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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 i:|)e Basilica; 
 
 OE, 
 
 PALATIAL HALL OF JUSTICE AND SACRED TEMPLE : 
 
 ITS NATURE, ORIGIN, AND PURPORT 
 
 AND A 
 
 DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE BASILICAN CHURCH OF BRIXWOETH, 
 
 (Miii) 'EitI)ograpl)ic illustrations. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. CHAS. FRED. WATKINS, 
 
 VICAR OF BEIXWOltTH; 
 AITTHOE OF "THE HUMAN HAND," "TWINS OF FAME," &e. 
 
 Eoittfon, 
 EIVINGTONS, WATEKLOO PLACE ; 
 
 HIGH STREET, 
 
 ©xfortr. 
 
 TRINITY STREET, 
 
 CTaintriOgr. 
 
 1867.
 
 \ 
 •i
 
 
 TO THE 
 
 EIGHT HON. EAEL SPENCER, E.G. 
 
 Dear Lord Spencer, 
 
 The generous and handsome manner in which 
 you supported my endeavours for the Restoration of Brixworth 
 Church induces me to dedicate this Portion of my literary 
 labours for the explication of the Nature, Origin, and Piu-pose 
 of the Basilica in general, to your Lordship, as a tribute of 
 grateful respect from 
 
 Your Lordship's obliged and faithful Servant, 
 
 CHAS. FRED. WATKINS. 
 
 632328
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I HAVE for many years been prepared with data for 
 this Essay on the Basihca ; but reserved the pubh- 
 cation of any matter upon the subject till I could 
 finish the excavations and discoveries pertaining 
 to my own church, that I might bring out the 
 descriptions of both together, as being cognate to 
 each other. Not that I have been altogether silent 
 on either subject. For in the year 1845, at the 
 request of my old friend the Rev. T. Cooke, of St. 
 Peter's, Brighton, I supplied a brief account of the 
 church to my respected friend Canon Argles, for 
 insertion in his well-known publication, the Cot- 
 tager's Monthly Visitor, for which Mr. Cooke pro- 
 vided a south elevation. 
 
 13
 
 6 PREFACE. 
 
 Our Architectural Society desiring a lecture on 
 the subject, and I still declining to treat it till I 
 could do so more fully and certainly, the Rev. 
 G. Ayliff Poole came over for the piirpose, to whom 
 I pointed out all that had been brought to light 
 under my directions ; and he being a profound 
 Archaeologist, and unprejudiced by the opinions of 
 others, produced, with sound judgment, an excel- 
 lent essay, more extensive than the epitome that 
 I had sent for the Cottager's Monthly Visitor, but 
 with some misconceptions, that I foresaw could 
 only be settled by further investigations. This 
 essay is inserted in our Architectural Journal. At 
 the conclusion of his lecture, delivered to a large 
 and intelligent annual meeting at the George Hotel, 
 Northampton, I added, impromptu, a viva voce ac- 
 count of the Basilica, as I knew that the purport 
 of the difierent parts of the church then described 
 would not be clearly seen and fully appreciated 
 without it. 
 
 Two or three years ago I carefully prepared an 
 essay on the subject, after the investigation and
 
 PEEFACE. / 
 
 study of many years, to be published with one on 
 the church, as soon as I had an opportunity of 
 examining, in all its parts, the construction and 
 elaboration of the walls throughout the building. 
 But having forwarded it for perusal to a gentle- 
 man versed in ecclesiastical and general art, and 
 he having mislaid it beyond recovery in time for 
 publication, I was obliged to recompose it as far 
 as my memory served : and this at 72 years of 
 age, and after a long and severe illness, amidst 
 heavy professional and other labours, can hardly 
 be so full and satisfactory as the original MS. 
 In both Essays I have studied as much brevity as 
 consists with perspicuity, approving the ancient 
 maxim at all times, ^liya ^l^\iov fxeya KaKov, a 
 great book is a great bore ; and especially at the 
 present day, when the very titles of the works 
 published are enough to produce confusion and 
 amazement. 
 
 Behoving that the early Basilican type exhibits 
 the best and truest principles of legal and ecclesi- 
 astical buildings, and the Church of Brixworth 
 
 B 2
 
 8 PEEFACE. 
 
 being the only one in this kingdom preser^^ed from 
 such great antiquity, T\dth the whole ground-plan 
 ascertained, and the main parts of the building 
 still entire, will, I trust, be considered a sufficient 
 warrant for adding these Essays to the multitu- 
 dinous issues of the press. 
 
 Brixworth, 
 
 \5th Ajml, 1867.
 
 THE BASILICA, 
 
 Sfc. 
 
 The Basilica, in its earliest and simplest form, was 
 a rectangular building, apportioned into tliree 
 squares, two undivided at one end, and one dis- 
 tinguislied from them at the other end. Thus in 
 a building ninety feet long, the larger division of 
 two undivided squares would be sixty feet in 
 length, by thirty in breadth ; the smaller division 
 would be thirty feet square. This measurement 
 is of the central building only, exclusive of the 
 peristyle, and requires to be constantly kept in 
 mind ; for every extension of outer works at equal 
 distances from the main building alters the pro- 
 portions and lessens the relations of length to 
 breadth. 
 
 Before the commencement of the larger division, 
 there was an atrium or square porch. At the
 
 .10 THE basilica: 
 
 other end of the building there was sometimes a 
 semicircular apse or concha, so called from its 
 resembling in shape a shell. 
 
 The origin and purport of such building would 
 be to hold courts of justice in civil matters, and 
 for the performance of sacred rites in the exercise 
 of religious functions. In either case the necessity 
 for a building of this kind is sufficiently manifest. 
 For, in the administration of justice, the apse 
 would be necessary to contain the bema or 
 tribunal, somewhat raised above the rest of the 
 building, on which the judge might sit, with his 
 assessors near and below him. 
 
 The square portion nearest to the apse would 
 be required for the advocates and their clients, 
 and the larger portion beyond for the public 
 auditory. 
 
 This tripartite division is still necessary and 
 prevalent in our present courts of justice, though 
 the separations are not so distinctly marked. 
 
 To this simple form of the hall of justice there 
 were added lateral chambers opposite to the court 
 of the advocates, into which they might retire for 
 conference and arbitration; and these chambers 
 had their respondents on the outside of the other 
 end of the building for the use of the inferior
 
 OE, PALATIAL HALL OF JUSTICE. 11 
 
 officers attendant upon tlie court, and corridors 
 of communication were erected between these 
 terminal chambers. 
 
 If any one will search diligently into the re- 
 motest history of nations, he will find that the 
 royal and sacerdotal offices were generally united 
 in the same person : that he who one day would 
 sit on the tribunal to administer justice, would at 
 another time use it as a sacrarium for the per- 
 formance of religious rites. 
 
 Amongst the numerous instances which might 
 be adduced of the royal and sacerdotal functions 
 being united in settled governments, is that of 
 Croesus, king of Lydia, who, by sacerdotal authority, 
 expiated Adrastus. Also the Spartan kings, to 
 whom the priesthood of the Lacedaemonian and 
 celestial Jupiter pertained, and the back and skin 
 of the victim as perquisites of the priesthood. 
 Rameses, the sixth king of Egypt, is represented 
 on the monuments of that country in the character 
 of a priest ofiering incense. The custom still 
 prevails in the Grand Lama of Thibet. The case 
 of Melchizedek must present itself to all readers of 
 the Bible ; and He of whom Melchizedek was a 
 proper type, our Great High Priest and Heavenly 
 King. The readers of Virgil will recollect " Rex
 
 12 THE basilica; 
 
 Anius atque sacerdos." Samuel united in Lis 
 person tlie threefold office of prophet, priest, and 
 king ; and David and Solomon assumed the 
 priestly office in blessing the people. 
 
 In the exercise of religious worship, the first 
 portion, next to the apse, was used by those 
 who assisted in the performance, whilst the larger 
 area beyond would be occupied by the worshippers 
 at large. And thus it was that when the Roman 
 Empire was converted to Christianity, these 
 Basilicas or Halls of Justice were found so con- 
 venient for Christian worship, — the bema serving'' 
 for the Bishop's throne ; the advocates' chambers 
 serving for vestries ; and the narrow corridors, 
 being widened and enlarged, were converted into 
 aisles, and affi^rded greater accommodation for 
 the increasing congregations. 
 
 The Tabernacle in the wilderness affords us the 
 earliest instance of the Basilica in its simplest 
 form, being divided into three squares, a twofold 
 and single. The whole length of the Tabernacle, 
 from east to west, was thirty cubits : the sanctum 
 ten cubits, or one-third of the whole, and the width 
 ten cubits : the remainder twenty cubits or two 
 squares. We have this on the testimony of Jose- 
 phus. The three temples at Jerusalem succes-
 
 OK, PALATIAL HALL OF JUSTICE. 13 
 
 sively exhibited, in the main body, the same divi- 
 sions and proportions as the Tabernacle. In 
 Leviticus vi. 1, we have given us these pro- 
 portions of Solomon's temple. 
 
 The Basilican church of Brixworth has the 
 same proportions. Mr. Edward Charles Hake- 
 well, in his elaborate work on Ecclesiastical and 
 Civil Architecture, refuses the testimony of 
 Josephus as to the divisions of the Tabernacle : 
 but what better authority could be wished for? 
 and the agreement of its proportions with those 
 of the national temples is strongly in its favour. 
 
 As their King was not upon earth, but in heaven, 
 there was no occasion for apse or bema ; and the 
 single square was therefore made the sacrarium, 
 or most holy place, where the high priest received 
 the oracles of the Heavenly Monarch ; and, in his 
 vicarious capacity, transacted a sacrificial advocacy 
 on behalf of the people. The holy place, answering 
 to the chancel proper and court of advocates, was 
 occupied by the priests and Levites, and the 
 court without by the people. 
 
 It is indeed remarkable that some of the earliest 
 of the heathen temples maintained this tripartite 
 division of three squares : — that at Psestum ; the 
 temple of Theseus ; the temple of Jupiter ; the
 
 14 THE basilica; 
 
 temple of Esculapius, of Jupiter Stator at Rome, 
 and of Neptune therein. In the temple of Peestum, 
 the sanctum was twenty cubits, the nave forty- 
 cubits, the mdth twenty cubits. See the ground- 
 plan of Brixworth Church. 
 
 The aptitude which this Basilican form pre- 
 sented for the performance of both the civil and 
 religious functions will account for this traditionary 
 repetition from age to age, and will occasion its 
 continuance to the end of time. 
 
 The human origin of this construction may be 
 reasonably referred to the patriarchal government. 
 For the father of the family was necessarily the 
 ruler and priest of the household : his authority 
 would afterwards merge into the head of the tribe; 
 and he again would be superseded by that of the 
 monarch when the extended tribes should be united 
 under one sovereign. The manner in which the 
 civil authority was thus transferred is circum- 
 stantially related by Herodotus in the case of 
 De'ioces. 
 
 And Layard discovered in Nineveh the ground- 
 work of a Basilica of the same construction as the 
 church at Brixworth. Additions were made in 
 some of the earliest temples of peristyles, porches, 
 &c. ; and in the Byzantine Basilicas of a late
 
 OE, PALATIAL HALL OF JUSTICE. 15 
 
 date, accessions were made to the more simple 
 form by galleries, triforia, &c., to tlie lessening 
 of that impressive grandeur which characterizes 
 the earlier type ; and it was remarked by those 
 who had seen the first St. Peter's, that it far ex- 
 celled the more elaborate and ornate production of 
 Bramante in this respect. 
 
 In the provincial towns the apse and intermediate 
 part were made to answer the purposes of munici- 
 pal government, and the larger portion those of a 
 covered market-house. 
 
 Beneath the semicircular apse there was fre- 
 quently a crypt. This in the Roman Basilica was 
 used for a prison. The following description of 
 such a subterranean prison is taken from Sallust : 
 
 " There is a place in the prison, after a small 
 descent to the left, called Tullus's dungeon, sunk 
 about twelve feet underground, with an arch of 
 stone, a dark noisome solitude frightful to behold." 
 In Christian churches they were used for religious 
 services, and as burial-places for sainted persons. 
 
 SYMBOLISM. 
 
 And as there was a general adaptation in the 
 form of the structure to the civil and rehgious
 
 16 THE basilica; 
 
 wants of mankind, so was there a symbolism 
 involved in that structure, which, with respect to 
 the Tabernacle at least, cannot be denied. For 
 Moses was commanded to build the Tabernacle in 
 the following words : — " Look that thou make 
 them after their pattern which was shewed thee in 
 the mount'." 
 
 And St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews 
 (viii. 5), says of the priests under the law that 
 they serve unto the example and shadow of 
 heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of 
 God when he was about to make the Tabernacle : 
 for " See, saith he, that thou make all things 
 according to the pattern shewed to thee in the 
 mount." Thus, therefore, there is not only a 
 symbolism declared, but a symbolical representation 
 of heavenly things expressly stated. And as in 
 the general, so with the particulars is that symbo- 
 lism recorded ; for the innermost of the tripartite 
 di\dsions, or Holy of Holies, or Most Holy Place, 
 is compared to Heaven itself, the entering into 
 which by the high priest once a year, with the 
 atoning blood of the burnt-offering, being declared 
 symbolical of the Saviour entering into the highest 
 heavens, with the all-sufficient virtue of His own 
 
 ' Exod. XXV. 40.
 
 OE, PALATIAL HALL OF JUSTICE. 17 
 
 most precious blood. The Tabernacle itself repre- 
 sented His sacred body, tlie veil His flesh. 
 
 Furthermore, St. Paul himself divides the 
 heavens into three successions, having himself 
 had a vision of the third heaven, wherein he 
 saw what might not be uttered by the tongue 
 of man. The partition wall also was made to 
 represent the line of demarcation between the 
 two covenants, and between their respective 
 worshippers, which was broken down by Christ, 
 when he proclaimed salvation to the Gentiles, 
 and admitted them within the pale of the 
 Christian Church. Josephus, as Jewish writers 
 in general, and some Christian authors likewise, 
 carries symbolism to a great extent; but I go 
 not beyond unquestionable authority. 
 
 The form and proportions of the early Basilicas 
 having been described, I proceed to explain the dif- 
 ferent materials used in the erection of the build- 
 ing, and indeed of all important edifices. These 
 would greatly — I may say principally — depend 
 upon the geological formation of the place. 
 In all countries where there was an absence 
 of rocky strata, the builders would follow the 
 examples of those of Babel, using "bricks for 
 stone, and slime for mortar;" and thus the
 
 18 THE basilica; 
 
 Basilica at Nineveh was built : thus the Roman 
 Basilicas. And hence the necessity of the 
 semicircular arch in those buildings and places. 
 
 But when a rocky stratum was near, large 
 buildings especially would be erected of stone, 
 and the openings be angular or rectangular; 
 because the stones singly would serve for lintels 
 as well as for side-posts. Thus in Egypt and 
 G-reece, the neighbouring mountains supplying 
 them with these materials at hand, the doors 
 and windows generally obtained a rectangular 
 form, or inclined in Egypt to the trapezium ; 
 though the semicircular arch, and the equilateral 
 were sometimes adopted by that people : hence 
 the immense obelisks, colonnades, and statues 
 of that country, from the facilities which the 
 mountains afforded. AVhereas on the banks or 
 the Tiber and the Thames, the buildings are 
 generally of brick from the neighbouring clay; 
 although where expense is not a great object, 
 the stones of far-distant quarries are transported 
 by sea and by land for the purposes of archi- 
 tectural beauty, sculptured illustrations, and 
 permanent duration. 
 
 Some of the earliest buildings after the Flood 
 were composed of vast glacial, diluvial, or alluvial
 
 OB, PALATIAL HALL OF JUSTICE. 19 
 
 blocks, wliicli, lying on the ground ready at hand, 
 were first made use of, and especially by immi- 
 grants coming from a distance, not without the 
 knowledge, but destitute of the appliances in the 
 art of building : — thus the Titanian walls, the 
 Druidical and other like erections of large stones, 
 with only mortice and tenon to uphold the 
 transverse layers, but neither hewn nor close- 
 jointed. And where there was a choice of clay 
 for bricks, and loose rubble for walls, the latter 
 was often selected, or both together used, the 
 excellency of the mortar rendering the concrete 
 as hard as iron. Sir Grenville Temple ascertained 
 the cisterns of Carthage to have been composed 
 of this material ; and sometimes walls constructed 
 of small and thin stones were erected with those 
 stones in an oblique and converse manner, called 
 " herring-bone work," as may be seen in the 
 square and round towers of Brixworth Church. 
 
 The Egyptian semi-trapezium resolved itself 
 into the pointed arch, and the semicircular arch 
 contracted itself into the post-Norman transition 
 arch. The Early EngHsh, as it is called, expanded 
 into the Decorated, the Decorated into the Tudor : 
 and these were all varied in construction and 
 ornamentation .
 
 20 THE "BASILICA. 
 
 The three pure and simple styles are the 
 semicircular, the rectangular, and the equilateral. 
 All the others are divergencies and modifications. 
 In reviewing the history of those buildings which, 
 whether with " cloud-capped towers, and lofty 
 pinnacles," and pointed spires, or in greater 
 simplicity of structure, have passed away, one 
 can hardly avoid a thought respecting the fate of 
 those, and the communities to which they belong, 
 that now exist. Macaulay's image of the New 
 Zealander, sitting upon London Bridge and 
 soliloquizing on the ruins of the Capital, 
 which has obtained so much currency and ad- 
 miration, may perhaps occur to the reader's 
 mind. It is not by any means an original idea 
 of our florid historian. He gained it from a 
 more imaginative and eloquent writer, Volney, 
 in his dazzling, but deceptive work, " The Ruins 
 of Empires," who places himself amidst the 
 wreck of Palmyra, and sohloquizes on the 
 anticipated ruins of London and Paris. Suuin 
 ciuqiie. 
 
 Let us hope that the Spirit of Christianity 
 will preserve the Capital of this Christian country 
 from the occasion of any such soliloquies.
 
 
 si 
 
 
 I
 
 THE BASILICM CHUECH OF BRIXWOETH. 
 
 Wlii^ lEitfjograpI)^ Illustrations. 
 
 C
 
 TO 
 
 SIR CHARLES EDMUND ISHAM, BART. 
 
 The Dedication of this Work on Brixworth Church is 
 clearly due to you, as the Restoration of that ancient and 
 interesting building is more indebted to the kind and generous 
 efforts of Lady Isham and yourself than to any one besides. 
 And I avail myself of this call of Justice, for the expression 
 of other pleasurable, as well as grateful sentiments, to one 
 whom I have known from early youth, in whom I soon 
 discerned the early pursuit of knowledge for a future well- 
 stored mind, and a refined taste for the elegant and useful 
 Arts of Life, with a disposition to those better qualities which 
 have endeaied Lamport Hall and its inmates not to its own 
 neighbourhood only, but far and wide through a great part 
 of the County at large. That health and happiness may 
 ever prevail therein is the sincere prayer and wish of 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 CHAS. FRED. W ATKINS. 
 
 Brixwoeth Vicabage, 
 March 29, 1867. 
 
 C 2
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I CANNOT do better than reprint my address to 
 the British Archasological Association at their 
 excursion to Brixworth Church : — 
 
 [Extracted from the Northampton Herald of Saturday, 
 August 16, 1862.] 
 
 On the Friday morning a special train brought between 
 thirty and forty of the members, including the president, 
 Dr. Lee, the secretaries, J. R. Planche, Esq., E. Roberts, Esq., 
 Messrs. Wright, &c., and some ladies, to the Brixworth station, 
 from which all who desired were brought up in carriages, sent 
 by the vicar and the principal parishioners for their service. 
 They were met at the church by the vicar and several of the 
 county families and their friends, including Sir Charles and 
 Lady Isham, the Hon. and Rev. Arthur and Mrs. Douglas, 
 the Hon. Henry and Lady Mary Douglas, Henry O. Nether- 
 cote, Esq., and Mrs. Nethercote, the Rev. J. L. Roberts, vicar 
 of Spratton ; — Lacon, Esq., and Mrs. Lacon ; and others 
 belonging to the parish and neighboui'hood. On the party 
 being seated in the church. 
 
 The Rev. C. F. Watkins gave a very interesting viva voce
 
 26 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 account of the church. He expressed the pleasure he felt iu 
 receiving them within those venerable vpalls, and thought the 
 best course he could pursue, sanctioned as it had been by Mr. 
 Pettigrew, on whom they greatly relied, was to give them a 
 brief and simple statement of the manner in which he had 
 pursued his investigations into the remains of the ancient 
 building, till he had entirely ascertained and developed the 
 whole of the original plan. 
 
 It is now thirty years (proceeded the reverend gentleman) 
 since I took possession of this living, and I was naturally 
 struck with the singular appearance of this building — its 
 arches formed of Roman bricks, and every subsequent style 
 of architecture interposed up to the time of Henry VI. The 
 only notice that had previously been taken of the church was 
 by Mr. Britton, that energetic and useful pioneer in archaeo- 
 logical matters, and Hickman, the writer on Gothic architecture, 
 both of whom had their attention called to the building by 
 Mr. Baker, the late historian of the county, and his sister. 
 Through the exertions of the latter, some of the brick arches 
 were scraped and laid bare, and part of the foundation of the 
 outer wall to the north aisle ascertained, but nothing was done 
 to develope the original plan of the building, nor was any plan 
 suggested. Mr. Britton concluded it to have been an Anglo- 
 Roman building — Mr. Rickman, a Norman ; it appears, how- 
 ever, as deduced by Mr. Roberts, from the edition of his book 
 in 1835, eleven years after he had visited Brixworth, that he 
 then classed it amongst the Saxon buildings of the country, 
 though not earlier than those of Barton-on-Umber and Earl's 
 liarton. 
 
 After long careful examination, and mature consideration, 1 
 concluded it to have been originally built for a Roman Basilica 
 or hall of justice, or rebuilt by the early Saxons after the 
 Roman type. I met with little cnconrageracnt and much 
 opposition in proposing this view. Tlieie was at that time 
 a prevailing projudice against the supposition of the existence
 
 INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 of early remains of Saxon architecture of any account, or of 
 any thing prior to the Norman period. A hundred years 
 ago prejudice ran the contrary way. If an arch was discovered 
 with any tracery, especially with any chevron work, it was 
 immediately attributed to the Saxons. When that error was 
 exploded, the prejudice ran in a contrary direction, as is usual 
 with mankind, and the Saxons were reported as incompetent 
 for any considerable work. 
 
 The late Marquis of Northampton — a man of remarkable 
 sagacity and acumen — and the late rector of Orton Longville, 
 who had examined all the architectural remains in Italy and the 
 rest of the Continent, alone encouraged me in this view. 
 
 The ftrst thing I did was to take occasion of the burial of 
 a parishioner in the chancel to make excavations there. I 
 observed in the north-western corner of the exterior two sides 
 remaining of a former polygonal structure, and noticed that the 
 interior of that part curved a little. This led me to infer that 
 it was part of an original apse, polygonal without and semi- 
 circular within, and probably with an underground crypt, 
 as in the oldest forms. I therefore made the masons prolong 
 their excavations, till they reached, as I suspected, a subterranean 
 wall, ten feet deep, which I made them lay open in its whole 
 extent, till it came to view a perfect semicircle, and I left it 
 open for public inspection from two to three months. But 
 being obliged to close it up, for the performance of the 
 sacred rites, I determined to work in a different quarter. 
 Having observed an opening at the east end of the subterranean 
 wall, I concluded there must have been also a subterranean 
 chamber or corridor on the outside of the wall, for this source 
 of communication ; and if a corridor, or ambulatory, as it is 
 sometimes called, a descent to it from the east end of the 
 church. Accordingly, I had the wall at the north-east corner 
 pierced and opened ; and, after some labour and risk, succeeded 
 in laying bare a circular-headed doorway, from which I doubted 
 not there had been a descent to the cavity below. A serious
 
 28 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 ol>stacle presented iteelf to any investigation without, in the 
 form of a solid embankment as high as the present window. 
 But, after removing about 200 loads of earth, I had the 
 satisfaction of revealing the outer wall of the crypt, the door- 
 way and original steps of descent, an outer low subterranean 
 wall encircling the corridor in parallel lines with the interior of 
 the original apse, with a recess in one of the sides, receiving a 
 vaulted roof, which sprung from the string course of the wall of 
 the crypt. My next object was to lay open what I concluded 
 would prove to be the north aisle with its apsides, which the 
 respective arches seemed to indicate as having existed. 
 Another embankment of earth, up nearly to the windows* 
 again proved an obstruction, but I at length succeeded in 
 laying open the whole aisle, coterminous with the nave, sub- 
 divided by foot buttresses, with a terminal square apse at the 
 east end, and a rectangular one at the west, the latter formed 
 by the recess from the nave to the square porch. On the 
 south side, where greater obstructions presented themselves 
 in more I'ecent buildings, I made sufficient investigations to 
 assure myself of corresponding parts to those on the north. 
 Thus, abstracting the circular tower at the west, which, by its 
 straight joint and other features, is proved to have been a later 
 appendage to the building, I at length ascertained and developed, 
 Avhat I had always inferred and suggested to others, a complete 
 Basilican form in the original building, viz., a square porch, 
 with a main west entrance, opening into apsides north and 
 south, and into a nave with four arches of a side, these arches 
 opening into corridors, and with clerestory windows above 
 between each two of the four arches, a compartment at the 
 east of the nave leading into a semicircular apse, and opening 
 into square apsides, or terminals to the aisles, at its commence- 
 ment from the nave. (See ground-plan.) 
 
 And now with respect to this compartment. It is evident 
 that (he walls on oitlier side were originally without the present 
 openings. The iirs( that was made was the smaller arch on
 
 INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 tlie south side, excavated for the purpose of communicating 
 with the present south aisle, which was built in the early part 
 of the 1 4th century, as a chapel for Sir John de Verdun, Lord 
 of the Manor, whose effigy is now enclosed in an arched recess 
 of the south wall of that aisle. Fifty years later the larger arch 
 was opened, and the clerestory window above. In the north 
 wall of this compartment a Decorated and a Tudor window 
 were afterwards inserted ; the latter is now superseded by a 
 Decollated window, substituted at the time of rebuilding the 
 wall in that part. 
 
 If you look up to the commencement of the large arch which 
 leads from the nave, continued Mr. Watkins, you will perceive 
 the spring of an early brick arch, which was supposed — 
 Hickman suggested this — to have spanned the whole width of 
 the church ; but it is evidently too small for such a compass^ 
 neither is there sufficient pier to support such an arch. I 
 suspected that it was only a small clerestory arch, correspond- 
 ing to the opposite one at the east end, for the purpose of 
 throwing light into the choir from the clerestory of the nave, 
 as those at the east end did from without the building, and that 
 there must have been a central or triumphal arch corresponding 
 to that which leads into the chancel, with side walls and round- 
 headed doors, and clerestory windows over them, in counterpart 
 to the east end. On burying a corpse near to the crossing, I 
 had the excavation continued, till I arrived at the bases of the 
 central piers, thus verifying all that I had inferred respecting 
 this building. 
 
 When Mr. Poole, several years ago, read a paper on 
 Brixworth Church, before the members of our Architectural 
 Society, at the George Hotel, Northampton, I added vivci voce 
 observations of a supplementary character, and some of them 
 to this purport, that I was convinced that we should some day 
 find the oi-igin not only of the circular brick arch called the 
 Roman, but of the Basilica itself, in the plains of Shinar. 
 Some time afterwards on going to the British Museum to
 
 30 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 inspect the slabs from Nineveh, I discovered the type of one 
 of our Saxon arches on one of the blocks, and beside it a 
 type of the Norman arch, with its chevron work. And I had 
 the satisfaction of subsequently hearing Mr. Layard describe, 
 at a meeting in the Mechanics' Institute, the foundation of a 
 Basilica in the ruins of Nineveh, corresponding in its several 
 details to that of Brixworth. 
 
 A Statement of the Restorations in Brixworth Church, 
 submitted to the committee of the architectural 
 Society, at their Annual Meeting on the 11th of 
 December, 1865, by the Rev. C. F. Watkins, Vicar of 
 Brixworth, and a Member of the Committee. 
 
 [Extracted from the Northampton Herald of Saturday, 
 December 16, 1865.] 
 
 My dear Colleagues, — In presenting you with a statement 
 of my proceedings and discoveries in the course of I'estoring 
 this venerable church, as preliminary to its being brought be- 
 fore the public, I feel that I am only paying due respect to 
 those who have been appointed the Executive Council of the 
 Architectural Society of this county. You were duly informed 
 by plans and prospectuses, that the work was to be done in 
 sections, as funds might be found, and the work to cease within 
 the limits of those funds. The first section was that of the 
 west end, forming two of the three squares of the nave, sixty 
 feet by thirty feet, and fifty feet high. In this section all the 
 Saxon arcade and clerestory windows are reopened, and re- 
 paired in the most substantial manner, every brick and stone
 
 INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 of the original work carefully preserved in loco, and the requi- 
 site repairs done with Boughton stone, which distinguishes the 
 new work from the old, and yet will not unfavourably har- 
 monize with the latter. In scraping the stucco and mortar off 
 the walls, we found a large square block of free-stone built into 
 the west pier of the western arch of the south side of the 
 church, by the early Saxons, having a Roman eagle, of the 
 Assyrian type, fairly sculptured on the exposed side, but very 
 slightly injured, and in good relief. On the upper part of the 
 stone are three mortices, showing that some ensign or other 
 was fixed in above the eagles. On excavating the floor of the 
 square tower, I discovered the bases of two circular coliunns 
 on each side of the original west entrance, with a wall running 
 from one of them towards the nave ; forming the propyleum 
 to an early Roman Temple or Christian Church of the four 
 first centuries : charred wood and burnt stone showed this part 
 to have been bm-nt with fire. These bases had been hacked on 
 the outer side of each, to receive respectively the corpse of a 
 full-grown person, who from being cramped up would appear 
 to have suffex-ed a violent death ; one of them was encased in 
 mortar, and till exposed to the atmosphere, the teeth and bones 
 had an appearance of great comparative freshness. Mr. Roberts, 
 in his pamphlet on Brixworth Church, declares that the present 
 square tower was a later appendage to the western wall of 
 the nave, because, as he argued, the walls were straight-jointed; 
 but this mistake of his arises from two causes : one, an inspec- 
 tion of only a small part of the walls that were then scaled ; the 
 other, fi'om perhaps not knowing the Saxon method of building 
 in this particular. There are, indeed, intervals of straight- 
 jointing in the square tower, but the Saxon method was not 
 always to bond continuously, but at intervals ; and on scaling 
 the whole of the lower part of the tower we find this inter- 
 mediate bonding carried throughout. Besides which, the courses 
 of the stones, foreign to the district, clearly show that the 
 squai'e tower and the nave were built together.
 
 32 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 Another error arising from imperfect, and perhaps hitherto 
 impossible investigation, is put forward in his pamphlet, which 
 is, that the herring-bone work is confined to the west end of 
 the church ; whereas, on scaling the south wall of the eastern 
 part of the nave, or what was the chancel proper, I find the 
 same herring-bone work in that part. It is also developed on 
 the inside of the crypt wall. Mr. Roberts also argued for the 
 existence of galleries within the nave, but we have carefully 
 probed and examined the whole area of the nave, and not the 
 slightest traces remain to show the existence of any such 
 galleries. Mr. Roberts is a man of genius, of professional and 
 archiBological eminence, and of the greatest industry in explor- 
 ing the records of the past, but this last supposition of his is 
 an inappropriate application of a general custom to a particular 
 case. A further suggestion of his, that the eastern apse itself 
 was encircled by an ambulatoiy as well as the crypt, may or 
 may not be true, as no proof can be offered on either side of 
 the question. From the examinations that we have been 
 enabled to make in the course of our work, it is clearly ascer- 
 tained that the square tower, the whole of the nave, with the 
 destroyed aisles, and their terminals, and the eastern apse, were 
 all built at the same time. Exception has been taken to what 
 are called the buttresses of the apse, as indicating a Norman 
 origin, but it may be clearly shown that what really Avere but 
 slender pilasters were used by the early Saxons ; the projecting 
 parts below, which constitute the buttresses, are simply an 
 addition of my own, as a substitute for the vaulted roof of the 
 ambulatory, by which the slender shafts and walls of the apse 
 were sustained, it being useless to rebuild the ambulatory itself. 
 We have rebuilt this eastern apse on the wall of the crypt, 
 which has been left entire, and having also two sides of the 
 original polygon remaining, we have carefully preserved it, and 
 carried out the building in accordance with them, so that we 
 are certain of having restored this part of the building, both in 
 mode and measure, to its original state.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 33 
 
 In the eastern part of the nave or chancel proper I have 
 discovered an early Saxon clerestory arch in the south wall, 
 the lower part of which has been removed for the insertion of 
 the pointed arch below; also, the rim of part of a Norman arch, 
 beneath the clerestory arch of the east end of the nave on the 
 south side, and within this Norman rim, a pointed arch, with a 
 glory painted on fresco, which no doubt surmounted an image 
 of the Virgin. All will be carefully developed and preserved. 
 
 I feel greatly indebted to the landlords and parishioners in 
 general, to the Incorporated and District Church Building 
 Societies, and the whole circle of my neighbours and friends 
 around to a radius of six or seven miles in every direction, for 
 the kind and generous support which they have afforded me in 
 this undertaking, as well as to relatives and dear old personal 
 friends in many and distant parts. My first object — to restore 
 the house of God to a state somewhat worthy of His Majesty 
 and goodness, and to secure ample accommodation for all His 
 worshippers in this place, where order, harmony, and goodwill 
 have long prevailed — is so far accomplished. It would be 
 affectation to deny that the discoveries and developments made 
 by me during my long incumbency (which are something like 
 a material offspring to men), the frequent and continued de- 
 velopments in England and in foreign lands, and especially of 
 late in the Holy Land, confirming all my early views and 
 enunciations respecting this singular building, seem to justify 
 me in the hope that my name will be identified with it through 
 future time. And though this is not my native county, one 
 of its fairest and most eligible parts has afforded me a pleasant 
 residence for the last thirty-three years — a full generation in 
 the history and chronology of man — in my earthly pilgrimage, 
 surrounded by many dear and valuable friends, where all my 
 children have either been born or bred (and in many distant 
 parts have reflected no small credit upon it), and wherein I 
 expect to take my earthly rest in her favoured soil ; I should, 
 therefore, be greatly wanting in proper feeling if I did not look
 
 34 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 with anticipated pleasure to bequeath to this county so singular 
 aud noble a monument of our remote ancestors in a suitable 
 condition of development and preservation. 
 
 Your faithful Colleague, 
 
 CHAS. FRED. WATKINS. 
 
 Brixwoeth, December l\th, 1865. 
 
 BRIXWORTH CHURCH. 
 
 The following is an extract from the Report of the Northamp- 
 tonshire ArchaBological and Architectural Society, read at a 
 meeting of the members of that Society, on Monday, the 5th of 
 November, 1866 : — 
 
 " Of the churches, the repairs or restoration of which have 
 been completed during the last year, first and foremost in 
 antiquity and interest stands Brixworth. Hardly a church in 
 the whole kingdom has an architectural histoiy extending over 
 a longer period, or containing in its pages stronger marks of 
 the different eras of which it is the record. We have in its 
 construction a large use of Roman material ; Roman brick is 
 employed in the construction of one of the finest early arcades 
 in any of oui- parish churches. Beneath an arch built of such 
 material, and at such a period, are the remnants of a Nonnan 
 arch, and again underneath these was a decorated window of 
 the same character as others further eastward. Then we have 
 later work of more than one period, besides the more modern 
 repairs and restorations. By excavating the surrounding 
 ground, foundations have been laid bare, revealing a form of 
 building differing in many ways, nor all of one period, from 
 ibat which has stood for many generations, and in one im- 
 portant instance furnishing a certain guide to the operations of 
 the present restorer. The great peculiarities of Brixworth
 
 INTEODUCTION. 35 
 
 Church have been dwelt on at some length in a paper read 
 before this society some years since by Mr. Poole, and to that 
 interesting paper the committee would refer the inquirer. They 
 now make brief allusion to the many styles of architecture 
 existing here, only for the purpose of impressing upon all 
 church restorers the importance of keeping every ancient 
 feature which marks a period, or tells a tale of bygone days. 
 The feature itself may not be one of great beauty, and it might 
 be replaced by one more pleasing to the eye, or more agreeable 
 to harmonious arrangement. But beauty and order in matters 
 of architecture may be sometimes bought too dearly, and the 
 farther any old period of art is receding from us, the greater 
 the reason for our not exchanging * old lamps for new.' Your 
 committee believe that great care has been, for the most part, 
 shown in the restoration of Bi'ixworth Church ; that, with one 
 minor exception, in which the restorers somewhat differed from 
 the opinion of the committee, every mark of ancient work has 
 been retained, great pains have been taken to supply as little 
 new work as possible, and wherever any new masonry has 
 been inserted, either because constructionally necessary, or to 
 replace any obviously modern excrescence, the new is carefully 
 distinguished from the old. Your committee's remarks, there- 
 fore, on the importance of preserving, when practicable, every 
 record of ancient art, are not meant to apply to Brixworth ; to 
 prove, however, the importance of being giiided by this con- 
 servative spirit in all dealings with our ancient ecclesiastical 
 monuments, we need only bring before our mind's eye the 
 church of Brixworth as it exists to us now, and compare it 
 with what it would have been, had the architects of the four- 
 teenth century, who inserted several windows and executed 
 some minor works there, swept away the pre-existing church, 
 and substituted a Decorated building of even the best pro- 
 portions. We should have exchanged a unique page of 
 architectural history for an almost stereotyped form of Decorated 
 church."
 
 36 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 [Extracted from the Northampton Herald of Nov. 17, 1866.] 
 
 TO THE EDITOR OF THE "NORTHAMPTON HERALD." 
 
 ViCAEAGE, Beixwobth, 14tth Nov., 1866. 
 
 Sir, — I am quite satisfied with the report of the committee of 
 the Architectm-al Society, as published in your last week's 
 number. It entirely vindicates me from a report which had 
 been industriously spread abroad at the commencement of my 
 labours — that I was about to sacrifice all the antiquities of the 
 church, and to spoil the building. This report extended to our 
 Universities, and, I have no doubt, deprived me of receiving 
 aid from archaeological parties, and from all parts of this 
 county, except my immediate neighbourhood, where the facts 
 were easily ascertained and generally known, and where I 
 received, in consequence, a most generous support. 
 
 The committee report one instance only in which there has 
 been any difference of opinion between us, and I think it due 
 to the county to state my reasons for not yielding to the sug- 
 gestion of the sub-committee in allowing the decorated Avindows 
 in dispute to remain. In the first place, the suggestion came 
 too late, as the plans had passed the ordeal of the Incorporated 
 and Diocesan Societies, the parish vestry, and the ordinary, 
 and the contracts were already signed. This was a sufficient 
 reply, and I stated it as one that would be received as a neces- 
 sity, and prevent any further jarring of opinions. But had 
 it come earlier, I should still have persisted in removing the 
 window, as I had from the first pledged myself to my chief 
 supporters and subscribers, and to the county and archajological 
 world, to restore the church in the full and proper sense of the 
 word — that is, to bring it back to its original state and design, 
 as fixr as possible — well knowing that I could exhibit and 
 preserve to the county a noble and unique specimen of eccle- 
 siastical architecture, a proud monument of our Saxon fore- 
 fathers, and a connecting link with tlic earliest religious and
 
 INTRODUCTION. 37 
 
 civil buildings of which we have any account, either in sacred 
 or profane history. [I hope to show this connexion, and its 
 important bearing upon civil and religious uses, in a forth- 
 coming treatise on the Basilica, of which there is no satis- 
 factory history in any language, together with a complete 
 history of Brixworth Church, with suitable lithographs.] I 
 could not, therefore, allow a bad specimen of a much later date, 
 as this window was, to mar the consistency and harmony of 
 what the committee justly style " one of the finest early arcades 
 in any of our parish churches." The ruinous state of the wall 
 which the Gothic insertors left around it alone would have 
 rendered it necessary to remove it, and the retention of a better 
 window of the period in another part of the chm^ch, where it is 
 less injurious, should reconcile any one to the removal of this. 
 
 I am thankful to say that I have been spared to complete 
 this undertaking far beyond my first expectations, at an outlay 
 of about 2500^. ; that all the expenses have been paid as they 
 were incurred ; that an obligation for the balance of 200/. still 
 required has been partly met by a gentleman who has no per- 
 manent interest in the county, and who has already contributed 
 150/., by offering to give 50/. more, if the remaining 150/. be 
 subscribed. 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 C. F. WATKINS. 
 
 P.S. — It is gratifying to me to record that, a fortnight before 
 his accident, my old friend Dr. Whewell came to see my 
 restorations, in company with Mackworth Dolben, Esq., and 
 expressed his approbation to him and me of all that I had 
 done. 
 
 D
 
 38 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 EESTORATIONS. 
 
 With respect to the principles involved in tlie repairs and 
 restitutions of our churches, I do not think the nature of the 
 style in the ai'chitecture of so much consequence, except so far 
 as one may conduce more than another to deeper and more 
 solemn impressions in Divine worship ; nor have I any pre- 
 judice against the Greco-Italian churches of Sir Christopher 
 Wren. 
 
 The great merit of repairing and restoring our churches 
 consists in this — that it produces and maintains a greater reve- 
 rence for the Supi-eme Being and sacred things, and raises 
 the tone of religious and moral sentiments. For how can man, 
 if duly impressed with feelings of reverence for his Maker, 
 and for things pertaining to His worship, contentedly enter 
 from time to time into His consecrated dwelling, and see it with 
 composure falling into decay, or presenting a meaner appearance 
 than his own stables, whilst he himself has just come out of 
 chambers adorned with "cedar and vermilion?" If it be a 
 question whether the want of reverence and religious feeling on 
 the one hand, or the foi'mer state of our churches on the other, 
 be the cause or effect, they are very certainly correlative and 
 reciprocal. 
 
 One of the great difficulties was a very wide suspicion 
 and fear of its being a movement in favour of Popery. And 
 this, though utterly unfounded with respect to the persons 
 concerned, Avas nevertheless in itself a holy and patriotic 
 jealousy, excited by the extreme practices of indiscreet zealots, 
 as well as perverts, and fanned, even to the pi-esent moment, 
 by the unworthy insinuations of many whose views of sacred 
 matters are as low as their actions are mean and despicable.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 39 
 
 It would indeed be a sad disgrace to us if we conceded to the 
 Romanist, to the Mahometan, and tlie heathen, the exchisive 
 performance of the duty, and the sole exercise of the privilege 
 of bringing the first-fruits, the best and choicest of material 
 things, to adorn and beautify the Palace of the " Great King of 
 all the Earth ;" and we, who profess a purer and more favoured 
 religion, should return Him nothing of the greater riches which 
 He has bestowed upon us, but the dregs and refuse of our 
 abundant stores ! A Mahometan coming to this country, and 
 seeing the marvellous structures erected within the last quarter 
 of a centmy for the purposes of commerce, manufactures, art, 
 and domestic enjoyment — their magnitude, costliness, and orna- 
 mentation ; and knowing the dilapidated and unsightly state of 
 most of our churches at the commencement of that period, 
 would necessarily exclaim, " This is a people that worship the 
 creature more than the Creator ;" " They are votaries of 
 Mammon." 
 
 With regard to the re-seating of ovir churches, nothing could 
 be more obstructive to the true spirit of Christianity, and to an 
 acceptable worship of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, than 
 the elevated or secluded pews which have hitherto encroached 
 upon the areas of our churches, in fostering self-indulgence, 
 listlessness, and both worldly and spiritual pride. But now, 
 where the seats are open and level, and accommodation made 
 for the poorer members of the parochial family, the humblest 
 individual may " enter the courts of the Lord with joy," and 
 say to himself with an honest and grateful exultation, " My 
 Father's House" — "How amiable are Thy dwellings. Thou 
 Lord of Hosts ! " He may now feel with complacency that he 
 is acknowledged by the rich and noble to be one of the children 
 of the same common Father and Lord of all, a brother in Christ, 
 and a fellow-heir of the same heavenly kingdom ; whilst the 
 upper classes are hereby reminded that eventually " the rich 
 and poor will meet together," without respect of persons, in 
 the immediate presence of their Maker, and that the talents 
 
 p 2
 
 40 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 entrusted to their care are soon to be withdrawn and accounted 
 for ; and, instead of allowing the clerk to act a vicarial part for 
 them in the response and acts of devotion, all are hereby in- 
 fluenced to personal and united worship, and " with one mind 
 and one mouth to glorify their Maker." Thus sympathy and 
 care will be exercised by the latter on behalf of the humbler 
 membei's of Christ's body, whilst a true feeling of respect and 
 attachment will be engendered in these towards the upper 
 classes. And thus the different classes of society will be united 
 together by the strongest of all bonds, and be enabled to meet 
 and overcome all dangers that may threaten from without, and 
 all the severest trials which can happen within the kingdom. 
 It is satisfactory to find that the highest and oldest of our 
 nobility and gentry ai'e the most ready to relinquish class dis- 
 tinctions in Divine worship, as their longer residence and 
 sympathies with their humbler brethren might lead us to 
 expect. 
 
 C. F. W.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHUHCH. 
 
 The time when tliis cliurcli was erected is certified 
 to us by Leland, on the authority of Hugo, the 
 Monk of Peterborough, as having taken place 
 under the rule of the Abbot Saxulphus or Sexwulf 
 of Peterborough, then called Medhamsted, towards 
 the latter end of the seventh century. 
 
 The particular year is uncertain ; but about 
 690 it was a dependency of Medhamsted, and 
 accompanied with a monastery, some remains of 
 which were lately discovered by the present Vicar 
 on rebuilding the vicarage-house, consisting of a 
 Saxon arch which fell down with an old wall, and 
 of a transition arch, as well as in the exhumation 
 of decayed cofl&ns and skeletons. 
 
 This testimony of Hugo is confirmed by suc- 
 cessive alterations of an architectural character, 
 which can be traced in a retrograde order, from 
 the time of Henry VI., through the Decorated,
 
 42 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 the Early Englisli, the Post-Norman transition, 
 the late Norman and the late Saxon, the most 
 ancient and conclusive of which is the round 
 tower appended to the square porch at the west 
 end, loopholed all round for archery, with a wind- 
 ing staircase from top to bottom, — most probably 
 to serve for defence against the incursion of the 
 Danes ; and coeval with this a three-light window 
 with baluster shafts, like those at Earl's Barton, 
 and St. Bonnet's, Cambridge, set in upon an 
 earlier semicircular arch of the same character 
 as the rest of the original structure, the crown of 
 which was cut away to receive that three-light 
 window. 
 
 The original aisles, too, which were built and 
 bonded in with the arcade, having the piers of 
 their transverse arches locked in between those of 
 the nave, must have been destroyed before the 
 Norman period, for a Norman doorway has been 
 inserted — for an entrance — in one of the original 
 arches of the nave, which could not have been 
 done had the south aisle been standing. And 
 this confirms the account given by Tanner in his 
 *' Notitia," of the aisles having been destroyed by 
 the Danes in 870, and of the round tower having 
 been appended soon after that time to secure the
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 43 
 
 cliurcli, and perhaps the inhabitants, against any 
 future injury from those fierce invaders. 
 
 Thus we deduce the erection of the main struc- 
 ture, consisting of the nave, the square tower, 
 the remains of the eastern apse, the destroyed 
 aisles with their double terminals (which I shall 
 hereafter show to be all of the same date), to 
 precede the ninth century, when the alterations 
 first commenced, and therefore corroborate the 
 story of Hugo the Monk. 
 
 NAMES OF THE PLACE. 
 
 In the Saxon Chronicle, the name of the place is 
 written Bricklesworthe ; in Domesday, Bricles- 
 worde, but no mention is made therein of the 
 Church. The next intelligence is of the value of 
 the living, — in Pope Nicholas' taxation 21Z. 6s. 8d. 
 for the Rectory, and 4/. 13s. 4d. for the Vicarage, 
 where the name is written Briklesworthe, and 
 afterwards Brikelsworth. The present name is 
 first found in the "Yalor Ecclesiasticus." The 
 original word Bricklesworthe, according to Bridges, 
 denotes its fame for springs ; and truly in a lord- 
 ship of more than 3000 acres there is scarce a field 
 in which you cannot arrive at a spring of moderate
 
 44 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 deptli, and generally one near tlie surface, whicli 
 vindicates the auspicious meaning of the word. 
 In this last dry summer (1865) we had no failure 
 of its springs. 
 
 Bridges supposes the Eectory to have been 
 given soon after the Conquest (Mr. Lear, Precentor 
 of Salisbury Cathedral and Prebendary of Brix- 
 worth, tells me "in the thirteenth century;" and 
 this agrees with the History which Bridges himself 
 gives of the Successive Prebendaries and Vicars, 
 as commencing only from that time) to Salisbury 
 Cathedral, the Chancellor of the Cathedral Church 
 there holding it as his Prebend till the death of the 
 late Prebendary, the Hon. Hugh Percy, Bishop of 
 Carlisle, at whose decease it was transferred to the 
 Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who sold the Pre- 
 bendal Estate to Lord Overstone, compensating the 
 lessee, the Eev. W. W. Hume, for his interest in 
 three lives; and the Vicarage which was formed 
 out of the rectorial property at its translation to 
 the Chancellorship of Salisbury Cathedral, and in 
 his patronage, was vested in the Bishop of Peter- 
 borough when the prebendal land was sold. 
 
 Having given this general sketch of the origin 
 of the church, and its relative dependency, I shall 
 now enter into full particulars respecting its original
 
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 HISTORY OP THE CHURCH. 45 
 
 plan ; the materials witli wliich it was built ; the 
 nature and purport of the successive alterations, 
 and the manner in which it is being restored. 
 
 The ground-plan annexed, and taken from exist- 
 ing remains, shows that it was built after the 
 earliest types of the Basilica, traced through 
 Roman examples to one in Nineveh discovered by 
 Layard : viz., a nave divided into two parts of one 
 and two thirds, of thirty and sixty feet respectively 
 in length, and of the width of thirty feet through- 
 out, as in the earliest examples given by me in the 
 History of the Basilica. A square porch at the 
 west of the nave, and recessed from the outer 
 wall of the nave on either side to the extent of 
 nine feet. 
 
 An eastern apse, polygonal without, and semi- 
 circular within, surrounded by a corridor or 
 ambulatory, the outward wall of which is parallel 
 to the inner circular wall ; having recesses in some 
 of the sides, and receiving a vaulted ceiling from 
 the string course of the inner circular wall. Con- 
 trary to expectation, I found the original floor of 
 the chancel on a level with that of the church, and 
 unbroken ground beneath : so that there could 
 have been no crypt under the church, but only 
 the ambulatory around it and beneath. North
 
 46 HISTOEY OF THE CHUECH. 
 
 and south aisles, each terminating at the east end 
 in a square apse ; and at the west end in an ob- 
 long, the recess from the wall of the nave to the 
 square tower being added to the square terminal 
 of the aisle. 
 
 The whole nave is ninety feet long by thirty 
 in mdth, originally parted at two-thirds its length, 
 or sixty feet, from its west end by a transverse 
 wall — now no more — with a central or triumphal 
 arch in the middle, corresponding to the large 
 arch which leads into the eastern apse. Besides 
 this central arch, the bases of whose piers I de- 
 veloped by excavation some years ago, it had 
 arched openings on either side with clear story 
 windows above, corresponding and opposite to 
 those at the east end. 
 
 The walls of the nave between the west end and 
 the extinct partition — sixty feet in length — con- 
 sist, on either side, of four bays, the arches semi- 
 circular, built with Roman tiles, or flat bricks of 
 large dimensions, mostly in two courses, resting 
 upon square imposts of the same material, set 
 upon square piers of brick tiles and stone inter- 
 mixed, more Romano. Above, on either side, are 
 three clerestory windows, built in the same form, 
 Init much narrower and smaller, not immediately
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 47 
 
 over the lower arches, but in the perpendicular 
 between each two. They are constructed with a 
 mixture of stone and fragments of bricks, as 
 though all the whole bricks taken from a previous 
 building had been exhausted in the construction 
 of the lower arches, and none but these fragments 
 remained to intermix with stone in the clerestory 
 formation. 
 
 That the Roman tiles used in this church were 
 taken from a pre-existing Roman building is evi- 
 dent, not only from their fragmentary character in 
 the clerestory, and even in the piers and walls 
 beneath, but also from the appearance of Roman 
 mortar, of a different character from the rest, still 
 adhering, and manifest some time ago, to one of 
 the tiles ; but now, I regret to say, pointed over 
 by churchwardens' over-careful direction. 
 
 It is a reasonable presumption that the Romans 
 had a station here of some importance, as there is 
 a castrametation in the paddock adjoining the 
 churchyard, and it is central in the line of the 
 forts which have been traced on either side, from 
 the Wash on the east to the Severn on the west 
 of the island ; and Roman coins of Antoninus 
 Pius and Carausius, and Roman urns have been 
 dug up in the place. The reasonable conclusion
 
 48 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 is that the Saxons of the 7th century rebuilt after 
 the form of a provincial Basilica, or stationary 
 Pretorium of the earliest and simplest type. Since 
 this was written I discovered within the square 
 tower the bases of circular columns which formed 
 the propyleum to the Roman temple, or early 
 Christian Church, after which this was built. I also 
 discovered in one of the piers of the early Saxon 
 arches a Roman eagle of the Assyrian type, built in 
 by the Saxons, and evidently taken from an earher 
 building, as having mortices in which some standard 
 had been fixed. 
 
 I at one time supposed that the clerestory was 
 of a later date than the arcade beneath — that it 
 had been either rebuilt or superimposed; and I 
 regret having, I fear, misled Professor Willis to 
 misconceive the dates. But now that the walls 
 are scaled throughout the interior, I find them to 
 have been built at the same time. 
 
 The materials used, besides the Roman tiles, 
 were principally the stones of the neighbouring 
 beds, which belong to the lias formation. These 
 beds consist of three courses, the upper a thin 
 schale of calcareous and siHceous mixture, used 
 principally in building dry walls and draining; 
 the lower a thick sandy stone, impregnated more
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 49 
 
 or less with iron, and at the lowest part of a blue 
 and more calcareous character, hardening more 
 and more as it is exposed to evaporation, yielding, 
 though with difficulty, at its first coming out to 
 the chisel, but not capable of a level surface, or of 
 being finely jointed. The intermediate course is 
 highly ferruginous ; and for the most part perishes 
 either with wet or frost, though some pieces are 
 sufficiently weather-proof to be used in rubble 
 masonry. And the masonry of this church is, for 
 the most part, of a rubbly texture, strengthened 
 at the corners with large rude blocks of granite, 
 sandstone, and clay slate, transported from other 
 strata ; and, as well as the rubbly stones, cemented 
 together by a mortar as hardened as the stones 
 themselves. There is also a kind of tufa or car- 
 bonate of lime used in the upper arch of the square 
 tower, but very sparsely mixed in this local bed. 
 
 The lower walls are four feet thick, the cleres- 
 tory narrowing from a set-off* on either side by 
 several inches. 
 
 The square tower is of the same massive charac- 
 ter as the nave, with similar arches on its four 
 sides — the largest to the west forming the original 
 grand entrance to the building; a lesser one 
 leading into the nave; and, on the sides, two
 
 60 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 still smaller ones, leading into tlie western termi- 
 nals, or apsidal chambers of the north and south 
 aisles. Mr. Roberts contends for a later period to 
 this porch than that of the nave, from some 
 straight jointing which he perceived ; but on 
 scaling the walls this is found to be but partial, 
 and in consequence of some alterations in the 
 original work. This running up straight joints, 
 and bonding at intervals only, appears to be a 
 Saxon mode, and answers to their method of bind- 
 ing by wooden frames. Not only is the square 
 tower bonded in with the nave, though at intervals, 
 but the several diverse materials are worked up 
 line for line in the one and in the other. The 
 arches, too, are similar in their form and material, 
 composed of Roman tiles as entire as those of the 
 nave ; whereas, if the tower had been of a later 
 date, there would not have been any whole tiles 
 left for the construction of the arches : they would 
 have had only fragments of tiles, like those re- 
 maining in the clerestory. Moreover, the square 
 tower was subject to the first alterations of which 
 we have any e\ddence, that is in the year 870. 
 For v/hen the round tower was then, or soon 
 after, appended thereto, and pierced for archery, 
 to protect the place against any fresh aggression
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 51 
 
 of the Danes, the semicircular arch in the east 
 end of the square tower was shorn of its crown, 
 to receive the three-Hght window with baluster 
 shafts, as a substitute for the window in the west 
 end, which had been closed up by the building of 
 the round tower ; and the grand west entrance of 
 the square tower was, at the same time, filled in, 
 with the exception of a space for a smaller arch of 
 entrance into the round tower, included within the 
 greater arch. 
 
 The north and south aisles, with their terminal 
 chambers, were also of the same date as the nave, 
 having their piers locked into the walls of the 
 nave, between the piers of the nave arches. 
 
 The eastern apse also was of the same date and 
 style, with a string course of Roman bricks on the 
 wall of the crypt, upon which the apse itself 
 rested, and from which the vaulting of the ambu- 
 latory sprang: this vaulted roofing resting on a 
 low outer wall built to receive it. 
 
 The appearance of buttresses to this apse has 
 led some archseologists to suppose it a Norman 
 structure ; but Sir Gardiner Wilkinson has shown 
 that slight shafts pertained to the Saxon period, and 
 the buttresses beneath were placed by me as a sub- 
 stitute for the vaulting to support the walls above.
 
 52 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 The next alteration that took place after the 
 appendage of the round tower, and the insertion of 
 the three-light baluster shafted window in the east 
 end of the square tower, was the introduction of a 
 late Norman doorway in the first arch of the nave 
 on the south side, reckoning from the west, which 
 infers the destruction of the south aisle before this 
 period. I was at a loss to determine where this 
 doorway could come from, till on scaling the wall at 
 the east end of the church I found part of the rim 
 of a late Norman arch, and a wall of the same 
 period, forming part of a chapel, preceding the 
 present Early English aisle ; and hence, no doubt, 
 on the supersession of this chapel, came this door 
 to the other end. Then followed the insertion of 
 a transition arch in the next bay to this, the 
 upper part of which I have preserved to view : for 
 I think it right to preserve one specimen of each 
 style that has been introduced up to the latest 
 period. 
 
 The present south aisle was next added in the 
 Early English period, as a chapel for the family of 
 Sir John de Verdun, Lord of the Manor, whose 
 effigy I have just rescued from the barbarous 
 treatment to whicli it had been subjected by being 
 removed from its horizontal bed, and violently
 
 HISTOEY OP THE CHUECH. 53 
 
 thrust with his legs into the ground so as to break 
 them off, and the head into the wall of the arched 
 recess in which it was first laid. 
 
 For access to this chapel, the smaller arch at 
 the east end was cut out of the south wall of the 
 choir ; and about fifty years afterwards the larger 
 arch was opened, the difierence in the dates being 
 evinced by the style of each. A small window 
 also was inserted above in the same wall of the 
 choir. Above the earliest of these arches I have 
 laid open a Saxon clerestory arch, the lower part 
 of which was cut away to receive the pointed one 
 beneath. It would be about the same period in 
 which this larger arch was made that the partition 
 wall between the nave and choir, with its central 
 triumphal arch, its side openings below, and 
 clerestory windows above, all corresponding to 
 those at the east end of the choir, was removed, 
 and the present wide arch inserted to span the 
 whole width of the nave and choir. 
 
 Then followed the insertion of three decorated 
 windows, one under the transition window in the 
 second bay of the nave on the south side ; one in 
 the third bay on the north side, and one at the 
 west end of the choir on the same side. This last 
 is preserved : the two former are removed as in- 
 
 E
 
 54 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 terfering with the restoration of the Saxon arcade, 
 the one in the choir being sufficient to show the 
 progress of alteration which the building has 
 undergone by successive innovations. The de- 
 corated window to the east of this in the same 
 wall of the choir is only of twenty years' date, 
 substituted at the rebuilding of that part of the 
 wall, then in ruin, for a miserable little non- 
 descript of a square form, which had been thrust 
 into the wall at some late period. 
 
 Then succeeded the insertion of two wretched 
 windows of the perpendicular kind, one on either 
 side of the nave, which have been removed from 
 the arches in which they had been intruded to the 
 regret of no one, and the joy of many. 
 
 In the reign of Henry VI., the chancel must 
 have been elongated, as the late east window would 
 testify. Whether the original apse had remained 
 entire up to this period, or had undergone previous 
 mutilation, it is impossible to say. Luckily two 
 sides of the outward polygon, with the outward 
 parallel wall, and the corresponding part of the 
 ambulatory, two recesses, and the original steps 
 of descent remain, and the whole circular wall 
 of the crypt upon which the apse was built ; 
 so as to direct us rightly in the restoration
 
 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 55 
 
 of tliis interesting portion of tlie original 
 building. 
 
 I have only to remark on the eastern wall of the 
 nave or choir, that the noble central arch therein 
 remains entire as originally built : but at the in- 
 sertion of the screen the original piers were taken 
 out to widen the entrance into the chancel, and 
 wooden uprights and cross pieces substituted. 
 When I came to reside I found the uprights 
 decaying at the ground, and all in danger of 
 falling. As soon as possible I removed these 
 wooden props, and substituted brick piers, and 
 had the satisfaction of finding the bases of the 
 original piers, on which I erected their present 
 successors. 
 
 The two clerestory windows above are developed 
 in the eastern wall which served to throw light 
 into the choir ; and two similar clerestory windows 
 in the opposite wall brought a further portion of 
 light into that part of the church from the cleres- 
 tory of the nave. 
 
 Underneath these clerestory windows were 
 arched doorways, those at the east end leading- 
 down to the ambulatory, and at the west end into 
 the choir from the nave. 
 
 The only monuments of any interest to the 
 
 E 2
 
 66 HISTOEY OF THE CHITECH. 
 
 antiquary, in this cliurcli, are, a stone slab, with 
 an inscription in Norman French, early in the 
 14th century, to the memory of Adam do Taunton, 
 vicar of the parish. 
 
 A similar one to the memory of Simon Curteis, 
 of the same period. 
 
 The brasses have been removed from both, and 
 the inscriptions, preserved in Bridges' History of 
 the County, are wearing out. 
 
 Another of the same kind and period, only 
 partially decipherable, and I think to one Hugo — 
 Query the Monk ? 
 
 These three are in the floor of the nave. 
 
 An e&igj of a Knight Templar — probably Sir 
 John de Verdun — ^in an arched recess. 
 
 A late altar-tomb to Lord Inverury in a similar 
 arched recess. These two are in the south aisle. 
 There is in the south aisle also a handsome oak 
 screen of the 16th century. 
 
 The market-cross has long been removed from 
 the base which still remains ; and I have the 
 upright shaft in which I think it was fixed — there 
 are Saxon ornaments upon this shaft.
 
 REOPENING OF BRIXWORTH CHURCH. 
 
 This venerable church, which has an historical authority, in 
 the testimony of Hugo the Monk, as recorded by Dugdale in 
 Iiis " Monasticon," for its origin in the latter part of the 7th 
 century, and this testimony well corroborated by a succession 
 of every style of architecture since imposed upon the building 
 — the Later Saxon, Norman, Transition, Early English, 
 Decorated, and Tudor — was on Wednesday, the 11th July, 1 866, 
 reopened, after a thorough restoration : 247 additional free seats 
 have also hereby been secured. 
 
 The principal contributors have been Earl Spencer, Sir 
 Charles Isham, Thomas Wood, Esq., of Brixworth Hall ; 
 Joceline Watkins, Esq., of Calcutta ; and the Incorporated 
 and Diocesan Church Building Societies. Special gifts for 
 memorials and other purposes have been made or promised by 
 the Earl of Kintore, General Lawrenson, and the surviving 
 officers of the 14th Light Dragoons, to the memory of Lord 
 Inverury ; Sir C. and Lady Isham, Charles Morris, Esq., 
 Messrs. A. B. Markham, W. Shaw, of Cotton-end ; W. Roberts, 
 of Albion-place ; Joceline Watkins, and the rest of the Vicar's 
 family; and Messrs. Minton, Hollins, and Co. (whose beautiful 
 encaustic tiles, generously presented by them for the floor of 
 the chancel, were exceedingly admired). Very handsome 
 kneeling cushions were worked by the Brixworth ladies for the 
 Communion service, and two richly worked stools presented by 
 Mrs. Attenborough, of Brampton Ash.
 
 58 EEOPENING OF BRIXWOKTH CHURCH. 
 
 The day for the opening was every thing that couhl be 
 desired, and from 500 to 600 persons were present at either 
 service. The preacher for the morning was the Rev. E. 
 TroUope ; for the afternoon, the Rev. T. Yard — both accom- 
 plished antiquaries and able divines. Their discourses were 
 suitable and excellent, but that of Mr. Yard was imperfectly 
 heard, and he did not appear in good health ; otherwise he is 
 both audible and admirable in his discourses. The prayers 
 were read by the Vicar, assisted by the Rev. H. James, Rev. 
 R. Isham, Rev. G. H. Vyse, Rev. G. A. Poole, and the Hon. 
 and Rev. A. G. Douglas, in reading the Litany and the Lessons. 
 The blessing was given by the Vicar. The two collections 
 amounted to 94/. The parishioners conceded the occupation of 
 the seats to the public on this occasion. 
 
 After the morning service about 200 of the gentry and clergy 
 retired to the vicarage, and partook of refreshments under an 
 awning on the lawn. — Sir C. Isham proposed the health of the 
 Vicar, and spoke of the restoration as all that could be wished. 
 — Mr. Watkins replied to the compliment with expressions of 
 grateful acknowledgment to the gentry, clergy, and others of 
 the neighbourhood, who had so kindly and generously assisted 
 him in the work ; and particularly for the encouragement he met 
 with from Earl Spencer, his constant friends Sir C. and Lady 
 Isham, Mr. Wood, and his son in India, and concluded with 
 proposing the health of Messrs. Trollope and Yard. — After the 
 second service about 100 of the congregation partook of tea 
 and other refreshments at the vicarage ; and in the evening the 
 choir and others engaged about the church were entertained 
 there to a supper. The principal inhabitants opened their 
 houses and spread their tables witli hospitable entertainment to 
 numerous friends and visitors ; and altogether the day passed 
 over without default of any kind. The restoration reflects the 
 highest credit upon the care and ability of Messrs. Slater and 
 Smith, the architects, who have most assiduously, and with a 
 leal love of their art, carried out the desires of the Vicar. Mr.
 
 REOPENING OF BRIXWORTH CHURCH. 59 
 
 Thompson, the clerk of the works, has also shown himself 
 thoroughly acquainted with the principles as well as the tech- 
 nicalities of his art. Mr. TroUope kindly took the company 
 round the church between and after the conclusion of the ser- 
 vices, and gave them an instructive lecture upon the building. 
 Amongst the company we noticed Sir C. and Lady Isham and 
 daughters, Sir C. Rous Boughton, Bart., and Lady Boughton, 
 A. Boughton Knight, Esq., and Mrs. B. Knight, J. and H. 
 Nethercote, Esqrs., and the ladies of the family ; — Orlebar, Esq., 
 and Mrs. Orlebar, Capt. and Mrs. Stockdale, James Barry, Esq., 
 Mayor of Northampton ; the Revs. G. H. Vyse, R. Isham, the 
 Hon. G. A. Douglas, A. Bromhead, Kitchens, Montgomery, 
 Poole, Sutton, Sanders, Dr. Gilford, T. C. Thornton, F. C. 
 Alderson, Monkhouse, Houseman, Thos. Bull, Dalton, Rokeby, 
 Roberts, J. Field, Parker, Lawson, Cookson, Casson, Day, 
 Bailey, Harper, Knight, Evans, Newby, Clayton, Burnaby, 
 &c., with ladies and children ; Messrs. Terry, T. Scriven, T. 
 Butlin, &c. 
 
 SPECIAL HYMNS, 
 
 Composed b// the Rev. C. F. Watkms, for the Reopening of 
 
 Brixworth Church. 
 
 MORNING SERVICE. 
 
 PROCESSIONAL HYMN. 
 
 O Thou ! who art enthroned above. 
 Where myriads serve with zeal and love. 
 
 Look down on this our festal day ; 
 While songs of joy, and hymns of praise 
 To Thee in grateful strains we raise. 
 
 And for Thy Blessing humbly pray.
 
 60 EEOPENING OF BRIXWORTH CHURCH. 
 
 Behold the portals, opened wide, 
 Invite within the floAving tide 
 
 Of eager votaries, hastening past 
 To meet within this ancient fane, 
 Worthy to be Thy House again, 
 
 And for Thy Service meet at last. 
 
 Do Thou a gracious hearing lend. 
 While every voice is tuned to blend 
 
 Devotion framed in harmony : 
 Within their Common Father's hall. 
 Noble and gentle, great and small, 
 
 United wait to worship Thee. 
 
 If we this new-raised temple mourn 
 Of pristine glory robbed and shorn, 
 
 Do Thou a greater lustre shed 
 By coming now within her gates. 
 That every soul on Thee that waits 
 
 To Thy Salvation may be led. Amen. 
 
 INVOCATIONAL HYMN. 
 
 Great God ! who from Eternity's dark womb 
 Didst birth and progress upon Time bestow, 
 
 And bade it all material things consume 
 By the strong action of its ceaseless flow : 
 
 In favour Thou didst graciously ordain 
 
 That on these walls his course should lightly press, 
 Twelve centuries spare this aged hallowed fane. 
 
 Respecting still where Thou still deign'st to bless. 
 
 While we each outward waste of time repair, 
 
 And, what man's hand had marred, will skill restore, 
 
 Do Thou our inward souls preserve with care, 
 
 Our hearts renew, and strengthen more and more :
 
 EEOPENING OF BRIXWORTH CHURCH. 61 
 
 That when this house of stone, and ours of clay, 
 At length, by Time, in earth and dust are laid, 
 
 We thence may rise to where there's no decay, 
 And purer worship ever shall be made. Amen. 
 
 ADMONITORY HYMN. 
 
 Within this consecrated fane 
 
 The voice of God and Nature hear ! 
 With you they plead, and plead again 
 
 From age to age, from year to year. 
 
 Near forty generations, gone. 
 
 Unto her holy font were brought, 
 God's own adopted made anon. 
 
 Whom Christ's own precious blood had bought. 
 
 Near forty generations, too, 
 
 Before the Altar here have gained 
 His Blessing — sure to all who woo 
 
 For that sweet love which He ordained. 
 
 And all of that once infant race, 
 
 And all of those thus wedded pairs 
 Were brought again within this place 
 
 Beyond their own and others' prayers. 
 
 The thousand and two hundred years 
 
 Like yesterday have passed and fled, 
 Nor of those races one appears ; 
 
 But all are vanished, all are dead ! 
 
 Within and round about us lie 
 
 Their bones and dust which, year by year, 
 Still raise the soil, till, rising high. 
 
 And higher still the mounds appear.
 
 62 EEOPENING OF BRIXWOllTH CHURCH. 
 
 But where are noAV the spirits found 
 
 That once informed those heaps of clay ? 
 They are not in that rising ground, 
 
 But far in other worlds away. 
 
 They Avho were deaf to God's blest word, 
 
 And Nature's urgent plea refused, 
 In wailing misery now are heard, 
 
 And warn of mercies long abused. 
 
 \ 
 And they who here were timely wise, J 
 
 And listened, and in faith obeyed, j 
 
 Are now in that sweet Paradise j 
 
 Which Christ hath for His people made. ' 
 
 And we are hastening, like them all, j 
 
 To join their dust and spirits too ; i 
 
 Then list to God and Nature's call — ; 
 
 The road the wise have gone pursue. Amen. 
 
 EVENING SERVICE. ' 
 
 INTRODUCTORY HYMN. ' 
 
 i 
 
 The gracious mandate hear ! 
 It issues from above : 
 The Bridegroom's voice is loud and clear, I 
 
 And calls to thee in love. - 
 
 Arise ! and shine again ! I 
 
 Thy faded garb renew ! 
 Rub off the rust, wash out the stain ! 
 Assume a brighter hue ! 
 
 No more in dust to lie 
 With garment soiled and torn, 
 To grieve the stranger passing by 
 And bid thy children mourn.
 
 EEOPENING OF BRIXWORTH CHURCH. 63 
 
 An aged mother now — 
 In youth of beauty rare — 
 Right grand in fonn and face wert thou, 
 With every feature fair. 
 
 And though of some bereft, 
 Thy stately form remains, 
 And thou in Queen-like guise art left 
 And reverence still pertains. 
 
 Now all thy children bring ! 
 To God their voices raise ! 
 This day the Bridegroom and the King 
 Should hear their joy and praise. Amen. 
 
 THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHUECH. 
 
 O Thou ! who earnest on earth to save. 
 And built Thy Church to stem the wave ; 
 Through tempest, storm, and time t'endure, 
 Her strong foundations laid so sure. 
 
 See ! beauteous stones by Prophets brought, 
 More beauteous still the Apostles -vvi'ought ; 
 That all the building raised on high 
 Secure might rest, and force defy. 
 
 Thy holy Word effulgence pours, 
 And lighteneth all within her doors : 
 From earliest dawn inspired, and still 
 With clearer rays, to show Thy will, 
 
 Till latest inspiration given, 
 It opens wide the view of heaven. 
 And leaves no mist to dull the sight 
 Of blissful hope and glory bright ;
 
 64 REOPENING OF BllIXWOHTn CHURCH. 
 
 Thine own commissioned Pastors there 
 
 Thy people lead in humble prayer ; 
 
 And teach their tongues on high to raise 
 
 The grateful strains of thanks and praise. Amen. 
 
 Second Part. 
 
 With promised pardon, firmly sealed, 
 By the blest sign to man revealed 
 Of that which bore Thy bleeding frame, 
 They give Thy children place and name. 
 
 And lead them on, from day to day, 
 Beneath that banner, to the fray, 
 Till fuller grace and greater strength 
 Are, with Thy presence, gained at length, 
 
 Where Thou dost of Thyself impart 
 
 A share to every faithful heart, 
 
 That those who here for Thee woiild die 
 
 Conjoined with Thee, might reign on high. 
 
 O blest communion, firm and sure 
 To him who eats in faith, secure — 
 Secure of grace and bliss divine — 
 So rich is this repast of Thine. 
 
 The strongest walls on earth will shake, 
 Whene'er the earth may rock and quake, 
 And human hands that build the wall 
 May cause its stones to rend and fall. 
 
 But none this Heaven-built house can shock, 
 
 So built — so founded on the rock : 
 
 Wide as the world, and unconfined 
 
 To hold and shelter all mankind. Amen.
 
 SUBSCRIBERS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE RESTOEATION OF BRIXWOrJII CnilECE. 
 
 Andrew, Rev. W. W. 
 Attenborough, Mrs., and 
 
 the Misses Weston 
 Architects, the . . . 
 Attenborough, Jas. Esq. 
 Adnitt, Messrs. J. and S 
 Argles, Rev. Canon 
 Annand, Mrs. . . 
 Ayres, Mr. . . . 
 Atterbury, Mr. H. 
 Archer, Mr. . . 
 Archer, Miss . . 
 Abel, Mr. . . . 
 Allen, Mr. Thos. . 
 
 Bishop, the late . 
 Bishop, the . . . 
 Brawn, Mr. . . 
 Bateman, Lord 
 Bevan, R. L. Esq. 
 Beynon, Rev. E. F. 
 Burghley, Lord 
 Bigge, Rev. H. 
 Bouverie, General 
 Blencowp, J. Esq. 
 Barkell, Mrs. (cards) 
 Butlin, Mr. W. . 
 Butlin, Rev. W. . 
 Boyd, Captain . . 
 Bull, two Misses . 
 Bromhead, Rev. A. 
 Biddies, .lacob, Esq. 
 Barber, Mr., Hannin 
 Barber, Mr., Moulton 
 Birch, Rev. E. 
 Bates, Mrs. 
 
 gton 
 
 £ 
 
 *. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 Church Building Society, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Incorporated . . . 
 
 150 
 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ditto, Diocesan . . 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cave, Lewis, Esq. . . . 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cave, Mrs. L 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cox, Rev. R. H. . . . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Compton, Lord Alwyn . 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cleaver, Mr. and Mrs. . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Couchman, Rev. J. . . 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Clarke, Mr. G. . . . 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Concert, 1st . . • . 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 Concert, 2nd . . . 
 
 IG 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Crawley, Rev. H. . , . 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Crawley, Miss Susan . . 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Crowe, Rev. E. . . 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 Callis, Mrs. J 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 Curtis, Mr 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 lo 
 
 
 
 
 
 Carpet, Old . . . 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 Casson, Rev. G. . . 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 Concert, 3rd . . . . 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Commercial Traveller 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Douglas, Hon. and Rev 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 G. A 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Durant, Captain . . 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Dolben, Mackworth,Esq 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Dickenson, Mrs. . . 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dennis, Mr. . . . 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Davys, Archdeacon . 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Davis, Rev. J. . . . 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Davis, H. Esq. . . 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Digby, G. O. W. Esq. 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Day, Mr., Old . . . 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Davis, Mr:=. . . . 
 
 . 
 
 b 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Elworthy, Mr. . . . 
 
 . 20 
 
 (» 
 

 
 66 
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBEKS. 
 
 Eady, Mr. F. 
 
 Faux, J. Esq. . 
 Flood, :Mr. . . 
 Fisher, E. K. Esq 
 Fitzhu;(li, Mr. . 
 Fife, Captain . 
 Friend , A . . 
 Field, Rev. J. . 
 Field, Rev. J. jun. 
 
 Glasgow, Earl of 
 Green, jNIiss 
 Goode, ^lessrs. 
 Goode, Mr. E. . 
 Glover, Rev. J. II 
 Gaylor, Mr. 
 Gall, Rev. F. H. 
 Goodday, Rev. S. 
 Gage, Mr. S. . 
 Gates, Brook, Esq 
 Grant, W. Esq, 
 Gubbings, Ann 
 Gray, Mr.,Courtenhall 
 Goodday, A. Esq. . 
 
 Harper, F. L. E-q. 
 Hewitt, Henry, Esq. 
 Higgins, Messrs. J. K. 
 Higgins, W. 
 Higgins, H. 
 Herrick,Mrs.,Beaunianor 
 Hope, A. Beresford, Esq 
 Harrison, W. Esq 
 Howard, — , Esq. 
 Hoey, Mr. . . 
 Huntsman, Mrs. 
 Hanbury, — , Esq. 
 Howes, J. Esq. 
 Hill, Mr., Commercial 
 
 Isliam, Sir Chas. Bart. 
 Isham, Lady . 
 Isham, Dowager Lady 
 Irby, Hon. and Rev. P. A 
 Irby, Hon. Mrs 
 Irby, Rev. G. 
 Isham, Rev. R 
 Interest . 
 
 Ditto . . 
 
 Ditto . . 
 
 £ s. 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 
 15 
 
 15 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 2 
 2 
 
 10 
 3 
 
 1 1 
 
 2 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 2 2 
 2 2 
 2 2 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 5 
 
 150 
 
 15 
 
 5 
 
 5 5 
 
 1 1 
 
 :i 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 1 19 
 
 (I. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 r, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ireland, Mr. , . . 
 
 Judge, Spencer, Esq. 
 Jones, Rev. Jonathan 
 
 Jones. Mr 
 
 Jeyes, P. Esq. . 
 Jeyes, Mr. Frank . 
 James, Miss 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 :i 
 
 1 
 
 II a 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Knightley, R. Esq.,M.P. 5 
 
 Kingsdown, Lord ... 10 
 
 Kintore, Earl of . . . 10 
 
 Kinsey, !Miss .... 2 
 
 Knight, Rev. R. . . . 1 
 
 Knight, Rev. J. . . . 2 
 
 Locock, the Family . . 6(? 
 
 Lowe, — , Esq., Calcutta 10 
 
 Langham, Herbert, Esq. 10 
 
 Lawrenson, General, and 
 Officers of 14th Lan- 
 cers 
 
 Lamport Charity Land . 
 
 Lindsay, Siiencer, Esq. . 
 
 Lovell, Isaac, Esq. 
 
 Lovell, Isaac Edward, 
 Esq 
 
 Lovell, Thos. Esq. . . 
 
 Lear, Rev. F 
 
 Lynes, G. B. Esq. , . 
 
 Markham, the Misses, 
 
 Bessel Green, Kent . 8 
 Markham, E. Esq., Lon 
 
 don 
 
 Markham, Arthur, Esq. 
 Markham, Henry, Esq. 
 Marriot, G. P. Esq. . 
 Montgomery, Rev. R. 
 Montgomery, Wm. Esq 
 Morris, Charles, Esq. 
 Morris, the Misses . 
 
 Nethercote, J. Esq. . 
 Nethercote, II. O. Esq. 
 
 Overstone, Lord . 
 Offertory, the . 
 Osborne, Thos. Esq. 
 Opening, the . 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 ■ 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Parker, Rev. E. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
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 3 
 
 13 
 
 G 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 03 
 
 
 
 
 
 5
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 67 
 
 Pell, Albert, Esq. . . 
 Phipps and Son, Messrs 
 
 J 
 
 Phipps, Pickering, Esq. 
 Pickering, IMr. J. . 
 Pickering, Mr. B. . . 
 Pownall, Rev. J. . 
 Payne, Mr. Clia?. . . 
 Peil, Mr. S., Ecton Loclgt 
 Pierce, Mr. J. W. 
 
 Robarts,A. R.Esq.,M.P 
 Randolph, Admiral . 
 Robarts, Mrs. . . . 
 Revis, J. Esq. . 
 Reeve, Mr., Guilsboroug 
 
 Spencer, Earl, K.G. . 
 Shaw, W. Esq., Cotton 
 
 End 
 
 Scrimgeour, J. Esq. . 
 Sevmour, E. W. E^q. 
 Smith, Mr. J. U. . . 
 Sawbridge, Mrs. . . 
 Sutton, Rev. F. . . 
 Smyth, W. Esq. . . 
 Stockilale, Capt. . 
 Strickland, "Walter, Ksq 
 Sanders, Rev. T. . 
 Scott, G. G. Esq. 
 Sharpe, Mrs. . . . 
 Skipwith, Rev. R. 
 Smith,Mrs.,Northanipto 
 Stevens, Mr. W. . . 
 
 Turnell, Mrs. . . . 
 Thornton, Rev. J. C. 
 Trotman, W. Esq. . 
 Thompson, Mr. W. M. 
 Tomaiin, Mr. jun. 
 Tresslar, Mr. J. . . 
 
 £ 
 
 .?. 
 
 d. 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 G 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vyse, Rev. G. H. . . 
 Vyse, Col. E. H. . . 
 
 Whewell, Dr. . . . 
 Watkins, Joceline, Esq. 
 Watkins, Rev. C. F. 
 Watkins, Justinian, Esq 
 Watkins, Miss E. 
 Watkins, Rear-Admiral 
 Watkins, Miss . . 
 Windows, Tlie Family for 
 Wood, T. Esq. . . 
 Wood, ]\Ir. Charles . 
 Walter, Mr. C. . . 
 Wales, Rev. Chancellor 
 Watson. Mr. , Harborough 
 Woolcomb, Rev. W. 
 Wilson, Miss . . 
 Wallis, Owen, Esq. 
 Watson, Hon. Mrs. 
 Wickes, Rev. J. . 
 Wright, J. W. Esq. 
 Watts, Mr., Naseby 
 
 Miss Watkins, Mrs. Gage, 
 Mrs. Flood, Miss Bates, 
 Mrs. Harper, &c., by 
 cards 
 
 Loan from Public Works 
 Loan Office . . . . 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 loO 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 
 
 210 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 35 
 191 
 
 18 10 
 
 
 Total £2,4 7(> 
 
 Expended . . . £2,434 
 Memorial Windows . 53 
 
 £2,487 
 E.xpected further to receive about 
 
 70/. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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