enjoyed Badialton, but obtained this vicarage. He died 1670, and was buried in the chancel of the church. Walker says he was a learned man, of a sober and very exemplary con- versation. William Cross, B.D., Feb., 1679. Walter Harte, M.A., Nov., 1683. Buried in Nov., 1683. )i^ ^ He was also a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, prel)endary of Wells, and canon of Bristol. Refusing to take the oaths at the revolution, he lost all his preferments ; and retiring to Kentbur)', in Berkshire, he remained there till his death, February 10th, 1736, at the great age of ninety-five. He was regarded as a principal pillar of the nonjuring cause. It is a remarkable circumstance, and deserving of being perpetuated, as conferring equal honour on all the parties, that the three successors of Bishop Ken, the great friend of Mr. Harte, — Kidder, Hooper, 7f^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^88S^-H7^W'^^-^-<^^^^^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. and W)'nn, all contrived that he should receive the profits of his prebend of Well-;, so long as he lived. There are two engraved portraits of Mr. Harte, the first when he was in his thirty-ninth year, 1685, engraved by Hibbart, after Zelman; and the other, inscribed " Macarius," a smill head-piece, in his son's book, called " The Amaranth." Richard Doble, 1690. It is said the parish made liim uneasy and he resigned, 1695. Nathaniel Markwick, Oct., 1695. Resigned, 170.3. It is stated that the condiict of his curate led to his resignation. He was author of two volumes of tracts on the Seventy Weeks of Daniel, the Apocalyptic Visions, S:c. He was esteemed a man of extraordinary piety, and is said to have had no other motive fur resigning his vicarage than his inability lo effect the spiritual improvement of his parishioners to the extent of his wishes. Thomas Gale, April, 1703. Buried, October, 1727. John Boswell, A.M., October, 1727. This gentleman was descended from the family of the Boswells, in Gloucester- shire, and was born at Dorchester, January 23rd, 1098. He was educated at Abbey-Milton school, in Dorsetshire, under the Rev. George Marsh ; was entered of Baliol College, Oxford, and a commoner in the same house. He did not take his bachelor's degree till 1720, being called away from college to be tutor to Lord Kinnaird. He took his master's degree at St. John's College, Cambridge ; was ordained deacon by Dr. Potter, Bishop of Oxford, in Christ-Church, Oxford, and priest, at Wells, by Dr. Hooper, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He was presented to the living of St. Mary Magdalen, by Henry Portman, Esq., in October, 1727. His other preferment was a prebend in the cathedral church of Wells. He died in June, nc>6, aged fifty-eight. — In the year 17-50, he published a sermon on Psalm xvi. 7, preached on the anniversary of King Charles II. 's Restoration. In 1738, there appeared from his pen the first part and first volume of " A Method of Study, or an Useful Library ;" containing short directions, and a catalogue of books, for the study of several valuable parts of learning, namely, geography, chronology, history, classical learning, natural philosophy, painting, architecture, and heraldry. The author professes that his view, in this work, was to assist poor clergymen in their studies, and to induce young gentlemen to look into books. The plan he pursued, was to point out the chief particulars necessary to be known in several useful parts of learning, and to prescribe a method for acquiring them. To tliis end he recommends such books as treat of them, lays down the order in which they should be read, attempts a character of each, and points out their peculiar excel- lencies. In 1743 Mr. Boswell gave to the public the second part and second volume of his " Method of Study." The study of divinity is the subject of this volume ; and the particular topics discussed are the rise of the Hebrew tongue, the duties of the ministerial functions, natural and revealed religion : the chapter on the last head includes a discourse on the heathen oracles, and miracles, and some remarks on Mr. Sale's "Strictures" on Dr. Prideaux's "Life of Mahomet;" and it is followed by a dissertation on the resemblance between the sacred and profane account of things. Mr. Boswell designed a third volume, on the reading of the 7lfH-<^888^-' T ^-■<38888>--^«-Hto<»o)»^H--<3S88C^)»^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALKNE. -^<^ Scriptures, and on the doctrine and constitution of the Church of Enjjland, with a dissertation on the Assyrian empire; but never published it. This work shows the author's learning ; but the utility of it is now, in a great measure, superseded by the projjress of knowledge, and the publication, since its appearance, of many treatises on the dili'erent parts of science, much superior to those which it recom- mends. Mr. Boswell had the reputation of being a good scholar, and excelled in a proper and graceful pronunciation in the pulpit and the desk. "William Cliafin, Nov., 17.56. Resigned, June, 180.3. Fraiiois Hunt Clapp, July, 1803. Died, Oct. 19tli, 1818, and was buried within the communion rails on the north side. lie was six j-ears curate and sixteen vicar. The vicarage was augmented during his incumlicncy. He was the youngest son of Robert Ciapp, Esq., of Salcombe, in the county of Devon ; the family resided many years on their own property at Salcombe. The original name of the family was Clappa, and dates its descent from Osgod Clappa, master of the horse of Edward the Confessor. Robert Clapp, father of the late vicar, married Mary, daughter of George Hunt, Esq., of Park, in the county of Devon, who on her mother's side was descended from the family of Wyk, or Weeks, in Devonshire, who possessed estates granted to their ancestors by William the Conqueror, one of which, called " Tawmill," still remains in the family. The Rev. Francis Hunt Clapp married Sarah, daughter of John Hippesley Brice, Esq., of Shepton-Mallet, and granddaughter of Roger Hoare, Esq., for many years clerk of the castle in Taunton, by whom he had one daughter ; he was survived four years by his only brother, George Hunt Clapp, Esq., of Park, Devonshire, barrister-at-law. Henry Bower, A.^L, Queen'.s College, Oxford, chaplain to the Earl of" Roseberry, April, 1819. Died Jan. 21st, 1840. He was also rector of Orchard-Portman and Staple-Fitzpaine. James Cottle, A.M., LL.D., May 20th, 1840, formerly of St. Ca- therine's Hall, Cambridge, chai)lain to the Right Honourable Lord Ash- burton, and late incumbent of Taunton St. James. ^ There are no mural /RoiUtlluntS or brasses in St. Mary's chiirch deserving any particular notice. We give a few of the inscriptions. The oldest is a table monument in the chancel, with several coats of arms, in memory of Thomas More, of Taimton, a descendant of More, of Bag- borough, to whom Henry the Eighth granted the priory; on it there is the following inscription : — Thomas More, of the Pryory of Taunton, esquyer, hear lying, departed this life the 28th day of March, anno d'ni 1576, and had two wyfes; by the first he left lyving Robert, Gessey, Francis, Johan ; by the second Jesper and Florence, and blest them all. ■H7lto<»rl^H-^3^8^Tje THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. Here under lye the body of Frannces, the wyffe of William Lechland, of Tanton, gentleman, the said Frannces was the daugher of Henrye Cornishe, of Greennwitche, Esquyre, by Margarete his wyffe, sister too Sir John Younge of Bristol!, Kniglite, the said Henrye Cornishe being godsone to King Henrye the eight ; was placed by him Captaine of the Castle of Jersey, and their they boyth lined eleven years, after which beinge called home, they liued and dyed here. The said Frannces after a longe sackness, wherin she was a paterne of patience as she was of vertues in her liffe, deceased the 13 day of Marche, anno do: 16;il, to whom her said husban, after forty and nyne yeares and sixe monthes liuinge with her in maryage, hathe geuen this laste righte a grave and this stone. Her age was : 7fi. 7^ I m ^ is erected by The Rev. J. Cottle, M.A , LL.D. Vicar of this Parish, To perpetuate the blessed Memory of The Rev. JOSEPH ALLEIN, Formerly Minister of this Cliurch, Died A. D. 1668. " Tlie Memory of the Just is blessed." Hie jacet dominus Josephus AUeine, Holocaustum, Tauntonenses, et Deo et vobis. Major-General ROBERT DOUGLAS, Who died June 7th, 1798, Aged .54, Sincerely regretted by all his Relatives & Friends. After serving his Country Forty Years In all quarters of the Globe, He fell a Victim to the fatal effects of Climate. His remains lie interred near this Spot. Also to the Memory of his Son, JOHN DOUGLAS, Captain in the 54th Regt. of Foot, Who died of the Yellow Fever, at St. Kitt's, July 11th, 1796, In the 22d Year of his Age. This tribute of gratitude is erected by her Who lives to deplore the loss Of the best of Husbands And a beloved Son. ^ t ^ ^ ^ ^. ^acrrU to ti)C i^rmorj) at tt)C Rev. FRANCIS HUNT CLAPP, Vicar of Taunton Saint Mary Magdalene, Who departed this life October 19th, 1818, Aged 59 Years. -^^^$88^- "•rO»>7tt-H--<38^^ )fto« = THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. ^ ^>o ^ ^ ^ Within a Vault in the adjoininjj Church-yard, On tlie east side, are deposited the mortal Remains Of the Rev. THOMAS COOKES, Rector of Notgrove, And late of Barbourne House, in the County of Worcester. He departed this life in the 74th Year of his age, On the first of December, 1809 Those of the present generation who recollect him while living, Will, in the remembrance of his many benevolent actions. Feel for the loss that has been sustained by the poor And the distressed ; Who invariably recognised in him their unaffected Friend And disinterested Patron. And may those who are yet unborn, And to whom the virtues of the dear Object Whom we here commemorate were unknown. Reap from tiie perusal of this tablet The only advantage of the comfortable and most consoling truth. That a Life, Which was spent in charitable and virtuous actions, Was at length, in the fulness of years, Closed by a Death Full of Hope and pious Resignation. £>nrrrti to tijr iHrmarn Of the Reverend MATTHEW WARREN, A most venerable Divine ; Learned without pride. Pious without Ostentation, Prudent without Subtilty, Facetious without rudeness, Grave without austerity. Zealous without Fanaticism ; Who, descended from the ancient Earls of Warren, Embraced with a most cordial affection His friends, his neighbours, and the whole Church of Christ. He was of a graceful aspect. Of a polite and gentle disposition, and of the sweetest manners. Elegance, Candour, and Modesty, Ran through his Discourses. Born at Otterford in the County of Devon, Educated at Oxford. Taunton was a long time the Field of his Labours, Where he was Pastor of a Presbyterian Congregation. He also instructed Many young Men in Piety and sacred Learning ; Which double offices He discharged faithfully, diligently, soberly. Peaceably, and with much praise. Until the 14th day of June, 1706, When God called him to his heavenly rest. >-^l^^3888^- ¥ ^ 4. ^^H-^8888^ ¥ ^ ^^. -^^ -Ht^' TIIU CHURCH OF ST. HARV MAOnALF.NE. t ^ 4. ^ ELIZABETH and HANNAH GARDNER, Daughters of John Gardner, Minister of the Gospel, Bath. Interred together, August 18th, I6C0. Here lie two plants twisted by death in one, When that was dead could this survive alone ? They were heav'n ripe, and therefore gone, we find Ripe fruit fall off wliile raw doth stick behind. Tney are not lost, but in those joys remain. Where friends may see and joy in them again. (Their age) 1. Here Learn to Die betlMes Least happILLIe, 2. Ere yee begin to LIVe ye CoMe to Dye. ^arrrt ta tljc iHcmori) of ANN, Third Daugiiter of Robert Ord, Late Lord Chief Baron of Scotland, By Mary, eldest daughter of Sir John Darnell, Knt. And Wife of Angus Macdonald, M.D., Of this Place. In whom was combined With the utmost Suavity of Manners, Piety without Bigotry, Good Sense without Affectation. Endeared to all who knew her, She was taken from this World The 10th of October, 1801, aged 54 Years. This humble Tribute to her Memory Is erected by her Affectionate Husband. Also in Commemoration of KENNETH MACKENZIE, Of Dolphinton, in Scotland, Advocate ; A Young Man Endeared by his amiable Qualities And public Virtues to all who knew him. He departed this life at tne House Of his Uncle, Dr. Macdonald, The 23d of November, 1805, Aged 28 Years. (ON A BRASS PLATE.) Here Cliristopher Saunders daughter sleeps under this marble stone. Whose Christian lyfe and godly end to God and workl is known. She Elenor by name was call'd, and eke was Lewis Pope's Wyfe Willi whome in all humility and love she led her Lyfe. Amidst the hitter panges of death at no tyme did she cease, To parents and to husband both bequeathing love and peace ; And strengthened she above all strength did suffer paincs with joye, Embracinge Christ, bid world adieu, but kept her unborne boy. Obiit 12 Decemb. 1595. X -)^^3$88^-H-)I^^M^)l^-H-<^888S>-^ -^^^ -^-<3$88^-H-)>t<>»o^.H4 THE CUUliCII OF ST. MAIIY M ACiDAI.KNK. SIMON SAUNDERS, Gentleman, Of Taunton, who deceased the first of Maye, anno Domini ITiOl. Vivit post funero virtus. Thy corpse in grave enclosed, Cannot thy deeds commend : Thy hundred pound by will disposed, Shall to the worlde's end. Thou, living, cladst the naked back. Thou, dying, didst provide ; For ever to supply this lack, At thy appointed tyde. Gon grant that this thy bounty rare May good disposers find : Not slothful to perform this care According to thy mind. ELIZABETH, The wife of Simon Saunders, who departed this life the 5th Day of July, 1735, aged 37 Years. Also CHARLES STUBBS, Who departed this life the 1st Day of April, 17G9, aged 52 Years. Bless'd be the Lord for all, my Husband dear, Bkss'd be thy Memory for thy Love sincere ; With Patience, Mildness, Charity possest. For every Goodness by thy friends earess'd. When all thy Virtues to my mind I call, I cannot but lament thy sudden fall ; Man's life is measured by his works, not days, And life Immortal crowns all Mortal Praise. Here under lyeth buried the body of RICHARD HUISH, Esq. Borne in Taunton, and anciently descended of the familie of the Huyshes of Deny- ford in the Countie of Somerset. He founded the Hospital in Mawdelyn Lane in Taunton for thirteene poor men, beguniie by liimselfe, in his live tyme, and finished by his executors after his death ; and, (for relicfe of the said poore men) he gave by his last will one hundred and three pounds by the yeare for ever ; yssuing out of certaine howses and tenements in the Black Fryars, London, and also by his sayd will, he gave one hundred pounds a yeare for ever out of the sayd tenements for the maintenance of fyve sehollars of his name of Huysh and kindred at one or both of the universitys uf Oxford or Cambridge, and dyed in the true faythe of Christ Jesus, xxiii. day of February, anno Domini 1615. Orate pro anima JOHANNIS TOOSE, Mercatoris, Tantonie, qui obiit 19 die mensis Aprilis, anno Salutis, 1502, cujus anime propicietur Deus, Amen. This inscription was on the first stone in the middle aisle, going from the belfry, and was the oldest in the church, except some few partly covered by the pews. ^ * ^<»)l^-<>^<>-)^-^8^ <><^7i^-<>0<>-^C-<3888^"H^.^<^ ^ ^ THE nitlRrH OP ST. MAnV MAODALENE, H. s. r. Vir Roverendus JOHANNES BOSWKLL, A.M., prrchendarius Wpllensis et liiijus ecclesioe vicarius ; quem pastorem attonte sedulum probeque fidelem deflens parochiani, filium pientissiraum et defensoretn eximium ecclesia luget Anglicana, nee non .scriptorem apprime elegantem, summeque literatum. Obiit Anno Saliitil Ilr)(), ^tatis 58. To the Memory of Mr. EDWARD CLARK, Master of Arts, late the godly learned pastor of this church, who died Dec. .31st, and ANN, his wife, who died 17th of the same month, 1()30. Not that they need a monument to keep Theyr names from mould'ring while theyr bodies sleepe. Wrapt up in dark oblivion ; not that they Need trust to statues, pillars, poesy, Theyr dead memorial from the dust to raise. As if theyr persons had outlived theyr praise ; Some friends erecting this, have signified Theyr love expired not with them when they dyed. GEORGE ATWOOD, B. D. Archdeacon of Taunton, died 1.5 Dec. A. D. 1752, jEtat. 08. MARY, The wife of George Atwood, B. D., Archdeacon of Taunton, died January 29th, A. D. 1733, -lEtat. 41. EMANUEL SHARP, VVho died the 20th of .lanuary, 1678, after he had been Vicar of this town IC Years, aged 70 Years. ^ ^ ^ ^ X ^ ELIZABETH, His wife, who died the 19th of March, 16S9. MARGARITE, His eldest daughter, who died the 14th of June, 1684. ^ Y Depositum BERNARDI SMITH, Hujusce Oppidi bis Praetoris, Qui obijt XXI Die Mensis Augusti, Anno Domini, MDCXCVI, Et vEtatis suae Quinquagesimo Secundo, hie Requiescit in Spe Beatas resurrectionis. A>^.-o0o-) ^ -H-:« >^^0^^«K^8S8€^-H')»^.^7«(-K-<^8^^>-7l^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. MARY, Second wife of George Newton, Pastor of the church in this place ; was born at St Alban's, in the county of Hertford, and died in this town December 31st, 1645. AVere there no graves in Alban's ? Could not hee That gave thee ayre, spare earth to cover thee ? Has she that first possest thy husband's bed, Possest thy grave where thou wast born and bred, And forced thee down to this remoter place, To seek out her's ? A very equal case ; Thy town to her, to thee her's, burial gave. And thus you two did but exchange a grave. ^ o^^^- Hie quoque jacet corpus GEORGII NEWTON, Artis Magistri, qui obiit 12 Jtmii, 1681, anno aetatis 79, postquam offlcium evange- listae in hoc oppido per 50 annos fideliter praestiterat. Non fictis maestam lachrymis conspergite tumbam, Pastoris vestri nam tegit ossa pii. Yestra salutifero planxit peccata flagello. Delicti sensu corda gravata levans. Absolvit pensum, sancta et mercede recepta ; Nunc cseli regno, ut Stella corusca, micat. MOSES COTTLE, Who died 15th of November, 1789, aged 35 years. Didst thou know him, reader ? If thou didst not. Know this ; He was a tender husband, A social friend, and an honest man. ^arrclf to tt)C blES'SeU ^nn0ri! of ROBERT GRAY, Esq. Taunton bore him, London bred him, Piety train'd him, virtue led him ; Earth enrich'd him, heaven carest him, Taunton blest him, London blest him ; This thankful town, that mindful city, Share his piety and his pity. What he gave, and how he gave it, Ask the poor, and you shall have it. Gentle reader. Heaven may strike Thy tender heart to do the like ; And now thy eyes have read the story, Give him the praise and Heaven the glory. .£tatis suae 65, anno Domini 1635. L :-<^$SS^^^omo)jfH-<^888^' -^^^ ^»r<(-o^<>-^-<^S88^^->f(o<^ ^-* ^ ^ Ir.... M THE riiuncii OF st. mary magdalene. InCra quiescit corpus GULIELMI GILL, de Tonoduno, mercatore, qui siiiunia cum laude ultimo munere prsetorio in prima socit-tate municijiali liujus opi)idi perfunctus est, ct mortem obiit decimo septimo die Aprilis, anno Domini 108^, annoq ; aetatis suae sexagesimo none. Infra etiam jacet corpus Joiiannis Gill, dc hoc oppido, generosi, fiHi piacfati (iulielmi Gill, qui mortem obiit undevicesimo die Februarii, anno Domini lC8t<, annoque aitatis 42. {That is,) Underneatli resteth the body of William Gill, of Taunton, merchant, who was the last mayor of tliis borough under the first charter, and discharged the office witli the greatest applause. He died the 17th day of April, 1083, in the C9lh year of his age. Also underneath lieth the body of John Gill, of this town, gentleman, son of the above-said William Gill, who died the 10th day of February, 1688, in the 42nd year of his age. Vriiii man JJc JDnnr. Sacred to the Memory of MARY, the beloved wife of John Norris, Esq., of Thorncombe, in this County, And Daughter of William Grant, Esq., Late of the Honourable East India Company's Civil Service. This Monument is erected by her Bereaved Husband, As a Sincere though faint Testimony Of the strong love and affection He bore her. And as a Just though Inadequate Tribute To the Mild Amenity of Disposition. And unaffected Goodness of Heart, Which, as Wife, Daughter, and Friend, Endeared her to all. I'y those who shared her Intimacy, and best knew her Virtues, Her premature loss is deeply mourned. And will be long and severely felt. Slie died on the 24 th day of April, 1836, in the 39th year of her age, Aud iier Remains lie Interred under the south-east corner of the Railing of the Communion Table of this Church. ^itxeO ta t\)t iHemorB of Sir ROBERT SEPPINGS, F.R.S., Surveyor of the Royal Navy, Who died at Taunton, April 1840, Aged 72 Years, After Serving His Country Fifty Years. " To His Abilities and Exertions This Country is Mainly Indebted for its Most Valuable Improvements in Naval Architecture, Which will confer a lasting Benefit on the British Nation." fFrniTi iln- KL-pnit 111 the Coiimiitlcc nf Kiiuintr, House of Comuioiis, SiMh Aiiiil, ISIO. 1 ;^38S8^-H')i^^»^TffH--<^888^T«T ^-<^^'h*^oWr^'^-<^^ ■-^om THE CHUUCII OF ST. MAllY MAGDALENE. RICHARD BICKNELL, Clothier, of this town, who died June 20th, 16C0. Man is like a thing of nought ; His time passeth away like a shadow. ^acteis ta tljc IHcmorn of CHARLOTTE, the Beloved Wife of Sir Robert Seppings, I. ate Chief Surveyor of His Majesty's Navy : She departed this Life The 2;?rd November, 1834, Aged 62 Years. Her life was Guided by Truth. C0 t^c ^emarvi of JOHN ONEBY BLISS, R.N., Youngest Son of the late Reverend Phillip Bliss, M.A., Rector of Frampton Cotterell, and of Doddington, in the County of Gloster. He sailed as Lieutenant of His Majesty's sloop of war, Acorn, And was lost, together with the whole ship's Company, In a Hurricane, between Bermuda and Halifax, April loth, 1828, Aged 28. 'I'his Monument is Erected by his Mother, Brother, and Sister, A Testimony of His Exemplary Worth and of their Sincere Affection. ANNE BLISS, Mother of the above John Oneby Bliss, Died the 11th of January, 1835, Aged 73, And was Buried near this Spot. In a Vault Underneath are Deposited the Remains of CHARLES POOLE, Esquire, Of this Town, Who died Oct. 3rd, 1815. And of REBECCA, his Wife, AVho was taken from her Family after a Protracted Illness, July 2Cth, 1840. Also, Three Sons Of the above Charles and Rebecca Poole ; GEORGE, who died in Infancy, JOHN, who died August 27th, 1817, And CHARLES, March 9th, 1830. This Tablet is Erected As a Tribute of Affection To her Beloved Relatives, Hy their only Surviving Child And Sister, Mary Liddon. r ^ ^ ^-<^88SS>--H'^<><&>^^K-K^SSSC^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 5S T<(- ^3888^-H'^^M^^'H-K^888S^^' mom THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. In the Adjoining Church Yard, Tlie Mortal Remains of ELIZABETH, The Beloved Wife of John Pinchard, Esq., Of this Place, and of Stockton, Wilts, Await the Resurrection of the Just. Ob. VIII Dee. MDCCCXXXV., ^T. LXVII. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." — 1 Thess. iv. 14. Also of the said JOHN PINCHARD, AVho, on the 25th day of April, 1842, In the 80th year of his Age, Entered into rest. " I am the Resurrection and the life." — John ii, 25. ^arrrtt to ti)r fMrmorj) of WILLIAM BLUNDELL, Esq., Late of the Bengal Artillery, Who departed this life at Taunton, On the ()th day of March, 1838, Aged 86. This Monument is Erected By his Surviving Children, in Testimony of their late Respect and Gratitude towards A Devoted and Affectionate Parent. Also, MARY ANN, His wife, who died at the same Place, on the 14th day of December, 1804, Aged 36. <« ^ On a brass plate in tlie north transept is the following : — In a Vault underneath are deposited The Remains of HENRY BOWER, M.A. Born the 28th July, 1775, Died 21st Jan. 1840, Vicar of this Parish 20 Years. P>o^-<><^-)^^3888e>--H'^<>®^ am^G}. ijo*'/C?^_M>' T-rr •'-^ ^'„ ?^istoncal Notices TS^i^t ©i^titdf) of St i«at^ i^tlaQtialene, Craunton, Somerset. ^. 55 ] '0f& 1 : \ i ' 'm ii 1 ■ ? !!•■■. l\ i. ^K^888^-H^.o^M4 ^ ?4?o?frH-^38S8^ Wr<^^'¥^^.om. ^ ^ THE CllUnCII OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. and beauty as to fill with surprise and admii-ation the minds of all wlio behold it. And we may add that, from our personal observation of the various churches both in this and other counties, the church of fet. Mary INIagdalene, Taunton, is as fine an ecclesiastical structiu-e of its class as we ever witnessed. The circumstances of its history and the exact date of its first erection have not been precisely asccrtainecL Its origin is buried in obscuiity ; this is, however, the case with most of our country churches. The only clue that sometimes leads to the discovery of the date of a church is frequently found in the old foundations, upon which new structures have arisen ; and this remark applies to the church now under consideration. Often, in the i-emains of an old arch and its piers, to which new work has been added — as at Corfe church, near Taunton — the old Anglo-Norman semi-circular arch and its massive pillars tell pretty nearly the date of its first erection, viz., about 1150, a.s that style scai-cely siu'vived the twelfth centiuy. Occasionally the date may be found in a single and almost hidden pier, as at the chiu-ch of Pitminster, where, in the remains of a pier or pilaster now sustaining the south end of the western arch, and from whose capital it springs, is given the date of the latter part of the twelfth or the beginning of the thirteenth century, while the general style of the church is that of the fifteenth, and some of it much later. We may also recognise the period of an original erection from a single old blocked- up window, as at Norton-Fitzwarren church, where we find a window of the early Enghsh style ; and tliis, accompanied with the massive octagonal piers, and au ornamented corbel, gives the date of the thirteenth, while nearly all the rest of the windows carry us forward to the fifteenth cen- tiuy ; if we were to judge of the age of the chui'ch by these windows, we should be led into error. Tlie old window is of the twelfth or thirteenth century, and no doubt gives the proper age of the church. We cannot therefore always affix the date with chronological exactness to the erection of a building by its windows. How many ai'e there, especially in the county of Somerset, wliich have most of, if not all, the windows of the perpendicidar style of the fifteenth century, while other parts of the church are known to be of the twelfth or thirteenth, being of a style which prevailed only in one of these periods ! We now projjose gi\ing our views and opinions, together with what Information we have been able to obtain, respecting the church of St. Mary Magdalene ; our statements may not always be confirmed by documentary e^adence, yet if they are rendered more than probable by that which is circumstantial, we think this is as much as can be expected upon a subject involved in so much mystery as the origin of this church. Coidd Ave have examined the documents at the Priory at the time of its ^•^ ^ -^^38888^-H7f^^»^-H--3888S^' ^ ^ ^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. dissolution, and which then, jierhaps, were scattered or destroyed, no doubt we should have been relieved from many difficulties in discharging the task before us.*^' We have been chsapjiointed, too, in not finding any parish records, from which we had hoped to have derived assistance ; but these have been so badly kept, or entirely lost, that we have gained little or no help from them.'''' The chief sources from which we have derived our information are the following :■ — First — From a few well-authenticated ancient documents. Secondly — From the various styles which have been introduced as new works have arisen, or alterations taken place ; these show a different age, and therefore give another date ; and although it is not easy to say with exactness when one style terminated and the other commenced — for the transition was very gradual — yet there was a jjeriod in each when the parti- cular style only at the time of the alteration prevailed, and when it became so obvious that no one could mistake its distinctive features. For instance, the capitals of the piers of the north and south transepts, or chantries, are very different from the necks of the capitals of the south piers ; they are simple cones, whilst those of the north are concave, thus showing that both were not erected at one and the same time.'''' Thirdly — From observations made dm-ing the recent alterations, and especially while the earth underneath the floor was being removed ; much older foundations were then discovered than the works wliich had been ra) Why libraries should have been so recklessly destroyed at the Reformation does seem astonishing. At Malmesbury, which possessed some of the finest manuscripts in the kingdom, broken windows were actually patclied with portions of them ; and, for many years after the dissolution, bakers had not consumed the stores which they had accumulated for heating their ovens. Leland, who saw the priory at Taunton just before its dissolution, takes notice of the library, and mentions the names of some of the books he saw there. The library of Glastonburj', one of the richest in England, was probably destroyed at this time by the fanatics. What would we now give had Bale's wish been realised, that " in every shire of England there liad been one solemn library for the preserving the noble works of men, godly-minded, and lively memorials of our nation." ""' There were no registers kept in churches before 1538, when an order was issued to keep a register of all baptisms, marriages, and burials. These registers cimmenced in the parish of St. Mary's in the year 1552. What we more especially complain of is, the loss of most of the registers containing the churchwardens' accounts of p-irish meetings, expenses, &c. ; only a few of which are to be found. There must have been great inattention or negligence by some parties. It is hoped they will be better preserved in future, and that this and similar pujilications will have the effect of stirring up the spirit of inquin,', and of inducing those who have lei-iure and the means to investigate parish records, and to examine bishops' registers and other documents calculated to throw light upon the histor)' of our churches and the manuscripts of the middle ages. (■=) The necks of the capitals of the piers of the north transept, or chantry chapel, are similar to those of the north aisle, and this sliows that this transept and the aisle were erected at the same time, but after the church had been built ; whereas the south transept was erected with the church, and hence the difference in the necks of the capitals of the piers. ^ ^ ¥ ^ b-^^y^ ofi »)^o0<>-^-.3888^-H')^<><^ ^ ^ ^ ^ w THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. raised upon them. To these circumstances we paid the most minute attentidn, and thereby gained more information than we had anticipated, and t'roiu which we have been led to form a somewliat different 0})inicin of the age of this church than that generally entertained. The existence of a cluirch on this site was, no doubt, much earlier than the erection of the Priory, and the comjiletion of it, in its present form, much later than is usually supposed. It is rather singular that neither Dugdulc, in his " Monasticon," nor Tanner, in his " Notitia," gives the least information, nor refers to any document, connected with the Pi-iory or the first erection of St. Mary's. Neither does Camden, or Gough, in the " Britannia," take any notice of it. " And it is rather singidar," says Mr. Britton, in his " iVi'chi- tectural Antiquities," that "neither Dr. Toulmin, Collier, nor Savage, could obtain any document relative to the age of the tower ; neither does Leland, or Camden, or Gough, furnish us with anything even like a hint to lead us to a discovery." It is no wonder, tlien, that the materials should be so scanty from which we have had to derive our knowledge, and H" the account about to be furnished shoidd be more satisfactory than any pre- viously given, it will be to us a soui'ce of nuich gratification. In taking a general view of this structm-e, it appears that no chm-ch in this coimty has undergone more frequent or greater changes, or has received more or larger additions, since its first erection. Hence, no one date is applicable to the -whole ; and many must be aflBxed, as the several i)arts ai'ose or alterations A were made. In order, therefore, to give a correct idea of the buUcUng, we must go back as far as the seventh century, and it is believed there is sufficient evidence to satisfy us in coming to the conclusion that a church must have existed on the same site long previous to the Noi-man Conquest. In adchtion to some Ivistorical circumstances connected with the town, which have led to oiu- coming to this conclusion, we have been further strengthened in oiu- opinion by the following considerations, viz. — the early introduction of Christianity into Britain; the early division of England into parishes; the state of Taunton at the latter part of the seventh centm-y; some items in the endowment of the Priory; and the dis- covery of the old foundations. With regard to the Jirst, viz., the introduction of Clu-istianity into tliis country, tew who have read the best works on ecclesiasticid history, will doubt that it was in or near the Apostolic age. The planting of it at Glastonbmy,'"' and '"' Mr. Stevens, in his continuation of Sir William Dugdale's history of abbeys and monasteries, speaks of the abbey as follows : — " Of this abbey, so much celebrated throughout the Christian world, too much cannot be said, being a subject for whole volumes, as we see some have been compiled of other churches, inferior to this in antiquity and many oilier particulars. This was fiO ^-<^8SSS>-H'- A, >-Jr' ^ ^ h & p^ P>o)^-<>^o-^K^8S8^-H-^f^<>o ei ^<>m^*^-<^^>-^^-<>^<>^^<>m THE CHURCH Or ST. MARV MAGDALENE. that this all took place at once, foi- no doubt it was gradual and dependent on circumstances, and nuist have taken a long time to make the arrange- ments which now exist.'"' It is, however, probable that parishes were formed in this county as early as in any other, considering the establishment at Glastonbury, and its influence over the neighbourhood. And it is likely that such a place as Taunton then was, one of the oldest towns in the county, and so near the abbey, would be amongst the earliest to come imder this division. We have, therefore, every reason to believe that the town was divided into the parishes of St. Mary and St. James, and that churches were also erected, about the close of the seventh century. The importance of the town at this period would also seem to favour this conclusion. Dr. Toulmin has justly observed, " in whatever obscurity the early i)eriod of the history of Taunton is involved, it clearly appears to have been a jjlace of good note in the time of the Saxons, for Ina, one of the West Saxon kings, as early as the seventh century, built a castle here, nearly upon the site of the jiresent,"" not only as a place of residence, but also for the purj)ose of better securing the conquests*'' which he had made in this part of Britain." It is here that this prince, whose reign throughout is "marked with fortitude tempered with moderation, and prudence heightened by religion," is said to have held the first great councils of his kingdom, by whose assistance he compiled a code of laws for the government of his subjects. In tliis great council we find the bishops and clergy mentioned with the nobles and commons. He says, " I, Ina, king of the West Saxons, have called my fatherhood, aldermen, and my wisest commons, with the godly men of my kingdom, to consult of great and weighty matters."'"^' It is not '\r ^ '•' " The division of a diocese into rural parishes, and the foundation of churches adequate to tliem, cannot be ascribed to any one act, nor indeed to any one single age. The fonning of parishes and the appropriation of their tithes, seldom took place until the churches had been or were about to be built to which the tithes were to be appropriated. And all those churches erected in the seventh century were, of course^ of Saxon origin, and built in the Saxon style." — Bum's " Ecclesiastical Law," vol. i., p. 59 (^) Castles in that age, as well as churches, were sdnictimcs built of wood ; sometimes in haste, for present accommodation, or from the want of other materials at hand ; and this will account for tluir speedy disappearance, time not leaving a vestige to tell the site on which they stood. (ci tt Jua^ king of the West Sa.xons, was one of the best and most illustrious princes of the Saxon Heptarchy. The turning his arms against Gerwent, king of Wales, and obtaining a great victory, which gave him the full possession of Cornwall and Somersetshire, and made Taunton the capitil of the western kingdom, where he built a castle for his residence, as well as for the defence of his western dominions. The latter part of his life and reign was spent in peace and piety ; and after having worn his crown with glory thirty-nine years, the devotion of the times induced him, in 728, to make a pilgrimage with his queen to Rome; after which he shut himself up in a convent to pass the remainder of his life in devotion." — Dr. Aikin's " General Biography." (d) Here is represented, in King Ina, the king's royal person ; his fatherhood, in those ancient days, were tho'-e whom we call bishops, and therefore were termed reverend fathers : by aldermen, the nobility is meant ; so honourable was the word alderman of old times, that only noblemen were -^K^^8e>--H^ ^ ^ THE CHUliCH OF ST. MARV MAGDALENE. tlicreforc to be supposed that .such a wise and pious king as he is said to have been would build a castle, not only for the defence of his kingdom, but as a residence for himself, and asscnil)lc also so great a council, not only of liis nobles and commons, but of the bishops and clergy, and neglect the spiritual wants of the town in wliich he resided. Xeither would he, we think, have called such a great council to assemble here, had there not been churches already in existence ; but if this were not the case, no doubt he soon suppbed the deficiency. That he was inclined to build churches, we have abundant proof in the munificent donations made by this king to the chiu'ch at Glastonbury. In the year 708 he demolished all the old build- ings, and re-built the abbey. One of the chapels belonging to it he garnished with gold and silver, and gave to it likewise ornaments and vessels of gold and silver ; for the gold thereupon bestowed amounted to three hundred and tliirty-three pounds weight, and the silver to two thousand eight hundred and thirty-five pounds, besides the precious gems emljroidered in the celebrated vestments. He also, in 725, not only gave great possessions to the church at Glastonbury, but founded a larger one there, in honour of our Saviour and the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, at the east of the old church. Collinson, in his " Historj^ of Somer- set," confirms our xnews of the sidjject, and says that it was at Taunton " he convened the clergy of the west to assist him in the promotion of the Christian religion; and, notwithstanding the insurrection of Ealdbryght Clito, who urged a presumptive claim to his crown and sceptre, and whom he vanquished underneath the walls of Taunton, and the seditious mur- miu'ings of some other malcontents of inferior note, he lived to see his territories in the full possession of tranquillity, and there being now no longer an occasion for walls and bulwarks, the castle of Taunton was demolished; and the king, having put the government of his kingdom into the hands of Ethelard, brother of his queen, Ethelburga, retired to a monastery at Eome, and there ended his days." Collin.?o:i also adds, which shows still more the importance and respect- ability of Taunton at that time : — " Ethelard, succeeding to the throne of the West Saxon.«, seems to have followed the steps of liis great pi'cdecessor, and to have cultivated peace, piety, and religion, in wliich he was assisted by his devout queen Fritlieswitha, who, abandoning all her splendid possessions, calk'd aldermen: by the wisest commons it signified knij^lits and burgesses; and so is the king's writ at this day — " ' De diseretioribus et magis sufficientibus ;' by godly men is meant the convo- calion house, for that it only consisteth of religious men: to consult of grtat and weighty matters; so is tlie king's writ at tlds day — * Pro quibusdain arduis et nrgentibus negotiis, nos, statuni et defensionem regni iiostri .Anglix, et ccclesia? .Anglicanie conctmeiitibus.' " — tiee Doddridge " On the Autitiuity of Parliaments," in " llearne's Collection of Curious Discourses," vol. i., p. ■2S1. ^ ^<^^«H>^o-^^-^888^-H'^^<^^I^H--^^ ^^-<>0<>-^-<38S8^--H'^<><& THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDAI.ENF.. J^ devoted herself entirely to God ; and, among many other acts of religious charity, prevailed upon Ethclard to bestow the town of Taunton, then the seat of royal residence, on the cliurch of Winchestei', which had been founded by Cynegils, the first Christian king of the West Saxons." ("^ It is unreasonable to sujjpose that such religious and royal personages, so zealous for the advancement of Cluristianity, would have made this their residence, unless there had l:)een churches in which to worship the jNIost High God. The next thing we notice, in reference to the early existence of tliis church, are some of the items in the original endowment of the Priory by its founder. Bishop Giffard, in 1127. It was so much improved by his successor, Henry de Blois, brother of King Stephen, that he came in for an equal share of honour with the founder of it. But the exclusive claim of WiUiani Giffard to be considered in this light was ascertained by an inqui- sition, taken on oath before the king's escheators at Taunton, in the tenth year of the reign of Edward II., 1316; and by a charter of confinnation which passed in the reign of Henry II., reciting the foundation of the priory and the subsequent grants made to it, it appears that the endow- ment of it, when first established, consisted of all the churches of Taunton, with their chapels and all their appurtenances ; the manor of Blagdon ; the church of Kingston, with its chapels and appurtenances; the church of Bishop's-Lydeard, the church of iVnger's-Leigh, and the church of Bishop's- HuU, with their respective appurtenances ; and that Henry de Blois, the successor of William Gitfard, augmented this endowment by a grant of the church of Pitminster, with its chapels and appurtenances."'''^ This endowment gives us the date of the churches then in Taunton, as well as Kingston, Bishop's-Lydeaixl, Anger's-Leigh, Bishop's-Hull, and Pitminster. It is reasonable, therefore, to inquu-e what where the churches in Taunton that formed a part of the above endowment, except St. Mary's and St. James's? The town was never divided into more than two parishes, and we have never heard of moi'e than two churches, viz., one dedicated to St jNIary ^Magdalene and another to St. James. We think the words in the original charter, " omnes ecclesias Tauntonia," could only refer to these two ; for if there were other places of worship, they could only have been chapels-of-ease to them. Neither do we tliink that these words include the churches and chapels in the neighbourhood, for these are distinctly men- tioned by name in the charter, independently of " omnes ecclesias Tauntordce cum capellis." The chapels mentioned by Dr. Touhnin as having existed in ^ <*' See Coliiiison, vol. iii., p. 229. i*") See a copy of the original endowment, Dugdale's "Monasticon," torn, ii., p. 83. 61 *H-^>^<>^o-^.c<^ Tilt iHUItCH OF ST. MARY >rA(iDAI.ENE. T.iu.iton, ciz., St. Marj^aret's, at the bottom of East Reach; St. Paul's, in the west part; and St. Leonard's, at the north end of the town, were built some time after the date of the above endowment, and therefore could not be included in it ; besides, not one of them was in the parish of' St. Mary Marjdalene. If, then, churches were not erected at the time the priory was founded, how are we to understand the terms of the endow- ment ? The inhabitants of tliis parish, moreover, must have been without a place for divine worship for nearly twelve hundred years after Christianity had been introduced into this island, and that, too, with a Christian esta- blishment nearly as long in its neighbourhood, which appears very improbable. We notice, lastly, the old foundations lately discovered. These were deep, and formed of flint and rubble, so cemented together as to be separated only with great chfficulty. Upon these foundations another church had formerly stood, and the piers of the present north and south transepts stand upon the old foundations whicli once formed a part of the north and south walls of the chancel of the first erection. The foundations of the nondescript piers, supporting the present chancel arch, as well as the piers themselves, belong to a much older chui'ch than the present; these piers iteiv-N have been much altered, in order to suit successive buildings, and have lost much of their first massiveness, through the endeavours to make them look more modern. At present they do not seem to have the character either of one style or the other, and they no doubt belonged, with the foundations beneath them, to a much older church than the one erected m. the thirteenth century, of which we shall presently speak, and formed part of a Saxon church, which, by repeated alterations, was changed into the Norman style and character. And from the old plain abacus still remaining on the north pier, and from which springs the transept arch, we should infer that the older chancel arch was low and semi-circular, having either a Saxon or Xorman origin. This church, no doubt, was in existence at the time of the foundation of the priory, and is one of those alluded to in the endowment. Thus, from the circumstance of Taunton being known and visited by the Romans — its co-existence with the early establishment of Christianity at Glastonbury — its being for a considerable time the residence of a Christian king — and its having been early in the eighth century attached to the see of Winchester, it is certainly not too much to conclude that there existed churches here in the seventh century, or before ; especially when this is further supported by the collateral evidence we have furnished. Having advanced thus far, we now jiroceed to notice the erections and ^ »o)j(-o0c>-)|(-^8888>--H »^)l(-^^><>-)l(X^888^-H^<><&^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MAUV MAGDAI.ENK. m alterations which have taken place from the cstahlishnicnt of the priory to the present time. It has been already observed, that the oldest part of the church consists of the foundations lying beneath the piers of the north and south transepts, and the columns supporting the chancel arch — the plain, square abacus, like those we often see crowning the Anglo-Saxon pier, from which springs the semi-circular arch : these are the only remains both of the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman structures, — the first erected before the end of the seventh century, and, we believe, changed into the latter style sometime in the eleventh, hut ])reviovs to the foimdiiKj of the Priurij. The next portion of the church, in point of antiquity, includes the north aisles, the row of columns that divides the outer from the inner aisle, the three eastern arches over the above piers, and the eastern arch over the piers of the nave, on the north side ; and also the piers of both transejits, formerly chantries, as well as the sunk, panelled parapet over the eastern part of the south aisle. All these are of a similar date; they belonged to the same church, and are the remains of a church built in the thirteenth century in the early English style, which prevailed throughout the whole of that century. We have satisfactory evidence of this erection from a letter of Bishop Branscombe, then Bisiiop of Exeter, the occasion of wliich was as follows : — the prior and the convent, with the inhaljitants of the parish, had begun to rebuild their church; but, finding that they had not sutficient means to complete it, ajiplicd to the bishop for letters permissive to make collections in other parishes to enable them to finish it. The bishop grants their request, and writes a letter to his arch- deacons on the subject. This letter is dated from Clist, near Exeter, the 13th of March, 1277, and addressed to the Ai'chdeacons of Exeter and Totness, authorising them to make collections throughout the diocese, during the space of twelve months, in favour of the prior and convent of Taunton, who, he says, "have began to build their church in a style of costly magnificence, to the completion of wliich their means are far from being adequate."'"' This letter is quite conclusive as to the time when this chm-ch was being built ; and the date agrees well with the style of what remains of the building. This letter bears too early a date for the style of the greater part of the building now standing, it being the florid, or perpendicular, which was not introduced xmtil about 1375, and even at this period only a few specimens have been found. *'*' " Qui ecclesiam suam edificare cepenint opere sumptuoso, ad cujus perfectionem prope non suppetunt fiicuUates." — Bishop Rrnnsronibe's Register, fol. 85. m^^^^^^^-'i -^^888^-H'^<>»)^xH-K^888C>^- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. which is nearly one huncked years after the date of Bishoji Branscombe's letter, so we may be pretty sure to which part it apjjlies, and for which the collection was made. It may not, therefore, be too much to con- jecture that this church was finished about 1279, which is more than half a century previous to its being endowed as a vicarage,^^' which took place in 1308, and which, according to Dr. Toulmin, gives the time of the erection of the church, that is, according to our view, the early English church,'''' after the foundation of the priory, which cannot be correct if wc attach any importance to the date of the above letter. He further adds, " the two outer aisles, as appears from the date on the porch, were built in 1508, or perhaps one of them only, for there is a difference in the archi- tecture. Had he been acquainted with the several styles of Gothic arcliitecture, and the period of their introduction, he would not have fallen into such an error, but would have seen that the date of the north aisle was of the thii-teenth century, while the porch would have enabled him to fix only a part of the south aisle and its porch at 1508, the perpendicular alone j^revailing at that time. There is one question in connection with this church of the thirteenth century, on which we have not been able to ''' The following ordination respecting the vicarage was made by Walter Haselshaw, Bishop of Bath and Wells, I'iz. : — That Master Simon de Lyme, as incumbent of, and duly instituted in, the vicarage of St Mary Magdalene, in the town of Taunton, should receive, every week throughout the year, tweuty-one canonical loaves, and forty- two conventual flagons of ale, and seven loaves of bolted bread, of the same weight as the canonical loaves, and twenty-eight loaves of fine wheat flour, and seven flagons of best ale. That he should receive, every year, from the prior and convent, fifteen marks of silver, and six cart-loads of hay, and seven bushels of oats every week for his horse, and two shillings for shoeing his horse, yearly ; that he should have all legacies left to him in the said parish, and such tithes and curtilages as his predecessors usually had, with the following duty, t-iz., tlint he should serve, with proper assistants, the chapel of the blessed Mary Magdalene, of Taunton, and the chapels of Trendle, the Castle, and St. George's Well, in sacraments and other sacred oflices, at his own e.xpense, with this addition, that he should find a resident minister to officiate always at Trendle, for the relief of the said vicar and his successors (to whom the care of the souls of the whole parish was committed by the ordinary). The prior and convent were to find a secular resident priest for the parish of Stoke and Ruishton, and another for Staplegrove and St. James, and a third for Hule-Episcopi, at their own expense. It was further ordained, that the said vicar and all his assistants, serving the said chapels, should make an oath of trust to the said prior, their rector, at their admission, tliat they woidd, without any defalcation or reserve, restore and refund all and singular the obventions received in tile aforesaid places. That, for the augmentation of the said vicarage, two quarters of wheat should be delivered out of the priory grange, or granary, to the said vicar on the feast of our Lord's nativity. The prior and convent to sustain ordinary, and their proportion of extraordinary, burdens, and find books, vestments, and other necessaries for the said chapels, at their own expense. I""' The church of the early English style appears to have consisted of a nave, two north aisles, and one soutli ; and a chantry south of it, a chancel and two chantries adjoining on the north and south sides. The nave, 33 feet long, 12 feet wide. I Chancel, 22 feet long, 20 feet wide. North aisles, 33 „ 15 „ | South aisles, 33 „ 15 „ In 1292 this paribh was rated as a rectory by I'ope Nicholas, at 90 marks; about jC135 of our present nionty. »>^' -^888^-H'^^Mo)^H4.K^888e^^ -^^<>m I'llH CIHMKIl OF ST MARY MAGDALENE. ^ satitfty (jursclves, viz., whether it had a tower. The present is of a different style, and therefore of another and later age than the fabric, as the remains show; and in addition to this, the present tower stands too far from the jilace where the western portion of the church originally ter- minated, which was at the third arch from the chancel, and may be observed by an inspection of the three eastern arches of the north aisle and nave. If it had a tower, it was certainly not placed at the west end, for when the recent excavations were made, not the least vestige was perccj)tible from wliich we might have supposed where it stood, as the earth appeared never to have been moved ; it seems probable, therefore, that the tower belonging to this church was never erected — no doubt for want of the necessary means, for we find that they could not finish the church without being obliged to apply for foreign aid ; it was therefore left to those of the fifteenth century to erect the present magnificent tower, and in addition they increased considerably the size of the church of the thirteenth, as the difierent styles will show. Since this enlargement various alterations have taken place, which we shall now endeavour to trace, and, for the sake of perspicuity, we purpose dividing them into two periods — the first extending from about 1400 or 1420, the date on the south jiorch, and which will include the erection of the tower, the extension and elevation of the nave, the erection of the western part of the south aisle, and also the above porch, which bears the date The second period extends from the above date to the middle of the seventeenth century ; in which took place the pulling down of an old south chantry, and the reconstruction of the eastern part of the south aisle, thus making it uniform with the western part ; the altering of the chancel ; the converting of the chantries into transepts ; the destruction of the rood loft, and the erection of the crown gallery in its place. Under the Jirst period, we have to notice the Tmcer. It does not fall within our province to give a minute description of this elegant structure ; we shall, therefore, only speak of it in connection with other portions of the church. It is quite clear that it was built after the north aisles had been extended and completed, for it is made to project so far upon the west end of these aisles as to block up a portion of one of the west windows. It is equally evident that its erection took place when the nave was raised and extended, from the great elevation )imt!f^sii^''- '•'!*'ll^lSW4►.-, M^efi^. ^^3888$>--H^<>#o^H-^3S88^)«e<>^>o-^o» W" I ^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY jMAGDALENE. of its inner beautifully-panelled arcb, which opens completely upon the nave, and, by its great height, admits all the light from its handsome western window into the body of the church. The tower itself, no doubt, took many years to complete;*^' it is clear, however, that the original design was never departed from, the same order prevailing through the whole. Its being built in the perpendicular style is a proof that its erection com- menced after the introduction of that style, and was finished before it began to degenerate into the debased Enghsh. The tower is the best specimen of the florid, or perpendicular, and was built when this style was in its greatest perfection. This order commenced in the fourteenth century, and was continued throughout the fifteenth, and even entered into the six- teenth. It corresponds with the style of St. ^lichael's, Coventiy, and also with that of ilerton College Chapel, Oxford, and with some of the windows in the tower of Fotheringay Church, Xorthamjjtonsliire, whose date is 1434. The nave also, at this period, was extended three arches, raised almost to cathedral height, and elaborately finished with a splenchd, carved, oak roof, which has lately been fully restored. Its height, with the panelled arch of the tower, gives great grandeur to the body of the church, it being high enough to admit six clerestory windows on each side, composed of four lights each. The spaces between them are filled witli twelve ornamented niches, canopied, and finished with delicately-formed pUasters, having smaU crocketed pinnacles, and terminating in a trefoUed head. These niches are supposed to have been filled with the statues of the twelve Apostles, previous to the Reformation, but then destroyed. In the second column from the west door on the north side is a beautifidly-sculjj- tured niche, supposed to have been designed for and occupied by a statue either of the patron saint, St. Mary jNIagdalene, or the Virgin Mary. The font is now placed, with very good eflfect, opposite this niche. This exten- sion of, or addition to, the nave is seen from the different construction of the eastern and western ai'ches on the north side ; the eastern, being the older, are more acute, partaking of the lancet; the western are all obtuse, and more resemble the Tudor. It has a double row of pillars, composed of a small cyhnder surrounded by four delicate shafts,"'' having their capitals <"• It was not an unusual practice to occupy many years in such erections ; for instance, the tower of St Michael's Church, Coventry, the building of which commenced in 1373, was not finished till 1395, and was built at the sole expense of two brothers, Adam and William Batnor. <''' One of these small shafts on the last pier of the older part on the north side had no base to it — all the rest had — but its cylindrical shape went down to the pavement. This was to enable the Romish procession of the priesthood to pass round with more ease, it being the outer shaft of the last pier, next the western end. This, however, no one would now suspect or perceive, a new base ^>^^»^-^3888S^^ ^*H>#^^<^ ^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. ornamented with cheruljic Lusts, tlieir hands supporting a siiield, a scroll, or some other de\ ice. At this time, also, the western portion of the south aisle was built, and made wider than the old eastern part, which remained the same ; but this new erection did not take place until some time after the tower had been finished, as may be seen by examining the west end wall, where the aisle is made to encroach upon the side of the tower, and which is quite the reverse with the north, for there the tower extends beyond the aisle, showing that it was built after the aisle, while the south goes beyond the angle of the tower, jjroving that that part was erected after it. The extent of this enlargement is evident in the south wall, from the different stone employed, and from the old and new work not having been toothed together. Where this alteration ended was plainly observable, both from the inside and outside of the church ; from the fonner it is not now visible, the walls having been recently plastered ; from the latter it is, however, still to be seen. The last erection of this period appears to have been the south porch, which completed the design then in view, and wliich gave a finish to the western part of the edifice ; it is of a very elegant and elaborate construction. In the front are niches for statuary. The ceiling is groined with fan tracery, and a small chamber is constructed over it.''*' It is finished at the top with a perforated parapet, and on the angles are crocketcd pinnacles. The door entering the church is square-headed, the spandrils of which are filled with sculjitured figures and sacred emblems. This porch was in a very mutilated state previous to its present correct and judicious restoration. Of late years it has been used more as a receptacle for lumber than as an entrance into the church ; this very censurable misappropriation will henceforth, it is hoped, be discontinued, and the porch be employed for the sacred purposes of its original construction. Having thus noticed the chief alterations which took place between the latter part of the fourteenth century to 1508, we proceed to our second period, viz., from that time to the middle of the seventeenth century. And the first thing we would notice is, the reconstruction of the eastern portion of the south aisle, wliich was before uniform with the eastern end of the north, having a chantry adjoining the south of it, but was taken down, and the whole aisle made uniform with the western ; the old materials were evidently used for this piu'pose, for when the wall over the piers was liaving been lately put to the shaft, and an angle stone let in, like the rest ; but as this stone does not join like the other angle stones to the base, the peculiarity may on a very close inspection be |)crccived, though the reason for this baseless shaft few would imagine. '"' This is called parvise, a small room generally over the porch, used either as the abode of a chantry priest, or as a record room or school. There is a large one at Cirencester. 5 70 5 THE CHURCH OF ST MAHY MAGDALENE. taken clown to repair the roof, old cemented stone and mortar in large pieces were found filling up the middle, as rublile ; the old nautilus corbels for supporting the roof had again been used, as well as the old sunken panel parapet, both of which belonged to the church of the thirteenth century. In the building of the pillars they imitated those of the western side, and made the bases and shafts very similar, but introduced a greater variety into the cajiitals, for although chei'ubic busts are made use of, they sustain ditferent devices ; instead of the simple shield, hands are introduced, with the scroll, a cross band, or wreath, and some appear to have the Vandyke collar of the age of Charles I., wliich, perhaps, gives very nearly the date of their erection ; for had these piers been raised at one and the same time, their capitals would, no doubt, have been all alike ; in the moidding of the bases, also, some difference is to be found. The windows, too, in this portion of the church are of an older date than the rest, and belonged, probal.)ly, to the former aisle ; the east window is of a bold construction, large and handsome, consisting of seven lights, with a transom ; indeed, the whole of the windows in the church, thirty-eight in number, are entirely new, but have been strictly copied from the old. The chancel, too, now underwent a change, both in extent and elevation ; it is difficidt, however, to describe what the exact alterations were, but clerestory windows were introduced for the purpose of throwing more light on the rood loft, wliich was converted into a gallery; these were of a modern date, and con- sisted of two lights each, with round heads ; they have been lately taken out, and the places blocked uj). The handsome window recently introduced is precisely of the same size and character as that of the dilapidated one pre\'iously removed; this window, with the chancel arch and walls, has been elevated nearly tlu-ee feet by the recent alterations, which is a manifest impi-ovement in the general appearance of the whole edifice. The two side windows in the chancel are filled with stained glass, containins sacred devices and armorial bearings. Another change which took place was the reconstruction of the north and south chantries, converting them into regiUar transepts ; this must have taken place after the south aisle had been finished, the south wall of the transepts in'ojectLng beyond a part of the east window of the same ; the north transept extends in a similar manner over the east window of the north aisle. In effecting tliis alteration it appears, the pillars of the thir- teenth centmy were retained. Chantries were abolished by an order from Government about 1538,''" and a great change then took place, some being '*' Chantries were built and endowed for the maintenance of a priest to sing masses, which were held satisfactorj' to redeem the soul of the founder out of purgatory : from these prayers it was called P<>rff-o^<>-^^-<^888^-H^o*- -^-<3888S^-H'^«e^ ^ ^ THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. remains, between the years 1630 and 1670 — not so much from a desire to make the church uniform or perfect, as for affording increased accom- modation to the parishioners. Multitudes at this time crowded to this sacred temple to listen to the glad tidings of the Gospel delivered by the then vicar, the Rev. George Newton, and his zealous and pious assistants, the Rev. Tristram Welman and the Rev. Joseph Allein ;("' there were then no dissenting places of worship in the parish ; the population of the town was considerable, arising from the extent of its trade ; and having only this church and St. James's, then a small one,""' there must have been diffi- culty in providing for the accommodation of the people. We had almost omitted to state one peculiar feature in the con- struction of this edifice, viz., its having a nave and four aisles; there are but few of a similar arrangement in this country, and we are only able to mention two — those of Kendal, in Westmoreland, and St. Michael's, in Coventry. Abbe Marite, in liis travels in Palestine, describes a church in Beth- lehem, called St. Mary Magdalene, a most magnificent structure, having a splendid roof supported by four rows of columns of white marble veined with red, dividing the interior of the church into five aisles. We are not aware if there be any symbolism understood by this arrangement. In the case of St. ISIary's, we should rather suppose that it arose more from acci- dental circumstances than from any original design. Thus successive fabrics arose on the same site, each eclipsing its pre- decessor in costly magnificence ; it was, however, for the j)eople of the nineteenth century, by the judicious, substantial, and chaste restoration of the noble structure, to outvie them .all, so that it may be truly said, " the glory of this latter house exceedeth the former." We look upon the present church as a great honour and blessing to the town of Taunton. The Tabernacle, for its splendour, became the great ornament and glory of the Jewish camp and nation in the wilderness ; and thourch the outer covering was of bado-ers' skins, the interior was most gorgeous, that it might be in some measure suitable to the dignity of the great King for whose palace it was designed."^^ The beautiful temple of (*' See the chapter containing notices of the Vicars of St Mary's. l^J St, James's Church was considerably enlarged, and the whole of the south aisle built, by the Rev. Dr. Cottle, then incumbent, in the year 1838, at an expense of upwards of £2000, by which 700 additional sittings were obtained. It was previously in a most dangerous state; some of the pillars and the south wall being considerably out of the perpendicular, and only kept from falling, as it afterwards appeared, by the weight of the buttresses on the outside. "'' The value of the gold and silver made use of for the work of the Tabernacle, besides the brass and copper, amounted, according to Bishop Cumberland, to upwards of £182,568. The instructions with regard to the Tabernacle were very minute — Exod. xxvi. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ -^^^888^-H-^oS^)»r»^-<3888^^ THE CHUnCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. Solomon gave a glory and lustre to the same nation in the land of Judea, and to the city of Jerusalem. Both these buildinga were erected with costly splendour by the command of the Almighty, and under His own especial superintendence. We are aware that this outward grandeur is not necessary to secure the Divine presence and blessing, as we learn from our Saviour's discourse with the woman of Samaria ; we find, however, that when the people neglected the temple, and allowed it to fall into ruins, God reproached them for dwelling in a ceiled house, wliile His house laid waste, and commanded them to go to the mountain, and " bring wood to build the house of the Lord," and for their encouragement he said, " I will take pleasure in it." But we take higher ground than the mere magnificence of the building, or the honour it confers on the town; it is a temple "for the King of kings." It is a house of prayer, set apart for the express worship of the great Author of our being ; it is a place for instruction, where by the " foohshness of preaching" it may please God to save them who beheve. By the simple and primitive arrangements introduced into this church, the rich and poor " meet together," and, in the beautiful language of our Liturgy, " with one accord make their common supphcations unto God." Hay the truth, as it is in Jesus, in its native simplicity and loveliness, be faithfully and affectionately proclaimed in this glorious edifice, as long as one stone shall remain upon another! Of this church, its clergy, and congregation, may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ say, " this is my rest for ever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it ; I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread ; I will also clothe her ministers with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy." ^ ^ ^^S8S^-H' >^^o^ ^^»^<^88S^- ^w^^- ^ ^-<^888^"H^i^<><^^-H-^S88^>-^lf^ ^ ^ ^tmai*fts on ^J)e 0H*H3888e:^-H-^«(A>3^^ ^ us 13. iPPtreg, <5sq.. tponorarn fHrmtitr of tjt ©ifort socitir for ^comoUng tfct £tuiip of ®oti)ic atcliilfcturt. *c. ^ l^mavfes on Ei)t -^-^.<><»)l^»^^ ^ THE GOTHIC TOWERS OF SOMERSET. throughout the county ; indeed, there is scarcely any spot in Somersetshire where building materials may not be procured with much facility.'"' With advantages like these, it would only be giving our forefathers credit for their ordinary sagacity to suppose that they availed them- selves of such resources, and reared those beautiful structures which now excite our admiration, for it is not a scattered few that merit attention, but all, from the largest to the most diminutive, are interesting in their degree. It is worthy of remark, that in date and style there is a similarity between many of the towers of Suffolk and Somerset; in those of the former county the local material has likewise been greatly conducive to their beauty, — scarcely a church in Suffolk is without some pleasing decora- tion formed in flint-work; this material is used not only for facing large surfaces of walls, but is introduced in the manner of mosaics, and constitutes a chief means of ornament; in fact, our ancestors never failed to avail them- selves of the local products, and exhibited their skill by applying them to purjjoses of extraordinary beauty. The towers of Suffolk are mostly of the sixteenth century, and though much resembling those of Somerset, yet in many instances they bear a very different proportion to the churches of which they form component parts, the churches are generally of great height, having large and strongly marked clerestories ; this is rather the exception than the prevailing character of the Somerset churches, the bodies being low in comparison to theu- towers, and in some instances quite insignificant by the side of most stately and splendid towers. On the summit of the high liills, it is not improbable that the towers were intended as sea marks to guide the mariners, thus the more simple and bold their outline, the better would they be suited for this object, and many -R ^ (*) The summits of the hills in the immediate neighbourhood of Bath are of the oolitic formation, and have a thickness, probably, of 130 to 150 feet Masses of this rock are scattered on the slopes I of the hills covering the subjacent clays and Fuller's earth, which, with the inferior oolite and ^1^ calcareous sand, constitute the lowest members of the oolitic group. Sometimes the oolitic beds form outlying eminences, such as Stantonbury Hill, Dundry Hill, and May's Knoll. The oolites rest on a platform of the lias formations, which appear on the lowest portions of the slope of the oolitic hills; the valleys which separate these hills and are drained by rivulets flowing into the Avon, are occupied by the formations of the red marl, or red sandstone. In some places the lime- stone, which xmderlies the new red sandstone, occasionally crowns the summit.s of the hills, but more usually is found in horizontal strata, resting against the elevated beds of the mountain lime- stone, which latter, with the old red sandstone, forms the constituent mass of Leigh Down and Broadfield Down, near Bristol. The eastern side of the county, from Bath, by Frome, Bruton, and Castle Gary, to Yeovil, and the southern side, from Yeovil, by Ilminster, to Wellington, are occupied by hills of like geological character to those around Bath. Rocks of the green sandstone, and even chalk, are found in many places along the border of the county. I ^Wr^>0<>^-<^^^-^l^<>0^*^-<^^^^<>^<>^<>^ ^ ^ •^ THE GOTHIC TOWERS OF SOMERSET. of them answer to this description;'^' but whether constructed with this special view or not, their existence must be regarded as a proof of religious zeal ; to have reared such lofty and magnificent towers throughout the breadth of the county, as well in retired villages as in populous and wealthy towns, shows that the modern principle of lavishing money to decorate churches where they form features of city improvements, and resting con- tent with mean edifices where less exposed to view, had no favour with tlie builders of antiquity ; their aim was directed to the single purpose of glorifying God, by dedicating to His service the best building they could raise, whether in the frequented city or the secluded hamlet. Amongst the many admirable towers of this county, the following may certainly be selected as being unusually fine, although numerous others are well deserving of notice : — the towers of St. James and St. JIary, Taunton ; also of Xorth Petherton,""' Chew Magna, Evercreech, Huish Episcopi, Dundry, Glastonbury, St. Cuthbert's Wells, Bakewell, Wraxhall, Banwell, Kingsbury, Shepton-Mallet, Mells, Leigh, Bishops'-Lydeard, Chewton Mendip. Of these, none is more justly admired than the splendid tower of St. Clary's Church, Taunton. It would be satisfactoiy to know in what year, and to whom belonged the honour of designing so beautiful a structure. The author of the " History of Taimton,"' appreciating the skill shown in the design, endeavours to identify it with the great Wykeham of Winchester, and contends that the style and character of the tower belong to the fourteenth century ; however strongly this opinion may have prevailed when the work alluded to was published, a greatly increased acquaintance with the details and peculiari- ties of the different periods of mediieval art now convinces us that the tower is not of so early a date as the fourteenth century, and that its erection may safely be assigned to the latter end of the fifteenth century. There are unfortunately no coats of arms, or cognizances, upon the tower to settle the exact date when it was built ; but on the transoms of the two upper series of belfry windows are sculptured angels supporting shields, on which are carved the initials HI. 23. These letters may refer to Richard Beere, Abbot of Glastonbury, who presided over that establishment in the '" Dundry Tower, for example, is known to have been built as a sea-mark. The church itself is very small, but the tower extremely lofty, and being situated at the top of a very high hill, is visible far dovrn the Bristol Channel. It was erected by the merchant-adventurers of Bristol ; a stone in the tower has the date 1482. ">) This beautiful and elaborately ornamented tower is said to have been built by the same architect who designed St. Mary's tower at Taunton, and there seems nothing unreasonable in this belief. The towers at Chew Magna, Chewton Mendip, and Dundry, are also stated to have been built by one and the same architect, and tradition further reports him to have given the last village its name, by exclaiming, on completing the tower, " Now I have Done dree." ^ ^ ^ ^ ^■'♦r*^-<^88SS>-' o^^^»^o0cH»K^888^>-H-^<>^o^^^^ )^ THE GOTHIC TOWERS OF SOMERSET. fifteenth rentiiry — a dignitary eminently skilled in architecture, and who built the churches at Glastonbury on which are sculptured the same initials, IX. i3. ; it is therefore not unlikely that he may have designed the beautiful tower of St. MaryV Church.^''* There are evident marks in many of the churches of Somerset which will justify the supposition that one master mind designed them, and the inferior copies can easily be detected. Amongst so many well-proportioned towers as Somersetshire affords, it is rather a matter for regret that there is not a greater variety in their architectural character. They scarcely admit of distinct classification, still there are some pecidiarities in their crowning features which deserve to be noticed; thus many terminate in regular graduated buttresses, diminishing as they rise, and ending in tall and well-designed angular pinnacles ; others are strengthened at the angles by buttresses which finish before they reach the top of the tower, and are met by overhanging perforated pinnacles, resting on gurgoylcs, and having delicately traceried parapets between them. Of this latter kind, the tower of St. Mary's is a remarkable example, but the effect of this arrangement is not always successful ; for skilful as the combination of parts may be in design, a repetition of pierced pinnacles and open parapets presents too fragile an appearance for its puqiose: such construction in stone is rather unnatural, hence all these crested terminations are found to be disfigured by iron ties, &c., that have been applied at different times to secure them from the destructive effects of high winds. It may also be observed, notwithstanding the magnificence of this tower as a whole, that there are other marks about it by which we may trace the commencement of the decline in art, which, within the space of another century, terminated in the total debasement of those principles which distinguished the best productions of the thirteenth and fourteenth cen- turies. A profusion of ornament may at fii-st excite admiration by skilful- ness of design and execution, but it cannot satisfy the judgment, if it is adopted to the exclusion of sound principles of construction, or to the '*' " Richard Beere was installed Abbot of Glastonbur)', January- 20th, 1493. He built the new lodgings by the great chamber, called the king's lodgings, in the gallery ; as also the new lodgings for secular priests and clerks of our Lady. He likewise built the greatest part of Edgar's Chapel, at the east end of the church ; arched the east part of the church at both sides ; strengthened the steeple in the middle by a vault and two arches (otherwise it had fallen) ; made a rich altar of silver gilt, and set it before the high altar; and returning out of Italy (where he had been ambassador), made a chapel of our Lady of Loretto joining to the north side of the body of the church : he made withal a chapel of the sepulchre in the south end of the nave, or body of the church ; an almshouse (with a chapel) in the north part of the abbey, for seven or ten poor women ; and the manor place at Sharpham, in the park, two miles west from Glastonbury, which had been before nothing else but a poor lodge. He died on the 20th of January, 1524, and was buried in the south aisle of the body of the church, under a plain marble." ii^<^^^-^'*^om ^ 3^ ^om H^H- GOTHIC TOWERS OF SOMERSET. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ m prevention of tliat repose which ouglit to be a part of every composition in art.<"' The ordinary principles of design seem to require that the lower pai-t of a building should be the strongest, and that as the building rises, it should become lighter, the means adopted to effect this, produces of itself a chai-ac- ter of ornament ; thus the base of a tower may be entirely solid, with the exception of a doorway and window on the west side ; it then rises to the ringing chamber, where again but little light is necessary, such as may be obtained from small openings ; above this chamber is the belfry, ami here considerable perforations in the walls are necessary for the esca23e of sound ; above this story no chamber is ever constructed, it being an object of paramount inijiortance to place the bells in as elevated a position as possible, that the sound emitted may have free course. This useful construction, when merely decorated to give it grace, at once presents an agreeable design, the lower part appearing neither bald or unmeaning, nor the upper part feeble or unnecessarily minute, and if the summit is designed in accord- ance with tills feeling, there is a unity in the whole justified by its purposes. Bearing these remarks in mind, it may be questioned whether the tower of St. Mary's is not overcharged with parts tending rather to confusion, and the want of projection in the angular buttresses detracts from the strength of expression which such a large vertical mass should possess; the same observation will apply to some of the other towers already named. It must be admitted that the other examples referred to, — having graduated buttresses, set angularly at each corner, or arranged in couplets rectangularly, rising to the top of the tower, and terminating in solid but well-proportioned turrets or pinnacles, — exhibits as beautiful and consistent an arrangement as can be devised in stone. With a wide projecting base, these angular supports diminish proportionately, stage by stage, and give that pyramidal form to the mass which seldom fails to satisfy the eye, while the continuity of outline at the summit, where the lines are not broken by overhanging cage-like construction, perfects the t^J Mr. Welby Pugin, in his " Principles of Pointed Christian Arehiteeture," asserts, that every tower built during the pure style of pointed architecture either was, or was intended to be surmounted by a spire, which is the natural covering for a tower; a flat roof is both contrary to the spirit of the style, and it is also practically bad. There is no instance before the year HOO of a church tower being erected without the intention, at least, of being covered or surmounted by a spire ;— those towers antedecent to that period, which we find without such terminations, have either been left incomplete for want of funds, weakness in the sub-structure, or some casual impediment, or the spires which were often of timber covered with lead have been pulled down for the sake of their materials. In fine, when towers were erected with flat embattled toj)s. Christian architecture was on the decline, and the omission of the ancient and appropriate termination was strong evidence of that fact. A, m I ^ •((K?888^-H^x^ "-3888^-?»^- ^ THE GOTHIC TOWERS OF SOMERSET. design in a part manifestly the most difficult to compose, and where towers are frequently most faulty. The towers of the parish churches at Wells, Backwell, and Wraxhall, are very good illustrations of this kind, and the first is particularly successful in its proportions. Further than these varieties in their outlines, they have nothing remarkable in design beyond the richness of detail which generally belongs to them. Each tower, according to its height and bulk, is divided into several stages ; the belfries being mostly enriched ; the walls pierced by two or more couplet windows on each side, filled in with elaborate open traciry to give vent to the sound of the bells ; the other spaces occupied by niches and sunk panelling ; the lower stages are necessarily less ornamented, but are well arranged, and by their solidity giving consistency to the whole. Internally the junctions of the towers and churches are excellent. The ringing loft is in most cases supported upon a stone vaulting of rich fan tracery, having a large circidar trap in the centre, for the pvii'pose of lowering or hoisting the bells.*"' It is to be lamented that the tower arch, fan tracery vaulting, and west window, are in so many cases shut out from the body of the church by a large organ case, or lath-and-plaster screen ; hapi)ily however, there is a chance that these blemishes to our churches will be removed by the gradual increase of architectural know- ledge which is now taking place. Many of the towers contain good peals of bells, and some of them have curious inscriptions; generally speaking, oirr ancestors constructed their timber framing with great judgment, but it is a grievous fact, that the careless manner in which repairs have 1:ieen made in recent times to the wooden cagework, has been the cause of most serious mischief to the towers themselves, several instances might be adduced in proof When the ringers encounter a difficulty in ringing owing to the weakness of the framing, instead of bracing the parts together, so as to ^ ^ 7^ t*J This beautiful mode of vaulting is essentially Englisli, and is seldom or ever met willi in continental architecture ; but exqui iite specimens are to be found in most of our English churches, either applied as in the case of tower vaulting, or adapted to the soffites of chantry chapels and mural tombs ; when used for the latter purposes, it does not possess the mechanical construction belonging to larger examples; it was the latest description of vaulting introduced, and is frequently discovered in the most debased examples of Tudor architecture. There is an exception to this kind of vaulting in the tower of Merton College Chapel, Oxford. The belfry is supported by a curious piece of construction in oak, very skilfully designed with moulded principals and pierced spandrels, having also in the centre a circular lanteni-shaped opening, for the admission of tlie bells. This ingenious piece of carpentry was shut out from view till within a late period, by a wretched latli and plaster ceiling. The corbels supporting the main arched timbers are sculptured with the representa- tions of different orders of ecclesiastics. m 1 ^ ^ t ^ ^ X )^ THE GOTHIC TOWEKS OF SOMERSET. make the framework itself secure, they stiffen it by thnisting struts and wedges between the main timbers and the walls; or if the de- fective part should be near a window, then by wedging to the window- breast, mullions, or window-head, whichever may be nearest, thereby thi'owing all the strain and vibration of the bells, when in full swing, chrectly upon those parts; the disastrous effects produced by this system must be manifest ; upon observing old bell framing, it will be found perfectly independent of the side walls, and when the peal is in full action the whole cagework may be seen to oscillate considerably, having no con- tact with the walls, being indeed no more than a dead and inert weighty resting upon stone corbels or set-offs. It is interesting to observe how carefully and minutely the most concealed detail of every part of a church was formerly finished, regard- less of its inaccessable situation. Instances of this may be found in the stair turrets, which form such pleasing appendages to the Somerset towers ; the stone newels instead of ending abruptly at the top, are fre- quently made small vaidting shafts, from which moidded ribs branch over, forming elegant groined termini to the stands, and even the sUt windows by which the stairs are lighted, and the doors of communication to the different stages, evidence the greatest care in design.''"' Having noticed a few characteristics of the towers themselves, their posi- tions in reference to the bodies of the churches must be stated. The most general position appears to be at the west end, but in cruciform plans they necessaril}' stand as centre towers over the junctions of the nave, transept, and chancel. Many also are placed between the nave and chancel where no transept exists, and some are situated at the north and south sides, but these are the exceptions to the common practice. Large and conspicuous gurgoyles are common ornaments to the towers, and they not unfrequently consist of representations of grotestjue and debased animals. Monsters both of animal and human shape, are to be seen in most distorted and offensive postiu'es ; by some, these oddities are referred to the caprice of the workmen who carved them, but it has also been weU observed, that these uncouth devices are meant to represent the vices and depravities of hmnan nature, and jtlaccd at the western extremity of the building, to show the distance between holiness and sin ; the fonner state being symbolised by the representations of saints and angels, (which i»l When the upper part of the tower of St. Mary's Church, Taunton, was reinstated, in 1745, they very injudiciously made all the angular pinnacles of the same design; tile stair-turret has, therefore, no marked character at its summit : this is to be regretted, as a most important feature of the tower is thus lost. ^ ^ ^o^o-^ »o^-H--<3888^^ ^^-<>^o-^-^888^-H'^^<^)I^H-^^888^^»H>0^ ^ ^ ^ ^ m ^ THE GOTHIC TOWERS OF SOMERSET. arc usually found at the east end near the altar, or witliiu the preciucta of the chancel) where the most sacred mysteries are celebrated. Amongst all the towers of Somerset, and some of them standing on prominent and lofty ground overlooking the sea, none possess the distinctive features of lantern towers ; no indisputable examples of this class are to be found, but the extremely light and open appearance of the angular pinna- cles attached to some of them, induce a belief that they might have been fonnerly used as receptacles for cressets upon occasion of the great festivals of the Church, if not at other times ; and this conjecture obtains support from its being known that the upper stages of the tower at Boston, in Lincolnshii-e, All Saints, York, and old Bow Church, London, were pro- vided with small lanterns for purposes of Ulumiuation.'"' The two latter structures had not the distinctive lantern form as Boston, yet they were furnished with convenient places for receiving lights. The extremely perforated character of pinnacle is not confined exclusively to the Somerset towers; some of the Gloucestershire towers are decorated \vith similar cage-like turrets, and it can scarcely be concluded that these forms, devised with so much skill, were adojited without reference to a useful piu-pose. The open parapets wliich connect these pinnacles retain the outwai'd trace of battlements, but are usually so ornamented as scarcely to be recognised under that form ; in this respect they diifer greatly from the battlements of the adjoining churches of Dorset. The Dorsetshire towers are of late date, and almost invariably finish at their siunmits with bold and expressive battlements ; it is not however to be inferred that they were used for defence, as they had become mere features of ornament, though if occasion required, they might be found quite serviceable for protection.""' Although Somerset is so distinguished for its towers, it is not wholly without spires ; the churches of Croscombe, Doulting, Bridgewater, Yatton, and a few others, have these graceful superstructures ; but the period when they were common crowning featm-es had passed away, and the enriched perpendicular towers had succeeded them. The exquisite spires which enrich the scenery of Northamptonshire, may all be assigned to a full century anterior to the erection of the Somerset churches. The preceding observations being intended merely to point out a few leading characteristics of the principal towers, induced by a desire to call special attention to the remarkable one of St. Mary's Church, Taunton, it '") On one of the turrets of Hadley Church, near Barnet, Middlesex, there was formerly a small ])0t, filled with combustible matter, to serve for a cresset or beacon. (''J III some cases the towers of churches were formerly used for defence; Rugby Tower, iu Warwickshire, is known to have been occupied by soldiers. ^3S8S^-H')^^<»'^H-<38SS^' THE GOTHIC TOWERS OF SOMERSET. T ^ would be taking too wide a range to institute a parallel between them and the towers of other counties ; but such an investigation would afford an interesting subject of disquisition, for though, upon a cursory glance, there might not seem any conspicuous difference in them, yet, were they carefully delineated, much variation would be found in their designs, and a general rule of proportion might be ascertained, to account for the superiority which some examples possess over others. It is to be hoped that while the churches of Yorkshire, "Warwickshire, Cambridgeshire, and other counties, are being illustrated, with a view to make known their interesting features, the magnificent churches of Somerset may not be forgotten. The towers alone belonging to these chiu'ches would richly illustrate any work.'^' The want of early records, pertaining to nearly all our parochial chtirches, deprives us of the information respecting the founders of them, and we can only learn imperfectly from heraldic badges and stained glass of those families who were formerly benefactors. The disappointment arising from this fact might of itself, without higher motives, induce us to adopt the excellent recommendation of J. H. Markland, Esq., who, in an admirable letter to the Oxford Archseological Society, has siiggested that, in lieu of the incongiiious tablets, sai'cophagi, &c., which are continually thrust into churches as memorials to deceased friends, the mourning sur- vivors should " furnish a pillar, a transept, or a choir," to some church, whereby the privilege of contributing to build God's house might be shown ; and to perpetuate the memory of the deceased, a small brass plate might be inserted, with the necessary inscription, in some suitable part. A good illustration of the practice here recommended, may be seen in a curious church at the village of AVanborough, Wilts, having both a tower and a spire; the latter is placed over arches, at the junction of the nave and chancel : the tower is at the west end, and on a small brass plate is the following inscription : — Oratr p Cljama i3oIton c «3liiti>T uyr rt ttrfimrtis iBatpa laijilijio, 'Srrtno. GloutriStr . "agiirte c xmi blitS rar car aliiiS . Itiio Itla&ta. (SberariJ, bicarui r otfiS s'tit^ Ijodjrai^ . q. i). capanilc icrjiicrt "Sn Qua. xcccixxxv. " Pray for Thomas Polton and Editha, his wife, defunct; for Master Philip, Archdeacon of Gloucester, Agnes, and fourteen others their children ; for Sir Robert Everard, vicar, and all his parishioners, who this tower commenced, Anno Domini 1435." ^ * * ^ '*' The late Mr. Gage Rokewode published a verj' interesting account of the Ecclesiastical Round Towers of Norfolk and Suffolk, illustrated by some excellent engravings : to those who wish to pursue this subject further, the perusal of his communication to the Antiquarian Society, published in the 23rd volume of the " Archaeologia," will afford much pleasure. •^— <^888S^H^ &■-, o&o^f Hto0>-)^-<^888^^'^<><^o^»^K^^^ THE GOTHIC TOWERS OF SOMERSET. The churches of Long Melford and Lavenhaoi, Suft'olk, have also inscriptions worked under the external stringcourses and other places, ^ imploring the sutFr--H'rl(<>»orte» ^iMiy^ ^ ^ ^ Ci^f iEccltsiasttcal ^tdjitecture of lEnglanb, ^ ^ ^ ^ -H-^^Wo^-H-<^8SS8^' r¥: 2, m Q O ■A 3 <><^)f^-o^<^^^888^-H'^eA^H--<3^^^ Wt)t iSccksiastical ^xt\)ittttuxz of ISnglantr. J$g m)S)\m& ^ottO i3orcfj, ©sq. a.^W. Eate of Ctlnlti (ftolltgr, CamtilOgc. ^^^ Praise of Pointed Architecture— Its peculiarly appropriate character in the design and construction of Rehgious Edifices. F all the different kinda of arcliitecture, that have been con- secrated at various periods to the service of Religion, none ajjpears more calculated to inspire the mind with awe and veneration than that peculiar style employed in ecclesiastical edifices dming the middle ages, originally invented by the Normans, and carried by their successors to the highest point of perfection. It is true that the classic orders of Greece and Rome have never been surpassed, as pi'esenting models of grandeur and beauty in the construction of palaces and public buildings of a merely secular character; but where is the temjjle, raised by pagan hands, and dedicated to imaginary deities, that can compare with the sacred interior of the Christian Cathedral of our forefathers, glorious with its many-clustered columns and vaulted roofs, long-drawn aisles, and riclily-storied windows — fabrics conceived in the loftiest spirit of devotion, and consecrated to the living God I It is not, however, by the vast scale only and stupendous dimensions of these hallowed piles, that admiration is principally excited ; vastness alone, without variety, might awaken astonishment, but could never enchain -^-<3888e>-H-)>^<><&^H-^3888^' -^' sn <><^^«^-<>0>-^^»K^38$^-H')l^^^^ 1^ ^ ^ THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARrillTECTURE OF ENGLAND. attention ; and mere massiveness, uninformed with the finer principles of Art, would produce a sentiment rather of repulsion than dclijiht. AVhercin, then, consists the peculiar charm of these structures? In the admii-ablc adaptation of the various component parts to form one complete, grand, and entire edifice, where arch upon arch, and column upon column, are beauti- fully blended into one harmonious mass ; a mighty and magnificent plan, embracing in its ample scope an almost infinite amount of mliuitc and appropriate details; an extreme simplicity of outline, susceptible of even the greatest profusion of decoration. But it is cliiefly in a religious point of view, by reason of its Bulilime and awful character, that the Pointed Style'"' is most imposing : for where can the heart be more deeply affected with solemn and devout impressions, than when buried in meditation beneath the vaulted canopy"*' of centuries, only not less perishable than the vault of heaven'*^' itself, and probably destined to endure as long : or where can the eye glisten with so fervent a delight, as while gazing on the triumphs of Faith, pictured in the calm but brilliant jioilraitures of evangehsts, and apostles, saints, martyrs, and con- fessors, each resting within his own gorgeous tabernacle,'''' and their brows all radiant with the light of immortality : or who, standing upon the ashes of the dead, and surrounded with monuments so enduring, feels not in himself that, although the creature of a day, he is the jjilgrim of eternity ; while the full soul, swelling with the choral symphonies, and borne upon the wings of devotion, contemplates the glories of that loftier and more magnificent temple above, where the service never ceases, and the hallelujahs never die ?'*' (a) (( Pointed architecture is so termed in allusion not only to its characteristic arch, but to its pinnacles, spires, &c., and seems most appropriate and most expressive of its character." — Pugin's Specimens of Gothic Architecture, vol. i., p. 2. ""' The groined nave of Wells Cathedral, after a lapse of si.x hundred years, presents as firm an appearance as when it was first constructed. So also many other cathedrals. (c) " The heavens are the work of thy hands — they shall perish." — Psalm cii., 25, 20. f*^' The idea of tabernacles was probably derived from the expression of St. Peter to our Lord at the Transfiguration, " Lord, let us make here three tabernacles ; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias." — Matthew xvii., 4. But " the Lord of life and glory" needed no other than that tabernacle of humanity, which he had already hallowed by being himself enshrined within it. On another occasion also, our Lord was pleased to represent himself under a similar figure, which the Jews misunderstood in reference to their temple, when " He only spake of the temple of his body." ''' Some ven,' excellent individuals object to the decoration of ecclesiastical edifices on the principle that exceeding plainness is more appropriate to a place of religious worship. But where do we discover the archetype of this style in Nature ? Is not the Universe one vast Temple, and has not the Supreme Grand Architect adorned it with a splendour and beauty that reflect His glory on every side? Moreover, shall the shrines of ambition and luxury glow with the brightest trophies of Genius, and the richest treasures of Art, while the temples of Him, who is the All-bounteous Giver of " every good and perfect gift," remain neglected and unadorned ? ^( T<^ ^ ^ *H7«to<»>#.N4 -^^^ Sfftton Yt. t * Ecclesiastical Architecture from the earliest period to the Norman Conquest — Bntiih Churches — Saxon invasion, and triumph of Paganism — Restoration of Christiaxutj by Augustine — Early Saxon foundations at Canterbury, Rochester, and London — At York — At Weannouch — At Ripon and Hexham — Abbot Benedict Biscopius and Bishop Wilfred— Churches at Glaston- bury, and splendid chapel constructed there by King Ina— Albert, Archbishop of Zork. — Eanbald and Alcum— Destruction of churches by the Danes — King Alfied the Great — His glorious character — The Nursing-Father of the Churcn — Repairs the ruined monasteries and churches — His example imitated by tii5 successors— Muniticence of King Edgar — Ramsey Abbey— Architectural form and character of the Saxon churches. N the first introduction <^> of Christianity iu this island, shortly after the death of its Heavenly Founder, the esta- blishment of the new religion induced the necessity of consecrated edifices for the due performance of divine wor- ship, and the celebration of its holy mysteries. In this early dawn of civilisation, it is probable that these primitive fabrics were imperfectly constructed, and most frequently of perishable naaterials, — wood and wicker-work,^ ''' with a simple coating of clay, composed the walls; and the lowly thatch, " where the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young," afiurded the sole covering for the altars of the Lord of Hosts ! These sanctuaries have long since passed ^ la) " Tempore, ut scimus, suiiimo Tiberii CjEsaris," &c. — Gildas. >''' Of this description was that primitive " oratory of bark't alder or wickerwands winded and twisted together, with a roof of straw or rushes," built at Glastonbury by the first missionaries, and aftenvards " preser\'ed by Pauliiius, the first bishop of York, out of reverence for the holy personages who had prayed in it, when he built a more decent church of wood and metal (lead) over it." — Eystoii's Little Monument to the once famous Abbey and Borough of Glastonbury, p. 6 ; Miliier's Treatise on the Ecclesiastical Architecture of England, p. 22. The church at York, also, in which King Edwin was baptized by Paulinus, was a wooden structure, raised for the purpose, and subsequently enclosed in the more spacious church of stone erect'd by that monarch. " Baptizatus est autem Eburaci in die sancto Pascha; — in ecclesia Sti. Petri Apostoli, quam ipse de ligiio citato opere erexit Curavit inajorcm ipso in loco ct augustiorem de lapide fabric-are basilicam, in cujus medio ipsum quod prius fccirat or.iioiiuui iiicluderetur."- — Bedie, Hist Eccl., lib. ii., c. H. -<^SS^^^o«o)|(H-^3888^- )K mo^^- ^ ^ ^• ^ ^:^^^^.omo^*^^-<^^ THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE OF BNGLAND. away — crumbled in the dust with their humble worshippers ; but doubtless many a site still remains, supporting on its consecrated soil the majestic Cathedral of a much later age, when the names and the histories of their early founders were either forgotten, or but faintly echoed in the legends of tradition. Gildas, the most ancient of our native historians, bears honourable testimony to the piety and zeal of the British Christians, in re-constructing tlie churches which had been destroyed during the Dioclesian persecution ; and even St. Chrysostora'"* directs attention to the churches and altars in this island. These early Christians, liowever, were permitted to enjoy but a brief repose; for shortly after the withdrawal of the Roman legions to protect the empire at home, so fierce a struggle ensued between them and the Saxons, whose aid they had solicited against the northern barbarians, and who treacherously turned the tide of conquest against their feelile suppliants, that the kingdom was fiUed with anarchy and ruin. All order was subverted — the churches were again destroyed — the priests slain at the very altars,"" and though the British Church was never entirely extin- guished,''^' yet paganism for a time prevailed. By the Saxon invasion was ushered in the gloomy idolatry of the North, and the grim spirit of Odin triumphed over the mild genius of Christianity. This period of gross darkness, attended with almost a total eclipse of the light of the Gospel, overshadowed the kingdoms of the Heptarchy for con- siderably upwards of a century, until the blessing was again restored by the zeal of Gregory the Great. In A.D. 596, this eminent pontiff despatched Augustine, with forty monks, from Rome, to rekindle the faded lamp of Christianity in the Saxon dominions; and so marked was his success, that, on the conversion of Ethelbert, King of Kent, an event greatly accelerated by the influence of his pious queen,'''' Canterbury was assigned him by the sovereign for his residence ; and the Pope, as a reward for his exertions, conferred on him the archiepiscopal pall, with instructions to establish twelve sees in his province. The good example of this powerful prince was almost universally '*' Kat yap k^kci cKKXrjaiat Kat dvaiao-Trjpia 'weTrriyaa-iv. XPYZ<12TOMOY on 0eo? 6 XpitrTo?. <^) •' Ruebant jedificia publica simul et privata, passim Sacerdotes inter altaria trucibantur." — Bedae, Eccl. Hist. lib. i., c. 15. (') " It appears from William of Malm^bury, thnt the Britisli anacborets of Glastonbury con- tinued to folli>w their course of life in the fastnesses of their retired island, such as Glastonbury then was, during the whole period of the Pagan-Saxon persecution." — Milner, p. 22. W Bertha, daughter of Caribert, King of Paris, and, previously to her marriage with Ethelbert, a Christian princess. ^^388S£>-^-^-H-^o-^ ^r^:o0^-T«^-<38S8^-H-)f^A>r*^H--38^^ THE ECCLESIASTICAL AIMHITFCTUHE OF ENCI.ANI) Bisco^Mus,''*' Alibot of Wcarmoxith, in the vicinity of Gyrwi, built St. Peter's Church in that monastery, having previously undertaken a journey to France for the express purjiose of engaging workmen to construct it after the Roman manner. On the completion of this building, he sent into France for artificers skilled in the mystery of making glass to glaze the windows, an art until that time unknown to the inhabitants of Britain. About the same period, A. D. 676, Wilfred, Bishop of York, founded the conventual church of Ripon,*''' in Yorkshire, and the cathedral church of Hexham,*' in Northumberland. Three other churches also at Hexham claimed liim for their founder; and under his auspices, the pious Ethel- dreda founded and established the church and convent of Ely. This muni- ficent prelate, the Wolsey of his age, by the favour and liberality of his sovereigns, the kings of Northumberland, rose to such a pitch of greatness, as to vie with princes in his state ; and attained such opulence, as enabled him to found several rich monasteries. In the prosecution of these under- takings he invited the most distinjiuished builders and artists from Rome, Do ' Italy, France, and other countries, and according to his biographers Eddius and Malnisbury, Wilfrid was eminent for his knowledge and skill in the science of arcliitecture, and himself the principal director in all these works. In A. D. 716, Ethelbald foiuided the abbey of Crowland, in Lincoln- shire ; and about A. D. 71 9, Ina endowed and erected the larger church at Glastonbury, in Somersetshire. William of Slalmsbury, in his tract " De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesia;,"'''' speaks (p. 310) of the erection of the larger church of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, which he attri- butes to Ina, King of the West Saxons ; and he says, " that, as there were several churches there, he shall relate the truth as to their situation and founders. The first and most ancient was erected by twelve disciples of the Apostles St. Pliilip and St. James ; and this was situated on the west side of the others. The second was built by St. David, Bishop of St. Asaph, on the cast side of the old church, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Twelve men,*'^' who came from the north part of Britain, erected the third, which in like maimer was situated on the east side of the old church. The fourth and largest was built by King Ina, and dedicated to our Saviour and the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. It was W Bedac, Hist. Abbatum Wireniuth et Gyrw, p. 295. (^) Eddii Vita S. Wilfredi, inter XV. Scriptores, cap. xvi., p. 59., a Gale. (-) Eddius, sibi supra, p. 62. (<>) Inter XV. Scriptores a Gale, p. 310. '*'' The names of these pious pilgrims from the north were " Morgan, Carprur, Badmor, or Cathmor, Merguid, Morvined, Morehel, Morcant, Boten, Morgan, Mortineil, and Glasteing." — William of Malmsburj-, p. .'ilO. ^®^^7^0^-^^-<^^^^^'^'W ^ ^ ^ ^ THE ECCLESIASTKAI, ARCHITECTURE OF ENGLAND. on the t'iistern side of the others, and founded and endowed for the soul of his brother Mules, who had been biu-nt at Canterbury by the inhabitants of that city, though on what occasion does not appear." " In this church, founded by Ina, there is no reason to suppose there was any variation of style from the mode of building before observed ; but, in addition to this, Mahnsbury has inserted a description of a chapel con- structed by the direction and at the expense of the same king, Ina, so singular as to require particular mention, and so splendid as not only apparently to surpass all former edifices in magnificence, but ahnost to exceed behef.'^' The following is the substance of his narration : — the same king also caused a chapel to be constructed of gold and silver, with ornaments and vessels in like manner of gold and silver; and placed it within a larger, for the making of which chapel he gave 2640 pounds of silver. The altar consisted of 264 pounds of gold ; the cup, with the paten or dish, of ten pounds of gold ; the incense pot of eight pounds and twenty marks of gold ; '''* the candlesticks, of twelve pounds and an half of silver ; the covers of the books of the Gospel, of twenty pounds, and sixty marks of gold ; the vessels for the water, and the other vessels of the altar, of seventeen pounds of gold ; the dishes of eight pounds of gold ; the vessel for the holy water, of twenty poimds of silver; and the image of our Saviour, and of St. Mary and the twelve Apostles, of 175 pounds of silver, and thirty-eight pounds of gold. The palls for the altar, and the priests' vestments ; were skilfully interwoven all over with gold and precious stones — and tliis treasm-e, in honour of the Virgin Mary, the king bestowed upon the monastery of Glastonbury." About the year A. D. 770, the noble and accomplished Albert,'' ' Arch- bishop of York, re-built the church of St. Peter in that city, originally founded by King Edwin, but then in a ruinous state in consequence of the effects of a fire wliich had occurred A. D. 741. The principal architects engaged in this structm'e were two members of his own church, and who had been educated by him — namely, Eanbald, his successor in the see of <»' Hawkins's Hist, of Gothic Architecture, pp. 57, 58,59. ('') The expression in the original is " xx. mancis auri." Du Fresne, in his Glossary, says, " mancus is a mark, a certain weight of gold or silver." (c) <• This Albert was of a noble family, and a native of York ; in his younger days he was sent by his parents to a monastery, where, making a great proficiency in learning, he was ordained a deacon, and aftenvards a priest; being taken into the family of -Archbishop Egbert, to whom he was nearly related iu blood, he was by him preferred to the mastersliip of the celebrated school at York, where he employed himself in educating youth iu grammar, rhetoric, and poetry, and taught also astronomy, natural philosophy, and divinity. He afterwards travelled, and visited Rome and the most eminent seats of learning abroad, and was solicited by several foreign princes to stay, but declined it ; and returning home, he brought with hira a fine collection of books he had met with in his travels, and soon after was made Archbishop of York." — Bentham's Essay, p. H. ^ -)^-<^888S>--H-^o»o)<^.H-^3888^)feo0<>^ ^-<3888^^-)«(o«o^.^. THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE OF ENGLAND. York, and the learned Alculn ; both kindred spirits, and ardently devoted to the work of their great master. From the description of this church preserved in the poem of Alciiin,*"' who embalms in grateful verse the memory of his illustrious frieud, it would appear to have presented many of the features of the more finished etlifices of a later age ; and the conclusion may be fairly drawn, that ecclesiastical architecture, even at this early period, had already attained a high degree of excellence. In the niutli century, the repeated irruptions of the Danes were attended with the most fatal destruction to the monasteries and churches in the kingdom. War, bloodshed, and desolation polluted the land ; the arts and sciences, the fair offspring of peace, languished ; religion and literature were fast sinking into contempt.*''' In the midst of these national calamities, it pleased Providence to raise up a deliverer in the person of Alfred the Great, who not only rescued his country from the thraldom of foreign oppression, but exalted the state to a greater than its former dignity. Though inces- santly engaged in the toils and tumults of war, having commanded personally in fifty-four pitched battles, he laid the foundation of institutions, which will render his name illustrious to the end of time. He was the creator of the navy of Britain, protector of her commerce, the munificent patron of letters and the arts, and above all the Nursing-Father of her Church. Under his paternal hand. Religion and the fallen fanes revived; Justice was entlironed in the heart of the constitution ; literature and science re-kindled their expiring lights. In fine, he was the paragon of princes, a miracle of wisdom, patriotism, and virtue. Among his other accomjjlishments, this illustrious prince was distinguished for liis knowledge of architectnre,'''' and founded two monasteries, Athelney and Shaftesbury. He also rebuilt many of the churches which had suffered from the violence of the Danes, in which (a) <(^st nova basilicse mirae structura diebus Prsesulis hiijiis erat jam ca*pta, peracta, sacrata. H-^^.oW. THE ECCLESIASTICAL AKCHITECTURK OF ENGLAND. pious example he was imitated by Ms son, Edward (who succeeded hiin, A.D. 900), Athel.stan, and liis successors. But it was reserved for the peaceful times of King Edgar to complete the good work commenced by Alfred ; and he fulfilled the task with the most creditable zeal and assiduity. He conducted his improvements on so large a scale, that there was not a single monastery or church in England, but bore testimony to liis liberality.*"* Among the most remarkable struc- tures of tliis reign was the famous abbey of Ramsey, in Huntingdonsliire, founded A.D. 974, by Ailwyn, styled alderman of all England, with the assistance of Oswald, Bishop of Worcester, afterwards Ai-chbishop of York. Having enumerated some of the most eminent of the ancient Saxon churches, with the names of their founders, it now remains to give a brief account of their architectural form and character. And first, with regard to their form ; this was originally derived from the Roman Basilica, or haU of justice ; many of which, on the establishment of Clu-istianity by Con- stantine, were converted into churches, and furnished the models for future ecclesiastical erections. The interior of the Basilica, being divided by rows of columns, suggested the arrangement of the nave and aisles ; and in the semicircidar recess at the extreme end approiJriated to the tribune, origi- nated the apsis, or semicircular eastern termination of the Saxon and early Norman churches. Hence, In those days the terms basilica and ecclesia were used synonymously to represent the sacred ecUfice.""' The church of St. Peter at York, founded by King Edwin, A.D. 627, was in the form of a square, or parallelogram.*''' On the same plan also, or rather of an oblong figure, with the addition of the semicircular apsis, was the old conventual church at Ely,''" founded A.D. 673, and this was the general form of the earliest Saxon churches. The introduction of towers''* and transepts was the improvement of a subsequent age, when by the adoption of the Latin cross, the figure most prevalent in Italy, the churches were rendered cruciform structures. Thus the abbey church at Ramsey, founded (a) « j^o^ fy^ in Anglia mouasterium sive ecclesia cujus non eniendaret cultum vol fedificia." Monast. Angl., vol. i., p. 33. W This is now universally designated by the appellation of " Church," the etymological deri- vation of which is as follows: — "Temples dedicated to God were called in Greek, Kvpiaxd (in Latin, Dominicie), the * Lord's houses.' From the word KvpioKovj cometh the Sa.^con word Cyric or Kyrk, and, by adding a double aspiration to it, our usual word Chyrch or Church, as it were to put us in mind whose these houses are, namely, the ' Lord's houses.' " — Spelman. (c) 11 pgf quadrum ccepit asdificare basilicam." — Bedas, Hist. Eccl., lib. ii., cap. 14. ''*' For a ground-plan of this church, see plate v., figure 7, Bentham's Essay on Gothic Architecture. ('> " The churches of Italy had towers in the eighth century, and probably soon after that period they were introduced into England." — Milner. ^- ■H7^^»^H-<3888S>-^ 7>^^^8888>-H-^o^H4-^3S88^' THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE OF ENGLAND. by Ailwyn, A. D. 974, was adorned with two towers,'"' one in the west front, and the other in tlie intersection of the cross ; thus, also, the ancient cathe- dral at Canterbury displayed these grand a2)pendages surmounting the extremities of the south and north transepts."'* AVith regard to the mode of building adopted by our Saxon ancestors, as no entire edifice of that age at present exists, and even the vestiges of theu' architecture are so Uttle known, it woidd be difficult minutely to describe its pecuhar characteristics. That the style was not an indigenous production, but of exotic origin, is proved by the fact of its having been imported from Rome ; and history expressly records that both St. Benedict Biscop and St. Wilfrid made frequent journeys to that city, and engaged Roman workmen''^' to execute their buildings in England. At that period the ancient Roman architecture, having gradually declined since the Augustan era, had become greatly debased from its original purity, yet upon such models as Rome could then furnish was the Saxon style founded. Hence the form of the Saxon arch,'**' which was uniformly semicircular — the mas- sive pier, for the most part, either circular or square — and the generally plain and unadorned character of Saxon masonry. Such may be regarded among the more prominent features of tliis, the earliest style of English ecclesiastical architecture. Time, howevei", and the hand of man — which builds to-day, and destroys to-morrow — have left so few memorials of this distant age, that it Is rather from the description of these religious edifices, preserved in ancient monastic records, than from any authentic remains of the original structures them- selves, we may hope to obtain an adequate idea of their pristine greatness and (»} " Duj£ quoque turres ipsis tectorum culminibus eminebant, quarum minor versus occidentem, in fronte basiiicae pulchrum intrantibus insulam a longe spectaculum preebebat ; major vero in quadrifidiB slructurae medio columnas quatuor, porreetis de alia ad aliam arcubus sibi invicem connexas, ne lax6 defluerent, deprimebat." — Hist. Ramesiensi.s, inter xv. Scriptores, edit, per Gale, cap. XX., p. 399. W " Sub medio longitudinis aulae ipsius (Ecclesise Cantuariensis) dute erant turres prominentes ultra ecolesise alas j quarum una, quae in austro erat, sub honore B. Gregorii altare dcdicatum habebat, et, in latere, principale hostium (ostium) ecclesiae, quod Sutlidure dicitur. Alia vero turris in aquilonali plaga, 6 regione illius, condita fuit in honore B. Martini." — Eadmer, apud Gervas. Dorob. " De Combust, et Reparat. Ecc. Dorob." !') Beda, lib. iv., c. 2. " yEdificia inirabile quantum expolivit arbitratu quidem multa suo, sed et coementariorum, quos ex Roma spes munificientia? attraxerat, magisterio." — Will. Malm. De Pontif., lib. iii. " Architectos sibi mitti petiit qui, juxta morem Romanorum ecclesiam de lapide ingenti ipsi facerent." — Bedae, lib. v., c. 22. (''i Sir Christopher Wren, speaking of tlie old abbey ehurch at Westminster, built by King Edgar, thus records his opinion of Saxon architecture: — "This, 'tis probable, was a good strong building, after the manner of the age, not nuich altered from the Roman way. We have some forms of this ancient Saxon way, which was with piers, or round pillars (stronger than Tuscan or Doric), round- headed arches and windows." — Letter to the Bishop of Rochester, in Wren's " Parentalia." ^'^^-<>^'>^.<^^'^^<>m<>^ 5^ ^tH>^>o-^< # THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE OF ENOLAND. renown. Thus the church erected by St. AVilfrid at Hexham,'"' in the latter end of the seventh century, was celebrated as a miracle of art, and declared ^ to be superior to any other similar edifice on this side of the Alps. This famous church stood nearly to the end of the twelfth century. The descrip- tion of it left by Richard, Prior of Hexham, who flourished about A. D. 1180, is valuable, as presenting a picture of one of the most perfect of the ancient Saxon churches. ^ ^ (a) K profunditatem ecclesiae (Hagustaldensis) cryptis et oratoriis subterraneis et viarum anfractibus inferius cum magna industria fundavit. Parietes autem quadratis et variis et bene politis columnis suffultos et tnbus tabulatis distinctos, immensae longitudiiiis et altitudinis erexit. Ipsos etiam et capitella columiiarum quibiis sustentantur et arcum sanctuarii historiis et imagi- nibus et variis celaturarum figuris ex lapide prominentibus, et picturarum et colorum grata varietate, mirabilique decore decoravit. Ipsum quoque corpus ecclesiae appenticiis et porticibus undique circumcinxit, qune miro atque jnexplicabi'.i artificio per parietes et cocleas inferius et siiperius distinxit. Denique citra Alpes nullum tale tunc temporis reperiri poterat " — Ricard. I'rior. " de : tat Hagust. Ecc," c. iii. ; Twj-sden, x Scrip " Neque uUam domum aliam citra Alpes montes taleni (sicut Hagustaldcnsem) cedificatam audivimu*;." — Kddius, '* Vita S. Wilf.," c. xxii. : see also Will. Malm. " De Pontif.," lib. iii., p. 273. m ^ ^ * -^fK^888^-H-H^<><>^ T^ m Sfcttou M. ^ ^ I'L-clesiastical Architecture from the Norman Conquest to the Reformation— Passion of the Normans for this Art— Their magnificent Structures— The Norman Style— Its characteristics- Intro- iJucticii of the Pointed Arch— Norman enrichments— Preservation of Norman doorways- Examples of the Norman Style m its early and pure state- In its mixed or transition state- Description of the east end of Canterbury Cathedral— The Karly Pointed Style— Its beautiful and simple character- Architectural details— Examples of the Early Pointed Style- The Deco- rated Style— Its splendid and gorgeous character— This Style the perfection of the Art — Archiiectural details— Examples of the Decorated Style— Decline of the Art— The Florid or Perpendicular Style — Its costly and overloaded character— Architectural details — Examples of the Florid or Perpendicular Style— Destruction of the Art completed by the ruin of the Monasteries— Debased style — Present revival of the ancient styles — Aspirations for the future. ^^Sk^ N the establislinient of tlic Normans in England, after tlie successful tcrniinatinn of the invasion hy Wiiham, a new era arose in architecture, and cxjiress mention is made by our historians of a new style of building,'"' introduced inmiediately preceding this period by King Edward the Confessor, and applied by him to the construction of tlie abbey church at Westminster. This church, in which he was ))uried,'''' was consecrated on Innocents' day, 28tli of December, 106.5, only eight days before the death of the royal founder; and remained for nearly a century afterwards the grand model for many of the ecclesiastical erections in the kingdom. Edward, '''' the last of the Saxon line, tliougli born in England, had ))een educated in Normandy, and during his residence there imbibed so strong an attachment to the habits and customs of tlic foreign court, that after his accession to (3) " Ecclesiam Eedificationis genere novo fecit." — W. Jfalmsli. (h) <&>7ff»^-<^888^' -^Coo^*^o0<>-)f^-<388SS^^^o<^^.H-^^SS3S^ ;^: m^^^ ^ ^r^^>-'^'^om^) -<^^>^-o^^.om^ THE r.CCLESIASTICAL AllCHITF.CTURl! OF ENGLAND. spirit of pi'ogressive emulation, — improvements considered so remarkable in their day as to merit the appellation of a new style of building, — it must be observed, that the distinguishing characteristics of this style present no strongly marked or striking difference from those of the precechng, In both styles, the Saxon and early Norman, the massive circular arch and column constitute the essential features; and even the Norman arcade itself, the favourite decoration of this age, is only a multiplication of the cu'cular arch, an indefinite number of single arches being simply combined or intersected according to the taste of the builder. From the unwearied efforts of these arcliitccts, constantly aiming at a higher degree of excellence, before the middle of the twelith century, a singular change was produced in architectm'e, and one which exercised a mighty influence over the future destinies of the art. Tliis was the introduction of the pointed arch, which immediately, from the period of its first appearance, began gradually to supersede the heavy semicircular one, so that by the close of the same century the latter mode was entirely discontinued. It is supposed by some, and not without a strong appearance of probability, that the pointed arch derived its origin from the circular intersections in the Norman arcade, the characteristic miu'al ornament of that style. Thus constructed, it appeared at first in basso-relievo, as on the north side of Durham Cathedral, and on the fagade of the church at Lincoln ; but it was soon likewise seen in alto-relievo, as in the remains of Archbishop's Lanfranc's work in Canterbury Cathedral, and in the abbey churches of Glastonbury and Ramsej'. One of the earliest specimens of the open pointed arch occurs in the churcli of St. Cross, near Winchester, built by the munificent prelate of that sec, Henry de Blois, King Stephen's brother, and previously Abbot of Glastonbury.'"' The Norman style, dating from the Confessor's chiu-ch, at Westminster, A.D. 1065, prevailed in its pure state till the introduction of the pointed arch, with which it subsequently became so blended and intermingled, both in its characteristic form and peculiar featiu'cs, that it assumed a mixed character. In this transition state, almost constituting a distinct style,'''' it continued to the close of the twelfth century. The early Norman buildings are remarkable for their general massive- ness and plain appearance ; but, at a later period, they are found enriched with a profusion of ornamental mouldings surrounding the heads of the doorways and windows. Of these, the favourite and most frequent "^ Milner supports this view of the case by the above-cited illustrations, p. hO, "■' Mr. Bloxam treats this as a distinct style, under the title nf the Spmi-Norman style. ^^•^-<^888^^- THE ECCLESIASncAI, ARCHITECTURE OF ENGLAND. decoration is the chevron, or zigzag moulding, and next to this the beak- liead. In both of these mouldings, the consecutive series of minute projecting angular points form a grateful relief to the solid rotundity of the arch in which they repose. A variety of other mouldings also occur, as the lozenge, the star, the nailhead, the cable, the billet, the stud, the double cone, the embattled frette, and the medallion, all of which, together with the corbie- table, are characteristic of this style. '"^ The capitals of piers and shafts were frec^uently ornamented with grotesque devices of animals and rude foliage. The doorways of this style are remarkable for their depth and richness, being frequently composed of a succession of receding semicircular arches, ^ forming one entire grand arch of entrance. In consequence of a singular custom prevailing with the arcliitects who succeeded the Normans, many of these ancient doorways have been preserved, when every other vestige of the church cceval with it has long since disappeared, and the site occupied by a structure of a later style. It may be, these were so preserved from a feeling of reverence for the original founder, and a laudable desire to retain some memorial of his piety ; or perhaps they spared the venerable portal, when they remembered it was beneath its time-worn brow that their fathers, then mouldering around, had so frequently passed into the conse- crated house of prayer and praise. Examples of the Norman style, in its pure state, exist in the undercroft of Canterbury Cathech-al, the work of Ai-chbishop Lanfranc, between A. D. 1073 and 1080; in the crypt and transepts of Win- chester Cathedral, built by Bishop Walkelyn, between A. D. 1079 and 1093; in the Abbey Church of St. Albans, built by Abbot Paul, between A. D. 1077 and 1093 ; also in the north and south aisles of the choir of Norwich Cathedral, the work of Bishop Herbert, between A. D. 1096 and 1101. In the transepts of Peterborough Cathedral, built by Abbot Watervillc, between A. D. 11 55 and 1 1 75, and in the Galilee Durham Cathedral, built by Bishop Pudsey, A. D. 1180, we perceive a considerable advance in the use of mouldings and other orna- mental details. The latter is remarkable for a loftiness and lio-htness of construction, that strikingly contrast with the extremely massive character of an earlier date.'''' Examples of the Norman style, in its mixed or transition state, exist in ("i For all these varieties, with the names of the churches in which they are found, see Bloxani, plates, pp. 82, S7. '■''1 Bloxam, p. !)I. • l();i -<^^'^-^om^^^-<^^ THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE OF ENGLAND. ^ the Church of the Hospital of St. Cross/"^ founded A. D. 1132 or 1136, m the remains of Buildwas Abbey Church, Salop, erected between 1136 and 1139, and in those of the abbey churches of Malmsbury and Foun- tains, Yorkshire. A Beautifid example exists also in a portion of the west front of the ruined abbey church of Croyland, Lincolnshire, consisting of four tiers of the ornamental Norman arcade, ranged in diversified succession one above the other. But of this style, St. Joseph's Chapel,"'' Glastonbury, now in ruins, supposed to have been erected in the reign of Henry I., is, perhaps, the richest specimen remaining, and is remarkable for the profusion and beauty of its sculptured detail. The ancient Temple Church, dedicated A. D. 1185, presents a curious instance of this style. Here we behold piers, composed of four clustered columns, and approaching closely to those of the next style, supporting pointed arches, over wliich is carried the circular intersecting arcade, and above this again, the old round-headed Norman window. A valuable illustration of the pi'ogress of improvement, during the reign of the Norman style, occurs in the eastern part of Canterbury Cathedral, consisting of Trinity Chapel, and the circular adjunct, called "Beckct's Crown." These were commenced building in A. D. 1175, after a calamitous fire, wliich had destroyed the east end of the choir, in the preceechng year. Of this restoraton, Gervase, a monk of Canterbury, and liimself an eye- witness, has left a long and circumstantial account. His comparison of many of the features of the new structure with those of the former one, raised about a hundred years previously by Archbishop Lanfranc, is so curious as to deserve notice. He says that the pillars of the new choir were of the same form and thickness with those of the old choir, but nearly twelve feet longer; that the former capitals were plain, while the latter were delicately carved; that there were no marble columns in Lanfranc's work, but an incredible number in that which succeeded it ; that the vault- ing of the side aisles of the choir was formerly plain, but now groined and fixed with key-stones; that the old choir was covered with a ceiling of wood, ornamentally painted ; wliile the new one was elegantly arched with hard stone for its ribs, and light toph stone for the interstices ; finally, that ^^ * (1) "The date of this work is A. D. 1132, according to Godwin, Grose„and others; or else 1136, according to Bishop Louth, who had examined the records of this foundation, and Rudbome, the monk of Winchester, in his ' Historia Major. Wintoniensis.' " — Milner, p. 82 (in a note). <'>> "'Abbot Herlewin, who died in A. D. 1120, began to rebuild the whole of Glastonbury Abbey, as Malmsbury infonns us('De Antiquit. Glaston. Eccl.'). Six years after this date, Henry de Blois became abbot of it Hence it is not unlikely that the intermi.xed pointed and circularwork (of St. Joseph's Chapel) was executed under his directions." — Milner, p. 81 (in a note). 3^H- ^ ^ X '^-omo-^-<^^^r¥om<>''^H; THi; ErCI.ESIASTICAr, ARCHITECTUliE OF ENGLAND. llicre was only one triforium, or oallery, round the ancient choir, while there were two in the mixlerii one. With this description of the intelligent j^ monk, recorded nearly 700 years since, the present appearance of the east vi/ end of this venerable cathedral exactly corresponds.'"' ' The commencement of the thirteenth century is celebrated in the ainials of ecclesiastical architecture as the era of a new style, possessing the intrinsic merit of entire originality, and founded on principles peculiar to itself. The pointed arch, having now established its ascendancy, came forth, as it were, from the prison-house of Norman bondage ; and, claiming imrivalled homage, demanded a support more congenial to its aspiring character and lofty pre- tensions. Accordingly, the massive semicircular column, on which it had ^L, hitherto rested, was exchanged for the slender pillar of Purbeck marble, iji surrounded with marble shafts a little detached ; and these shafts, encircled with horizontal bands, were each crowned with a foliaged capital, which, clustering together, formed one rich capital for the entire pillar. The windows, at the same time, were constructed long, narrow, and lancet - headed ; two of these being fi-equently united under a single pointed arch of larger dimensions, and the space between the heads oi'namented with a trefoil, quatrefoil, rose, or other similar decoration. In the upper story, >0 three lancet windows were placed together, the head of the central light being gracefully elevated above those of the adjoining one on each side. These windows were also ornamented with very long and slender marble shafts detached. In the closely connected series of windows in the transept of the Abbey Cliurch at Westminster, each separate, yet all comprised under a general dripstone, we perceive the first approach to that division of the entire window by mullions which subsequently prevailed. The doorways of this style, all pointed, were frequently as finely recessed as those of the ^ Norman, and contained a greater number of bands and shafts ; the architrave ^ mouldings being enriched with the tooth ornament peculiar to this style, and occasionally with open-work flowers. In the sculptured foliage of this m ^ Y A (a) (« Dictum est in superioribvis quod po^t combustionem illam Vetera fere omnia chori diruta sunt, et in quandam augustioris formas transierunt novitatem. Nunc autem qua sit operis utriusque differentia dicendum esL Pilariorum igitur tarn veteruni quam novorum una forma est, una et grosj-itudo, sed longitudo dissimilis. Elongati sunt enim pilarii novi longitudine pedum fere duodecini. In capitellis veteribus opus erat planum, in novis sculptura subtilis. Ibi in cbori ambitu pilarii viginti duo, hie autem viginti octo. Ibi arcus et caetera omnia plana utpote sculpta secure et non scisello, hie in omnibus fere sculptura idonea. Ibi columpna nulla marmorea, hie innumerEe. Ibi in circuitu extra chorum forinces planae, hie arcuata? sunt et clavatje. Ibi murus super pilarios directus cruces a choro sequestrabat, hie vero nullo intersticio cruets a choro divisx in unam clavem quje in medio foruicis magn:E consistit, quae qnatuor pilariis principalibus innititur, convenire videntur. Ibi coeluin ligneuni egregia pictura decoratum, hie fornix ex lapide et tofo levi dccenter coniposita est. Ibi triforium unum, hie duo in choro, et in ala ecclesiae tercium." — De Combust et Re ar. Cant. Ecclesife. -*-3^8^-H7f-<>o^H-^38S8^' ^ r»^ ^ ^ ^ + THE ECCLESIASTICAL AltClllTKcri KK ol' i;Nia,\M>. •^^^.-<^^-^-^<>^^^'^-<^^>^^-<>^-^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ J^ ^ ^ ^ THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE OF ENGLAND. In A.D. 1234, Hugh Norwold, Bishop of Ely, took clown the circulai- c:u5t end of the church, and laid the foundation of his new liuilding, now called the Presbytery, which he finished A.D. 1250. In A.D. 124.5, King Henry III. ordered the east end, tower, and transept of the Abbey Church at Westminster, built by Edward the Con- fessor, to be taken down, and rebuilt in a more elegant form. The north transept and part of the adjoining nave of the church remain in almost the same state in which he left them. But the finest specimen of this style, as an entire .structure, and wliicli " may be justly accoimted one of the best patterns of architecture in the age wherein it was built,'^' exists in Salisbury Cathedral, begim b}- Bishop De Poore in A.D. 1220, and finished by Bishop Bridport in A.D. 1258. This cathedral possessed one great advantage over all others, that it was an entirely new foundation : thus the original design, once adopted, was steadily adhered to throughout the whole progress of the work ; hence the beautiful order, correct symmetry, and regular proportion that reign over every part of this unique pile. Diu-ing the reign of Edward I., son of Henry III., ecclesiastical archi- tecture acquired a new character. Then aj'ose that spu-it of ornamental grandeur, which breathed an air of gorgeous magnificence over the creations of architectui-al genius. In the sumptuous and stately edifices of this and the succeeding age we behold the highest purity of design enriched by the greatest splendour of decoration ; and yet these ornaments — though fre- quently in themselves exceedingly rich, and introduced to profusion — are so skilfidly disposed, that they neither wear)- the eye by an excessive extrava- gance, nor impair the distinctness of the original composition. Hence this is generally denominated the Decorated style. The sharp lancet arch of the preceding age was superseded by the graceful equilateral, ornamented in the head with cusps, so as to form trefoils, ciuqucfoils, and septfoils. The pediments over the arches were purfled, that is, adorned with foliage, called crockets, from the corbel on which they rested up to the elegant fiuial in which they terminated. Pinnacles richly purfled, and crowned with finials, adorned the summit of nearly cveiy buttress and the sides of e^ery arch. The spandrels also of ornamental arches were filled with beautifid foliage.""* The columns no longer appeared with their surrounding shafts detaclied, but displayed those decorations closely united and bound together, forming one entire, compact, and elegant column. The windows, hitherto consisting of an arch divided by a simple mullion, and surmounted with a trefoil or '*' Wren's " Parentalia." •"i As in the church at Ely, formerly the Lady chapel of the cathedritl. m>o'^- -H-^' ■^^ ^ #. ^ -^om lOS •^3888^-H')f^^<»)J(' ^ ^ THE ECCLESIASTICAL AnCHITECTURE OF ENGLAND. )^ ^ ?l^ ^ Between A. D. 1327 and 1360, Exeter Cathedral was groined, and the heavy circuhir arches and pillars transformed into light pointed arches and clustered columns, hy its munificent prelate Grandison.'''* Between A.D. 1381 and 1413, the former being the period of the installation of Archbishop Courtney, and the latter that of the demise of his successor, Archbishop Arundel, the nave of Canterbury Cathedral was rebuilt.*-" During the same period, Winchester Cathedral arose in the pointed style, under the transforming hand of the celebrated William de Wykeham, who re-constructed its nave on the same principles as those so successfully applied at Exeter. The massive Norman pillars and arches were not taken down, but the former were enclosed with an apjiropriate casing, and the latter exchanged the circular for the pointed head. The remains of Melrose Abbey (founded by King David, A.D. 1136), abound in beauties of the Decorated style, and display exceeding richness, variety, and precision in tlie sculptured details. But one of the most exquisite specimens of this style, and a perfect architectural gem, existed in St. Stephen's Chapel, the late House of Commons, erected by Edwai'd III. in A.D. 1348. The monumental crosses at Northampton, Geddington, and Waltham, erected by Edward I. to the memory of his queen, Eleanor, who died A.D. 1290, as also the magnificent tomb of his brother, Edmund Crouch- back, in AVestminster, who died A. D. 1296, present elaborate illustrations of this style. But human arts, like human genius, are liable to declension and decay. Like the fairest summer fruits, they have their spring-time and their rottenness. Even so with this sublime art of sacred architecture. We have traced it like some noble tree, springing from the Saxon soil of our ancestors, fostered with Norman culture ; and, under the benignant tutelage of princes, prelates, and pious dignitaries, expanding its branches o\cr all the land; putting forth rich blossoms, and bearing richer fruit — the earth luxuriating in its shade, and the heaven regaled with its fragrance — until at length, in the fulness of years and glory, it fell, crushed beneath the costly load of its own exuberant and o'ercharged perfections. The purity and simplicity, that breathed such an air of reverence and devout majesty over the earlier creations of the art, had now entirely disappeared. The awful character of the sublime fell before the majcic fascinations of the beautiful. Grandeur of conception and correctness of design were sacrificed to the I ^ ^ -^ (") Godwin " Dc PrcEsul.' Cb) Ibid. ^-<^8S80-H'^^S^^H-^^S8SS>-^ A, ion f- ex i^>oH-< W: ^.-<^^-^'^:^.om^^^*^<^^>^ * THB ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE OF ENGLANK. iaonllnatc iiassion for decorative ilisplaj'. Hence the jirodigal luxuriance of ornament that j>revaileil, even to satiety; and these ornaments were frequently so incorporated with the main huilding as to form essential parts of the structure itself, instead of occupying their proper and subor- dinate position as accessories to heighten and enrich the original design. Hence also the fatiguing repetition of minute details, and the interminable series of panelling. To such an extent was the use of this last ornament carried, that the interiors of most rich buildings were literally covered with it — even the doors and windows were nothing but ])icrced panels, and the very roof'*' reflected the same idea, only in ditlerent forms. The flowing lines that imp.arted so much gracefulness to the rich tracery of the pre- ceding style, were now superseded by straight perpendicular lines; from the perpetual recurrence of which, this is generally denominated the Perpen- dicular style, or, in reference to the extreme profuscness of its ornament, the Florid. The windows of this period were enlarged beyond all due proportion, in the late buildings completely fiUing up the spaces between the buttresses, and the east and west windows frequently occui)ied the entire breadth of the choir and nave. In all of these the horizontal transom was now generally introduced, and occasionally ornamented with small battlements. The doorways, shorn of their aspiring peiliments and purfled buttresses, were now inclosed within large square architraves, the principal ornament of which appeared in the spandrels. But it was chiefly in the elaborate construction of the splendid roofs of this age, that the ingenuity of the architect was most conspicuous, and on these he seems at once both to have lavished and concentrated all the powers of his art. The eye of astonishment was bewildered to behold enormous masses of stone, called pendent capitals, suspended in mid-air, and instead of supporting the immense groins in which they were fixed, supported by them. The tracery also of this vaulting, in some instances was multiphed into so many minute ramifications, and so overloaded at the points of intersection with knots, bosses, and armorial bearings, that the beauty of the design was entirely destroyed, and an air of heaviness and obscurity imparted to the whole. "Finally, ingenuity more than sublimity was now affected, and curiosity more than devotion gratified. Thus, the royal chapels and mor- tuary oratories, built in the reigns of the last two Henrys, are seen covered over with tracery and other carvings of the most exquisite design and (a) " Tijg vaulted roofs of this style are more complicated in detail than those of earlier date, and in plain vaulting, as distinguished from fan tracery, the groining ribs are more numerous ; they often diverge at different angles, forming geometrically shaped panels or compartments.** — Bloxam's Gothic Architecture, p. 196. o«o^ 110 -^«f-G8888^-H-^^»o^H- '^< X Si. 5^ THK ECCLESIASTICAL AUCHITF.CTURK OF ENGLAND. execution, but which fatigue the ej'C and cloy the mind by their redun- dancy. Hence, the judicious critic, after admiring their ingenuity, fails not to sigh for the chaste grandeur of York Minster, or even for the unadorned majesty of Salisbury Cathedral, instead of them.'^' The prevailing arch of this style was the obtuse, four-centred, or Tudor arch, and the mouldings, springing from the base, frequently surrounded the entire arch, without any capital intervening — sometimes a single shaft and capital were introduced, the other lines flowing without interruption. The chief source of ornament consisted of panel-work, which, as before observed, was carried to an unbounded extent, completely covering, with its uniform tracery, the inte- rior of some buildings, and the exterior of others. Tlius of the former, Sherborne Church, Dorsetshire, and of the latter, Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick, and the west front of Winchester Cathedral, are examples. The exterior also of many towers, as the Abbot's Tower, Evesham, and that of St. Xeot's Church, Huntingdon, was similarly ornamented. In the two last-mentioned instances, the panel-work tracery extended even to the faces of the external buttresses. In decorative detail the panelled or sunk quatre- foil was a favourite ornament, being frequently fonned into rich 1)ands"'' surrounding, at successive stages, the body of the structure, or introduced as pierced panelling into the embattled parapet. The rose,*' ' adorning the spandrels of arches, and the Tudor flower, — the latter composed of a series of strawberry leaves, with alternate trefoils intermingled, and forming a most beautiful enriched battlement, — together with the angel corbel, were ornaments pecuhar to this period. Of this style, and illustrative of its latest character, the extreme Florid, to which tiie precechng observations more particularly aj>ply, the most splendid examples are King's College Chapel, Camljridge,'"'' founded by Eang Henry VI. ; St. George's Chapel, Windsor, founded by King Edward IV. ; and the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey, generally called Henry VII. 's Chapel, founded by that monarch. These three celebrated structures were finished about the same period; and the same noble architect, '*' who ^ ^ <") Milner, p. 114. --H')ft<>»H^-H--<^^ THE ECCLESIASIICAI. AHCH ITECTUItE OF ENGLAND. designed the chapel at Westminster, w;is also entrusted with the completion of tliat at Windsor. It is remarkal)le of these chapels tliat they bear a striking ufiinity to each other, but are at the same time in many respects totally different. Of the same elaborate construction are the chapels of Prince Artiuir at Worcester, of Cardinal JJeaufort and tlie Bishops Waynttcte and Fox at Winchester. Of this style also are many buildings in the finest jn-eser- vation; and among the counties of England, Somersetshire'"* stands pre- eminent for the number and be.auty of her parochial edifices erected during this age. As the early Pointed and Decorated may be respectively consi- dered tlie prevailing styles of the tliirteenth and fourteenth centuries, so tiic Florid or Perpendicular may be designated that of the fifteenth and early part of the sixteenth centuries. The suppression of the monasteries, attended witii the confiscation of their revenues and the destruction of tlieir churches, completed the down- fall of ecclesiastical architecture. Yet, howe\cr opposed to the spirit of the present day, monastic institutions have not been altogether unblest.*'" In the earliest times, they were the heralds and harbingers of civilisation, and throughout the long Gotliic night that overspread Europe, they were the repositories of literature and science — the sanctuaries of the precious oracles of Divine truth. Finally, they were the grand almoners of Heaven's bounty — not doling out the miserable pittance of cold charity from man to man, but dispensing the freewill offerings of the Church — the noble trea- sures of consecrated munificence — to the children of affliction, adversity, and sorrow ; blending oblations with their prayers, and binding up the broken-hearted in the sjiirit of love. ^ # ("' "Most of the churches in Somersetshire (which are remarkably elegant) are in the style of the Florid Gothic. The reason is this : — Somersetshire, in the civil wars between York and Lan- caster, was strongly and entirely attached to the Lancastrian party, fn reward for this service, Henry VII., when he came to the crown, rebuilt their churches. The tower of Gloucester Cathedral, and the towers of the churches of Taunton and Glastonbury, and of a parochial church (St Cuthhert's) at Wells, are conspicuous examples of that fashion. Most of the cliurclies of this reign are known, besides other distinctions, by latticed battlements and broad open windows." — Warton, Spenser's Fairy Gueen, vol. ii. p. 25!). (b) (' -pj^g names of lona and of Lintlisfarn will be illustrious, to the end of time, as sanctuaries of learning and of piety. The one was a solitary and barren rock in the "Western Ocean ; the other an obscure island at the mouth of the Tees. And yet, from these insignificant spots it was, that the lights of literature and religion were seen to issue forth into the thick darkness which enveloped the northern regions of our empire. Such was the ardour of study, and such the holy rigour of discipline, which distinguished the monks of lona, that their habitation was honoured as an island of saints, and their episcopal jurisdiction acknowledged over all the northern parts of Britain and of Ireland. Of Lindisfarn, what more need be said, than that it Ibstered the virtues and the industry of the venerable Bede, and was the scene of his vast and immortal labours ?" — Le Bas' Life of Wiclif, Introduc- tion, p. .51. ^ ^ >)H-o<^<>^ff<^888C--H-^^^^ ^ ^ !^ A, ^ s^ ^ TH-<^8^C--H7i^o»rrt-»^^3S88^- THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITtCTUllE OF ENGLAND. -tF* The ruin of ecclesiastical arcliitectiu-e being thus completed by the devas- tation of the monasteries, a mixed and barbarous style succeeded, arising, in a great measure, from the introduction of semi-classic details from Italy in the sixteenth century, as the monumental tombs and other works of that age abundantly testify. Purity and propriety were alike discarded, and an incongruous mixture of debased English and Roman architecture prevailed, until at length every true featiu-e of the ancient ecclesiastical styles was obliterated, and every real principle of the art neglected or forgotten. It is gi-atifying, however, to record that, within the last few years, a better taste has begun to display itself. After the lapse of three centuries, the spirit of ancient art has revived; and the principles upon which that art was founded, are now more perfectly understood. Thus a new era has dawned upon the destinies of Christian architecture, and a mighty impulse has been given to the study of its venerable antiquities. Under the enhghtened influence and happy auspices of the Camden,'^' in connection witli other societies, and aided by the labours and genius of distinguished architects, what may not be expected? Is it too mucli to hope that a school may yet arise, whose productions shall rival the glories of that Augustan age of ecclesiastical architecture — the fourteenth century? What has been once may be again. It is a glorious and consoling thought, that the energies of human intellect, althougli liable to declension and decay, are also equally capable of re-invi- goratiou and replenishment. Imperishable in its nature, aud allied to the infinite, may it not hope to receive new and i^erpetual supplies from the inexhausted fountain of all perfection. With iinniortaHty for her birth- right, how can Genius ever die ? And when consecrating her best powers to the service of the King of kings, and laying her richest trophies at the foot of the Cross, is it possible that " Ichabod " shall be ever written on her brow ? ^ 7f^ m ^ t I ("I Tliese remarks were written in the spring of 1814. Since tlwt jieriod tliis society, so briglit i promise, has s\ispende(l for a time its antiquarian laliouis. ^ ^ -^^888^-H-^o»o)H-»^^888^H^- ^pptitbia* ^ ^ Having given a brief history of the rise, jjrogrcss, and decline ot" Ecclesiastical Architecture in this country, it has been thought desirable to add a few observations on the term " Gothic," so frequently, yet so impro- perly, applied to this mode of building. In order, however, to preserve a correct idea on the subject, it must be borne in mind that the architecture in question consists of two grand divisions, — the one characterised by extreme niassivcness, solidity, and plainness — tlie other by excessive lightness, delicacy, and ultimately profusion of ornament ; that the former of these, comprising the Saxon and Early Norman styles, prevailed until the introduction of the Pointed style, which latter terminated in the rich varieties of the Decorated and Florid ; and that the Saxon was founded upon the debased Roman, and copied, even in its minutest members, from Roman originals. If, then, to either of these divisions the term " Gothic" could possibly apply, it must be intended for that more ancient one, derived from Rome during the period that tlie Goths held possession of Italy, that is, in the Gotliic age. Hence, upon this liypothesis the term " Modern Gothic" has been applied to the latter division. But it will appear, upon a closer examination of the subject, that both of these terms are manifestly incorrect, for during the brief period the Goths maintained then- power in Italy, this country held no communication with Rome, and they left no structures behind them which could serve as models for any future style of architecture. Moreover, the Goths are not celebrated in history for the least invention or improvement they were ever known to achieve in art or science. Indeed, the only art which they condescended to cultivate, and which they assiduously practised, if it may be so termed, was the art of destruction, and in this they succeeded beyond admiration. In fine then- commission extended solely to destroy, not to create, and this injunction they fuUy executed, with most religious fidelity, both in the letter and the spirit. Of an equally ferocious and unlettered character were the Northern Goths, who invaded Spain A.D. 409, and yet it is to those barbarians "with the assistance of Saracen architects," that Bishop AYarburton ascribes the invention of the light, luxuriant Pointed style (the second chief division), and assumes that the idea was borrowed from the groves, in whicli tlieir % W. ^ ^ ►H-^' -^^8€> -W. -^.-<^^-^-^.om^^.'*^^^^>-^.- THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECT'.RE OF ENGLAND. l)agan furefathers were accustomed to worship. But these Xorthem invaders were driven out of the Peninsula A. D. 713, and this style did not appear in any part of Europe until 400 years afterwards. Moreover, the resem- blance between a cathedral aisle and the vista through an avenue of trees is purely fanciful, and founded upon no geometrical principles. Doubtless, the idea of a pillar was originally derived from the trunk of a tree ; but this is more applicable to the simple pillar in a Grecian temple than the cluster column of a Christian cathedral. Sir Christopher Wren says, — " Wliat we now vulgarly call the Gothic, ought properly and truly to be named Saracenic architecture, refined by the Christians, which first of all began in the East, after the fall of the Greek ^ empire. The holy war gave the Christians who had been there an idea of the Saracen works, which were afterwards imitated by them in the AVest." Thus this eminent architect attributes the origin of the Pointed style to the Saracens, and supposes it to have been imported into tliis country' during the Crusades, but he produces no evidence in support of this opinion. That the light Pointed style was not introduced by those who returned from the first or grand crusade, A.D. 1099, is proved by the fact that the old massive Circular style continued to prevail, both in cathedrals and abbey churches, after that period. Of this, the cathedrals of Exeter, Rochester, and Chichester, built in the latter style, furnish the most incontestible evidence. Moreover, among all the ancient structures of the East, open to the survey of the traveller, and many have been most accurately delineated, no indication has yet been discovered in the least degree favourable to this hypothesis, neither has any resemblance been traced between Saracenic and Pointed Arcliitecture. ^ Ascending, however, from names to things — from the fictions of fancy to the investigation of triith — a point of higher interest stands connected with tliis subject, which, although it has frequently attracted the attention both of antiquaries and architects, has hitherto failed to receive a satisfac- tory elucidation. Tliis refers to the exact period of the first appearance of the pointed arch, as existing in a separate and independent form, eman- cipated from the trammels of Norman captivity, and becoming intrinsically the parent germ of Pointed Architecture. Dr. Alilner attributes the dis- covery of the Pointed arch to Henry de Blois, and instances the church of 7l^ St. Cross as furnishing the earhest example of its appearance. His words are: — '"'"It is probable that the first open pointed arches in Europe were ^ ^ ^ ^ Milner, p. 81. -H-^^Wo^H- ¥ ^ M M 4. ^ -rho®^ THE EfTLESIASTICAI, AnrillTF.CTURF. OF EXOLAND. the twenty windows constructed by that great patron of Architecture, Henry de Blois, brother of King Stephen, and Bishop of AVinchcster, in the choir of the cliurch of St. Cross, near that city, which structure lie certainly raised between the years 1132 and 1136." Previously, however, to either of these periods, and to his elevation to the see of AV^inchester, Henry de Blois had been a])pointed Abbot of Glastonbury, and during his presidency had made considerable additions to the buildings of that monastery. Now it is a singiilar fact, that in the walls of a Norman chapel, still existing there in ruins, and attributed to him, which was evidently an enlargement of the more ancient Norman chapel erected by his predecessor, Abbot Herlewin, are clearly visible the remains of Avido and lofty open pointed arches, designed for windows ; but which appear to have been originally struck out on so vast and incongruous a scale, in comparison with the uniform and harmonious proportions of the windows in the older structure with which it was incorporated, that these arches were subsequently reduced by ths insertion of new masonry at the sides to more appropriate dimensions, but still retained the pointed head. Hence it may be fairly inferred, from the faulty and unskilfid construction of these windows, that the use of the pointed arch was at this period but imperfectly understood in its application to perforated masonry, if, indeed, this were not in itself an entirely novel attempt at its introduction. IVIore- over, if this chapel ascribed to Henry de Blois was built by him before his promotion to Winchester, it is evident that these pointed arches must be older than those in the church of St. Cross, designated by Milner as " probably the oldest in Europe." If the foregoing observations should be considered to throw any new light upon the point in question, it is hoped that these grounds will be examined, and the hypothesis, if ifounded on truth, receive the sanction of authority. For our own part, we have endeavoured to approach the subject in a spirit of cautious yet candid inquiry ; and far from indulging in rash assertion or unwarrantable presumption, are content to leave it still a problem — but yet a problem whose solution may be nearer at hand than has been heretofore conceived. It now only remains for the writer of the foregoing chapter to crown this labour of love, by the expression of his most grateful acknowledgments for the assistance he has derived from the pages of Milner and Bentham, whose invaluable treatises on Ecclesiastical Architecture, have laid all true lovers of the sacred art under the deepest and most lasting obligations. ^ ^)^|-<>^^^^3888^-H')l^o-Ht ' ir 'itbctne-.-'i i i^aiii i'M'V UXh J^« ^ Ji#« irt " 'i' i*# V 0^ & ^^ ^ -H-)f^^<^^7H'H-<^S8S^^ & T" ^ >o ©f tfit ¥ :lf utnituve antr (Dtnaments of ([Tljurdjes* ^ }>i) tl)r ^ »fS). I^euri) (Tljristmas, P^.^Im if-^.S., df.^.a., «rc. ?rc. .^^ HE spectator who should be introduced into a Quakers' meeting-house, after having witnessed tlie rich and solemn adornments of a well-appointed cathedral church, might be well pardoned the supposition that he was in the temple of a different worship, and one the principles of which were greatly at variance with that whose sanctuary he had just left. The grand and dignified proportions ; the " dim reli- gious light" streaming in through the " storied windows," hallowed by the pictured martyrdom of Evangelist and Apostle; the clear but deep notes of the organ, pealing along the almost boundless extent of vaulted arches; the exquisite tracery of roof and cloister; the clustered pillars shooting up in the twilight of the clerestory, and then expanding into fan -like foliage, so far over head that the eye aches with the upward gaze: the magnificent altar, with its illuminated tablets and its costly plate; the beautifully sculptured screens and pulpits and sedilia; the statues of saints and cherubs, now canopied in carved niches, now smiling or frowning from frieze and pillar; the floor paved with marble in quaint devices, interspersed with still quainter brasses; the monuments, some- -)r 4» m * I * ^ r<^^3888^4-*-rft<>»^-^-<^88^ OF THE FURNITURE AND ORNAMEMTS OF CHURCHES. times simple and sometimes sublime, of the mighty dead ; all, in fact, that makes worship sensuous, without making it sensual, have dis- appeared ; the link that bound, as it were, the soul and the body in one act of devotion is snapped, and an attempt is made to establish a purely spiritual worship, in which the senses are to have no share. The machinery, if we may use the term, by which such attempt is made, is worthy of our notice; and the Society of Friends, to which we have already alluded, have, as far as practicable, consistently carried out their design. It is to be seen in the studiously plain, unadorned structure in which they meet in their silent and contemplative worship, and the mystic quietism which distinguishes their creed. Hence, then, we have two totally distinct systems of worship; the one which regards spirit alone, and the other which attempts to influence the spirit by means of the senses : the one which attempts to purify the devotion, by abstracting it from all earthly objects; the other, which hallows earthly objects, by regarding them in a symbolical point of view, gathering them within the sphere, and making them accessory to the strength of its devotion. Hence the consecration of the fine as well as the useful arts. Painting, Poetry, Sculpture, Alusic, as well as Architecture, to the service of religion; and hence the renun- ciation, more or less complete, of similar aids to devotion on the part of Dissenters. The observer of our older churches cannot but observe that there still exist many features therein, of which he cannot at once discover the use ; he sees that, according to our modern system of worship, they are certainly of no use ; and if he be possessed with a love of what churchwardens call beautification, he may, perhaps, wish them removed or bricked-up, covered with lath-and-plaster, stucco, Roman-cement, whitewash, or something else equally abominable. Perhaps he may be a " zealous Protestant," and iden- tify everytliing in an old church, which he does not comprehend, with idolatry and the Inquisition, and the comicU of Trent, and the burning of Ridley, and the creed of Pope Pius IV. But possibly he may be an inquirer into antiquity, he may desire to know the meaning of the now obsolete featm-es, and at what period of the Christian church they were introduced, and as the answers to such inquiries will tend to tlu*ow a strong light on the spirit as well as on the form of our more ancient worship, we shall endeavour to throw together, in a small compass, some information on the ornaments and furniture of our early churches. First, then, as to ornaments, strictly so called. There are few parts of an ecclesiastical building which may not be made, we do not say merely susceptible of ornament, but in themselves ornamental ; roof, pillars, walls. -^^3S8$^-HTf( -<^^W. ^ tH m ^.-<^^^y^ri^o^^*^--<^^>-^^^>^o- PURN'ITUnE AND ORNAMENTS OF CHURCHES. windows, floors, arches, capable as most of them are of an indefinite variety and coml/mation of form, may each tend to the harmonious and solemn effect so common in old, so rare, alas I in new churches. We shall say nothing of pictures, first, because there is, right or wrong, a considerable prejudice against them ; and secondly, because, except as altar pieces, we do not think tiiat the lights and sliadows of churches afford fit places for their display. Xo one who has seen tiie paintings of Murillo in the cathedral of Seville, can fail to notice how entirely they arc lost. The eye Is wearied with the details of that transcendant edifice, and will not rest on anything merely accessoiy; the light falls upon them in an unfortunate and inartistic manner, and the windows being all richly painted, mingle their own colours witii those of the canvas ; in a word, were there no other objection this one would be sufficient, that pictures and painted windows are altogether inconsistent one with another. Statues might, Indeed, be well introduced, and he would merit sometliing of the age who would fill up the vacant niches in our chiu-ches with figm-es such as those which once adorned them. Between the windows of the clerestory in the cluu'ch of St. INIary Magdalene are canopied niches, once occupied by statues of the apostles ; and in the second pillar on the north side of the centre aisle is a superbly decorated niche of the same character, in which once sto(3d the figure of St. Mary Magdalene herself Now seeing as we do that admirals and generals, with or without apparel, captains, colonels, majors, and lieutenants, in the same variety of costume, and attended by every species of heathen god, and personified Christian and Pagan virtue, sea-dogs, sea-horses, tritons, and Britannia in every possible attitude, adorn (?) the interior of that particidarly Protestant church, St. Paul's, in London, there seems but little room to object to tiic restoration of such as those which once looked solemnly down on the wor- shippers at St. Mary's, and the more so when we find at St. Paul's the figures of the apostles, though here, it is true, banished to the outside. Another ornament which is In admirable keejjing with the character and proportions of a Gothic church, is the painting or staining of the windows. The earliest stained glass known to exist in this country is that in the aisles of the choir at Canterbury, and it is no less remarkable for its effect and beauty than for its antirpiity. Like all very ancient stained glass, it may be known by the extraordinary dej^tli and brilliancy of its ruby and blue tints, which in later times have never been equalled, and scarcely ever approached. It is hardly possible, under ordinary circumstances, to judge of the enormous amount of colouring matter burnt into the ancient stained glass; the modern admits as much, or nearly as much, light as the plain, while an ordinary room with windows of ancient stained glass would be -^^^8£:^-H-^o<^)ieH- ^>0<>-)lr<^888^>-^-^<><^^H-^8^^ ^ IMItN'lrl'MK AND OK NAMINTS OF ( liriiC'IIKS. scarcely, even in the hrlglitest noontide, light enough for its usual purposes. It is in such buikiings as La Sainte Chapelle at Paris, or King's College Chapel at Cambridge, where tall clustered coluinns support the roof, and where the walls a]ipear composed of stained glass, that its power of subduing light may be seen and felt at once. That which has lieen already noticed at Canterbury must be referred to the early part of the twelfth century. It can scarcely be said that the art ever made progress, for the earliest are among the best specimens extant ; but as years advanced, attempts wei-e made gradually to deijict scenes on a larger scale, and to make first a com- plete picture in a window, and then a series of pictures in the windows of !i building : but from all that we have left to us, we are induced to think that this can be done only under very rigid restrictions, and that that window [lainting is of the most effect in which the architectural features of the window itself are most strictly observed. We need not say how utterly ridiculous was the attempt made in several instances to transfer the paint- ings of West to the windows of churches: had the i)aintings themselves been worth the transfer, the plan nmst have failed to produce a good effect ; and as it is, they do but provoke a most unfavourable comparison with the spirit in which the monkish artists executed their work. The roof, as well as the windows of a church may be rendered subservient to ornament as well as to use — whether it be of stone, as most of our cathedrals, and the inimitable chai)cl of Kinji's College, Cambridge, or whether it be of wood, of which a vei-y beautiful specimen exists in St. IMary Magdalene's Church — religious symbols, portraits of illustrious persons, armorial bearings, richly blazoned, all find their apjjropriate place in such a roof, and the study of such details has afforded many a valuable hint to some of our best antiqua- ries. The discussion, however, of roofs would lead us far from our intended path, and we shall, therefore, proceed in the next place to make a few observations on the flooring of churches, as to the mode in which they may be made subservient, like the roofs and windows, to ornament. With regard to appearance, which is all with which, at present, we have to do, it evidently matters nothing what is the material used, provided the requisite effect be obtained; hence, encaustic tiles, a covering of elastic gum, marble, brass, may be in turn advocated, without interfering with our subject ; but we must more especially notice the ancient brasses so frequently found let into the walls and flooring of old churches, and which have, when well kept, so peculiarly excellent an effect. These monimients of antiquity, long neg- lected, have lately called forth a newly-awakened interest, and the Cambridge Camden Society has done much, both to make them kno^vn and to rescue them from destruction. ^A'^-'^^-T^^s^g^-j-^A^^t^'-i- -«^>-^»(-«0o-^ '^ 122 ^ ^ ^ ^ -^K^888^-H'^<><»^^-H--<3S88£>-T^- FURNITURE AND ORNAMENTS OF CHURCHES Hitherto we have spoken oijy of the essential parts of tlie building, we shall now speak of that which is more especially ornament, such as corbels, brackets, the termination of arches in heads or foliage, — of these latter there are some admirable specimens, though of modern workmanship, in the church of St. Mary Magdalene, particularly the portraits of Henry VII. and Archbishop Warham, which make the terminations of the chancel arch. Not unfrequently the water-courses of -old ecclesiastical buildings are enriched with grotesc[ue figures, sometimes representing a chase ; on those of Henry VII.'s Chapel, for instance, are represented demons in all possible shapes of horror and absurdity, hunting human souls. Another mode m which grotesque figures are used, is in what are called gargoyles, or water- spouts; these frequently present the figure of a man vomiting, or something else equally delicate and pleasing. We now pass to the furniture of ciuirches, and this naturally divides itself into that which was in use before the Reformation and is now obsolete, and that which prevails in our own day. The first consists chiefly of a high altar and subordinate altars, aumries, piscina?, sedilia, Easter sepulchres, rood-lofts, reredos, hagioscopes, sancte-bells, niches, brackets, and screens ; the second of pulpits, desks, lecterns, communion table, with its appropriate plate and linen, fonts, and eagles. First, then, as to the more ancient or high altars ; these were ordered, in the reign of Edward VI., to be broken down, and Ridley describes himself as breaking down a portion of the wall behind the high altar at St. Paul's ; and at the same time orders were given that all altars should be taken away, and a " decent table" provided, to be placed in the middle of the church. Custom has gradually, without legislative enactment, replaced the table at the east end of the church, and railed it in. from the rest of the chancel.'^' At the same time as the high altars were demolished, the chancels them- selves, formerly raised two or three steps above the rest of the church, were generally levelled, so that we now seldom find the chancel raised more tlian one step above the floor of the nave. In addition to the high altar (raised that the elevated host''" might be seen by the whole congregation, and gorgeously decorated, according to the means and taste of the parishioners and clergy) there were subordinate altars to favourite saints, where incense was burnt and candles kept lighted by pious votaries: these were all destroyed at the time of the Reformation, though the places in which they stood are <"' That part of the chiircli in which the cliiel' religious offices are perlbrincil. The word is derived from the Latin, cuncilU, railings or lattice-work, iK-cniTse it was separated by a screen from the rest of the church. ^■*J 'J'he sacrament, from the Latin, hitstia, a victim. ^ ^■^om>^ H-K^8S8^^ PS -^f those which still remain in this coimtry is that in the Lady ^^888C^-H')«^<>M-^»-4-<^888^-' f -<^^^'^^<>m<>r¥:*-^-<^^^^<>mo~y^^om FURNITURE AND ORNAMENTS OF CHURCHES. m Chapel, Southwark, which is exquisitely carved in stone ; the whole building has lately been carefully restored, so that the rei'edos may there be seen to great advantage. AYe shall say but little about organ screens, for in most of our cathedrals the organ occupies the place of the ancient rood, and the old rood-screen serves as an organ-screen. In parish churches, when the different position of the organ prohibits such an appropriation, the organ- screen is generally constructed so as to harmonise as little as possible with the details of the church ; if the latter be early Enghsh, the organ-screen is usually composite, with wreaths of oaken flowers and bulls' heads, trumpets placed saltier-wise and the kiiiffs arms (those of George II. or George III.) in gold and emblazonry. Here too is the favoured spot for annoimcing donations of bread and coals to the poor, beautijications (I) of the church, and the illustrious names of Messrs. "John Hun and William Vandal, church- wardens," all in gold, till a new era substitutes the names of other decorators in their turn. Of niches and brackets we have already spoken, and we, therefore, pass on to the piscina,'"' a small arched recess, sometimes double, as a beautiful example in the chapel of Jesus College, Cambridge, exhibits it, but more usually single, as the two instances in the church of St. Mary ^lagdalene. The position of the piscina is various, but it is most generally found at the eastern end of the southern wall, and at the right hand of the altar in the east wall. They have circular orifices at the bottom, and drains communicating with the outside of the church, and their use was for pouring away the water used in rinsing the chalice, and washing the priests' hands ; hence they are also called water- drains, stoops, or lavatories. A great variety of style will be found in piscina, the head of some being richly decorated ; in other cases they are merely holes in the wall. Piscina; r 1 1~~^ ■?Trt5:5!~-iyi were first introduced into our ohurciies about the year 1190. When a recess without a drain is found at the right hand of the altar it is called a credence, and its use was to place thereon the elements before ^ yuk ^ ^ A i\A\ poml, from tlu' sacred syniliol, txOoi, ;i lisli. -<^888S>-H'^^<«^-4-K^888£>-^ -<^8888>--H-^^<#o^»^ FURNITURE AND ORNAMENTS OF CHURCHES. consecration at the Eucharist. In some churches, tliough not often, we may observe in the nortii wall, and within the altar rails, a recess, low and shallow, under a flat arch, and sometimes highly decorated. This recess is called the Easter sepulchre, and its use was to receive the elements consecrated on Maunday Thursday, until the celebration of high mass on Easter Sunday. It is possible to imagine that the Piaster sejmlchre was used in other rites typical of the resurrection. The most beautiful now remaining is in the church of Heckington, in Lincolnshire. These must not be confounded with the smaller aiuwbry, or locker, which is usually a plain square or triangular-headed recess in the north wall, occasionally fitted with a shelf and door, and intended to hold the church plate, &c. It is but rarely that aumbries exliibit any attempt at decoration ; they may be best known by their position, and are sometimes found set diagonally in the north-east corner. The sedilia, or seats, form a not unfrequent and very striking feature in the decoration of the chancel. They are generally tlu-ee in number, either of etjual height, or descending in regular gradation towards the west, and when they occur they are found invariably in the south wall, a little to the west of the piscina ; in some instances, canopies of exquisite workman- ship over the arches by which they are surmounted mark the taste and the wealth of the builder ; while in others there is no more than a horizontal moulding. The usual number is, as we have already said, three ; but there are sometimes, in large churches, more : thus, at Rothwell Church, Nor- thamptonshire, there are four, and at Southwell Minster, five. There are also small chm'ches with two, as at Milton, Kent ; or even one, as at Chalk Church, in the same county ; but three was the more usual number, for the priest, the deacon, and the sub-deacon. Sedilia are rarely of greater anti- quity than the thirteenth century, previous to which period the priest sat on a chair, or stool, as at present. We may just mention a few other peculiarities in the chancels of some of om- older churches. The first of these is a small square hole in the extreme east end of the southern wall, placed almost close to the ground, and resembling an aumbry; the second, an arched recess on the western side of the sedilia, resembling them in appearance, but of greater width, and surmounted with an arch of a dift'ercnt character ; the third is a small low window close to the chancel ai'ch, usually stopped up with stone or brick, lint visible from the outside. A corresponding one may, in a few rare instances, be discovered in the northern wall. Lastly, we come to the hagioscope, or, as it has been called, squint. This is, or rather these are. small oblong slits in the chancel wall, in order f ^^ 126 FURNITURE AND ORNAMENTS OF CHURCHES. ^ that those sitting in the nave or transepts might see the host when elevated, the word signifies to see ichat is holy. The hagioscope itself is of rare occurrence, so much so, indeed, as to be omitted in the "Glossary of Architecture," and when it is found, its purpose is not often understood. We cannot dismiss the host and its elevation without noticing the sancte-bell. Outside the church, at the eastern end of the nave, the observer may sometimes see a small turret, like a dove cote, which occasionally, though not often, contains a bell ; this is called the sancte-bell, and it was rung at the elevation of the host, in order that those without might fall dovm on their knees and worship the elements, now changed, accord- ing to the superstitious creed of Rome, into the real body and blood of Christ. The more modern furniture and ornaments of churches will require but a short notice. A large voliune might be written upon fonts and their covers : all that we shall say here will have reference to the proper situation of the font in a church ; it should be near the porch, to typify that by baptism is the entrance into the church, and those, therefore, who place the font in the body of the church, or still more, who advance it to the chancel, not merely offend against ecclesiastical propriety, but symbolically against sound doc- trine. Of pulpits, too, we shall say but little ; some of the most ancient and beautiful in this country are of stone, and others, of later date, of carved wood, by Gibbous, and other equally skilful, if not equally celebrated, artists of that time. The desk had its origin at the Reformation, and as the object of it was to put the officiating minister in such a position with regard to those whose devotions he was to lead, it is obvious that its usual situation is tiiat which is at once most effective and most correct. In some churches we see two pulpits of equal height erected, one for the reader, and one for the preacher ; and in others the stiU worse arrangement, by wliich pulpit, reading desk, and clerk's desk, all are so placed as to prevent the congregation from either hearing or seeing the minister during the communion service. Reading desks did, as we have already said, originate at the Reformation, but lecterns and eagles, for the reading of the lessons, may be found of much earlier date. Of the communion table, with its plate and linen, we have left ourselves no space to say much, and the rarity of ancient plate makes it less necessary to enlarge. In Somersetshire there exists some of that wliich has escaped -H-^ ^ yak ^-^-o^o-^f^-^SSS^-H-^A FURNITURE AND ORNAMENTS OF CHURCHES. the ravages of the great rebellion, and we may especially notice a chalice with a cover belonging to the church at Ilminstcr. Let us indulge a hope tliat these few remarks may 1)C the means, to however small an extent, of bringing the subject of ancient church orna- ments before the notice of some who may have it in their power to stop the besom of desti-uction, already "reforming away so many of our ecclesiastical antif|uities" from the face of the earth. 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