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ANCIENT

LONDON CHURCHES
T. FRANCIS BUMPUS

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UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME

ANTIQUES AND CURIOS
IN OUR HOMES.

By G. M. Vallois. Three-coloured
Frontispiece and 61 Half-tone Illus-
trations. Foolscap 4to.

COLLECTING ANTIQUES
FOR PLEASURE AND
PROFIT.

By Felix Cade. 86 Illustrations
printed on fine Antique paper.
Foolscap 4to.

OLD GLASS, AND HOW
TO COLLECT IT.

By James Sydney Lewis. 60 Illustra-
tions in colour and half-tone, printed
on fine Antique paper. Foolscap 4to.

OLD ENGLISH TOWNS.

By E. M. Lang and William
Andrews. Three-coloured Frontis-
piece and 31 Half-tone Plates.
Foolscap 4to. Printed on fine
Antique laid paper.

T. WERNER LAURIE, LTD.

THE TEMPLE CHl'RfH.

ANCIENT
LONDON CHURCHES

By
T. FRANCIS BUMPUS

Author of"Tht Cathtdrali of England and Walet " " Th* Cathedrals
and Churchet of Northern Italy " &c.

LONDON

T. WERNER LAURIE, LTD.
24 & 26 WATER LANE, E.C.4

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

Owing to the continued interest in the old
churches of London it has been decided to
issue this revised edition of Mr Butnpus'
standard work on the subject.

FJUVTBD IN GKEAT BRITAIN BY TUB DUKEDIN PRESS I/ID., BDLNBURGII

CONTENTS

Chap. I. Introductory Sketch of London Church

Architecture
II. The Churches of the Norman and Early

English Periods 46

III. The Churches of the Decorated and Per-

pendicular Periods 1 1 1

IV. The Riverside and Suburban Medieval

Churches 1 99

V. The Churches of the Early Renaissance

Period 239

VI. The Churches of Sir Christopher Wren

(Parti) 2 $6

VII. The Churches of Sir Christopher Wren

(Part If) 329

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Temple Church Frontispiece

St John's Chapel in the White Tower 54

St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield, View across the

Choir 68

The Temple Church; the "Round" and part

of the Choir 86

The Chapel within Lambeth Palace 106

St Etheldreda's, Ely Place, the East End 1 16

The Lower Chapel, St Stephen's, Westminster 124
West Front of the Austin Friars' Church 128

St Helen's, Bishopsgate, View across Nave

from the North Aisle 1 36

All Hallows', Barking, Interior looking East 166
St Margaret's, Westminster, Interior looking

East 184

St Mary the Virgin, Lambeth, from the S.W. 202
St Dunstan's, Stepney, from the S.E. 220

All Hallows', Tottenham, from the S.E. 232

St Catherine Cree, Interior looking East 244

St Andrew's, Holborn,Exterior from the South

in 1 866 258

Some Steeples of Sir Christopher Wren

See front end papers

St Mary Abchurch, the Altarpiece 268

St Stephen's, Walbrook, the Organ 272

viii London Churches

St Andrew's, Holborn, Interior looking East 282

St Bride's, Fleet Street, from the South-east 292

St James', Piccadilly, the Altarpiece 320

St Lawrence, Jewry, Interior looking West 322

St James', Piccadilly, the Organ 324

St Magnus', London Bridge 336

St Margaret's, Lothbury, Interior looking East 340

St Margaret's, Lothbury, the Font 344

St Mary Abchurch, the Font 350

St Mary-le-Bow 358

The Tower of St Michael, CornhUl 366

St Stephen's, Walbrook, Interior looking West 392

;;;:Y-^ ANCIENT
LONDON CHURCHES

CHAPTER I

Introductory Sketch of London Church Archi-
tecture

NO ecclesiologist needs repine whose lot is
cast in London. To the student, or to him
who takes it up as a pleasant relaxation, the
ecclesiastical architecture of theMetropolis, whether
it be looked at from its Mediaeval, Revived Classi-
cal or Modern Gothic side, affords a field for
research as fascinating as it is wellnigh inexhaus-
tible in interest.

Without exaggeration, one may say of London
church architecture:

Age cannot stale, nor custom dim
Its infinite variety.

It is true that, to the outward eye, London is a
modern city. The havoc of Henry VIII swept
away many of her fairest and most glorious re-
mains of olden days. The Great Fire, while — one
cannot shrink from the confession — it improved the
sanitary condition of the Metropolis, was yet fatal
to her interest as a mediaeval tradition. Apathy,
neglect, ignorance and the " march of modern
improvement " have each contributed their quota
to the devastation, so that London is now for the
most part but a symbol of the last two centuries.

I- 1

2 London Churches

But yet there are remains of mediaeval times,
which should be highly prized and carefully
studied, and in which the history of English
Gothic architecture may be read from the Nor-
man Conquest to its decline and fall under the
Tudors ; and, what is more, each representative of
the styles through which it successively passed —
those beautiful gradations from Norman to Per-
pendicular, in which the germ of each develop-
ment is to be discovered in the antecedent work —
is the best of its kind.

These I now desire to mention, in as brief and
generalizing a manner as possible, by way of pre-
paration for a more detailed account in subse-
quent chapters, and to win for them the attention
of such of my readers as may desire to visit them,
either as an agreeable pastime or a profitable
study, as their knowledge of ecclesiology may be
more or less matured. This done, I shall proceed to
trace the history of church-building in London
from the era of Classicism, which commenced with
that memorable event of 1666, through the period
of debasement under the later Hanoverian rule to
the time when it began once more to raise its head
within the memory of many yet living.

I may be allowed to state here that the expres-
sions Norman, Early English, Decorated and Per-
pendicular, as denoting the successive periods of
English Gothic architecture, were, if not actually
invented, always employed by those two pioneers
in the study of its true principles, Thomas Rick-
man and John Henry Parker, and, if somewhat
comprehensive, are at least very suggestive and
appropriate.

Introductory Sketch 3

The Ecclesiological Society, founded at Cam-
bridge in 1838,* adopted another nomenclature,
styling the several periods Romanesque, First,
Second or Middle, and Third Pointed; while other
enthusiastic labourers in the same field, as, e.g.,
Edmund Sharpe and George Aycliffe Poole, pre-
ferred the terms Round-Arched, Lancet, Geo-
metrical, Curvilinear and Rectilinear.

In the course of these pages I propose making use
of Rickman's nomenclature, introducing the syno-
nymous terms now and again for the sake of variety.

To those unversed in architectural chronology
the following table, in which the three nomencla-
tures are given, may be useful. It is, however, only
possible to fix the dates approximately, as the
changes in style were very gradual, one style mak-
ing its appearance in one part of the country
sooner than in another, as, for instance, the Per-
pendicular, which was being practised in the West
of England as early as 1 340, while in other parts the
Late Decorated was still in vogue.

Between each style there was a period of transi-
tion, but that from Norman to Early English was
the most important, having very marked charac-
teristics.

1070-1154. — Norman. Romanesque, Round-
Arched.

1154-1190. — Transition from Norman to Early
English. From Romanesque to First Pointed.
From Round-Arched to Lancet.

1190-1270.— Early English. First Pointed. Lan-
cet.

* Styled until its removal to London, about seven years later,
" The Cambridge Camden Society."

4 London Churches

1270-1320. — Early Decorated. Second or Mid-
dle Pointed. Geometrical.

1320-1377. — Late Decorated. Late or Flowing
Middle Pointed. Curvilinear.

1377-1550. — Perpendicular. Third Pointed. Rec-
tilinear.

Of Early Norman work London possesses typical
examples in the solemn old Chapel of St John in
the White Tower, and the crypt under the Church
of St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside. The choir of St
Bartholomew's, Smithfield, and some details pre-
served in the nave of St Saviour's Cathedral,
Southwark, illustrate the style in a later phase.
The circular portion of the Temple Church carries
us on to the period when, towards the close of the
twelfth century, the pointed arch was striving to
push out the round; while in the oblong choir of
the same building we find it perfectly established.

The choir and eastern chapels of St Saviour's
Cathedral, and the chapel within Lambeth Palace,
exhibit the Early English style in the same Lancet
phase of its existence. More advanced are the corona
of chapels, " Sacrarium," transepts and choir of
Westminster Abbey, than which a more glorious
specimen of First Pointed architecture hardly exists.
The whole building is a complete epitome of
English Gothic from the middle of the thirteenth
century to the beginning of the sixteenth. It
should, however, be borne in mind that the style
of the nave, by which I mean that portion west of
the choir-screen, is retrospective in character, i.e.
Early English, carried out during the Perpendicu-
lar epoch of architecture. Between the reign of

Introdu&ory Sketch 5

Henry V and the dissolution of the monastery the
western limb of the Abbey slowly progressed, the
central window being finished by Abbot Esteney
in the reign of Henry VIII, and the western
towers being left unfinished by Islip, the last abbot
worthy of the name. The most remarkable charac-
teristic in this western portion of the nave at
Westminster is its continuing the general design
of the earlier portions, not copying the details, as
was done in the cloister, but applying details of
their own period to the general forms of the pre-
ceding age; so that, to the casual observer, the
building appears to be the offspring of one mind
and the work of one age.

The Chapel of St Etheldreda in Ely Place,
Holborn, and the lower Chapel of St Stephen in
the Houses of Parliament at Westminster, illus-
trate the geometrical phase of the Decorated style,
while the windows in the nave of the great Augus-
tinian Friars' Church, near Broad Street, may be
taken as good examples of the Curvilinear phase of
the same style, also the south transept of St Saviour's
Cathedral.

It is to the Perpendicular period that the
churches situated in those northern and eastern
parts of the city, which escaped the flames of 1666,
chiefly belong.

They are St Giles', Cripplegate; St Helen and
St Ethelburga's, Bishopsgate; St Andrew Under-
shaft;St Ola ve's, Hart Street; All Hallows, Barking;
and St Peter ad Vincula within the Tower.

In an entirely opposite direction we find the
little Chapel of St John in the Savoy, and the
stately St Margaret, Westminster.

6 London Churches

Besides these more perfect examples of mediae-
val architecture there are the tower arches of St
Alphege, London Wall (Late Decorated); the
lower part of the tower of St Andrew's, Holborn;
the tower and south porch of St Sepulchre's, Snow
Hill; the lower portion of the tower of St Mary
Aldermary, Queen Victoria Street; and the noble
central tower of St Saviour's Cathedral, South-
wark (all Perpendicular).

Then, if we pursue our researches six miles or so
from the heart of the city, we shall find some in-
teresting mediaeval relics in the churches of Step-
ney, Stratford-le-Bow and West Ham; at Hack-
ney, in the tower of the old St John's; at Stoke
Newington, in the low south aisle of the old
Church of St Mary; at Hornsey, in the tower at-
tached to the now disused old church (a specimen
of the Gothic of 1830); and at Tottenham, in the
tower, porch, nave arcades, and south aisle of All
Hallows.

In all these examples Perpendicular is the pre-
vailing style.

Old Chelsea church, near the river, rich in
associations of Sir Thomas More, retains its
Perpendicular chancel and chapels; Lambeth,
Fulham and Chiswick their towers; and Putney
its tower, nave arcade, and chantry of Bishop
West.

In the north-western suburbs the churches of
Hendon and Willesden will be found to contain
work of various periods.

The old churches of Middlesex are not elabo-
rate, nor do they afford examples of very refined or
artistic detail, or of features that have a novelty for

Introdu&ory Sketch 7

the ecclesiologist.* Certainly they cannot com-
pete with those of Northamptonshire, Lincoln-
shire and the Eastern Counties in point of size,
grandeur of outline, or picturesque combination
of styles and parts.

Still they have some distinctive architectural
features, in which respect they follow what is a
law with regard to the development of our
mediaeval architecture, viz., that all the buildings
of every district have a special character of their
own — localisms in fact — found in the district alone
and nowhere else.

Plainness and simplicity are the leading charac-
teristics of these old churches of within six miles
of the City that are treated of in these volumes, in
which respect they agree with those, say, of Sussex,
but the appearance is widely different.

Their architects had to build with the materials
they could command; and these being different from
what are found elsewhere, the fabric of necessity
takes a different appearance. But while the work is
simple, the effect is good. Even the plainest church
in the county looks like a church, and could never
be taken for anything else.

The plans are almost always a nave and chancel
of moderate dimensions, a south porch, and a wes-
tern tower usually equipped with an angle turret,
and sometimes surmounted by a metal spirelet.

Our list of pre-Reformation buildings in Lon-
don closes with the Chapel of Henry VII at the

*In the present rolume it has been found necessary to cir-
cumscribe the distance from the Royal Exchange within six miles,
so that many churches located in those congeries of town and
suburb which now make up London are necessarily omitted.

8 London Churches

east end of Westminster Abbey. Sad it is that,
while gazing at such a grand example of Christian
art, we naturally liken it to the varied and golden
hues of autumnal foliage, of surpassing beauty and
solemnity, yet containing the incipient elements
of decay and the sure forerunners of the leafless
boughs of winter !

Examples of ecclesiastical buildings erected in
London between the Reformation and the Great
Fire are comprised in the Church of St Catherine
Cree in Leadenhall Street, and the Chapels of
Lincoln's Inn and the Charterhouse. Curious
manifestations are these structures, exhibiting as
they do an admixture of English Gothic and
Italian Renaissance detail, and showing us how, at
a time when in Continental countries the Pointed
Style had faded utterly before the great wave of
the Classic Revival, it was not expiring without a
struggle in England, its last refuge.

The contemporaneous destruction of fifty paro-
chial churches in the Great Fire of 1666 furnished
ample scope for the exercise of the ingenuity of Sir
Christopher Wren; and he would have had the
honour of refounding, as it were, a new city, if the
design which he laid before the King and Parlia-
ment could have been adopted; but private in-
terests were allowed to supersede the vast public
benefit which would have resulted from the plan
which he proposed.

In the fifty-three new churches which he was
commissioned to erect upon the sites of those
burnt, or so much damaged as to require rebuild-
ing, Wren has shown an inexhaustible fertility of
invention, combined with good natural taste and

Introductory Sketch 9

profound knowledge of the principles of his art.
His talents were particularly adapted to ecclesias-
tical architecture, and the City churches are de-
serving of the most careful study by the ecclesiolo-
gist, while to the architect each is a valuable study
in planning. Some of them show great skill in their
adaptation to irregular sites. In all, the main pro-
portions are excellent, but the minor details are
unequal. This, however, is excusable, seeing that
many of them were required to be built simultane-
ously. Nothing that has been achieved in modern
architecture has surpassed -the beauty of their
steeples, not only from the elegance of each, but
for their complete variety, while at the same
time in harmony with one another. No two are
alike.

The view of the City of London from the old
Blackfriars Bridge up to the middle of the last
century, before railway termini and huge many-
storied warehouses began to be built — a view
which comprised St Paul's with the church steeples,
more numerous than at present, grouped around
it — must have been scarcely surpassed in any
country; and all this was the work of one man !

The number of churches within and just with-
out the walls of the City at the period of the Great
Fire of 1666 was 107.

Until the removal of St Christopher-le-Stocks
in 1782 to make way for the enlargement of the
Bank, there were within the walls sixty- two, and
without, ten churches.

The number of churches burnt and not rebuilt,
all within the walls, was thirty-five.

Since the removal of St Christopher-le-Stocks a

i o London Churches

score of churches, mostly designed by Wren, have
up to the present time been removed.

Notwithstanding this, they stand so thick as to
distinguish the original city at a distance by its
dense crowd of steeples, and to mark its precise
limits by their sudden cessation and violent con-
trast with the remaining parts of the Metropolis,
where the modern churches break the horizon only
at wider intervals.

The superabundance of the City churches arises
from the fact that the City, when they were built,
contained six times its present population. From a
city of convents and churches it had become,
in Wren's time, one of residential houses, from
which it has since passed into one of warehouses.
From a dwelling it has become a mart, crowded in-
deed, in the day, but depopulated by night and on
Sundays. Boxes, bales and barrels have driven
out their owners into the suburbs, and unfor-
tunately they cannot carry their churches with
them.

However, within the last quarter of a century
an extraordinary change has come over City church
life. Churches which, thirty years ago, were barred
and bolted from one Sunday to another, are now
open for the best part of every day for prayer,
meditation, rest and short services, while the Sun-
day congregations attending not a few of them
exceed those of many suburban churches erected
out of the proceeds of the demolished ones.

Here, from The Uncommercial Traveller, is
Charles Dickens' description of a Sunday Morning
Service in one of these old churches after the
great emigration of its parishioners to the suburbs

Introductory Sketch

and before the Oxford Movement had made itself
felt in the City:*

" It is twenty minutes short of eleven on a
Sunday morning, when I stroll down one of the
many narrow, hilly streets in the City that tend due
south to the Thames. It is my first experiment,
and I have come to the region of Whittington in
an omnibus, and we have put down a fierce-eyed
spare old woman, whose slate-coloured gown smells
of herbs, and who walked up Aldersgate Street to
some chapel, where she comforts herself with
brimstone doctrine, I warrant. We have also put
down a stouter and sweeter old lady, with a pretty
large prayer-book in an unfolded pocket hand-
kerchief, who got out at a corner of a court near
Stationers' Hall, and who I think must go to
church there, because she is the widow of some
deceased old company's beadle. The rest of our
freight were mere chance pleasure-seekers and
rural walkers, and went on to the Blackwall Rail-
way. So many bells are ringing when I stand un-
decided at a street corner, that every sheep in the
ecclesiastical fold might be a bell-wether. The dis-
cordance is fearful. My state of indecision is refer-
able to, and about equally divisible among, four
great churches, which are all within sight and
sound, all within the space of a few yards.

" As I stand at the street-corner, I don't see as
many as four people at once going to church,
though I see as many as four churches with their
steeples clamouring for people.

"I choose my church, and go up the flight of

* St James', Garlick-Hythc, is, in all probability, the church
described.

1 2 London Churches

steps to the great entrance in the tower. A mouldy-
tower within, and like a neglected washhouse. A
rope comes through the beamed roof, and a man
in the corner pulls it and clashes the bell — a whity-
brown man, whose clothes were once black — a
man with flue on him, and cobweb. He stares at
me, wondering how I come there.

"Through a screen of wood and glass I peep into
the dim church. About twenty people are dis-
cernible, waiting to begin. Christening would
seem to have faded out of this church long ago, for
the font has the dust of desuetude thick upon it,
and its wooden cover (shaped like an old-fashioned
tureen cover) looks as if it wouldn't come off, upon
requirement. I perceive the altar to be rickety, and
the Commandments damp. Entering after this
survey, I jostle the clergyman in his canonicals,
who is entering too from a dark lane behind a pew
of state with curtains, where nobody sits. The pew
is ornamented with four blue wands, once carried
by four somebodys, I suppose, before somebody
else, but which there is nobody now to hold or re-
ceive honour from. I open the door of a family
pew, and shut myself in; if I could occupy twenty
family pews at once I might have them. The clerk,
a brisk young man (how does he come here?)
glances at me knowingly, as who should say, 'You
have done it now; you must stop.' Organ plays.
Organ-loft is in a small gallery across the church;
gallery congregation, two girls. I wonder within
myself what will happen when we are required to
sing. . . . The opening of the service recalls my
wandering thoughts. I then find, to my astonish-
ment, that I have been, and still am, taking a

Introductory Sketch 13

strong kind of invisible snuff up my nose, into my
eyes, and down my throat.

"I wink, sneeze and cough. The clerk sneezes;
the clergyman winks; the unseen organist sneezes
and coughs (and probably winks); all our little
party wink, sneeze and cough. The snuff seems to
be made of the decay of matting, wood, cloth,
stone, iron, earth and something else. Is the some-
thing else the decay of dead citizens in the vaults
below? As sure as Death it is!

"Not only in the cold damp February day do
we cough and sneeze dead citizens, all through the
service, but dead citizens have got into the very
bellows of the organ, and half choked the same.
We stamp our feet to warm them, and dead citi-
zens arise in heavy clouds. Dead citizens stick upon
the walls, and lie pulverized on the sounding-
board over the clergyman's head, and, when a gust
of air comes, tumble down upon him."

Then we have the description of a church
" oddly put away in a corner among a number of
lanes," where there was " a congregation of fourteen
strong: not counting an exhausted charity school
in a gallery," where "the whole of the church
furniture was in a very advanced stage of exhaus-
tion," and where " the clergyman, perhaps the
chaplain of a civic company, has the moist and
vinous look, and eke the bulbous boots, of one
acquainted with'Twentyport and comet vintages."

"In the churches about Mark Lane, for example,
there was a dry whiff of wheat; and I accidentally
struck an airy sample of barley out of an aged
hassock in one of them. From Rood Lane to Tower
Street, and thereabouts, there was often a subtle

14 London Churches

flavour of wine, sometimes of tea. One church
near Mincing Lane smelt like a druggist's drawer.
Behind the Monument the service had a flavour of
damaged oranges, which, a little further down
towards the river, tempered into herrings, and
gradually toned into a cosmopolitan blast of fish.
In one church, the exact counterpart of the church
in the Rake's Progress, where the hero is being
married to the horrible old lady, there was no
speciality of atmosphere, until the organ shook
a perfume of hides all over us.

" Be the scent what it would, however, there was
no speciality in the people. There were never
enough of them to represent any calling or neigh-
bourhood. They had all gone elsewhere over-
night, and the few stragglers in the many churches
languished there inexpressively."

It has always been a peculiarity of English cities
to crowd together a multitude of small parish
churches; and in this respect London, York, Nor-
wich, Exeter and Lincoln have always exhibited a
marked contrast to the great cities of the Conti-
nent with their few and enormous churches. This
peculiarity of the English parish churches repre-
sents the national regard of the English to local
union, and their protest against centralization.
The ecclesiastical aspect of the City of London
merely as a landscape, so picturesque and charac-
teristic, and so familiar to Europe, is not to be
lightly sacrificed ; it is part of the national history
and character, with which it would be wrong to
interfere.

Our numerous City churches preach a sermon
and bear a witness with which we can little dis-

Introductory Sketch 15

pense. And, above all, no church of any architec-
tural beauty, ought, under any alleged plea of
convenience, or for merely pecuniary reasons, to
be sacrificed.

The taste for Classic art had been rapidly gain-
ing ground since Inigo Jones endowed Old St
Paul's with a Corinthian portico, and gone to work
without the slightest scruple in remodelling the
walls of the nave; in supplanting the delicately
traceried Pointed windows with round-headed
ones; in replacing buttresses by pilasters, battle-
ments by balustrades, pinnacles by obelisks, and
modest dripstones and stringcourses by heavy
cornices.

At the epoch of the Restoration the Italian
Renaissance had completely gained the ascen-
dancy, and it was in his own particular edition of it
— if I may so speak — that Wren conceived new St
Paul's and its satellite churches; except in four in-
stances, where, for stringent reasons, he adopted
Gothic, a style in which he saw few merits, and
with which he was totally out of sympathy.

Crude and unsatisfactory as Wren's attempts at
design in Pointed architecture are, as illustrated in
St Mary Aldermary, St Alban's, Wood Street,
and the steeples of St Michael's, Cornhill, and St
Dunstan in the East, it is impossible not to regard
them with interest when we remember that they
formed exceptions, not only to the popular taste
of the day, but to the unparalleled successes of
their author himself. Yet Wren's sense of elegant
outline could not fail him even here, as evinced in
the pinnacled tower of St Michael's, in which
details clumsily designed and unsightly in them-

1 6 London Churches

selves are, by the force of composition, and by a
thorough knowledge of the rules which govern
proportion, made to assume an effect of much
grandeur.

The reigns of Anne and the first two Georges
endowed London with a group of churches, some
of them of a Palladian character, difficult to de-
scribe, but all uniting great solidity with a certain
grandeur of proportion that cannot fail to excite
admiration, in spite of architectural solecisms and
deficient arrangement.

To Nicholas Hawksmoor, "the scholar and
domestic clerk of Sir Christopher Wren," we owe
St Mary Woolnoth, Christ Church, Spitalfields,
St George in the East, St Anne, Limehouse, St
George, Bloomsbury, and St Alphege, Green-
wich.

As an architect,Hawksmoor's excellence lay rather
in his attention to details and a thorough knowledge
of constructive principles than in creative faculty,
though it must be acknowledged that there is a
very marked originality running through the
churches just quoted, taking them in the mass. A
good mathematician, a scholar of languages, and
an excellent draughtsman, his influence on the
designs of the chief buildings of this period was
very great, and the question has arisen whether the
merit of many of Sir John Vanbrugh's designs
does not lie with Hawksmoor.

To Thomas Archer, a pupil of Sir John Van-
brugh, we owe that extraordinary pile, St John's,
Smith Square, Westminster, so remarkable for its
quartette of belfries; and St Paul's, Deptford, the
possessor of a really beautiful steeple.

Introductory Sketch 1 7

In a lighter style are James Gibbs' churches of
St Mary-le-Strand and St Martin-in-the- Fields.

A Roman Catholic, but "justly esteemed by
men of all persuasions," Gibbs' reverence for
Classic architecture led him to an excessive respect
for tradition, but his work is lifted far above the
level of mere imitation, and has a distinctive style
of its own. Discernment rather than fine inven-
tion characterizes Gibbs' architecture. His good
taste may be attributed to his Italian training,
which also narrowed his art to the mere considera-
tion of fine composition and proportion.

James, another architect of this period, and a
pupil of Gibbs, gave us St George's Hanover
Square, with its noble Corinthian portico, and St
Luke's, Old Street, remarkable for its spire, in the
form of an obelisk.*

Henry Flitcroft, also a pupil of Gibbs, was the
architect of St Giles-in-the-Fields, St Olave's,
Tooley Street, Southwark, and St John's, Hamp-
stead, in all of which we may trace the delicate
touch of his master.

The steeples of St Leonard's, Shoreditch, by the
elder Dance, and that of St Mary, Islington, by
Launcelot Dowbiggin, are graceful conceptions,
but the former loses much of its effect, viewed in
conjunction with the church, by its not rising
directly from the ground like all Wren's steeples
do, and as every true steeple should. This is a
fault shared by St Martin-in-the-Fields, St Mary-
le-Strand, and St George's, Hanover Square.

An elegant interior of this period (1760-65) was

* The contemporary church of St John, Horsleydown, Ber-
mondsey, has a similar steeple, in this instance an Ionic column.

1-2

1 8 London Churches

St Paul's, Great Portland Street, now destroyed
to make way for a concert room.

It partook of the galleried basilical form, as does
St Botolph, Aldgate, rebuilt between 1741 and
1744 by George Dance the elder, and St Botolph,
Aldersgate, also rebuilt on the site of a mediaeval
church which escaped the Fire, by George Dance
the younger, half a century later. Two other
churches, likewise rebuilt by the younger Dance
on the sites of old ones, are All Hallows and St
Alphege, London Wall (1767-1774), but they
have little architectural merit. St Peter-le-Poer,
Broad Street, by Jesse Gibson (demolished), and
the parish churches of Battersea, Clerkenwell,
Hackney, Islington, Paddington, Rotherhithe
and Southwark (St George's in the Borough)
are all specimens of singular and unmeaning
ugliness, and may be passed over in this history
"with swift foot."

In all these churches of the latter part of the
reign of George III the grandeur and delicacy of
the school of Wren, Gibbs, Flitcroft and Hawks-
moor, and the symbolism of that of the Laudian
epoch, had been completely lost sight of and no-
thing gained in compensation.

But the bathos of religious architecture was
reached in the Proprietary Chapels that cluster
about the squares in the west end of the town, for
at the period of their erection men's minds were
busy with the great wars, and art in every depart-
ment was taking a long sleep all over Europe.*

* At the time it was built, about 1801, it was naively re-
marked of Tavistock Chapel (afterwards dubbed St Andrew's),
near Tavistock Square, but now pulled down, that "whilst the

Introductory Sketch 19

Such churches as arose at this time (1790-1820)
were built to meet the exigencies of a growing
population and in a nondescript style, it mattered
little so long as they were occupied.

To the lover of antiquities such works produced
during the first thirty years of the last century, as
Britton's Cathedrals, Pugin and Le Keux's Archi-
tectural Antiquities of Normandy, Neale's Collegiate
and Parochial Churches in Great Britain, Wild's
Cathedrals of Lincoln and Worcester, and others, were
a source of great delight. But, in spite of the end-
less theories propounded in them respecting the
origin and development of church architecture,
they had not the least effect upon it practically;
for when, after the Peace of 1815, Parliament
granted a million of money for church extension
throughout England, the architectural profession
was found to be entirely unacquainted with the
true principles of church architecture and church
arrangement.

Hence the erection of those gaunt and defec-
tively arranged piles, which, aiming at pure
Hellenism in style — one totally unsuited both to
the climate of our land and the worship of our
Church — and styled "Commissioners' Churches,"
remain to tell us what the Augustan Age of
George IV knew of church architecture.*

peculiarity of the Gothic is preserved, the snugness and comfort
of the modern chapel are retained." The application of Pointed
details here were such as almost to excite laughter.

* Fortunately for the Church of England, Parliament does
not build churches nowadays. A church designed by an architect
selected by certain M.P.'s whom it would be invidious to name
would be worth walking along a flinty road, on a hot day, in
tight boots, to see!

2O London Churches

Augustus made it one of his proudest boasts
that he found Rome of brick and left it of marble.
The reign and regency of George IV did some-
thing in this direction for the vast and increas-
ing Metropolis of the British Empire by in-
creasing its magnificence and comforts; by forming
healthy streets and commodious buildings, instead
of pestilential alleys and squalid hovels; by sub-
stituting rich and varied architecture, and park-
like scenery, for paltry cabins and monotonous
cow-lairs; by making solid roads and public ways,
scarcely inferior to those of ancient Rome, which
connected the extremest points of the Empire, and
brought its provinces and seaports many days'
journey nearer the Metropolis, instead of the miry
roads through which previous generations ploughed
their weary ways, from London to Bath, " by the
blessing of God in four days"; and by beginning
and continuing with a truly national perseverance
a series of desirable improvements which, from the
rapidity with which they took place, caused the
denizen to feel himself a stranger in his own city
after an absence of only a few months.

George Augustus Frederick, first as Regent,
then as King, was sovereign of the national taste
at this time, 1815-30, and John Nash* was his ar-
chitectural prime minister. Whether the archi-
tect's Welsh extraction recommended him to the

* The following epigram appeared in Tbt Quarterly T{evici»
of June, 1826:

Augustus at Rome was for building renowned,
And of marble he left what of brick he had found;
But is not our Nash, too, a very great master?
He finds us all brick, and he leaves us all plaster.

Introductory Sketch 21

Prince of Wales, I am unable to say. But certain it
is that neither master nor man was competent to
make the best of the grand opportunities then
afforded, and that they gave an impetus to mere-
triciousness which it has cost abler men infinite
trouble to correct.

The royal patron may have been a good judge of
a Flemish picture, and Nash may have been com-
petent to his first occupation as a miniature
painter; but neither of them was capable of any
conceptive grandeur in architecture, though Nash
seems to have had a great aptitude for the business
part of the profession he subsequently adopted.
Had he been originally a capitalist, he would have
made a spirited speculative builder, with "a quick
eye to see" how city parks and new thoroughfares
might be formed out of neglected spaces and inferior
localities. The idea was a grand one of opening a
park on the north side of Portland Place, and of con-
tinuing a handsome street from the latter, across Ox-
ford Street, Piccadilly and Pall Mall into St James*
Park, forming a pleasingly varied line of more
than a mile and a half in length — a noble oppor-
tunity for such an architectural display as would
have exceeded the display made, not less than the
improvements effected went beyond the previous
condition of this part of the Metropolis. Regent
Street has length and width to an enviable amount,
nor was it even, as it first appeared, wanting in
architectural quantity; but the quality was in-
different, and the general lowness of the ranges on
either hand left it utterly deficient in grandeur.
The leading distinct features of Regent Street
were the three churches by Nash, Cockerell and

2 2 London Churches

Repton. The first of these, All Souls', Langham
Place, is, to say the least of it, one of the most
original things ever constructed, and whatever
may be its defects and violations of academic pro-
priety, it is the best specimen of its designer's
daring and fancy. Its circular portico below, and
its sharp-pointed and fluted spire starting up, like
a Jack from the box, through the Corinthian peri-
style on its tower, form a combination, leaving us
to doubt whether we shall, on the whole, admire it
as a beauty or smile at it as an eccentricity. It was
immensely ridiculed at the time (1826), and a
caricature appeared, in which the architect was
shown impaled upon his own pointed summit.

But he only laughed at the joke; and, throwing
a print of the drollery among his clerks, said, "See,
gentlemen, how criticism has exalted me!"

In the next example, Hanover Chapel, removed
some years ago, Cockerell showed his taste and
learning by a scrupulous adherence to Greek re-
finement and Classic precedent, saving in the in-
troduction internally of the Roman dome — in this
instance of glass — and circular-headed windows.
The third church, St Philip's, by Repton, likewise
now removed, proved a more decided readiness
to bring the Greek and Latin classics into con-
junction, for it had a galleried interior with
pillars of the Wren type, and over a Roman Doric
portico rose, as a bell-tower, the Athenian choragic
monument of Lysicrates.

But the most important of the "New Churches,"
.$ they were then styled, that affected the Grecian
classic character, and one which remains to this day
the purest specimen of its style as applied eccle-

Introductory Sketch 23

siastically, was St Pancras, Euston Road. Indeed,
it has nothing in it that is not essentially Greek,
except the unseen vaulting under its floor. Inside
and outside, doors, windows, ceilings and details,
all is as Athenian as can possibly be, and I may go
so far as to say that its architects, the Inwoods, pro-
duced an example of strictly Greek adaptation,
fully equal in its way to any of the Roman modifi-
cations realized by Sir Christopher Wren. The
columnar and caryatidal porticoes of the Erec-
theum and the Temple of the Winds are here
emulated in combination ingenious as new. The
great western Ionic portico was, of course, bor-
rowed entire, also the noble doorways within it;
but the steeple is a composition which takes only
its details from Athens, leaving the architects to
claim the full merit of its graceful outline and
elegant composition; shutting our eyes, that is to
say, to the absurdity of its position. The eastern
end of St Pancras is also beautifully terminated
with a pseudo-peristylar semicircular apse, and
the vestry appendages are made serviceable to the
exhibition of the caryatidal examples to which re-
ference has been made.

The columnar decoration of the apse, internally,
gives the chief beauty to the inside of the church;
and it may, in conclusion, be said that whatever
objections may be taken to parts of the building,
they will be found inseparable, from the difficulty
of adapting the heathen Greek Temple to the
then conventional form of the English church.

A smaller but, so far as circumstances per-
mitted, an equally successful specimen of modern
Greek design is to be found in the portico and

24 London Churches

pronaos of St Mark's, North Audley Street, by
J. P. Gandy-Deering.*

In addition to the five churches just com-
mented on, some five-and-twenty more were
erected between 1825 and 1830, not only in Lon-
don alone, but in the greatly increasing suburbs,
as, for instance, Holy Trinity, Marylebone, and
St John's, Walworth, by Sir John Soane; West
Hackney Church, St Mary's, Wyndham Place, and
St Anne's, Wandsworth, by Sir Robert Smirke;
St Matthew, Brixton, by Porden; Christ Church,
Lisson Grove, by Hardwick; and four in South
London by Bedford. Some of these were of Graeco-
Roman design, but in the majority the pure Greek
mania reached its highest pitch.f

Leigh Hunt, in one of his charming sketches
published in The Indicator, has admirably summed
up the characteristics of these would-be Hellenic
"Million Act" churches:

"There is a want of taste of every sort in these
new churches. They are not picturesque like the
old ones; they are not humble; they are not what
they are often miscalled, classical. A barn is a more
classical building than a church with a fantastic
steeple to it. In fact, a barn is of the genuine
classical shape, and only wants a stone covering
and pillars about it to become a Temple of Theseus.
The classical shape is the shape of utility and
beauty. Sometimes we see it in the body of the

* The interior was rebuilt in Romanesque fifty years ago.

t Cockerell, Decimus Burton and Repton coquetted between
Greece and Italy ; Soane between the Corinthian of Rome and
his own fancies ; while Nash influenced public feeling in favour
of Italian design almost exclusively.

Introductory Sketch 25

modern church, but then a steeple must be put
upon it; the artist must have something of his own;
and having, in fact, nothing of his own, he first
puts a bit of a steeple which he thinks will not be
enough, then another bit, and then another; adds
another fantastic ornament here and there to his
building by way of ' border like,' and so, having
put his pepper box over his pillars, and his pillars
over his pepper box, he pretends he has done a
great thing, whereas he knows very well he has only
been perplexed, and a bricklayer."

However, the spirit of an important change was
now at hand. James Savage had built a Pointed
Gothic church, St Luke's, Chelsea — not a Batty
Langley thing — not carpenters', but masons'
Gothic — not the mere shell of ordinary form,
pierced with pointed windows, buttressed, battle-
mented, and called "Gothic"; but a veritable
Gothic church in the Perpendicular style, with
lofty tower, nave, aisles, clerestory and vaulted
roof, whose lateral pressure was resisted by flying
buttresses, also of solid stone; nay, even with a
hint of the triforium ! In short, St Luke's, Chelsea,
presented itself as not less paramount among
modern Gothic attempts than the new St Pancras'
Church among Greek adaptations. Looking at this
prae-Puginesque structure now, we see many
solecisms, excusable for the period of its erection;
but it was a bold and tasteful effort, and it were
too mild an eulogy to say that it was by far the
most creditable work of its time.

The influence of this example was by no means
immediate. Large churches had quickly to be
erected with small means, and the consequent in-

26 London Churches

ability to carry out the Gothic theme in its full-
ness still occasioned, for a length of time, the
construction of churches, either after the current
fashion, or in meagre mimicry of mediaeval ex-
amples. The Church Commissioners still con-
tinued to authorize the realization of designs
rather with relation to their utilitarian than to
their artistic merits.

But the seed was sown; and the clergy (hitherto
indifferent to everything but pew-room, and the
position of reading desk and pulpit) began to culti-
vate a sacred regard for ancient precedent and
accuracy of detail. •

There came forth designs for three Perpendicu-
lar Gothic churches in the parish of Islington* by
one who was soon to prove the most influential
member of his profession, in respect to his
authority, not simply over the profession itself,
but over the public at large. Sir Charles Barry
was that one. He undoubtedly powerfully aided
that Gothic movement, which had not yet put out
its full strength by the erection of these churches,
for he was too practical to acclimatize Grecian,
and proved how much of dignity there was in the old
architecture of England, even as practised in what
we should now term days of infancy and darkness.

Walters' church of St Philip, Stepney, pulled
down about fifteen years ago to make way for a
new structure, also won many admirers.f

•St Paul's, Balls Pond, Holy Trinity, Cloudesley Square, and
St John's, Holloway, all finished in 1828 and displaying a dig-
nity of outline often deficient in the later and more correct works
of other architects.

t A model of this church is preserved in the present one.

Introdu&ory Sketch 27

All these Parliamentary churches were illus-
trated and, in most instances, very caustically re-
viewed in 'The Gentleman's Magazine of the period
(1824-33) by "E.I.C." This was Edward John
Carlos, a most enthusiastic antiquary, who was
born in 1798, and who died from an illness, caused
or aggravated by over-study, on January 20,
1851. From an early age Carlos kept a diary, por-
tions of which were destroyed in the Fire at the
Royal Exchange in 1838. In a note under date
August, 1817, he tells us that "About this time
my predilections for Pointed architecture, and
the study of Pointed architecture, began."
The diary contains several memoranda relative
to his pursuits and favourite studies — ecclesias-
tical and monumental antiquities having the
preference. In these departments he collected
am immense store of materials, both in prints
and drawings as well as MS. notes, most of which
were sold by auction on his death. Every
respite from his profession was devoted to rambles
into the country, the county of Kent specially
engaging his attention.

He was one of the first to collect rubbings from
Brasses, which has since become so prevalent a
pursuit. A great admirer and true disciple of John
Carter, Carlos became a worthy successor of that
energetic advocate of the ancient architecture of
this country in the pages of The Gentleman's
Magazine, and whenever in days of less taste than
at present he traced the footsteps of innovation
or inconsistency, he exposed them with a fearless
and unsparing hand.

In 1832 he was one of the Committee for the

2 8 London Churches

restoration of Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate Street,
and drew up Historical and Antiquarian Notices
of that ancient pile which has passed through
so many vicissitudes, and about the same time
was one of the most active promoters of the
public efforts made in defence of the Church of
St Mary Overy (now St Saviour's Cathedral,
Southwark), of which he at one time contem-
plated an architectural history. To Edward John
Carlos, as one of the pioneers in the revival of the
true principles of architecture and ecclesiastical
feeling, we owe a debt of gratitude; therefore some
record of his life and work finds a place in these
pages.

With all their architectural shortcomings and
strange Commissioners' ritualisms, the churches
of the "Million Act" were really respectable, well-
intentioned, and liberal in their cost, and far
superior to the abject fry — those products of the
"Cheap Church" mania — which succeeded them.
One would gladly draw a veil over those disgrace-
ful productions, in which all decency of architec-
tural finish and construction was ground down to
the very dust to meet an idolized tariff of so many
shillings a sitting.

However, this dreary period (1830-40) was re-
lieved by a few works of a somewhat better sort,
among which may be named the Church of St
Dunstan in the West, by Shaw, distinguished by
its truly elegant lantern- tower; St Michael's,
Highgate, and Christ Church, Woburn Place, by
Lewis Vulliamy; Christ Church, Streatham Hill,
a Venetian Gothic structure, by Wild, which
elicited the encomiums of John Ruskin; the Roman

Introductory Sketch 29

Catholic Church of Our Lady at St John's Wood,
from the designs of Scoles; and the restoration of
the Temple Church, carried out with a sumptu-
ousness far in advance of its age, under Sydney
Smirke and Thomas Willement.

This increase of churches did not, however, keep
pace with the population; and as it became more
and more evident that no assistance for church
purposes could be expected in future from the
House of Commons, the then Bishop of London —
Dr Charles James Blomfield — determined to make
a special appeal to the liberality of Churchmen for
the work. Accordingly in 1836 he issued "Propo-
sals for the creation of a fund to be applied to the
building and endowment of additional churches in
the Metropolis." " The result of the Bishop's
appeal showed that he had not altogether mis-
placed his confidence in making it. The list of
subscriptions included the names of all parties in
the Church, and showed several sums which cor-
responded to the Bishop's description of 'dona-
tions much higher in amount than those which are
usually given as annual subscriptions, or for tem-
porary objects.' The mercantile firms and com-
panies did not in general contribute according to
their means and duties; but many private indivi-
duals gave very largely to the general or to special
funds. The Bishop's own first donation was £2,000;
two ladies gave anonymously £5,000 each; a
brother and sister £3,000 each; 'Commercial
Prosperity* £2,000; 'A Successful Emigrant*
£1,000; Dr Pusey and the Rev. C. P. Golightly
£1,000 each. Two months after the first publica-
tion of the scheme the amounts reached £74,000;

30 London Churches

at the end of the year 1836 they exceeded
£106,000.

"This was encouragement enough to begin the
work at once, and the consecration of Christ
Church, Albany Street, in the parish of St Pan-
eras, in the summer of 1837, built entirely by the
Metropolis Churches Fund, was the first fruits of
the Bishop's benevolent scheme."*

A diminution in the subscriptions in the third
year of the establishment of the fund suggested
to the promoters of the scheme the idea of creating
local funds, and thereby exciting a livelier interest
in the wants of particular districts.

Hence arose several associations for church ex-
tension in different parts of London, attended by
varying measures of success. Among the instances
of parishes which owe their improvement to these
efforts, the most remarkable, perhaps, is that of
Bethnal Green, where in 1839 tnere were but two
churchesf and a chapel belonging to the Episcopal

* Life of Bishop Blomfield, by his son, two vols, Murray, 1863.

t St Matthew's, the old parish church in Church Street, and St
John's on Bethnal Green. On Sunday, December 29, 1839, two
sermons were preached in St Vedast's, Foster Lane, in aid of the
subscription for building additional churches in the parish of
Bethnal Green; that in the morning by the Rev. Henry Mel-
rill (Minister of Camden Church, Camberwell), and that in
:he evening by the Rev. Thomas Dale, Vicar of St Bride's,
Fleet Street. The amount subscribed after the delivery of these
discourses was unusually large, attributable in a great measure
to the indefatigable exertions of the Rev. J. V. Povah, the curate
of the parish of St Vedast, and to the circumstance of Bishop
Blomfield having shortly before preached in the same church^
and excited a strong interest in respect to church extension in
the Metropolis. It is worthy of note that both the preachers on
this occasion became Canons of St Paul's — Mr Melvill in 1856.

Introductory Sketch 31

Society for the Conversion of Jews, five clergymen
and one national school. There were in 1853 ten
churches, ten parish schools, twenty-two clergy-
men where there had been but three, eleven
vicarage houses where there had been but one, and
an enormous increase in the children attending the
schools, and in district workers.

It was to the Christian liberality of many bene-
volent persons, and especially to Mr William
Cotton, the first promoter of the work, that the
Bethnal Green Church scheme prospered to at
least as great an extent as its friends had hoped.

Other districts of the Metropolis followed the
example set by Mr Cotton in Bethnal Green; and
Islington, St Pancras, Paddington and Westmins-
ter all owe their present provision of churches to
local associations, which were suggested or stimu-
lated by the Metropolis Churches Fund.

Altogether this scheme of church extension was
a great achievement, and it will go down in history
a lasting honour to Bishop Blomfield's name.

It is remarkable that the first publication of this
great design coincided in point of time with that of
the publication of the first Tracts for the Times;
and its success was most materially aided by the
munificent zeal with which Dr Pusey, in particu-
lar, and the then Oxford residents, generally, the
Tract writers and their friends, took it up and for-
warded it; but it was the Bishop's conception and
execution.

and Mr Dale in 1843. The Rev. J. V. Povah, above alluded to
was preferred in 1 840 to the neighbouring living of St Anne and
St Agnes, which, together with a Minor Canonry of St
he held till his death in 1882.

3 2 London Churches

With a few honourable exceptions it must be
confessed that, from an architectural point of
view, the churches built between 1836 and
1850, under the auspices above detailed, were
lamentable instances of incapacity. The several
schemes had stood sponsors for some of the most
horrid monstrosities in the shape of churches
which ever disfigured art, and in which almost as
much money has been laid out in adjusting them
to the requirements of the present day as was ex-
pended upon them in the first instance, a state of
things attributable in a great measure to the Cim-
merian darkness, in which everything relating to
religious art seemed to be enveloped when, and
for some years after, Queen Victoria ascended
the throne. Such structures as Christ Church,
Albany Street, subsequently refitted and decorated
with much sumptuousness during Mr Burrows'
incumbency, by Butterfield; Holy Trinity, Gray's
Inn Road, a most hideous pseudo-Classical edifice,
by the same architect as that of Christ Church —
Pennethorne; St James',Curtain Road, Shoreditch,
Christ Church, New North Road, Hoxton, and St
Thomas', Charterhouse, by Blore; such, to name
but a few, were the fruits of the Metropolis
Churches Fund. Of the Bethnal Green churches,
the three most respectable are, St Jude's, by
Glutton, built on a Rhenish-Romanesque model;
St Matthias', a modified edition of the church at
Wilton, by Wyatt and Brandon; and St Simon
Zelotes, a pretty little Middle-Pointed church, by
Benjamin Ferrey. In the parish of St Pancras arose
Holy Trinity, Haverstock Hill; St Mark's, Regent's
Park; St Paul's, Camden Square; and St Mat-

Introductory Sketch 3 3

thew's, Oakley Square. The last, from the designs
of Mr John Johnson, the author of Reliques of
Ancient English Architecture, is a truly beautiful
edifice, evincing careful study of our old examples.

It should be observed that of late years all these
churches have undergone great ameliorations in
regard to their furniture and arrangement, and in
two instances very handsome new chancels have
been built.

It was a very singular time that witnessed the
erection of these Early Victorian London churches.
The Ecclesiastical Revival, both in theology and
its architectural expression, was only then just be-
ginning. Members of the two Universities were
working for the same end in their different ways,
and quite independently of each other. The
Ecclesiologist* was the mouthpiece of the Cam-
bridge Camden Society and did very able work.

A remarkable instinct, combined with good
sense and other gifts, quietly exercised by this
Society, made their work an eminently useful one
in asserting principles and restraining the ill-in-
structed private taste and judgement which have
since often displayed themselves to excess, and
which the excitable spirit of the day has naturally
favoured.

" The Evangelical revival of the earlier part of
the last century had done its work in pressing
home to men's minds the great essential idea of the
union between the individual soul and its Saviour,
and the converting, sanctifying work of the Holy
Spirit, when yet another restoration was granted

* This invaluable periodical ran for twenty-six years. The first
number appeared November, 1841, the last, December, 1868.

1-3

34 London Churches

to the Church of forgotten truths, and there rose
up men whose souls were filled with the thought
that Christ had come on earth to found a visible
society — that as there was a life of individual souls
with Him, and He in them, so there was a corporate
life of the Church with Him and He in her.

"Then the idea of the Sacramental gifts and all
that flows from them was set forth in its due
proportion. Men began to stand upon the ancient
ways and seek for the old paths. They sought to
make their churches and the services in them more
worthy of the object for which they were intended
— as their predecessors had laboured to bring the
individual soul under the influence of the grace of
God — and, like all possessed of great and true
ideas, they sought for them an outward and visible
expression. Restored churches, carefully rendered
services with music of a higher order, more fre-
quent Sacraments, replaced the neglected and
decaying buildings, the dreary, often mutilated
worship, the cold, bare, slovenly rites of the past.
Once more the Church had put on the 'garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness' under the im-
pulse of a great movement."*

At Oxford men's minds were occupied with the
theory of the Church and Church government,
and with the doctrinal utterance of the voice of
the Church. At Cambridge men were concerned
with the changes which had come over the out-
ward aspect of the Church's worship — the loss of

* From a sermon preached at St Michael's Collegiate Church,
Tenbury, on Thursday, October 4, 1906, at the Commemora-
tion of the Founder, by the Rev. T. A. Ayscough, M.A., Rector
of Cradley, and Prebendary of Hereford.

Introductory Sketch 3 5

dignity and beauty in the services of the Church —
the neglect of the prescribed offices, and the care-
lessness with which the Sacraments were adminis-
tered.

But the Oxford Movement and the Cambridge
Movement were essentially one in spirit, and the
two bodies who desired to put their principles to
the test of experiment happily joined hands.

The result was the numberless grand and beauti-
ful churches in which we worship to-day, and
which we have inherited with their wealth of in-
spiring tradition.

The Gothic Revival was a unique phenomenon
of the age. Science, as we all know, tells us that life
depends upon contact with life; it cannot develop
out of anything that is not life. Here, however, was
something which, on the face of it, defied that
given law. Here was something that more closely
resembled spontaneous generation than anything
one had ever heard of.

For we must remember that Gothic had been
dead and buried in its tomb of crumbling walls for
over three centuries. Yet at the touch of hands,
like those of Scott and Butterfield, of Carpenter
and Pearson, of Burges and Street, the old forms
became a living influence; the dead bones moved,
took flesh, and we had the Gothic Revival.

At the period of which I am speaking (1836-
1846) there were few practising church architects
of any repute except Pugin, who had designed
several churches for the Roman branch of con-
siderable size and architectural correctness much
in advance of their time, and Sir Gilbert Scott,
whose graceful cruciform church of St Giles, Cam-

3 6 London Churches

berwell, won many admirers. Rickman's catalogued
examination of English churches was a useful
pioneer and, there can be no doubt, greatly
stimulated that love for old Gothic art which, curi-
ously enough, had been kept alive throughout the
soporific Georgian era.

The wave of romanticism in literature which
preceded the mediaeval revival was widespread,
but alone in England was a religious enthusiasm
awakened which, in its reaction from Puritanism
and whitewash, carried men's minds back enthu-
siastically to Catholic tradition and Catholic art,
and accomplished what merely antiquarian fer-
vour failed to do.

When the Cambridge Camden Society was first
formed, it had to fight a desperate battle against
overwhelming odds, for its members were neither
grave ecclesiastics nor practical architects, but
simply undergraduates, bringing to their work no
little of the petulance of youth and the inexperi-
ence of tyros. Still, some truths were grasped, and
those truths were manipulated. A few years rolled
by, and the Society, which had removed its head-
quarters to London, aggregated so many allies to
its body that the members were able to criticize
themselves and to invite the world to do the same.

Architects excogitated, committees patronized,
church dignitaries and lay-folk at their own cost
built churches of a richness and truthfulness of
design which the Camdenians, when struggling
into existence in Hutt's back room at Cambridge,
could never have thought possible.

Three years after its formation the Society
issued the first number of its organ, The Eccle-

Introductory Sketch 3 7

siologistj the primary design of which was to afford
means of communication on all subjects connected
with the study of church architecture between
headquarters and scattered members. Church
building at home and in the Colonies was dis-
cussed. New churches and the restoration of old
ones were reviewed, in not a few instances very
caustically. Church desecrations, too, were anim-
adverted upon, while every number contained one
or more ably written articles on the theory and
practice of architecture, its connexion with
ritualism, its symbolism and the principles of
church arrangement. At first The Ecclesiologist
bore upon its pale yellow wrapper the motto,
"Surge igitur, et fac, et Dominus erit tecum,"
which subsequently was combined with the very
significant one, "Donee templa refeceris."

That the ecclesiological movement was the spon-
taneous growth of the English Church cannot be
controverted. Pugin, to be sure, had, a year or so
before the formation of the "Cambridge Camden"
— or as it came to be styled after its removal to
London, "The Ecclesiological" — Society, built
several churches of great size and considerable
merit for the use of that branch of the Catholic
Church of which he had become a member in

1833.

It was not, however, until England had felt a
new want and entered on a new study, and when
English architects, sick of the feeble and frigid
paganisms of the preceding half century, were
learning in a new school, and English churches
were rising on a new plan, that Pugin's works were
appreciated by his co-religionists. Indeed, he him-

3 8 London Churches

self confessed that he had for several years designed
and built churches without any knowledge of the
true principles of church arrangement.

Notwithstanding religious differences, Pugin
always remained during his strenuous but, alas ! all
too short career, in friendly intercourse with the
clergy of the Anglo-Catholic Church, architec-
tural societies of the two Universities, and others
who, in different ways, devoted themselves to the
task of ameliorating the state of ecclesiastical art in
this country, and of rescuing it from that de-
graded state into which it had sunk during the
preceding two centuries.

It cannot be questioned that to Pugin's won-
derful manipulative skill with the pencil, and his
knowledge of the detail of the best English Gothic
periods, we are indebted for the excellence of so
many of our instrumenta ecclesiastica. Stained
glass, above all things, received his special attention,
for he was desirous of having this most important
branch of ecclesiology carried out under his imme-
diate supervision, and the direction of one whose
views for its progress were entirely at one with his
own, and whose energy and activity promised
cordial and sympathetic co-operation — I refer, of
course, to John Hardman, to whom was due,
under Pugin's able oversight, the stained glass in
the east windows of St Andrew's, Wells Street, and
St Mary Magdalene's, Munster Square.

Meanwhile, other architects were not idle. Sir
Gilbert Scott had in hand the arduous and impor-
tant task of restoring Ely Cathedral.

Out of the venerable but sadly dilapidated re-
mains of the Abbey of St Augustine at Canterbury

Introductory Sketch 39

Butterfield had created a pile of buildings to serve
as a Missionary College for the English Branch of
the Church Catholic — a most interesting work,
which, had it been his sole production, would have
ensured him an enduring and most deserved fame
amongst English Church architects.

St Saviour's, Leeds, had just been finished from
the designs of Derick, and two churches at Bir-
mingham— St Andrew's and St Stephen's — from
those of Carpenter. A sumptuous church in the
Lombardo-Romanesque style had been built at
Wilton near Salisbury by Wyatt and Brandon.
St Andrew's, Wells Street, by Dawkes,St Stephen's,
Westminster, by Ferrey, and St Barnabas', Pim-
lico, by Cundy, were admirable, not only as repro-
ductions of ancient examples, but for the correct-
ness and sumptuousness of their furniture and
decoration.

Street, Brooks, Bodley, Pearson and other archi-
tects were pursuing those studies which enabled
them at a later period to enrich our ecclesiology
with a series of churches which, if surpassed in
size by contemporary works on the Continent,
are vastly superior in the elegance of their outline
and their poetry of design.

London presents us with a perfect history of
that great ecclesiological movement which during
the last half century has passed through several
phases. Of these the two most important are the
"imitative" and the "original" or "inventive." To
the former, that of almost absolute copyism from
ancient examples, belong the churches to which
brief allusion has been made, and to which must be
added the late J. L. Pearson's first London work,

40 London Churches

Holy Trinity, Bessborough Gardens, near Vauxhall
Bridge; St Mary Magdalene's, Munster Square,
near Regent's Park, designed by Richard Carpen-
ter, on the model of the nave of the Augustinian
Friars' church, noticed earlier in this chapter; and
the imposing church of the so-called "Catholic
Apostolic" body, built in imitation of a Yorkshire
minster by Raphael Brandon in Gordon Square.

But a new impulse from an unexpected quarter
came about 1850 in the writings of John Ruskin.
Pugin had drawn attention to our old English
buildings in the historical spirit. Ruskin approached
Gothic architecture from the aesthetic and philoso-
phical side in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, and
in 1851 published his Stones of Venice. His know-
ledge, study, mastery of language and expression,
and his skill in drawing, have left a deep mark upon
the history of the Revival. He taught our archi-
tects also to look beyond our four seas for their
examples, and especially drew them to North Italy.
Later on, M. Viollet le Due, in his Dictionnaire
Raisonnee with its admirable illustrations, at-
tracted attention towards French Gothic; so
that in the Gothic architecture of to-day we may
often trace the influence of the Italian and French
examples upon our native architects.

To such influences as these, and the competi-
tions open to architects without reference to
nationality for the erection of churches at Lille
and Berne, was largely due what may be styled the
"original" or "inventive phase" of the ecclesio-
logical movement.

English architects were no longer content to go
in leading strings, but, profiting by wider study and

Introductory Sketch 41

Continental experience, struck out in their several
ways a path for themselves.

Were it even true that the Pointed architecture
of France, Germany and Northern Italy were
superior to our own, it would have been unwise to
have in any degree substituted it for that which is
pre-eminently our national form of architecture,
and which has on that ground (as well as so many
others) such special claims to be made the basis of
future developments. Such, however, is far from
being the case.

The Pointed of the Domain Royale, and the
Soissonnais, of Venetia and Lombardy, and that of
the Rhenish Provinces and Saxony, though re-
plete with beauty, is 'per se inferior as an architec-
tural style to the contemporary architecture of
England. Still, it has been studied with very great
advantage, and has been found to supply a vast
fund of material which has been used to enrich and
render more copious and complete that which we
derive from our insular examples, and which, in
the hands of such architects as Scott, Pearson,
Bodley, Street and Burges, has been imported
into our own style without in any degree in-
fringing upon its nationality.

As it is proposed to enter more minutely upon
this epoch of London church architecture in a
subsequent chapter, I shall confine myself now to a
few remarks on some of the more remarkable
churches built under this second phase of the
Gothic Revival, all of which, to those who take pains
to study them, are of great interest, and show us how
very differently architects of ability can manipu-
late the apparently simple idea of a parish church.

42 London Churches

In St Mary's, Stoke Newington, St Stephen's,
Lewisham, and St Mary Abbot, Kensington,
Sir Gilbert Scott has well illustrated his versatility.
Stoke Newington church, with its lofty "hall"
nave, its transversely gabled aisles, its bold but
not deeply projecting transepts, its aisled and
clerestoried chancel terminating in a three-sided
apse, its western steeple opening into the nave
by a noble arch, and its tall circular columns
crowned by capitals of varied foliage, proves how
greatly the mind of its architect must have been
influenced by studies of those spacious churches
built by the Preaching Orders in Belgium, North
Germany and Italy.

St Stephen's, while it does not exhibit any wide
departure from English precedent in its plan and
external outline, might as a whole have been
transplanted from the Domain Royale, or the
Soissonnais.

St Mary Abbot shows us how Sir Gilbert, like
many of his compeers, returned to strictly insular
forms after his earlier experiments in Continental
types of Gothic.

Butterfield's churches of St Matthias', Stoke
Newington, whose interior for grandeur and
solemnity has rarely been surpassed, All Saints',
Margaret Street, St Alban's, Holborn, and St
Augustine's, Queen's Gate, exhibit a striking
originality combined with a dignity and grandeur
of effect secured by the simplest of means; and in
the three last named the architect has shown us
how greatly he always valued the aid of colour for
his buildings.

In St James the Less, Westminster, Street re-

Introductory Sketch 43

volted most completely from English precedent,
giving us a church quite North Italian in detail if
not in plan. St Mary Magdalene's, Paddington,
shows the same penchant for foreign forms, though
in a less pronounced degree, but in St John the
Divine, Kennington, Street has returned to
strictly English forms, though allied with much
freedom and originality of treatment.

Pearson, in his churches of St Peter, Vauxhall,
St John the Evangelist, Red Lion Square, and St
Augustine, Kilburn, has proved to us that the
groining of roofs in brick and stone is not a lost
art. So has Brooks in portions of that noble group
of churches built in the North and East of London
during the later 'sixties — St Michael's, Shoreditch,
St Chad and St Columba, Haggerston, and St
Andrew's, Plaistow.

George Gilbert Scott, in St Agnes', Kennington
Park, and All Hallows, Southwark; G. F. Bodley,
in St Michael's, Camden Town, and Holy Trinity,
Kensington Gore; Ninian Comper,in St Cyprian's,
Dorset Square ; and Temple Moore, in the more
recent All Saints', Tooting, by exercising an
austere reserve of ornament, a scholarly and re-
fined proportion, and a delicate and fastidious
taste in colour, have succeeded in producing some
of the most beautiful churches raised in England
since the Reformation.

A revived style must show changes and those
not for the worse, accommodating it to a new
state of existence. The revivifiers of the Pointed
Styles never thought of confusing their works with
those of the mediaeval architects. Butterfield or
Street, or Pearson or Brooks, never dreamt of pro-

44 London Churches

ducing structures that might be mistaken for speci-
mens of old Gothic art.

They took what they wanted from the maga-
zines of antiquity, moulded it into new combina-
tions, and enriched it with new additions, so as to
make it a real, living style, suited to the exigencies
of the day, and likely to receive vigour and refine-
ment from the natural growth of taste and talent
which might be looked for in the existing state of
society. The artist had not to throw himself alto-
gether into the past, but to gain strength and
nourishment from the present.

Students of architectural photography do not
need to be reminded of the difficulties attendant
upon the prosecution of that art, especially in
London. I allude more particularly to the churches
in the City, whose cramped sites preclude good
general views from being taken, while the interiors
of many, dark with rich carving and stained glass,
have taxed the skill and patience of the photo-
grapher to the utmost.

Mr Few and Mr Roberts, to whom I am in-
debted for a large proportion of the photographs
which illustrate these volumes, are on this account
to be doubly congratulated upon the success which
has attended their efforts, for they have produced
a series of views which, as beautiful as they are
unique, are, 'per se, a pleasure to possess.

Those due to Mr Few have been taken under
the guidance of Mr William Sheen, whose archi-
tectural experience has been of the greatest value
on every occasion.

To Mr Sheen I must express my best acknow-
ledgements for the great kindness with which he

Introductory Sketch 45

has not only arranged the preliminaries, but for
the readiness with which he has on many Saturday
afternoons, and at other times, accompanied Mr
Few and myself to the several churches, both city
and suburban, for the purpose of taking these views.
That difficulties and annoyances have had to be
encountered in the prosecution of this object it
were idle to deny; still, I can say with confidence,
that these visits have been productive of much in-
struction and enjoyment to all of us, and that
upon the dials of our memories only the hours of
sunshine are recorded.

46

CHAPTER II

The Churches of the Norman and Early English
Periods

IT is difficult, in contemplating the City of
London as we now see it, with, the bustle of
its crowded thoroughfares, with its buildings,
public and private, having the exclusive aspect of
business and commercial use, to picture this same
city before the Reformation, when, amidst streams
and gardens, rose the numberless spires and pinna-
cled towers of the churches and monastic estab-
lishments as a very principal feature associated
with the high-pitched roofs and the carved gables
of the half-timbered houses.

To form an idea of London at that period, we
must let our imagination fly to some of our least
altered cathedral cities, omit from our view all the
modern houses with their plate-glass shop fronts,
and the smooth stone or asphalte paving of the
streets, imagine such a town, infinitely larger, and
confined, as it were, within walls, with ecclesiastical
buildings far more numerous over a given space,
and we shall then form some idea of what must
have been the picturesque character of London in
its mediaeval dress.

Every one, whether mere casual visitor or obser-
vant student, who from the stone gallery round
the dome of St Paul's, or other elevated position,
has cast his eye over London, must have been

Mediaeval London 47

struck by the number and close proximity of the
church steeples which mark, like a city of Terms,
the limits of the city proper or city of the Middle
Ages. And no wonder, seeing that notwithstand-
ing modern iconoclasm, they number 33 in an area
of less than 400 acres.

His surprise, however, would have been still
greater could he have thus viewed the city as it
appeared prior to the Reformation, for it was then
almost literally a city of convents, two-thirds of
the whole area within the walls being occupied by
churches and monastic establishments — not to
mention those without the walls which were
almost as numerous.

It is only from Continental cities in which the
old churches, though often desecrated, are still
standing, such as Lubeck, Soest, Nuremberg and
Ratisbon, that we can form a just idea of the aspect
of the London of those days.

Pugin in his 'Treatise on Chancel Screens, has
left us so vividly imaginative a picture in words
of the appearance of mediaeval London, that as
the work in question is now extremely difficult to
obtain,! cannot forbear quoting it here. One can only
regret that he did not sketch it as an illustration:*

" This great and ancient city was inferior to none
in noble religious buildings; and in the sixteenth
century the traveller who approached London
from the west, by the way called Oldbourne, and
arriving at the brow of the steep hill, must have
had a most splendid prospect before him; to the
right the parish church of St Andrew, rising most

* This deficiency has since been supplied by the talented
pencil of the late Mr H. VV. Brewer.

48 London Churches

picturesquely from the steep declivity and sur-
rounded by elms, with its massive tower, Decora-
ted nave, and still later chancel; on the left the
extensive buildings of Ely House, its great gate-
way, embattled walls, lofty chapel and refectory
and numerous other lodgings and offices, sur-
rounded by pleasant gardens, as then inalienated
from the ancient see after which it was called, it
presented a most venerable and ecclesiastical ap-
pearance. Further in the same direction might
be perceived the gilded spire of St John's Church
of Jerusalem and the Norman towers of St Bar-
tholomew's Priory. Immediately below was the
Fleet River, with its bridge and the masts of the
various craft moored along the quays. At the
summit of the opposite hill, the lofty tower of St
Sepulchre's which, though greatly deteriorated in
beauty, still remains.* In the same line and over
the embattled parapets of the New-gate, the noble
church of the Grey Friars, inferior in extent only
to the Cathedral of St Paul, whose gigantic spire,
the highest in the world, rose majestically from
the centre of a cruciform church nearly seven
hundred feet in length, and whose grand line of
high roofs and pinnacled buttresses stood high
above the group of gabled houses and even the
towers of the neighbouring churches.

"If we terminate the panorama with the arched
lantern of St Mary-le-Bow, the old tower of St
Michael, Cornhill, and a great number of lesser
steeples, we shall have a faint idea of the eccle-
siastical beauty of Catholic London."

•This was written in 1850. The tower was restored to its
present and presumably primitive form in 1873.

Mediaeval London 49

The parish churches were almost, if not quite,
as numerous as the conventual, a fact which, from an
architectural point of view, produced a deplorable
result, for at the Dissolution the conventual
churches, which were invariably nobler buildings
than the parochial, were for the most part appro-
priated to parish uses.

In London, however, the latter being very-
numerous, this was not the case, and consequently
the conventual churches were either retained by
the Crown and used for secular purposes, or were
granted to dependents of the King and soon
vanished entirely.

Of parish churches alone there were 114, the
average extent of a parish being about three acres;
of these 98 were destroyed in the Great Fire, and
only about half of them rebuilt, the new churches
serving in most cases for united parishes.

The thirteen which escaped are still standing
either wholly or in part, but with two or three
exceptions they are of the latest and poorest
Gothic.

Of Conventual and Collegiate churches we
know that the number within the walls and in the
suburbs was equally great; of the religious houses
to which they belonged scarcely a vestige remains,
and of the churches themselves, the rapacious zeal
of Henry VIII and the Great Fire of 1666, left
but four entire, and a few fragments, all of
which have since suffered more or less from the
ravages of Time the destroyer, ably assisted by
the careless indifference and wanton destructive-
ness of man.

Those left entire were Westminster Abbey,

1-4

5 o London Churches

Henry VIPs Chapel, the Temple Church, and St
Mary Overy.

The fragments were St Stephen's Chapel, West-
minster, St Bartholomew's, Smithfield, the Church
of the Knights' Hospitallers, Clerkenwell, St
Katherine's, near the Tower, and the Church of
the Austin Friars, near Broad Street.

As the circumstances to which the preservation
of these relics of mediaeval antiquity is owing are
not uninteresting and show the importance of the
monument in question, I will briefly recapitulate
some of them:

The Temple Church. — In 1 308 all the Templars
in England and other parts of Christendom were
committed to prison on a charge of heresy; and in
1324, at a council held at Vienne, all their lands,
etc., were given to the Knights of St John the
Baptist, called St John of Jerusalem. The Temple,
therefore, was given by Edward III to the said
Knights, who having their head house for England
by West Smithfield, granted the former with its
grounds, etc., for an annual rental of £10 to the
Students of the Common Laws of England, in
whose possession it has ever since remained.

St Mary Overy was surrendered by the Augus-
tinian possessors to Henry VIII in 1539, and at the
following Christmas purchased of the King by the
inhabitants of the Borough of Southwark, who
made it the parish church of St Saviour for the
united parishes of St Mary Magdalen and St Mar-
garet on the Hill. The original nave remained until
1838 when it was replaced by one of the most
horrid monstrosities that ever disgraced the name
of architecture. Happily our own day has wit-

Mediaeval London 51

nessed its removal, a new nave, modelled as far as
possible on the original Early English one, sub-
stituted, and the church made the seat of a fully-
constituted bishop.*

St Bartholomew, Smithfield. — This house was
surrendered, but in 1546 was given by Henry
VIII to the citizens for relieving of the poor,
and the choir and transepts of the church remained
for the tenants dwelling in the precincts of the
hospital.

Church of the Knights Hospitallers, Clerkenwell.
— At the suppression Henry VIII took possession
of all that belonged to this Order for the augmen-
tation of his crown, and the church was used as a
storehouse for the King's toils and tents for hunt-
ing and for the wars. In the third year of Edward
VI the greater part of it with the bell tower, was
blown up with gunpowder, the stone being after-
wards used in building the Lord Protector's house
in the Strand. All that now remains of it is a por-
tion of the east wall of the choir, and a crypt, both
of which have of late years been restored.

St Katherine^s, near the Tower, remained until
1825, when it was destroyed to make way for the
Docks, but some fragments and monuments are
preserved in the new St Katherine's, Regent's
Park, built in 1826 from the designs of Poynter.

Church of the Austin Friars. — In 1540 Henry
VIII granted the great house and part of the
grounds to Sir Thomas Wriothesley, and in the
following year other portions to Lord St John and

* As St Saviour's Cathedral has been fully dealt with in the
third volume of my Cathedrals of England and Walu^ further
allusion will not be made to it.

5 2 London Churches

Sir Richard Riche. In July, 1550, Edward VI
granted all the upper part of the church, with the
choir, transepts and chapels, to the same Lord St
John, then Earl Wiltshire and afterwards Marquis
of Winchester, who used the transepts and chapels
as a granary, and the choir as a coal-house. His son,
also Marquis of Winchester sold the monuments,
stones, pavement, lead from the roofs and other
convertible parts for j£ioo, and in place thereof
made fair stabling for horses. In the same year
(1550) Edward VI also granted on petition the
nave, enclosed from the steeple and choir, to the
Dutch nation in London to be their preaching
place. In 1551 it was appointed by letters patent
that John a' Lasco and the congregation of Wal-
loons should have Austin Friars for their church,
to be called by them Jesus Temple. In 1560
Queen Elizabeth wrote to the Marquis of Win-
chester empowering him to deliver the church
to the Bishop of London for the celebration of
Divine Service for the stranger residents in
London.

It should not be forgotten that London pos-
sesses six private chapels left from before the Re-
formation, each exhibiting some one phase of
English Gothic architecture. They are: St John's
in the White Tower (Early Norman), the Chapel
of Lambeth Palace (Early English), the Chapel of
Ely House, Holborn, and St Stephen's Crypt,
Westminster (Geometrical Decorated), and the
Chapel of the Savoy and the Chapel Royal, St
James' Palace (Late Perpendicular).

Observing due chronological order in our studies,
we first visit that most perfect and typical example

St John's Chapel in the Tower 5 3

of the very early Norman style — the Chapel of
St John in the White Tower.

Severely plain as befitting the chapel of a for-
tress, St John's is nevertheless as complete and as
well-designed a building as could well be pro-
duced. It was the Chapel Royal of William the
Conqueror and William Rufus, built by Gun-
dulph, Bishop of Rochester, the greatest architect
of his day, and affords us not only an excellent
example of the architecture of that period and of
the state to which the art of building in stone had
then attained, but of how England was not behind
other countries in that respect.

The buildings of Normandy, or any other part
of Europe at the same time, were in much the same
state of progress in the art.

The original part of Saint Etienne at Caen, which
was building at the same time, is very little in
advance of this, and yet the inhabitants of Caen and
its neighbourhood were considered the best masons
in Europe, from the admirable quality of the stone
they had to build with, the facility of getting it, and
the ease with which it is worked. We see then the
fallacy of supposing that our rich Norman buildings,
such as IfHey Church, are in the Norman style, as
imported at the time of the Conquest; the Anglo-
Norman style was gradually developed in England
and Normandy alike during the century that fol-
lowed that important epoch in our history.

In spite of its extreme smallness, this Chapel in
the White Tower has a minster-like character, and
the unusual fact of its vertical elevation being
divided between the arcade and the triforium is
very remarkable.

54 London Churches

The key to this almost unique arrangement is to
be found in the fact that the upper or triforium
story was in reality the " Royal Closet," and no
doubt used by the Sovereign and court; the re-
tainers gathering below, as the royal apartments
were at its level and opened into the triforium.

We see here that the aisles have groined vaults,
but without ribs, and that the arches are quite plain,
round headed, with flat soffits, square edges and no
mouldings. Ribs and other mouldings and ornaments
did not come into use until the twelfth century.

The central space being itself narrow, is vaulted
with a plain barrel vault, the earliest kind of
vaulting, and we see by the enormous thickness
of the walls and the massiveness of the pillars what
great precautions were considered necessary to
carry a stone vault. The builders did not venture
to vault over a wide space for more than half a
century after this vault was built, and in some of
our greatest Norman churches, as Ely and Peter-
borough, it was never attempted at all, for to build
a groined roof required all the skill of the best
masons of the day.

Simple as it is, this little Chapel of St John is
more perfect in ideal than the choir of any English
or Norman church of its period I know and
parallel in this respect with the great churches of
Auvergne, only needing the clerestory to render it
a complete type and a model of a perfect choir
with an entire absence, excepting in the caps of the
columns, of ornamental detail. Indeed, there is no
nearer mediaeval approach to the cupola in England
than the semi-dome covering the apse of the little
building now under notice.

ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL IN THE WHITE TOWER.

St John's Chapel in the Tower 5 5

The east end is a semicircular apse with the
procession path round it. The massive cylindrical
piers have capitals of the simplest form, the mere
cube with the angles rounded off. This is the
earliest type of the Norman capital from which all
the other varieties were gradually developed.
The abacus, which is the only moulding used, is
merely in the form of a tile with the lower edges
chamfered off. There is nothing here requiring
the use of the chisel, nothing but what could be
perfectly well executed with the pick or hammer.
The two western capitals which have a little orna-
ment consisting of the sunk star pattern, rest upon
the abacus; even this is so shallow that it hardly
required the chisel, and there is good reason to
believe that this ornament was executed after-
wards. It is a common observation that whenever
the capitals are within easy reach they have often
been carved afterwards, and perhaps long after-
wards, as in the Chapel of the Pyx at Westminster
and in the crypt of Canterbury. But when the
capitals are in places not easily accessible they re-
main uncarved. Several capitals in the Chapel of
the White Tower are dimly reminiscent of the
Corinthian, with a cross-formed block represent-
ing the rosette in the abacus; for it must be always
remembered that the abacus of a Corinthian capi-
tal was not the prototype of that of a Romanesque
one, in which a substantial impost is superimposed
upon the delicate abacus of the classic column.

Before the restoration of this chapel in 1861-63,*

* Until this period the Chapel was cut up into two floors,
stuffed with records and whitewashed. It now serves as a place
of worship for the troops garrisoned in the Tower,

5 6 London Churches

the two eastern pillars of the apse still retained the
grooves into which the altar stone was inserted,
proving that from the small size of the building
the altar did not stand forward as in most apsidal
churches. Unluckily Mr Salvin, the architect of
the restorations, overlooked these interesting
indications, and the workmen in their ignorance
obliterated them. The procession path at St John's
is one of the two examples in London of the
apsidal aisle, the other being at St Bartholomew's,
Smithfield, where, however, much of the original
arrangement was disturbed at later periods. In
both the narrow arches are greatly stilted, and at
first sight the two may appear to be similarly
treated; but when we come to examine them more
closely there will be found to be much difference
between them. At St John's the transverse ribs are
made to greatly increase in width towards the
outer wall, so as to reduce the want of parallelism
of the ground compartments, a very unsightly
expedient; and the caps of the ribs are square,
which makes the backs of the arches they support
nearly double the width they present in front.
At St Bartholomew's, on the other hand, the ribs
are of uniform width, and the capitals instead of
being square have their sides radiating from
the centre of the apse, so as to share with their
arches the spreading of their outer side.

The triforium gallery in St John's Chapel is of
the same width and nearly the same height as the
aisle below, and has a similar arcade in front of it.
In this instance it cannot be called the "blind
story," for there is no clerestory above it, and it
has windows at the back of it and is as light as any

St John's Chapel in the Tower 5 7

part of the chapel. The enormous thickness of the
walls of this chapel and of the whole of the Keep,
and the passages in the thickness of the walls in
each story, and indeed two in each principal
story is remarkable, for the chief rooms were of
the same height as this chapel, and there are pas-
sages communicating on the same level both with
the aisle and with the triforium. In these upper
passages a number of guards could be placed quite
out of sight from those below, a practice alluded
to by Shakespeare.

The walls of the Keep are built entirely of
rubble or concrete, ashlar or cut stone being but
sparingly used and for the dressings only.

This is the mode of construction of all Bishop
Gundulph's buildings, and is characteristic of the
works of his period. Ashlar masonry for the facing
of walls did not come into general use until
after his time, and all early ashlar work is distin-
guished by the very wide joints of mortar between
the stones. The exterior of the White Tower — as
the early Norman Keep has always been called,
probably ever since it was new and, therefore,
conspicuous by its whiteness — has been so much
tampered with at different periods, that it is now
difficult to see whether it was originally cased with
ashlar or not; but as it was the Royal Palace, it is
more probable that it was. At any rate the turrets
were, and it has quoins of ashlar, some parts of
which are original. The windows are modern
throughout the building with the exception of
one, which is sufficiently perfect to serve as a model
for the restoration of the others.

From East we go to West Smithfield where, in

5 8 London Churches

the solemn Norman choir and transepts of the
former priory church of St Bartholomew the
Great, we find London's next oldest specimen of
ecclesiastical architecture,and one, moreover, which,
from the time of its foundation early in the twelfth
century, has been continuously used as a place of
worship.

The history of St Bartholomew the Great is in-
teresting, and briefly thus: Its founder, who sub-
sequently became its first canon and prior was
Rahere, companion of Hereward, "the last of the
Saxons." Not only was he "a pleasant witted gentle-
man, and therefore in his time called the King's
minstrel,"* but one whose kindness is felt to this
day in the contiguous hospital of St Bartholomew,
which is flourishing, and fulfils with tenfold force
the purpose of its Norman founder. To Rahere,
whose history is a wonderful example of the fruit-
fulness of a resolve to lead a new and a useful life,
the poor of London have owed help in sickness for
twenty-six generations. As an ecclesiastic Rahere
filled the prebendal stall of Chamberlayne Wood
in St Paul's Cathedral. His stall was the sixth on
the north side of the choir, and his portion of the
whole psalter, repeated daily by the Canons, began
with the words, "It is a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy Name,
O most Highest."

After the loss of the White Ship in 1120, an
event which wrapped King Henry I in such
funereal gloom, that as every little schoolboy

'According to Stow, whose description of Rahere has been
called into question; but the life of the founder among the
Cottonian MSS. seems to confirm the statement.

St Bartholomew the Great 59

knows, he was never seen to smile again, the tone
of the Court changed, devotion became the
fashion, and the King's associates were, some of
them, turned to serious things, in more than out-
ward form — Henry himself founding, inter alia, the
Augustinian priory of Carlisle.

Repenting of the levity of his early life, Rahere
went, about the year 1120, on a pilgrimage to
Rome.

Whilst there he was attacked by sickness, and
under its influence made a vow that, if he recovered,
he should found a hospital for the sick poor.
On his return to England it is related that St
Bartholomew appeared to Rahere in a vision and
bid him build a church in Smithfield, and accept-
ing this as a message from Heaven he established
the Augustinian house, of which he became first
canon and prior.

Rahere had to obtain the royal consent, as the
spot thus pointed out to him was the King's mar-
ket. The site of the church was a marsh, for the
most part covered with water, save where the
crown gallows stood. The Elms in Smithfield con-
tinued to be a place of execution for some cen-
turies after the erection of the Austin Canons'
house.

Rahere used his popular manners and powers of
persuasion to the best effect, and the Church
arose in spite of all difficulties, by contributions
supplied by all classes of the people, the King
granting the priory privileges.

From the Cottonian MS. we learn that numer-
ous miracles were wrought in St Bartholomew's
monastery during the life of its founder, and that

60 London Churches

even after his death the blind had their sight
restored and the sick made whole by a visit to
the place.

The following is the account of the foundation
of the priory, preserved therein till the dispersal of
the library.

"The church was founded in the month of
March, in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in
memory of St Bartholomew the Apostle, the year
from the incarnation of the same Lord, Our
Saviour, 1123. The Holy Father, Pope Calixtus II
then holding and ruling the Holy See of Rome;
William, Archbishop of Canterbury presiding in
the Church of England, and Richard being Bishop
of London, who consecrated that place."

The year 1123 was, therefore, the beginning of
the foundations, and in 1133 the King granted the
Priory a charter of privilege.

The choir of St Bartholomew's is only of
Rahere's time ; the transepts (now restored) and
the nave (destroyed with the exception of one
bay) being slightly subsequent additions, while
during the succeeding four hundred years various
alterations were made which will be pointed out
presently.

The original church seems to have been about
280 feet long and 60 wide, the plan comprising a
choir with aisles continued as an ambulatory round
the apse; lady chapel, transepts and nave, with
cloisters, prior's house, refectory, chapter house
and other usual adjuncts to a conventual church —
forming, when complete, a very splendid monu-
ment of the piety and architectural skill of our
forefathers.

St Bartholomew the Great 6 1

When the dissolution of the monasteries took
place, Henry VIII, like the anticipatory plagiarist
of some of our modern politicians that he was,
looked upon the wishes of his "pious ancestor" as
having been written in a Pickwickian sense, and
sold the house of Black Canons Regular of St
Augustine to Sir Richard Rich for the good of the
State, and pocketed the cash — UEtat c'est mot.
He, however, salved his conscience with the con-
dition that the choir and transepts were to be left
to serve as a parish church. Sir Richard proceeded
to "develop" his property by pulling down the
nave and conventual buildings, but the rebuilding
of the former was begun during the reign of Queen
Mary, who gave the church to a convent of Black
Friars. They were, however, dispossessed by
Elizabeth, and no trace of their work is now ap-
parent. This is unfortunate, as a work of Queen
Mary's reign would have been an architectural
curiosity.

Great alterations and repairs seem to have been
effected from 1622 to 1628, at which last date the
"steeple," part of stone and part of timber, was
pulled down to the foundation and rebuilt of brick.

During subsequent years the parishioners bent
all their energies in "beautifying and adorning "
the choir which had been given to them. At the
same time they were not above "making a hit" by
putting such portions as they thought they could
do without to a profitable use. Thus, they let at a
rental the north transept to a blacksmith, who
set up his forge therein; the Lady Chapel was
hired by a fringe manufacturer, who took off the
roof, raised the walls fifteen feet, covered them

62 London Churches

inside with canvas and papered them, thus turning
the beautiful fourteenth-century building into a
three-storied house. The crypt was utilized as a
coal and wine cellar. In the north triforium were
established the parochial schools, whilst a Non-
conformist "academy" called in the vestry minutes
"the Protestant Dissenting Charity School," occu-
pied the south triforium until well into the last
century. Part of the south transept collapsed, and
the rest was used as a vestry, and altogether the
interior, in the condition it presented until about
1864, when the first note of restoration was
sounded during the reign of the Rev. John Abbiss
(1819-1883) would have delighted the Society for
the Preservation of Ancient Buildings; for if ever
that well-known text of "How dreadful is this
place ! " could have been applied, not in its ordin-
arily accepted sense, anywhere, it could most
assuredly have been applied to St Bartholomew's,
Smithfield, for its state was indeed "dreadful."

An engraving of the choir of St Bartholomew's,
looking West, in Wilkinson's Londina Illustrata*
shows the appearance this noble fragment pre-
sented until 1866.

Messrs T. Hayter Lewis and W. Slater were the

"This interesting and curious antiquarian work cost the enter-
prising publisher (the author) more than twenty years of unde-
viating labour and many thousand pounds. Every rare old print
and drawing, illustrative of London topography, which he
could discover by the most active and diligent research, was
made subservient to his purpose; and of many ancient buildings
the engravings contained in these volumes are now the only
known records. What adds considerably to the value of the work
is that the letterpress gives extracts from parish registers and
monumental documents not easily accessible elsewhere.

St Bartholomew the Great 63

architects called in to superintend the work of
restoration, which was commenced in 1865 and
brought to as satisfactory a conclusion as circum-
stances would allow three years later.

The walls of the church had been literally
buried in the many feet of soil accumulated against
them; consequently the building was perfectly
saturated with moisture from without and exud-
ing damp within.

The excavation was an operation involving both
difficulty and risk, from the crazy condition of the
overhanging tenements around, but it was accom-
plished in a most satisfactory manner. It was in
many respects the most formidable and embar-
rassing part of the undertaking, and the architects
were certainly to be congratulated upon the bold
and able manner in which the grave difficulties
they had to encounter were grappled with and
overcome.

It was not until the church had been stripped
of its wretched pewing, cumbrous western gallery,
decayed wooden floor and partitions of glass and
wood which entirely excluded the aisles from the
choir, that the almost incredible recklessness with
which the venerable building had been mutilated
was revealed. For example, one sturdy column of
the arcade when stripped of its wainscot casing was
found hewn away to within two or three inches
of its centre! Yet of such masonry was it con-
structed that the remaining half cylinder upheld
the superincumbent weight without a crack. The
companion pier on the opposite side of the choir
had been sliced away as ruthlessly, but not quite
so much. In both cases the object in view seems to

64 London Churches

have been, to add an extra seat to an adjacent pew.
On the other hand, the two adjoining pillars, when
uncovered, proved to have been carefully girt
round with iron bands to check some symptoms
of weakness.

For three years the work proceeded under
Messrs Lewis and Slater, and on March 31, 1868,
the choir was reopened after as satisfactory a
restoration as the funds and other circumstances
would permit of.

For the next fifteen years no works of any im-
portance were undertaken at St Bartholomew's,
but under the Rev. W. Panckridge (1884-87)* the
broken thread was taken up, the triforium and
clerestory of the apse rebuilt, the choir re-roofed,
and handsome stalls for the clergy and choir erected
within the one remaining bay of the nave, all from
the designs of Sir Aston Webb.

Nor was the work suffered to languish under Mr
Panckridge's successor, the late Rev. Sir Borra-
daile Savory, who devoted himself to the work
with an earnestness and persistence that deserved
success. Under his rule the transepts and the Lady
Chapel have been restored together with a small
portion of the cloisters, and various ameliorations
made in the ritual arrangements of the fabric. That
the work has been difficult and costly, the acquisi-
tion of the alienated portions of the building,
especially so, it is needless to say, but it has

* Until his appointment to St Bartholomew's, Mr Panckridge
was Vicar of St Matthew's, City Road, one of Sir Gilbert Scott's
early London churches and remarkable for its spire, modelled on
a Lincolnshire example. At St Matthew's Mr Panckridge had
carried on an admirable work on Catholic lines for eleven years,
and was much beloved by his people.

St Bartholomew the Great 6 5

throughout been a scheme of renovation and
restoration in the proper sense of that misused
word, and it was crowned with success, when on
December 2, 1905, the Bishop of London dedi-
cated the three bays of the east cloister with a
solemn service, and sermon from the text: "The
dead praise not thee, O Lord: neither all they that
go down into silence. But we will praise the Lord:
from this time forth for evermore. Praise the Lord."

It would be difficult to say here how much, from
first to last, has been disbursed on these works at St
Bartholomew's, the late patron, Canon Phillips, of
Stoke d'Abernon having been a most munificent
contributor.

Two other quondam Augustinian churches —
the Cathedrals of Bristol and Southwark — have
had their naves rebuilt within the last half cen-
tury, and there are doubtless not a few who are
sanguine enough to hope that St Bartholomew's
may once more be in possession of hers. Mean-
while one can only rejoice and be thankful for
what has been accomplished in converting a de-
graded and mutilated torso into a comely and
beautiful sanctuary.

An interesting fact, and one, I think, not gener-
ally known, is that the initiation of the restoration
of St Bartholomew's is due to Thomas Hardwick,*
who in 1790-91 examined and reported upon the
fabric, and whose set of beautiful drawings is pre-
served in the Library of the Society of Anti-
quaries.

'Architect, inter alia, of St Paul's, Covent Garden, after its
destruction by fire in 1795, and of St Marylebone Parish Church,
completed in 1817.

1-5

66 London Churches

Approaching the church from Smithfield we
pass beneath a nobly moulded Early English arch-
way, still retaining the capitals of its shafts which
have disappeared. This was at one time thought
to have been the south-western entrance, but it
has now been proved to have formed part of the
entrance gateway to the Close.

The ground between this archway and the exist-
ing church was for the most part covered by the
eight-bayed nave, destroyed at the dissolution of
the priory in Henry VIII's reign. The south wall
existed for nearly its whole length up to 1856, and
must have shown, no doubt, clear traces of the
general arrangement of the piers, etc.

That wall was then pulled down, and no remains
appear above the ground level, but in digging down
to lower the entrance path in 1865 several of the
bases of the piers were found to remain in situ.

The brick tower occupying the angle between
the south transept and the one remaining bay of
the nave, dates from 1628, as did the west front,
until Sir Aston Webb gave it its present, not par-
ticularly happy, aspect.

The tower contains five bells, all bearing a
foundry stamp, which is assigned to Thomas
Bullendon, who appears to have flourished at the
beginning of the sixteenth century. They bear the
names of SS. Bartholomew, Katherine, Anne,
John the Baptist and Peter, each with the invo-
cation, "Ora pro nobis."

Within the new Perpendicular porch is a large
mural tablet recording the names of the priors
and rectors of St Bartholomew's from the twelfth
century to the present time. It forms a memorial

St Bartholomew the Great 67

to the late Mr Joseph Grimshire, of Upper Clap-
ton, an enthusiastic antiquary with architectural
tastes, a man of the most genial disposition,
and a good friend to young people.

The Early English portion of the nave was
joined on to the Norman work in a very singular
manner, as is shown in the detached shaft which
is almost the first object to attract attention in the
present south aisle west of the transept. Passing
under the organ gallery we find ourselves between
the four great arches spanning the entrances to the
nave, choir and transepts. Of these, the northern
and southern are pointed and spring from con-
tinuous shafts, while the other two are supported
on corbels, so as not to interfere with the stalls of
the religious which, as in other Norman churches
of cathedral and conventual rank, extended across
the transepts into the nave, leaving the eastern
limb free for the sanctuary.

The reason popularly given for the adoption of
the pointed arch on the north and south sides of
the crossing, is a wish that all the arches should
range in height, which they would not have done
with the round arches, as the sides of the tower
towards the nave and choir are much wider than
those towards the transepts. It is, however, re-
markable that the pointed arches are much stilted
— as round ones might have been and as they actu-
ally are in the apse — and that the tops of the
arches do not range.

The correct supposition is that these arches
have been reset, for if we come to examine them
closely we shall find that they have been made
good with fire-stone which is used everywhere for

68 London Churches

the late work, whilst Caen stone only was used for
the earlier arches.* Fire-stone has also been largely-
used in the clerestory.

There is nothing in the present building to
show for certain that these arches ever supported
a tower, though mention of it is made in some
writings and it is shown in the conventual seal.
The present flat roof designed by Sir Aston Webb
in 1886 just clears the tops of these four noble
arches.

A great deal of interest centres in a little door-
way in the blocked triforium arch of the one re-
maining bay of the nave on the north, opening on
a narrow ascending staircase. Taken in conjunction
with a corresponding one on the south side, it
marks distinctly the position of the rood-loft, to
which these doors evidently gave access.

That portion would be just west of the tran-
sept, and it would, therefore, be confidently in-
ferred that the stalls ranged eastwards from this
point, passing consequently across the transept
openings. Such an arrangement explains the exis-
tence of a wall pierced with two broad pointed
and plain arches traversing the north transept
opening, constructed of ashlar and neatly fitting
to the angles of the piers. It was, in fact, the par-
close backing of the stalls, built when the church
was in its glory; not a piece of modern patchwork
as might at first sight be supposed. These disco-

*The very graceful stilted arch opening into the north tran-
sept would appear to be an Early Perpendicular resetting. It
resembles those opening to the choir and south transept of Ripon
Cathedral, where, it will be remembered, the east and south
sides of the central tower — a work of the Transitional Period —
were rebuilt during the fifteenth century.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW, SMITHPIELD,

View across the Choir,

St Bartholomew the Great 69

veries were made in 1864, and in the subsequent
year the foundations of a similar wall spanning the
south transept came to light, but it had been
replaced long before by woodwork. The stalls
manifestly extended one bay eastward of the
transepts and along the face of the first pair of
piers in the choir.These are not like all the others,
cylindrical, but plain blocks of masonry finished
with a quasi capital on three sides and smooth on
the inner surface, with which the stalls would be in
contact. There would thus be left a sanctuary
space of three bays intervening between the ter-
mination of the stalls and the commencement of
the curve of the apse.

The stairs within the little doorway above-
mentioned are curious, and seem to have originated
as follows. Although the remaining bay of the
nave retains its Norman arches and triforium
front on both sides to the present time, the ad-
joining aisles — as proved by that on the south — were
altered in the thirteenth century and covered with
a groined ceiling. This being much more lofty
than the earlier vault, rose above the level of the
triforium floor and occasioned a corresponding
elevation of it. Hence, on entering the triforium
from the rood-loft, an ascent of some steps became
indispensable between the sill of the triforium
(which has besides been cut down) and its floor
within, in order to reach the higher level of the
latter. It was probably to obviate the danger from
this circumstance, and to conceal the unsightly
appearance of the raised upper surface of the ante
vault as seen through the triforium opening, that
this was built up, the small doorway being then

jo London Churches

provided to preserve the necessary communi-
cation.

As the work of restoration proceeded, a portion
of the base of the rood screen was laid bare in situ
beneath the pavement, thus proving the inference
correct.

The portion consisted of a massive — | shaped
stone, which had supported the left-hand angle of
the structure at the entrance into the choir. One
arm advanced eastward to carry a buttress, the
other westward, constituting part of the plinth of
the east face of the screen. A trefoil was deeply
cut in the latter and a base-moulding ran be-
neath.

This stone, with its boldly projecting buttress
and trefoil piercing, was certainly not a Norman
fragment; the depth at which it had been laid
proved it in this instance not to have belonged to
a Perpendicular work; so that it may with some
confidence be concluded that it had formed part
of a composition of the thirteenth century. Con-
temporaneously with the screen there can be little
doubt that the ashlar walls, already alluded to as
spanning the transepts, and once affording a back-
ing to the stalls, were executed.

Now, on removing the remains of one of these
walls under Messrs Lewis and Slater's direction in
1865, several very finely carved Norman capitals
came to light, and as another fragment may still
be seen built into an unquestionably Early Eng-
lish vaulting shaft close at hand, the inference
seems obvious that screeaand parcloses and vaulting
shaft were coeval, erected at that particular period
when the masons embraced some unfortunate

St Bartholomew the Great 71

opportunity of helping themselves at the expense
of their predecessors.

The original transepts were both destroyed by
fire — that on the south being still in existence in
the early part of the last century. The new tran-
septs, therefore, cause no disturbance of old work,
but by providing abutments to the arches of the
crossing add stability to them, and have merely
involved the removal of modern walls hastily
built to keep out the weather after the destruc-
tion of the original transepts. These were con-
siderably deeper than the present ones, but to
have rebuilt them on the old lines would have in-
volved the purchase at too great a cost of neigh-
bouring properties, and as additional space was
not required, this would only have added to the
present heavy cost of heating and maintenance.

The rebuilding of the south transept was com-
pleted in 1891, that of the northern arm a few
years later.

Perhaps the most interesting feature in the re-
building of the latter was the bringing to light of
the stone screen thrown across the transept arch
to form a backing for the stalls, and which on a
careful inspection would seem to be a mixture of
Early English and Perpendicular work.

In the new work Sir Aston Webb adopted the
pointed arch throughout in order to differentiate
it from the old, but an attempt was made to pre-
serve the general scale and massiveness of the old
work in the new. Blue Bath stone was used inter-
nally, and flints dressed with Portland stone, ex-
ternally.

Until the substitution of the present Early

72 London Churches

Perpendicular clerestory for the Norman one on
its north and south, sides, the choir of St Bar-
tholomew's must have presented one of the most
perfect, moderately-sized specimens of Middle-
Norman architecture in this country. There are
no indications of any vault having been contem-
plated, either from want of means, lack of con-
structive skill or of courage — most probably the
latter — so that we may assume that its roof was
a flat one of wood, like Waltham.

When the present clerestory was built, a great
change was made in the plan of the choir.

The fifteenth-century builders removed the
semicircular east end almost entirely, and carried
a straight wall across the choir at the chord of the
old apse. The lower part of this wall was made
solid while the upper part was pierced with a pair
of large windows, fragments of whose tracery were
discovered during the late restorations and are
now preserved. During some debased epoch these
two windows were removed and replaced by others
of the most hideously nondescript character, the
wall space below being "adorned" with an altar-
piece in which obelisks formed a conspicuous feature.

On the removal of this altarpiece during some
repairs that were being carried out under Mr John
Blyth after a fire in 1830, the wall against which
it stood was discovered to be painted in water-
colour and of a bright red, spotted with black
stars. Mr Blyth designed a new altarpiece, con-
sisting of some arcades in the "Norman" style, as
understood seventy years ago, and so the east end
remained until 1864.

Messrs Lewis and Slater's idea was to rebuild the

St Bartholomew the Great 73

apse entirely in Norman including a vaulted roof,
but various obstacles militated against so com-
plete an undertaking. They had, therefore, to be
contented with a reconstruction of the almost en-
tirely destroyed arcade separating the apse from
the procession path. Even this was a work of great
difficulty. The Committee used every effort to
obtain possession of the ware-room that had
been built against the east end of the church,
but without effect, and after long consideration
it was decided to show the old arrangements
on the ground level at least, if not above. The
eastern wall was therefore taken out to the
height of the nave arcades and supported on an
iron girder, and the stonework of the apse com-
pleted under it up to the level of the triforium
floor, or nearly so. Thus the east end of St
Bartholomew's remained until forty years ago,
when, the secular encroachments having been
got rid of, Sir Aston Webb was enabled to give
it that appearance with which we are familiar
to-day.

The restoration of this apse which forms the
memorial to Rev. John Abbiss the initiator of the
work, by the patron, Rev. F. V. Phillips, must be
regarded as most happy in every way, and when
stained glass has been placed in the clerestory
windows, little will be left to be desired.

The central arch in the triforium is entirely
formed of original Norman work in the apse. The
clerestory has been very wisely modelled as regards
the tracery of its windows, upon such remains as
existed on the north and south sides of the choir.

The church was originally planned like Norwich

74 London Churches

and Gloucester, with three semicircular chapels
opening out of the procession path. All, however,
have disappeared during the various architectural
changes to which the fabric was subjected during
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

The first Lady Chapel was either altered or
rebuilt about 1336, but of that chapel the only
visible remains are two mouldings of the Decora-
ted period above the piers on the east side behind
the high altar. Another rebuilding appears to
have taken place early in the fifteenth century
(c. 1410), when the chapel assumed its present elon-
gated and square-ended form. At the dissolution in
1540 the Chapel was purchased, with other por-
tions of the monastery, by Sir Richard Rich, and
converted into a dwelling-house, afterwards being
given over to other secular purposes, in which state
it remained until 1885, when it was purchased and
its western portion reunited to the church. The
remainder was not restored until 1 896. Although a
work of the fifteenth century the tracery of the
windows has been restored to the geometrical
form prevalent early in the fourteenth century.

The window sills and jambs on the north side
are c. 1410, but the arches and tracery of the win-
dows are new, from Sir Aston Webb's designs, as
are also the entire windows on the south side and
the five blocked ones at the east end. There are
four windows on either side of these; the three
first, counting from the west, are of three lights,
while the easternmost one on either side has only its
central light pierced. A pretty effect is produced
by the detached shafts forming an inner plane of
tracery to these two easternmost windows. The

St Bartholomew the Great 75

remains of the sedilia — "sadly mutilated from hav-
ing been used as a recess for the fringemaker's safe"
— command attention on the south side of the
sanctuary; also a small window in the north wall,
near the screen, dating from the fifteenth century,
and presumed to communicate with an anchorite's
cell.

Sir Aston Webb's restoration of this chapel is
worthy of all praise; his roof, a gabled one of low
pitch, with graceful tracery filling the space be-
tween the rafters and the beam, being specially
pleasing. The effect of the chapel which is a little
over sixty feet in length, is greatly enhanced by
the gradual rise of its floor towards the altar, and it
is approached from the procession path by a very
handsome and massive screen of wrought iron,
executed by Mr Starkie Gardner from Sir Aston
Webb's designs. With its surmounting crucifix
and candlesticks it is reminiscent of some Spanish
examples, notably the screen before the Sepolcro
de los Reyes Catolicos at Granada.

The architectural student will not fail to ob-
serve the manner in which the Norman vaulting
of the procession path was disturbed when the
Lady Chapel was built; the result being that the
openings in the triforium of the apse now look
down into this circumambient aisle, instead of
opening to a passage above it.

It is from the northern arch of the apse that per-
haps the most striking and comprehensive view of
St Bartholomew's can be obtained, embracing as
it does the noble series of columns and arches on
the south side of the choir, the Late Perpendicular
oriel window and the solemn round and pointed

7 6 London Churches

arches opening to the crossing from the choir and
transept.

Of the works undertaken at St Bartholomew's
within the last few years, the most interesting and
important has been the restoration of the porch and
of a portion of the cloisters which once extended
along the south side of the nave, with the refectory,
kitchen and buttery attached to the southern am-
bulatory, so that the noise of cooking and the smell of
meals might not penetrate into the house of prayer.

From some valuable notes made on these
cloisters by Sir Aston Webb, we learn that the
Norman-arched entrance, the Norman capitals to
the shafts of the door, and the Norman plinth at
the base of the east wall, make it clear that they
were begun some time in the twelfth century.

It is also certain that the cloisters were rebuilt
by Prior John Watford between 1404 and 1409,
for Pope Alexander V, when making a grant of in-
dulgences in September, 1409, to all those who
visited and gave alms for the repairs of the church
on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Satur-
day and the feast of the Assumption, mentions as
one of the reasons that he had learned that the
prior had rebuilt, inter alia, the cloisters and
chapter house. As John Watford was elected prior
in 1404, the date of the work must be between
that and the date of the grant. Prior John also
added a gallery above the east cloister, access
probably being had from the dormitories.

At the suppression of the house in 1539 the
church and monastic buildings were sold to Sir
Richard Rich, the entrance to the east cloister
from the church being built up with stones from

St Bartholomew the Great 77

the nave, then in course of demolition. When, in
1905, this arch was opened, a beautiful fragment of
worked stone of the Early English period with the
colours of its decoration still quite fresh, came to
light.

In 1555 Sir Richard, then Lord Rich, included
the cloisters in his grant of the monastery to Queen
Mary, whereby they came into the possession of
the Dominicans or Black Friars.

In reopening the cloisters of the church, the
Dominicans did not apparently open up the entire
doorway, for a wooden lintel and the jambs of a
smaller doorway were visible in the rubble
masonry; the cause probably being that the
cloister doors had been requisitioned as west doors
for the truncated church in 1544. The northern
ambulatory of the cloister was probably walled off
at this time, thus accounting for the door jambs of
the Tudor period inserted in the wall on the right,
as the east cloister is entered.

Shortly after the accession of Elizabeth the
Black Friars were ejected, and the cloisters once
more with the rest of the monastic buildings, re-
sold by the Queen to Lord Rich, when the en-
trance doorway was again built up.

From that time the cloisters were given over
to secular occupation, and they appear no more in
history until, in 1742, we read of their being re-
duced to stables.

In 1830 the eastern walk of the cloisters was
destroyed by fire, and the vaulting fell with the
rooms over. It was then filled with earth to the
level of the ground outside, and again used as
stables.

78

London Churches

Forty years ago the remains of the southern
bays of the eastern walk were pulled down, and
new stables erected on the site.

All that was now left of the cloisters were the
four bays at the north-east angle of the garth,
which, after nearly five years of negotiation, were
purchased and restored as we now see them, a
work upon which Sir Aston Webb and his suc-
cessors are to be congratulated.

In June, 1747, John Wesley preached a charity
sermon at St Bartholomew's, when, as he tells us
in his diary, "It was with much difficulty I got in;
not only the church itself, but all the entrances to
it being so thronged with people ready to tread
upon one another. The great noise made me
afraid at first that my labour would be in vain; but
that fear was soon over, for all was still as soon as
the service began. I hope God gave us this day a
token for good. If He will work, who shall stay the
hand?"

A quaint ceremony is observed in the church-
yard of St Bartholomew's annually on Good
Friday, when in accordance with immemorial
custom twenty-one aged widows of the parish
attend the morning service, and at the conclusion
each picks up a sixpence, one of a number laid on a
particular gravestone. The origin of this custom
has been lost in obscurity, and there are no known
records extant as to the reason for giving the
money, even the church books failing to throw
any light upon the matter. Tradition has it that
over 500 years ago a pious lady left a bequest for

St John's, Clerkenwell 79

the provision of doles for widows, subject to the
stipulation that prayers for her soul were said
on Good Friday. The interest of the fund estab-
lished for this purpose provides 1 2s. 6d. annually.
Of this twenty-one sixpences are placed upon
the tomb stone, and the remaining 2s. is spent
in buying buns, with which the old ladies are
regaled.

Down to her death in 1906 Mrs Jarrett, of
Westgate-on-Sea, added the sum of 2s. 6d. to
each sixpence. Since then, however, various
contributions have enabled an extra shilling to
be added to each of the doles.

From St Bartholomew's, a short walk in a nor-
thernly direction brings us to St John's, Clerken-
well, beneath whose eighteenth-century chancel,
which only occupies a small portion of the site of a
once magnificent conventual church, is a spacious
and noble crypt, partly of the Transitional, and
partly of the Early English epochs of architecture.
To the former period belong the two western of
the four bays into which it is divided, and to the
Early English the two eastern ones.

The voussoirs of the latter, instead of being
struck out to a curve, following lines from a centre,
are each straight, the stones being very small. The
two western bays were lighted by narrow lancet
windows in each. The walls are four feet thick, and
the openings in them widely splayed.

The details of the Transitional part of the work
are very fine and characteristic.

The crypt itself is on an unusually large and
sumptuous scale; what remains of it was under the
choir and its aisles, and is sufficient to indicate the

8o London Churches

importance of the noble church, of which it now
forms the scanty and dilapidated remains and
memorial.

The Order to which the church had belonged
was called the Knights Hospitallers of St John
of Jerusalem. They were more fortunate than their
contemporaries, the Templars, of whose forfeited
possessions they became the possessors; nor is
their Order extinct even now.

The crypt beneath St John's, Clerkenwell, was
thrown open for inspection in July, 1887. The
portions not bricked up are the central aisles of
five bays, one bay east of the north aisle and two
bays east of the south aisle. Three bays of the side
aisles and three of the central bays, have pointed
main arches; the remaining bays, west of the
central aisle, have round arches, with massive
square archi volts or soffits. All the ribs spring from
rounded columns, with square capitals rising from
a level of thirty-two inches above the earthen
floor. The eastern portion of the crypt lies beneath
the vestry, and on the right side of the entrance
steps are two small chambers that are probably
part of the original undercroft. This crypt, in-
deed, extended further westwards, the present
church representing no more than the choir of the
original fabric; but it is to be observed that the
west wall underneath the church steps is very
thick. A passage communicates from the furthest
bay, which is vaulted in brickwork, of the middle
aisle, to the closed in portion of the north aisle.

In these walls are deposited various human re-
mains, including those of "Scratching Fanny,"
whose ghost is said to have haunted the house in

The Temple Church 8 1

Cock Lane. Her coffin and its contents were once
an object of vulgar show.

Of the Temple Church it has been justly re-
marked that "no building in existence so com-
pletely develops the gradual and delicate advance
of the Pointed Style over the Norman, being com-
menced in the latter and finished in the highest of
the former. The choir, or oblong part, is decidedly
the most exquisite specimen of Early Pointed archi-
tecture existing.

The church was founded in 1185 (the year in
which Saladin captured the Holy City) and dedi-
cated to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Heraclius,
Patriarch of the Church of the Resurrection at
Jerusalem, who was on a visit to England in com-
pany with the Grand Master of the Templars, and
the Commander of the Hospitallers, with the view
of inducing King Henry II to afford his personal
aid to the cause of the Cross; or, in the event of
his refusal, to obtain the presence of one of his
sons; in which mission he failed.

This Heraclius had a most unpatriarchal way of
expressing himself, and he and the King, whom he
was bullying to join in the Crusades, were wont to
have slanging matches. This is the conclusion of
one of the conversations in which the religious had
pointed out to the royal man how little the people
cared for him, and how much for his "goodys tem-
porall." " 'Thou art worse than any Sarasyn, and
thy people followeth pray [prey], and not a man.'
But the King kepte his pacience, and said, 'I may
not wander out of my lande, for myne own sonnes
will aryse agayne me whan I were absent.' No
wonder,' said the patryarke, 'for of the deuyll they

r-6

82 London Churches

come, and to the deuyll they shall.' " — Fab. Cbron.
p. 280, edit. 1811.

The consecration of the Temple Church by
Heraclius, is commemorated in an inscription —
a copy of a more ancient one — over the west door.
It concludes with the grant of a sixty days' indul-
gence for a yearly visit, and is to be read thus:

^ ANNO: AB: INCARNATIONE: DOMINI
M°.C.LXXX.V°. DEDICATA: HEC: ECCLESIA: IN:
HONORE: BEATJE: MARINE: A: Dno: ERACLIO: DEI:
GRATIA: SCE: RESURRECTION is: ECCLESIJE: PATRI-
ARCHA: mi: IDUS: FEBRUARII: Ql EA: ANNATIM:

PETETIB* DE JlUNTA: Si: PENETENTIA: LX: DIES:
INDULSIT.

This was the second Templar church in London.
The original church — as at a later date that of the
Blackfriars — was in Holborn. The present Temple
was called the "New Temple."

The old church of Caen stone — was also circu-
lar. The oblong portion of the "New Temple" was
consecrated on Ascension Day, 1240. On the dis-
solution of the Order, Edward II granted the
Temple and Frikett's Croft, near London, and
the whole Templar property, whether in the city
or suburbs, to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pem-
broke, the same de Valence whose beautiful tomb
is in Westminster Abbey.

The Council of Vienne in 1324 gave the Tem-
plar property to the Hospitallers, then very con-
spicuous for their valour at Rhodes. The London
Temple shared in this change of destination, but
the Hospitallers conveyed the property to Hugh
le Despencer, at whose death it reverted to the
Crown. The Hospitallers were, however, rein-

The Temple Church 83

stalled in the reign of Edward III. They gave a
lease of the property for the use of Common Law
Students, who still have their "bowers" in the
"bricky tower" of the Templar Knights.

The circular nave, or as it is generally called,
"the Round," is in the style transitionary be-
tween Norman and Early English, and is remark-
able as being one of the remaining four churches in
England,* in which the plan of the Holy Sepul-
chre Church at Jerusalem was imitated, as regards
the attaching a rotunda to the western extremity
of an ordinary oblong church.

It is frequently assumed, though without proof,
that the so-called "round churches" were disen-
gaged, and that the oblong portion was an after
addition. This is contrary to fact. At Little
Maplestead the foundations were found, on exam-
ination, to be on one level throughout, and a set-off
of six inches to run round the whole building. It
does not appear to have struck those who imagine
that these churches were designed to be an exact
imitation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
that they resemble it in being a combination of the
circular with the rectangular; that, were they re-
duced to the "round" the resemblance would be
lost. "The Church of the Resurrection" was cir-
cular ,nd enshrined the Holy Sepulchre; but on
the easta nad joined with it by a cloister, Con-
stantine built the Martyrium, in commemoration
of our Lord's death.

The rotunda of the Temple Church remains as
built in 1185, but the present rectangular choir is

•The others are St Sepulchre, Cambridge, St Sepulchre,
Northampton and Holy Trinity, Little Maplestead.

84 London Churches

one which replaced the original and was dedicated
as already stated in 1240. Both are peculiarly in-
teresting as monuments of a period of unparalleled
activity and progress ui original architecture.

The Round Church is exactly contemporary
with the choir of Canterbury Cathedral, having
been consecrated in 1185, the year in which Can-
terbury was completed after the fire of 1174. It is
somewhat less advanced in style, owing possibly to
a preference felt among the Templars for the
Romanesque; the pillars and main arches, with the
vault generally, are Pointed, but the triforium
consists of an intersecting arcade, as at St Cross,
Winchester, and the windows are all quite Roman-
esque; while on the other hand the arcading round
the aisle is Pointed.

The capitals are of several varieties; most of
them are of the simple water-leaf form, so preva-
lent in the North of England during the Transi-
tion period, while others are founded on the
cushion and other crochet forms.

The six pillars dividing the central area from
the circumambient aisle, stand at the angles of
a hexagon, on each side of which is a square, the
outer corners of which fall at points equally dis-
tant in the external wall, so that were the inner
arch not circular, but really hexagonal, the external
wall of the surrounding ambulatory would be a
duodecagon, on which would rest alternately
squares and equilateral triangles. But the builder
of this rotunda was determined it should be round
and not a complex figure, so he adopted arches of
double curvature both in the inner and the outer
circle from pillar- to pillar, and from respond to

The Temple Church 85

respond.* Had the twelve responds or wall half-
pillars and the six great isolated ones been united
by ordinary arches, making the external circuit a
regular duodecagon and the inner a hexagon, the
intermediate space would have consisted of six
perfect squares and six equilateral triangles, pro-
ducing an exquisite symmetry and completeness
in the ceilings. But for the sake of making every part
of the building circular this beauty was sacrificed,
and we thus perceive in its place a peculiar and
beautiful symmetry hinted at, but not carried out;
nor does any succeeding architect appear to have
appropriated the idea here suggested.

This round portion of the Temple Church is one
of the earliest examples in the country of that im-
portant step, the substitution of pointed arches
for semicircular ones, while the choir is one of the
first examples of the exclusive use of the new arch,
which thus took about half a century to establish
itself completely and supersede the old one.

Of course, so gradual and deliberate a change,
and one which, when once adopted, maintained
its ground for centuries, can be ascribed to no mere
freak of taste or fancy. It was adopted, because
conducive, in several ways, to structural excel-
lence; and, like all improvements in building thus
introduced, it appears first in the larger parts, and
gradually descended into all the details.

In every part of the rotunda, except perhaps
the windows, we find the progress made during
half a century shown, not merely in enrichment,

*These arches of double curvature are perhaps the only ones
in existence which are at once circular in their plan and pointed
in their elevation

86 London Churches

or complication of parts, but in the complication of
those which could most harmoniously be so
treated; not of those which might present either
the most obvious, the most usual, the easiest, or
the newest field for such treatment.

So well studied are the changes, and so thor-
oughly are they weighed, that they seem merely
necessary corrections to the former style, or to
supply deficiencies in it which we now see, but had
not before noticed. Thus the great cylindrical
shaft, being a form too massive to be suitable to a
pillar built up of small stones, gave way to the
compound pier, i.e., one formed of four slender
ones, each with a fillet at mid-height.

With regard to the surrounding aisle of this
rotunda at the Temple, it is remarkable to observe
that while we have in London two specimens of
such aisles in the Round-arched style, viz. in the
Chapel of the White Tower, and (much less per-
fect) in St Bartholomew's, Smithfield, so have we
also two in the Pointed arched style, and those
very different in their treatment. I refer, of course,
to the aisle of the structure now under review, and
that encircling the apse of Westminster Abbey.

Within a turret to the north, at the junction of
the round Church with the choir, and opening on
a small well staircase which gives access to the roof
of the latter, is a room four feet six inches
long by two feet six inches wide. Its appropriation
is not certainly known, but as the altar is seen
from it through a squint or hagioscope, it is most
probable that it was for ringing the Sanctus Bell
in at the Canon of the Mass.

Upon the pavement are figures of Crusaders,

THE TEMPLE CHURCH
The "Round" and part of the Choir.

The Temple Church 8 7

cross-legged effigy devoutly stretched." but
originally placed upon altar tombs and pedestals.*
These effigies of feudal warriors are sculptured
out of freestone. The attitudes of all are different,
but they are all recumbent, with the legs crossed.
They are in complete mail with surcoats; one only
is bareheaded, and has the cowl of a monk. The
shields are of the heater or Norman shape, but the
size is not the same in all; one of them is very long,
and reaches from the shoulder to the middle of the
leg. Their heads, with one exception, repose on
cushions, and have hoods of mail. Three of them
have flattish helmets over the armour, and one has
a sort of casque.

These figures were conscientiously restored be-
tween 1839 and 1843 by Mr Richardson. The
best authorities assign five of them as follow: To
Geoffrey de Magnaville, Earl of Essex, A.D. 1144
(right arm on his breast, and large sword at his
right) — he is not mentioned by Weever in his
Funeral Monuments; William Mareschall, Earl
of Pembroke, A.D. 1129 (sculptured in Sussex
marble, with his sword through a lion's head);
Robert Lord de Ros, A.D. 1245 (head uncovered,

* Their designation is somewhat uncertain. That an effigy has
the legs crossed, while the right hand is placed on the sword, does
not prove a tomb to be that of a Templar. The tomb of a Tem-
plar would represent him in his religious habit — a white cloak
with a simple red cross on the left shoulder over a habit fastened
at the waist by a belt. These monuments at the Temple Church
are those of pilgrims to the Holy Land, who had laid their swords
on the altar at the Redeemer's tomb, or of those who, after hav-
ing actually engaged in the Holy War, their vow fulfilled, are
seen to sheathe their swords, whilst their feet rest on the enemy
that has beset their path; "conculcabis leonem et draconem"
(Ps. ic, 13).

8 8 London Churches

with long flowing hair), whose effigy is said to
have been brought from Helmsley Church,
Yorkshire; William Mareschall, junior, Earl of
Pembroke, 1231 (with lion rampant on shield,
and sheathing his sword); Gilbert Mareschall,
Earl of Pembroke, 1281 (drawing his sword, with
winged dragon at his feet).

In 1841 the ancient lead coffins containing the
bodies of these knights were discovered. They
do not appear to have been buried in their
armour; and none of the coffin ornaments were
of earlier date than the beginning of the thirteenth
century.

The choir or oblong portion of the Temple
Church is a magnificent transcript of the eastern
chapels of Southwark Cathedral, being, like
them, vaulted throughout upon pillars of equal
height, and is probably about the most perfect
specimen in England of this beautiful mode of
construction.

Thus in the same structure we have a specimen
of the earliest era of true Pointed-arched vaulting,
and of the most typical specimen conceivable of
vaulting all springing from a given level, and with
level ridges rendered the more marked in character
by the division of the three ranges of vaulting by
means of the pier arches, which, coming close
under the vaulting, assume the character of en-
larged ribs.

Of five bays, the choir of the Temple Church is
conceived in the purest Lancet phase of the Early
English style.

The central aisle is about a third broader than
the other two, and each is roofed under a separate

The Temple Church 89

gable — a far more pleasing arrangement than the
huge steep mass with which the German archi-
tects covered their unclerestoried, or as they
styled them, "hall" churches. There are four clus-
tered columns of marble on either side, here form-
ing solid piers, but of great lightness and elegance.
The groining is formed by cross-springers, with
bosses at the intersections. In the aisles the vault is
more pointed than in the centre, to redress the
effect of their inequality of width. Triplets of
lancets, with jamb-shafts of Purbeck marble, light
the choir throughout. The east window of the
central aisle is larger than any of the others. There
are quatrefoil panels in the spandrels to give this,
the principal window in the church, a more ornate
character. The side-aisle vaults are loaded to
counteract the pressure of the central vault aris-
ing from its greater width, but the expedient has
failed, the weight imposed not having been suffi-
cient. The pillars incline slightly outwards. In the
south aisle is the effigy of Sylvester de Everdon,
Bishop of Carlisle (1246-1255). He wears the
episcopal vestments with his mitre, and with his
crosier in his hand. In 1810 the tomb was opened
and the skeleton found wrapped in sheet lead. The
crosier lay by the bishop's side, but the episcopal
ring was missing. The leaden covering appeared to
have been broken, perhaps when the Temple was
seized in the disturbances of Richard IPs time.

Between 1840 and 1843 the interior of the
Temple Church was subjected to a very drastic
restoration under James Savage — most widely re-
membered as the architect of St Luke's Church,
Chelsea, but who seceded from the works at a very

9o London Churches

early stage — Sydney Smirke and Decimus Burton.
An entire clearance was made of the furniture,
which to some extent was to be regretted; as for
the period of its execution it was by no means
despicable.

By those versed in ecclesiology, these works of
1840-43 were loudly condemned, but to the
general public, and those uninitiated in that
science, they gave unlimited satisfaction.

One of the first events chronicled in the pages
of The Eccle siologist was this restoration of the
Temple Church. General admiration was ex-
pressed in the critique for the spirit and generosity
in which the works were conducted, but several
points, particularly of the internal arrangements,
were, as was the wont of that periodical, protested
against and freely commented upon. Complaints
were directed chiefly against the want of space left
free from seats near the altar, and the general un-
satisfactoriness of the sanctuary and its arrange-
ments; the absence of a central passage to the altar;
the undue height of the longitudinal stalls in the
aisles; the absence of a Rood-screen; the groining
of the Round Church in wood; and the new tran-
sept built for the organ.

No details are to hand respecting the condition
of the Temple Church prior to 1666. That the
Puritanism of the preceding generations had de-
faced this beautiful building, and the indifference
of their successors had perpetuated the barbarism,
is very probable, and would account for the depth
of whitewash accumulated on the walls. We read
in an account taken from the New View of Lon-
don, which only extends to what was done to

The Temple Church 91

the church since the latter part of the seventeenth
century, that the structure "having narrowly es-
caped the flames in 1666, was in 1682 beautified,
and the curious wainscot screen set up. The south-
west part was, in the year 1695, newly built with
stone. In the year 1706 the church was wholly new
white-washed, gilt and painted within, and the
pillars of the round tower wainscoted, with a new
battlement and buttresses on the south side, and
other parts of the outside were well repaired; also
the figures of the Knights Templars were cleaned
and painted, and the ironwork enclosing them was
painted and gilt with gold. The east end of the
church was repaired and beautified in 1707."

The New View of London (1708) describes the
church as then being "wellpaved, and wainscoted
with right wainscot"; and, in 1737, we are told the
exteriors of the north side and east end were again
repaired.

In 181 1 the church was, what is termed, "gener-
ally repaired." In a tract cited in Burge's account
of the restoration of the Temple Church and en-
titled, Facts and Observations relating to the
Temple Church;* after describing these repairs,
the hope is expressed "that, by the very complete
manner in which it had been repaired, it was
restored to the full appearance of that beauty and
elegance generally allowed to belong to it." So
differently do different ages judge of "beauty "and
propriety, that what this author deemed the height
of successful repair, the next denounced as the
perfection of perverted ingenuity and stupid pre-
sumption. Did the horrid thought ever cross the
*For a diverting anecdote anent Burge, see p. 102.

92 London Churches

mind of the restoration committee of 1840, that
peradventure their zealous and ingenious efforts
might be one day condemned as costly blunders?

From internal evidence one is inclined to think
that such an idea never overshadowed their happi-
ness.

In 1825, under the direction of Sir Robert
Smirke, the repair of the south side (externally)
and the lower portion of " the Round " was com-
menced. In 1827 this job was completed. Some of
the wainscoting round the columns and some of
the monuments which had been stuck to them
were then removed; but the paint and whitewash
were left, and the oblong part of the church re-
mained in all the perfection of its eighteenth-cen-
tury adornment. It was at this time that St Anne's
Chapel, which connected the convent of the
Temple with the church to the south of "the
Round," was removed.

That the Temple Church had shared a common
fate with many other relics of mediaeval art, and
had suffered from neglect and modern innovations,
was not to be disputed. The choir was filled with
pews which rivalled a jury box in size. The grace-
ful marble pillars were coated with whitewash.
The walls were wainscoted. The floor was raised to
a height of some feet above its original level, and
such mural decorations as remained had been
obscured by monumental tablets of execrable
taste.*

Conceived and executed as they were at a
period of the Gothic Revival when experience in

*A plate in Godwin's History of the Churches of London shows
the choir of the Temple Church as it existed prior to 184.0.

The Temple Church 93

such matters was but young, it would be invidious
to compare the works of 1840-42 with the more
scholarly ones carried out twenty years later by
Mr St Aubyn in the Round Church. At that time,
when half the cathedrals and churches of England
were undergoing similar treatment, it would be
surprising indeed if any obvious mistake were made
in reproducing the original design. But all things
considered, the world of art may be thankful for
the general success which attended those renova-
tions of 1840-43; and it may be conceded that if
he who in 1185 consecrated the church — I refer to
Heraclius, the patriarch of Jerusalem — had seen
the Round building when plastered, paved and
wainscoted, by order of the benchers of the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries, and if he could
again be allowed to look in at the present day, he
would, if he recognized the building at all, admit
that they left it in a state, not only more admir-
able than the former one, but also with some con-
siderable resemblance to the circular building he
officiated in whilst on his crusading canvass at the
Court of Henry II.

Willement's decoration of the walls and vaults;
his stained glass in the great eastern triplet of
lancets; Min ton's tiled floors, and Richardson's
restoration of the knightly effigies, were perhaps
the most satisfactory features in the works carried
out between 1840 and 1843, producing together
an effect as novel at that time as it was interesting.

A brief history of the Templars in England and
of this church may be read in the rude effigies of
the successive kings, during whose reigns they
flourished, now painted on the wall above the

94 London Churches

arches connecting the round with the oblong
portion. At the south corner sits Henry I, holding
the first banner of the Crusaders, half black, half
white, entitled "Beauseant"; white typifying
fairness towards friends; black, terror to foes. This
banner was changed during the reign of Stephen
for the red cross.

And on his brest a bloodie crosse he bore,
The deare remembrance of his dying Lorde.

Henry II and the Round Church are represented
by the third figure. Richard I, with the sword
which he wielded as Crusader, and John, his
brother, are the next kings; and in the north aisle
is portrayed Henry III holding the two churches;
the choir or oblong part having been added in his
reign, and consecrated on Ascension Day 1240.

Willement's stained glass in the lancets over the
altar was a decided departure from the semi-
naturalistic treatment of such work at that period.
Perhaps that eminent revivalist, to whom there is
no doubt we owe much, ran into the opposite
extreme, since he copied with a too scrupulous ex-
actness the early thirteenth-century French speci-
men suggested to him as a model. From the west
end of the church the general effect of this glass is
very pleasing, but on a nearer approach the figures
composing the groups in the medallions appear
distorted and grotesque, for they are of such a re-
duced size that they are not only out of all propor-
tion to the ornament which surrounds them, but
the groups themselves, owing to their "antiqua-
tion" are hardly intelligible. It is said that in order
to give these windows depth of tone and save them
from a lean and thin effect, it was found necessary

The Temple Church 95

to load them with, coats of oil paint on the outside.
The oil, as might have been expected, was acted
upon by the atmosphere, and, cracking off, left
the window spotty.

Far superior in design and colour — it would
have been scandalous had they not been so — are
the windows in the circumambient aisle of "the
Round," executed by Ward and Nixon, and pre-
sented to the church by a member of the Inner
Temple Mr Charles Winston, an accomplished
person who very laudably bestowed an immense
deal of time and study on old painted glass, which
he submitted to chemical analysis. Perhaps Mr
Winston's technical knowledge was superior to his
theoretical skill. In criticizing the texture of glass,
in settling its date and country, Winston acquired
great familiarity, but in settling the character of
the drawing to be employed in glass paintings he
was happily inconsistent, as, for instance, when in
the very same page of his Hints on Glass Painting
he proscribed the use of glass painting when the
walls were frescoed (with subjects), but admitted
it when they were more richly decorated with
paint and gilding (in patterns). So in the same
work he assured the wondering world that "the
Raising of Lazarus by Sebastian del Piombo, and
Raphael's cartoons would form, with a little
modification, good designs for glass paintings."
However, what Mr Winston said was one thing,
and what he did was another. The window which,
in 1853, he put up in " the Round " of the Temple
Church, is as unlike Raphael's cartoons as the
artist was unlike his old friend, the monk, Theo-
philus. It is conventionalized in drawing and as

96 London Churches

unlike an oil painting as could be conceived. It
consists of five little medallions, very much indeed
too small, of the early events of Our Lord's life.
The draperies are all white and the effect is some-
what piebald and spotty. The flesh has no tints,
and the drapery is of an early type, but the glass,
as to its material, is bright and clear, and contrasts
favourably with Willement's antiquated windows
in the choir. As to the drawing, this window of
Winston's in "the Round" is rather outrl and
extravagant, an indescribable something between
Flaxman and Fuseli. However, the result is far from
unpleasing, and Mr Winston, in this instance, pro-
duced a window in which none of his favourite
Cinquecento axioms were enunciated.

The one stained glass window in the clerestory
of "the Round" — a Majesty archaically treated,
was the work of Willement, and his gift to the
church on the completion of the restoration in
1843.

In the earlier general restoration of the church
(1839-1842) that of the circular nave and western
porch had not been comprised. The northern half
of the nave had been scarcely touched on that
occasion; its base was deeply imbedded in the soil,
the surface of the walls was crumbling, the quoins,
mouldings and corbel tables were decayed, the
nookshafts dropping away or already gone. The
porch had been, time out of mind, incorporated
into adjoining secular buildings, and formed the
basement of a substantial three-storied block of
chambers. The wonder was that its deeply-
moulded arches had not been crushed long before
by the incumbent weight; but the builders of the

The Temple Church 97

superstructure — who displayed more trust than
love for the beautiful gate — were justified in their
reliance on its solidity, for the glorious old Tran-
sitional porch, refusing to point the moral, "sic
transit gloria" by a crash, bore the superimposed
burden to the last.

This porch, with open arches on its north and
south, as well as western sides, is a very remarkable
monument of late twelfth-century architecture.
It gabled north and south, as well as westward, if,
indeed, as is most probable, it did not project with
one or more bays in that direction, thus forming
a species of narthex. The capitals of the nook-
shafts of the north arch of the porch are of unique
and peculiarly elegant design; one of them seems
to represent a coronal of tubular flowers, probably
honeysuckles set vertically, with the mouths
turned outwards.

In spite of considerable difficulties from the
nature of the site, crowded as it is with buildings,
and valuable as is consequently every square foot of
space, a sufficient and, under the circumstances,
an ample area was cleared about the church, so
as to completely open to view the entire north and
west sides of the structure.

The accumulated soil was removed for some
distance around, and several tombs and sepulchral
slabs, long buried at the original level, were again
uncovered. The walls and buttresses were repaired,
the defective shafts and corbel tables made good,
the sets of chambers over the porch demolished,
and the exterior face of the circular window over
the west door, which they concealed, was brought
to light and renovated.

1-7

98 London Churches

But these satisfactory works were not all. The
opportunity was favourable for executing others
of a more distinctly artistic character, and Mr St
Aubyn and his colleague, Mr Sydney Smirke, well
improved it.

An earlier restoration had furnished the aisle
and clerestory walls of the Round church with a
heavy parapet, hardly permitting the low roof to
appear at all above the upper coping. This parapet
was removed at both stages, and a new lead roof
springing from eaves which rest on the corbel
table, now rises steeply to a considerable elevation.
When the drawings for this cone-shaped top were
first put forth, ecclesiologists were afraid that it
would prove too acute and spire-like, and thus,
however elegant, scarcely in accord with the style
of the substructure.

But the Temple Church is so closely environed
with lofty buildings, that its higher portions, seen
from any practicable point of view, must neces-
sarily appear foreshortened, and the result showed
that any less degree of elevation would have been
insufficient. As it is, the effect is harmonious and
picturesque; and the entire roof, with its long lines
of lead ridges converging as they rise, decked to-
wards the apex with a little reticular ornamenta-
tion and then terminating with a plain fmial, sur-
mounted by a cross and vane, forms a striking em-
bellishment to this most interesting church.

It was a pity the Benchers could not extend their
liberality one step further and to remedy, at least
in part, the chief error of their noble restoration of
the interior of the choir of 1839-42 — the mis-
arrangement of the seating, and especially the

The Temple Church 99

want of a direct floor line of sight and approach,
from the door to the altar. Yet by simply dividing
the middle block of benches and putting each half
aside to the range of columns (still not encroaching
on the passages to the aisle seats, which are exter-
nal to that range) a central avenue would at once
be gained, carrying the eye along without inter-
ruption from the western entrance to the altar,
which, together with its immediate surroundings,
forms in its present condition a most inadequate
termination to the vista. And not alone would the
general effect be much thus enhanced, but the
convenience of the congregation would also be
promoted by the separation of the channels of
ingress and egress appertaining to the quasi-nave
seats and those in the aisles respectively. Seldom,
indeed, can so great an improvement as such a re-
distribution of fittings be accomplished at so
trifling a cost.

The Temple Church organ is of much historical
interest. About 1683 the Benchers were desirous of
obtaining the best possible organ. Bernhardt
Schmidt, a German, who afterwards became Angli-
cized as " Father Smith," competed with Renatus
Harris for the honour of supplying the instru-
ment. Each builder erected an organ in the church:
Father Smith's organ was placed in a gallery at the
west end of the oblong portion, and Harris placed
his at the east end of the south aisle. The two
organs were played on alternate Sundays, Dr
Blow and Henry Purcell playing upon Smith's
organ, while Draghi, organist to the Queen Con-
sort, Catherine of Braganza, touched Harris's.

So severe was the contest that both organs were

ioo London Churches

played upon at the same services;* and after re-
peated trials, lasting for nearly a year, the Ben-
chers decided upon Smith's instrument, by reason
of its "Depthe and Strengthe of Sound."

How far Smith's success was due to the judicious
choice he made of organists to show off the quali-
ties and varieties of his stops it is only possible
now to guess, but certainly no more skilful per-
formers could have been found than the composers
of "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day," and
"The Bell Anthem."t

Harris' organ having been removed, one portion
of it was acquired by the parishioners of St An-
drew's, Holborn, while the other was shipped to
Dublin, where it remained in Christ Church
Cathedral until 1750, when it was purchased for
the Collegiate Church of Wolverhampton.

Though additions have been made to Schmidt's
organ at various times, it retains all the original
pipes in the great and choir organs. The swell was
constructed by Byfield, and perhaps still contains
the pipes of the original also.

This organ is remarkable for possessing quarter-
tones, so that there is a difference of tone between
G sharp and A flat, and also between D sharp and
Eflat.

Originally this arrangement occurred only in
the choir-organ and great organ, and it seems

* The partisanship ran so high that, according to the Hon.
Roger North, Attorney General to James II, "in the night pre-
ceding the last trial of the reed-stops, the friends of Harris cut the
bellows of Smith's organ in such a manner that, when the time
came for playing upon it, no wind could be conveyed into the
wind-chest."

t "Rejoice in the Lord alway."

The Temple Church 101

to have been introduced either as an object of
curiosity, or to make it in some way more perfect
than its rival, since probably Harris was unpre-
pared for the novel contrivance.

When the church was restored in 1 842, the organ
was removed to a transept built out for its recep-
tion from the north aisle, but, Gothic being then
in the ascendant, the Renaissance case was re-
grettably discarded. Hitherto the music at the
Temple Church had been sung by a quartet
choir of ladies and gentlemen, who occupied seats
in the gallery before the organ; but on the re-
opening of the building in November, 1842, a
surpliced choir was introduced, and the service
performed in the cathedral style.

Under the late Dr E. J. Hopkins, who held the
post of organist from May 7, 1843, to his re-
tirement in 1898, the musical portion of the
Temple Church services acquired a world-wide
celebrity. As an exponent of the Anglican style
of Church music Dr Hopkins was as unrivalled
in his day as Dr Monk of the Gregorian at St
Matthias', Stoke Newington; and it is not sur-
prising that both these churches should have been
veritable Meccas for young organists, who have
greatly profited by the lessons taught by two
such masters of their respective schools.

Until Hopkins played at the morning and even-
ing services at the Temple on that yth of May,
with such excellent judgement and effect as to
satisfy the Benchers of the Temple that he was well
qualified to be their organist, George Cooper,
and several other candidates for the appointment
officiated at the organ.

i o 2 London Churches

With the establishment of the full Cathedral
Service, three men in surplices and four small boys
were crammed in the little stone gallery in front of
the organ. This arrangement was felt to be so emi-
nently ridiculous, both architecturally and musi-
cally, that it was accordingly amended, and an
awkward chorus cantorum invented and placed in
the body of the church.*

One of these four small boys who sang at the re-
opening of the church in November, 1842, was Dr
W. H. Cummings, the present Principal of the
Guildhall School of Music, who tells us that the
musical arrangements were made by "a select num-
ber of the Benchers, of whom not one had any
knowledge of music."

"There was, however, amongst them a kind and
benevolent old lawyer, William B.,f who had a
great love for music, and, I suppose, read much of
current music-literature, and had formed an idea

"Beside that at the Temple Church, there were only fire ror-
pliced choirs in London at this period, viz., at St Paul's Cathe-
dral, Westminster Abbey, the Chapel Royal St James', Mar-
garet Chapel, and ( a very singular instance) at the Rev. Dr Mor-
timer's Chapel (now St Bartholomew's), Gray's Inn Road. Here
the Psalms were always chanted antiphonally, by twenty boys
wearing surplices, and who were regularly taught by the organist,
and sang in parts. Externally, this church is an unattractive pile
of brick, but it contains some good wood-carving in the sterling
Louis Quatorze style. The altarpiece is a perfect morceau, which
would do honour to a nobleman's chapel. On this account,
therefore, the church is worth a visit. The Rev. Dr Mortimer,
alluded to, was first Head Master of the City of London School.

tWilliam Burge, author of several pamphlets on architecture
and music, among which may be named Facts and Observations
relating to the Temple Church and The Music of the Anglo-
Catholic Church, published in 1844, and now scarce.

The Temple Church 103

that all church music composed later than Thomas
Tallis was vain and effeminate. His self-assertion
and confidence imposed on his brethren, who
looked upon him as an authority; and, under the
circumstances, Hopkins experienced some diffi-
culty in recommending such music as he thought
desirable. I remember, one Saturday afternoon,
we were rehearsing in the church the music for the
following day, and were singing the Psalms to a
well-known double chant adapted from Spohr,
exhibiting the composer's predilection for chro-
matic harmonies. Mr William B., at the close of
the Psalms, addressed one of the choir-boys and
asked who was the composer of the chant. The
boy, who, in common with his fellows, loved the
chant, knowing if he replied Spohr it would be
disapproved, boldly and unblushingly said he
thought it was by Byrd, whereupon the old gentle-
man remarked, "Ah, beautiful! There's nothing
like Elizabethan music."

When a new set of thirty-two feet pedal pipes
were supplied to the Temple organ by Bishop, Mr
Burge declared they were magnificent, because
when they sounded they shook the spectacles on
his nose.

In the burial-ground, east of the choir and
without the building, Oliver Goldsmith was buried
on April 9, 1774, at five o'clock in the evening. The
place is distinguished by a coped tomb stone with
inscriptions merely recording his name on one side
and the dates of his birth and death on the other.
A tablet erected about half a century ago in a
recess on the north side of the choir, commemo-
rates the circumstance with greater particularity.

i P4 London Churches

It was in those chambers in Brick Court, Middle
Temple, that the last act of Goldsmith's life-
drama was played out. His comedy of The Good-
Natured Man, acted in 1768, brought him nearly
£500, but which, with the true Grub Street im-
providence, he scattered to the winds at once.
Furnishing these chambers in mahogany and blue
moreen, he gave in them frequent dinners and
suppers, startling all the quiet barristers round
him with noisy games at blind man's buff and the
choruses of jovial songs. He was constantly in the
society of Johnson, Burke and Reynolds, and lived
far beyond his means.

Leaving the quiet precincts of the Temple, a
walk along the Victoria and Albert Embankments
brings us to another specimen of Early English
architecture, coeval with the Choir of the Temple
Church and almost exactly corresponding with
it in character — the Private Chapel of the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury within Lambeth Palace.

The original building here was erected by Arch-
bishop Baldwin, who obtained the site by exchange
with the then Bishop of Rochester, for other land
in the Isle of Grain, in the year 1 189.

His object was, that his proposed new church
and dwelling should be at a distance from, and be-
yond the influence of, the monks of Canterbury,
who had prevented him from establishing a cell of
secular canons in their vicinity.

Baldwin then commenced a chapel at Lam-
beth, with the intention of making it collegiate,
but his death in the Holy Land in 1190 prevented
his completing his purpose.

After his decease the manor became the pro-

Chapel of Lambeth Palace 105

perty of the See; but the monks at Canterbury,
jealous lest the metropolitan See itself should be
transferred to London, continued their opposition
to the design and prevailed on the Pope, Inno-
cent III, to issue a bull commanding its abandon-
ment.

This feud between the secular and monastic
bodies continued till it was agreed, in 1202, that a
church and establishment of not more than twenty
Premonstratensian Canons might be built else-
where in Lambeth than upon this site.

Archbishop Hubert relinquished this project,
but made Lambeth his metropolitan palace, and
his successor, Langton, improved it. Archbishop
Boniface, however, in 1216, was ordered by Pope
Urban IV to build and repair the house at Lam-
beth, and this chapel, which is the earliest portion
of the extant buildings, is probably his work,
though it is difficult exactly to distinguish the
buildings of that prelate and his immediate
successors.

Of the interesting group of buildings composing
this Archiepiscopal Palace at Lambeth, the oldest
and finest is the chapel. It consists of a simple
parallelogram in plan, of stately proportion, being
about seventy-two feet by twenty-six feet clear
internal dimensions, with walls four feet thick, and
is entered from the Guard Room by a doorway
composed of a deeply-moulded round arch, rising
on either side from two slender shafts, and enclos-
ing two trefoil-headed ones. The tympanum is
pierced with a quatrefoil, and the whole bears a
similarity to the western doorway of St Cross,
Winchester.

io6 London Churches

The chapel, like that of Ely House, is raised
upon a crypt, divided into two aisles by circular
pillars, and with plain groining supported at the
angles by moulded corbels.

Bold buttresses without and corbels for vault-
ing within divide the length of the chapel into
four bays, each lighted by a graceful triplet of
lancets, having detached internal bearing shafts of
Purbeck marble, with moulded caps and bases, and
beautifully moulded arches above.

At the east end is a graduated row of five lan-
cets also with elegant detached shafts, and at the
west end is a similar group, which was walled up
when Archbishop Chichele built his tower a hun-
dred years later against it, leaving the opening in
the central lancet to serve as a hagioscope for the
use of the inmates of the tower. In Archbishop
Juxon's time this opening was filled up, and a
small bay window substituted for the hagioscope.

The present quadripartite groined roof was
erected during the Archiepiscopate of DrHowley*
in 1846, from the designs of Blore, an alteration
that was much criticized by antiquaries at the
time. Although of poor design and workmanship,
this roof certainly gives an air of greater dignity to
the chapel, while the poverty of its execution was
to a great extent palliated by the refined taste
and liberality of Archbishop and Mrs Tait and
their friends, which gave a beauty by that colour-
ing which it now displays.

•Dr Howley was consecrated Bishop of London in this Chapel
on Oct. 3, 1813. The ceremony was witnessed by Queen Char-
lotte when seventy years of age, her Majesty having long
wished to witness the hallowing of a bishop.

Chapel of Lambeth Palace 107

Until 1846 a flat-panelled ceiling covered the
whole of the chapel, just above the lancets, a type
of roof that seems to have been always here, no
indications of a high-pitched and groined one
being visible.

The colouring of the present roof, together with
the stained glass which fills all the windows, was
executed by Messrs Clayton and Bell from the
designs of the late Mr J. P. Seddon, under whose
direction this little gem of Early English architec-
ture was restored to something of its pristine
beauty nearly fifty years ago.*

When Archbishop Howley repaired the Chapel
in 1846, he caused simple diapered glass to be in-
serted in the lancets throughout, not a fragment
remaining of the very curious and interesting
stained-glass with which Archbishop Laud with
the assistance of his secretary, Mr Dell, had
equipped them in imitation of the fifteenth-cen-
tury work of Cardinal Morton's time.

That prelate had filled the windows with stained
glass, all no doubt of the richest and best work-
manship to be had at the time, but when Laud
came to the See in 1633 he found these "goodly
windows," as he tells us in the History of his
Troubles and Tryal, "shameful to look on, all
diversely patched like a poor beggar's coat," they
having been sacrificed to the iconoclastic propen-
sities of some Elizabethan prelate.

There can be no doubt that Cardinal Morton
took his original designs from such books as the
Speculum Humana Salvationis and the Biblia

*Eicellent drawings of this Chapel and its details are given in
Dollman's Exam-pies of Ancitnt Domestic Architecture, Series H.

i o 8 London Churches

Pau'perum, which were in reality monuments of
monastic piety, and the windows of that day were
the only Scriptural Lesson of that time, "for
through them, as through 'the windows of the
mind,' flowed in to the devout worshipper the
light of Gospel Truth, a knowledge and a hope of
Salvation." One of the articles of impeachment
against Laud was that he had put in the windows
of stained glass in the chapel, which windows were
presumed in their painting to have reference to
Romanism. But Laud's answer to this was, that he
did not take the subject from the Mass books, but
from the fragments of the windows that remained,
and which represented — as do the present ones —
the types and antitypes of Our Lord, showing
forth by such the history of the world from the
Creation to the Day of Judgement.

One of the windows was given by the Bishops
of the American Church as a mark of appreciation
of the welcome they had received from Arch-
bishop Tait at the Pan- Anglican Synod of 1878.

There is some interesting old early seventeenth-
century wood-carving in the stalls and the screen
which, placed between the first and second bays
from the west, makes of the former a species of
antechapel.

In 1642 this Chapel was horribly desecrated by
the Parliamentary soldiers, who under their com-
mander Colonel Scott, destroyed the tomb of
Archbishop Parker, "erected while he was yet
alive" near the spot where he "used to pray," and
cast the prelate's remains upon a dung heap. At
the Restoration, Parker's remains were recovered
by Archbishop Sancroft, who reinterred them

Chapel of Lambeth Palace 109

before the altar, marking the spot by a lozenge-
shaped tablet, inscribed "Corpus Matthaei Archie-
piscopi tandem hie quiescit."

Since the date of Archbishop Parker's consecra-
tion, December 17, 1559, to that of Dr Pelham to
Norwich, St Barnabas' Day, 1857, nearly every
bishop in the Southern Province was consecrated
in Lambeth Palace Chapel.* A few consecrations
took place at Croydon, in some private chapels of
episcopal residences, and in Henry VII's Chapel
at Westminster.

Since 1842 Westminster Abbey and St Paul's
have been principally used.

In the mediaeval period, Canterbury, Lambeth,
St Paul's, Westminster, with many other places,
were the scenes of consecrations, while some pre-
lates were " hallowed " at Rome or other cities on
the Continent. If the majority of consecrations of
Diocesan Bishops could take place in their respec-
tive Cathedrals, large numbers of persons who can
never witness the "hallowing" of their chief pas-
tors would be enabled to do so, and there would be
the further advantage that if the homage could
always be done to the King afterwards, the Arch-
bishop in person might, during the afternoon of
the same day, enthrone the newly-consecrated
prelate. Spiritual ties of the utmost value would
thus be established between the Metropolitan, his
Suffragan and the Diocese which, on the occasion
so solemn, was visited by the Archbishop. The
tradition, however, of consecrations in Lambeth

"Between the time of Archbishop Warham (1532) and Arch-
bishop Sumner (1862) Lambeth Palace Chapel has been the
scene of some 400 consecrations.

no London Churches

Palace Chapel — one of the most sacred of shrines
to all English Churchmen — Canterbury, St Paul's,
the Abbey and Southwark, should be occasionally
maintained.

Ill

CHAPTER III

The Churches of the Decorated and Perpendicu-
lar Periods

Chapel of St Etheldreda, in Ely Place,
-L Holborn, all that exists of the once magnifi-
cent town house of the Bishops of Ely, which was
occasionally let by the See to distinguished noble-
men, is a gem of which any city might be proud.

Built as it was at the close of the thirteenth
century, it is perhaps, for its size, one of the most
perfect examples of the perfect period of Christian
architecture — a specimen of the art exactly at
that point of perfection at which nothing on earth
is permitted to stop — after the bud and before the
rankness — the flower just blown.

" ' My Lord [said the Duke of Gloucester, after-
wards Richard III], you have very good straw-
berries at your garden in Holborn; I require you
let us have a mess of them/ ( Gladly, my Lord,'
quoth he [the Bishop of Ely], 'would God I had
some better thing as ready to your pleasure as
that,' wherewith, in haste, he sent his servant for a
mess of strawberries."

This incident, as narrated by Holinshed, and
introduced by Shakespeare into the third Act of
his Richard III,* has probably, more than any

*/). of Glou. — My Lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn, I
saw good strawberries in your garden there: I do beseech you
send for some of them.

B. of Ely. — Marry, and will, my Lord, with all my heart.

ii2 London Churches

other cause, preserved the little interest there is in
the place, but apart from this the palace and
chapel have been the scene of events of sufficient
importance to throw an historic halo around them.

We first hear of Ely Place as a part of London at
the end of the thirteenth century, when John of
Kirkby, who was consecrated Bishop of Ely in
1286 and died in 1290, bequeathed a messuage
known as "The Bell" with nine cottages, as a site
for a palace for his successors.

Bishop de Luda, who died in 1297, left other
houses and appurtenances in Oldbourne for the
same purpose. He is supposed to have founded the
existing chapel, which was dedicated to St Ethel-
dreda, the patroness of Ely Cathedral. Bishop
John de Hotham, who occupied the See for twenty
years, and whose name is associated with the first
three bays of the choir of Ely Cathedral — those
beautiful specimens of the Flowing Decorated
style which were built after the central tower had
fallen and crushed the original Norman ones —
also disbursed large sums on the buildings, and
purchased the gardens and fields adjoining the
palace, and which, according to Stow, contained
forty acres. Camden describes Ely Place as "well
becoming bishops to live in, for which they were
beholden to John de Hotham, Lord Chancellor
and Bishop of Ely, under Edward II and III."
Thomas de Arundel, according to Stow, "beauti-
fully built of new his palace at Elie, and likewise
his manors in divers places, especially this in Old-
bourne, which he did not only repair, new built
and augmented it with a large post gatehouse, or
front, toward the street or highway; his arms are

St Etheldreda's, Ely Place 113

yet to be discerned in the stonework thereof; "
and adds, "in this house, for the large and com-
modious rooms thereof, divers great and solemn
feasts have been kept, especially by the serjeants-
at-law."

On the deprivation of Bishop Thirlby,* who
had refused the oath of supremacy to Elizabeth,
Richard Cox was consecrated in 1559 to the See of
Ely, from which, under the pressure of the Queen
and courtiers, he was compelled to alienate many
of the best manors. As Bishop-elect, Cox, in con-
junction with Parker, then Archbishop-elect of
Canterbury, and some other Bishops, petitioned
the Queen that she would forbear exchanging
lands for tenths, and impropriate rectories on the
vacancy of the different Sees, which, by an Act
passed in her first Parliament, she was entitled to
do. The petition was without effect, and fourteen
manors, belonging to the See of Ely, were at the
time exchanged for tenths and impropriations of
much less value.

Subsequently, the Lord Keeper, Hatton, pro-
cured the alienation of a portion of the Bishop's
property at Holborn; and it was on making resis-
tance to this spoliation "by a well-penned letter in
Latin" that Cox received the following character-
istic epistle from the Queen:

"Proud Prelate! I understand you are backward
in complying with your agreement, but I would
have you to know that I, who made you what you
are, can unmake you ; and if you do not forthwith
fulfil your engagement, by God! I will immediately

*The first and only Bishop of Westminster, see p. 202.

1-8

H4 London Churches

unfrock you! — Your's, as you demean yourself,
— ELIZABETH."

Further remonstrances were not to be thought
of, and Ely Place, vineyard, meadow, kitchen gar-
den and orchard, were demised to the Crown, and
by the Crown made over to Sir Christopher Hatton.

The names of Hatton Garden and Ely Place

Mantua, vae, miserae nimium vicina Cremonae

still bear witness to the encroaching Lord Keeper
and the elbowed Bishop.

Notwithstanding some persecution, it was not
until after the Bishop's death that the temporali-
ties came into the Queen's hands, and were as-
signed to Sir Christopher, and became part of the
site of Hatton Garden.

As Ely Place was held by the Hatton family
under a mortgage, the bishop possessed little power
over it, and during the imprisonment of Bishop
Wren under the Commonwealth, the palace was
dismantled. On his liberation at the Restoration
a lawsuit was commenced, which resulted even-
tually in a fee farm grant of £100 a year being
accepted as a compromise.

In 1772 an Act was passed by which, with the
consent of the Bishop — Edmund Keene — all
rights and property of the Bishop of Ely, in Ely
Place, were transferred to the Crown for .£6,500,
with an annuity of £200 a year to be paid to the
Bishops of Ely. It was proposed that the Excise
Office should be erected on the site of the palace
but the position was an obstacle. Then there was a
project for removing the old Fleet Prison to Ely
Place, but owing to remonstrances of the inhabi-

St Etheldreda's, Ely Place 1 1 5

tants of Hatton Garden and the parishioners of
St Andrew's, this was abandoned. Eventually the
property was sold to Mr Charles Cole, one of the
Crown surveyors, and the present grim double
row of buildings known as Ely Place, erected on its
site.* The chapel, however, fortunately escaped,
and after some vicissitudes became on December 19,
1843, a place of worship for the Welsh Church.

At various times during the last century the
degraded state of this gem of English Gothic art
was called attention to by architects, notably by
Mr Butterfield, in an early number of The Eccle-
siologist, and by Mr Francis Dollman in The Civil
Engineers and Architects' Journal for 1861. The
mouldings of its richly traceried windows, dis-
tinguished for their delicacy and refinement of
design, were clogged with dirt; its oaken roof was
masked by a plaster ceiling; its walls, though in the
main substantially sound, were bedaubed with
whitewash internally, and covered with plaster
outside; while wretched fittings obscured the
fine proportions of the chapel. The east front, to-
wards Ely Place, had been "beautified" and reno-
vated with a facing of stucco "neatly jointed with
the most careful symmetry," and under the great
window two literally Gothic, quoad barbarous
doorways had been inserted. Both the octagonal
turrets flanking the eastern gable had disappeared,
and the Souterrein or crypt was merely a place of
lumber, and a receptacle for casks of all sorts and sizes.

"In Britten's Picturesque Antiquities of the English Cities,
published in 1830, there is a beautiful engraving by Le Keux,
after a drawing by John Carter, of this chapel, showing such re-
mains of the adjacent palace as existed before 1775.

1 1 6 London Churches

"Contrasting its glories," said Mr Dollman in
his description, " with its present desolation, it is
surely not too late or quite in vain to plead with
those who are interested in the few remaining
antiquities of our gigantic Metropolis for the
faithful and thorough restoration of a building so
historically interesting and so architecturally
valuable." Unfortunately this appeal met with no
result, and so the building remained until 1874,
when on its being put up for auction it was
knocked down on January 28 of that year for
£5,250, to the Fathers of the Order of Charity
(Rosminians), who, aided by individual generosity,
have subjected the structure to that "faithful and
thorough restoration" for which Mr Dollman had
so earnestly pleaded thirteen years before.

Mr John Young and Mr Bernard Whelan were
the architects to whom the work of restoration
was entrusted, and they have certainly carried it
out most conscientiously, great praise being like-
wise due to Mr Doherty, the master mason, who
may be said to have inherited the traditions of the
school of Pugin.

In plan St Etheldreda's is a simple parallelogram
about eighty feet long by thirty feet wide, and its
height from the floor to the apex of the roof, a
most interesting piece of ancient carpentry, is fifty
feet. The whole was raised on a crypt to bring it on
to a level with the episcopal apartments.

Erected between 1290 and 1298, when our
ecclesiastical architecture was at its highest excel-
lence, "Ely Chapel" may be considered, for its
size, one of the most beautiful specimens of Geo-
metrical Decorated art in Christendom, and from

ST. ETHELDREDA'S, ELY PLACE.

The East End.

St Etheldreda's, Ely Place 117

the resemblance it bears to such works as the
tombs of Edmund Earl of Lancaster and Aveline,
his wife, at Westminster, of Archbishop Peckham,
at Canterbury, and of Bishop de Luda in the
presbytery of Ely Cathedral, may have been de-
signed by the same hand.

The chief glories of the chapel are its great east and
west windows. The former, of five lights of equal
height, has its tracery composed of mullions crossing
each other in the head, and the spaces formed by
the interlacing, cusped. It has been filled with rich
stained glass, at the cost of the Duke of Norfolk,
by Saunders, to whom William Burges entrusted the
windows in his cathedral at Cork and his churches
at Studleigh Royal and Skelton, near Ripon.

In the centre light is the Majesty; that on
either side contains the Blessed Virgin and St
Joseph; while in the outer ones are St Etheldreda
and St Bridget.

The grand west window has its tracery differ-
ently treated. Here we have also five lights with a
large circle above traceried with three smaller ones
cusped, the two lights on either side the central
one being grouped beneath a pointed head to form
subfenestrations. In this window Mr Hardman has
made a commencement of stained glass of excel-
lent character in commemoration of "the martyrs
who suffered under the Tudors and Stuarts," as
the inscription informs us.

The walls, north and south, are divided into
seven bays by a beautiful and delicate arcading,
the five wide bays having windows of Decorated
tracery, which have been restored from the single
example that remained at the eastern end.

1 1 8 London Churches

The whole of the wall gablets between the
windows have been restored where defective, and
altogether, with the window tracery, produce an
effective arcading on either side. The gablets are
acutely pointed and rise to the height of the
window arches. Their heads are filled with light
tracery, consisting of trefoiled cusping, and are
enriched by crockets and finials. The carved stone
corbels support modern statues, which give much
richness to the ensemble.

The windows are of two lights each, having a
cusped head with a trefoil above, while a sexfoiled
circle occupies the head of the window. All have
received their complement of stained glass by
Saunders. Each light contains two groups, well
separated by pattern work, and as the whole has
been carried out on one uniform plan the general
effect is very pleasing.

The jamb and mullion shafts have delicately
carved foliaged capitals, and the manner in which
the stonework has been executed is everything the
most conservative restorer could desire, the sec-
tion of the mouldings having been carefully taken
from the remaining fragments of the original work.
Two bays at the west end have merely the blank
cusped tracery to relieve the wall surfaces.

The roof is most interesting. It had long been
suspected that the chapel still possessed its ancient
timber roof, although carefully concealed by
modern disfigurements. Any doubts on the subject
were set at rest, when on Monday, April 19, 1875,
by removing slates in a line up to the ridge, a roof
in the simple and severe style adopted by four-
teenth-century architects, was laid bare. Its con-

St Etheldreda's, Ely Place 119

struction is that of a coupled rafter roof; there is
no ridge-piece and no longitudinal tie, except the
two wall-plates and the external boarding; the
rafters averaging eight inches by six inches laid
flatways, are about nine inches apart; there is a
vertical strut framed into the inner wall-plate and
the rafters, and above are crosspieces and a collar
all about eight inches by four inches; all the pieces
are united by double tenons and secured with
projecting wooden pegs. The shape is a plain
barrel polygonal one, and the material used —
chestnut wood — contrasts very agreeably with the
Caen stone ashlared walls.

One of the most interesting relics of the older
chapel is the Saxon font, found in the crypt
covered with a mass of concrete and forming the
base of one of the great chestnut posts that sup-
ported the roof. It is of Purbeck marble, and con-
sists of a plain circular bowl, with four rib-like
projections on the outside. It now stands on a cir-
cular stone base, and is used as a stoop for holy
water.

The main south entrance to the chapel is per-
haps unsurpassed as a doorway of its period. The
three jamb-shafts have been carefully restored,
and the mouldings look as sharp as when cut. The
doorway on the opposite side has been blocked, so
that only the inner work can be seen. It is of much
elegance, comprising a low acutely pointed arch-
way within a depressed headed one, which takes a
short vertical form on springing from the jamb-
shafts.

The west end of the building to the depth of
these doorways forms an antechapel, separated

I2O London Churches

from the chapel proper by a tall open screen of
wood, from the designs of the late Mr J. F. Ben-
tley, in the style transitionary between Late
Decorated and Perpendicular, and sustaining the
organ loft. A large rood is suspended from the roof
of the chapel towards its eastern extremity.

There are two interesting entries in the Diary
of John Evelyn with reference to this Chapel of
Ely House:

November 14, 1668. "To London, invited to the
consecration of that excellent person, the Deane
of Ripon, Dr Wilkins, now made Bishop of Ches-
ter; it was at Ely House, Archbp of Canterbury,
Dr Cosin, Bishop of Durham, the Bishops of Ely,
Salisbury, Rochester and others officiating. Dr
Tillotson preached. Then we went to a sumptuous
dinner in the Hall, where were the Duke of Bucking-
ham, Judges, Secretaries of State, Lord Keeper,
Council, Noblemen and innumerable other com-
pany, who were honourers of this incomparable
man, universally beloved by all who knew him."

April 27, 1693. "My daughter Susanna was
married to William Draper, Esq., in the Chapel
of Ely House, by Dr Tenison, Bp of Lincoln
(since Archbishop). I gave her in portion, .£4,000,
her jointure is £500 -per ann. I pray Almighty God
to give His blessing with this marriage. She is a
good child, religious, discreet, ingenious, and
qualified with all the ornaments of her sex. She
has a peculiar talent in designe, as painting in oil
and miniature, and an extraordinary genius for
whatever hands can do with a needle. She has the
French tongue, has read most of the Greek and
Roman authors, and Poets, using her talents with

St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster 121

greate modesty; exquisitely shaped, and of an agree-
able countenance. This character is due to her
tho' coming from her father."

An exemplary young lady this, truly!

Cowper thus chronicles an amusing occurrence in
this chapel at the time of the defeat of the Young
Pretender by the Duke of Cumberland in 1746:

So in the chapel of old Ely House,

When wandering Charles, who meant to be the Third,

Had fled from William, and the news was fresh,

The simple clerk, but loyal, did announce,

And eke did roar rightly merrily two staves,

Sung to the praise and glory of King George.

— The Task, Book vi.

A pride and glory of that meridian hour of Eng-
lish Gothic art, the first half of the fourteenth
century, is the Lower Chapel of St Stephen, in the
Palace of Westminster, whose rescue and restora-
tion for sacred purposes, after a long period of
misuse, must rank among the most important and
interesting works of some sixty years ago.

It is hardly necessary to premise that the apart-
ment which Mr E. M. Barry so boldly and succes-
fully renovated is the Under Chapel of the old St
Stephen's, commonly, but quite mistakenly,
called the Crypt, a word wholly inapplicable to a
room which stands upon the surface of the ground.

St Stephen's Chapel, that gem a priori of Eng-
lish art, and upon which was lavished all that the
Metropolis could produce most exquisite in the
arts of design, like every similar structure, notably
the Ste Chapelle at Paris, the church at Assisi, and
to name a smaller instance, the little chapel which
was enlarged by Mr Butterfield to serve the reli-

122 London Churches

gious wants of St Augustine's College, Canterbury,
was of two stories, of which the upper one became
in time the House of Commons, and the lower
at a later date the Speaker's dining-room.

When Sir Charles Barry came to design the New
Houses of Parliament after that fire of October
1 6, 1834, which was the indirect means of raising
him to fame and fortune, he found the Upper
Chapel of St Stephen's, not exactly in ruins, but
in such a condition that its preservation was im-
possible, while to restore it with anything like
accuracy would have been an hazardous under-
taking.* Its charred remains were therefore —
ruthlessly it must be owned — swept away in the
name of architectural uniformity, to give place to
the present meaningless " St Stephen's Hall."

After its destruction there still remained of the
old St Stephen's, that is to say of the religious
portion of the Palace of Westminster, the Under
Chapel of the time of Edward III,t and the Tudor

*In Buckler's design for the New Houses of Parliament, St
Stephen's Chapel, restored, formed a conspicuous object. Cot-
tingham and Savage, two other competitors, exhibited models
for its restoration. Wyatt and Goodridge were for lengthening it.

tit appears from the Patent Roll of 22 Edward III, that the
foundations of the new chapel were laid in that year — " De
fundatione capellae S. Stephani in palatio Westmonasterii " —
and it seems to have been completed in about fifteen years, as
another Roll of the 37th of the same King gives directions for its
decoration. A beautiful series of engravings and a complete
restoration of this chapel, most carefully and conscientiously
drawn out by Mackenzie, was published by the Government in
1844, in royal folio. Mackenzie was the best architectural
draughtsman of his day, and some of his drawings are as accurate
as photographs. He was largely employed by John Britton to
illustrate his Cathedral Antiquities (1814-1835).

St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster 123

cloisters, which latter indeed furnished Sir Charles
Barry with the motif for the main decoration of
the entire new palace.

Early in the work the cloisters were carefully
restored, but no practical use was at that time
discovered for the ex-dining-room of the Speaker,
which long remained untouched and unmoder-
nized in the condition of ruin to which the fire
had reduced it. Then it was restored architectu-
rally, and remained for a long period clean, and
white and empty. At last, in 1863, it was placed
in the hands of Mr E. M. Barry (third son of Sir
Charles) for decoration and furniture in a style
consistent with its sacred intended destination —
that of the Chapel of the Parliament; and corre-
sponding with the style of its architecture. In 1865
it was thrown open for public inspection.

The Chapel is composed of five bays with
simple vaulting, complicated in appearance by the
ribs and the windows. On the north side each of
the foremost eastern bays enclosed a window of
four lights, with trefoiled heads without ramifica-
tions,* while the western bay was filled with
screenwork similar to the windows, but pierced
with doorways in the two central lights. The west
end was a blank, and the south side similar to the
north, except that the western bay was blank. At
the east end where the vaulting dies away against
the east wall with a curvature so graceful as almost
to produce the effect of an apse, there were three
windows each of three lights, all filled with bold
tracery, recalling rather the Geometric of the earlier
Edwardian style than that which was in vogue
*Vide the drawings by Mackenzie already alluded to.

124 London Churches

when the chapel was built. The main bosses of the
vault, happily preserved, though not without some
mutilations, through the days of desecration and
the epoch of the fire, represented famous mar-
tyrdoms, in reference to the dedicating of the
whole chapel to the first martyr.

To accommodate the chapel to a condition of
imprisonment within gigantic structures which
had no existence, or thought of existence, while
St Stephen's then stood on the very bank of the
silver Thames, was Mr Barry's task. He had also
to invest what was originally only the undercroft
with the dignity and proportions which it had the
right to assume when on the destruction of the
upper story it had become the chapel of the
"Palace of Westminster." These two demands
were ably met. The first, of course, involved the
darkening of an already dark building, but for this
Mr Barry was not responsible. The western win-
dows had to be filled up, leaving the tracery to
mark the now fenestriform panels. Then doors had
to be contrived in the west wall and in the wes-
tern bay of the south side.

Furthermore, the eastern bay had to be taken in
hand and converted into a sanctuary, by raising it
on three steps, in addition to the altar footpace of
one step. Also the most eastern window on the
north side has been pierced in its two central lights
with openings copied from the original ones in the
most western bay on the same side.

With the exception of these changes, the under-
croft of St Stephen's is what it was when it left
the hands of its Edwardian architect, and there
can be no doubt the Victorian one had full and

St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster 125

ample justification for all the modifications which
he introduced.

The damage of time and weather was, of course,
repaired, and as in other details, so especially in
the mouldings of the roof-ribs, the architectural
student may study a series of examples of peculiar
originality and boldness.

I may refer in particular to one oft-repeated
moulding, which is actually identical with, and no
doubt copied from, some example of the Greek
fret. One feature that contributes greatly to the
general effect is the very bold trefoiled feathering
— if so constructional a feature can be called by
that name — of the windows.

The nine pictures of saints on a gold ground
were executed under the direction of Messrs
Clayton and Bell, who also decorated that bay of
the roof over the altar, the subjects being angels
in graceful attitudes on a ground of gold and scroll-
work. The decoration of the remainder of the roof
and the west end was entrusted to Grace, and for
the stained glass, some of which stood out among
the best examples in the Exhibition of 1862,
Hardman was responsible. Altogether this interes-
ting remains of fourteenth-century Gothic presents
an admirable study in artificial polychromy, rich,
yet at the same time tempered with judgement.

Of the conventual establishments of mediaeval
London, the house of the Augustinian Friars in
Erode Street, as it was then called, was one of the
most notable, both for the renown of the Order, for
its wealth and learning, and for the magnificence of
the buildings and grounds, which covered many
acres.

126 London Churches

Of the conventual buildings naught exists, and
scarcely anything is known; but of the church, the
nave with its aisles still remains, and enables us to
form a good idea of the grandeur and magnificent
scale of the whole.

This portion has a peculiar value, on account of
its being a type of those large churches which are
so well suited for crowded cities; not a Cathedral
or a Minster, but something more imposing than a
mere parish church. Richard Carpenter, one of the
most distinguished architects of the earlier period
of the Gothic Revival, is said to have founded his
style upon it, and it furnished Pugin with the idea
which he worked out, with cramped means at his
disposal, in St George's, Lambeth.

Sir Gilbert Scott likewise had a great admiration
for it, holding it up as a noble model of a preach-
ing nave, for which purpose it was, no doubt, origi-
nally intended, being of great size and, for an un-
clerestoried one, of unusual loftiness.

It is, in fact, a perfect model of what is most prac-
tically useful in the nave of a head town church.

As I have already detailed the circumstances of
its passing into the hands of its present possessors,*
I will pass on to speak of the architecture of this
church of the Augustine Friars.

It was founded in 1253 by Humphrey Bohun,
Earl of Hereford and Essex, and a century later
was rebuilt by his namesake and successor to the
title, in doing which it is highly probable that, to
some extent at least, the original plan was fol-
lowed, and perhaps some of the old foundations
re-used.

• Chapter ii, p. 5 1.

Church of the Austin Friars 127

The first nave, in its style and arrangement,
probably resembled that of the Temple Church,
which was in course of erection at the same time,
and was dedicated in 1 240.

This arrangement consists of a broad nave, with
side aisles of unusual breadth, covered at one level
with three high-pitched roofs, and lighted by
large windows in the side walls.*

These windows in the first church were pro-
bably triple lancets in the Early English style, as
may now be seen in the Temple Church, but at
the second building were altered to four-light
windows, with curvilinear tracery of that peculiar
flamboyant character which marks the reign of the
Third Edward.

Although there appears to be no record or even
allusion to such fact, the existing fabric affords
clear and indubitable evidence of a third building:
for with the exception of the window tracery
above referred to, every part of it bears the im-
press of the fifteenth century. The mouldings
throughout, including the inner and outer arch
and jamb-mouldings to the windows, are unmis-
takably of this period.

The piers of the arches separating the nave from
the aisles are identical in plan with those of St
Mary's, Stamford. The bases are circular next the
shaft, and octagonal below; the capitals, circular
at the junction of the shaft, have octagonal abaci;

*Thrs type of church is of constant occurrence in Northern
Germany, very imposing examples existing in Milnster, Soest,
Paderborn, Herford, Halle, Marburg and Garlitz. There, how-
ever, the three aisles were always included under one enormous
high-pitched roof.

128 London Churches

the mouldings to the external jambs and arches
of the windows are Late Perpendicular; the label
moulding to the same is simply hollowed below
and splayed above.

From these tokens we may conclude that the
nave was rebuilt during the last half of the fifteenth
century, and that the window tracery of the
second church was inserted in the new walls.

This tracery features very strongly that in the
windows of the Latin Chapel in Oxford Cathedral,
said to have been founded by Lady Montacute
(d. 1353) and that of the rose window in the south
transept of Lincoln Cathedral (c. 1350). It also
approaches some French flamboyant work, such as
we see in the choir windows of St Sernin at
Toulouse.

From old chronicles and official documents it
would appear that there were nave and choir, with
north and south aisles, transepts, Chapels of St
John and St Thomas, cloisters, etc. Of these the
nave, with its aisles, is all that remains. That they
are entire is clear from the fact of the large piers
and arches, at the junction with the transept, be-
ing still in existence, though sadly mutilated. The
nave is divided into nine bays of equal width, the
easternmost of the arches being about one foot
narrower than the others.

In point of size this nave of the Austin Friars'
Church will bear comparison with some great
cathedral churches. Thus the extreme length of
Austin Friars between the walls is 153 feet, while
that of Exeter measures 140 feet. The clear width
of the nave of Austin Friars is eighty-three feet,
that of Exeter is seventy feet, of Ely and Peter-

WEST FRONT OP THE AUSTIN FRIARS' CHURCH.

Church of the Austin Friars 129

borough seventy-five feet, and of Winchester
eighty feet.

Old chroniclers are loud in praise of the steeple,
which, it appears, rose at the intersection of the
four arms. Stow, in his Survey of London, calls it
"a most fine spired steeple, small, high and
straight"; adding, "I have not seen the like."
Previously he had stated that "the church, en-
closed from the steeple and the choir, was given to
the Dutch"; which passages, read together, and
coupled with the fact that the remaining piers are
too slight to have carried a stone spire, lead to the
conclusion that it was a wooden fleche at the in-
tersection of the roofs. This "spired steeple " was
blown down in 1362, but was rebuilt forthwith,
and in 1603, though much impaired, was still
standing. In 1600 the parishioners of St Peter-le-
Poer petitioned the Lord Mayor and Aldermen,
and through them the Marquis of Winchester, to
repair the ruinous steeple, the fall of which was
imminent, but no notice seems to have been taken,
for the steeple with the eastern part of the church
was soon after removed.

The interior of the church appears to have been
a favourite burying place for nobles as well as
citizens, for in the Harleian MSS. a list of persons
buried here is given, which includes some sixty
Marquises and other noblemen of various ranks.
In the pavement of the church are still existing
many slabs of Purbeck marble bearing the sockets
of brasses, but every vestige of brass has long since
disappeared. There is also a portion of a Purbeck
marble altar slab bearing two of the five crosses.

In 1829 the whole of the exterior was covered

1-9

130 London Churches

with Roman cement, the mouldings pared away,
the water tables to the buttresses on the north
side altered, and their original character de-
stroyed, the ingenious perpetrator of all this mis-
chief concluding his labours by facetiously in-
scribing in the stucco of the gable the date A.D. 1254,
in large Roman capitals.

In November, 1862, this noble fragment fell a
victim to the carelessness of plumbers, the roofs of
the nave and the north aisle being burnt. The rest
of the building was but little injured, in fact it
could scarcely be said to have suffered at all, the
walls and arcades sustaining no injury worth men-
tioning. Fears, however, were entertained lest the
Church should be swept away and replaced by
some degraded substitute. Happily, public opi-
nion, backed by the urgent and timely remon-
strances addressed to the Dutch Consistory by the
Ecclesiological and other Architectural Societies
was brought to bear, and the work placed in the
hands of a young architect named Lightly (too
soon lost to the world), who was given carte blanche
in the matter, and the church was satisfactorily
restored.

The interior of the vast nave of the Austin
Friars' Church still presents, amidst all its desola-
tion, a most affecting and magnificent spectacle.
The clustered piers and exquisite windows, and
the noble air and grand proportions of the whole,
still possess inspiration for all who can appreciate
the beautiful and true in architectural science.
Not only can art discourse to us of her mar-
vels, but religion herself can whisper to us of
much — much to be learned, much to be loved,

St Helen's, Bishopsgate 131

much to be prayed for, much to be deprecated —
on the time-worn pavement, beneath the lofty
arches, and amidst the venerable walls of "Austin
Friars."

Were I asked to name the most truly pictorial
of old London church interiors, I should point
without hesitation to that of St Helen's, Bishops-
gate.

If not remarkable for magnitude or architec-
tural excellence, St Helen's contains specimens of
almost every variation of the Pointed Style, from
the commencement of the thirteenth century to
the last declension of its use, when it yielded to the
newly imported architecture of Italy, one of the
earliest specimens of which is also to be seen in the
woodwork of this building.

To the outward eye St Helen's appears to be-
long exclusively to the Perpendicular or Third
Pointed epoch of Gothic, and to consist of two
parallel naves of equal height and length, with a
south transept from which open two chapels. But
the structure is of much more remote foundation,
and owing to the numerous strata that time has
deposited upon its original nucleus, it presents a
more intricate problem for solution than might at
first sight be supposed.

Dedicated to St Helen, the mother of Con-
stantine, born, it is said, at Colchester, the church
was in existence previously to 1010, as appears
from a circumstance recorded that in this year the
remains of King Edmund the Martyr, whose name
is commemorated by one London City church, St
Edmund the King and Martyr, in Lombard
Street, were removed from St Edmundsbury, and

132 London Churches

deposited at St Helen's for three years, until the
depredations of the Danes had ceased. In 1180 one
Ranulph and Robert his son, granted St Helen's
to the Canons of St Paul's. These gave lease to
William Fitzwilliam, a goldsmith, to found a
priory of Benedictine nuns, dedicated to the Holy
Cross and St Helen. Of the ancient church before
the foundation of this religious house by Fitz-
william nothing remains to this day to show us
what manner of building it was; we can only sur-
mise that it would have been a plain Norman
structure, consisting of a nave and chancel and
possibly a south porch and western tower, and
occupying much about the same site as the pre-
sent parish church. But when the priory of Bene-
dictine nuns was founded, the simple Norman
church was rebuilt (c. 1212) on a grander scale.
A second nave and choir were added on the north
side of the parish church — a not unusual arrange-
ment, the church of Higham Ferrers being an ex-
ample— thus solving the problem of converting a
parish church into one suitable for a religious com-
munity, while preserving to the parishioners their
vested rights in their own church and high altar.

At that period, to judge from such existing
thirteenth-century remains as the small lancet
window at the north-west angle of the "nuns'
choir," and some blocked ones of the same form in
the south transept, the church first assumed the
appearance that it presents to-day, for the plan,
with one or two additions, remains the same.

This Norman and Early English structure seems
to have undergone considerable alterations in the
reign of Edward II, when William de Basing,

St Helen's, Bishopsgate 133

Sheriff of London, became a most liberal benefac-
tor to the church and convent. Of the work of this
period the outer piers and arch of the fifth bay,
counting from the west, in the arcade dividing the
two naves, and the jambs and arches of the great
eastern window of the "nuns' choir" may be
cited as specimens.

Another benefactor was Adam Francis, Lord
Mayor of London, who built the Chapels of the
Holy Ghost and St Mary, thus dedicated accord-
ing to the terms of his will; but the most impor-
tant change in the church, and one which must
have revolutionized both its external and internal
aspect completely, took place shortly after the
middle of the fifteenth century, when Sir John
Crosbie, the owner and builder of that gem of old
English architecture, I mean, of course, Crosby
Hall, left a large sum of money, 500 marks, for the
repair of the church, and for the solemn obits for
his soul.

Sir John was buried in the Chapel of the Holy
Ghost in 1475, where his tomb and effigy, and that
of his wife, Agnes, who predeceased him by eleven
years, still remains.

Since the foundation of the priory 260 years
previously, the soil had accumulated considerably
around the church, and Crosbie's 500 marks were
expended in altering the levels to suit this accu-
mulation.

The arcade between the two naves, with the
exception of one arch, was entirely rebuilt, and
the church re-roofed; the original high-pitched
roofs giving place to the present ones, or to roofs
very similar. The lancet windows were either re-

134 London Churches

moved or blocked up, and others whose original
design has been lost, introduced. The framework
of the window above the high altar may be as-
signed to this period, likewise the two arches
dividing the parochial chancel from the transept
and its chapels, and the doorways of the staircase
leading to the conventual buildings at the north-
east corner of the "nuns' choir." The two arches
dividing the transept from the chapels would
appear to have been rebuilt about Henry VII's
reign.

In 1631 extensive repairs and alterations were
carried out from the designs of Inigo Jones, who
gave us those large three-light windows in the
north wall of the " nuns' choir," altered the form
of others, and designed the beautiful western and
southern inner door cases.

At the Reformation this parish church, which
had existed from time immemorial, before this
sumptuous growth of the priory church, welded
as it were to its side, had overshadowed but never
obliterated the parent stem, was saved — a curious
instance of the intense vitality of that ancient
parochial system instituted in the purest and
earliest ages of Christianity and surviving to our
own times, its manifold blessings divine, its im-
perfections the work of men's hands.

Of the conventual buildings — an admirable
description of which may be read in the Transac-
tions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological
Journal for 1856 — now nothing remains, unless
there may be some forgotten crypts among the
modern cellars of St Helen's Place, which was
built on the site of the nunnery in 1799. The

St Helen's, Bishopsgate 135

buildings which had fallen into the capacious
maw of that truly infamous Richard Williams,
alias Cromwell, were sold to the Leathersellers
Company, who occupied them as their hall.

Numerous old illustrations are extant showing
these, with the Elizabethan Hall occupying
probably the place of the dormitory, with the
vaulted sub-structure still standing.

The nuns' hall, or refectory, was to the north of
the cloister; a view of this in its ruined state is
given in Wilkinson's Londina Illustrata; the end
wall would appear to have had three lancet win-
dows.

During the great Rebellion the only record
is one of destruction, "paid a carver for defa-
cing the superstitious inscriptions, twenty-two
shillings."

In 1696 repairs were again necessary, and it was
agreed that Sir Christopher Wren should be con-
sulted. Whether this was ever done is uncertain,
but at this time the bells in the belfry, over the
entrance in Bishopsgate Street, were removed and
three of them were sold, the rest being retained
and placed in the present bell-turret, which was
then erected. In 1723 Mr Francis Bancroft, carver
to the Lord Mayor, carved for himself a goodly
slice of ground in the north nave whereon to erect
an enormous and hideous tomb, which, since the
lowering of the pavement in that portion of the
church, has been made to take a less exalted posi-
tion.

After passing through the usual stages of in-
difference and bad taste during the eighteenth and
early part of the last centuries, St Helen's was

136 London Churches

restored to something of its pristine condition,
firstly between 1865 anc^ 1868, under Messrs
Wadmore and Baker, who made many interesting
discoveries; secondly, under Mr I'Anson; and lastly,
under the late Mr J. L. Pearson.*

That unusual picturesqueness of the interior of
St Helen's to which I have alluded is due, in some
degree, to the descent into the body of the church
from the west door by a few steps.

The two parallel naves and chancels are separa-
ted from one another by six arches, of which the
first four counting from the west are the very
graceful Perpendicular ones, introduced after the
alterations in the middle of the fifteenth century,
while the fifth would appear to be a mingling of
the remains of the Early English and Decorated
periods. The last bay belongs to the Perpendicular
period, as do the two separated by a thick pier —
between the chancel and the south transept, with
its adjacent chapel.

To understand the peculiar arrangement of St
Helen's, it must be remembered that the northern
portion was formed by the nave and choir of the
nuns' church having been added to the parish
church for the use of the inmates of the adjoining
convent. A continuous screen separated the two
halves until the dissolution of the house in 1537,
when it was removed, and the whole space thrown
into the parish church.

Prior to 1865 the southern nave was divided by
a screen erected in 1744, which crossed it at the
second pillar from the west end, making a small

*Many interesting fragments of stonework, tiles, etc., are
preserved in cases at the west end of the northern nave.

w

o

x

O

-

x

ffl

Cfl

St Helen's, Bishopsgate 137

ante-nave. This screen was surmounted by a gal-
lery, in which stood the organ, originally built in
1742 by Bridge,* but since its removal to the tran-
sept, altered and enlarged, the old case being hap-
pily retained.

The inner door-case to the western entrance,
attributed to Inigo Jones, is enriched with Corin-
thian pilasters and a profusion of carving, and
bears the inscription, "This is none other than the
howse of God. This is the gate of Heaven."

Equally rich is the door-case of the Ionic Order
to the southern entrance. It now supports the cen-
tral portion of the cornice of the old Wrennian
altarpiece removed in 1865.

The pulpit is noteworthy as an elaborate piece
of seventeenth-century carving, with a large
sounding board, the design for which has been
attributed to Inigo Jones.

Another interesting piece of woodwork is the
case containing the stairs to the bell-turret, be-
tween the two naves at the west end. Constructed
in imitation of rustic work, it shows in height suc-
cessively three orders of architecture in pilasters.
The poor-box, supported on a terminal figure re-
presenting a beggar soliciting alms, also deserves
attention.

Until the Late Perpendicular alterations, the
windows throughout generally were, there can be
no doubt, simple lancets; now they are not very
graceful, almost flat-headed ones of three or more
lights, whose heaviness is accentuated by the over-

*One of the most celebrated builders of the eighteenth cen-
tury. He built the great organs in Spitalfields and Shoreditch
churches.

i38

London Churches

rich stained glass with which they are mostly
equipped. White, that characteristic feature of
old Perpendicular work has been used far too spar-
ingly by their artists; regrettably so in a church
where as much light as possible was required.
Perhaps the most satisfactory window is the lancet
at the west end of the north nave wall, containing
the effigy of a bishop in pontificalibus, and inserted
by gift of Mr Wadmore — one of the architects of
the restoration — as a memorial to his ancestor,
Dr Robinson, Bishop of London from 1714 to
1723.*

The large windows at the east end of the paro-
chial and nuns' choirs had been gutted of their
tracery during some debased epoch, so that that
which now fills them is modern and purely con-
jectural.

It cannot, however, be said that the mingling
of Decorated and Perpendicular tracery in the
seven-light window above the high altar is at all
happy; but the stained glass, by Heaton Butler
and Bayne, which fills it, is certainly more trans-
lucent than that in the great east window of the
nuns' choir, where Messrs Powell's figures of St
Helen and the Evangelists are absolute scare-
crows and, in a dim light, hardly distinguishable
from the positive colouring with which the artists

*John Robinson was the successor of Henry Compton in the
See of London. On this occasion there was a return to the old
practice of rewarding services to the State by high ecclesiastical
dignity. Robinson (like Pace of old) was a diplomatist, rather
than a divine. He had done useful service as Ambassador at
Warsaw; far more useful and distinguished as a plenipotentiary
at the all-important Treaty of Utrecht. He had held high pre-
ferment— a stall, a deanery, and a bishopric — that of Bristol.

St Helen's, Bishopsgate 139

have thought proper to overload their back-
grounds. Really Messrs Powell ought to have done
better, seeing that this window was erected by the
Gresham Committee as a memorial to so great a
benefactor to the church and City as Sir Thomas.

Previous to the restoration of 1865 there were
many fragments of old stained glass in St Helen's,
mostly of an armorial character. Such as had es-
caped destruction was then reglazed elsewhere and
utilized. That formerly in the window over the
altar was introduced into the window of the Holy
Ghost Chapel, and skilfully blended with modern
glass.

The present arrangement of the parochial
chancel, with its richly carved screen and parclose,
founded on the best West Anglian models, and
its imposing altarpiece in the form of a carved and
painted triptych, are due to the late Mr J. L.
Pearson, under whose direction the floor of the
conventual portion of the church, which had been
raised a few steps above that of the parochial one
in 1633, was reduced to the present and original
level.

The series of old stalls which had been appro-
priated to the poor of the parish, and which were
in all probability those of the nuns of St Helen's,
have been placed for the choir in the chancel.
Their construction is very simple; they are merely
separated by sweeping elbows, and have neither
backs nor canopies. Some seventeenth-century
pewing has been worked up to form subsellae for
the junior choristers, with remarkably happy effect.

While the restorations of sixty years ago were
in progress, some criticisms were passed upon the

140 London Churches

removal of these stalls from their supposed original
position.

Whatever site they may have occupied in olden
times, it certainly was not that from which they
were then removed; a fact which was proved by
the various openings in the north wall, and by the
different levels of the church floor in former times.

It was the first intention of Messrs Wadmore
and Baker to leave the stalls as they found them,
i.e. against the north wall of the nuns' choir;
but in removing some deal boarding which
formed the backing, and which was carried up
some five or six feet above the top rail, they dis-
covered the head of an Early Pointed arch, of the
date of the foundation of the convent (1212), and
about ten feet further westwards the head of a
Tudor doorway, when the seats were removed and
the ground excavated. The Pointed arch proved
to be a former opening to the cloisters of the con-
vent; and at the depth of three feet ten inches
below the flooring, as it existed previously to its
lowering under Mr Pearson, some of the original
tile paving was found; in the other doorway the
stone sill, two feet below the same level; and in the
thickness of the wall, stairs which formerly led to
the dormitory, as in every other similar instance,
for the convenience of the religious when attend-
ing the night-hours.

Other openings, apparently hagioscopes, were
also discovered at intervals, and to these iron
grilles appear to have been fixed; but all had been
hidden and closed by the benches.

It follows, therefore, that these stalls, as placed
before their removal to the parochial choir, in

St Helen's, Bishopsgate 141

1868, could not have been in situ; and that they
had not been placed there until the floor had been
raised to its late level in 1633, while the suppres-
sion of the convent took place in 1537.

In addition to this we find, in the parish re-
cords, that in the year 1699 the corporation of the
poor of London obtained permission for the chil-
dren and servants to sit in the nuns' choir, a situa-
tion which they continued to occupy until the
alterations of 1865. Therefore, in the absence of
any evidence of their original position, the archi-
tects deemed it best to place these stalls where
they might be of use, and where they were likely
to receive the attention which they merit.

To the roof over the choir, during the Laudian
restoration, were added a series of paintings of
apostles and saints which fell victims to the des-
tructive propensities of a Protestant vicar about
eighty years ago. The quaint piece of carved work
against the pier, between the two arches on the
south side of the choir, is used to sustain the Lord
Mayor's sword when he visits the church in state.
It consists of two Corinthian columns supporting
an entablature highly enriched, and an attic panel.
The shafts of the columns are set off with a wreath
of foliage running round them with remarkably
happy effect. There is also an elaborate rest for the
mayoral insignia in wrought iron, with the Royal,
the Mercers', and another Company's arms em-
blazoned.

A curious relic, in the form of a small sitting
figure of a female in the act of reading from a book,
which rests on the knee and is supported by the
right hand, is preserved here.

142 London Churches

It is evidently a Roman Sybil, but has been said
to represent St Helen. When it had been thoroughly-
cleansed of numerous coats of black paint, it proved
to be of alabaster and of rare Italian workmanship,
previous to the time of Michael Angelo, and but
little injured, though how it came into the posses-
sion of the church has never been found out.

The church is extremely rich in monuments and
brasses, certain of which were removed hither
from St Martin Outwich, on its demolition in
1874. ^ne tomb of Sir John Crosbie, and that of
Otewiche and his wife, two of the finest and most
interesting monumental effigies in England of the
date of Henry VI, will perhaps secure the greatest
attention from the student of ancient sepulchral
memorials ; thence going on from the tomb of Sir
William Pickering, with its exquisite and life-like
effigy, of the date 1574, to tnat ^ess °rnate but
beautiful tomb of Sir Thomas Gresham, and the
mural tablets of Judd, the Bonds and Sir John and
Lady Spencer, we find a complete and valuable
representation of the costume in vogue for up-
wards of a century (1470-1599).

From St Martin's was also brought the cano-
pied altar tomb of Alderman Pemberton. It was
once inlaid with brasses, now unhappily stolen,
and it has been further disfigured with a squint cut
clean through where the brasses were. One coat-
of-arms left is interesting as showing the ancient
coat of the Merchant Taylors. There is also a
mural monument of Elizabeth's time to Alderman
Staper, restored some years ago by Mr Poole; and
lastly, several very interesting brasses: a man and
his wife, 1470; a lady in heraldic mantle, 1490;

St Helen's, Bishopsgate 143

Thomas Williams and wife, 1495; John Leven-
thorpe, Esq., 1516; Robert Rochester, Esq., 1514;
John Breieux (1459) and Nicholas Wotton
(1483), Rectors of St Martin, Outwich. All except
the last two are in situ at St Helen's.

Allusion was made just now to Crosby Hall,
whose fate, as these pages are passing through the
press, trembles in the balance.

When this unique specimen of the mediaeval
domestic architecture of London was first built in
the fifteenth century, it was described as "ye
highest and fairest in ye Citie." It was here, on
June 23, 1483, that the Lord Mayor and citizens
offered the crown to the Duke of Gloucester.
Shakespeare lived hard by, and refers to Crosby
Hall as "Crosby Place" in King Richard III,

Gloucester. — That it may please you leave these sad designs
To him that hath most cause to be a mourner,
And presently repair to Crosby Place;
Where, after I have solemnly interred
At Chertsey Monastery this noble King,
And wet his grave with my repentant tears,
I will with all expedient duty see you:
For divers unknown reasons, I beseech you
Grant me this boon.

Richard III, Act I, Sc. 2.

Gloucester. — Well thought upon; I have it here about me:
When you have done, repair to Crosby Place.

Ibid. Act I, Sc. 3.

Here Katherine of Arragon and Queen Elizabeth
were in turn feted with all that pomp and circum-
stance which characterized alike the beginning and
the end of the sixteenth century. The oak roofs,
the throne room, the hall of Kings, of city

144 London Churches

magnates, of great nobles — a mansion, a prison,
a meeting house, a literary institute, a wine
merchant's warehouse and a restaurant — the pile
has played a varied part in "our rough island
story." Ninety years ago Crosby Hall was care-
fully and conservatively restored under the direc-
tion of the architect, Blackburn, to whom But-
terfield was articled at the time, and one of the
most zealous promoters of, and most gracious
donors towards the fund for its conservation, was
Miss Maria Hackett, the "choristers' friend,"
then resident in Crosby Square, close by.*

In his Choristers' School of St Paul's Cathedral Mr
John S. Bumpus, among many other pleasant remin-
iscences of this exemplary Christian lady, who gained
the love and respect of everybody, and whose fine
public spirit and refined antiquarian taste led to
the restoration of Crosby Hall, tells us that she
founded an annual prize for the encouragement of
the composition of Church Music in its purest
form. This was a gold medal of .£5 value, and called
the "Gresham Prize." Among the winners were
the names of several who afterwards distinguished
themselves as organists and composers, such as
John Goss, G. J. Elvey, C. Lucas, Rev. W. H.
Havergal, E. J. Hopkins and J. K. Pyne. Some of
these compositions were first sung at St Helen's,
Bishopsgate, at the commemorations of Sir

*Miss Maria Hackett died at the age of ninety, Nov. 5, 1874,
whilst receiving the Blessed Sacrament at the hands of the Rev.
W. J. Hall, one of the Minor Canons of St Paul's, for which
Cathedral she had so remarkable a devotion. In the possession
of Mr John S. Bumpus is a letter from Mr Butterfield to Miss
Hackett, respecting some details in connexion with the restora-
tion of Crosby Hall. It is dated June 2, 1836.

St Ethelburga's, Bishopsgate 145

Thomas Gresham, and others at Crosby Hall, the
Mansion House and some of the Halls of the City
Companies. The first prize was awarded in 1831,
and the last in 1845, when they ceased to be given.

In the possession of Mr Bumpus is an album,
formerly kept at Crosby Hall, in which visitors wrote
their names when they came to view the works of re-
storation. It contains many autographs of the high-
est interest.

Of the little church of St Ethelburga, Bishops-
gate Street, so curiously sandwiched in between
two shops, with another shop forming a species
of penthouse above the doorway, the earliest ac-
count on record is 1 366, when Robert Kilwardeby
was rector. The advowson, which is a rectory, was
vested in the prioress and nuns of St Helen's, till
the suppression of the convent in 1539, when,
passing to the Crown, it was, some time after,
granted by Queen Elizabeth to the Bishop of
London and his successors, who have ever since
collated and inducted to the living.

The present turret and cupola were substituted
some time during the latter part of the eighteenth
century, for the little spire shown in West and
Tom's view (c. 1750).

Measuring but fifty-four feet in length by
twenty-five feet in breadth and but thirty-one
feet high, St Ethelburga's is the smallest of the
mediaeval City churches. There is only a nave and
south aisle divided by a very good arcade of Per-
pendicular columns and arches dating from the
reign of King Henry VI. Otherwise there is little
architectural merit in St Ethelburga's, it having
been much spoilt during successive debased epochs.

I-IO

146 London Churches

In Godwin and Britton's Churches of London
there is a charming engraving of the interior as it
appeared about 1838, showing the classic altar-
piece with its seven candlesticks, a fine old brass
chandelier or "branch," the pulpit against the
north wall, the old Renaissance font in the fore-
ground, high pews, and large round-headed win-
dow over the altar, containing the arms of the
Mercers', Sadlers' and Vintners' Companies in
stained glass. This armorial work was removed to
the window on the north side of the chancel about
1873, when the old Wrennian (?) window was re-
placed by one consisting of five cinquefoil lights
within a depressed arch, and filled with stained
glass, by the late Mr C. E. Kempe. As this window
in St Ethelburga's is one of that artist's earliest
works, it must be regarded with interest.

Much white glass is used, and the whole is fre-
quently taken by the uninitiated for a genuine piece
of fifteenth-century work.

The present ritual arrangements date from
1862, when the church was placed in the hands of
Mr R. J. Withers by the late rector, the Rev.
J. M. Rodwell, who subsequently enriched the
church with a beautiful altarpiece, containing six
panels of minutely carved subjects. This disap-
peared during the troubles consequent upon the
passing of the Public Worship Regulation Act, the
church having been singled out for attack, and the
large congregation gathered within its walls on
Sundays and weekdays* dispersed by the Bishop

*St Ethelburga's was one of the first City Churches to adopt
the short midday service. The use of the Eucharistic vestments —
cope, altar lights and incense — was introduced by Mr Rodwell
early in the 'sixties, and until 1878 St Ethelburga's was the most
advanced church in the city.

St Ethelburga's, Bishop sgate 147

of London (Dr Jackson) in his efforts to "stamp
out ritualism."

It is pleasant, however, to chronicle in these
pages that, after passing through some vicissi-
tudes, St Ethelburga's is now pursuing the even
tenor of its way under its present energetic
rector, the Rev. Dr Cobb.

The saint to whom this church is dedicated
was the 'sister of Erconwald, Bishop of London,
who, in compliance with the earnest desire of his
relative, founded, about the year 670, the Abbey
of Barking, in Essex, of which Ethelburga was
appointed first abbess. Most of her successors were
of high rank — like the German abbesses of Essen,
Gandersheim, Herford and Quedlinburg — and
some of them were of blood-royal. The nuns of
Barking were of the Benedictine Order, and the
abbess was one of the four who were baronesses in
right of their station; for she held her lands by a
barony, and though her sex prevented her from
sitting in Parliament or attending the King in his
wars, she furnished her quota of men, and took
precedency of the other abbesses. The abbey was
surrendered to Henry VIII in 1539, when a pen-
sion of two hundred marks per annum was granted
to Dorothy Barley, the last abbess, and various
pensions to the nuns, thirty in number.

To St Ethelburga's came John Hudson and
many of his crew to receive the Blessed Sacrament,
before they left their native shores in 1610 for that
expedition to the Northern Seas which ended so
disastrously.

The churchwardens of this parish appear, from
the accounts, to have provided profusely for their

148 London Churches

Ascension Day dinner in 1686: "Three quarters
of lamb; 600 of sparagrasse, sallatering and spinach;
400 oranges and lemmons, three hams, Westphalia
bacon, and half pound of tobaccoe." There are also
charges for "Yew and box to decke ye church,"
"hearbes" for the same, "wands and nosegays,"
"strawings and greenes."

Dryden's antagonist, Luke Milbourne, died
April 15, 1720, rector of St Ethelburga's.*

Returning to "Great St Helen's," and passing
thence to St Mary Axe, we encounter the large
Late Perpendicular Church of St Andrew Under-
shaft, so-called, as Stow informs us, " because that
of old time every year (on May day in the morn-
ing) it was used that an high or long shaft or May-
pole was set up there before the south door of the
said church." As the shaft overtopped the steeple,
the church in St Mary Axe received the addi-
tional name of St Andrew Undershaft, to distin-
guish it from other churches in London dedicated
to the same saint. This shaft is alluded to in
"A Chance of Dice," a poem attributed to
Chaucer, but now unknown.

The last year of its overlooking the church was
on "Evil May-day "15 17, when a serious fray took

•Milbourne is immortalized by Pope in his Dunciad, Bk II:

And Milbourn chief, deputed by the rest,

Gave him the cassock, surcingle and vest,

"Receive," he said, "these robes which once were mine,

Dulness is sacred in a sound divine."

"The Rev. Luke Milbourne, the fairest of critics; who when he
wrote against Mr Dryden's Virgil, did him justice in printing at
the same time his own translations of him, which were intoler-
able. His manner of writing has a great resemblance with that of
the gentleman of the Dunciad against an author." — Pope.

St Andrew Undershaft 149

place, amid the gaieties of the occasion, between
the apprentices and the settled foreigners of the
parish. This was good reason for not hoisting it
again; and for two-and-thirty years the shaft re-
mained unraised. Another fate yet awaited it. A
certain curate of the neighbouring St Catherine
Cree, whom Stow calls Sir Stephen, preached
against it at Paul's Cross, and accused the inhabi-
tants of the parish it was in of setting up for
themselves an idol, inasmuch as they had named
their church with the addition of "under the
shaft." "I heard his sermon at Paul's Cross," says
Stow, "and I saw the effect that followed." The
effect was that the inhabitants first sawed into
pieces, and then burnt, the old Maypole of their
parish.

The original Church of St Andrew Undershaft
was built in 1362, and rebuilt on a larger scale in
1520 by Stephen Jennings, Merchant Tailor, and
sometime Lord Mayor, as appears by his arms,
which are carved on every pier.

Architecturally this church is not particularly
good or remarkable, being of the latest Perpen-
dicular character, but it is lightsome, lofty and
town-like, consisting of a clerestoried nave, two
aisles, and a tower at the west end of the south
aisle. As in all the old London Perpendicular
churches there is no arch between the nave and the
chancel. This peculiarity is not confined to Middle-
sex, but is common in the great churches of the
same epoch in East Anglia.

The east and west windows are super-mullioned
and transomed; the aisle and clerestory windows,
all of three lights cinquefoiled, are poorly traceried.

150 London Churches

In the west window is some curious stained
glass, representing figures of Edward VI, Queen
Elizabeth, James I, Charles I and Charles II. Of
the maker of this glass which, until the restora-
tion of the church about forty years ago under
Sir Arthur Blomfield and Mr Ewan Christian,
was in the east window, I have not been able
to glean any particulars. It is not improbable
that it was the work of Gyles of York, who was
largely employed during the reigns of Charles II
and James II, in refurnishing our churches with
the stained glass of which they had been deprived
by the Elizabethan and Cromwellian Puritans.*

St Andrew's retains its ancient roofs throughout.
They are of oak, nearly flat, divided into square
compartments by ribs, with gilded bosses at their
intersections. The clustered piers are light and
elegant, and the arches are obtuse-angled; in the
north aisle wall, marking the junction of nave and
chancel, is the staircase to the rood loft.

It is much to be regretted that during the

*This glass is frequently described as having been the gift of
Sir Christopher Clitheroe, Lord Mayor, buried here in 1042. if
so the figure of Charles II must have been added after the
Restoration. Indeed, there is some doubt as to whether the fifth
figure in the west window is really that of Charles II or not. The
donor of the window died in 1642, while Charles I still lived, but
it would seem probable that the whole window was not erected
until after the Restoration, and, if such were the case, the figure
probably may be intended for Charles II. On the other hand, the
face is very unlike the traditional portraits of the Merry Monarch,
whereas the four other figures appear to be taken from portraits
of the Sovereigns represented. It has been suggested that this
figure may be intended for William III. A careful examination
of the churchwardens' accounts would probably settle the
matter.

St Andrew Undershaft 151

restoration of St Andrew's the interesting fresco
paintings with which the walls of the clerestory
and the spandrels of the arches were adorned early
in the eighteenth century, at the expense of Mr
Henry Tombes, a liberal benefactor to the parish,
were all obliterated. Verily the modern "restorer"
has many a sin to answer for! *

These paintings were executed, not in colours but
in grisaille, in imitation of sculpture, and repre-
sented subjects from the life of Christ in the span-
drels, and whole-length figures of the Apostles and
other saints, in the spaces between the clerestory
windows.

The roof of the sanctuary represented the
angelic choirs in adoration.

Here is still much beautiful wood-carving by
Gibbons; and late brasses to Simon Burton and
his two wives (1593), and to Nicholas Leveson,
who is represented with his wife and eighteen
children kneeling (1539).

A figure engraved in brass representing the
Trinity has been removed.!

The church possessed several books chained to

*There is an interesting description of the appearance St
Andrew's presented before the restoration of 1875-6 in The New
View of London, published in 1708. Among other things, we read
of the altarpiece "new railed round, and paved with marble,
the Commandments done in gold on black — the Creed and
Lord's Prayer are enriched with cherubims," and so forth. What
has become of this delightful old altarpiece, which, if not
"Gothic," must have been infinitely superior to the feeble thing
now in its place? We are also told that there are prayers at six
every morning, from Lady Day to Michaelmas, and at seven
from Michaelmas to Lady Day.

|Of these brasses a long account will be found in the Transac-
tions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, iv, 268.

152 London Churches

the desks, "one of Mr Jewel's work, three of Mr
Perkins', two books of Marters', the first and
second 'tombe,' and a book of Erasmus, his exposi-
tion on the Gospel. A home lanthorne to hang up
at the upper end of St Mary Axe in winter."

In 1673 further gifts are recorded of a "silver
bason for the Holy Sacrament, 34 oz; one book of
Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World; and one
other book, Bishop Andrewes, his Sermons; one
large silver gilt spoone for the Holy Sacrament,
the gift of Hester Gibbons."

In his Pietas Londiniensis* Paterson speaks of
the organ in St Andrew Undershaft, as "a most
excellent and costly instrument, made by Mr
Harris"; and Hatton in his New View of London,
calls it " a fine large organ," adding, "severalgen tie-
men (whose names I am not allowed to men-
tion) contributed for the Organ, etc., the sum of
.£1,400." This organ was opened on May 31, 1696,
a Mr Goodgroome being organist, when the Rev.
Dr Towerson preached a sermon on Vocal and
Instrumental Music in the Church. Since then the
organ in St Andrew's has been repeatedly altered
and enlarged, and in 1875 was removed from the

*Pietas Londiniensis y or the present Ecclesiastical State of
London, containing an account of all the Churches and Chapels
of Ease in and about the Cities of London and Westminster; of
the Set Times of their publick Prayers, Sacraments and Sermons,
both ordinary and extraordinary: with the Names of the present
Dignitaries, Ministers and Lecturers, thereunto belonging, by
James Paterson, A.M. Together with Historical Observations of
their Foundations, Situation, ancient and present Structure, Dedi-
cation, and several other things worthy of remark. To which is
added a postscript recommending the duty of public prayer.
Printed for William Taylor at the shop in Paternoster Row, 1714.

St Andrew Undershaft 153

western gallery and placed in the usual "correct
Gothic" position on the floor of the south aisle.

The organ in St Andrew Undershaft, is the
instrument mentioned in the eighth query of the
Broadside, entitled "Queries about St Paul's
Organ," and of which a copy is preserved in the
British Museum:

VIII. — "Whether there been't organs in the
City, lowder, sweeter, and of more variety than St
Paul's (which cost not more than one-third of the
Price) and particularly, whether Smith at the
Temple has not outdone Smith of St Paul's. And
whether St Andrew Undershaft has not outdone
them both?"

IX. — "Whether the Open Diapason of metal
that speaks on the lower set of keys at St Andrew
Undershaft be not a stop of extraordinary Use and
Variety, and such as neither St Paul's has or can
have?"

This Broadside, which was evidently written by
Harris or some of his friends, consists of twelve
questions, all of which aim at the disparagement of
Smith's knowledge and skill as an organ builder.

A brass plate commemorates Dr John Worgan,
organist from 1749 to 1790, concerning whose re-
election on Monday, March 28, 1785 (at the
Easter Vestry it is to be presumed), we learn that
a complaint was made of him "that he very seldom
attended, and that the performance of his duties
was very indifferent." Whereupon the Order of
the Vestry of April 8, 1752, was directed to be
read, and "that a copy of it be sent to Dr Worgan,
with a letter that the Parishioners expected his
compliance with the said Order in future."

154 London Churches

It passed, and he was re-elected.

Twenty years before Dr Worgan's deputy got
into trouble with the vestry for "bad behaviour
and indifferent performance"; the Doctor pleaded
for him to be tried again, "as good players were
very scarce." This was agreed to.

As an organist Dr Worgan was celebrated, and
he was much sought after as an "opener" of the
King of Instruments. He "opened" the organ
originally built by Byfield and Green in St
Mary's, Islington, in 1772. His powers were dis-
played chiefly in extemporaneous fugue, and at
St Andrew's he was accustomed to attract quite a
congregation of listeners into the middle aisle to
attend his voluntary after the service, much as
George Cooper used a century later at St Sepul-
chre's. On one occasion an admirer of Worgan's,
hastening to the church to be in time for the
Doctor's voluntary, found the doors open, and the
place silent and deserted, save by one stranger who
stood ruminating by the fire. The hurry, the dis-
appointed look of the new comer and his late
arrival at church made his object easily under-
stood. Without any introduction, therefore, the
stranger accosted him, "The Doctor was very
great, to-day, Sir."

He, himself, had evidently been enjoying the
"Doctor," and the admirer, though vexed that he
had arrived too late for the feast, could not help
noticing the incident as a pleasant illustration of
the freemasonry or brotherhood of musical
amateurs.

Dr Worgan composed two Oratorios, Hannah
and Manasseb, various anthems, organ-music,

St Andrew Undershaft 155

canzonets, and The Agreeable Choice, a collection
of Songs, Pieces for the Harpsichord, etc.

Since the death of Dr Worgan in 1790 St
Andrew's has been served by two lady organists,
Miss Mary Allen, who filled the post from 1790
to 1836, and Miss Elizabeth Sterling (afterwards
Mrs Bridge), who officiated from 1858 to 1880.
The latter lady was the composer of several very
tuneful part songs, such as "All among the barley"
and "Red leaves are falling on the ground."

Of the several monuments in St Andrew
Undershaft the most interesting is that of John
Stow, the compiler of the Annals of England,
and the still more famous Survey of London, with-
out which latter we should practically have no
knowledge of the appearance of London before
the Great Fire. It may not be generally known
that it was Stow who received a Royal sanction
to beg, James I having granted it owing to the
antiquary's impoverished condition.

Poor in this world's goods, spoken of even by his
contemporaries with contempt and disdain (al-
though Fuller finds a place for him among his
Worthies), honest John Stow, historian, citizen
and tailor, worn and weary with fourscore years,
sleeps his last sleep at the east end of the north
aisle of St Andrew Undershaft. The monument,
raised by his widow to his memory, is an ornamen-
ted niche of alabaster, adorned with masks and
cross-bones, in which is a figure of the antiquary
seated at his studies, having a desk before him with
an open book upon it, in which he appears to be
writing. He is represented as attired in his livery
gown, and has a ruff round his neck. The whole is

156

London Churches

in excellent preservation, and the real pen placed
in the hand, with the gentle inclination of the
head, gives to the whole an incredible animation.

It is difficult, however, in the monument before
us to realize Howes' description of Stow. We miss
the leanness of the face, the pleasant and cheerful
countenance and crystalline eye, but in its general
disposition it reminds us forcibly of another monu-
ment of a contemporary of John Stow's, more
famous still and who survived him ten years, on
the wall of that beautiful chancel of St Mary,
Stratford-upon-Avon, the same open counte-
nance and position, the pen in that right hand long
since mouldered into dust; and we could wish that
the resemblance, trifling as it may be, might have
been pursued even to those quaint lines of

Good friend, for Jesu's sake forbeare
To digg the dust encloased here,

to shield from profanation all that was mortal of
John Stow, citizen and tailor.

He seems to have been twice married, for be-
sides the wife Elizabeth, who erected the monu-
ment, the burial is recorded here of "Ann Stow,
wiffe of John Stow," Jan. 18, 1580; and a daugh-
ter was baptized here of the name of Mary, in
1563. Stow died in the parish of St Andrew
Undershaft, April 5, 1605, old, poor and neglected.
His remains were, on the authority of Maitland
in his History and Survey of London (ed. 1739,
p. 368), disturbed and removed in 1732 to make
room for another. Let us hope that this is a tradi-
tion, and nothing more.

Another apocryphal story of a great man's re-

St Giles', Cripplegate 157

mains being irreverently disturbed, attaches to the
grand old church of St Giles, Cripplegate, a veri-
table Mecca of pilgrims to the shrine of the author
of England's greatest epic, Paradise Lost; but the
evidence of identity is weak, and it is recorded
that the corpse then found was that of a female,
and of smaller stature than that of the poet. The
story of the assumed desecration is told in "The
Diary of General Murray" in The Monthly Maga-
zine, of August, 1833.

Cowper penned some stanzas on the subject:

111 fare the hands that heaved the stones

Where Milton's ashes lay,
That troubled not to grasp his bones

And steal his dust away.
O ill requited hand! neglect

Thy living worth repaid,
And blind idolatrous respect

As much affronts thee dead.

The monument to Milton's memory — a bust
by the elder Bacon — was erected in 1793, at the
expense of Samuel Whitbread, but during a "resto-
ration" of the church, when a certain number of
windows were filled with an uniformly and incon-
ceivably bad jumble of miscellaneous painted glass,
the bust was hoisted into a pseudo-Gothic cross
between a shrine and a buffet.

St Giles', Cripplegate, is the successor of a
church founded by Alfun, subsequently the first
hospitaller of the Priory of St Bartholomew. It
was founded in 1090, near the postern in the City
wall, called Cripplegate, from an adjoining Hospi-
tal for lame people (as Camden informs us), or as
Stow says, from the numerous cripples begging

158 London Churches

there; and it was dedicated to St Giles as the
patron of cripples.

It was small, and its site was "where now standeth
the vicarage house. "An interesting relic of this
Norman church was discovered during the late
renovation of the north aisle in the shape of a slab
of Purbeck marble, supposed to have been a door-
step, and now preserved at the west end of the
church.

The present church dates from the beginning of
the sixteenth century, is a good example of a town
church, large, lofty and spacious, and in common
with that of St Andrew Undershaft, and two or
three other specimens of City churches, is in all
probability a counterpart of many of those des-
troyed in the Great Fire.

St Giles' is not, however, of very great archi-
tectural interest. The ground plan is three parallel
aisles of equal length, and a short sanctuary pro-
jects from the east end of the chancel, of debased
architecture. At the west end is a nobly propor-
tioned tower opening into the nave by an arch,
and groined.

The arcade dividing the nave and chancel from
the aisles is of seven bays, of which five go to the
nave. There is no chancel arch, but the division
between the two members is accentuated by a pier
with attached shafts, instead of the isolated four-
clustered pillars used elsewhere.

A peculiarity noticeable on the north side of the
arcade is that a narrow strip of space is left be-
tween the detached shafts of the piers. This pecu-
liarity does not occur on the south of the arcade,
although it is in a line, carried transversely, with

St Giles', Cripplegate 159

the recess for the staircase to the rood loft, the
position of which staircase is still clearly to be seen
on the exterior south wall.

The windows, Perpendicular ones of three lights
with restored tracery, contain much indifferent
stained glass. There is a clerestory, between each
window of which is a slender shaft resting upon a
carved corbel and sustaining the principals of the
flat modern roof.

Much excellent wood-carving remains, mostly
the work of Gibbons. The pulpit, the high altar-
piece, furbished up and its panels filled with
paintings by Buckeridge (representing our Lord
seated in Majesty, St Giles and St Paul), and the
font cover are specially worthy of notice. The old
organ case has disappeared under the hands of
some obliterator of historical records, and given
place to one of the feeblest Gothic type. It is a
marvel how the lemon-coloured glass by Pearson
(c. 1780-90) representing cherubs' heads, sur-
rounding the Sacred Name in Hebrew characters
within a triangle, in the oval window above the
high altar, has escaped. The altarpiece at the
east end of the spacious north aisle was removed
here from St Bartholomew's, Moor Lane, on the
demolition of that church a few years ago. It ex-
hibits much beautiful carving, and Mr Innes Frip
has filled the large central panel, formerly in-
scribed with the Decalogue, etc., with a delicate
painting of the Presentation of our Lord in the
Temple, though the importation of a more
Renaissance feeling into it would have been pre-
ferable. The old paintings of Moses and Aaron
remain in the side panels.

160 London Churches

To the brush of the same artist are due the three
very beautiful paintings within panels on the north
wall of this aisle, and representing the Annuncia-
tion, the Nativity and the Epiphany.

The chancel fittings are excellent.

St Giles', Cripplegate, has passed through many
" restorations." One of the most satisfactory
pieces of work in this direction was the removal,
in 1903, of the ancient " quest-house " and the
" four shoppes " which had been erected against
the north aisle in 1656.

Mr F. S. Hammond was the architect em-
ployed, and was congratulated upon the very
pleasing manner in which he had executed his
task.

The depressed ogee shaped arch of the porch,
with the statue of St Giles within a niche above it,
forms a very refreshing feature in the architec-
tural ensemble.

In 1682 the western tower was raised, the brick
belfry stage, the turrets and the picturesque
cupola dating from that period. Here is a fine peal
of twelve bells, besides one in the turret, and a very
musical set of chimes, said to have been con-
structed by a working mechanic.

Besides Milton several eminent persons are in-
terred in St Giles', Cripplegate. To John Foxe, the
martyrologist,who died in 1 5 87, there is a plain mon-
ument on the south wall. Robert Glover, Somerset
Herald (d. 15 88), and called by Stow "skilful Robert
Glover," is also commemorated by a tablet in the
south aisle. Sir Martin Frobisher, the bold mariner
(d. 1594-5), John Speed the topographer (d. 1629)
and the father of John Milton (d. 1646) lie here.

St Olave's, Hart Street 1 6 1

John Milton himself (d. 1674) was buried in the
same grave with his father, but says Aubrey in his
Lives (iii, 450), " His stone is now removed :
about two years since (now 1681). The two steppes
to the communion table were raysed. I ghesse Jo
Speed and he lie together."

Thomas Lucy of Charlecote (d. 1634), an^
Constance Whitney, whose mother was the fourth
daughter of the said Sir Thomas Lucy, have
monuments in St Giles'.

The parish register records the marriage of
Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bowchier (August
20, 1620). The future Protector was then in his
twenty-first year.

Lancelot Andrewes, afterwards Bishop of Win-
chester, was appointed to the living of St Giles',
Cripplegate, in 1589, through the instrumentality
of Walsingham.

Here he preached constantly, and it was at this
time that he made his often quoted remark that
"when he preached twice he prated once."

In the adjoining burial ground, opposite the
west door, remains a bastion of the old London
Wall.

St Olave's, Hart Street, is a good specimen of
one of the smaller City churches spared by the
Great Fire.

The early accounts of St Olave's are very
meagre. Tradition points to Richard and Robert
Cely, fellmongers, not as founders, but as principal
builders and benefactors to the fabric, and they
rest here; but Newcourt in his Refer tor ium,
records a William de Saneford to have been rector
in 1319, and Stow mentions a Robert Byrche,

i-u

1 62 London Churches

woolpacker, here buried, 1433. But of the actual
period when this church was built as we now see it
there is at present no record.

The plan of St Olave's, Hart Street, includes a
nave and chancel under one continuous roof, both
clerestoried, but without any arch to mark the
separation internally, as at St Andrew Under-
shaft, St Helen's, Bishopsgate, St Margaret's, West-
minster, and other Perpendicular churches.

A square tower rises at the south-west angle.

The columns of the nave arcades are probably
of Purbeck marble, and in character good Early
Perpendicular; throughout the church the roofs
are of oak, flat, and divided into panels, with good
carved bosses. The roof principals spring from
corbelled angels bearing shields, on the north side;
those on the south form shields alone.

Although the east window has an earlier appear-
ance than the rest of the church, it is an architec-
tural forgery, having been inserted in 1822. For the
form of its tracery there is no authority.

In 1863 some repairs were executed under the
direction of Sir Gilbert Scott, a more thorough
restoration taking place eight years later under the
late Sir Arthur Blomfield, when the galleries were
removed.

About forty-two years ago a bust of Samuel
Pepys was appropriately placed in St Olave's,
which is the "our own church" so frequently
alluded to by the Diarist.

"Nov. 4, 1660. — In the morn to our own
church, where Mr Mills did begin to nibble at the
Book of Common Prayer by saying 'Glory be to
the Father,' etc., after he had read the two

St Olavc's, Hart Street 163

psalms, but the people had been so little used to it
that they could not tell what to answer."

"Oct. 9, 1663. — To church, where I found that
my coming in a new periwig did not prove so
strange as I thought it would; for I was afraid that
all the church would presently have cast their eyes
upon me, but I found no such thing."

Until the erection of this bust, there was no
memorial of Pepys himself, although he lies buried
in a vault by the side of his wife, whose marble
bust, with a long Latin inscription, is here.

Samuel Pepys was interred at nine o'clock at
night, June 14, 1703, the circumstance being re-
corded in The Postboy of that date.

St Olave's is rich in monuments and brasses.
Below the bust of Mrs Pepys is the fine monument
of the Baynings family. Sir Andrew Riccard's
tomb, with its rich hexagonal canopy, and other
seventeenth-century details, should be carefully
noted; dying in 1672, Sir Andrew bequeathed the
advowson of the living to the parish. At the end of
the north aisle is the figure of an armed Knight —
presumably Sir John Radcliffe — a son of the Earl
of Essex.

The number of monuments in St Olave's, Hart
Street, to distinguished foreigners, is very notice-
able, as, e.g., to Petrus Caponius (a Florentine), and
to Schraader de Werder, and to Elssenheimer
(Germans). The brass of Sir John Orgone and his
wife Ellyne, at the end of the south aisle, dates
from 1584, and bears the curious inscription,
sometimes found in Latin, commencing, "As I
was, so be ye," etc.

The bells of St Olave's are of the early part of

1 64 London Churches

the Restoration period. Of the six, five date from
1662, the other is thirty- two years later.

All Hallows', Barking, at the east end of Tower
Street, is perhaps the most architecturally inter-
esting of the churches that escaped the Fire in
this quarter of the City. The distinguishing title of
Barking was appended thereto by the Abbess and
Convent of Barking, in Essex, to whom the vicar-
age originally belonged. The three western bays of
the nave are a portion of a structure dating from
the end of the twelfth century. Their stout cy-
lindrical piers, with plain capitals supporting
pointed arches, proclaim their Transitional
character.

The rest of the church, the three easternmost
bays, which are made to range with the three
earlier ones, the very broad aisles and the clere-
story, are good Perpendicular of about the year
1450, but the east window, lately enriched with a
fine "Majesty" by Clayton and Bell, is an early
nineteenth-century copy, in the Flowing Decora-
ted style of one of Richard IPs time.

The whole building had a narrow escape at the
Great Fire, for, as Pepys records, the dial and
porch were burnt, and the fire there quenched.
The tall plain brick western tower was built about
the middle of the seventeenth century.

From its near neighbourhood to the Tower, All
Hallows', Barking, was a ready receptacle for the
remains of those who fell on the scaffold on Tower
Hill.

The headless bodies of Henry Howard, Earl of
Surrey, the poet, Fisher, Bishop of Rochester,
and Archbishop Laud, were buried here, but have

All Hallows', Barking 165

long since been removed for honourable interment
elsewhere.

The brasses are among the best in London. The
finest is a Flemish brass to Andrew Evyngar and
his wife (c. 1535), but the most interesting is one,
injured and inaccurately relaid, representing Wil-
liam Thynne and his wife. We owe the first edition
of the entire works of Chaucer to the industry of
this William Thynne, who, in 1532 (when the fine
old folio was published) was "chefe clerk of the
Kechyn" to King Henry VIII. Other brasses
commemorate William Tonge, with an inscription
in French (1400); John Bacon, merchant of the
staple, and wife (1437), a very good and perfect
brass, having between the figures a heart, in-
scribed Mia, and flowing scrolls with legends;
John Rusche, 1498; a man, his wife and eleven
children (a mural brass of 1500); a represen-
tation of the Resurrection (1510); Christopher
Rawson and his two wives (1519); William
Armar and his wife (1560); and Roger James
Brewer (1591). Besides these there are several
inscriptions on brass, and one in black letter on
stone.

In each chancel aisle is a late and elaborate
canopied altar tomb of Purbeck marble, with
mural brasses.

No mediaeval City church has undergone so
quiet and conservative a restoration as All Hal-
lows', Barking, evidently at the hands of those
whose pride and pleasure it was stare super antiquas
vias, all the fine old Caroline woodwork of the
altarpiece, pulpit, pews and organ case having
been scrupulously respected.

1 66 London Churches

Of unusual beauty are the railings of wrought
brass enclosing the altar; on the retable, behind
which stand those candlesticks whose use has ever
been retained in this church, and which, just be-
fore the outbreak of the Great Rebellion, gave
great offence, together with other decorations, to
the Puritan party.

It appears that in 1639 Dr Layneld the Vicar,
was charged with several innovations that he had
made in the church service, tending to "the en-
couragement of Popery," which caused much dis-
sension throughout the parish, such as the erection
of a variety of images, a cross over the font, bow-
ing when administering the Sacrament, at the
rails, within the rails, and at the table; placing
I.H.S. upon the Communion Table and in forty
other places, in consequence of which he was
ordered to appear before the House of Commons
as a delinquent; but it seems the matter was settled
amicably.

A benevolent lady, Miss Letitia Rist, was
organist of All Hallows', Barking, during the 'fif-
ties and 'sixties of the last century. Miss Rist not
only played the organ well, but enjoyed the sweet
music which the memory of good deeds affords.
She used, in frosty weather, to collect ashes from
the neighbouring houses, and scatter them on
Tower Hill, which from its steepness, at all times
tested the strength of the horses drawing up heavy
loads from the wharves, and especially so during
the winter months when the stones were slippery,
and many a good horse was thus saved from falling.
From many a sturdy carter might have been heard
the words — "Thank you, M'am," as he and his

St Peter ad Vincula 167

horses passed in safety over the frosty ground. The
Rev. Thomas Jackson, Prebendary of St Paul's,
and Rector of Stoke Newington, relates this anec-
dote in his charming book, Our Dumb Com-
panions, first published in 1865.

Within the precinct and liberty of the neigh-
bouring Tower is the little Chapel of St Peter ad
Vincula, consisting of a chancel and nave divided
from its north aisle by a pretty arcade of Late
Perpendicular columns and arches.

"There is no sadder spot on earth than this little
cemetery," says Lord Macaulay in that eloquent
passage of his History of England descriptive of
the execution of the Duke of Monmouth. "Death
is there associated, not, as in Westminster Abbey
and St Paul's, with genius and virtue, with public
veneration and with imperishable renown; not, as
in our humblest churches and churchyards, with
everything that is most endearing in social and
domestic charities; but with whatever is darkest in
human nature and in human destiny, with the
savage triumph of implacable enemies, with the
inconstancy, the ingratitude, the cowardice of
friends, with all the miseries of fallen greatness and
of blighted fame."

Thither have been carried, through successive
ages, by the rude hands of gaolers, without one
mourner following, the bleeding relics of men
who had been the captains of armies, the leaders of
parties, the oracles of senates and the ornaments
of courts. Thither was borne, before the window
where Jane Grey was praying, the mangled corpse
of Guildford Dudley. Edward Seymour, Duke of
Somerset, and Protector of the realm, reposes there

1 68 London Churches

by the brother whom he murdered. There has
mouldered away the headless trunk of John Fisher,
Bishop of Rochester and Cardinal of St Vitalis, a
man worthy to have lived in a better age, and to
have died in a better cause.

There are laid John Dudley, Duke of Northum-
berland, Lord High Admiral; and Thomas Crom-
well, Earl of Essex, Lord High Treasurer. There,
too, is another Essex, on whom nature and for-
tune had lavished all their bounties in vain, and
whom valour, grace, genius, royal favour, popular
applause, conducted to an early and ignominious
doom.

Not far off sleep two chiefs of the great House of
Howard, Thomas, fourth Duke of Norfolk, and
Philip, eleventh Earl of Arundel. Here and there,
among the thick graves of unquiet and aspiring
statesmen, lie more delicate sufferers; Margaret of
Salisbury, the last of the proud name of Plantagenet,
and those two fair Queens who perished by the
jealous rage of Henry."

Here is an altar tomb, with effigies of Sir
Richard Cholmondeley (Lieutenant of the Tower
temp. Henry VII) and his wife; and a monument
with kneeling figures to Sir Richard Blount, Lieu-
tenant of the Tower (d. 1564) and his son, Sir
Michael Blount, his successor in the office. Talbot
Edwards, Keeper of the Regalia in the Tower,
when Blood stole the crown, is commemorated by
a stone on the floor of the nave.

It was in St Peter ad Vincula that, during the
lieutenancy of Alderman Pennington, the regicide
Lord Mayor of London, one Kem, Vicar of Low
Leyton, in Essex, preached in a gown over a buff

Chapel in the Savoy 169

coat and scarf. Laud, who was a prisoner in the
Tower at the time, records the circumstance, with
becoming horror, in The History of his Troubles.

The little Perpendicular Chapel of St Mary in
the Savoy, is all that remains of a house or palace
on the river-side, built in 1245 by Peter, Earl of
Savoy and Richmond, uncle to Eleanor, wife of
Henry III. The Earl bestowed it on the fraternity
of Mountjoy (Fratres de Monte Jovis, or Priory
de Cornuto by Havering-atte-Bower, in Essex), of
whom it was purchased by Queen Eleanor, for
Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, second son of Henry
III (d. 1295). Henry Plantagenet, fourth Earl and
first Duke of Lancaster, repaired, or rather "new-
built" it, and here, John, King of France, was con-
fined after the battle of Poictiers (1356). The
King, not long after his release, died on a visit to
this country, in his ancient prison of the Savoy.
Blanche Plantagenet, daughter and co-heir of
Henry, first Duke of Lancaster, married John
Plantagenet, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of
Edward III ("old John of Gaunt"); and while the
Savoy was in his possession it was burnt and en-
tirely destroyed by Wat Tyler and his rebels in

The Savoy lay neglected long after this, nor
would it appear to have been rebuilt, or indeed
employed for any particular purpose before 1505,
when it was endowed by Henry VII, as a Hos-
pital of St John the Baptist, for the relief of one
hundred poor people. The King makes particular
mention of it in his will.

At the suppression of the hospital in 1553, the
beds, bedding and other furniture, were given by

170 London Churches

Edward VI to Bridewell and St Thomas's Hospitals.
Queen Mary re-endowed it, and it was continued
and maintained, not suppressed, as Pennant says,
by Queen Elizabeth.

Fleetwood, the Recorder of London, describes
the Savoy, in 1581, in a letter to Lord Burghley,
as a nursery of rogues and masterless men: "The
chief nurserie of a]! these evell people is the Savoy,
and the brick-kilnes near Islington."

The Queen, when taking the air, was troubled
with their attendance; complaints were made, and
warrants issued for the apprehension of all rogues
and masterless people. But the master of the Savoy
Hospital was unwilling to allow of their apprehen-
sion in his precinct, as he was "sworne to lodge
claudicantes, egrotantes, et peregrinantes."*

At the Restoration the meetings of the Com-
missioners for the revision of the Liturgy took
place in the Savoy — April 15 to July 25, 1661.
Twelve bishops appeared for the Church of Eng-
land; and Calamy, Baxter, Reynolds and others,
for the Presbyterians.

This was called the Savoy Conference, and under
that name has passed into history.

The Savoy Chapel has occasionally been chosen
for episcopal consecrations.

The first took place August 19, 1537, when
Robert Aldridge was consecrated to the See of
Carlisle by John Stokesley, Bonner's predecessor
in the throne of London, Robert Par few, Bishop
of St Asaph, and John Hilsey, the successor of
Fisher in the See of Rochester. A century and a
half later — January 16, 1691 — Wilson was con-

•Sir Henry Ellis's Letters, n, 285.

Chapel in the Savoy 171

secrated here to the bishopric of Sodor and Man,
by Sharpe, Archbishop of York, assisted by Strat-
ford of Chester, and Moore of Norwich.

"Quaint old Thomas Fuller" — who at thirty
years of age had already won a distinguished repu-
tation in the London pulpits, became lecturer at
the Savoy shortly before the outbreak of the Civil
War, whose clouds were fast darkening over
Britain as he laboured in this prominent sphere.
At last the deluge burst upon the land; and the
eloquent lecturer at the Savoy, upon whom the
Parliament looked with jealous eyes, was forced to
leave his pulpit and betake himself to Oxford,
where Charles I had fixed his court. The Restora-
tion brought Fuller once more prominently into
view after several years' wanderings. He received
again his lectureship at the Savoy, and his pre-
bendal stall at Salisbury; he was chosen chaplain
to the King, and created Doctor of Divinity by
the University of Cambridge. But he lived only a
year to enjoy these honours, dying on August 16,
1661, of a violent fever, which was then known as
"the new disease."

King Charles II established a French church
here, called "The French Church in the Savoy,"
where its congregation remained until 1733, when
want of funds to repair it caused them to abandon it.

The following is an extract from The Public
Advertiser of Jan. 2, 1754.

" By authority. Marriages performed with the
utmost privacy, decency, and regularity, at the
Ancient Royal Chapel of St John the Baptist in
the Savoy, where regular and authentic registers
have been kept from the time of the Reformation

172 London Churches

(being 200 years and upwards) to this day. The
expense not more than one guinea, the five shilling
stamp included. There are five private ways by
land to this chapel, and two by water."

The Savoy was last used as barracks and a prison
for deserters until 1819, when the premises were
removed to form the approach to Waterloo Bridge.

The roadway to the Bridge from the Strand or
Wellington Street, and Lancaster Place, covers
the entire site of the old Duchy Lane, and great
part of the Hospital. Hollar's prints and Canaletti's
pictures show us the river front of the Savoy, and
Vertue's ground plan, the Middle Savoy Gate,
where Savoy Street now is. Ackermann published
a view of the ruins as they were in their last con-
dition, before they were swept away, and some
portions of the buildings, in a more complete state,
are shown in a plate in David Hughson's History
and Description of London and its Neighbourhood,
published in 1807.

The chapel, the sole-surviving portion of the
Hospital, was built in 1505, and is an aisleless paral-
lelogram, lighted by depressed headed windows of
three compartments crossed by a transom. Stand-
ing as it does now, isolated, and in a small burial
ground amid a few trees and evergreens, it has
more the appearance of a church in some remote
Welsh hamlet. It was originally dedicated to our
Lord, the Blessed Virgin and St John the Baptist;
but when the old church of St Mary-le-Strand
was destroyed by the Protector, Somerset, the
parishioners united themselves to the precinct of
the Savoy, and the chapel, being used as their
church, acquired the name of St Mary-le- Savoy,

Chapel in the Savoy 173

though before the householders beyond the pre-
cinct were permitted to use it as their parish
church they signed an instrument renouncing all
claim to any right or property in the chapel itself.
There is a tradition that when the liturgy in the
vernacular tongue was restored by Queen Eliza-
beth, the Chapel of the Savoy was the first place
in which the service was performed.

The chapel, which had been used as the
parish church of St Mary-le-Strand from 1564
to 1717, was made a Royal Chapel by George
III in 1773. The prayer-book he presented on
this occasion was lost after the building was burnt
on July 7, 1864, but being discovered by one of the
assistant chaplains, was bought and returned to its
old place.

In 1842 the chapel, which had been restored
chiefly through the instrumentality of George IV,
was injured by fire, but was again restored at the
expense of Queen Victoria under the direction of
Mr Sydney Smirke, when the ceiling, one of the
finest pieces of carved work in the Metropolis, was
renovated and emblazoned by Willement, to
whom the reglazing of the east window was also
entrusted.

This roof of the Savoy Chapel was wholly of oak
and pear-tree, and divided into 138 qua trefoil
panels, each enriched with a carved ornament
sacred or historical. The panels numbered twenty-
three in the length of the chapel, and six in its
width. Two of the ranges had each a shield in the
centre, presenting in high relief some feature or
emblem of the Passion and Death of the Saviour;
and all devised and arranged in a style of which

174 London Churches

there are many examples in churches of the fif-
teenth and sixteenth centuries. The panels through-
out the rest of the ceiling contained bearings or
badges indicating the various families from which
the Royal lineage was derived, and more particu-
larly the alliances of the House of Lancaster, each
panel being surrounded by a wreath richly
blazoned and tinted with the livery colours of the
different families. For a long series of years they
were hidden under repeated coats of whitewash,
but in 1843 Mr John Cochrane, a bookseller in the
Strand, having been appointed Chapel warden,
brought his antiquarian knowledge to bear on the
neglected ceiling, and it was restored.

In 1864 the chapel was once more destroyed by
fire save the walls; the altar screen, said to have
been the work of Sir Reginald Bray, the east
window, the carved ceiling, and many of the old
monuments, were entirely consumed.

The second restoration of the Savoy Chapel was
once more undertaken at the expense of Her late
Majesty, in memory of the Prince Consort,* Mr
Sydney Smirke being again the architect, while
the decoration of the walls and most of the stained
glass, but not that in the east window,f was en-

*The reopening services took place on the First Sunday in
Advent, December 3, 1865, Dean Stanley preaching in the
morning, and Frederic Denison Maurice in the evening.

fThis was again placed in the hands of Thomas Willement,
who cannot be said to have ever grasped the true principles of
Perpendicular glass painting. The Savoy window was almost his
last work. Sir Edward Burne-Jones' glass, in one of the windows
on the south side of the chapel, with figures of SS. John, James
and Andrew; Peter, Paul and Philip, should be observed, treated
as it is quite unconventionally.

Chapel in the Savoy 175

trusted to Messrs Clayton and Bell. The roof was
embellished much after the design of that which
had been destroyed, but different in detail, and
other furniture supplied chiefly at the expense of
individuals.

The Sacristy, porch and entrance, were sub-
sequently added, at an expense to the late Queen
of .£2,000. A new and ingeniously designed sand
glass was also given by Her Majesty for the pulpit,
to replace the one used in Puritan times. It runs
twenty minutes.

On the north wall is a curious painting of the
early Sienese School, representing the Blessed
Virgin and Child, with eight Saints. It was in the
Master's house at the time the Savoy Hospital was
closed in 1702. Then it was sold, and for a century
and a half was lost sight of.

In 1876 this picture was discovered at Hereford,
and the Queen having been apprised of the fact,
it was purchased by Her Majesty, and placed
where we now see it.

A small piscina and two kneeling figures of
ancient date have also been rescued, and restored
to places which they occupied before the con-
flagration of 1864.

A brass commemorative of Bishops Douglas and
Halsey* has also been recovered, and inserted in a

*Gavan Douglas, the celebrated Scottish poet and statesman,
was Bishop of Dunkeld 1516-22. He died of the plague in London
at the house of his staunch friend Lord Dacre, in St Clement's
Parish, and in accordance with his own request was buried in the
Savoy Hospital Chapel, on the left side of Thomas Halsey,
Bishop of Leighlin, who died about the same time, and in all
probability from the same cause.

176 London Churches

black marble slab in the chancel over the vault
where the bishops were buried.

The Savoy Chapel is a parochial benefice in the
gift of the Sovereign, in right of his Duchy of
Lancaster, who pays every current expense be-
longing to the building, its officers and services,
which are performed with proper ritual and
musical accompaniment.

On the Sunday after Christmas Day it has been
customary to place near the door a chair covered
with a cloth: on the chair being an orange on a
plate. This curious custom at the Savoy has never
been explained.

Nestling, as it were, under the very wing of the
great Abbey adjacent, the large Late Perpendicu-
lar Church of St Margaret of Antioch* at West-
minster occupies so prominent a position that it
cannot fail to be a matter of speculation as to how
it came there at all and why it was wanted.

Some writers have laid it down authoritatively
that when the Confessor rebuilt the ancient abbey
founded by Sebert, he thought it would be a dis-
honour to the new and stately edifice, and an an-
noyance to his beloved monks, if the neighbouring
people assembled for worship in the Abbey as they
had been wont to do, and that about 1064 (so cir-
cumstantial are they), he caused to be erected on
the north side of the Abbey Church of St Peter a
church dedicated to the Virgin Martyr of Antioch
for their use.

*St Margaret of Antioch, to whom this church, in common
with two others in London, is dedicated, was greatly in favour
with our forefathers in the Middle Ages, and in sacred and legen-
dary art she occupied a very prominent place in common with
St Catharine, St Barbara and St Ursula.

St Margaret's, Westminster 177

No authority can be found for these state-
ments. The earliest notice of the boundaries of the
parish is contained in the Charter of King Edgar,
A.D. 962.

At the prayer of St Dunstan he granted or sold
a confirmation to the abbey of a certain portion of
land, only containing then five houses.

The money equivalent was a golden armilla.
This grant is preserved in the British Museum, and
attached to it is a description, in Saxon, of the
boundaries of the land, which may thus be trans-
lated. "First up from the Thames along Merfleet
(the marshy side of Whitehall) to Pollen Stock, so to
Bullinger Fen (To thill Fields), afterwards along
the Fen by the Ditch to Cowford (Buckingham
Palace), from Cowford up along Tybourne (by
Vauxhall Bridge) to the broad military road
(Oxford Street), following the road to the old
Stock of St Andrew's Church then within London.
Lastly, proceeding south on Thames to mid-
stream, and along the stream by land and strand
to Merfleet."

This ancient parish was subsequently sub-
divided into many others — St Clement Danes, St
Martin's-in-the-Fields, St Mary-le-Strand, St
George's, Hanover Square, St Anne's, Soho, St
Paul's, Covent Garden, St John the Evangelist's,
Westminster, etc., and these again into other
parishes.

The Church of St Margaret, said to have been
erected at the instance of Edward the Confessor,
was in all likelihood a small and inconvenient
structure, which remained until the reign of
Edward I, when it was rebuilt. This church gave

J-I2

1 7 8 London Churches

place in its turn, towards the latter part of the
fifteenth century, to the present structure, some
portions of the earlier one being incorporated
into it.

From a similarity existing between the nave
arcades of St Margaret's, and those of St Helen's,
Bishopsgate, it may be inferred that the two
churches were being reconstructed contemporane-
ously, and about the year 1475.

Although St Margaret's appears dwarfed by its
contiguity to the Abbey, it is in reality of great
length and height, and its grand proportions are
fully realized on entering by the south-east door,
which is open for the greater part of the day.

It consists of a clerestoried nave and chancel,
contained under one unbroken line of roof; very
broad aisles, almost co-terminous with the chancel;
a north-western tower forming a porch; and
porches at the west end of the nave and the east
end of the south aisle. The church is lighted by
very large Perpendicular windows, which together
with the eight graceful arches separating the nave
from its aisles, cause the structure to assume an
appearance of great lightness and elegance within.
The shallow sanctuary just projecting beyond the
ends of the aisles is an addition of last year only.

The arcades, two of which are screened off so as
to form a chancel — the chancel arch is absent here
as from other London churches of its epoch — con-
sist of broad four-centred arches springing from
four slender shafts, raised on high bases and dis-
posed around a diamond-shaped pier, and their
dripstones terminate in half figures of angels bear-
ing the shafts which are carried up through the

St Margaret's, Westminster 1 7 9

traceried spandrels of the arches and the clere-
story, to sustain the principals of the almost flat
roof.

There are a monotony and tameness in the
arcades of such London churches of the Late Per-
pendicular period as St Andrew Undershaft, St
Giles, Cripplegate, and St Olave's, Hart Street,
which are wholly absent from St Margaret's,
where the detail of the work is so vastly superior.

It would be difficult to find a better propor-
tioned arcade anywhere. The rather stilted pro-
portions of the bases, the tracery in the spandrels
and the richness of mouldings, are very superior to
the same items in the churches above-mentioned,
where the mouldings of the arches and piers are
continuous, and the arches themselves four-
centred.

In Weever's Funeral Monuments there is a de-
scription of a curious tomb formerly existing in
the north aisle, of Lady Bulley (1499), painted
with a representation of the Almighty shedding
rays from above on the Blessed Virgin, who, by
label, was saying, "Behold thine Handmaid." On
the right was an angel, with the label inscribed
"Hail! Mary."

During the restorations of 1877-78, this monu-
mental recess was discovered in the north aisle be-
hind some pewing, with remains of this painting of
the Annunciation, as usually depicted. The traces
of colouring were more distinct when first un-
covered, but a solution of shellac was applied under
Sir Gilbert Scott's directions to preserve what
remained.

At the back of the recess, there seems to have

180 London Churches

been a small brass inscription, and the top of the
tomb appears to have been inlaid with brass
figures. The arch and spandrel had been knocked
away, leaving only the square opening and the
outer moulding.

The lower door of the staircase and the door-
way which opened to the rood loft, still remain in
the south aisle.

In 1641 a gallery was built in the north aisle,
and forty years later another in the south aisle,
"exclusively for persons of quality," at the ex-
pense of Sir John Cutler, the miser satirized by
Pope in the third of his Moral Essays.

In Smith's Antiquities of Westminster is a curious
plate representing the interior of the church from
a rare print by Brook, prefixed to Warner's edition
of the Book of Common Prayer, printed for Croc-
kett and Hodges.

The view is taken looking east. Here we see a
gallery in the north aisle stopping short at the
chancel, the last two bays being left clear. The
altarpiece seems to be of the usual Wrennian
character, and consists of a broken curved pedi-
ment, with a central urn and the usual Tables of
the Law, cherubs heads, etc.

Within the rails — which are spiked at the top
presumably to prevent people sitting upon them —
is a monumental erfigy in a kneeling position
against the north wall, and a recumbent efHgy
below it. So accurately is the interior represented
that even a small stone corbel, supporting one of
the shafts for the roof principals, is shown correctly
as it still exists — an angel bearing a shield, on which
is a Catherine Wheel.

St Margaret's, Westminster 1 8 1

Doctors Burnet and Sprat,* old rivals, once
preached here before Parliament in one morning;
and on Palm Sunday, 1713, Dr Sacheverell
preached here first, after the term of his suspen-
sion; 40,000 copies of this sermon were sold.

"There prevailed in those days an indecent
custom: when the preacher touched any favourite
topic, in a manner that delighted his- audiences,
their approbation was expressed by a loud hum,
continued in proportion to their zeal and pleasure.
When Burnet preached, part of his congregation
hummed so loudly and so long that he sat down to
enjoy it, and rubbed his face with his handker-
chief. When Sprat preached, he likewise was
honoured with a like animating hum, but he
stretched out his hand to the congregation,and cried,
* Peace, peace, I pray you, peace.' " — Dr Johnson.

In 1735 St Margaret's was repaired at the ex-
pense of Parliament, when the tower was faced
with Portland stone and raised twenty feet, being
now eighty feet high. It contains a fine ring of
bells; the tenor weighing 26 cwt., formerly known
as "Great Tom of Westminster," was, in 1698,
called "Edward of Westminster."

In 1753 a relievo of The Supper at Emmaus,
sculptured in lime-wood by Alken of Soho, from
Titian's celebrated picture in the Louvre, was
placed over the altar, and five years later the east
end was rebuilt on an apsidal plan in what must
have been very fair Perpendicular, to judge from
a coloured view preserved in George Ill's Collec-
tion of Prints and Engravings in the British
Museum. It was at this time that the celebrated
*The celebrated Bishops of Salisbury and Rochester

182 London Churches

stained glass, of which a description appears anon,
was placed in the central window of this newly
formed apsidal sanctuary, and in 1759 the
"beautified" church was reopened, an anthem
being composed for the occasion by Dr Boyce.*

A prosecution was now instituted against the
parishioners by the Dean and Chapter of West-
minster, for putting up what was attempted to be
proved "a superstitious image or picture."

After seven years' suit the bill was dismissed, in
memory of which Mr Churchwarden Peirson pre-
sented, as a gift for ever to the churchwardens of the
parish, a richly chased cup, stand and cover, of silver
gilt, and weighing 93oz. I5dwt., which is the loving
cup of St Margaret's, and is produced with espe-
cial ceremony at the chief parochial entertainments.

The north and south windows of this apsidal
recess, which had a roof elaborately groined in
lath and plaster, were likewise glazed. The former
was filled with glass of a gold mosaic design; the
Sacred Monogram, the red and white roses and
portcullis and a saint, perhaps St James of Com-
postella, being introduced.

Thomas Rickman, the enthusiastic writer on
Mediaeval Architecture and a pioneer of the
Gothic Revival, thought that the crescent beside
the rose denoted some "expectancy of regal ampli-
tude"; so Shakespeare:

Pompey. My power's a crescent, and my auguring hope
Says it will come to the full.

— Ant. and Cleo., Act 11, Scene i.

*This was, "I have surely built Thee an house," which has ever
since held an honoured place in the weekly service lists of " choirs
and places where they sing."

St Margaret's, Westminster 183

In this and the south-east window were the
arms of Edward the Confessor, represented as
blazoned by the heralds temp. Henry VII. The
saint in the centre light of the latter was St
Michael overcoming the Dragon.

When in 1877, during the vicariate of Dr
Farrar, St Margaret's passed into the hands of Sir
Gilbert Scott for restoration, it was found to have
undergone great degradation, both internally and
externally.

It had been shorn of its length by one bay of the
nave being divided off to form a vestibule at the
west end, and again at the east end by the intru-
sion of the apsidal sanctuary above mentioned.

The north and south aisles had been curtailed of
their length by the introduction of vestibules,
with staircases conducting to the galleries, with
which the church was encumbered on three sides.

The area was choked with high pews of no merit
whatever; the stonework and walls had been be-
daubed with plaster and paint, which had dar-
kened to a treacly hue by age and dirt, and the
tracery of the windows throughout the church
had been barbarously altered.

The galleries and pews were swept away, the
space wasted by the lobbies and passages was
thrown into the church; the west window was
opened; the tracery of all the clerestory windows
and of as many of those in the aisles as funds per-
mitted, restored to its original condition; the
paint was removed from the walls and pillars; the
plaster ceiling was replaced by one of solid oak;
the nave seated with handsome open seats, and the
last two bays screened off and raised to form a

1 84 London Churches

chancel; the old false apse of lath and plaster
was removed, and the east end made square,
and enriched, above, and on either side of the
east window, with fresco painting by Clayton
and Bell.

Subsequently new western and south-eastern
porches were added from the designs of Pearson,
and much stained glass inserted.

In 1905 the east end was extended a few feet
to form a more dignified sanctuary, the walls
richly panelled and Alken's Supper at Emmaus
placed in the centre of a triptych with figures
of saints, all richly coloured and gilt, on the in-
sides of the wings. The effect is excellent, and
was enhanced by the cleaning of the celebrated
stained glass in the east window, which was placed
higher up in the wall, to its manifest improve-
ment.

The stained glass in this east window of St Mar-
garet's may be cited as an example of the pictorial
excellence attainable in a glass painting, without
any violation of the fundamental rules and condi-
tions of the art. The harmonious arrangement of
the colouring is worthy of attention, and the whole
is perhaps one of the best specimens of glass paint-
ing just before its decline.

The three middle compartments represent the
Crucifixion, with the usual accompaniments of
angels receiving in a chalice the blood which drops
from the wounds of the Saviour. Over the good
thief, an angel is represented wafting his soul to
Paradise, and over the wicked, the Devil in the
shape of a dragon, carrying his soul to a place of
punishment. In the six upper compartments are as

< o
O "

St Margaret's, Westminster 185

many angels holding the emblems of crucifixion;
the cross, the sponge, the crown of thorns, the
hammer, the rods and the nails. In the right-hand
lower compartment, is Arthur, Prince of Wales
(eldest son of Henry VII); and in the companion
or left side, Catharine of Aragon, his bride — after-
wards married to his brother Henry VIII and
divorced by him. Over the head of Prince Arthur
is a full-length figure of St George, with the red
and white rose of England; and over Catharine of
Aragon a full-length figure of St Catharine, with
the bursting pomegranate, the emblem of the
Kingdom of Granada.

The history of this window is of singular in-
terest, and briefly thus :

The magistrates of Dordrecht, in Holland, de-
siring to present Henry VII with something
worthy to adorn his magnificent chapel, then
building at Westminster, directed this window to
be made, and Henry and his Queen sent their
pictures to Dordrecht, whence their portraits and
those of their eldest son and his bride, in this win-
dow are delineated. Prince Arthur died before it
was finished; the King himself before it could be
erected. Succeeding events, the marriage of
Henry VIII, to the widow of his brother, with the
subsequent divorce of Catharine, rendered it
wholly unfit for the place for which it was in-
tended. It then became the property of an Abbot
of Waltham, who placed it in his Abbey, where it
remained till the Dissolution.

Robert Fuller, the last abbot, removed it to a
chapel in New Hall, Lord Ormond's seat, in Wilt-
shire, which was afterwards possessed by Thomas

1 86 London Churches

Boleyn, father of Anne Boleyn. In Elizabeth's
reign New Hall belonged to the Earl of Sussex.
Of his family, Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham,
James Fs favourite, bought it.

His son sold it to General Monk, who buried
the window underground, but after the Restora-
tion replaced it in the chapel. On the death of
General Monk's son, New Hall was purchased by
John Olmins, who, finding the house and chapel in
a neglected condition, demolished both, but pre-
served the window in the hopes of selling it to a
church. It lay cased up in boxes until purchased
by Mr Conyers, of Epping, for his chapel at Copt
Hall. Mr Conyers, building a new house, sold the
window to the Parliamentary committee for re-
pairing St Margaret's, in 1758, and consigned it to
its present, and let us hope its final resting-place,
close to the building, singularly enough, for which
it was originally designed.

There is much modern stained glass in St Mar-
garet's. The very fine series of "single figure and
canopy" windows in the south aisle is entirely
Messrs Clayton and Bell's work, and it is almost
needless to say that those artists have shown them-
selves mindful of the peculiar attributes of Early
Perpendicular glass, such as we see in the clerestory
of the choir of York Minster.

The glass in the great west window, inserted by
Transatlantic generosity as a memorial to Sir
Walter Raleigh, who, it will be remembered, was
beheaded in Palace Yard, hard by St Margaret's, is
likewise excellent. It contains one tier of figures,
with, in predellae beneath them, subjects from the
life of Sir Walter. Queen Elizabeth occupies the

St Margaret's, Westminster 187

central light, and on either side are Prince Henry
and Sir Walter Raleigh; Sir Humphrey Gilbert,
and Edmund Spenser.

Another Transatlantic friend has given the
stained glass in the four-light window at the west
end of the north aisle, in memory of John Milton,
three scenes from whose life are depicted in the
two central compartments, and subjects from his
great epics, each with its appropriate legend, in
the outer one on either side.

Above all are four small, but very beautifully
treated subjects, also appropriately legended.
They are as follows: The Annunciation, / sent
thee to the Virgin pure; The Nativity, In the
inn was left no better room ; The Baptism in Jordan,
He humbly among them was baptized; and our
Lord bidding the Tempter to get behind Him,
The Tempter foiVd in all his power.

Of the glass in the north aisle it is hardly pos-
sible to speak in terms of such commendation.
Various artists have been employed, and the effect,
as usual under such circumstances, is unsatisfactory.

The stained glass in the window above the door,
opening from Palace Yard, forms a memorial to
Caxton, to whom there is, just below, a small
marble tablet, erected in 1820, by the Roxburgh
Club.

The walls of St Margaret's are encrusted with
monuments; few are offensive, and several are good
specimens of Elizabethan and Early Jacobean
work. Of these the best is the tomb of Lady
Dudley (d. 1600). It has an alabaster effigy, and
bears a striking resemblance to the founder's tomb
in the Chapel of the Charterhouse.

1 8 8 London Churches

Others worthy of notice are those of Blanche
Parry (1589) and Lady Dorothea Stafford (1604),
one on either side of the west door.

St Margaret's enshrines the dust of many
eminent persons, among whom may be named:
William Caxton (d. 1491), John Skelton (d. 1519),
Poet Laureate to Henry VIII, a coarse, bold
satirist, who, in his short-lined poem called Colin
Clout, belaboured the clergy unmercifully with
cudgel-words, making no choice of weapons, but
striking with the first that came to hand; Nicholas
Udall (d. 1556), author of the earliest existing
English comedy, Ralph Royster Doyster, and master
of Eton, where his cruel floggings won for him a
more dubious kind of renown than his learning or
his wit; Sir Walter Raleigh (beheaded in Palace
Yard, Oct. 29, 1618), and Carew Raleigh, his son
(d. 1666-67): "in the chancel at the upper end,
almost near the altar";* Alphonso Ferrabosco,
musician (d. 1652), and probably grandfather of
John Ferrabosco, organist of Ely Cathedral from
1662 to 1682; James Harrington, author of Oceana
(d. 1667) ; "in the chancel next to the grave of Sir
Walter Raleigh, under the south side of the altar
where the priest stands" ;f the second wife of John
Milton (d. 1657); tne mother of Oliver Cromwell:
she was originally buried in Henry VII's Chapel,
but at the Restoration her body was taken up,
Sept. 12, 1 66 1, with Admiral Blake's, May the
poet's, and others, and buried in a pit dug for the
purpose in St Margaret's Churchyard ;J Lady

'Wood's Ath. Oxon. i, 440.

tWood's Fasti, p. 88.

St Margaret's, Westminster 1 8 9

Dereham, wife of Sir John Dereham, the poet
whose fame rests upon his "Cooper's Hill," a
descriptive poem, varied by the thoughts sug-
gested by such striking objects in the landscape as
the ThameSjWindsor Forest and the flats of Runny-
mede; Wenceslaus Hollar, the engraver, "dyed on
our Ladie-Day (25 Martij) 1677, and is buried in
St Margaret's Churchyard at Westminster, neer the
north-west corner of the Tower";* Thomas Ford,
composer of the famous Part Song, When first I saw
your face, and of the tune, adapted by the compi-
lers of Hymns Ancient and Modern to O Merciful
Creator, hear, translated from the Audi benigne
Creator of St Gregory the Great, and appointed
in the Salisbury Office Books for use In Quadra-
gesima, ad Laudes, et quotidie usque ad Dominicam
III. (Ford's name appears in the registers of St
Margaret's as Mr Tho. fforud); Bernard Schmidt,
the great organ builder; James Nares, organist and
composer to the Chapel Royal (1756-1785); and
G. F. Pinto, English violinist and composer
(d. 1806). Dr Hickes, whose Thesaurus is so well
known (d. 1715), lies in the churchyard.

At St Margaret's were married, Lord Chan-
cellor Clarendon, to his second wife^ Frances
Aylesbury, the grandmother of Queen Mary and
Queen Anne. Here Milton buried his second
wife, Katherine Woodcocke, whom he dearly
loved, but who died in fifteen months after their
union, his three daughters, by his first wife, Mary
Powell, growing up wild and undisciplined, to cost
their father many a heart-ache in his declining

* Aubrey, in, 403.

190 London Churches

days. Samuel Pepys,* the entertaining diarist, was
married here Oct. 19, 1655; also Thomas Campbell,
the poet, author of The Pleasures of Hope.

Dean Aldrich was baptized at St Margaret's;
also the children of Titus Gates and Judge Jeffries.

Here were preached the lengthy Fast Day Ser-
mons; and Hugh Peters, "the pulpit buffoon,"
persuaded the Parliament to bring Charles "to
condign, speedy, and capital punishment," while
the churchyard was guarded by soldiers with
pikes and muskets.

"The Fast-Day Sermons at St Margaret's,
Westminster, in spite of printers, are all grown
dumb! In long rows of dumpy little quartos,
gathered from the bookstalls, they indeed stand
here bodily before us; by human volition they can
be read, but not by any human memory be re-
membered. We forget them as soon as read; they
have become a weariness to the soul of man. They
are dead and gone, they and what they shadowed.
Alas, and did not the honourable Houses of Parlia-
ment listen to them with rapt earnestness, as to an
indisputable message from Heaven itself? Learned
and painful Dr Owen, learned and painful Dr
Burgess, Stephen Marshall, Mr Spurstow, Adoni-
ram Byfield, Hugh Peters, Philip Nye; the printer
has done for them what he could — and no most
astonishing Review Article of our days can have half

*"May 26, 1667. — After dinner, I by water alone to Westmins-
ter to the parish church, and there did entertain myself with my
perspective glass up and down the church, by which I had the
great pleasure of seeing and gazing at a great many very fine
women, and what with that and sleeping, I passed away the time
till service was done."— Diary of Samuel Pepys.

St Margaret's, Westminster 1 9 1

such * brilliancy,' such potency, half such virtue
for producing belief, as these poor little dumpy-
quartos once had." — Carlyle, Cromwell? s Letters.

On a curious old fifteenth-century bench, un-
happily destroyed, a quantity of loaves and six-
pences were arranged prior to their distribution
after the morning service on Sundays, to certain
poor widows resident in the parish, agreeably to
the bequest of a Miss Joyce Goddard, in 1621.

In the vestry hang two curious engravings of the
interior of St Margaret's, with the House of Com-
mons attending. It was formerly the custom for
the members of the Lower House to attend here
on what were called State Service Days, viz.:
November 5 (Gunpowder Plot), January 30 (King
Charles the Martyr), May 29 (Restoration of
King Charles II), and the anniversary of the Sove-
reign's accession. The custom has long fallen into
disuse, though seats for members are still set apart.

At the Restoration an organ was built in St
Margaret's by Father Smith. This remained until
1803, when an entirely new one by Avery* took
its place; the old organ, case and all, which £<? valued
at £200, passing into Avery's possession.

In 1859 Avery's organ was rebuilt by Holditch,
and again in 1868 by Hill, and in 1878 was re-
moved from the western gallery to the north side
of the chancel, still, however, retaining the pseudo
Gothic case of 1803. Subsequently, however, it
was enclosed in a very handsome case, from the
designs of Mr A. G. Hill, and in 1897 an entirely
new organ was built by Walker.

* For some account of this organ builder, see Bumpus'
Cathedrals of England and Wales, Vol. u. I <;6.

192 London Churches

Among those who have held the post of organist
at St Margaret's, may be named: John Parsons
(1616), subsequently organist and master of the
choristers of Westminster Abbey; John Hilton, to
whom the anthem, Lord, for Thy tender mercies'
sake, usually ascribed to Farrant is with greater
probability attributed; Edward Purcell, the only
surviving son of the great Henry Purcell (1726-
1740); and John B. Sale (1809-1856), Lay Vicar
of Westminster Abbey, Instructor in music
to Queen Victoria, and Organist of the Chapel
Royal.

It was in the churchyard of St Margaret's,
while a boy at Westminster School, that, late
one evening, in a glimmering light, Cowper
received the second of his serious impressions,
which gave a colour and a character to his
after-life. " Crossing St Margaret's Church-
yard late one evening," says Southey, " a glim-
mering light in the midst of it excited his
curiosity, and instead of quickening his speed,
and whistling to keep his courage up the while,
he went to see from whence it proceeded. A
grave-digger was at work there by lantern-light ;
and, just as Cowper came to the spot, he
threw up a skull which struck him on the leg.
This gave an alarm to his conscience, and he
remembered the incident as among the best
religious impressions which he had received at
Westminster."

Foolish recommendations for demolishing St
Margaret's, on account of its contiguity to the

St Margaret's, Westminster 193

Abbey, have several times been made. The church
groups well with that noble pile, which would
not be a whit advantaged by its absence, from
every point, and does not injure it from any. That
the Abbey was never meant to stand alone without
precincts, is quite clear; indeed, Pugin is said to
have replied to a query as to the removal of this
church, that so far from doing so he should feel
inclined to build some more. We have no right,
except for very urgent reasons, to interfere with
public buildings, especially churches, that have
their histories and associations. The wholesale
demolition of Wren's City churches is bad
enough, but when we come to a mediaeval building,
any disturbance of the kind is still more to be
deprecated.

Luckily, in the case of St Margaret's, good
counsels have prevailed, and the church still
stands to give scale to the noble pile which rises to
the south of it.

The Chapel Royal within St James' Palace, of
the very latest Perpendicular architecture, is
chiefly interesting from the important place it
holds in the history of English Church music, and
for the numerous royal functions that have taken
place within its walls.

It was not, however, until the reign of Henry
VIII that the duties of the Chapel Royal were
performed at St James' Palace, which was first
built by that monarch. This spot, now so interest-
ing in British history, was originally occupied by
a Hospital, dedicated to St James, founded by
some pious citizens before the Conquest, for four-
teen leprous females, and eight brethren were

1-13

194 London Churches

added afterwards to perform divine service. It was
rebuilt in the time of Henry III. The custody was
given to Eton College by a grant of the 28th of
Henry VI. It is said the living of Chattisham was
given in exchange for it, the College having for
that consideration resigned it to Henry VIII, at
which time its revenue was valued at £100 per
annum.

It was surrendered to the King in 1531, who
founded on its site the present palace which Stow
calls a goodly manor. The chapel, of very little
architectural pretensions, is placed just to the
west of the great entrance gateway to the palace,
and is distinguished externally by its tall, square-
headed northern, or altar window of nine
lights.

It is oblong in plan, with side galleries, the
Royal Gallery being at the west end.

The superb ceiling, painted by Holbein in 1540,
is one of the earliest specimens of the new style
introduced by him into England. The rib-mould-
ings are of wooden framework, suspended to the
roof above; the panels have plaster grounds, the
centres displaying the Tudor emblems and de-
vices. The subject is gilt, shaded boldly with
bistre; the roses glazed with a red colour, and the
arms emblazoned in their proper colours; leaves
painted dark green ornamented each subject; the
general ground of the whole was light blue.

The mouldings of the ribs are painted green,
and some are gilt. The ceiling has at various times
undergone repairs, in one of which the blue
ground was painted white. In 1836, when the
chapel was enlarged, under the direction of Sir

The Chapel Royal, St James' 195

Robert Smirke,* the blue ground was discovered,
as were likewise some of the mottoes in the small
panels; thus, " STET DIEV FELI x : HENRICQ REX 8 — H. A.

VIVAT REX. I54O. DIEU ET MON DROIT," etc.

The musical annals of the Chapel Royal are re-
plete with interest, but for much information
upon the subject the reader must be referred to
The Old Cheque Book, or, Book of Remembrance of
the Chanel Royal, from 1561 to 1744. Edited from
the original MS. preserved among the Monu-
ments of the Chapel Royal, St James' Palace, by
Dr Rimbault, this interesting volume, printed
for the Camden Society in 1872, contains a curious
history of the Chapel Royal, St James', for nearly
two centuries, as recorded in the book kept by the
Clerk of the Cheque for the time being.

It was the duty of this officer to keep an account
of the attendance, and to note the absence of the
priests and gentlemen of the choir, in order to lay
the same before the Dean or Subdean, and to re-
cord all rules and regulations made by the Dean
and Chapter for the government of the chapel.
This Cheque Book, which, from the irregularity
with which the entries are inserted, seems more
like a commonplace book than an official record,
contains many curious and minute particulars of
Royal ceremonies, funerals, coronations, church-
ings, baptisms, royal and noble marriages, etc.,
many of these entries being of great historical
value. While many of them, as may well be
imagined, throw great light on the changes intro-

*The Chapel Royal was reopened after these repairs on Sun-
day, May 21, 1837. King William IV was to have been present,
but was prevented by illness. He died a month afterwards.

196

London Churches

duced from time to time in the performance
of Divine Service in the Chapel Royal, they
are also especially rich in biographical notices
of eminent musicians, organists and composers,
often supplying new and valuable dates; and
the editor, an enthusiastic antiquary, who for
a long series of years paid special attention to
this subject, was very successful in turning this
portion of the work to good account and illus-
trating it with his notes — of which it indeed may
be said, generally, they are all pertinent and
instructive.

Divine service is performed at the Chapel Royal
as at our cathedrals, by the gentlemen of the
choir and ten choristers (or "children," as they
are termed), the latter of whom, on Sundays and
festivals and other great occasions, present a most
picturesque appearance in their gold-embroidered
scarlet coats, and knee-breeches.

The establishment consists of a Dean (the Bis-
hop of London), Subdean, Chaplains-in-Ordinary,
Priests-in-waiting, Organist and Composer, and
Master of the Children. Until 1833 there was a
" Confessor to the Royal Household."*

The hours of service on Sunday are at 12.15
and at 5.30. Admission to the midday service is
only obtainable by order from the Lord Cham-
berlain; that at 5.30 is open to the public, and is
but scantily attended.

For much interesting information respecting
the musical associations of the Chapel Royal, I may
refer the reader to some interesting papers, con-

* The last "Confessor" was the Rev. Henry Fly, D.D., Sub-
dean, and one of the Minor Canons of St Paul's.

The Chapel Royal, St James' 197

tributed by Mr John S. Bumpus, to The St PauVs
Cathedral Choristers' Magazine for October, No-
vember and December, 1894.

The list of organists and composers of distinc-
tion, who have been connected with the Chapel
from the sixteenth century to the present time, is
too long for complete insertion; suffice it, therefore,
to mention such well-known names in the history
of English Church music as Tallis, Byrd, Orlando
Gibbons, Child, Blow, Henry Purcell, Croft,
Weldon, Greene, Travers, Boyce, Nares, Dupuis,
Arnold, John Stafford Smith, Sir George Smart,
Thomas Attwood,William Hawes, George Cooper,
C. S. Jekyll, Sir John Goss and the Rev. Thos.
Helmore.

George III invariably attended the Chapel
Royal, St James', when a nobleman carried the
Sword of State before him, and heralds, pursui-
vants-at-arms, and other officers, walked in pro-
cession. So persevering was his attendance at
prayers, that in her Diary, Madame D'Arblay,
one of Queen Charlotte's robing-women, tells us,
in November, 1777, of the Queen and family
dropping off, one by one, and leaving the King,
the priest-in-waiting and His Majesty's equerry
to "freeze it out together."

Here were married Prince George of Denmark
and the Princess Anne; Frederick, Prince of Wales,
and the daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Gotha;
George IV and Queen Caroline; Queen Victoria
and Prince Albert ; the Princess Victoria (the late
"Empress Frederick") to Prince Frederick William
of Prussia ; and our present King to " Princess
May " of Teck.

198 London Churches

Before the formation of the Chapel at Bucking-
ham Palace in 1843, Her late Majesty and the
Court attended the Chapel Royal, St James'. The
silver candelabra, plate and other appointments of
the altar are superb.

199

CHAPTER IV
The Riverside and Suburban &iedueoal Churches

ST MARY THE VIRGIN, Lambeth, the
mother church of the manor and parish,
stands facing the Thames within the patriarchal
shade of Lambeth Palace, immediately adjoining
Cardinal Morton's red-brick gateway. Its Per-
pendicular tower, with beacon-turret, groups
finely with the mass of archiepiscopal buildings,
but the body of the church was rebuilt in the
Flowing Decorated style, from the designs of
P. C. Hardwick in 1851-52. The old structure
was a poor patched-up thing, with little or nothing
of architectural interest, but several mementoes of
it were incorporated with the present building,
which has a clerestoried nave divided from its
separately gabled aisles by tall octagonal columns,
with thin capitals and acutely-pointed arches, and
a deep chancel lighted by a large five-light east
window, filled in 1852 with stained glass, by
O'Connor, in memory of Archbishop Howley.
There is a good deal of modern glass, mostly good,
a pretty altarpiece, with sculpture by Tinworth;
some memorial tablets, with sculpture by the
same hand; a fine old Renaissance organ-case; and
an elaborately canopied font, behind which is a
semicircular sunk bapistery for total immersion
by those who desire it. .

In the Bishop's Register at Winchester, date
1377, is a commission to compel the inhabitants to

2OO London Churches

erect the existing tower for their church, then
newly built. In the churchwardens' accounts,
"pewes" are mentioned as early as the reign of
Philip and Mary.

The eastern end of the north aisle, built in 1522,
by the Duke of Norfolk, is called the Howard
Chapel. Here is a brass to Thomas Clere, Esq.
(d. 1545). Over it was formerly an epitaph, in
English verse, by the celebrated Earl of Surrey.

The epitaph on the monument of white and
black marble, with bust, to Robert Scott, Esq., of
Bawerie, in Scotland (d. 1631), who "invented a
leather ordnance," is worth reading.

In the small square window of the south aisle is
the full-length figure of a pedlar with his pack, his
staff and dog, the unknown person who gave
Pedlar's Acre to the Parish of Lambeth, upon con-
dition that his portrait and that of his dog be per-
petually preserved in painted glass in one of the
windows of the church. When the painting was
first put up is unknown, but it existed in 1608. "A
new glass pedlar" was put up in 1703, but removed
in 1816.

It has been suggested that this portrait was in-
tended rather as a rebus upon the name "Chap-
man" than upon his trade; for in Swaffham
Church, Norfolk, is the portrait of John Chap-
man, a great benefactor to that parish; and the
device of a pedlar and his pack occurs in several
parts of the church, which has given rise to nearly
the same tradition at Swaffham as at Lambeth.

Besides, Pedlar's ., Acre was not originally so
called, but the Church Hopes, or Hopys (an
isthmus of land projecting into the river), and is

St Mary the Virgin, Lambeth 201

entered in the Register as bequeathed by "a per-
son unknown."

The bells and Communion plate are of con-
siderable age, the latter of great value.

Several Archbishops of Canterbury are interred
in Lambeth Church: Parker (d. 1575), Bancroft
(d. 1610), Tenison (d. 1715), Hutton (d. 1758),
Seeker (in the passage between the church and the
palace, d. 1768), Cornwallis (d. 1783) and Moore
fd. 1805).

In burying Archbishop Cornwallis were found
the remains of Thirlby, the first and only Bishop
of Westminster: he died a prisoner in Lambeth
Palace during the reign of Elizabeth (1570). The
body was discovered wrapped in fine linen, the
face perfect, the beard long and white, the linen
and woollen garments well preserved; the cap, silk,
and point lace, as in portraits of Archbishop
Juxon; slouched hat, under left arm; cassock, like
apron with strings; and pieces of garments like a
pilgrim's habit.

Prior to the dissolution of the monasteries,
Henry VIII had resolved to convert some of them
into episcopal Sees, to be endowed with a portion
of the lands or revenues which that dissolution
would place at his disposal. Of the projected Sees,
Westminster was to be one; and on December 17,
1540, the Abbey Church was, by letters patent,
constituted a Cathedral, with a bishop, a dean,
twelve prebendaries and other inferior officers.*

*If Gloucester and Peterborough had not been converted into
Cathedral churches, they would doubtless have perished, like
Abingdon, Cro viand, Fountains, Glastonbury, Reading,
Rievaulx, and others which were little inferior to them, either in
extent, grandeur, or sacred associations.

2O2 London Churches

The new bishop was Thomas Thirlby, then dean
of the Chapel Royal. On January 16, 1539-40, a
surrender of the whole establishment, for the pur-
pose of carrying this project into effect, was made
by Abbot Benson and twenty-four of the monks.
The annual revenue is stated to have been nearly
£4,000, a sum of great real value, when the pound
of beef was regulated at one halfpenny, and that
of veal and mutton at three farthings. Benson, for
his ready compliance with Henry's wishes, was
appointed dean of the new cathedral; certain
monks became prebendaries, minor canons, and
students in the university; the others were dis-
missed with pensions, decreasing from £10 down to
five marks. The abbatial mansion was converted into
a palace for the bishop, whose annual revenue is vari-
ously stated f rom£ 600 to^Soo.The diocese included
the whole county of Middlesex, with the exception
of Fulham, the rural residence of the Bishop of Lon-
don. The endowment of the dean and chapter was
not completed till 1542, when lands in various
parts of the Kingdom were assigned, of the yearly
value of £2,598; out of which, however, the sum
of £400 was to be paid, for the salaries of five pro-
fessors of divinity, law, physic, Hebrew and Greek,
in each of the universities. A further sum of
£ 1 66 133. 4d. was to support twenty students in
the Universities; and two masters, with forty
grammar scholars, were to be maintained in the
school of Westminster.

The new bishopric was, however, but of short
duration; for on March 29, 1550, Bishop Thirlby
was required to surrender it to Edward VI, and it
was soon afterwards united to that of London.

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St Mary the Virgin, Lambeth 203

Thirlby was then translated to Norwich; thence
he was removed to Ely, by Queen Mary, on the
death of Goodrich, a zealous supporter of the Re-
formation, during whose tenure of the see the
great shrines of St Etheldreda, and of the three
other sainted abbesses, were removed and des-
troyed; and was soon afterwards sent ambassador
to Rome, to represent the state of the kingdom,
and promise obedience to the Apostolic See. The
degrading of Archbishop Cranmer in the cloisters
of Oxford Cathedral was performed by Thirlby,
who was observed to weep during the ceremony.

Thirlby continued in favour for a short time
after the accession of Elizabeth, but on refusing
the Oath of Supremacy he was committed to the
Tower, whence he was removed to Lambeth,
where he lived for ten years under the guardian-
ship of Archbishop Parker.

On the dissolution of the short-lived West-
minster bishopric, part of the possessions of St
Peter's Cathedral (the reader will remember that
this is the collegiate title of Westminster Abbey)
were appropriated to the repairs of St Paul's
Cathedral, whence arose the saying, "Robbing
Peter to pay Paul."

A marble slab commemorates Elias Ashmole,
founder of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford.

Peter Dollond, the inventor of the achromatic
telescope, lies here; also Madame Storace, a
soprano vocalist of repute. She appeared at con-
certs in London between 1774 and 1788, and died
at Dulwich, August 24, 1817. Her brother, Stephen
Storace, became, about 1787, composer to Drury
Lane Theatre, where he produced his melodious.

2 04 London Churches

but now hardly-remembered operas, The Siege of
Belgrade, The Haunted Tower, Lodoiska, No Song
no Supper and The Pirates. He died in 1796, while
his Mahomet was in rehearsal, which was brought
out a few days after his death. Such songs, from
the operas above mentioned, as Toll the Knell,
Down by the River there Grows a Green Willow, The
Sapling Oak, Peaceful Slumbering on the Ocean,
With lowly suit and -plaintive ditty and There the
Silvered Waters roam, may be found in most old-
fashioned collections, and are still admired by
lovers of unaffected melody.

On the south side of the churchyard is the en-
riched seventeenth-century altar tomb of the
Tradescants, father and son:

That had been
Both gardeners to the Rose and Lily queen.

— Epitaph.

It was under the walls of Lambeth Church
that the Queen of James II (Mary d'Este, sister of
the Duke of Modena) took refuge with her infant
son, James Francis Edward (afterwards known as
the Young Pretender), while awaiting the boat
that was to convey her to France, after her escape
from Whitehall Palace, on December 10, 1688 —
the night before the flight of her arbitrary and
misguided husband. Queen Mary d'Este makes
but little figure in history. The second wife of
James II, she appears to have been a woman of
gentle and pious disposition, lived in comparative
poverty and almost monastic seclusion in the
nunnery of Chaillot, after the death of her hus-
band in 1701, and expired at St-Germains, May 7,
1718.

Old Chelsea Church 205

The old Church of St Luke, Chelsea, pictur-
esquely situated at the west end of Cheyne Row,
is more remarkable for the historical associations
which cluster about it than for its architecture.

Of the original building the only remaining
portion is the chancel, which may date from the
eleventh century, but the east window is an Early
Perpendicular insertion of about 1350. The north
chancel aisle belongs to the fifteenth century,
while the corresponding south aisle was added in
1535 by Sir Thomas More.

The nave and square tower were built in a non-
descript style during the middle of the seven-
teenth century, and if not possessing much ele-
gance are sufficiently characteristic to deserve
preservation.

Internally, old Chelsea Church, quietly and
conservatively restored in 185 7 under the auspices
of its late rector, Rev. R. H. Davies, is pic-
turesque, and has been thus feelingly described by
Henry Kingsley in his novel, The Hillyars and
Burtons.

"Four hundred years of memory are crowded
into this dark old church, and the flood of change
beats round its walls and shakes the door in vain,
but never enters. The dead stand thick together
here, as if to make a brave resistance to the moving
world outside, which jars upon their slumber. It
is a church of the dead. I cannot fancy anyone
being married at that church — its air would chill
the boldest bride who ever walked to the altar.
No; it is a place for old people to creep into, and
pray until their prayers are answered and they
sleep with the rest."

206 London Churches

In the broad, pillarless nave at the south-west
corner, is a desk containing Bible and Prayer Book,
Book of Homilies and Foxis Martyrs^ held by
chains, whose manufacture shows them to be of
the time when such volumes were scarce.

On the north side of the nave is the large and
costly monument of Lady Jane Cheyne (1669),
ascribed to Bernini, and said to have cost £500.
Immediately opposite is the fine Corinthian
monument of Lord and Lady Dacre (1595) with
their effigies, life-size.

The chancel is approached from the nave by
three round-headed arches, above which are dis-
posed several old tattered flags, worked and pre-
sented to the Royal Volunteers by Princess Char-
lotte, and placed here on the disbanding of the
regiment.

The chief interest of old Chelsea Church centres
in Sir Thomas More, whose tomb, erected by
himself in 1532, three years before his death, is in
the chancel. During the reign of Charles I it was
restored, and again in 1833.

A vault was constructed on the south side of the
chancel by Sir Thomas More during his lifetime,
to which he removed the bones of his first wife,
and which he designed for his own place of burial.

The inscription which he placed there has been
renewed. A sentence describes him as "Furibus
autem et homicidis . . . molestus," the blank space
being originally supplied with the word "herati-
cisque," which his descendant, or admirer, who
had the stone recut did not care to perpetuate.

The character of Sir Thomas More is not more
distinguished by the lively deportment which

Old Chelsea Church 207

Tie exhibited at all times, and under almost every
circumstance, in his general intercourse with the
world, than by his deep sense of religion and fre-
quent devotional exercises. Whole pages illustrative
of this feature of his disposition might be quoted
from the life written by his great-grandson. It had
distinguished him from an early age, when he
lived four years amongst the Carthusians in Lon-
don, "frequenting daily their spiritual exercises,
but without any vow. He had an earnest mind also
to be a Franciscan friar."

The practice which he had thus acquired of
assisting in the public services of the Church, he
continued during his life. When Chancellor, "he
would often in public processions carry the cross,"
walking on foot;* and was even accustomed to
wear the surplice of a singing man, "both at High
Mass and Matins" in the parish church of Chelsea.

"The Duke of Norfolk, coming one day to dine
with him during his Chancellorship, found him in
church with a surplice on, and singing with the
quire.

" 'God's body, my Lord Chancellor,' said the
Duke, as they returned to his house, 'what, a parish
clerk? You dishonour the King and his office.'

" 'Nay,' said Sir Thomas, 'you may not think
your master and mine will be offended with me
for serving God, his Master, or thereby count his
office dishonoured.' '

Soon after settling at Chelsea, More erected in

*When many counselled him in the long processions in Roga-
tion Week, to use a horse for his dignity and age, he would
answer, "It beseemed not the servant to follow his Master pran-
cing on cock horse, his Master [the Host] going on foot."

2o8 London Churches

his garden a detached edifice, containing a chapel,
a library, and a gallery, which were called the
New Buildings. In this private chapel he said
prayers with his family, morning and evening,
and would, usually on Fridays, spend the whole
day in devotion.

His biographers also notice his having added a
chapel to the parish church of Chelsea; "where
the parish had all ornaments belonging thereunto,
abundantly supplied at his charge, and he be-
stowed thereon much plate, often speaking these
words, 'Good men give it, and bad men take it
away.' '

Hoddesdon, in his Life of More, particularly
says this chapel was built before he was Chan-
cellor; and that fact is confirmed by the date
found on one of the capitals. He was not appointed
Lord Chancellor until October 25, 1529; on this
capital is the year 1528. His monument, which is
not within this chapel, but in the chancel, bears
the date 1532, which was the year of his resigning
his high office.

The More Chapel is attached to the southern
side of the "lower chancel" of Chelsea Church. It
is twenty feet long, and fifteen feet wide; its nor-
thern side is opened into the church for its whole
length, except three feet; and the upper part of
the opening consists of a pointed arch, springing
from capitals carved in the style of the Early
Renaissance by Torrigiano, a sculptor largely em-
ployed in England by Henry VII and VIII.

Each of these capitals, which were resuscitated,
as it were, from a grave of whitewash in 1833, has
five sculptured faces, about eighteen inches high.

Old Chelsea Church 209

Those on the western capital of the arch represent
various instrumenta of Catholic worship — bundles
of candles, two candlesticks with great prickets for
lights, a bucket for holy water with a small brush
or wisp, and a book; all articles remarkable both as
connected with More's recorded attachment to
the services of the Church, and as actual repre-
sentations of ecclesiastical furniture in use shortly
before the Reformation.

Indeed, the whole performance is probably
unique in its way.

The sculptures on the other capital are not so
perfectly intelligible. In the centre are Sir Thomas
More's arms, of two coats quarterly, as they occur
on the cornice of his monument. One coat is a
chevron engrailed between three moor cocks, allu-
sive, as is the crest, a moor's head, to his name. The
quartering is a chevron between three unicorns'
heads erased; on the chevron ought to be three
bezants, as on Sir Thos More's monument; this
coat is that of Ley. The crest, placed on a helmet
and wreath, is a moor's head, laureated. Five
Moorish cherubim, the first weeping and the
others making various grimaces, form the crown-
ing ornaments of each side; and answer to other
heads, of men and women, in the attire of the
times, on the other capital. Within the volutes
below the angelic Moors are smaller heads, which
have been carved with much delicacy, as are the
two grotesque masks which adorn the sarcophagus
on the second side. On the fourth side the date
1528 occurs on a tablet.

The devices on the first and fifth sides are still
subjects for conjecture.

1-14

2 1 o London Churches

Sir Thomas More was not Chancellor when this
chapel was built; but he had other offices (he was
then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster), and
these may represent some of the official insignia.
It may be remarked that some of the protruding
knobs, particularly a large one on the fifth side,
are fossil remains in the substance of the stone,
which the sculptor appears to have found too hard
for his chisel.

Here then, was the pew to which belongs the
anecdote told of the manner in which he first
acquainted his wife with his resignation of the
Great Seal, which is as follows :

"The next morning being a holiday, and few yet
knowing what had been done, he went to Chelsea
Church with his lady and family; where, during
divine service, he sat as usual in the quire, wearing a
surplice; and because it had been a custom after
Mass was done for one of his gentlemen to go to
his lady's 'pew^ and say, ' My Lord is gone before, '
he came now himself, and making a low bow, said,
'Madam, my Lord is gone,' who thinking it to be
no more than his usual humour, took no notice of
it; but in the way home, to her great mortification,
he unriddled the jest, by acquainting her with
what he had done the preceding day."

On the enlargement of the church in 1667 the
western wall of the chapel was nearly removed,
and a large elliptical arch formed in it, so that now
the More Chapel is perfectly open to the re-
mainder of the south aisle, which was formed by
this alteration, and might be deemed a part of it,
except that the latter is considerably higher, and
that the old pointed roof and open beams of the

Old Chelsea Church 211

chapel remain. There are still two windows in the
south wall, but now round-headed, although the
form of their original flattened point remains in
the interior recesses, and there is one of the same
description at the east end. The exterior walls
have been entirely faced with brick, together with
the greater part of the church.

It does not appear that Sir Thomas More used, or
even intended, his Chapel for a place of sepulchre;
for his monument, which, as before mentioned,
was erected four years after, he placed in the
chancel. There, as recorded in the epitaph, he de-
posited the remains of his first wife; and there he
intended his own, and those of his second wife,
should rest.*

Neither of these intentions were fulfilled. His
wife was subsequently buried at Northaw in
Hertfordshire. More's own body, after decapita-
tion, was buried in the Tower, near that of his
friend, Bishop Fisher; whilst his head, after it had
been for some time exposed on London Bridge,
was recovered by his daughter, Mrs Roper, and
deposited in a vault at St Dunstan's Church, Can-
terbury.

Who can forget that most touching scene in
English history, when Margaret Roper found her
way through the crowd, and falling on her knees
in a passion of grief, besought the blessing of
her condemned father. Samuel Rogers, in his
Human Life, has pathetically retold this inci-
dent:

*Chara Thomae jacet hie Joanna uxorcula Mori,
Qui tumulum Alicia; liunc destius, quique milii

212 London Churches

The blushing maid*

Who through the streets as through a desert strayed,
And when her dear, dear father passed along,
Would not be held, but bursting through the throng,
Halberd, and battle axe, kissed him o'er and o'er;
Then turned and went — then sought him as before,
Believing she should see his face no more.

Reverting to the More Chantry, it may be re-
marked that this chapel was merely intended to
furnish accommodation for his own large house-
hold during divine service, the church itself being
small.

In this More Chantry is the fine but sadly
mutilated tomb of Jane Dudley (d. 1555), mother-
in-law of Lady Jane Grey.

The north chancel aisle or Lawrence Chantry
is entered from the chancel proper by a large
Renaissance arch, about ten feet high; it is orna-
mented with fluted carving, and forms the monu-
ment of Richard Gervoise, Sheriff of London
(d. 1557). In the Lawrence Chantry should be
observed the monument of Sir John Lawrence
(d. 1638), of his father Thomas Lawrence (d. 1593)
and the expressive white marble tomb of Mrs
Colvill, daughter of Thomas Lawrence (d. 1631).

The curious monument of Sir Hans Sloane, at
the south east-corner of the churchyard, an urn
entwined by serpents, was erected by his daugh-
ters, Sarah Stanley and Eliza Cadogan.

The parish church of Fulham, dedicated to All
Saints, and, like Lambeth, Chelsea, Putney and
Chiswick, picturesquely placed near the river, was
rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, by the

"Has not the author of The Pleasures of Memory availed him-
self of poetic licence here?

All Saints', Fulham 213

late Sir Arthur Blomfield, nearly fifty years ago.*
It consists of a nave, with aisles and clerestory,
transepts and square-ended chancel, all carried out
in rather hard and cold Perpendicular.

The tower, restored by George Godwin more
than sixty years ago, stands at the west end, and is
one of the best in the county. Of the Early Per-
pendicular period, and dating from about 1370, it
consists of five stages, the lowest containing a
plain west doorway surmounted by a large win-
dow of five lights with tracery mingling the
curvilinear with the rectilinear, and filled with
stained glass, representing the arms of several Bis-
hops of London and vicars of Fulham.

The middle stages contain two series of windows
of two lights each, while the upper or belfry
story has three-light windows with incipient
vertical tracery. The parapet is embattled, and at
the south-west corner of the tower is a bold newel
or beacon turret, carried up about eight feet above
the parapet of the tower and bearing the vane. Here

•Besides his reconstruction of Fulham Church, Sir Arthur
Blomfield's most important London works were: the nave of St
Saviour's Cathedral, Southwark, St Luke's, Stepney, St John's,
Wilton Road, St James's, Paddington (in conjunction with Mr
Street), St Mary's, Bourdon Street, Berkeley Square, and St
Andrew's, Stoke Newington. He also renovated and rearranged
with success several Wrennian and eighteenth- and early nine-
teenth-century classical churches, notably, St Lawrence Jewry,
St Martin-in-the-Fields, St Luke's, Old Street, St Giles'-in-the-
Fields, St Mark's, North Audley Street, and St Peter's, Eaton
Square. The chancel of the latter, edited, so to speak in an
Auvergnat type of Romanesque is undoubtedly a masterpiece. In
the country his two finest works are St Barnabas', Oxford, and St
Mary's, Portsea, the one a Byzantine-Romanesque basilica, the
other a vast English Perpendicular church.

214 London Churches

are eight bells and a small lozenge-shaped Flemish
brass with a demi-figure of Margaret Saunders,
1529.

The great east window of Fulham Church is an
admirable specimen of modern glass painting, as is
that in the north transept representing scenes
from the life of the Blessed Virgin.

The four-light window of Late Decorated charac-
ter in the south transept,withWailes' stock figures of
the Evangelists, was formerly at the east end. It was
given in 1 840 by Bishop Blomfield, who died at Ful-
ham Palace, August 5, 1857, and was buried ina plot
of ground which he had himself consecrated as an
addition to the churchyard some few years before,
beside the palace moat, and with the trees of the
garden that he loved so well overshadowing his
tomb. Thus was fulfilled the desire which the
Bishop had expressed. A simple tombstone of
white marble, designed by the late Sir Arthur
Blomfield, was erected over the grave, but a
memorial of a more public character was placed,
some years later, in St Paul's Cathedral, from the
designs and execution of Sir George Richmond,
R.A., viz. a noble recumbent effigy of the Bishop
vested in his episcopal robes lying upon a low
couch as if stricken down while still engaged in the
duties of his office. A pastoral staff lies broken at
his side. Thus the artist has endeavoured to ex-
press the abrupt termination of Bishop Blom-
field's labours by illness, so long before his death.
The expression given to the countenance is that of
resignation and cheerful acceptance of the blow
which laid him low. Curiously enough, Dr Blom-
field was the first Bishop of London to be com-

All Saints', Fulham 215

memorated by a monument in the cathedra]
church of his diocese. This beautiful monument
stands within the second recess of the south choir
aisle, and, since the free passage allowed to visitors
round this portion of the cathedral, has gained
that notice which had hitherto been denied to it.

Several Bishops of London are buried in the
eastern part of Fulham churchyard beneath the
altar window; among them, Compton (1713),
Robinson (1723), Gibson (1748), Sherlock (1761),
Terrick (1777) and Lowth (1787). From Bishop
Sherlock's death in 1761 to Blomfield's taking
possession of the See in 1829 there was a rapid
succession of Prelates of little note, but who no
doubt discharged their functions with quiet dig-
nity, and lived their blameless lives in respect
and in esteem.

Terrick, it will be remembered, was the Bishop
of London who, when in 1773 certain Royal
Academicians volunteered to decorate the interior
of St Paul's, opposed the scheme quite violently,
for on the Dean's (Dr Newton, Bishop of Bristol)
waiting upon him, and telling him with much
exultation of the progress that had been made,
vetoed the whole project.

"My good Lord Bishop of Bristol," he said, "I
have been already distantly and imperfectly in-
formed of such an affair having been in contem-
plation; but as the sole power remains with myself,
I therefore inform your lordship, that whilst I live
and have the power, I will never suffer the doors of
the Metropolitan Cathedral to be opened for the
introduction of Popery into it."

St Paul's suffered no loss through Bishop Ter-

2 1 6 London Churches

rick's sturdy Protestantism. "I confess," says Dean
Milman in his Annals, "I shudder at the idea of our
walls being covered with the audacious designs and
tawdry colouring of West, Cipriani, Dance, and
Angelica Kauffman."

The Church of St Mary the Virgin at Putney,
exactly opposite Fulham, was rebuilt, with the ex-
ception of its tower, nave arcade, and Chapel of
Bishop West, in the Perpendicular of 1836. The
tower is a fair specimen of the Home County
type, with battlements and angle turret, and the
little two-bayed chapel or chantry of Bishop West,
on the north side of the chancel, has a richly fan-
traceried roof, springing partly from a corbelled
shaft and partly from continuous ones. There are
two small brasses and a trefoil-headed niche in the
northern wall, and stained glass in the three win-
dows, that in the eastern one being by Warrington,
in which, as in the generality of that artist's works,
we perceive too strong a desire for antiquation.

Nicholas West, to whom this little gem of the
expiring Gothic of England is due, was the son of
a baker at Putney. He was educated at Eton and
King's College, Cambridge, rose to be Archdeacon
of Derby in 1501, and Dean of Windsor in 1510.
Patronized by Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More,
West early became distinguished for his knowledge
of civil and canon law, and on that account was
much employed throughout his life in public
affairs and on embassies, under Henry VII and
VIII; the latter of whom he attended at the Field
of the Cloth of Gold. In 1515 he was made Bishop
of Ely, and is said to have lived in greater splen-
dour than any other prelate of his time, having

St Mary the Virgin, Putney 217

more than one hundred servants. Two hundred
poor were daily relieved at his gate.

His learning and acquirements were very con-
siderable, and are especially praised by Bishop
Fisher. He was a zealous advocate on the side of
Queen Catharine of Aragon, and the loss of the
King's favour on that account is said to have has-
tened his death, which occurred April 28, 1533.

At Putney, his native place, West built this
chantry, adjoining the chancel of the parish
church, its architecture affording an interesting
comparative study with that of the same prelate's
chapel at the end of the south choir aisle of Ely
Cathedral, where it forms a pendant to the some-
what earlier, but equally sumptuous one of Bishop
Alcock.

Of the mediaeval churches in the north and east
of London, the largest and finest is that of St
Dunstan, Stepney, the mother church of all this
part of Middlesex.

The parish of Stepney — anciently Stebbon
Heath — was originally of such vast extent, that it
included the present parishes of St Mary, Strat-
ford-le-Bow, St Mary, Whitechapel, St Anne,
Limehouse, St John, Wapping, St Paul, Shadwell,
St George-in-the-East, Christ Church, Spitalfielda,
and St Matthew, Bethnal Green.*

The present church of Stepney was rebuilt

*Shadwell was made a separate parish in 1669; St George's in
1727; Limehouse and Bow in 1730; and Bethnal Green in 1743.
Paterson in his Pietas Lon diniensis (1714) says: "Both church and
churchyard are too little for a large and populous parish; for it's
the most ample Parish about London, consisting of about nine
thousand dwelling houses; or in all England and perhaps in
Europe."

2 1 8 London Churches

shortly after the middle of the fifteenth century,
its predecessor having been erected, on the autho-
rity of Matthew Paris, by Archbishop Dunstan, in
place of one which had been dedicated to All
Saints.

After Dunstan's death and canonization the
church was rededicated in his name, a title which
it has borne for nine hundred years.

Vestiges of earlier structures are to be seen in
the present spacious Perpendicular edifice. Thus,
the round-headed opening in the clerestory on the
north side, towards the east, may be one of the
windows of the pre-Norman church; a piece of
sculpture, until recently in the south porch, but
now affixed to the eastern respond on the north
side, and representing the Crucifixion, is un-
questionably pre-Norinan; the extraordinary
corbel forming the western respond on the
north side would appear to be of the Tran-
sitional Period; the font, though over-restored, is
in the main Norman;* the sedilia are Early Eng-
lish; and portions of the north aisle, including a
window, are Late Decorated; and there can be no
doubt that the tower is much earlier than its pre-
sent appearance warrants.

Stepney Church has passed under the hand of
the restorer at several periods within the last sixty
years, each successive restoration bringing to light

*Old woodcuts of this font in Lyson's Environs of London,
Hughson's Walks in London (1817) and Time's Telescope (1829)
show it with a square bowl arcaded, supported by a central stem
and four corner ones with bases and flowered caps; the base
square and the whole raised upon a cruciform step, with a large
circular one underneath.

St Dunstan's, Stepney 219

some long-hidden feature of archaeological interest
and importance.

The first restoration took place in 1847, under
Benjamin Ferrey; the second in 1872 under New-
man and Billing; and the third in 1899 under
Cutts, when the galleries were removed, the stone-
work repaired, the walls stripped of their plaster,
the seats remodelled, and the organ rebuilt, the
church being reopened on December 7 of the
latter year. On October 12, 1901, the roof of the
chancel, the greater portion of that over the nave,
the organ case, and other fittings, and the vestries,
were destroyed by fire.*

The loss of the organ case was particularly re-
grettable, as it belonged to the latter part of the
seventeenth century, was handsomely carved in
oak and resembled that in King's College Chapel,
Cambridge, and the one formerly in Worcester
Cathedral.

In the centre was a figure of King David play-
ing upon his harp; but the angels which sur-
mounted the towers when the organ stood in the
western gallery were removed when, in 1847, the
instrument was placed on the north side of the
chancel, under an arch.

The ground plan of St Dunstan's, Stepney,
comprises a large sanctuary, a chancel of two bays
with aisles, clerestoried nave of five bays, with two
aisles, porches, and western tower, whose appear-
ance has not been improved by the removal of the
little cupola from its summit, so familiar in all the
old views of the church.

*A tall cross in the western wait of the churchyard, formed out
of the charred remains, commemorates this catastrophe.

22O London Churches

The windows generally are very good, with
acutely pointed arches and the lights super-mul-
lioned. The clerestory has low two-light windows,
filled with minute subjects on flowered quarry
grounds, by Clayton and Bell, to whom is likewise
due the glass in the three-light window above the
western entrance.

There is now no architectural separation be-
tween the nave and the chancel, as during the
restoration under Cutts, a low window filled with
stained glass, and overlooking the gable of the
chancel-roof, was taken away.

The Perpendicular arcade of seven bays is con-
tinuous, five going to the nave and two to the
chancel. The piers are all in clusters of four shafts,
and very good. The upper rood door appears over
one of the northern arcades, and that opening
to the staircase from the south aisle can still be seen
in the south aisle. The screen crossed the church
between the fifth and sixth bays.

On the south side of the sanctuary is a good
super- mullioned four-light window containing
small figures in excellent stained glass, and a plain,
square-headed priest's door. In the opposite wall
is an arch, the lower portion of which is occupied
by the canopied altar tomb of Sir Henry Colet,
Lord Mayor in 1486 and 1495, and father of the
founder of St Paul's School. The Early English
sedilia in the south wall of the sanctuary have been
restored since the fire of 1901; the easternmost is
graduated, and the three lancet arches are sup-
ported on coupled pillarets.

All the appointments are substantial and hand-
some, and the interior of old Stepney Church, with

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St Dunstan's, Stepney 221

its low, open seats, and disencumbered of its gal-
leries, is remarkably impressive.

A few other details deserve mention, as e.g., the
porches, modern, rather tall and narrow, and not
very good; a stone, believed, according to the in-
scription on it, to have been brought from Car-
thage; the rood turret, marking the junction of
the south aisle of the nave with that of the chan-
cel; a curious little piece of sculpture representing
the Annunciation, over the vestry door on the
north side of the chancel; a few matrices of
brasses; some monuments dating from the com-
mencement of the seventeenth century; and West-
cott's marble monument of the Good Samaritan,
to B. Kenton, Esq., who died in 1800, leaving
.£63,500 to charity schools and £30,000 to his
friends.

Stepney Church is famed in story for its legend
of "The Fish and the Ring," and the popular ballad
oil he Cruel Knight, or, A Fortunate Farmer's Daugh-
ter. Her identity is referred to Lady Berry,
whose tomb, with the fish and annulet in the
arms thereon is here; but the finding of a ring in a
fish is an incident of much greater antiquity than
Lady Berry's time, and occurs in the Arabian
Nights* Entertainment.

In No. 518 of The Spectator Richard Steele's
good-natured wit wells out as fresh and natural as
usual, over the number and oddity of the epitaphs
in the vast churchyard of Stepney:

"I have made a discovery of a churchyard in
which I believe you might spend an afternoon
with great pleasure to yourself and to the public.
It belongs to the church of Stebon Heath, com-

222 London Churches

monly called Stepney. Whether or no it be that
the people of that parish have particular genius for
an epitaph, or that there be some poet among
them who undertakes that work by the great, I
cannot tell; but there are more remarkable in-
scriptions in that place than in any other I have
met with."

Here lie the Rev. W. Vickers, author of Tbf
Companion to the Altar; and a certain Roger Crab,
who lived long on bran, dock-leaves, grass and
water.

From Stepney Church, the little Late Perpen-
dicular one of St Mary's, Stratford-le-Bow, at the
extremity of the Bow Road, may be visited.

It stands in the centre of that thoroughfare, and
consists of a chancel, nave, two aisles and western
tower, possessing the usual features of the locality,
i.e., an embattled parapet, with newel turret car-
ried right up the south-east angle.

This church is remarkable for its very narrow
aisles, probably accounted for by its situation,
the south aisle being barely four feet in width,
while the northern one is only a foot wider.

A similarly narrow aisle is found at All Saints',
Harston, Cambridgeshire.

The six-bayed nave appears to be partly Early
and partly Late Perpendicular, the three eastern-
most arches belonging to the former period. All the
piers are octagonal, and the arches are extremely
irregular, both in size and shape. There is a low,
Perpendicular clerestory, with square-headed,
three-light windows, but, as usual in Middlesex
churches of its date, there is no chancel arch at
Bow.

St Mary-atte- Bow 223

The ancient roof, of very good pitch, after being
hid for ages by a plaster ceiling, was brought to
light a little over fifty years ago.

It is what is technically termed a truss roof, and
consists of a series of curved braces set close to-
gether and tied together under the collars.

The Perpendicular font, after years of ignomini-
ous treatment in the parish workhouse, was res-
tored to the church about the same time. In the
south aisle is a small double-canopied monumental
niche dating from about 1500, and now containing
a brass inscription of sixty years later.

The church has lately undergone further restora-
tion, and though of poor architecture is not wholly
devoid of interest.

In the neighbouring St Leonard's, Bromley-by-
Bow, rebuilt in a pseudo-Anglo-Norman style,
between 1840 and 1850, from the designs of Rail-
ton, are some relics of the ancient church, which
was of Norman foundation, and consisted of a
nave and chancel with, on the gable of the former, a
bell-cote. These relics comprise an octagonal Per-
pendicular font of considerable interest, from be-
ing incised with twelve rude dedication crosses,
ten of which are on the bowl and the remaining
two on the stem; an old brass chandelier, and some
monuments, the earliest of which, about 1620, re-
presents a merchant of London and his wife kneel-
ing at faldstools.

From Bromley-by-Bow, passing through Hack-
ney, whose sole relic of ecclesiastical antiquity is
the isolated Perpendicular tower of St John's (for-
merly St Augustine's), we reach Stoke Newington,
whose old parish church of St Mary, so pictur-

224 London Churches

esquely situated on the confines of Clissold Park, and
at the west end of the once old-world and winding
Church Street, retains some Perpendicular por-
tions.*

These are to be found in the core of the tower
and in the low south aisle, the remainder of the
structure having been rebuilt in 1829-30, from the
designs of Sir Charles Barry.

What old Stoke Newington church was like prior
to that date may be gathered from several engrav-
ings in the Public Library close by. It consisted of
an imperfectly developed chancel, nave, aisles and
square tower, all of Perpendicular architecture.
The last-named was surmounted by a bell-cote.
Early in the eighteenth century an exterior shell
of brick was added, the windows mostly removed,
and others of the pseudo-Classical style then in
vogue substituted, the low south aisle alone retain-
ing its original character. This would appear to
date from 1562, and is of late, and, therefore, poor
Gothic detail.

When Sir Charles Barry came to work upon old
Stoke Newington Church, he removed the coating
of brick, restored the windows, added a clerestory
to the nave and a shingled spire and pinnacles to
the tower. At the same time he pulled down the
northern arcade of the nave, rebuilt it on a larger
scale and added a second north aisle. A diminutive
chancel was also thrown out eastward of the origi-
nal east wall, and some ancient stained glass, which
had been brought from the Continent in 1805,

*It is gratifying to observe that this curious relic of Old Stoke
Newington was spared on the completion, in 1858, of the magni-
ficent new church, opposite, from the designs of Sir G. G. Scott.

Old Stoke Newington Church 225

placed in its five-light Perpendicular east window.
The whole of Sir Charles Barry's work is, as might
be expected from its date, poor, but on the whole
the church presents a very pretty and pleasing
group; indeed, by those unversed in ecclesiology,
it is frequently taken for a veritable country
church of the sixteenth century.

The interior is picturesque, and here may be
seen some of the old-fashioned square pews, now
almost obsolete. The spiral canopy to the pulpit;
the Elizabethan tomb of John Dudley, erected by
his widow, who afterwards married Thomas Sutton
founder of the Charterhouse, and restored early
in the present century at the expense of several
grateful old Carthusians; and a tablet to Dr Gaskin
{Rector from 1797 to 1829),* are worth notice.

In the churchyard, close to the south-west gate,
is the plain brick tomb of Dr Aikin, and his sister,
Mrs Anna Letitia Barbauld (d. 1825), a name sel-
dom mentioned now, although she was one of the
most gracefully accomplished among the literary
women of her time.

She is best remembered by her Hymns in Prose
for Children, and by the several papers which she
contributed to her brother's (Dr Aikin's) Evenings
at Home.

Old St Mary's, Stoke Newington, is alluded to
by Edgar Allan Poe in William Wilson, one of the
weirdest of his Tales of Imagination and Fancy.

*Dr Gaskin was one of the most prominent clergymen of his
day. His memoir occupies a large portion of three numbers of
The Gentleman's Magazine of. 1829. He was a native of Stoke
Newington, having been born on Newington Green in 1751. The
Rev. Thomas Jackson, Rector of Stoke Newington from 1852
to 1885, used to recount many droll stories of Dr Gaskin.

I-I5

226 London Churches

It was in 1816 that the future author of The
Raven and The Sells was placed at a school in
Church Street, kept by the Rev. Dr Bransby.
Here he remained for five years, appearing to have
made a good impression upon his master, who re-
ferred to him in after years as "a quick, clever boy,"
and as a boy whom he liked, but who was spoilt by
the extravagant amount of pocket-money his
guardians — the Allans, of Richmond, Virginia —
allowed him.

What impression the Manor House School at
Stoke Newington, and its master, made upon the
plastic mind of the child may be found vividly and
faithfully narrated in the partly autobiographical
story to which I have alluded.

Those who refer to parental influences, the
funeral gloom and sombre side of Poe's character,
have probably good grounds for the theory; but
apart from that, and the almost chronic ill-fortune
which accompanied him, there is little doubt that
the friendless isolation of that lustrum of childhood
spent in a foreign land, and in such a solemn old
place as Stoke Newington then was, must have had
an awe-inspiring effect upon the exiled orphan.
Whatever may have been the influence upon the
boy's morbidly sensitive mind of the "venerable
old town" with its "deeply shadowed avenues" and
its "thousand shrubberies," and "the deep hollow
note of the church bell breaking each hour with
sudden and sullen roar upon the stillness of the
dusky atmosphere, in which the Gothic steeple lay
imbedded and asleep,"* it is certain that when he

* In Miss Shipley's Barbara Pelham, a very charmingly written
story published in 1905 by the S.P.C.K., is a capital de-

St Mary's, Hornsey 227

returned to Virginia in 1821, it was with a good
groundwork of knowledge.

Between Stoke Newington and Tottenham lies
Hornsey, of whose old church of St Mary the only
relic of antiquity is the tower, a good example of
Late Perpendicular, and, with its beacon turret,
very like a Kentish tower. It is built of a kind of
reddish sandstone,* and bears the arms of Savage
and Warham, successively bishops of London, who
were presumably contributors to the fabric.

The old church, views of which still exist in-
dicating a building of considerable interest, was
removed between 1830 and 1833, and the present
but now disused pseudo-Gothic structure sub-
stituted for it. The stained glass in the east win-
dow, by Evans of Shrewsbury, was inserted at the
same time.

It seems a pity that the new church, a truly
noble piece of Perpendicular work, completed in
1889 from the designs of Mr Brooks, could not
have been joined on to the old tower. New St
Mary's, Hornsey, stands due north and south, and,
owing to the unfinished state of the tower, has at
present a somewhat low and heavy appearance. To
judge from the designs, the tower and spire will be
extremely beautiful. The former, which is to rise
three stages above the roof, will have a richly em-
battled parapet and small pinnacles, and is to have

scription of Stoke Newington as it existed during the early
'fifties. The church of Saint Matthias is frequently alluded to by
the authoress in her charming book.

*This material is said to have been brought from Bishop's
Lodge, not far off, the site of which is marked on a large ord-
nance map.

228 London Churches

a somewhat elaborate belfry stage, with four
arcades between pinnacles. The two central lights
will have barge-boards, while the outer ones are to
receive statuary. The steeple will be octagonal,
with crocketed sides, one row of bands, and a
triangular-headed squinch on each cardinal face.
Architectural students should observe the western
doorway and window in this tower, perhaps two of
the most refined specimens of Perpendicular work
produced in recent times.

It was in the spring of 1817 that Tom Moore
took a cottage at Hornsey, where he resided until
the autumn of the same year, when he removed to
Sloperton, near Devizes, and it was during his
brief sojourn in this then secluded village, that in
May, his Lalla Rookh was published.

Moore's joy at this event was, however, clouded
five months later by the death, from a fall, of his
youngest daughter, Barbara.

This sad event took place on September 18, and
a few days afterwards the burial took place in
Hornsey Churchyard, where, thirty-eight years
afterwards (December 27, 1855), was laid to rest,
that patriarch of English poets, wits, and patrons
of art, Samuel Rogers, chiefly remembered by his
Italy and The Pleasures of Memory.

Rogers, a North London man, was born on July
30, 1763, at Stoke Newington, in a large detached
house which, it may be remembered, stood at the
junction of the Green with the Ferntower Road.
Few lives so long protracted as Rogers' have
afforded less incident — few have yielded so much
anecdote to biographers of the "Poets of England."
Like John Ruskin's the life of Samuel Rogers was a

St Mary's, Hornsey 229

life of easy fortunes spent among memorable
people, a life of taste acquired in foreign travel,
before foreign travel had ceased to be a luxury — a
life of poetical creations — few, far between and
finished so highly, that the best thoughts and lines
in them will not perish from among the "pleasures
of memory."

Rogers' affection for music was greater than his
knowledge of it. This amounted to a gentle
dilettantism, recalling that of Thomas Gray, writ-
ing canzonets to an air by Geminiani, to be sung
by Miss Speed; and stopping short of the boldness,
romance and discovery which has marked the art
since Haydn and Beethoven were in their prime.

Until an accident confined him to a chair, Rogers
continued to be an attendant at the Opera and
the Ancient Concerts, and when these died out, at
the Exeter Hall Oratorios. Till a very late period
of his life Rogers might be seen at midnight
feebly hurrying home from these on foot, no
matter what the weather, thinly dressed, and as
resentful of the slightest offer of assistance as was
"the Duke" when he was scarcely able to mount
his horse.* The passion for pleasure did not for-
sake Rogers till a very late period. Only a few years
before his death a street accident, caused by this
imprudent manner of wandering home alone (when
he was run over by a carriage) sentenced him to a
chair for the rest of his days.

All Hallows', Tottenham, a large and, in some

* Rogers resided in St James' Place, and the breakfasts he
gave in this pleasant home, which he filled with the finest pictures
wealth could buy, used to draw some of the first men in London
round his table.

230 London Churches

points, interesting church, belongs to the Per-
pendicular Period (c. 1380), though the date of its
foundation is quite three centuries earlier.

The period during which the church was origin-*
ally founded is uncertain.

It is recorded in 1125 that the church was given
about that time by Bruce, King of Scotland, to the
canons of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Lon-
don, a religious house founded by his sister
Matilda.

Henry VIII gave the patronage of the living to
the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's, in whose gift it
still is.

Until Butterfield added the transepts and chan-
cel in 1875-76, Tottenham Church consisted
simply of three parallel aisles, without any archi-
tectural division from east to west; a western
tower and south porch.

At the east end was a little circular paganized
Grecian temple, capped by a dome and pillar. It
was erected as a vestry in 1699 by Lord Coleraine,
who made a vault of it for himself and his family.
The north aisle was rebuilt of brick in the Perpen-
dicular style of 1816.

Parochial needs calling for an enlargement
somewhere, the circular erection above mentioned
was removed in 1875, the length of the nave was
increased by one bay, and transepts and a square-
ended chancel were built in the Geometrical De-
corated style from the designs of Butterfield.

The whole work is quite characteristic of that
architect, but whether he was justified in employ-
ing red brick, I must leave others to judge. At the
same time Butterfield added a clerestory to the

All Hallows', Tottenham 231

nave, which was cleared of its cumbrous pews, and
restored several windows on the south side which
had been debased.

An interesting external feature is the bold turret
containing the stairs to the quondam rood loft, but
by far the noblest is the red-brick south porch —
commonly styled "the parvise" — with its square-
headed outer doorway, richly carved as to its
spandrels and square-headed two-light windows.

The derivation of the term "parvise" is some-
what ambiguous, some archaeologists considering it
to be a corruption of "paradise," while others trace
it to the words, "pour viser," i.e., the room used
"pour viser Veglise" "to watch the church from."

On this point one can only remark that until it
is known who was the first antiquary to apply the
term to a room over the porch, it is not much use
discussing these reasons.

The French word, parvis (see Ducange, Par-
visus, i.q. paradisus) had nothing to do with pour
viser, one may be sure, either in its old or modern
signification; and it is more probable that some
antiquary took the word as he found it, rather
than that he invented a similar word with a
different signification. If we look at the list below,
of numerous examples of rooms over porches, only
a few will be found to have any traces of a window
looking into the church; the majority seem to have
had no connexion with the church at all.*

*Of examples of churches having porches with rooms over them
I have culled thirty from a host of others: Chester Cathedral ;Sher-
borne, Southwell and Wimborne Minsters; Cirencester; Glouces-
tershire ;Portlemouth,Loddiswed, Malborough and Plympton-St-
Mary, Devon; Boston and Louth, Lincolnshire; Mere and Purton,

London Churches

The uses for which the rooms over porches were
constructed were as various probably almost as
that to which they were applied. The architect
suggested utilizing the space, at the same time
adding to the beauty of the structure. In some
cases it was, perhaps, for the priest; at other times
for an anchorite. In some cases, perhaps, for the
Sacristan.*

Again, when not a living room, it may have been
applied even to teaching the children, or as a quiet
study, so to speak, a place of retirement for the
priest when he wished to read. Hence, in it, MSS.
and books were kept. Little different from this was
its use as a parish library, to which any learned
person in the parish might have access, and beyond
this the receptacle for the chest containing the
muniments and other documents connected with
the parish. All these uses, nearly connected with
one another, seem implied by the arrangements
remaining.

The tower of All Hallows', Tottenham, once
completely overgrown with ivy, appears to be
Decorated; at least, the arch opening to the nave is
of that period. The west doorway and window,
upper story and battlements were rebuilt in 1846.
The lower windows yet remain; they are quatre-

Wilts; Fotheringhayand Stanwick,Northants; Great Milton and
Chipping Norton, Oxon; Bridgewater and Clevedon, Somerset;
JLudlow, Herefordshire; Barcheston (two, one over the other)
Warwickshire ; Patrington, Yorkshire ; Helmsley, Norfolk ;
Chelmsford, Essex; Priory Church, Great Malvern, Worces-
tershire; Bodmin, Cornwall; St Sepulchre, Holborn, Harrow,
and Tottenham, Middlesex.

*At Tottenham, since the Reformation this chamber over the
porch, has often been assigned as a residence to a poor parishioner.

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All Hallows', Tottenham 233

foiled circles. Here are six bells, recast from five in
1696. The ancient tenor bell had this inscription:
Robertus Bacar et Christiana uxor ejus me fieri
fecerunt in honorem beat& Marice Virginis.

The nave is separated from its aisles by arcades
of six bays, the piers being octagonal and the
arches of a gracefully pointed form. In the aisles
the windows are all square-headed, mostly of two
lights, and filled with stained glass by Gibbs, from
the designs of Butterfield.*

There is a good octagonal Perpendicular font.
The bowl has quatrefoiled circles in each face,
with roses, fleur-de-lys, a pelican, a dragon, a
mermaid, etc., in each; the stem is transomed and
double panelled, three of its sides being left plain.

In the west window of the north aisle is some
valuable and perfect Flemish glass dating circa
1500, presented to the church in 1809, when it was
placed in the east window. In the centre light is a
canopied figure of St Mark, with the prophet
Isaiah below; in the side lights are SS. Matthew
and Luke, with the prophets David and Jeremiah.

When Butterfield added the present chancel, and
altered the east window from a Perpendicular one
of three lights to a Geometrical Decorated one of
five, this glass was removed to the position it now
occupies. That now in the east window is of the
usual Gibbs-Butterfield fabrique, with rather hot
tinctures resembling those in contemporary works
of the architect, Keble College, Oxford, and St
Augustine's, Queen's Gate.

*The three-light window with its curvilinear tracery in the
last bay of the south aisle is a portion of Butterfield's addition to
the nave.

234 London Churches

There are some interesting Jacobean monu-
ments: Sir Robert Barkham, of Wainfleet, Lincoln-
shire, and Maria, his wife, kneeling at faldstools
(1644); R. Chandeler and wife (1602-22); Sir
Ferdinand Heybourne, gentleman of the privy
chamber to Queen Elizabeth and King James I
(161 8), and Anne, his wife (1615) ; Sir John Melton,
and Margaret, his wife, kneeling at faldstools, (i 640) .
Of the numerous brasses once belonging to Tot-
tenham Church, all except three of not a particu-
larly good post-Reformation date, have now
Eerished. The names and etchings of some of the
)St brasses are preserved in Robinson's History of
Tottenham, where are numerous details of the
church, chiefly historical. An engraving of the brass
of Walter Hunt, priest and vicar, 1419, copied
from a tracing preserved in the Coleraine MSS.,
circa 1690, forms the frontispiece to Sperling's
Church Walks in Middlesex.

This brass was stolen from Tottenham Church in
1742.

The Reformation had been the cause of the
destruction of many brasses, but the Great Rebel-
lion was to witness the disappearance of more.
That on the dissolution of the religious houses, the
monuments affixed to the churches which were
attached to them should be removed or lost was not
unnatural. But monumental brasses were not
images put to superstitious uses, and the destruc-
tion of brasses which followed on the Reformation
was either mere spoliation, or acts done for greed
under cover of an apparent legality.

When we read how, in 1546, four hundred and
a quarter of brass were sold from St Martin's,

All Hallows', Tottenham 235

Leicester, for 193. per cwt to one man, and three
hundredweight and three-quarters were sold to
another at the same price, we are able to realize
how the monumental brasses predominated as
memorials of all classes, how full the churches were
of them in large districts of England, and how men
and women of all degrees looked to them to per-
petuate their names and their features and their
family virtues.

It is not, however, the fanatic and the rebel only
upon whom we must charge the dilapidated state
of our monumental^ brasses.

Their combined injuries, wholesale and deplor-
able as they were, have probably been almost
equalled by those arising from the dishonesty,
carelessness and apathy of the proper guardians of
them. Many that were perfect when Gough pub-
lished his work in 1786-99, and even at the date of
Cotman's plates (1819), are now sought for in vain,
or, if found, are sadly spoiled.

Brasses were sold during the apathetic Georgian
era to curiosity hunters, tinkers and brass-founders,
recast for bells, and melted down for chandeliers.
Over and over again, during restorations and
alterations of the edifice within which they rested,
they have, chiefly owing to a want of proper care,
been lost or stolen.

In the cemetery attached to All Hallows', Tot-
tenham, lie its restorer, the distinguished archi-
tect, William Butterfield, and his great friend
Robert Brett.

The latter, who may not inaptly be styled the
Robert Nelson of his day, was not only the co-
founder of St Matthias', Stoke Newington, and the

236 London Churches

zealous promoter of several churches in North and
North-East London,but the leading spirit in all ques-
tions touching the welfare of the Church of England
during one of the stormiest periods of her existence.

Brett's name is remembered far and wide, but
comparatively few are aware how many sides there
were to his character, or how admirably strength
and courage, tenderness, charity and reverence,
were combined in it.

No one who knew him at all well, or watched his
course, could doubt where was the root of his
great strength.

Faith in the Church Catholic, faith in the
Church of England, as the part of it in which his
lot was cast, and to which his allegiance was due,
faith to an extent which is so seldom reached and
so little even imagined in these days, was the in-
vigorating atmosphere in which he breathed.

It produced in him that manly, healthful, un-
tiring energy which bore so much good fruit, and
made him so firm an ally to those who had any
work in hand. And the courage he displayed was
equally remarkable. He fought, inch by inch, for all
those privileges which we now enjoy — the free and
open church, the reverent and dignified service,
the altar lights, Eucharistic vestments and incense;
but he could prevent an impolitic and rash step the
more effectually, because no one suspected that
it was want of courage which withheld him. From
1 861 till his death in 1 874, Robert Brett was church-
warden of St Matthias', Stoke Newington, and
from his upright character and sterling worth, no
less than from the religious feeling with which he
performed his duties, he added real dignity to an

All Hallows', Tottenham 237

office, the importance of which was not so appre-
ciated in those days as it is now.

Of the Free and Open Church Movement, Brett
was an unflinching and uncompromising advocate,
so much so as to cause him to become the subject
of one of Dr Littledale's witty nursery rhymes in
the style of The Book of Nonsense:

A surgeon there was at Stoke Newington,
Who never would have any pewing done;

If the church wasn't free,

He exclaimed, "Oh dear me!
Those boxes I soon must be hewing down."

He died — "a cause of weeping to many good
men" — February 3, 1874, at the house on Stoke
Newington Green, in which he had resided since
1839,* and his funeral, both at St Matthias'
Church and at the grave in Tottenham Church-
yard, was a sight to be remembered.f

The obituary notice of Robert Brett in The
Guardian was written by his life-long friend, Wil-
liam Butterfield, who survived him a quarter of a
century.^

*The site is now occupied by a bank, but some bricks from
Brett's old house have been worked into the St Matthias'
Church Institute.

tBrett's last public act in church work was laying the founda-
tion stone on September 27, 1873, of the vicarage house for St
Chad's, Haggerston, one of the several churches in that district
which, together with Mr Richard Foster, the Rev. John Ross
(Vicar of St Mary's, Haggerston) and the Rev. T. Simpson Evans
(Vicar of Shoreditch), he had been instrumental in founding.
See Chapter iii, Vol. II, p. 130.

J Brett was born in 1808, Butterfield in 1814. The latter rests
beneath a graceful coped tombstone relieved with a fleuriated
cross. A monument of similar design covers the remains of
Butterfield's great friend, the Rev. Alexander Wilson, Vicar of
Tottenham from 1870 to 1898. The two graves lie side by side.

238 London Churches

The distinguished architect was a frequent wor-
shipper at Tottenham, and dying on the Vigil of
St Matthias' Day (Feb. 23, 1900) was interred in
the spot already alluded to on St Chad's Day
(March 2), when the writer of this book was, with
the relatives and a few chosen friends, privileged
to be present.

239

CHAPTER V

The Churches of the Early fart of the Seven-
teenth Century

IT is an incontrovertible fact that the Reforma-
tion acted as a "heavy blow and discourage-
ment" to church building.

Though a decline had taken place in ecclesiasti-
cal architecture, the building and embellishment
of churches and religious houses continued with
great activity up to that period, when it received
suddenly a check from which it has only recovered
within the last seventy years. Purity of style and
zeal in church building seem at once to have come
to an end; the ecclesiastical structures built until
up to the period just alluded to were very few, and
the greater part of them bear strong evidence,
either of a niggardly spirit or of a complete ignor-
ance of true Church principles.

In the churches built in England from the reign
of Queen Mary to that of Charles II, debased
Gothic forms mingled with Renaissance ones,
prevailed, but in most of them some attention to
ecclesiastical arrangement may be observed.

Of these churches, interesting as showing how
hard the old Gothic style died in our island, while
on the Continent the Renaissance had swept all
before it, I have collected a goodly number of
specimens. The list is too long to be included here,
but I cannot refrain from quoting such examples
as the Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge,

240 London Churches

begun by Queen Mary and finished by Elizabeth;
St Wilfrid, Standish, Lancashire (1584); St John,
Leeds (1634); St Charles, Plymouth (1646); Stan-
ton Harold Church, Leicestershire (1653);* St
Mary, Ingestre, Staffordshire (1676); Falmouth
Church (1664); St Alban's, Wood Street, London,
ascribed to Inigo Jones; and several College Chapels
at Oxford and Cambridge, built between 1613 and
1632, as e.g.,Wadham, Jesus, Lincoln, University,
Oriel and Brazenose in the former, and Peter-
house in the latter.

Then as a proof that Gothic never completely
died out among us we have such specimens as:
St Martin's, Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire
(1724); St Mary, Tetbury, Gloucestershire (1789);
St Swithin, East Grinstead, Sussex (1785); and
the parish church of Hertford, destroyed by fire in
1891.

To these examples may be added the central
spire of Lichfield Cathedral and that of Higham
Ferrers Church, Northamptonshire, both rebuilt
during the seventeenth century; also the steeples
of St Edmund, Salisbury (1653), Brampton and
Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire (1625-35), and
Doddington, Oxfordshire (1640).

Of this period of our ecclesiastical architecture,
when the Renaissance of the Classical was trying
its hardest to beat out the Gothic, London pos-
sesses three very interesting examples, the church
of St Catherine Cree, in Leadenhall Street, and
the Chapels of Lincoln's Inn and the Charter-
house. Until about five-and-twenty years ago

*One of the most ecclesiastical specimens of Debased Gothic,
with chancel, aisles, and clerestory.

St Catherine Cree 241

there was another specimen of what may not be
inaptly styled "Laudian" architecture and arrange-
ment in the church of St Paul, Hammersmith,
removed on the completion of the present struc-
ture from the designs of Messrs Gough and Seddon.

The church of St Catherine Cree, a corruption
of Christ Church, stood in the precincts of the
Austin Canons' priory of the Holy Trinity, Christ
Church, Aldgate, founded by Matilda, Queen of
Henry I, at the suggestion of Archbishop Anselm
in 1108. Duke's Place occupies the site of the
priory. In 1115 or 1125, it is uncertain which, the
barons of London who held the English Cnichten
Guild or Portsoken (franchise at the gate) which
lay at Aldgate without the City walls, and ex-
tended to the river, bestowed it upon the church
of the Holy Trinity, and themselves assumed the
habit. The prior thus became an alderman, and
wore the alderman's livery, though altered in
shape. Stow, in his childhood, saw the prior of his
day in this costume.

Holy Trinity was the richest priory in England,
and was in consequence one of the first to be dis-
solved. It was bestowed by Henry VIII upon Sir
Thomas Audley. Two gateways and other portions
long remained among the ruins of the south tran-
sept of the church. The architecture appears to
have been Romanesque. A water-colour by F.
Nash shows a double gateway of early fourteenth-
century work; the same gateway was etched by
J. T. Smith in 1790. The parishes of St Mary
Magdalen, St Michael, St Catherine and the
Trinity, were united, and the parishioners of
St Catherine's repaired to the conventual church.

1-16

242 London Churches

Subsequently, a chapel was built for their
convenience in the churchyard of the priory,
in which one of the Austin Canons said Mass.
From 1414 the chapel was maintained by the
parishioners.

Of the pre-Reformation church all that now re-
mains is an intricately clustered Perpendicular pier
at the west end of the south aisle. From base to cap
it is eighteen feet high. The small portion of the
pier that is now visible shows that the floor of St
Catherine Cree is raised nearly fifteen feet above
that of the old — a plain proof of the gradual rise of
the streets of London.

It is interesting to consider first the link that
this church forms in the chain of ecclesiology be-
tween those buildings which preceded it and those
which have been subsequently erected, and how
this chain, whose origin dates from remote ages
when churches were first built to contain the
faithful, has been lengthened out to our own days
with but little variance or chance. Its special con-
nexion with St Catherine's, both architecturally
and historically, is likewise to be considered.
As to the first, we see in its general form and
arrangement but little change from the ancient
churches just described — a nave and aisles and a
tower, even that peculiarity so marked in all our
large town churches of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, the absence of a chancel arch, is also here
apparent. Why this old type was reproduced in St
Catherine Cree it is easy to understand, because
the Church of England has never departed from
old traditions. She has been content to carry on and
to transmit all that was really good and really

St Catherine Cree 243

ancient; and this type is a natural one where pub-
lic worship is concerned. If merely an auditorium
were wanted, one could be built four-square, cir-
cular, octagonal, semicircular, or what not; but
when Church of England people want a church
they must necessarily build it as they did in times
past, and leave to factious, peevish and perverse
spirits those buildings whose sides and angles are as
multitudinous as their several opinions or as cir-
cumscribed as their own notions.

Let us carry our minds back to the year 1629, in
which this church was built. They were stirring
times.

Charles I had not been on the throne four years,
and already a cloud not bigger than a man's hand,
but soon to assume blacker and larger proportions,
loomed on the horizon. Abbot was still Archbishop
of Canterbury, but under a cloud, for he had un-
wittingly shot a man to death while hunting, and
Laud was Bishop of London, endeavouring to
stem that torrent which, in the next twenty years,
was to sweep all before it — Church and King and
liturgy.

Consecrated on January 16, 1630-31, by Laud,
when Bishop of London, St Catherine Cree is a
curious mingling of Gothic and Renaissance, the
vaulting, and the windows of the aisles and clere-
story being in the former style, and the truly grace-
ful Corinthian columns and round arches in the
latter.

The great east window is very singular, and
would appear to have been modelled on that at the
east end of the choir of Old St Paul's. It is a large
rectangular parallelogram and is divided into five

244 London Churches

cinquefoiled lights, all of the same height, sur-
mounted by an immense Catherine wheel, with
pierced spandrels. The lights are filled with rather
commonplace stained glass, in commemoration of
the "Flower Sermon" which, preached annually
on Whit-Tuesday in St James', Aldgate, has,
since the demolition of that church in 1874, been
delivered in St Catherine's.

The armorial work with which these lights were
originally filled has been disposed in several of the
square-headed three-light windows of the aisles
In the rose is patterned glass, very crudely drawn
and coarsely coloured.

Among the monuments recovered from Old St
Catherine's is a canopied tomb, with full-sized
recumbent figure of Sir Nicholas Throgmorton
(d. 1 5 70), from which Throgmorton Street is named.

By the will of Sir John Gayer, Lord Mayor in
1646, provision is made for a sermon to be annually
preached on October 16, in Cree Church, in com-
memoration of his happy deliverance from a lion,
which he met in a desert whilst travelling in the
Turkish dominions, and which suffered him to pass
unmolested. There is a modern brass to this worthy
within the encaustic tiledpavement of the sanctuary.

The organ case, happily in the western gallery, is
fine, but such early post-Reformation fittings as
the church contained have vanished at different
periods.

Inigo Jones is generally credited with the design
of St Catherine Cree, but, beyond a vague tradi-
tion, there is no evidence that he had anything to
do with it.

As far as we can now infer, the tastes of Laud

St Catherine Cree 245

had but little in common with the then rising school
of architecture. Indeed, it is not difficult to imagine
that a prelate so zealous for the constitution and
privileges of hisorder,so conservative in his notions of
matters ecclesiastic, so attached to ceremonial, and
that form o worship which had most sympathy
with Rome and least with Geneva, must have
looked with some jealousy on a style of art which
England owed to the Revival of Literature and to
the Reformation.

If the architecture of St Catherine Cree Church
was extraordinary, none the less so were the cere-
monies observed by Archbishop Laud (then Bis-
hop of London) at its consecration, or rather " re-
conciliation," on January 16, 1630-31, all of which,
fully described in Rushworth, were made grave
accusations against him, and brought about not
only his downfall, but that of his royal master,
Charles I.*

"Persons were stationed at the doors of the
church to call with a loud voice on his approach,
'Open, open, ye everlasting doors, that the King
of Glory may enter in.' When he had reached the
interior he fell on his knees, and lifting his hands,
exclaimed, 'This place is holy, the ground is holy;
in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I
pronounce it holy!' Then, throwing dust from the

*It should be remembered that the account of the ceremonies
which Land practised, or was supposed to have practised, on this
occasion, was written by one of the Archbishop's bitterest ene-
mies; and is so worded as to throw ridicule over the simplest
reverential act of devotion; and such was the fiendish malice with
which he was persecuted, that in defiance of all law, these acts
formed some of the articles of his impeachment.

246 London Churches

ground into the air, he bowed to the chancel, and
went in procession round the church.

"After this the bishop pronounced curses on those
who should profane this holy place, and blessings
on those who should contribute towards its sup-
port. Then followed the sermon. This ended, as
the bishop approached the communion table, he
made several lowly bowings, and coming up to the
side of the table where the bread and wine were
covered, he bowed seven times, and after the read-
ing of many prayers, he came near the bread, and
gently lifted up the cover of the napkin wherein
the bread was laid, and when he beheld the bread,
he laid it down again, stepped back, bowed three
times before it, then drew near again, and opened
the napkin, and bowed as before.

"Then he laid his hand on the cup which was
full of wine, with a cover upon it, which he let go
again, went back, bowed thrice towards it, then he
came near again, and lifting up the cover of the
cup, looked into it, and seeing the wine, retired
back and bowed as before. Then he received the
Sacrament and gave it to some principal men; after
which, with many prayers, the consecration ended."

Now, curious as all these ceremonies may seem,
it is not possible to discern in them one act which
was performed in accordance with any ancient
ritual or pontifical; the whole was an invention of
the archbishop's, and filled with inconsistencies.
For instance, the antiphon, "Be ye open," etc.,
said at the doors, is very appropriate at the conse-
cration of a new church; fora " reconciliation," the
bishop should commence with the more appro-
priate antiphon, Asferges me Domine, etc.

St Catherine Cree 247

Of all English. Churchmen, Laud ventured the
furthest in his endeavours towards a partial restora-
tion of ancient solemnities. The particulars of the
charges brought against him are so curious, and
bear so strongly on events that have so constantly
occurred during the last half century to disturb the
peace of the Church of England, that it is interest-
ing to take note of them. One of the chief articles
was the ceremonial as above described, that he
used at the consecration of St Catherine Cree
Church.

The term "consecration" is used by all his-
torians who have described the event, but as St
Catherine's was an old church, and had only been
desecrated by repairs, a "reconciliation" would
have been a more correct expression.

It is said that Laud wanted prudence. Had he
possessed what the world usually calls prudence,
Lord Clarendon must have sought for other
materials wherewith to embalm his memory.

The consecration of a church or setting it apart
from all worldly purposes and placing it under
episcopal jurisdiction, as a place of common prayer
to Almighty God, and for a due performance
of the Rites and Ceremonies of religion, was, from
the earliest ages of Christianity, regarded as a
becoming duty. From the time that we have
any certain evidence on the subject, the work was
performed by the faithful, with grateful feelings,
and external acknowledgements to God, for the
provision herein made for their spiritual welfare;
and with religious exercises, suitable to the occa-
sion, accompanied by appropriate acts and cere-
monies. But this attention to the work, at the ter-

248 London Churches

mination of it, did not prevent a pious regard be-
ing paid to it at its commencement; the foun-
dation of it being laid with, a becoming demon-
stration of like gratitude to the Almighty as well
on the part of the rulers of the church as on the
congregation, for whose benefit the building was
undertaken.

The ceremonies observed in mediaeval times in
England at the consecration or dedication of a
parish church may be briefly described: All the
people being put forth, except the deacon, the
bishop stood before the church door, and then
consecrated a quantity of the holy water; and then
followed by the clergy and the people he went
three times about the outside of the church, and,
with a branch of hyssop sprinkled its walls with
holy water; at every time as he passed by the door,
knocking with his pastoral staff and saying, "Atto-
lite Aortas principes vestras, et elevamini portte
ceternales, et introibit Rex gloria." To which the
deacon answering within, cried, "Quis est iste Rex
glories?" To which the bishop replied, "Dominus
fortis et potens: Dominus potens in pr&lio" At the
third time, the door was opened, and the bishop
entered alone, saying aloud, "Pax huic domui" and
rehearsing the Litanies; after which he made
crosses up and down the church, and then, mixing
some more holy water, with that and the chrism
he consecrated the altar.

All these ceremonies, and many others like
them, may be found fully set forth in Durandus,*
who endeavours also to unfold the mystery and

* Rationale Divinorum Officiorum a R. D. Gulielmo Durando,
lib. i, c. 6, s. 6.

St Catherine Cree 249

signification of them; as also, of all the parts of the
Church, as the foundation, pavement, walls, pil-
lars, doors, windows, etc.

In 1843 the Revs. John Mason Neale and Ben-
jamin Webb, two of the founders of the Cambridge
Camden Society, published the First Book of
Durandus' Rationale, accompanied by an original
Essay on Symbolism, an undertaking which produced
a great effect upon the ecclesiological movement.

Its main result was to establish the Truth that,
whether a thing 'per se is ridiculous or not, yet as a
fact, minute and systematic sy~ibolizing was in
fashion in the days when our great churches were
built. It became no longer necessary to prove his-
torically the existence of such theories, but only
to defend them on logical grounds. This work
was solely undertaken for the benefit of English-
men and members of the Anglo-Catholic Church;
at that time extra-English relations had not yet
entered into the scope of the Cambridge Camden
Society. The fact, therefore, of the work being
adopted several years after its appearance by so dis-
tinguished a leader of the ecclesiological move-
ment in France as M. PAbbe Bourasse (Canon of
Tours) under the title Du Symbolisme dans les
Eglises du Moyen Age, was a well-merited com-
pliment to the two accomplished ecclesiologists
who were the primary means of bringing Duran-
dus's work before the public.

Whatever may be the doubts as to the author-
ship of St Catherine Cree, we certainly have an
attempt at Gothic by Inigo Jones in the Chapel of
Lincoln's Inn, the plan of which was submitted in
1619.

250 London Churches

Consecrated by Bishop Montaigne * on Ascen-
sion Day, 1623, Dr Donne, Dean of St Paul's,
preaching the sermon on that occasion, Lincoln's
Inn Chapel is an interesting example of how hard
the old Pointed architecture died in England. As
originally designed, it was only three bays in
length, the fourth or westerly one having been
added about forty years ago, the same design
being adhered to, and the west window replaced
as heretofore.

The plan is that of a square-ended aisleless
parallelogram raised upon an open crypt or clois-
ter, divided into two aisles by low pointed arches
on Roman Doric pilasters. The groining of this
undercroft is very creditable for its period.

This crypt, like the cloisters in the Temple, was
built as a place for the students and lawyers "to
walk in and talk and confer their learnings."

Pepys speaks of his going to Lincoln's Inn "to
walk under the Chapel by agreement," while Butler
in his Hudibras (Pt in, iii) thus alludes to this
custom:

Retain all sorts of witnesses

That ply i' the Temple under trees,

Or walk the Round with knights o' th5 Posts,

About their cross-legg'd knights their hosts;

Or wait for customers between

The pillar rows in Lincoln's Inn.

The ascent to the chapel is by a flight of steps
under an archway and porch in the most recently
added bay of the building.

* Remarkable only for the quick rapidity with which he
ascended the steps of ecclesiastical dignity ; as Dean of West-
minster, Bishop of Lincoln, Bishop of London, Bishop of
Durham, Archbishop of York.

Chapel of Lincoln's Inn 251

In the three original windows of fair Perpendi-
cular character on either side of the chapel is some
remarkably fine coeval stained glass.

There seems to be considerable doubt as to its
authorship.

Bagford, in the Harleian MSS. (5900, fol. 31)
attributes it to Hall, a glass painter in Fetter Lane.
It is, however, commonly said that this glass was
executed by the Van Linges, but the authority for
this statement rests on a suggestion of Vertue's,
printed by Walpole in his Anecdotes of Painting*

The records of the Inn throw no light on the
matter, for all the windows were presented, as the
inscriptions on them show; so that they do not
come into the treasurer's accounts. The sole basis
for Vertue's guess is, in all probability, the fact
that the name "Bernard" occurs in one or two
places, strongly suggesting an unknown R. Ber-
nard as the artist. Most of the glass on the south
side is dated, 1623; that in the middle window on
the north side, 1624; and that in the westernmost
one, on the north side, 1626. Whoever was the
artist of these windows at Lincoln's Inn, he must
be considered, for the period, an accomplished
person, and his work a most valuable specimen of
the art after it had passed its grand climacteric at
the commencement of the sixteenth century. In-
deed, in point of colour they are as rich as the best
Decorated Work of the best period. The lights on
the south side are filled with the Twelve Apostles;
on the north by Moses and the Prophets, St John
the Baptist and St Paul. An inscription under the
figure of the Baptist records that it was executed
* Dallaway, n, 37.

2 $2 London Churches

at the expense of William Noy (d. 1634),
famous Attorney-General of Charles I.

"I could not but wonder that Mr Browne should
be so earnest in this point [Laud's repairing the
stained windows in his private chapel at Lambeth]
considering he is of Lincoln's Inn, where Mr
Prynn's zeal hath not yet beaten down the images
of the Apostles in the fair windows of that chapel,
which windows were set up new long since that
statute of Edward VI. And it is well known that I
was once resolved to have returned this upon Mr
Browne in the House of Commons, but changed
my mind, lest thereby I might have set some
furious spirit on work to destroy those harmless,
goodly windows to the just dislike of that worthy
Society." *

The carved oaken seats are of James I's time,
but the pulpit, from which such divines as Donne,
Usher, Tillotson, Warburton and Heber have
preached, is later.

The organ, originally built in 1820, by Flight
and Robson, is of great power and sweetness of
tone, and Divine Service is admirably performed
in the cathedral style on Sundays, at eleven and
three o'clock.

The chapel within the Charterhouse,f between
Aldersgate Street and Smithfield, has been lov-

* Archbishop Laud, State Trials, fol. ed., nr, 455.

tThe Charterhouse buildings have a threefold history: (l) as a
monastic establishment; (2) as a nobleman's residence; (3) as a
"hospital" and school. In their present form, the sixteenth
century arrangements of a nobleman's town-house predominate,
but the earlier monastic buildings may be easily traced, and the
changes made in the seventeenth century, when the house was
rearranged for its charitable purposes, also deserve attention.

Chapel of the Charterhouse 253

ingly painted by Thackeray in more than one of
his works. The Charterhouse School, removed in
1872 to Godalming, was the novelist's place of
education, and his name is the latest of those
household words which that quiet cloister has
given to the literature of England.

The monastery was founded in 1361 by Sir
Walter Manny and Bishop Northburgh, of Lon-
don, for the Carthusian Order, whose chief seat was
at the Chartreuse in Savoy, generally known as
"La Grande Chartreuse."

Each small establishment of this Order bore the
name in England of Charterhouse, in Italy of
Certosa (of which the most celebrated is that near
Pavia), in Spain of Cartuja.*

The Order was founded by St Bruno in 1084,
and the severe rules which he imposed do not seem
to have been relaxed amid the general decline of
monastic discipline. The calm austerity of the
lives of the London Carthusians seems to have had
great attractions for such men as Sir Thomas More,
who occasionally sought relaxation from cares of
the State in the Charterhouse, spending weeks
there "in retreat" as the guest of the monks.

At the Dissolution the Carthusians were treated
with savage cruelty, on account of their refusal to
accept the supremacy of the King.f

The last prior — John Houghton — was executed

*The title and address of the Carthusian House in London was
"The House of the Salutation of the Mother of God, without the
Bars of West Smithfield, near London."

tA touching account of the sufferings of the English Carthu-
sians will be found in Froude's History of England; and their
"martyrdoms" were a favourite subject for the pencils of
Carducho and other Spanish painters who worked for the Order.

254 London Churches

at Tyburn, May 4, 1535. His head was set on
London Bridge and one of his limbs over the gate-
way of his own convent. The priory, thus sternly
dissolved by Henry VIII, was first set apart as a
place of deposit for his "hales and tents" — i.e., his
"nets and pavilions," and after passing through
several hands was sold, May 9, 1611, by Lord
Suffolk to Thomas Button, of Camp's Castle, Cam-
bridgeshire, for £13,000.

The chapel, like St Catherine Cree and Lin-
coln's Inn Chapel, is a quaint admixture of Gothic
and Renaissance, but retains some fourteenth-
century portions. Here are several fine monu-
ments, besides that of Thomas Sutton, who pur-
chased the old Charterhouse on June 22, 1611,
subsequently endowing it as a charity by the name
of "The Hospital of King James," "for poor
brethren and scholars," and the buildings under-
went some change with a view to adapting them
for their new destination. The original chapel of
the monks required enlargement, so a north aisle
was built, and the whole building was refitted.
Much of the woodwork of Button's time remains
at the west end of his aisle, and his tomb is a fine
specimen of the monumental art of his age.
The altar-table also, which was restored to the
chapel about forty years ago, after having been
banished for a time to the Master's drawing-room,
is a good and picturesque specimen of Jacobean
church furniture. Throughout the buildings much
internal fitting was done by Sutton, and his arms
may almost everywhere be seen.

Sutton died almost an octogenarian, December
12, 1611, before his good work was complete, and

Chapel of the Charterhouse 255

was buried in the chapel of the Hospital, beneath a
sumptuous monument, the work of Stone andjansen.

On opening the vault in 1842 the body of the
founder was discovered "lapt in lead," like an
Egyptian mummy case. Sutton has been charged
with avarice in acquiring the money he be-
queathed, and has been pointed out as the original
of Fotyone the Fox, but this has been disproved by
Gifford. In the chapel, Burrell, the preacher to
the Hospital, paid the first tribute of praise to
Sutton in a sermon, printed in 1629 but now as
rare as a manuscript.

Until 1 872 Sutton's twin foundations existed side
by side. The poor brethren and the scholars met for
daily worship in the chapel, and for meals in the hall.

But in 1872 the school was removed to Godal-
ming, and the brethren alone were left. A con-
siderable portion of the land and buildings were
purchased by the Merchant Taylors' Company,
and a large building was erected to accommodate
500 boys on the site of the former school building.

It will thus be seen that the Charterhouse is of
no common interest. Its monastic remains, with
the exception of Mount Grace, afford the most
complete illustration of Carthusian life that can be
found in England.

In its present form it is a unique specimen of a
nobleman's town-house of the sixteenth century;
and the changes subsequently made remind us of
the grand scale on which the founder framed his
benefactions in the early part of the seventeenth
century.

Long may these pages of English history, written
in stone, remain intact!

256

CHAPTER VI

The Churches of Sir Christopher Wren

WHAT are styled "The City Churches"
have, as everybody knows, one especial
value to Londoners, and indeed to all Englishmen
— let me say to all English-speaking people
throughout the globe.

They are Wren's churches. The idea here in-
volved is a peculiar one, in fact, one that is without
exact parallel anywhere else. In other words, Sir
Christopher, taking him precisely as he was, is to
us an architect such as no other architect has ever
been, either here or elsewhere, and his churches,
taking them for just what they are worth, are works
of architecture such as no other place has ever
possessed or probably ever will possess.

Over half a century ago a movement was rife
for the demolition of certain City churches on
the score of their uselessness, but, thanks to the
remonstrances of a very useful body calling itself
"The City Church and Churchyard Protection
Society," the mischief was temporarily abated.

In estimating the precise character of the
movement for the protection of the City churches,
these are the considerations which perhaps have
the most practical value. The City is not a senti-
mental region at any time, and the feeling of
veneration which is experienced within its limits
for sacred things in general is never intense, and
therefore it may be said that the sacredness of a

Wren's City Churches 257

church or a churchyard, even to such elevated
minds as those of the aldermen or common council-
men of the ward, will scarcely be obtrusive or irk-
some in any case, however honestly patriotic and
parochial these leading inhabitants may be. But
when what little of the sense of sacredness remains
in the civic breast in such circumstances is supple-
mented by a sense of civic dignity and pride, then
the case assumes a different form, and the interest
excited is almost more powerful in its way.

In a word, Sir Christopher Wren is the pride of
London. Nor is this all, for the glory which Eng-
lishmen at large associate with the name and fame
of their great architect is even greater than paro-
chial pride; and all regard themselves as citizens of
London where the ownership of St Paul's and its
satellites as a unique cluster of artistic gems is in
question. Indeed, it may almost be supposed that
if the City churches happened to be the veritable
old structures which were swept away by the
Great Fire, and which would be so venerable to-
day, with all their mediaeval traditions hanging
thick upon them, the desire to protect them would
be even a feebler impulse than that which brought
the Society to which I have alluded into existence,
to protest in the face of the world, even when
protest might no longer have hoped to avail,
against the sacriligious touch which would spoil
them for the sake of money.

Sir Christopher Wren was, as the phrase goes, a
heaven-born architect; and that such a pheno-
menon should make its appearance in the extreme
West of Europe at the middle of the seventeenth
century was, and is, truly astonishing.

1-17

258 London Churches

It is not too much to say that the design of these
churches of his as a whole was only equalled in its
ever-present grace by its constant variety, and in-
deed unstinted originality.* One may almost say of
Wren's work, that his instinct of elegant propor-
tion never failed him, and that no subsequent
efforts of English architects have ever equalled his
excellence. But for this, London, with all its wealth
of building, would never have been, in the estima-
tion of the world, what it is.

Thus it happens that the demolition of the City
churches is a double sacrilege. They are conse-
crated not only to our religious sympathies,
but to our national pride. Besides, in their
ritual arrangements, they typify a most inter-
esting period in the history of the English
Church.

That some of Wren's churches — the unimpor-
tant ones they may be called, as regards both their
art and their use — have, from time to time, yielded
to the necessities of the increased crowding of the
town, and the widening of its thoroughfares, it is
best frankly to admit at all hazards; but what one
has to fear is that others, which can ill be spared,
will one by one be doomed to destruction for the
sake of the poor ground they stand on.

These City churches are memorials of the faith,
the fervour, and the piety of the nation, at a period
of harassing troubles and anxieties, of a period of
general desolation which had broken down every
man's landmark and swept away his dwelling place;
and to remember that they arose Phoenix-like from
their ashes within a very short time of that
*See Vol. I, Chapter i, page 8.

ST. ANDREW'S, HOLBORN, FRO/A THE SOUTH (IN 1866).

Wren's City Churches 259

momentous epoch in our history is indeed a sub-
ject for wonder and admiration.

I am not exaggerating when I say, what I doubt
not many of my readers have felt also, that when I
return from some foreign travel, and cross the
railway bridge into Cannon Street, I feel a pride in
the architectural beauty of the City of London,
which is never lessened by contrast with what I
have been seeing elsewhere.

And to what, it may be asked, is the beauty of
this view owing? There are a magnificent river and
noble bridges; but beyond and above these a
cluster of towers and spires — sadly diminished, it
is true — of so much variety of design, so skilfully
treated, so picturesque from every point of view
as to afford unending delight.

There is no work in which better service can be
done to art than by sturdily opposing all schemes
for the destruction of existing works of art, or con-
structions of historical or archaeological interest,
and in the case of the City churches every nerve
should be strained in order to save any more such
regrettable destruction of these buildings, to which
London owes so much of its pre-eminent beauty.

The danger has never been more imminent
than at the present time, and it is to be hoped,
if matters come to a crisis, that Parliament will
interfere as it did recently in the case of Whitgif ts,
Croydon.

If men go on in this cheap and easy fashion of
making our ancestors' piety and liberality pay for
building and endowing suburban churches which
we, with all our increased wealth, think we cannot
afford to erect, we shall awake to the discovery

260 London Churches

that the architectural beauty of the City is a thing
of the past, and that the loss is irremediable.

From an artistic point of view the majority of
the suburban London churches, built out of the
proceeds of the sale of old City ones, are beneath
contempt.

Melancholy is the list of Wren's churches that,
commencing in 1781, with the removal of St
Christopher-le-Stocks, to make way for the en-
largement of the Bank, have been sacrificed to the
utilitarian spirit of the age. Here it is: —

All Hallows', Bread Street; All Hallows' the
Great and Less, Thames Street; St Antholin,
Watling Street; St Benet Fink; St Benet, Grace-
church Street; St Bartholomew, Moor Lane; St
Christopher-le-Stocks; St Dionis Backchurch; St
George, Botolph Lane; St Mary, Somerset;* St
Mary Magdalene, Old Fish Street ;f St Michael,
Bassishaw; St Michael, Queenhithe; St Michael,
Crooked Lane; St Michael, Wood Street; St Mil-
dred, Poultry; St Matthew, Friday Street; and St
Olave, Old Jewry.*

The crowded and irregular forms of the different
sites called forth the fertility of Wren's talents and
ingenuity in overcoming numerous difficulties out
of which he contrived to produce effects full of
beauty and excellence as the happy results. Of the
exterior of the larger portion of these churches
there is little to notice, facing as they do narrow
lanes and courts, which allow no space for architec-
tural display. It was Wren's wish to keep each
church detached by setting back the surrounding

*The towers of these churches have been left standing
tDestroyed by fire about twenty years ago and not rebuilt.

Wren's City Churches 2 6 1

houses; he was, however, prevented from accom-
plishing his object, so that many of his churches
have but one front, and that only visible at the
distance of a few yards. The want of any oppor-
tunity for the display of any architectural fa9ade,
such as a portico, has been, however, compensated
for by the importance given to the towers and
spires.

In nothing was the fertility of Wren's invention
so strikingly displayed as in these towers and spires,
which, being frequently the only parts visible at
all from a right distance, received much attention.

Their extraordinary diversity of forms, as seen
from the bridges, has no parallel in any other city,
and contrasts strangely with the monotonous repe-
tition of two round or square temples and an attic
of the late Georgian Commissioners' churches.

In the middle of the seventeenth century one
self-taught man builds fifty things, strikingly
different; at the beginning of the nineteenth, fifty
architects could not make two that may be dis-
tinguished by ordinary observers, nor one that is
ever thought an ornament, though built for noth-
ing else.

Wren, writing on the subject of steeples, ob-
serves, "Handsome spires or lanterns, rising in
good proportion above the neighbouring houses
(of which I have given several in the City, of
different forms) may be of sufficient ornament to
the town without great expense for enriching the
outward walls of the churches, in which plainness
and duration ought principally, if not wholly, to
be studied.

"When a parish is divided, I suppose it may be

262 London Churches

thought sufficient if the mother church has a
tower large enough for a good ring of bells, and the
other churches smaller towers for two or three
bells, because great towers and lofty steeples are
sometimes more than half the charge of the
church."

In the course of his remarks Wren observes that
spires were of Gothic extraction, to which, how-
ever, his imitations have no further resemblance
than their pyramidal outline. The nearest ap-
proaching Wren's are the Lombardic and other
Italian campanili, of whose existence and forms
he was well aware, though his Continental journeys
never took him beyond Paris.

One is inclined to think that it is as well, on the
whole, that Wren did not go to Italy. His work
would, in all likelihood, have been far more delicate
and refined in detail had he done so, but he would
have inevitably lost much of the originality and
freedom of treatment, which is undoubtedly the
great charm of his work, which fits it so admirably
for the northern climate, and particularly for
London, where in St Paul's and its satellite City
churches he was destined to find the subjects of
his chief and happiest efforts.

The steeples of Wren all rise from the ground,
and not from the roof of a building; they all have a
regular increase of decoration, from the plain and
solid basement to the broken and fanciful finish;
they are all square and undiminished up to half
their entire height, often more, but perhaps always
to the middle of that portion expected to be
generally visible above the houses; and in all, ex-
cept those of St Paul's, the upper or pyramidal

Wren's City Churches 263

portion is so arranged that in almost every view
its outlines may touch and be confined by two
straight lines meeting at the summit. Wren em-
ployed this convex outline in the belfries, St Paul's
alone plainly showing his sense of its fitness to a
situation requiring more breadth and majesty; in
fact, a character altogether distinct from that of
parochial steeples, where he has given a lighter and
more feminine expression by the triangular outline.
The proportions of his triangle vary from an equila-
teral to one whose height is six times its base

St Mary-le-Bow, St Bride's, Fleet Street, Christ
Church, Newgate Street, St Vedast's, Foster Lane,
and St Magnus', London Bridge, are the tallest
and finest of Wren's steeples, in whose composition,
except one, stone is entirely employed. The diver-
sity of these five steeples is admirable. That of Bow
Church has been the general favourite, probably
from the variety of plan in its different stories. In
three of the others one plan, different in each, is
preserved throughout the pyramid; in Christ
Church a square; in St Bride's an octagon; in St
Vedast's a figure of four concave quadrants; in St
Magnus' the square tower is surmounted by an
octagonal turret, crowned by a dome from which
rises a short lead spire. The depth of hollowing in
St Vedast's does not, in an English climate, form a
sufficient substitute for thorough piercing or de-
tached members, so that the whole is rather too
solid and flat, but would answer well in Italian
sunshine. Christ Church, Newgate Street, has one
great merit, that of more connexion and mutual
dependence between the stories than usual, but
its outline has been destroyed by the removal, 100

264 London Churches

years ago, of some vases from the angles of the last
story but one.

St Bride's steeple is, considered by itself, one of
the loveliest creations of Wren's genius. It is abso-
lutely unique, adding a pleasing variety to the
general assemblage; and though one design on this
principle — a series of six octagons diminishing as
they ascend — is enough, that one required to be
on a large scale to carry out the idea thoroughly.

The less grandiose, but none the less graceful
stone steeples of St Stephen, Walbrook, St Michael,
College Hill, and St James', Garlick-Hythe, con-
sisting of a square tower supporting a pyramidal
lantern, to which detached colonettes, placed
anglewise, impart a fine play of outline, feature the
western campanili of St Paul's more than anything
in their contour.

The towers of St Andrew, Holborn, St An-
drew-by-the-Wardrobe in Queen Victoria Street,
St Mary Somerset, Thames Street, and St Olave,
Old Jewry, surmounted as they are by urns or
obelisks, faintly recall the Perpendicular ones of
mediaeval days; while in the variously outlined,
and in some instances, fantastic lead spires which
crown the towers of St Augustine, Watling Street,
St Edmund, Lombard Street, St Lawrence, Jewry,
St Margaret, Lothbury, St Martin, Ludgate,
St Mildred, Bread Street, St Nicholas, Knight-
rider Street, St Peter, Cornhil], and in the much
simpler and indeed almost Gothic ones of St
Margaret, Rood Lane, and St Swithin, Cannon
Street, we have remarkable proofs of Wren's skill
in forming a pleasing object out of the commonest
materials.

Wren's City Churches 265

The steeples of St Michael, Cornhill, the upper
stories of that of St Mary Aldermary, in Queen
Victoria Street, and that of St Dunstan-in-the-
East, near Tower Street, are specimens of Wren's
work, which, for some particular reason, he was
obliged to design in Gothic.

Although very impure in detail, it was by his
great architectural capacity that Wren was enabled
to avoid gross faults of outline and proportion in
these three steeples.

That of St Dunstan's, though it has been ab-
surdly over-praised, "is a skilful piece of construc-
tion, but the details are preposterous. They are
obviously insincere, and that Wren could have
tolerated such work shows either that his taste
must have been uncertain, or his artistic conscience
somewhat lax."*

I have dwelt at some length on this subject of
Wren's steeples, because I have always admired
them. His fancy loved to rove over untrodden
ground, and having only the ancient steeples of the
Pointed Style before him, the construction of
similar structures in the Roman style of architec-
ture required an effort of genius almost equal to
that which was necessary for the invention of a
new species of buildings.

In the arrangement of his interiors Wren may,
on the whole,be pronounced to have been successful.

Conditions of site prevented him from settling
down into a method, so that in these thirty odd
City Churches interiors we have a succession of ex-
periments from his able hands.

Thus, in St Stephen's, Walbrook, he intro-

* Blomfield, A History of Renaissance Architecture in England.

266 London Churches

duced the double-aisled basilica crossed by the
transept and combined with the dome.

The Greek Cross plan occurs in St Anne and St
Agnes, Gresham Street, in St Mary at Hill, and in
St Martin, Ludgate.

The simple basilican plan, with north and south
aisles separated from the nave by lofty arcades or
colonnades, confronts us in St Sepulchre's, Christ
Church, Newgate Street, St Bride's, St Martin's,
Ludgate, St Michael's and St Peter's, Cornhill, St
Mary-le-Bow, and St Magnus;* or with only one
aisle, as in St Lawrence, Gresham Street, St Vedast
Foster Lane, St Margaret Pattens, and St Mar-
garet, Lothbury.

In St Andrew's, Holborn, St Andre w-by-the-
Wardrobe, St James', Piccadilly, and St Clement
Danes, the gallery forms an integral and very noble
feature in the design.

St Mildred's, Bread Street, St Swithin's, Cannon
Street, and St Mary Abchurch, are simple rectan-
gles, roofed with domes of much elegance; while
St Michael's, College Hill, All Hallows' and St Ed-
mund's, Lombard Street, and St Stephen's, Cole-
man Street, are pillarless rooms, owing their in-
terest to excellence of proportion and rich furni-
ture.

In the interval which had elapsed between the
days when the mediae val churches of London were
built and the epoch of which this chapter treats,
vast changes had come over England.

The irresistible tide of the Reformation had

*One of Wren's most pleasing interiors of this class was St
Michael Bassishaw in Basinghall Street, removed some twenty
years ago. The Corinthian pillars were very finely proportioned.

Wren's City Churches 267

passed over it. The reversion to Classic modes of
thought and to Classic modes of expression had
long been universally gaining ground.

First literature, then architecture, re-echoed
the movement. But it was not without a struggle
that Gothic was driven out of England, its last
stronghold. Even then it was only moribund,
flickering up ever and anon during the Stuart and
Hanoverian periods, until the romanticism of Sir
Walter Scott, and other causes, fanned it into a
flame during the early part of the last century.

When Wren was called upon to rebuild the
City churches, the need for wide processional aisles
and ample sanctuary space no longer existed; the
ritual did not require them.

England had just emerged from twenty years of
Puritanism, and churches were now treated as
auditories, the one consideration to be studied
above all others being their suitability for large
congregations, and that all should be able to hear
the service and to see the preacher. Wren fully
recognized this, and whenever he was able to do
so he met the demand by designing a pillarless
area, surmounted by a cupola in such cases as the
geometrical figure permitted him to do so.

It is worthy of observation that in only one in-
stance has Wren employed the apse, i.e., at St Cle-
ment Danes, where the nature of the site dictated its
use. The foundations of the greater portion of the
City churches follow those of the mediaeval ones,
all of which had been rebuilt at a period of English
architecture when the apse had gone out of
fashion.

It is remarkable, too, that in only two of the

268 London Churches

rebuilt City churches do we find stained glass
coeval with their period, these being St Andrew's,
Holborn, and St Edmund's, Lombard Street. But
we have, in compensation, much fine furniture in
the shape of brass chandeliers and black and white
marble pavements; altarpieces, fonts and font
covers, pulpits with sounding boards, organ cases,
pewing, sideboards for the weekly dole of bread,
and inner door-cases, all exhibiting that beauty of
carving for which their epoch is so justly re-
nowned.

No period in modern English architecture is
more justly noted for foliated carving than that
belonging to the school of Sir Christopher Wren,
at the head of which stood Grinling Gibbons.
For skill in workmanship, dexterity of manipulation
and close imitation of nature, this period stands
perhaps higher than any previous or later one. It
is, however, extremely unfortunate that so much
of this remarkably beautiful carving should be
afterwards applied and added to the construction
which it is intended to enrich. Ornament, to be
true, must be subservient to the purpose and to
the architectural forms of the work itself.

The features themselves should be enriched,
and, as a general rule, ornament should be taken
out of the material — sunk below the surface, and
not laid upon it. A work may be literally covered
with ornament which will immeasurably aid the
beauty of the architecture when used in its legiti-
mate place, as in the walls of the Alhambra, or, to
take a more humble but not less striking example,
in the elaborately carved but simple form of an
Indian sandal-wood box — it is enriched without

P

~

o

pq

Grinli ng Gibbons' Carving 269

anything being added to it, or altering its primi-
tive form of construction.

The great defect of modern ornamentation is that
it is so often represented as if it had weight in itself,
and that it was absolutely necessary to hang it up, or
that it should stand upon its own base, as in many
of the otherwise very beautiful Italian arabesque
pilasters.

The festoon, as a means of ornamenting a
work has been used in French and Italian Renais-
sance more than any other form, but it is a some-
what questionable form of constructed ornament.
Grinling Gibbons appears never to have been able
to get on without festoons, ribbons and drops, or
pendants in his work. The stalls in the choir of St
Paul's Cathedral afford a good specimen of this.
It is executed in the usual manner that he adopted
for nearly all his important works, that is, it is
carved in lime tree and planted upon an oak panel.

The composition is rich and bold, but somewhat
confused, and at first sight the manner in which it
is composed cannot be clearly distinguished

In the centre of the portions once forming the
decoration of the organ cases there are a pair of cross
trumpets tied together by a ribbon.* Then there are
in the upper part interlacing scrolls of a conven-
tional type peculiar to Gibbons, out of the upper
portion of which there drops a swag or festoon of
small flowers, either periwinkles or primroses,
which runs to the upper angle of the panel, and
from which, hung to a single flower, drops per-
pendicularly a bunch of trilobed leaves, forming

*These portions may now be seen above the stalls on the north
side of the choir, between those of the greater dignitaries and
that of the Lord Mayor

270 London Churches

the end of the design. But besides this there is a
larger and bolder festoon, which is in much higher
relief than any other part, extending from the knot
of the ribbon at the junction of the trumpets,
sweeping to the bottom of the panel, and going right
up to the extreme angle again, from which the
smaller festoon and drop hang. This is repeated in
the other half of the design, all, except the scrolls
being supposed to be hung up by artificial means. A
portion hangs from the scrolls, but how they and
the angle flowers are supported does not appear.

The peculiarity of the scrolls is that, instead of
the leafage forming a sheath, as in nearly all Classi-
cal foliage, it grows out of the stem itself, or arises
from the other side of the stem, as in the altar-
piece of St Mary Abchurch, which exhibits some
of the most beautiful wood-carving by Gibbons in
the City. The leafage is from Nature, taken evi-
dently from the hawthorn, and in some cases from
the celery-leaved crowfoot.

It goes without saying that within the last half
century it has been found necessary to redistribute
the furniture of the majority of the City churches
in accordance with present-day needs, the arrange-
ment of the chancel being the point to which par-
ticular attention has been directed.

It is a curious sight to see how the forgotten
things of old are often inevitably revived in the
long cycle of the Christian Church. The glorious
structures of the Middle Ages, with their deep
chancels, seem for ever to have banished the
ancient detached chorus cantorum in the nave. But
Church tradition became lost, and Paganized
churches were built for many a year, which have

Rearrangement of Wren's Interiors 271

required precisely the same expedient to Chris-
tianize them which was adopted in the case of hea-
then basilicas and churches built after their type.

The detached and parclosed chancel was the
best and only expedient to adopt in the case of
Wren's City churches, some of which have a shallow
recess for the altar, but no one of them anything
that corresponds to the mediaeval chancel.*

Not a few churches have, from their spacious-
ness, lent themselves admirably to such a re-
distribution, as for instance, St Anne's, Soho, St
James', Piccadilly, St Andrew's, Holborn and St
Stephen's, Walbrook.

In some cases the work of adapting Wren's
churches to modern requirements has been carried
out thoughtfully and with a restraint which should
be observed in handling the works of so great a
master. In others, it is sad to say, irreparable mis-
chief has been done. Organs have been removed
from their legitimate positions in galleries at west
ends, and in some instances their cases ruthlessly
sacrificed; chandeliers have been cast out; gase-
liers, tiles and stained glass of the crudest possible
patterns introduced, and, in more than one case,
pseudo-Italian Gothic tracery has been inserted

*In a few of these seventeenth-century City churches we find a
shallow recess for the altar, as, for instance, in St Michael's, Corn-
hill, St Edmund's and All Hallows', Lombard Street, St James',
Garlick-Hythe, St Lawrence Jewry, St Andrew's, Holborn and St
Bride's, Fleet Street; but as a rule the three divisions terminate in
a line with one another, as in many of the mediaeval churches. It
may be observed, that, until their rearrangement, commencing
about sixty years ago, not one Wrennian church, save St
AndrewWardrobe was destitute of a partition of open carved work
answering the purpose of a screen.

272 London Churches

in large plain round-headed windows. England has
a history in art as well as in other matters, and in
that history Wren and his contemporaries, Hawks-
moor and Gibbs, bear a conspicuous place, and they
were all far too great men to deserve being tam-
pered with by any of the Browns and Robinsons
of the mid-Victorian epoch. Wren knew very well
what he was about, as did Gibbs and Hawksmoor
and Flitcroft; they did not make a design which
might be Italian or Gothic according to the taste
of the client. They despised Gothic, more's the
pity, but still it is a fact, and it is silly nonsense
to attempt to transmute them into Goths. The
whole spirit of their work was antagonistic to
Mediaevalism. But even supposing the thing could
be done in the most complete and entirely satis-
factory manner; suppose their churches could be
turned into first-rate Gothic or Romanesque ones,
it would be a cruel barbarism to do so. We have no
earthly right to tear this page out of our history
or to make a poor palimpsest of it.

It is not only the more splendid and magnificent
productions of Wren which are interesting, but every
church erected from his designs, however humble its
appearance or obscure its situation may be, displays
in some degree the hand of a superior genius; and
the most ardent medievalist must derive pleasure
and instruction from the examination of this great
architect's buildings, second only to the feelings
produced by our ancient English architecture.

Sir Christopher had imbibed the prejudice of
his day against the Pointed styles: he was as
ignorant of their details as he was of their history;
but at the same time he borrowed some of his

ST. STEPHEN'S, WALBROOK. The Organ.

St Alban's, Wood Street 273

ideas from their buildings; witness the spire of St
Bride's, the outline and proportions of which are
strongly suggestive of that at St Sernin, Toulouse.

It is not proposed in this place to deal with Wren's
Citychurches, in regard to size or merit, classification
of plans or arrangements, but in alphabetical order.

The descriptions of the large number of these
churches must, of necessity, be somewhat brief, but
all that is most interesting and noteworthy re-
specting them, architecturally and historically, will
be pointed out in this and the succeeding chapter.

The late Perpendicular church of St Alban,
Wood Street, was extensively rebuilt by Inigo
Jones about thirty years before the Great Fire.
Probably it only suffered a little, and that Wren
was responsible for the upper part of the tower and
for repairs generally.

Anyhow, it is evident from the different styles
of the architecture that considerable portions of
a building older than either period have been pre-
served, and still exist in the present structure.

The plan — owing to the foundations of the old
church having been followed by Inigo Jones — are
irregular. It includes a nave and aisles, a chapel on
the north, and a tower — finely proportioned and
with two belfry windows on each face — at the west
end of the north aisle, a portion of what would be
the south aisle being occupied by houses. The pen-
tagonal apse was added from the designs of Sir
Gilbert Scott in 1858, until when the church ter-
minated abruptly in a square east end lighted
•by a window in three compartments, with super-
mullions and a foliated circle.

1-18

274 London Churches

The stained glass in the apse is early work of
Messrs Clayton and Bell. The lights are filled with
small subjects, several incidents in the life of the
protomartyr of Britain being introduced as pre-
dellae to the larger groups.

Here is preserved a pulpit hour-glass of brass.
On each side of it is a raised rim of fleur-de-lys and
crosses -patee.

It is further ornamented with angels blowing
trumpets. The stand, of the same material, is
raised on a twisted column.

Such hour-glasses were common in churches in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, "that
when the preacher maketh a sermon he may know
the hour passeth away." So, Butler in his Hudibras:

As gifted brethren preaching by
A carnal hour-glass do imply.

Canto 3, y. 1061, and Note.

The font, a circular basin of white marble, is
supported upon a baluster enriched with four
cherubs' heads with expanded wings and covered
with fruit and foliage in basso-relievo. Doubtless,
from its resemblance to that in St Margaret's,
Lothbury, this font is by Gibbons.

Among the rectors of St Alban's, Wood Street,
may be mentioned Dr Watts (d. 1649), wno
assisted Sir Henry Spelman in his Glossary, and
edited Matthew Paris' Historia Major; and Edward
James Beckwith, Minor Canon and Succentor of
St Paul's. He was presented by. the Dean and
Chapter to the living in 1799, was a go°d musician,
and composed chants which are still sung.

Mr Beckwith, who died in 1833, was brother of
Dr John Christmas Beckwith, the writer of some

All Hallows', Lombard Street 275

fine anthems, and for a year, 1808-1809, organist
of Norwich Cathedral.

The parish of St Alban's, Wood Street, is his-
torically interesting. There are in the City of Lon-
don a round dozen of parishes named after St
Mary, nearly all of which belong to a single group
closely packed together. Some topographers are of
opinion that anciently there was one great parish
of St Mary, the church of which appropriately
still bears the name of Aldermary.

From this mother parish a number of others
originated — as St Mary Abchurch, St Mary
Cole-church (at the south-west corner of Old
Jewry, whose church was not rebuilt after the
Great Fire), and St Mary-le-Bow. On the opposite
bank of Walbrook sprang up St Mary Woolchurch
(on the site of the Mansion House), St Mary Wool-
noth, and St Mary Bothaw (i.e. "boathaven"), now
occupied by Cannon Street Station. But the fact
that the two branch parishes of St Mary Staining,
and St Mary, Aldermanbury, are cut off from their
parent stem by the interposition of St Alban's,
Wood Street, goes to show that this process of sub-
division had, at any rate, begun before the time
of King Offa, who granted that parish to St
Alban's Abbey, which he had founded in 793.

To the interior of the large plain church of All
Hallows, Lombard Street, Wren has contrived to
impart an appearance of great grandeur. This is
as remarkable as it is extraordinary, for except at
the west end, where they form a separation be-
tween the nave and a kind of ante-church, it is
destitute of detached pillars.

There is a fairly deep recess at the east end of

276 London Churches

the oblong portion, forming the sanctuary, en-
riched with one of the most imposing altarpieces
in the City, composed of four columns, with their
entablature and five pediments, all of the Corin-
thian order. Within the inter-columniations were
the Decalogue, Creed and Lord's Prayer, and in
the middle, between the arching parts of the
frames for the Commandments, was the Emble-
matic Pelican. There was likewise a "Glory" finely
painted and adorned, with an enrichment of
carving, flowers, fruit, etc., but these decorations
have been replaced by modern paintings of the
Ecce Homo, the Procession to Calvary, and the
Agnus Dei. Surmounting the whole is a large
triangular pediment supporting the Seven Candle-
sticks, emblematical of the Seven Churches in
Asia. Beneath the altar is carved the Holy Lamb
on a chalice, now concealed by the frontal.

All Hallows' contains other fine wood-carving,
among which must be named the pulpit, organ
case, and two doorways between the vestibule and
the church, in which figures of Time and Death
play conspicuous parts. An artificial white curtain
is introduced into the carved work of these door-
ways, but so naturally, that many have attempted
to draw it aside, the better to view the carving that
seems to be behind.

Just inside the entrance to the church from
Lombard Street is another remarkable piece of
wood-carving, which from the death's heads, which
form conspicuous features in it, would appear to
have formed a part of a kind of Resurrection Gate,
such as we see at St Stephen's, Coleman Street,
and St Giles'-in-the-Fields.

St Andrew's, Holborn 277

It was erected at the entrance to the church-
yard from Lombard Street soon after the Great
Fire, but was removed to its present position when
the buildings in Lombard Street adjoining, were
reconstructed in 1865.

In perusing the Journals of John Wesley, it is
astonishing to find how numerous, how steady,
and how constant were his sermons in City churches
from 1738 to 1790. He was a false prophet in one
respect, for, in 1738 and 1739 he constantly re-
corded what proved to be untrue: " I am not to
preach again," for, like every other great reformer
in the Church of England, he found respectability
at first against him, but towards the close of his
ministry he is bound to admit: "So are the
tables turned, that I have more invitations to
preach in the churches than I can accept of."

It was All Hallows', Lombard Street, that first
produced from Wesley an extempore sermon, and
a touching incident in connexion with this cir-
cumstance is recorded on the north-eastern wall of
the nave.

St Andrew's, Holborn, was, until the construc-
tion of the Viaduct between 1867 and 1869, one of
the best placed churches in London, for as the
west end was nearly at the summit of Holborn Hill,
the foundation was necessarily continued through-
out on this level to the east end in Shoe Lane, so
that the basement was there considerably elevated
above the houses.*

*A view of St Andrew's as it appeared in the old Holborn Hill
days is given on page 258. The tower is perhaps seen to the
greatest advantage from one of a congeries of narrow thorough-
fares lying between Fetter Lane and St Andrew's Street.

278 London Churches

The old church escaped the Fire of 1666, but
being found ruinous was taken down about twenty
years afterwards, with the exception of the lower
part of the tower. This is good but rather Late
Perpendicular of about 1446, and three of its most
interesting features, the west window, the arch
opening into the church, and the low blocked ones
which communicated with the aisles — continued
as at St Sepulchre's along the sides of the tower —
were brought to light and restored, under the
direction of Mr S. S. Teulon in 1872. The upper
story, which is Wren's work and very gracefully
proportioned, is terminated by a balustrade and
pinnacles in the form of altars, crowned by pine-
apples and vanes.

Observe the square erections containing the
handsome staircases to the galleries on either side
of the tower; the curious piece of sculpture in the
north wall representing the General Resurrection;
the dignified east end, with its large Venetian
window of six compartments; and the iron en-
trance gateway with its figure of the patron bear-
ing the emblem of his martyrdom.

Internally, St Andrew's, Holborn, is one of the
finest churches of the galleried basilican type in
the country. Short, wainscoted Doric columns
support the galleries, from whose fronts rise grace-
fully proportioned Corinthian columns, sustaining
the richly fretted and camerated roof. The walls,
pillars and roof, are enriched with polychromatic
ornament. Parts of Teulon's work were open to
very grave censure, especially the removal of the
magnificent organ case, and, perhaps in a lesser
degree, because inevitable, that of the curious old

St Andrew's, Holborn 279

christening pew. To be sure, the removal of the
organ gallery has disclosed the fine Perpendicular
tower arch, but something more worthy of the
dignity of St Andrew's might have been de-
vised than the feeble Gothic woodwork enclosing
the organ, remarkable as being, in its original
state, a portion of the instrument by Renatus
Harris, discarded in the contest for superiority
between that builder and Schmidt, at the Temple
Church.*

When Dr Sacheverell entered upon the living of
St Andrew's, he found that the organ, not having
been paid for, had, from its erection in 1699, been
shut up; when the Doctor, by a collection amongst
his parishioners, raised the amount, and paid for
the instrument.

As this statement rests upon the authority of
Sir John Hawkins, who is not always to be relied
upon, it must be taken cum grano. The matter has,
however, been well threshed out by Mr F. G.
Edwards in a sketch of St Andrew's and its organ-
ists in The Musical Times of March, 1905.

Hatton, in his New View of London, published in
1708, speaks of the "most splendid case" of the
organ in St Andrew's, and among other informa-
tion, we are told that the "church is very
well and regularly Pew'd uniform," and that
" there are Prayers every day in the week at 6, II

*Smith and Harris were men whose inventive genius and
artistic skill were destined, figuratively speaking, to more than
compensate that noble instrument, the organ, for the insults and
indignities which during the previous seventeen years it had
undergone at the hands of the Roundheads. With these two great
builders the history of modern organ construction began.

280 London Churches

and 3 in the summer, and 7, II and 3 in the
winter."*

Harris's organ was enlarged in 1842 and 1872 by
Messrs Hill, and still further in 1905 by the same
builders.

Among those who have filled the post of organist
here may be named Daniel Purcell (d. 1713); Dr
Maurice Greene (but only for about a month, being
elected organist of St Paul's Cathedral on the death
of Richard Brind in 1718); John Stanley, the cele-
brated blind performer (1714-1786), and Dr James
Higgs (1867-1895). ^

The stained glass in the great east window of St
Andrew's, Holborn, representing the Last Supper
and the Resurrection, was the work of Joshua
Price, one of a family of glass painters, whose works
are of the greatest interest and importance in the
history of the art.

William Price the elder (d. 1722) executed the
stained glass which filled the east window of
Oxford Cathedral prior to 1856. The cartoons were

The PietasLondiniensis, compiled by the Rev. James Paterson,
M.A., and printed in 1714 is also interesting not only as giving
some historical account of the London churches and parishes
early in the eighteenth century, but because it gives lists of
services held in them, together with the hours at which they
commenced. Here are a few instances:

St Andrew's, Holborn. — Morning prayers every day at six of the
clock in summer-time, and seven in the winter. Holy Sacrament
on Easter Day at seven and twelve.

St Anne's, Soho. — Matins, six in the summer, seven in the winter.
The Sacrament on Christmas Day, Easter Day and Whitsun Day,
at seven and twelve o'clock.

St Dunstan-in-the-West. — Holy Sacrament every day in the
octaves of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun Day at eight, after
Morning Prayer.

St Andrew's, Holborn 281

by Sir James Thornhill. The present east window
of Merton College Chapel was likewise his work.
Long may it remain !

Joshua Price, besides the window in St An-
drew's, Holborn, repaired the ancient glass in
Queen's College Chapel, Oxford, executed the
Holy Family for the same Chapel, and restored
Van Linge's windows in the Cathedral.

To William Price, the younger, who died in
1765, we owe the stained glass in the great west
and north transept rose windows of Westminster
Abbey, between 1722 and 1735. He also filled
several windows in New College Chapel, Oxford,
with pieces of stained glass which, painted by
artists of the school of Rubens, he had acquired, in
Flanders.

We owe much to men like the Prices, Peckitt,
Eginton, Jervois, Pearson and others of the latter
part of the eighteenth and the early part of the
last centuries, for they served to keep alive the art
of glass-painting until the revival of its true prin-
ciples with the ecclesiological movement at
Oxford and Cambridge in 1839.

Together with the decoration of the Sanctuary,
Price's glass in St Andrew's, Holborn, forms an
interesting memorial of Dr Sacheverell, who as far
as his day permitted, did much for the beautifying
of the most sacred part of the church.

There is some fine contemporary stained glass
of an armorial character in the east window of
either aisle in the gallery tier. That in the restored
Perpendicular window of the tower is by Messrs
Heaton, Butler and Bayne (1872). In the south
aisle a pleasing window has been inserted to the

282 London Churches

memory of the Rev. Henry Blunt, Rector from
1857 to 1899.

It is gratifying to note that the font, which
during the upheaval of 1871-72 under Teulon,*
was removed to an obscure south-eastern corner of
the building, thus completely nullifying the
beautiful symbolism of the entrance to the spiritual
church by baptism, has been replaced in its proper
position at the west end of the nave.

John Hacket, Bishop of Lichfield from 1661 to
1670, was rector of St Andrew's at the time of the
Great Rebellion. His intrepid character is well
illustrated by the following anecdote.

Although the use of the Prayer Book was pro-
scribed under a severe penalty, he continued the
use of it. At length a sergeant and armed trooper
were sent to the church to compel his obedience,
but he, with a firm voice and unintimidated man-
•ner, read the service as he was wont to do.

When the soldiers, placing a pistol at his head,
threatened him with instant death, he calmly
replied :

"Soldiers, I am doing my duty, do you do
yours!" Then, with a voice equally composed, he
resumed the prayers. The soldiers, awestruck by
his pious courage, left the church in astonishment.

Another eminent Rector of St Andrew's, Hoi-
born, was Stillingfleet, afterwards Bishop of Wor-

*He ought never to have been allowed to touch a church of
this kind. St George the Martyr, Queen Square, Bloomsbury, a
very respectable, and internally really elegant, Renaissance
building, erected in 1706 as a chapel of ease to St Andrew's, Hoi-
born, was horribly "Gothicized" by this architect in 1869.
Another illustration of a similar performance is St Mary's
Ealing.

St Andrew's, Holborn 283

tester; and a third, eminent in a different way,
was the already mentioned far-famed Sacheverell,
whose trial is a matter of English history.

Sacheverell, who received the living of St
Andrew's as a solatium for the trial he had gone
through, is buried in the Sanctuary, the embel-
lishment of which, with paintings and stained
glass, was his peculiar care. He died June 5, 1724,
at his house where he habitually resided in The
Grove, Highgate. A small inscribed stone indicates
the whereabouts of his remains in St Andrew's.

William Whiston, the Nonconformist preacher,
was a constant attendant at St Andrew's. His
principles becoming known, Sacheverell admon-
ished him to forbear communicating in his church;
but still persisting, he had him ejected. Whiston
complained in print, and then moved into another
parish.

Sacheverell was described by Sarah, Duchess of
Marlborough, as "an ignorant and impudent in-
cendiary, the scorn of those who made him their
tool"; and by Hearne, who, though approving of
his sermons, had private reasons for disliking him,
as "conceited, ignorant, impudent, a rascal and a
knave."

The registers record the baptism and burial of
two of our most unfortunate poets: Richard
Savage, the illegitimate child of noble parents, and
whose history is a miserable tale, was baptized
here January 1 8, 1696-7. Drink and debauchery
plunged him lower and lower, until in 1743 he was
found dead in his bed in Bristol Jail, where he lay
a prisoner for debt. Ike Wanderer is his principal
work

284 London Churches

Thomas Chatterton,

The marvellous boy,
The sleepless soul, that perished in his pride,

the leading charm of whose poems is picturesque
description, went up to London from his native
place, Bristol, to write for bread and fame. He
toiled hard, but sank into infidelity and intem-
perance, and his prospects proving a deceptive
mirage, his proud heart, stung to its core by
neglect and increasing want, whispered to him to
form the desperate resolve of suicide. One August
day in 1770 the lad, not yet eighteen, took a dose
of arsenic and died in an attic in Brooke Street,
Holborn, amid the fragments of his torn papers.*
On August 28 he was buried in a pauper's grave in
ground now occupied by Farringdon Avenue.

In the register Chatterton's Christian name is
wrongly stated, William being written instead of
Thomas.

It is not a little strange that Savage, who was
born in Fox Court, Brooke Street, should have
died in Bristol, and that Chatterton, who was born
in Bristol, should have ended his blighted exis-
tence so close to the birthplace of his equally un-
fortunate "brother of song.'*

There are other interesting and happier entries
in the registers of St Andrew's, Holborn: The
Baptism of Benjamin D'Israeli (Lord Beacons-
field), July 31, 1817, when twelve years old; the
irregular marriage, in 1598, of Edward Coke, "the
Queen's Attorney General," and "My Lady Eliza-

*Mrs Hamilton King has a very touching poem on this subject
in her Ballads of the North. The church of St Alban the Martyr is
very beautifully introduced into it.

St Andrew Wardrobe 285

beth Hatton"; the marriage of Colonel Hutchin-
son and Lucy Apsley (1638): Mrs Hutchinson's
Memoirs are well known; and that on May I,
1808, of William Hazlitt, the Essayist, to Sarah
Stoddart.*

Here too are recorded the burial in 1643 of
Nathaniel Tomkins executed or his share in
Waller's plot; the burial in 1690, of Theodore
Haak, the founder of the Royal Society; and the
burial of Joseph Strutt, author of Sports and Pas-
times (1802).

Very s milar in plan and arrangement, though
less rich in detail than St Andrew's, Holborn, is
the imposingly situated St Andrew's by the Ward-
robe, now a prominent feature on the north side of
Queen Victoria Street.

It was so called from its contiguity to the office
of the King's Great Wardrobe, and to distinguish
it from other churches in London dedicated to the
same saint.

The old church having perished in the Great
Fire, the present one was completed from Wren's
designs in 1692 for the united parishes of St An-
drew's-by- the- Wardrobe and St Ann's, Blackfriars.

*One of the witnesses to Hazlitt's marriage was Mary Anne
Lamb, the bridesmaid. Her brother, Charles, was also present, as
he recalls in a letter written seven years later to Southey.

"I am going to stand godfather" (writes "Elia" in his own inimi-
table style) "I don't like the business, I cannot muster up decorum
enough for these occasions. I shall certainly disgrace the font. I
was at Hazlitt's marriage, and had like to have been turned out
several times during the ceremony. Anything awful makes me
laugh. I misbehaved once at a funeral. Yet I can read about these
ceremonies with pious and proper feelings. The realities of life
only seem the mockeries." — Letters.

286 London Churches

Externally, it honestly exposes its dark red brick
material, and presents a square south-western
tower surmounted by a balustrade and pinnacles,
and two tiers of windows, round-headed above and
obtuse headed below, in the body.

The interior, very quietly and conservatively
rearranged about forty years ago,* has galleries
forming a constructional feature. The columns,
below and upon them, are very simple ones of the
Doric order, except at the west end, where they are
fluted. The last bay on either side of the gallery has
been removed and metal screens of good design to
mark off the Sanctuary placed across the space
thus vacated. The roof of the nave is arched and
richly decorated, while those over the galleries have
a simple quadripartite groining without ribs. In the
lower aisles a commencement of excellent stained
glass has been made, and Mr W. E. F. Britten has
enriched the panels of the altarpiece with highly-
finished oil paintings in Flemish style of our Lord in
Maj esty, with St Andrew and St Anne on either side.
There is some good colouring in the stained
glass inserted about 1 862 in the window above the
altar, but the unities were not preserved, Gothic
detail being stupidly introduced. A monument, by
the elder Bacon, to the Rev. William Romaine,
rector from 1766 to 1795, is not devoid of beauty.
The bust is very good. Romaine was an ardent
follower of Whitfield, and proclaimed his belief
not only to the citizens of St Dunstan's-in-the-
West, where in 1749 he was instituted to a double
lectureship, but to the fashionable world at St
George's, Hanover Square. Persecution followed.
* The late Mr Thomas Garner was the architect called in.

St Andrew Wardrobe 287

The elite of Hanover Square could not tolerate the
poor folk that crowded to hear Romaine's preach-
ing, although the old Earl of Northampton de-
fended him by dryly remarking that no complaint
was made of crowds in the ball-rooms or in the
play-house.

Romaine, consequently, at the request of the
vicar, resigned his lectureship at St George's.
Trouble next arose at St Dunstan's; the parish-
ioners complained that they had to force their way
to their pews through a "ragged, unsavoury multi-
tude," "squeezing," "shoving," "panting," "rid-
ing on one another's backs." The rector sat in the
pulpit to prevent Romaine occupying it. The
matter was carried to the King's Bench, and that
Court deprived him of one parish lectureship, sup-
ported by voluntary contributions, but confirmed
him in the other, which was endowed with .£18 a
year, and granted him the use of the church at
seven o'clock in the evening. The churchwardens,
however, refused to open the church until the
exact hour, and declined to light it. Romaine had
frequently to perform his office by the light of a
single candle, which he held in his hand; until
Terrick, the Bishop of London, who happened on
one occasion to precede him to the pulpit, observ-
ing the crowd at the closed door, interfered, and
obtained fair and decent arrangements for the
service. In 1766, after an unsettled phase of
existence, Romaine was presented to the living of St
Andrew Wardrobe, not, however, until after con-
siderable opposition. When he had at last an as-
sured position and a satisfied congregation here,
the communicants on his first Good Friday rose to

288 London Churches

the unprecedented number of five hundred, and
on Easter Day there were as many as three hun-
dred. Additional accommodation had to be pro-
vided for the crowds who flocked to St Andrew's to
attend Romaine's ministrations, and here he re-
mained until his death in 1795. As a preacher he
exercised great power. His theology and his con-
ception of the spiritual life are most fully exhibited
in his three treatises: The Life of Faith (1763), The
Walk of Faith (1771), and The Triumph of Faith
(1795), which contain many passages full of tender
and passionate devotion.

Another rector of St Andrew Wardrobe, was
the Rev. Phocion Henley (1759-64), composer of a
double chant in E, retained in most collections.

St Anne and St Agnes in Gresham Street
was generally known as St Anne-in-the- Willows.
" I know not upon what occasion," says Stow,
" but some say of willows growing thereabouts ;
but now there is no such void place for willows
to grow, more than the churchyard, wherein do
grow some high ash- trees."

Strype in his Ecclesiastical Memorials* informs
us that St Anne's "was burnt down [1666] and re-
built of rubbed brick: and stands in the church-
yard, planted before the church with lime-trees
that flourish there. So that, as it was formerly
called St Anne-in-the-Willows, it may now be
named St Anne-in-the-Limes."

Externally there is little to remark in this church
beyond its well-proportioned square tower sur-
mounted by a turret, but the interior, in plan a
*Vol. HI, p. 101.

SS. Augustine and Faith 289

Greek cross, is most elegant. Four Corinthian
columns on tall pedestals form a square in the
centre of the church; they support a rich entabla-
ture issuing from the side walls where they rest
upon corbels of a Composite character; and meet-
ing as they do in a right angle above the columns,
a cruciform shape very appropriate to the nature
of the building, and one of the best forms for dis-
tributing light into the church, is the result. The
four compartments forming the arms of the cross
are each covered with an arched ceiling richly
panelled and bounded by four arches, whose soffits
are charged with coffers and roses forming a large
square centre. This is simply groined, and adorned
with an expanded flower upon the point of junc-
tion of the groin. The flat ceilings occupying the
spaces of the angles not comprised in the cross-
formed plan, are enriched with circles enclosing
wreaths of foliage and fruit, with cherubim in the
angles.

The spire of the little church of SS. Augustine
and Faith at the corner of Old Change and Wat-
ling Street was designed by Wren, like that of St
Martin's, Ludgate, to contrast by its softly
modelled contour with the robust and vigorous
masses of the Cathedral close by.

Ionic columns carrying a wagon-headed ceiling
divide the church into a nave and aisles. These
columns are raised on such exceedingly lofty
plinths that their height and consequent character
is so small as to degrade them to mere props and to
produce altogether an unpleasing effect. The
present aspect of the interior is due to the late Sir
Arthur Blomfield, who quietly and conservatively

1-19

290 London Churches

rearranged and decorated it about forty-five years
ago.

St Benet, Paul's Wharf, now occupied by a con-
gregation of the Welsh Church, is one of Wren's
pillarless interiors, and like its near neighbour, St
Andrew's-by-the-Wardrobe, shows its brick ma-
terial exteriorly.

In the old church destroyed by the Fire were
buried Inigo Jones, the architect (June 26, 1652);
Sir William Le Neve (Clarenceux), the friend of
Ashmole; John Philipott (Somerset Herald), whose
labours have added largely to the value of Camden's
Remaines; and William Oldys (Norroy), the literary
antiquary. Inigo Jones' monument (for which he
left j£ioo) was destroyed in the Fire; Le Neve and
Philipott lie no one knows where, and Oldys sleeps
in the north aisle without a stone to mark the place
of his interment.

It was at St Benet's, Paul's Wharf, that, on No-
vember 27, 1747, Henry Fielding, the novelist,
was married to his second wife, Mary Daniel, whose
name has also been given as MacDainell and
Macdonald. She is described in the register as of
" St Clement Danes, Middlesex, Spinster." Lady
Louisa Stuart reports that this second wife had
been the maid of Fielding's first wife, Charlotte
Cradock. She had " few personal charms " but had
been strongly attached to her mistress and had
sympathized with Fielding's sorrow at her loss.

He told his friends that he could not have found
a better mother for his children or nurse for him-
self. The result fully justified this opinion.*

*It was in his Amelia that Fielding commemorated the domes-
tic virtue either of his first wife or of that amiable maid-servant

St Bride's, Fleet Street 29 1

The living of St Benet, Paul's Wharf, was held for
a short time by Samuel Clarke, author of the
Attributes of the Deity * and from 1835, until his
promotion to the Vicarage of Tottenham, by the
Rev. W. J. Hall. Mr Hall was editor of the
Christian Remembrancer and compiler of the well-
known Mitre Hymn Book, first published in 1836,
and from 1825 until his death in 1861 was one of
the Minor Canons of St Paul's.

Charles King, Mus.B., Almoner and Master of
the Choristers of St Paul's, was on his death, March
17, 1748, buried under the middle aisle of St
Benet's.

On the evening before the funeral of the Duke
of Wellington, the several choirs selected to perform
the music on that occasion assembled in St Paul's
for the purpose of rehearsal, but the noise of
preparation was so great as to necessitate an
adjournment to the neighbouring church of St
Benet's, Paul's Wharf.

The steeple of St Bride's, Fleet Street, is a com-
position of equalities, in which there is a pleasant
succession of vertical and horizontal lines, beauty
being obtained by agreeable repetitions, and not, as
in most of the other instances, by harmonious
varieties. The spire, which is formed of a series of
open arches, rising in succession above each other,
shows how well Wren could repeat forms without
at the same time rendering them monotonous. The
construction of this spire materially differs from

who sorrowed so deeply for the loss of her mistress, that in grati-
tude and tender concern for his motherless children, he made
her their second mother.

*See under St James, Piccadilly, p. 319.

292 London Churches

any other, Italian or Gothic. The arches form
vaults or cells within, which are firmly bound to-
gether by the central spiral cord or staircase, and
this equally distributes the pressure over the surf ace
below, imitating in a beautiful manner some of the
strongest forms of nature — the shell turitella for
example.

The provision made for carrying the spire is excel-
lent. Within the belfry are angle corbels with flat
surfaces, which contract the square to the octangu-
lar form. The latter is reduced to a circle by a bold
rounded moulding level with the top of the
external cornice. The circle measures 17 feet
diameter and above it rises a lofty conical dome
measuring 14 feet 6 inches to the crown. The sides
of this dome are somewhat of an ogee form, but
nearly flat to within a very short distance of the
apex, and it should be distinctly observed that the
joints of the masonry do not radiate but are kept
perfectly horizontal, each layer corbelling over,
with a slightly bevelled surface, until within a few-
courses of the keystone. Had any other construc-
tion been adopted, even metal bands would not
have long retained the whole together. The
masonry of this part is extremely massive and
carefully connected, the depth of the keystone
being not less than 4 feet 9 inches. The spaced
between the sides of the dome and the exterior
measures nearly double this dimension, and it is
probable that voids are left at intervals within,
though there is now no opportunity of ascertaining
the fact.

As originally built between 1701 and 1703 by
Wren, the tower and spire of St Bride's rose to a

ST. BRIDE'S, FLEET STREET. From the South-East.

St Bride's, Fleet Street 293

total height of 234 feet. On June 18, 1764, it was
struck by lightning and so greatly damaged that
it was found necessary to take down and recon-
struct 85 feet of the masonry. In repairing the
injury, at a cost of .£3,000, Sir William Staines
lowered the masonry by 8 feet.

In 1803 the steeple was again struck by light-
ning. In the storm of July 15, 1887, it narrowly
escaped destruction by a memorable stroke of
lightning, which, however, expended its force
beneath the stone paving at the base of the tower.
The fastenings of the conductor, which had
become worn and insecure, were then repaired, and
in 1888 the outer stonework of the tower and spire
was repointed and reinstated.

The opening of St Bride's Avenue into Fleet
Street was designed by J. B. Papworth, at a cost of
about ^10,000, in place of Bride Passage, a narrow
alley which was consumed by the fire in Fleet
Street on November 14, 1824.

Interiorly, round arches, moulded with a rose
between two large battens and springing from
Doric columns coupled transversely, support the
fragment of an entablature. The aisles are groined
over the galleries, which cut rather unpleasantly
into the pillars, while the nave has a slightly ellip-
tical vault richly camerated and pierced over each
bay by a semicircular one which encloses a round
clerestory window.

A somewhat feeble decoration of the altar recess
took place about forty years ago from the de-
signs of Mr Basil Champneys, when a copy in
stained glass by Muss (1824) of Rubens' Descent
from the Cross was removed from the east window,

294 London Churches

and work of modern manufacture, in which, how-
ever, the same subject is introduced, substituted.

The marble font of 1615, a relic of the former
church, stands in a large square christening pew in
the south aisle.

Here are buried Ogilby, the translator of
Homer, (d. 1676); and Flatman, the poet and pain-
ter; he died in 1688 and was interred " near to the
rails of the Communion Table."

Flatman, who Cowley imitates with pains,
And rides a jaded Musewhipt with loose reins.

— Lord Rochester.

Francis Sandford, author of the Genealogical His-
tory which bears his name, and who died 1693 in the
Fleet Prison, lies here; also the widow of Sir William
Davenant the poet, who, on the death of Ben Jonson,
became laureate. A keen Royalist, he suffered many
changes of fortune in the Civil War, and while an
exile in France wrote part of the tedious heroic
poem Gondibfrtj which is the chief work associated
with his name.

In the middle of the central passage lies
Samuel Richardson. About 1712 he set up in
business for himself as a printer in Salisbury Court
hard by, and his position as a business man may
be judged from the fact that the printing of the
'Journals of the House of Commons was given to
him while he was comparatively young. But it is
not as King's Printer that we remember Samuel
Richardson with such reverent affection. When
more than fifty years of this printer's life had
passed, a talent, which had been slumbering almost
unknown in the keen business brain, a woke to active
life.

St Bride's, Fleet Street 295

A couple of bookselling friends requested him
to draw up a series of familiar letters, containing
hints for guiding the affairs of common life. Rich-
ardson undertook the task, but, inspired with the
happy idea of giving a human interest to the
letters, he made them tell a connected story, which
he justly thought would barb the moral with a
keener and surer point. In a similar way the
Pickwick Papers grew into being. A young writer,
who had already furnished picturesque sketches of
London life* to an evening paper, was invited by a
publishing firm to write some comic adventures in
illustration of a set of sporting plates. He began to
write, and, losing sight very soon of the original idea
of the work, he produced the narrative over which
so many hearty, honest laughs have been enjoyed.

Thus grew Samuel Richardson's first novel,
Pamela. It is customary to describe Fielding as the
father of the English novel. Really, however,
Richardson with his Pamela was the father, and
that mad wag Henry Fielding the " wicked uncle
who stole the baby, " for Joseph Andrews was a
wicked mockery of those virtuous lessons which the
respectable printer of Salisbury Court had endea-
voured to inculcate by his first book.

In St Bride's Churchyard was one of Milton's
many London residences. Here he read with his
pupils — among them his own nephews, the Phil-
lipses — an extensive course, comprising several
uncommon Classics, some Hebrew, a sprinkling of
Chaldee and Syriac, mathematics and astromony,
not omitting the Greek Testament and some
Dutch divinity on Sundays.

* Sketches by Boz, first published in a collected form in 1836.

296 London Churches

From 1835 to 1846 the living of St Bride's was
held by the Rev. Thomas Dale, Canon Residen-
tiary of St Paul's, than whom few were more sought
after and admired as a spiritual guide and preacher.

"His correspondence with those seeking for
advice and direction in sin and sorrow was very
large; for, by whatever name it is called, to hear
confession and give direction are the inalienable
offices of every leader of religious thought. We have
seen how John Wesley discharged these offices.
Thomas Dale had much of this work to do. He
received — and bore it unmoved — that constant
adulation and praise that follows successful preach-
ing. His parochial works and organizations were
highly estimated." *

In 1846 Mr Dale left St Bride's for St Pancras',
where his untiring zeal in the cause of church ex-
tension in that vast parish will ever be remem-
bered. From his grave in Highgate Cemetery may
be seen many of the churches he caused to be built.
Advancing years was the reason of his resigning St
Pancras for Therfield, near Royston, a Hertford-
shire living in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of
St Paul's. In 1870, on the death of Dr Stevens, Mr
Dale was appointed by Mr Gladstone to the
Deanery of Rochester, but he died very shortly
after his installation, having preached but one
sermon in the cathedral — a sermon on "The Life to
Come," and long remembered by those who heard
it as a very beautiful one.

Mr Dale was a poet of much elegance. His longer
poems, The Daughter of Jairus, The Outlaw of

*From The Life and Letters of his son Thomas Pelham Dale,
Rector of St Vedast, Foster Lane.

St Bride's, Fleet Street 297

Taurus, and Irad and Adah, are out of print and now
hardly known, though at one time they enjoyed
great popularity. Of his shorter pieces perhaps one
of the most beautiful is that beginning Weep not
for me, set to music by Sir John Goss, and published
in his Sacred Minstrel (1834). The original sketch of
this song is in the possession of Dr T. L. Southgate,

The Rev. John W. Burgon, of Oriel, Vicar of St
Mary's, Oxford, and subsequently Dean of
Chichester — a man beloved of all who knew him —
accomplished, erudite, a great Biblical scholar and
an earnest and fearless defender of the Faith; a man
of great sanctity and yet with a most acute percep-
tion of the ludicrous, had conceived an ardent
admiration in his youthful days for the preaching
of Mr Dale, and, as he never cared to attend
church alone (the exuberant sympathy in his
nature made this distasteful to him) used fre-
quently to persuade his mother, whom he loved to
have by his side at church, and other members of
his family, to accompany him to St Bride's.*

"Against the Sundays in Burgon's Journals — the
S denoting which is always written in red ink, to
mark it to the eye — we find such entries as these:
" Heard dear old Dale at St Bride's preach a
beautiful sermon; " " M.C. and I went to hear
Dale preach at St Giles's — capital — divine sermon
— was delighted to hear his old voice again";
"Mother's birthday. Gave her Dale's Sermons —
pd IDS. 6d." ., . . The following entry will be read
with interest in reference to his own future ser-
mons, which were so original and instructive : "Dec.

*The Burgons had sittings at St Pancras under the incumbency
of Dr Moore and usually attended that church.

298 London Churches

6, 1835 [yEtat. 22] Heard Dale. — * Come to Me
ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest ' —
the text I have always thought I would make my
first sermon on if I were in the Church. He made
a powerful sermon, but did not handle the text as I
think of handling it ...."*

Mather, the blind organist, who opened the new
organ in Peterborough Cathedral in 1830, was
organist of St Bride's during Mr Dale's vicariate.
He was a man of simple unostentatious piety, and
while playing such solemn old English psalm tunes
as Rockingham, Abridge, Carey's, Mount Ephraim
and St Bride's, the tears were observed to roll down
his cheeks. On one occasion Mr Dale preached a
sermon on behalf of the parish schools. At its con-
clusion, a number of the infants ranged along the
altar-rails, sang a hymn written by Mr Dale and
set to music by Mather for the occasion, with such
artlessness and sweetness that the greater part of
the vast congregation was affected to tears.

Mather wrote an organ-piece on the melody of
the St Bride's bells. The psalm tune St BridSs
derives its title from the circumstance of its com-
position by Dr Samuel Howard, who was organist
of this church as well as of St Clement Danes in
1780.

Christ Church, Newgate Street, represents the
choir of the great church of the Grey Friars'
Monastery which was 300 feet long, 89 broad and
64ft 2in. high. As it was consecrated in 1325, we
may infer that this magnificent structure belonged

*From John William Burgon: A Biogra-phy with Extracts from
bis Letters and Journals, by Edward Meyrick Goulburn, late
Dean of Norwich.

Christ Church, Newgate Street 299

to the best Decorated or complete Gothic style of
architecture.

This noble fragment remained, after the dis-
solution of the house until the Great Fire of 1666,
and was left untouched until 1687, when the
present structure was commenced and completed in
1704. The steeple, alluded to on page 263 and
illustrated on the end pages, rises directly from the
ground and is 153 feet high, the basement story-
being open on three sides and forming a porch to
the church.

The style is the Composite Order of Italian
Grecian, and the enormous breadth of the nave and
aisles is due to the fact that Wren used the founda-
tions of the original pillars and walls for his new
structure. The whole is imposing, but from lack of
apparent length cannot be pronounced pleasing or
impressive.

There is some excellent stained glass by Heaton
Butler and Bayne, inserted in the great east win-
dow in 1869, and finely carved choir stalls and altar-
piece. Deep galleries, formerly occupied on Sunday
mornings and certain other occasions by the boys
of Christ's Hospital, occupy the aisles, and in the
western gallery is a noble organ, originally built in
1690 by Renatus Harris and more than once recon-
structed and enlarged by Hill. When, in 1837,
Mendelssohn paid his fifth visit to England, he
gave a particularly interesting performance, on
September 10, on the Christ Church organ which
had lately been reconstructed under the direction
of Dr Gauntlett, and on June 16, 1842, when he was
again in London, he once more repaired to the
organ loft in Newgate Street and extemporized

300 London Churches

upon the theme with which he had delighted his
auditors at St Peter's, Cornhill, four days pre-
viously*— Haydn's Gott erhalte Franz der Kaiser,
though in a wholly different manner, terminating
with a long and elaborately-developed fugue.

" During the course of the fantasia by which
this fugue was introduced," says Mr W. S.
Rockstro in his short biography of the great com-
poser, " a treble A began to sound on the swell.
Mendelssohn accompanied it in the form of an
inverted organ-point of prodigious length, treating
it with the most ingenious and beautiful harmonies,
his invention of which seemed to be inexhaustible.
We were very young in those days, but we well
remember whispering to our kind old friend, Mr
Vincent Novello, who was sitting next to us at the
east end of the church: * It must be a cypher J;
and he quite agreed with us.

"After harmonizing the note in an infinity of
different ways, with ever-varying passages which
would probably have filled some pages of music
paper, he at last confirmed our impression by
leaving it to sound, for some considerable time,
alone. By this time all present were convinced that,
during the remainder of the performance, that
particular manual would be useless, when, to our
astonishment, the A quietly glided through G
sharp and G natural to F sharp; and the organ
point came to the most natural conclusion imagina-
ble. While he was amusing himself with this little
-plaisanterie, a number of inconsiderate persons had
the bad taste to crowd so closely round the un-
usually confined and inconvenient organ-loft, that,

•Seepage 383.

Christ Church, Newgate Street 301

to save himself from fainting, Mendelssohn was
compelled to leave off in the middle of an unfinished
passage, and make his way to the staircase. He was
so ghastly pale that it was feared he really would
faint, but after breathing the fresh air he speedily
revived and as he passed down the stairs, he
laughed and said, ' You thought it was a cypher, I
know you did.' '

Since 1797 the S-pital Sermons have been preached
at Christ Church, Newgate Street. On Easter Tues-
day, 1800, during the mayoralty of Mr Harvey
Combe, Dr Parr preached that celebrated Spital
Sermon, which, occupying three hours in delivery,
tended to display the stores of his erudition and
added to his already great reputation.

In this sermon Dr Parr attacked some of the
theories of Godwin, who replied with feelings of
considerable personal hostility.lt was here that the
learned preacher for the first time embarked on
metaphysical subjects; and his work is spoken of in
terms of high panegyric by Dugald Stuart.

Born in 1747, Dr Parr became a Prebendary of
St Paul's and Perpetual Curate of Hatton, in War-
wickshire, enriching his church there with a quantity
of stained glass, which, had it been preserved to
this day, would be looked upon as a valuable
ecclesiological fact.

For many years Dr Parr spent a month's holiday
in London, never failing to call upon Dr Johnson.
When Parr became a candidate for the Mastership
of the School at Colchester, it was Johnson who
granted him a letter of recommendation. Not only
was Dr Parr always admitted to Dr Johnson's resi-
dence, but welcomed by the great man himself.

302 London Churches

Parr had intended to write the Life of Johnson;
and, as we are told in some Anecdotes and Remarks
from the Memoir and Works of Dr Parr contributed
to Johnsoniana or Supplement to Eoswell (Murray,
1836),* " laid by sixty or seventy books for the
purpose of writing it in such a manner as would do
no discredit to myself. I intended to spread my
thoughts over two volumes quarto; and if I had
filled three pages the rest would have followed.
Often have I lamented my ill-fortune in not
building this monument to the fame of Johnson,
and let me not be accused of arrogance when I add,
my own."

It should be added that the inscription on the
monument to Dr Johnson, at the entrance to the
north choir aisle of St Paul's Cathedral, was com-
posed by Dr Parr.

To return, however, from this digression to
Christ Church, Newgate Street.

The Spital Sermons originated in an old custom
by which some learned person was appointed
yearly by the Bishop of London to preach at St
Paul's Cross on Good Friday, on the subject of
" Christ's Passion." On the Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday in Easter Week, three other divines
were appointed to uphold the doctrine of " The
Resurrection " at the Pulpit Cross in the " Spital "
(Spitalfields). On Low Sunday a fifth preached at
Paul's Cross, and passed judgement upon the
merits of those who had preceded him. At these
sermons, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen attended;

*Nos. 505 to 516 of these anecdotes are selected from the Life
and Works of Parr in 8 vols. 8vo, 1828; edited by Dr John
Johns tone

Christ Church, Newgate Street 303

ladies also on the Monday forming part of the pro-
cession; and at the close of each day's ceremony
his Lordship and the Sheriffs gave a private dinner
to such of their friends among the Aldermen as
attended the sermon. From this practice the civic
festivities at Easter were at length extended to a
magnificent scale. The children of Christ's Hos-
pital took part in the above solemnities; so that in
1594, when it became necessary to rebuild the
Pulpit Cross at the Spital, a gallery was erected
also for their accommodation. In the Great Rebel-
lion the pulpit was destroyed and the sermons were
discontinued till the Restoration; after which the
three Spital Sermons, as they were still called, were
revived at St Bride's, Fleet Street. These were
afterwards reduced to two, and within recent years
to one, and, as I have already stated, have been
since 1797 delivered at Christ Church, Newgate
Street. This sermon is now preached annually on
Easter Tuesday by a bishop, chosen by the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury through the Court of Alder-
men.

It was on their first appearance at the Spital that
the boys of Christ's Hospital wore the blue costume
by which they have since been distinguished.

Trapp, who translated Virgil and occasioned a
well-known epigram, was Vicar of Christ Church,
Newgate Street (d. 1747), and there is a monument
to him with epitaph written by himself on the
east wall. In the old church were buried Lady
Venetia Digby, the wife of Sir Kenelm Digby
(Van Dyck painted her with a serpent in one hand,
a dove in the other, and Slander helpless at her
feet); and the wife of Richard Baxter, the Noncon-

304 London Churches

formist. " She was buried," as Baxter himself in-
forms us, " on June 1 7 [i 68 1 ], in Christ Church in the
ruines, in her own mother's grave. The grave was the
highest next to the old altar or table in the chancel."
Richard Baxter himself lies here; he died Decem-
ber 8, 1691, and his tablet bears the brief but
expressive inscription, " The Saints' Rest."

On May 30, Baxter was tried for reflections on
the Church contained in his Paraphrase on the
New Testament, and a month later was sentenced
to fine and imprisonment.

He had been imprisoned on this charge from
February 28. When on May 18 he appeared to
plead, Jefferies likened him to Titus Gates who was
then in the pillory before the court, and expressed
a wish that he could send him to bear him company.
On the trial JefTeries displayed the same insolent
coarseness; he silenced the counsel with threats
that " he would set a mark on them," and ad-
dressed the prisoner with, " Oh, Richard, Richard,
thou art an old rogue! . . .Times are changed now;
no more of your binding kings in chains and nobles
in fetters of iron ! "

The affix "Danes" to the name of St Clement's,
whose graceful and original Classic steeple forms,
together with that of St Mary's, the architectural
centre of the Strand vista, is somewhat dubious.

Strype is of opinion " that when the Danes were
utterly driven out of this kingdom and none left
but a few who were married to English women,
they were constrained to inhabit between the Isle
of Thome (that which is now called Westminster)
and Caer Lud, now called Ludgate. And there they
builded a synagogue, the which being afterwards

St Clement Danes 305

consecrated, was called ' Ecclesia dementis Da-
norum.' This account of the name did the learned
antiquarian Fleetwood, some time Recorder of
London, give to the Lord Treasurer Burghley who
lived in this parish."

The former church, described by Stow, escaped
the Great Fire, but being ruinous was taken down,
with the exception of the lower portion of the
tower, and rebuilt between 1680 and 1688 at a cost
of .£8,787, from the designs of Sir Christopher
Wren, by Edward Pierce and John Shorthose,
masons. Their agreement, dated May 13, 1680,
with the churchwardens, and receipts for ^3,071
is. 9id. endorsed, is preserved in the British
Museum.

" He [Edward Pierce] much assisted Sir Christo-
pher Wren in many of his designs, and built the
Church of St Clement under his directions."*

B y a strange coincidence, the first person buried in
St Clement's after it was rebuilt was Nicholas Byer,
the painter, a Norwegian, employed by Sir William
Temple at his house at Shene.

Wren modified and recased the tower, his work
there including all up to the stage next above the
clock dials, as may be seen in Kips' view of 1715^ A
later view by Kips (1725) shows the belfry-stage
and spire designed in 1719 by Gibbs, whose Book of
Architecture, published in 1728, contains a plate of
the elevation from the west, with a plan of his
additions to the tower.

*Walpole's Anecdotes, ed. Dallaway, n, 315.

tit had a square turret at each corner, and an octagonal cupola
in the centre, and somewhat resembled the steeple of St Giles',
Cripplegate, in its uppermost portion.

1-20

306 London Churches

Originally the south entrance had a portico of
six Ionic columns, similar to that of St Mary-le-
Strand, but it was removed in 1813 by Alderman
Pickett on the widening of the thoroughfares round
the church. The apse, connected with the nave by
a "canted" bay, was probably adopted on account
of the narrowness of the former roadway and a
block of houses which stood at that end of the
church.

Internally, St Clement Danes, although less airy
and spacious than St Andrew's, Holborn, and St
James', Piccadilly — churches of a similar type — is a
very impressive andfine specimen of its age and class.

The galleries on the north, west and south sides
support well-proportioned Corinthian columns.
The roof is camerated, and highly enriched with
fretwork, and an interesting feature is the "canted"
bay before alluded to. Its employment effects a
more gradual and pleasing junction of the wide
nave with the contracted sanctuary.

Dr Johnson, one of the best Churchmen of his
day and generation, was a regular and devout
worshipper at St Clement's during his residence in
London. It having been satisfactorily ascertained
that the pew occupied by the Doctor was No. 18 in
the north gallery , where it meets the Sanctuary, an
inscription, from the pen of Dr Croly, rector of St
Stephen, Walbrook, was placed here in 1851; it
runs thus :

" In this pew, and beside this pillar, for many
years attended Divine Service, the celebrated Dr
Johnson, the philosopher, the poet, the great
lexicographer, the profound moralist and chief
writer of his time. Born 1709; died 1784. Inremem-

St Clement Danes 307

brance and honour of noble faculties nobly em-
ployed, some inhabitants of the parish of St
Clement Danes have placed this slight memorial.
A.D. 1851."

Boswell frequently accompanied the Doctor to
St Clement's, and several times records the circum-
stance in his Life of Johnson.

"Good Friday, April 9, 1773. ' I breakfasted
with him on tea and cross buns. . . . He carried me
with him to the Church of St Clement Danes,
where he had his seat, and his behaviour was, as I
imagined to myself, solemnly devout. I shall never
forget the tremulous earnestness with which he
pronounced the awful petition in the Litany, " In
the hour of death and in the day of judgement,
Good Lord deliver us ! '

" On Friday, April 14, 1775, being Good Friday,
I repaired to him in the morning, according to my
usual custom on that day, and breakfasted with
him. I observed that he fasted so very strictly, that
he did not even taste bread, and took no milk with
his tea ....

" As we walked to St Clement's Church, and saw
several shops open upon this most solemn fast-day
of the Christian world, I remarked that one disad-
vantage arising from the inconsistency of London
was that nobody was heeded by his neighbour;
there was no fear of censure for not observing Good
Friday, as it ought to be kept and as it is kept in
country towns. He said it was, upon the whole,
very well observed even in London. . . .We went
again to St Clement's in the afternoon. He had
found fault with the preacher in the morning for
not choosing a text adapted to the day. The

308 London Churches

preacher in the afternoon had chosen one ex-
tremely proper, ' It is finished.'

" After the evening service he said, 'Come, you
shall go home with me, and sit just an hour.' But
he was better than his word, for after we had drunk
tea with Mrs Williams he asked me to go up to his
study with him, where we sat a long while together
in a serene, undisturbed frame of mind, some-
times in silence and sometimes conversing, as we
felt ourselves inclined, or, more properly speaking,
as he was inclined."

"April 17, 1778. — 'Being Good Friday, I waited
on Dr Johnson as usual. There was a very nume-
rous congregation at St Clement's to-day, which
Dr Johnson said he observed with pleasure."

" London, April 21, 1784. After a confinement
of 129 days, more than the third part of a year and
no inconsiderable part of human life, I this day
returned thanks to God in St Clement's Church
for my recovery; a recovery, in my 75th year, from
a distemper which few in the vigour of youth are
known to surmount."*

At one time St Clement's had an altarpiece
painted by Kent, a then fashionable painter, but in
1725 a peremptory order was sent by Dr Gibson,
then Bishop of London, ordering its instant re-
moval, on the plea that it contained portraits of
the Pretender's wife and children.

Mr Diprose, writing in 1868, says, in his account
of St Clement's, that this picture " was for some
years one of the ornaments of the Coffee Room of
the "Crown and Anchor, "whence it was removed to
the vestry room of the church, over the old alms-

* Johnson to Mrs Thrale.

St Clement Danes 309

houses in the churchyard. After 1803 it was trans-
ported to the new vestry-room on the north side
of the churchyard, where it remains at the present
time."

From the Weekly Journal of August 28, 1726, we
are able to glean some intelligence of this picture:
" The altarpiece of the Church of St Clement
Danes, being a whimsical representation variously
explained, some finding in it St Cecilia and her
harp, and some Madame de St George and her
eldest son; and the generality of people agreeing it
was not a proper decoration for the sanctum
sanctorum, upon complaint made to the Bishop of
London, at his last visitation of the said church, we
hear that his Lordship wisely ordered it to be taken
down, in order to secure the solemnity of the place
and worship, and preserve a right understanding
among the parishioners."

The carved pulpit of Wren's time, the font and
the organ-case are admiranda. The organ, origin-
ally the work of Father Smith, has lately been re-
novated by Mr Alfred Kirkland.

Between 1897 and 1898 the interior of St
Clement Danes underwent extensive yet conserva-
tive decoration and repair under the direction of
Messrs H. and P. Currey. Some of the stone
louvres in the belfry being much worn were re-
placed in oak. All the pews were lowered, and,
together with the rest of the woodwork, cleaned
and polished.

In the apse the two lower windows were opened
out, and some stained glass, executed by Collins in
1844 and representing the Three Cardinal Virtues,
removed. The five windows in the apse are now

310 London Churches

filled with stained glass by Messrs Burlison and
Grylls. There is also some very excellent stained
glass by Mr Thomas Curtis, of the firm of Ward
and Hughes.

The aisle-groining in plaster, and the arched
ceiling and spandrels of the vaulting, which are pro-
fusely decorated with panelling, festoons and other
enrichments, were at the same time cleaned and
repaired.

The two wooden gates, now inserted outside the
west doors, were designed by G. E. Street for
another church. Being fashioned in the Gothic style
they are out of keeping with the general character
of the fabric, but the removal of the trefoil cusp-
ing from their upper railing would reduce the in-
congruity.

St Clement's, Eastcheap, in Clement's Lane,
between Lombard Street and King William Street,
is chiefly remarkable as having one of the most
grandly elevated altars in the City.*

For its size this church is unusually lofty, having
a clerestory of depressed headed windows in the
northern wall and also above the tall colonnade of
Corinthian columns separating the nave from its
southern aisle, which, however, is not coextensive
with the former. These windows contain good
brilliant modern stained glass representing the
Apostles in pairs, but it is impossible to praise what
has been inserted in the five windows of the west

*In 1830, the altar of St Clement's, Eastcheap, was described
as "supporting three splendidly-bound books having crimson
velvet covers with silver clasps and corners, and other enrichments
of the same material."

St Clement's, Eastcheap 311

front. The organ-case, removed, of course, from its
proper place at the west end to the south aisle, in
1872, when the interior was rearranged and col-
oured under Butterfield; the altarpiece, the marble
font with its canopy, the pulpit, doorcases and
pewing, are remarkable for the beauty of their
carved workmanship.

It was in the old church described by Stow as
" small " and " void of monuments " that Pearson
preached those sermons upon the Creed which led
to his well-known Exposition,* work which is, with-
in its limits, the most perfect and complete produc-
tion of English dogmatic theology.*

Pearson, who had been deprived of his rectory,
Thornington, Suffolk, in 1646, accepted an invita-
tion from the parishioners of St Clement's, East-
cheap, to deliver a weekly sermon in their church.
This he appears to have regularly continued from
1654 up to the Restoration without receiving any
pecuniary recompense. John Evelyn writes in his
Diary, April 15, 1655 : "In the afternoon Mr Pierson
(since Bishop of Chester) preached at East Cheape,
but was disturb'd by an alarm of fire, which
about this time was very frequent in the cittie."

In 1673 Pearson became Bishop of Chester in
succession to John Wilkins (q.v. under St Lawrence,
Jewry), holding that see till his death in 1686.

Three Church musicians, each distinguished in
his way, have held the post of organist at St
Clement's at various times during the last two
centuries viz. Edward Purcell (d. 1740), youngest

*They were dedicated, on their publication in volume form, "to
the right-worshipful and well-beloved, the parishioners of St
Clement's, Eastcheap."

312 London Churches

son of Henry Purcell the younger; Jonathan
Battishill, composer of many chants and anthems
still in use, and an organist of most sterling
qualities, specially good at extemporaneous playing
(d. 1801); and John Whitaker (d.i847), the com-
poser of many songs and ballads, some of which ac-
quired a large share of popularity, as e.g., O Say not
Woman's Heart is Bought; My poor Dog Tray, and
Molly Malone. It is perhaps as the arranger of a
collection of psalms, hymn-tunes and "pieces,"
selected from the works of the great foreign com-
posers, together with many of his own com-
positions, under the title of The Seraph, that Whi-
taker is best remembered, though an even more
lasting claim to celebrity is afforded by his beauti-
ful glee for three voices, Winds, Gently Whisper. The
first volume of The Seraph appeared with a very ap-
propriate steel-engraved frontispiece and a sensibly
penned preface or " advertisement," in 1818. The
second volume, with a far less appropriate illustra-
tion, " Conscience, as a Recording Angel, veiled, in
the act of noting down the Sin of Intemperance in a
Bacchanalian," by William Blake, made its appear-
ance subsequently.

Whitaker took part, jointly with Sir Henry Bishop,
in the composition of Guy Mannering, The Heir of
Verona and other musical pieces produced with suc-
cess at Covent Garden in 1816 and 1817, and held
the post of musical director at the Surrey Theatre
for some years, but died in distressed circumstances
at the age of seventy-one on December 4, 1847. For
some time he was partner in the firm of Button and
Whitaker, music publishers in St Paul's Churchyard.

St Edmund the King 313

St Edmund the King and Martyr, Lombard
Street, is, with the exception of St Botolph's, Aid-
gate and St Dunstan's-in-the-West the only City
church which does not orientate.

At St Edmund's the space of ground from east to
west was not sufficient to allow of proper orientation.

The south front, which would have been im-
proved by the omission of the two square-headed
windows in the lower part, displays a handsomely
proportioned tower surmounted by an octagonal
turret and concave spire of wood covered with lead,
very pleasing in contour.

Within, St Edmund's,from its limited dimensions
and the richness and beauty of its furniture and
decoration, resembles the private chapel of a noble-
man's house. The eastern and western walls are
relieved by a series of arched recesses, only two of
which are pierced by windows. One of these con-
tains stained glass whose history is interesting.

When, during the later 'sixties, the scheme for
the decoration of St Paul's Cathedral began to take
some definite shape, a quantity of stained glass of
Munich manufacture was ordered, and several
windows filled with it.* Some portions, however,
were not inserted, and lay idle in the crypt. One of
these was a representation of the Resurrection,

•The two windows in the eastern aisle of the south transept
representing the Agony and the Crucifixion, are part of this glass.
These two subjects were in the lower windows of the apse untH
the scheme of decoration under Sir W. Richmond was com-
menced. Another specimen of Munich glass is the window above
the western doorway. It was the gift of Mr Thomas Brown of tlie
publishing house of Longmans and Co., and under conditions of a
fine sunset looks remarkably well.

314 London Churches

intended for the northern clerestory window of the
apse, but it was rejected by the influence, it is
said, of Canon Liddon, on the ground that the
angel was arrayed in scarlet instead of the proper
colour, white. This was about the year 1870. When,
a quarter of a century later, the Rev. Blomfield
Jackson became Vicar of St Bartholomew's, Moor
Lane, he begged this " Resurrection " window for
his church, and the request having been acceded to,
it was, in due course, placed therein. Upon the
demolition of St Bartholomew's, about twenty
years ago, the late Rector of St Edmund's, Rev. W.
Benham, D.D., treated for the removal of this
window to his church, to serve as a memorial to the
Duke of Clarence, and his offices being successful it
was inserted in the eastern wall of St Edmund's,
where it looks very well; for notwithstanding the
iconographical mistake above alluded to, this glass
is a very successful piece of work of the Munich
school, the colours being rich, and the architectural
accessories consonant with its locale. The Latin
inscriptions on brass beneath the window are
from the pen of the late Prebendary Blomfield
Jackson, son of the Rev. Thomas Jackson, Preben-
dary of St Paul's and Rector of Stoke Newington
from 185210 1885.

The armorial glass work in the central window
at the south end, " set up in the memorable year of
Union, 1707," is valuable as one of the few speci-
mens of early eighteenth-century glass in London.*
The figures of SS. Peter and Paul in the side
windows are very early works of Ward and Nixon

*It was originally in the window above the altar. Other speci-
mens are the west window and the northern transeptal rose-

St James', Garlick-Hy the 315

(1839), and the great east window, whose principal
subject is our Lord Judging the Twelve Tribes, is a
splendid specimen of the abilities of the Messrs
Powell, of Whitefriars.

In the altarpiece, now concealed by a dossal and
tester, are paintings of Moses and Aaron by Etty
(1833). The font with its cover* and enclosing
banisters; the low chancel-screen, the pulpit, the
pavement of the chancel and sanctuary, and the
two organ-cases are admiranda.

From 1833 to 1862 the living of St Edmund's
was held by the Rev. Thomas Hartwell Home, one
of the most distinguished Biblical scholars of his
day. Bibliography and polemics also employed the
pen of Home, who, until Christmas, 1860, was
librarian in the British Museum. His chief work
was an Introduction to the Study of the Scriptures. \

St James', Garlick-Hythe, J was rebuilt by Wren
between 1676 and 1683. One of the precursors of
the present structure was rebuilt in 1326, among
the persons interred in it being Richard Lyons, a
wine-merchant and lapidary, beheaded in Cheap-
side by Wat Tyler in the reign of Richard II.
Stow describes his " picture on his gravestone very

window at Westminster Abbey; the east window of St Andrew's,
Holborn, and probably that in th<^ west window of St Andrew
Undershaft.

* This is of exceeding beauty. It resembles that in St Mary
Abchurch, but is of rather a more elaborate character. It is in two
stages, the lower being domed, and above are seated figures of the
Cardinal Virtues.

1An interesting volume of Reminiscences — Personal and Bio-
graphical— of the Rev. T. Hartwell Home, appeared from the
pen of his daughter, Mrs McCaul, in 1862.

J" For that of old time, on the bank of the river of Thames,
near to this church, garlick was usually sold" (Stow).

3 1 6 London Churches

fair and large, with his hair rounded by his ears
and curled; a little beard forked ; a gown girt to him
down to his feet, of branched damask, wrought
with the likeness of flowers, a large purse on his
right side hanging in a belt from his left shoulder, a
plain hood about his neck covering his shoulders
and hanging back behind him."

Here were also interred the following citizens
who had served as Mayors: John of Oxenford,
mayor 1341; Sir John Wrotch, of Wroth, 1360;
William Venor, 1389; William More, 1385; Robert
Chichell, 1421; James Spencer, 1527.

The stone lantern of the tower, which projects
from the centre of the west front forming a porch,
is of great elegance. It is square in plan, and
presents the peculiarity in its construction of being
carried on a dome springing from piers in the
internal angles of the belfry, which piers are built
independent of the walls and transmit the weight
to the thicker work below.* The eight columns of
the lantern of the neighbouring St Michael's,
Paternoster Royal, are placed octagonally and
stand out singly, each bearing an urn; at St James'
the same number of columns are placed in pairs.

The projecting clock dial has a carved and
gilt figure of St James represented as he fre-
quently is in art, with pilgrim's staff, shell, wallet
and hat, as connected with the honour in which he
was held in Spain. Celto-Iberian fancy pictured
the elder of the Boanerges as riding a white
charger to lead the Christians to victory over the
Moors. St James became the patron of Spain from
the moment when, in 816, a marble coffin, pre-
• See illustration on end pages.

St James', Garlick-Hythe 317

sumed to contain his body, was discovered by a
peasant in Galicia. Over the shrine in what is now
the Campus Apostoli, there grew the Cathedral of
Compostella, for ages a leading resort of pilgrims,
for whose protection was founded in the twelfth
century, the military order of St James.

In England the oyster-shell still figures perhaps
as the badge of St James in the custom, at the time
this festival is observed (July 25), of " remembering
the grotto."

Internally the nave of St James', Garlick-Hythe,
is separated from the very narrow aisles by four
Ionic columns on either side. The centre portion of
the ceiling is brought down on a large cove, which,
when repeated, forms a barrel vault over the recess
for the altar, and transversely over the internal
transepts formed at the central inter-columnia-
tion. The entablature returns square into the
walls as in SS. Anne and Agnes, St Martin, Lud-
gate and St Mary at Hill.

The circular windows in the transepts have been
injudiciously filled with plate tracery and stained
glass by no means in accordance with the archi-
tecture, but the general effect of the interior is
picturesque. There are fine staircases to the organ
gallery (on the front of which is fixed the gilt figure
of a seraph), a fair organ-case, font cover, and altar-
piece — a painting by Geddes of the Ascension.

It is difficult to picture good-humoured, rollick-
ing Richard Steele in devout attendance upon the
Church Service. We know that during the wild
life he spent about town, stung sometimes by his
upbraiding conscience, he wrote and published a
devotional work, called The Christian Hero, by

3 1 8 London Churches

which he intended to correct his errors and force
himself to pull up in time. But his only reward was
the laughter of the town; for the idea of a fast-
living soldier, who could never resist the attractions
of the Rose Tavern or the delight of beating the
watch at midnight, appearing in print as a religious
character, seemed to have in it something irresisti-
bly comic. Yet for the time Steele was sincere in
his intentions of reform.* Going one Sunday to the
church of St James', Garlick-Hythe, he heard the
service read so devoutly that he records his im-
pressions of it in the Spectator (No. 147, August 18,
1711).

" You must know, sir, I have been a constant
frequenter of the service of the Church of England
for above these four years last past, and till Sunday
was seven-night never discovered, to so great a
degree, the excellency of the Common Prayer;
when, being at St James', Garlick Hill, Church, I
heard the service read so distinctly, so emphati-
cally, and so fervently, that it was next to an im-
possibility to be inattentive. My eyes and my
thoughts could not wander as usual, but were con-
fined to my prayers. I then considered I addressed
myself to the Almighty and not to a beautiful face.
And when I reflected on my former performance
of that duty I found I had run it over as a matter
of form, in comparison to the measure in which I
then discharged it.

" My mind was really affected, and fervent
wishes accompanied my words. The Confession was
read with such resigned humility, the Absolution

*There are several fine essays on religious topics from Steele's
pen in The Spectator

St James', Piccadilly 319

with, such a comfortable authority, the Thanks-
givings with such a religious joy, as made me feel
those affections of the mind in a manner I never did
before. To remedy, therefore, the grievance above
complained of, I humbly propose, that this excel-
lent reader* upon the next and every annual
assembly of the clergy of Sion College, and all other
conventions, should read prayers before them, for
those that are afraid of stretching their mouths and
spoiling their soft voices will learn to read with
clearness, loudness and strength."

St James', Piccadilly, consecrated Sunday, July
13, 1684, was erected at the expense of Henry
Jermyn, Earl of St Albans, the patron of Cowley,
and the husband, it is said, of Henrietta Maria
widow of Charles I, the parish being taken out of St
Martin-in-the-Fields.

The first rector was Dr Tenison and the second
Dr Wake, both successively Archbishops of Can-
terbury. A third eminent rector was Samuel Clarke,
author of Attributes of the Deity. He disliked going
out, and yet was fond of exercise, so he amused
and exercised himself at home with leaping over
forms and chairs and tables. Dr Seeker, the
seventh rector, who became Archbishop of Canter-
bury in 1758, married and crowned King George
III. Dr Trimnell, who subsequently became
Bishop of Norwich was rector from 1706 to 1709.
Dr Jackson, Bishop of Lincoln and afterwards of
London, was rector for one year only (1853).

Who would conceive that unattractive brick-
cased pile with its wretched wooden spire — the
design for which, by one Wilcox, a carpenter in

*Mr Philip Stubbs, afterwards Archdeacon of St Albans.

3 2 o London Churches

the parish, was chosen by the vestry in preference
to one for the same furnished by Wren himself, and
the cost of whose erection was estimated to exceed
the other by only j£ioo — encloses one of the
choicest and most elegantly formed interiors
which London can boast? — one which displays in
the highest degree, the extraordinary talents of our
great architect Sir Christopher Wren. The interior
of St James' is a masterpiece, light, airy, graceful
and capacious — an example of Wren's love of
harmony in proportions, and well worthy the study
of an architect.

Its breadth is half the sum of its height and
length, its height half its length, and its breadth
the sesquialteral of its height, the numbers being 84,
63 and 42 feet. In plan St James' is basilical, nave
and aisles being formed by two ranges of six piers
and columns in two stories. The piers which are of
the Doric Order, panelled, carry the galleries, the
fronts of the latter, of oak, with carved enrich-
ments, forming the entablature of the Order, with a
low attic above, to complete the breastwork. The
upper Order is the Corinthian. Columns rise from
the breastwork of the galleries, and the highly
enriched entablature of these, stretching across
from each column to the side walls, serves as
imposts to a series of transverse arches from column
to column, forming the covering to the aisles,
whilst from the abaci also springs the great semi-
circular vault that covers the nave. The whole roof
is divided into sunk panels, ornamented with
festoons of drapery and flowers in relief, producing
by its unity, richness, and harmonious proportions,
a result truly enchanting. These ceilings and their

ST. JAMES', PICCADILLY. The Altarpiece.

St James', Piccadilly 3 2 1

enrichments, as we now see them, date only from
1837, when the decayed state of the timbers had
rendered an entire new roof to the church neces-
sary. The work was strictly a restoration.

Wren, in a letter printed by Elmes, says: "1
can hardly think it practicable to make a single
room so capacious, with pews and galleries, as to
hold 2,000 persons and all to hear the service and
see the preacher. I endeavoured to effect this in
building the parish church of St James', West-
minster, which, I presume, is the most capacious
with those qualifications that hath yet been built."

The large Venetian window above the altar was
filled in 1846 with stained glass by Wailes, but it is
inconsistent with the environments, being too
much in the mediaeval style. This glass formed the
subject of an angry controversy between Wailes
and another contemporary glass painter, Warring-
ton, whose design, to judge by the description of it,
would appear to have been more in keeping with
the architecture.

The appointments of the altar are truly superb,
especially Grinling Gibbons' carving about the
altarpiece, upon which Evelyn so dilates in his
Diary.

" December 16, 1684. — I went to see the new
Church at St James', elegantly built. The altar
was especialy adorn'd, the white marble inclosure
curiously and richly carved, the flowers and gar-
lands about the walls by Mr Gibbons, in wood; a
pelican, with her young at her breast, just over
the altar in the carv'd compartment and bor-
der'd, invironing the purple velvet fring'd with
I.H.S. richly embroider'd, and most noble plate,

1-2 I

322 London Churches

were given by Sir R. Geere, to the value (as was
said) of £200. There was no altar anywhere in
England, nor has there ben any abroad, more
handsomely adorn'd."

The wood is lime, with cedar for the reredos; the
marble scrolls have been replaced by bronze. In
addition, a noble festoon ending in two pendants,
which extends nearly the whole length of the
screen, displays all the varied representations of
fruit and flowers in the highest relief. This elabor-
ate and delicate work having become much injured
by the casualties of 1 60 years, was thoroughly
repaired in 1 846 by two Italian artists — a work of
much protracted labour; several thousand bits of
carving, more or less minute, requiring to be added Lu
order to restore the groupings to their pristine state.

Of equal beauty is the white marble font, ex-
quisitely sculptured by Gibbons. It is nearly five
feet high, and the bowl is about six feet in circum-
ference. The shaft represents the Tree of Life,
with the serpent twining round it, and offering the
forbidden fruit to Eve, who, with Adam, stands
beneath. These figures are 18 inches high. On the
bowl are bas-reliefs of the Baptism of Our Lord, the
Baptizing of the Treasurer of Candace by St
Philip the Deacon, and the Ark of Noah, with the
Dove bearing the olive-branch.

The cover of this font (shown in an engraving by
Vertue in George Ill's Collection of Prints in
the British Museum) held by a flying angel and a
group of cherubim, was stolen about the beginning
of the last century, and subsequently hung up as
a sign at a spirit shop in the neighbourhood.

No less superb than the instrumenta ecclesiasiica

St James', Piccadilly 323

just described is the organ, built for James II and
intended for his Roman Catholic Chapel at White-
hall, but given to this parish by his daughter Queen
Mary II in 1694. It is in two oaken cases standing
one before the other, the organist's place being
between them. The great case is in the florid style
of the period of its original construction (Louis
Quatorze). The carving of fames, angels, cherubs'
heads, etc., with which it is adorned strikingly
mark by their great beauty, the master hand of
Gibbons. This favourite old instrument, originally
built by the celebrated Renatus Harris in 1678, was
entirely rebuilt by Bishop in 1852 on a much more
comprehensive scale, but retaining the old pipes —
for these, the mellowing hand of time had rendered
of more than ordinary value — when the old case was
likewise restored with the original decoration, and
the detached front choir organ erected.

Unlike St Martin's or St Margaret's, St
James', Westminster, cannot boast of any organist
or church composers of distinction. During the
latter part of the seventeenth century and the
earlier part of the succeeding one, Raphael, or as he
is usually styled Ralph, Courteville,*held the post.
The son of Raphael Courteville, a gentleman of
the Chapel Royal in the time of Charles I and
founder of the Courteville family, he is chiefly
remembered by that solid old English psalm tune
styled St James* and set in Hymns Ancient and

'Raphael Courteville, son of the organist of St James', suc-
ceeded his father in that post, probably in 1735. He was a severe
political writer and gained the nickname of Court Evil. He died
in 1771.

The Burrows, father and son, were organists of St James', for
nearly a century.

324 London Churches

Modern to Thou art the Way, by Thee alone, and For
all Thy Saints, a noble throng.

Courteville also wrote, in conjunction with
Purcell, the opera Don Quixote, the libretto being
furnished by Tom d'Urfey. Six sonatas for two
violins, sonatas for two flutes, and some songs in
contemporary collections are other productions of
Courteville's muse.

Of late years, under the care of successive
rectors, the interior of St James', Piccadilly,
has not only been well arranged for modern
requirements, but has been decorated with much
taste.* Many of the windows are filled with
stained glass, which in spite of an absence of uni-
formity is on the whole satisfactory. Indeed, there
are few London church interiors of its epoch
more satisfying in general effect. The paint-
ings of the Institution of the Eucharist, and of
the Epistolers and Gospellers, within and on
either side of the altarpiece, are by the late Mr
Alfred Bell.

Among the celebrities interred in St James' may
be named: Charles Cotton, the companion of
Walton in the Complete Angler; Dr Sydenham,
with a marble tablet erected by the College of
Physicians, in 1810; Hayman, the portrait-painter;
the two Vanderveldes, the marine painters, and
Michael Dahl, the Swedish portrait-painter; Dr
Arbuthnot, the friend of Pope, Gay, Swift and
Prior; Benjamin Stillingfleet, the naturalist, so
touchingly deplored by Pennant in the preface to
his British Zoology; Akenside, author of the

*The choristers' desks supported on fluted Corinthian pillarets
are of unusual elegance and should be particularl j noticed.

ST. JAMES'. PICCADILLY.

St James', Piccadilly 325

Pleasures of Imagination (d. 1770); Gillray, the
caricaturist (1815), James Dodsley, the bookseller,
with a tablet; and G. H. Harlow, the painter of
The Trial of Queen Katherine.

In the church-room is a tablet (formerly on the
southern face of the tower), to Thomas d'Urfey,
dramatist and song-writer, inscribed " Tom d'Ur-
fey, died February 26, 1723."

Nollekens, the sculptor, when a lad, had an idle
propensity for bell-tolling, and whenever his
master missed him, and the dead-bell of St James*
Church was tolling, he knew perfectly well what
" Joey " was at.

The collection of portraits of the rectors of St
James' in the vestry is well worth seeing.

From its situation in one of the most fashionable
quarters of the town, St James', Piccadilly, is fre-
quently alluded to in books and plays of the last
two centuries. Here are a few extracts:

" St James' Church is also worth seeing more
especially on a holiday or Sunday, when the fine
assembly of beauties and quality come there. But
there is one fault in the churches here, and that is,
that a stranger cannot have a convenient seat
without paying for it; and particularly at this St
James' where it costs one about as dear as to see a
play."*

"Another foolish thing that was done by the
same advice, as I suppose, was sending to the
minister of St James' Church, where the Princessf
used to go while she lived at Berkeley House, to
forbid them to lay the text upon her cushion, or

* De Foe, A "Journey through England. '
t Afterwards Queen Anne,

326 London Churches

take any more notice of her than other people. But
the minister refusing to obey without some written
order from the Crown in writing, which they did
not care to give, that noble design dropt."*

"Berinthia. Pray which church does your lord-
ship most oblige with your presence?

"LordFoppington. Oh! St James', madam: there's
much the best company.

" Amanda. Is there good preaching too?

"Lord Foppington. Why, faith, madam, I can't
tell. A man must have very little to do there that
can give an account of the sermon."f

"Lucinda. For my part I hate solitude, churches
and prayers.

"Belliza. So do I, directly; for except St James'
Church, one scarce sees a well drest man, or ever
receives a bow from anything above one's mercer."i{!

From a volume bearing the title, Select Psalms
and Hymns for the use of the Parish Church and
Chappell belonging to the Parish of St James\ West-
minster, and dating from about the year 1735, it
appears that prayers were said there four times
every weekday, viz., at six (seven in winter), eleven,
three, and six "of the clock" in the evening. On
"every Lord's Day" there were prayers and
sermon at ten and three, as also prayers at six or
seven in the morning and five in the afternoon. It
appears to have been the rule to have a celebration
of the Holy Communion throughout the year on
the second Sunday in the month, and also on every

*An Account of the Conduct of the Dowager Duchess of Marl-
borough.

fVanbrugh, The Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger.
JMrs Centlivre, Love's Contrivance.

St James', Piccadilly 327

Sunday from Palm Sunday to Whit Sunday. On
Palm Sunday, Easter Day, Whit Sunday and
Christmas Day, Holy Communion was celebrated
twice, and it is stated in a note that "when there are
two Sacraments the first morning service begins
between six and seven." On the Sunday after
Michaelmas there was "one Sacrament early."

Catechizing took place on Thursdays from
Michaelmas to Christmas, from Epiphany to Ash-
Wednesday, and from Easter to Midsummer.

The principal services at the "Chappel in King
Street "* were daily prayer four times, as at the
church, and on Sundays, prayers and sermon at ten
and three. There was a celebration on the last
Sunday of every month. " At the Chappel in
Barwick Street"f daily prayers were said at eleven
and five, prayers and sermon on Sundays at ten and
three, and a celebration on the first Sunday in each
month. On the whole then, the parish of St James',
Westminster, was well provided for in the matter
of services during the later Stuart and earlier
Georgian periods. That the people appreciated
these privileges is abundantly clear, for in a fare-
well sermon preached January 30, 1708, by the
Rector, Dr Trimnell, who had just been appointed
Bishop of Norwich, he speaks of " the numerous
and orderly assemblies on the return of these days,
and those multitudes that, without superstition or
tumult, every month crowd up to the altar; the
good congregations there are at all the four courses

*Now St Thomas', Regent Street, founded by Archbishop
Tenison and, in John Evelyn's day popularly styled "The
Tabernacle."

tWhether this "chappel" occupied the site of the present St
Luke's, Berwick Street, I ain unable to say.

328 London Churches

of the daily prayers; the encouragement that is
given by those who are advanced in knowledge and
years to the catechizing of children; by a greater
appearance than ordinary on the days of that
exercise; the calling for more opportunities of wor-
ship, which has added a course to the daily service
in one part of the parish, and occasioned the open-
ing of a new chapel in another."*

When in June 1687, King James II established,
for the second time, a camp on Hounslow Heath,
it in every way disappointed the expectations of
His Majesty. The commanders vied, Evelyn says,
in the expense and magnificence of their tents, and
the Londoners resorted thither in thousands; but
the result was, that by freely mixing with the sol-
diers, they rendered them, in general, as discon-
tented with his measures as they themselves were.
A large Romish chapel was built of wood in the
camp, the timbers of which were, after the Revo-
lution, obtained by Dr Tenison (then Vicar of St
Martin-in-the-Fields and eventually Archbishop
of Canterbury) and by him applied to the erection
of a new church in his large parish; it was known
as Trinity Chapel, Conduit Street, Regent Street,
but is no longer in existence.

•This refers to Archbishop Tenison's chapel and to the chapel
in Berwick Street.

3^9

CHAPTER VII

The Churches of Sir Christopher Wren (continued]

ST LAWRENCE, JEWRY, Gresham Street,
of which the first stone was laid April 12, 1671,
cost .£11,870 is. 9<i., the largest sum paid for any
of the City churches which Wren erected.*

The original church was of very ancient origin.
In the twenty-second year of the reign of Edward
I, we find Hugo de Wickenbroke giving the right of
patronage to Baliol College, Oxford, then newly
founded by the parents of John Baliol, King of
Scotland. Two years later, in December, 1295,
Richard de Gravesend, Bishop of London, con-
stituted the church a vicarage, appropriating it to
the masters and scholars of the College. From that
date the incumbent of the church has always been
a Vicar, presented either by the College, or in some
instances by the parishioners, by virtue of a lease
granted to them by the College, and latterly by the
Dean and Chapter of St Paul's alternately with the
College.

In the ancient church were buried several
eminent personages including Sir Godfrey Bullen,

*A marble slab on the south wall of the church has the follow-
ing inscription: "Against this stone is the opening of the vault of
the families of the Rawstones and of Robert Baxter, church-
warden, who set the first foundation stone of this church the
1 2th of April, 1671."

33° London Churches

Mayor of London in 1457, great-grandfather of
Anne Boleyn, the wife of Henry VIII and mother
of Queen Elizabeth; and Sir Richard Gresham,
Mayor, 1537, father of the celebrated Sir Thomas
Gresham.

In the fourteenth year of the reign of Edward II
we learn from Stow's Survey that Walter Blun-
dell established a chantry in the church; other
chantries were established as time rolled on, and the
church became exceedingly rich in jewels, plate,
vestments, bells and other ornaments, all of which
are set forth in an Inventory taken on July 20, "in
the VI yere of the King's [Edward VI] maiesties
reign."

In 1618 the church was restored and beautified,
but in 1666 it shared the fate of so many of the
ancient buildings of the city, being completely
burnt to the ground.

The present church, built throughout of stone,
consists of a very wide nave and shallow sanctuary,
a north aisle partly forming the vestry, and a western
tower and spire 150 feet high. The latter is of wood
covered with lead, and is surmounted by a vane in
the form of a gridiron, the emblem of the patron
Saint and upon which he suffered martyrdom.

The style is the Corinthian, and the eastern
facade with its two round-headed windows
between attached columns is not only the most
finished of all Wren's east ends but one of the
purest and most classical exhibitions of his talents
on a similar scale.

^ In 1706 a gallery was erected on the north
side of the church which was removed during
the alterations made in 1866-67, when the

St Lawrence, Gresham Street 331

interior was reseated with open pews, the floor of
the sanctuary raised, a chorus cantorum formed, and
many decorations added in various parts, includ-
ing the insertion of much rich stained glass by
various artists, under the direction of the late Sir
Arthur Blomfield.

Among the fine paintings is one, in the vestry,
of the Martyrdom of St Lawrence, by Spagnaletto,
saved from destruction out of the former church.
The vestry walls are entirely covered with the
finest dark oak. The ceiling has upon it elaborately
modelled foliage and other devices, and a painting
of the Apotheosis of St Lawrence, ascribed to Sir
James Thornhill. The decorations of the east end
of the church are very elaborate, including a
mosaic picture of the Ascension by Messrs Clayton
and Bell, between the two windows, which contain
an admirable series of subjects in stained glass by
the same artists. The north and south windows of
the sanctuary, plain circular ones and representing
St Lawrence before the Emperor, and St Mary
Magdalen washing our Lord's feet with her tears,*
are by Heaton and Butler.

In the north aisle, partly separated from the
nave, where the gallery was erected in 1706, and
now used as a choir vestry, are several curious and
some fine monuments of late seventeenth-century
character.

The organ, which happily retains its place upon
a screen richly carved in dark oak at the west end of
the nave, was the work of Renatus Harris. Father

*In allusion to the Church of St Mary Magdalen, Milk Street,
not rebuilt after the Fire, but whose parish was united to that of
St Lawrence.

332 London Churches

Smith competed with Harris for the contract, but
it was given to the latter in 1684. In the following
February he was paid £100 on account, and in
August, 1686, £300 as the balance due to him. The
case and gallery cost £287. It appears by the parish
records that before a final settlement with Harris,
Dr Blow and Henry Purcell were called in to try it.
The organ was originally placed between the first
pillar on the north side and the west wall, and was
removed to its present position in 1707. Important
additions were made to it in 1710 and 1725, and
about thirty years ago it was completely re-
built.

Formerly the front portion of the larger organ
and the small choir-organ, bracketed forward from
the gallery, formed the entire instrument, which
was remarkable alone for the great beauty of its
case, designed, as it was, by Wren and carved by the
masterly hand of Gibbons.

When, in 1875, an entirely new organ was con-
structed by Gray and Davison, it was necessary, in
order to accommodate the greatly enlarged instru-
ment, to make additions to the case. Side organ
cases with "towers" and "flats" were introduced,
corresponding with the original work. The gallery,
which is also finely carved in oak, was projected
further into the church, and the choir-organ en-
larged. This was carried out from the designs of the
Messrs Young, architects; and the care taken by
those gentlemen to make their additions corre-
spond as nearly as possible with the original work
reflects great credit upon their taste and judge-
ment. The richness of the carving may be imagined
when it is stated that one panel, which was required

St Lawrence, Gresham Street 333

to match another originally carved by Gibbons,
cost £140.

Parochial church music, as well, indeed, as the
whole service, seems to have been sadly out of
order at times during the eighteenth century. The
manners described by hilarious Dick Steele and
stately Mr Addison in the Tattler and Spectator
certainly existed. There were jigs from the organ
loft, and vocal ladies in the congregation sometimes
quavered and trilled an unreasonable time after the
conclusion of the psalm. John Robinson,* the
organist of St Lawrence's, was one of the nimble-
fingered offenders who used to rattle away in this
manner, in quick solos on the cornet stop, as if he
really desired that his hearers should "go home in a
coranto." But Dr Boyce has gravely recorded his
disapproval of this bad style; he has shown how
much better adapted to a sacred service is the sober
and soothing diapason movement, well-conducted
in four parts. He has also taken occasion to correct
the taste for modulation which some musicians
evince in their laborious search for remoteness of
key, by showing true science is rather found in the
display of variety in a small circle of keys than by
repeated or startling transitions.

Soon after the reopening of St Lawrence's, on the
completion of the alterations under Sir Arthur
Blomfield in 1867, a request was made to the
Vicar, the Rev. B. Morgan Cowie,f (Minor Canon
of St Paul's), by some laymen residing in and near

*For some further particulars respecting John Robinson see
under St Magnus the Martyr, p. 340.

tin 1873 Mr Cowie was promoted to the Deanery of Man-
chester and subsequently to that of Exeter

334 London Churches

the parish, that there should be a celebration of the
Blessed Eucharist at 7.30 a.m. on every Holy Day,
and a Litany at the same hour on Wednesdays and
Fridays. The suggestion was most willingly ac-
quiesced in by the Vicar,and the services so arranged
were very greatly appreciated, mostly by business
men. As the time drew on for the first Pan-
Anglican Conference to be held at Lambeth during
the autumn of 1867, it was suggested that advan-
tage might well be taken of the presence of so many
American and Colonial Bishops, to hold a course of
missionary services and so give the prelates an
opportunity to state publicly what was doing in
their respective fields of labour, and to urge the
necessity of larger and more systematic efforts being
made to spread abroad the Gospel of Christ.

Mr Cowie having obtained the sanction of the
Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr Longley) and the
Bishop of London (Dr Tait), communications were
entered into with the various bishops with a view
to secure their co-operation. A choir of 100
voices, consisting entirely of volunteers, was also
organized, and the result was a series of services
which brought this hitherto but little known old
City church prominently before the church-going
public.

Some of the newspaper reports of these services
were extremely ridiculous, The Pall Mall Gazette
of September 16, in noticing the opening service of
the series, describing the choir as "consisting of
about seventy boys, priests and acolytes, each at-
tired in a white cope (!) or surplice of the precise
Roman Catholic cut, over long black gowns or cas-
socks."

St Magnus the Martyr 335

It is worthy of note that three successive vicars
of St Lawrence Jewry attained the high office of
the episcopate, viz., Edward Reynolds, who was
consecrated to the see of Norwich in 1661; Seth
Ward who was consecrated to the see of Exeter in
1662; and John Wilkins,* consecrated to that of
Chester in 1668.

Two of the Parish Lecturers rose tothearchiepis-
copal dignity, viz., Dr John Tillotson to be Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and Dr John Sharp to be
Archbishop of York, both in the year 1691

The old church of St Magnus the Martyr, near
London Bridge, was one of the first churches to fall
a prey to that conflagration which is commemor-
ated by the Monument that dominates this quarter
of the town. The present church was commenced
in 1675, but the beautiful steeple, said, on the
authority of Gwilt,to be Wren's original design for
that of Bow Church, was not completed until
thirty years afterwards.

St Magnus' steeple is the loftiest and hand-
somest of the lead dome and spirelet type in the City.

The cupola, which is of masonry below, is of an
octagonal shape, and, like the tower, measures a foot
more in one direction than the other; this irregu-
larity is, however, so treated as to be imperceptible.
It is relieved by large openings, and is furnished
with a dome and upper lantern of exceedingly
graceful contour.

*Wilkins died while the present church of St Lawrence was
building, November 19, 1672, and was interred in it. The
register records the marriage of Tillotson (February 23, 1663-4)
and his burial in 1694. His funeral sermon was preached here by
Bishop Burnet.

3 3 & London Churches

The extraordinary manner in which Wren's
churches were adapted to the streets they were
placed in is remarkable, one being this of St
Magnus. Originally, the lower part of the tower was
closed, but when public convenience rendered it
necessary to carry a way through it for foot pas-
sengers, it was found that in the construction of
the work, Wren had anticipated and provided for
such a measure by leaving a straight joint in the
masonry.

At that time the only entrance way to the tower
was from the west, where the steps in descent now
are. But hereupon Wren's prescience came to light.
Foreseeing the requirements of a later age, the
architect had constructed the base of the tower in
such a manner that the necessary passages might be
made without imperilling the stability of his work.
For in the tower walls, north and south, two
arches were found already embodied in the
masonry, and these are the arches of the present
day. In this respect the tower of St Magnus* should
be compared with that of Christ Church, Newgate
Street. It is to be observed that the two openings
no longer serve for their adopted purpose ; much
space to the south is now thrown into the church-
yard, and the wharfs beyond are approached by a
detour opening out of Lower Thames Street. Until
the basement of the tower was pierced to admit of
a thoroughfare for foot-passengers, the side aisles of
St Magnus were continued to include the tower.

After a fire in 1760,* which destroyed many

*It is said that this fire at St Magnus in 1760 was caused by a
workman who had left some oil boiling, while he ran off to see
Earl Ferrers return from his trial and conviction Nearly all the

ST. MAGNUS, LONDON BRIDGE.

St Magnus the Martyr 337

houses on Old London Bridge, the footway was
made to the aisles of the church, consequently re-
duced to their present length. The north side
formerly presented one of the finest specimens of
Wren's architecture, now reduced to an orna-
mental wall and deprived of the beauty resulting
from uniformity by this alteration. Formerly it
had eight windows in the aisles similar to those now
existing in blank in the west front, and a doorway,
arched and surmounted with a pediment beneath a
circular window, above which is a festoon of
flowers and fruits. The design was then broken into
three divisions, the central one projecting in like
manner. Seven of these windows remain but are
walled up to the greater proportion of their height,
and by the addition of a reversed arch are con-
verted into circular windows, as was the case some
years later at St Michael's, Cornhill. The east
front of the church is built against by a warehouse,
and a portion of the south side was, until a fire on
July 31, 1827, concealed by other buildings.* This
part of the church, having been damaged by the
previous fire in 1760, was rebuilt in brick covered
with compo. In the vestibule are doorcases belong-
ing to the side entrance in the old front. They
are of the Corinthian order.

The Ionic columns dividing the nave from its
aisles are cabled to about one-third of their height,
but the effect of the colonnade, otherwise elegant,
is marred by the irregularity of the intercolumnia-

roof was destroyed, the organ damaged and the vestry quite con-
sumed.

*St Magnus was only saved on this occasion by the strenuous
and praiseworthy efforts of the firemen.

1-22

3 3 8 London Churches

tions, the second from the west being as broad as
the one which precedes it and the two succeeding
ones. The extreme intercolumniations at the east
end are still narrower. This apparent irregularity,
which existed also in the removed church of St
George, Botolph Lane, is explained by the
circumstance of the alteration which took place
when the church was shortened, by which means
the widest space, which was intended by the
architect for a centre, was removed from its
distinguishing situation to one in which it appears
to be out of all propriety.

The peculiar arrangement of these colonnades
does away with the once-believed but vague idea of
the architect having pierced his tower in anticipa-
tion of the change which would take place. If this
were the case, we must believe that Wren acted
most absurdly in not building the body of the
church in a form which would have allowed the
change to be effected with less violence to the
harmony of the design.

St Magnus' contains a splendid Corinthian altar-
piece with carvings by Gibbons, and paintings of
Moses and Aaron, and a font, a circular basin of
marble on a stone terminal pillar. The cover is a
square temple, with a flower pot and bouquet,
tastefully carved, attached to each face.

The organ in St Magnus', the gift of Sir Charles
Duncombe, was the work of Jordan, who deserves
special recognition as the inventor of the swell-
organ in 1712.

Of the swell-organ, in its approved treatment,
Green may be justly styled the father, his mecha-
nical genius leading him to greatly improve the

St Magnus the Martyr 339

construction of the swell-box. For refinement and
sweetness of tone Green's organs have probably
never been surpassed. His reed-stops were finer
than any made by his contemporaries, and during
the latter part of the eighteenth century he was
facile princeps among builders of what Balzac has
styled " the King of Instruments."

While on the subject of eighteenth-century
organ builders, Glyn and Parker, who built an
organ for Manchester Collegiate Church (now the
Cathedral) in 1730, should be mentioned. The first
organ in the chapel of the Foundling Hospital was
built by them in 1749. Handel opened it, and it is
probable that it was through his recommendation
that the work was entrusted to Glyn and Parker, to
the disappointment of the Metropolitan builders.

Besides Father Smith, Renatus Harris, and
the two just mentioned, the eighteenth and early
part of the nineteenth centuries produced a long
line of organ builders, all of them noted in their
several ways, and who carried the art on with a
succession of improvements until we reach the era
of Willis, Walker, Hill and their confreres; as, e.g.,
Avery, Bridge, Byfield, England, Gray, Lincoln,
Nicholls, and Snetzler, whose names will be found
alluded to at different times in the course of these
pages.

To return to the organ at St Magnus', The
Spectator of February 8, 1712, has the following
announcement: "Whereas, Mr Abraham Jordan,
senior and junior, have with their own hands,
joynery excepted, made and erected a very large
organ in St Magnus' Church, at the foot of London
Bridge, consisting of four sets of keys, one of which

34-O London Churches

is adapted to the art of emitting sounds by swelling
the notes, which never was in any organ before;
this instrument will be publicly opened on Sunday
next, the performance by Mr John Robinson. The
abovesaid Abraham Jordan gives notice to all
masters and performers, that he will attend every
day next week at the said church to accommodate all
those gentlemen who shall have a curiosity to hear
it."

The John Robinson, alluded to above, was a
pluralist. Together with that of St Magnus' he held
the organistship of St Lawrence Jewry, and from
1727 to 1762 was organist of Westminster Abbey,
still retaining the other two posts. Robinson is best
remembered by a double chant in E flat, said to
have been a favourite with King George III, and
retained in most modern collections.

Jordan's instrument in St Magnus' still exists,
but has been much altered and modernized at
various times, i.e., in 1825 by Parsons, in 1852 by
Gray and Davison, and later by Hill. Only three of
the original four sets of keys remain.

The tower has a fine peal of ten bells, and from
the western face projects a handsomely carved and
gilt projecting dial the gift of Sir Charles Dun-
combe, Alderman of the Ward, in the year of his
Mayoralty, 1709. It was made by Langley Bradley,
at a cost to Sir Charles of ^485 55. 4d., but shorn of
much of its ornamentation it now bears the date
1883. Sir Charles Duncombe is said to have pre-
sented this clock in fulfilment of a vow taken when,
as a boy, he missed his master through not knowing
the hour,and lost his time waiting onLondon Bridge.

Within the church is a Gothic panel, placed here

ST. MARGARET'S, LOTHBURY.

Interior, looking East.

St Margaret's, Lothbury 341

in 1837 to commemorate Miles Coverdale, rector
for some time of St Magnus and afterwards Bishop
of Exeter. Coverdale was buried in St Bartholo-
mew's by the Exchange, and when that church was
removed about eighty years ago and rebuilt in
Moor Lane, his remains were transferred to and
interred in St Magnus.

The beautifully carved foliage and flowers
beneath the monument of Thomas Collet (1733)
should be remarked.

Few City church interiors are more pictur-
esque than that of St Margaret's, Lothbury.
This is due in a measure to the taste of the late
Rector, the Rev. Prebendary Ingram, who called
in Mr Bodley to superintend the arrangement
of the beautiful woodwork, including the chancel
screen, removed here from All Hallows the
Great and Less, Thames Street, and the altar-
piece and other woodwork, transferred from St
Olave's, Old Jewry. The great screen which spans
the nave at St Margaret's has an unusually interest-
ing history.

The neighbourhood of Thames Street and the
river bank may be called the "Cradle of the City,"
as the earliest place of commerce was at Queen-
hithe. Ever since the time of the Normans, the
Customs have formed a source of revenue, and here,
in 1250, Henry Ill's brother, Richard, Earl of
Cornwall, had jurisdiction over weights. In the
Steelyard, the site of which is now occupied by
Cannon Street Station, the Hanseatic merchants
were established and had their Guildhall, their
charter of liberty being granted in 1259. They,
however, possessed no chapel, but worshipped in

342 London Churches

the Church of All Hallows the Great, which they
beautified by presenting windows and founding
altars, at length endowing a chapel therein. The
church was entirely destroyed in the Great Fire of
1666, with the exception of the tower. After the
Fire the parishes of All Hallows the Great and
Less were united, and the church, a broad pillar-
less expanse, was rebuilt by Wren, the cost of the
fabric being defrayed out of the coal dues, and
amounted to .£5,640. The parishioners, however,
raised a rate for the sum of ^500 for the interior
fittings. At that time the Master of the Steelyard
was Jacob Jacobson, a very rich and benevolent man.
who gave £10 to the poor of the parish and rebuilt
the Guildhall; he died in 1680.

There is a curious legend to the effect that this
famous screen, now in St Margaret's, Lothbury,
was made in Hamburg and was the gift of the
Dutch merchants; but recent research has quite
disposed of this tradition; for it appears to have
been put forward by Malcolm in 1803,* a hundred
and twenty years after the re-edification of All
Hallows' Church. It has also been said that Jacob
Jacobson gave the screen, but the church was not
ready to receive any fittings until three years after
his death. The truth seems to be that the parish-
ioners had always desired to have a screen, but they
were in want of money and could not pay for it.
Theodore Jacobson, who had succeeded his brother
as Master of the Steelyard, had given the pulpit to
the church, and thereupon came forward and
presented the screen.

*In his Londinium Rfdivivum, a work highly praised at the time
of its publication by The British Critic.

St Margaret's, Lothbury 343

An interesting comparison between the screens
of St Margaret's, Lothbury, and of St Peter's,
Cornhill — the only other instance of this appen-
dage on so grandiose a scale, to a City church —
strongly confirms the belief that both are of
English design and workmanship, only differing in
some small details. The measurements of both are
identical, the cost of each was about the same, and
there are other entries in the parish books as to the
charges for the screen; and, finally, it is known that
the screen in St Peter's was carved by Englishmen.

St Margaret's, which this screen fits so admir-
ably, consists of a broad nave divided from its
south aisle by a colonnade of graceful Corinthian
columns, and a shallow sanctuary of which the
northern side is shorter than the southern. In this
instance Wren doubtless had, as at St Mary Alder-
mary, to follow the lines of the old church, hence
the curious declension of the east end. The nave is
well enlightened by large round-headed windows
which it is proposed to fill with stained glass
representing the patron saints of the six demo-
lished churches whose parishes are now united
'yith St Margaret's, Lothbury, i.e., St Chris-
topher-le-Stocks, St Bartholomew by the Ex-
change, St Olave, Old Jewry, St Martin Pomeroy,
St Mildred, Poultry and St Mary Colechurch.
The churches of St Martin Pomeroy and St
Mary Colechurch were not rebuilt after the
Great Fire. The central space over the high
altar is filled with a bas-relief of the Ascension
from the late Mr Bodley's pencil.

344 London Churches

Observe the view up the south aisle from the
vestibule, including the marble font with its bas-
reliefs of the Temptation of Adam by Eve, the
Return of the Dove to the Ark, the Baptism of Our
Lord, and that of the Eunuch by St Philip, and
its canopy of cherubs' heads enclosing the Dove
bearing the olive branch — all from the masterly
hand of Gibbons; the screens between the colon-
nades, partly of the seventeenth century and partly
modern from Mr Bodley's designs; the pavements
of varied marbles; the two altarpieces rich in
carving, the pulpit with its magnificent enrich-
ments of fruit and flowers and its sounding-board,
and the refined taste which characterizes the ar-
rangements generally. The two vestries should be
visited by those interested in such apartments.
The two large paintings of Moses and Aaron, in
the blocked windows on either side of the altar
came from St Christopher-le-Stocks on its demoli-
tion towards the end of the eighteenth century.

Concerning the affix "Pattens" to St Margaret's,
Rood Lane, no definite information can be gleaned.
Stow says it was called "Pattens" "because of old,"
in what is now Rood Lane, "pattens were there
usually made and sold; while others represent it as
having been called St Margaret, "ad patinas" (i.e.,
of the dishes) because it was built upon what had
been the site of an earthenware shop or market.

Externally it is chiefly remarkable for its steeple,
which consists of a beautifully proportioned stone
tower with pinnacles, and supporting a tall lead
spire which approaches the Gothic model more

ST. MARGARET'S, LOTHBURY. The Font.

St Margaret Pattens 345

closely than any other in the City. It is interesting
to see a form so universally associated with stone
construction so cleverly adapted to a different
material. Like St Lawrence Jewry and St Margaret's
Lothbury, the church in Rood Lane consists of a
broad nave with one aisle, in this instance on the
north side, the three Corinthian columns separat-
ing it from the nave, standing, as usual, upon high
pedestals. The gallery front breaks round the lower
part of these columns in a curve, somewhat injur-
ing their apparent proportion as it thereby ac-
centuates the line of the woodwork.* Here is an
unbroken entablature with groined cove and flat
ceiling; much good woodwork, especially about the
canopied seats of the parish officials; a fine altar-
piece — Angels ministering to Christ in the Garden
— ascribed to Carlo Maratti; two sword rests, one
exceptionally good; and a marble font whose cover
is quite unworthy of it.

There is a monument by Rysbrach, to Sir P.
Delme, Lord Mayor in 1723, and a tablet to Dr
Thomas Birch (d. 1766), author of the General
Dictionary, and an important contributor to the
illustration of British History. Birch was buried in
the chancel of St Margaret's, of which he had been
rector nineteen years, according to the desire ex-
pressed in his will.

The inventories and churchwardens' accounts of
St Margaret Pattens are of unusual value and
interest.

During the rectorate of the Rev. J. L. Fish, an
able ecclesiologist and musician, the services at St

*This formed no part of the original design, the gallery having
been deepened at a much more subsequent period.

346 London Churches

Margaret's attained both musically and ritually
a well-deserved reputation for the dignity and
beauty with which they were carried out. The
mid-day Eucharist on great festivals and Saints'
days was invariably attended by large and devout
congregations, accompanied as it was with all
the grandeur of lights, vestments and incense,
and music by the greatest English and foreign
church composers.

St Martin's, Ludgate, is unique among City
churches in that it has its greater dimensions from
north to south, instead of from east to west, and
hemmed in as it is on three sides, can only be ap-
proached from the south.

Wren, who was never at a loss for an expedient,
took advantage of any irregularity of site for con-
structing something that should be at once useful
and adding to the dignity of his interior. At St
Martin's he formed a spacious vestibule on the
south side, which not only affords a commodious
entrance and keeps out noises from the street^ but
enhances the relative dimensions of the interior. In
the centre of this vestibule, over which a gallery is
formed, he placed his tower, whose gracefully
contoured spire of wood covered with lead affords
exactly the contrast that was required to the cam-
panili and dome of the neighbouring cathedral.

St Martin's, one of the three churches built in-
ternally on the Greek-cross plan, is as imposing
and satisfying as any within the City area. The nave
is divided from its aisles by two graceful Corinthian
columns, with their capitals tastefully gilt, and

St Martin's, Ludgate 347

elevated on unusually tall octagonal pedestals.
They carry an entablature with modillion cornice,
above which springs a plain circular vault covering
each arm of the cross. There is no central dome, the
vaults intersecting over in a regular groin which is
relieved at the apex by a large circular flower. The
walls are lined with wainscot, which is carried
round the pedestals of the columns to a height of
nearly eight feet.

Of all the City churches whose interiors have
been made subservient to present-day require-
ments, there is perhaps no one in which the neces-
sary work has been carried out in a more quiet and
sympathetic spirit. Could Wren come to life again
and behold it, the interior of St Martin's at the
present day would rejoice his heart, for one can
scarcely think it possible that had he been able to
have his own way, he would have tolerated those
huge horse-boxes of pews with which all his
churches were equipped. The late C. E. Kempe's
treatment of the stained glass is also praiseworthy.
Round the font is a Greek inscription, which
reads the same backwards as forwards:

NWON ANOMHMA MH MONAN O¥IN,

The above palindromical inscription or anagram,
which in English reads thus: "Wash the guilt,*
not the face only," is to be found on the font at
Sandbach, Cheshire, Harlow, Essex, Dulwich
College Chapel, and elsewhere. The font in Rufford
Church, Lancashire, is mentioned by Jeremy
Taylor as bearing this inscription. On the font in

•Sometimes rendered as "the whole body."

348 London Churches

the church of the Petits Peres at Paris the Latin
equivalent is given in addition, Ablue feccata, non
solum faciem.

Extraordinary antiquity has been claimed for
the ancient church of St Martin's, Ludgate. Accord-
ing to Newcourt, it is alleged that Cadwallo, the
valiant King of the Britons, after he had reigned
for forty years, died in 677 and was buried in this
place; and Robert of Gloucester tells us of the
said monarch:

A Church of St Marten, liryng he let rere,
In whych yat men shold Goddys seruyse do,
And sing for his Soule and Christene also.

The former church dated from the first half of the
fifteenth century. Samuel Purchas, known by his
Pilgrimages, was rector here in 1613. He has been
styled "the English Ptolemy," but gained more
fame than profit by his publications, for he died in
1628, in distressed circumstances, occasioned by
the publication of the Hakluytus Posthumus or
Purchas his Pilgrimes of which the best edition is
that in five volumes, folio, 1625-26.

Of St Mary Abchurch,* in Abchurch Lane,
between King William Street, and Cannon Street,
the chief feature is the domed ceiling formed by
eight arches springing from corbels affixed to the
walls, and from a column and pilaster at the west
end, all of the Corinthian order, corbels being
formed by the capitals of a pilaster. These arches
gather over into pendentives and sustain a modil-
lion cornice which serves as impost toahemispheri-

*"St Mary Abchurch, Apechurch, or Upchurch, as I have read
it, standeth on a rising ground." — Stotv. The dark red brick
material of the exterior walls is very charming.

St Mary Abchurch 349

cal dome, the whole surface of which is painted. It
is pierced with four windows of the port-hole kind,
and just above them is a painted repetition of the
cornice, the interval between that and the lower
cornice being occupied by a painting in chiaroscuro
of eight seated female figures in imitation of
sculpture representing saints and martyrs. The
remainder of the dome is painted in colours with a
cherubic choir, some of whom are playing on
various musical instruments, some singing, and
others in the act of adoration. In the centre is an
irradiation surrounding the Hebrew name of the
Deity.

About the altarpiece is some of the loveliest
carving ever executed by the cunning hand of
Grinling Gibbons. Indeed, when viewing it, we feel
that the story of the pot of flowers carved by Gib-
bons when he lived in Belle Sauvage Court on Lud-
gate Hill, and which shook surprisingly with the
motion of the hackney coaches that passed by, is no
fable. Walpole truly observed of Gibbons that
"there is no instance of a man before him who gave
to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers, and
chained together the various productions of the
elements with a fine disorder natural to each."

These carvings were originally painted after
nature by Sir James Thornhill, but afterwards
covered with white paint. They are now, however,
of the colour of oak.

At the south-west end of the church is the bap-
tistery. The font is of white marble, of an irregular
octagon shape and stands on a platform raised by
two steps; it is surrounded by an oaken balustrade
with square pedestals at the corners, with sunk

350 London Churches

panels carved in foliage. The font cover is a superb
piece of Renaissance work; it is of oak, with a
square miniature architectural composition with
curved pediments, and on each of the four faces a
niche containing a statuette, either in lime or some
lighter wood, of the four Evangelists, surmounted
by a sort of conical top, from which rises a twisted
shaft to the ceiling. This last has the appearance of
being modern. The alms box is original. The pulpit
and sounding board are not behind any of the other
work in beauty and elaboration, the latter being
particularly rich; indeed, the woodwork generally
throughout this church is thoroughly typical of
the solid, dignified and handsome work to be found
in most City churches.

That interesting and on so large a scale unique
example of Wren's Gothic, St Mary Aldermary,
Queen Victoria Street, had been rebuilt in 1510 by
Sir Henry Keble, Lord Mayor, who contributed
liberally towards the work.

"A fair church, called Aldermarie Church,
because the same was very old, and elder than any
church of St Marie in the City, till of late years the
foundation of a very fair new church was laid there
by Henry Keble, grocer, mayor, who deceased
1518 and was there buried." — Stow.

In 1626 William Rodoway gave towards the
building of the tower, then greatly decayed, .£3,000,
and Richard Pierson about the same year, 200
marks towards the same work, on the condition
that it should follow its ancient pattern and go
forward and be finished according to the founda-
tion of it laid 1 20 years before by Sir Henry Keble
and which was finished three years later. The

o

-
p
-
o

pq

St Mary Aldermary 351

church was burnt in 1666 but the tower remained
firm and good.

"Affected by the almost irreparable loss of
religious edifices, and actuated by sincere motives
of piety," Henry Rogers, Esq., gave .£5,000 towards
the rebuilding of St Mary Aldermary, with the
express proviso that the new church should be a
copy of the old one, and the fact is recorded in a
lengthy Latin inscription on the wall behind the
font.

The structure which we see now is, excepting
the tower, the restoration of Sir Christopher Wren,
built upon the ancient model as directed by Sir
Henry Keble or Kebyll. The lower part of the
tower is evidently of the date of Keble's work; as
shown by the old four-centre arched door leading
from the tower into the staircase-turret, and also by
the Caen stone of which this part of the tower is
built, which has indications of fire upon its surface.

The upper portion of the tower was rebuilt in
1711. The intermediate portion is, I believe, the
work of 1632 and if that is admitted, it is curious as
an example of construction at that period, in an
older style than that prevalent and in fashion at the
time. The semi-Elizabethan character of the detail
of the strings and ornamentation seems to confirm
this conclusion, as they are just such as might be
looked for in Gothic work of Charles the First's
time.

In dealing with the restoration of the church,
Wren must have not only followed the style of the
burned edifice, but in part employed the old
material. On examining the tracery of the window
heads on the south side, they will be found to be

352 London Churches

worked in Caen stone; and from the freedom of the
lines of the tracery and the absence of anything
Wren-like even in the minutest details, we may
ascribe these heads to the Perpendicular period of
1510. With this exception, the church bears the
stamp of Sir Christopher's handiwork; and while
directing our attention to points which we, in this
age of architectural correctness, know to be crude
and incorrect, and inconsistent with the spirit of
Gothic architecture, we must take into considera-
tion the time at which this labour was undertaken,
and under what circumstances it was performed.
Then we shall arrive at the conclusion that the
genius of the architect is not diminished in his
treatment of a subject so new and difficult and so
discordant with his style and practice.

The time, too, at which this task was imposed
upon him was immediately after the Great Fire —
when such an enormous amount of work was
thrown upon his hands, when in addition to the
general laying out of a great city, commissions for
the re-edification of its cathedral, palaces and
public buildings, as well as the bulk of the fifty new
churches upon which his talent was employed, were
pressing upon his attention; when also, it was not
only the pencil of the artist and the calculations of
the mathematician that were required of him, but
oftentimes an application of construction to meet
pecuniary difficulty, and consultation with guilds
and bodies of citizens forming the committees of
those days; and it appears that they were little
more tractable than church committees of the
present age.

Amidst such overwhelming occupations the

St Mary Aldermary 353

instructions to Wren to restore St Mary Alder-
mary in its Gothic type must have cost him a great
amount of thought, since it was a style in which he
had not practised; for Wren has not elsewhere left
any record of his Gothic restoration of an entire
church, a style exploded in England. It is, never-
theless, to the credit of the great architect that he
so thoroughly entered upon his task as to produce
so good a restoration as we see, with so much that
is in the spirit of the original at the same time that
is so unmistakably his own.*

The east end of the church is not at right angles
with the chancel, an accident which we may be
sure Wren's love of eurythmia would not have per-
mitted had he not been compelled to adhere to
the ancient boundary by some stringent conditions.

The interior was so "gutted" in 1876 by Messrs
Tress and Innes, to whom are due the feeble and
meaningless screen crossing the nave at the west
end (a chancel screen would, it is presumed have
"smacked of the paip"), and the reredos, a valuable
specimen of the Twelfth Cake style of Gothic
architecture, that little or none of the original fur-
niture of St Mary Aldermary remains, except the
pulpit, font, rails to the christening pew, and
western doorcase.

*The saucer domes in the fan-vaults, and the scroll ornament
in the spandrels of the arcades show us how loth Wren was to keep
his classical proclivities in the background. The spandrels are
occupied by reliefs consisting of shields of the arms of the bene-
factor, Rogers, surmounted by cherubic-heads attached as cor-
bels to a shaft carrying the main ribs of the vaulted roof. The arms
are repeated in every entrance except in the two arches next the
chancel, where those of the See of Canterbury and of Archbishop
Sancroft are introduced.

1-23

354 London Churches

The font is interesting and bears the following
inscription: "Button Seaman generos: natus in
hac parochia, Nov. anno salut 1627, ac in ejusdem
ecclesia renatus, hoc baptisterion. Nov. 1682,
lubens dedit."

In designing the furniture of St Mary Alder-
mary, Wren did not follow the Gothic type, and in
such as remains we perceive the exquisite taste
that guided him even to the minutest details, in his
own peculiar style, where the great master's genius
was left unshackled.

Few City churches possess a more beautiful
sword-holder than St Mary Aldermary, or present
a more favourable example of the careful thought
which Wren bestowed upon his decoration. It is
free and artistic in design and exquisitely carved.
The sword-holder is almost universally found in
the City churches, and more orless prominence and
elaboration is given to it, as the parish is more or
less subject to civic visitation, or the church more
or less decorated. The City swords are four in
number, (i) The Common Sword, borne at the
Courts of Session, as well as the Courts of Alder-
men and Common Council; (2) The Black Sword,
used on Good Friday, all fast days and on the
anniversary of the Fire of London; (3) The Sunday
Sword; and (4) the Pearl Sword, the two latter of
which are carried on very rare occasions.

St Mary Aldermary is rich in modern stained
glass. That by Clayton and Bell in the aisle and
east windows, and comprising a multiplicity of
small but clearly treated groups, is excellent, and
thoroughly Perpendicular in character, white glass
being liberally used. The great west window, a

St Mary Aldermary 355

large composition of seven lights representing the
Tree of Jesse, is a triumph of these artists' skill both
as regards drawing and coloration.

In the clerestory Mr Moore has placed rather
too large single figures of Saints, and the tinctures,
though very beautiful, are not so strictly in accord-
ance with the style of the architecture.

The church of St Mary, Aldermanbury, miser-
ably modernized in 1864, is only interesting as con-
taining the remains of Lord Chief Justice Jefferies,
which were interred here in a crimson velvet coffin
in the family vault beneath the altar, November 2,
1693.

Jefferies, whose name has become a byword for
all that can disgrace the judicial character, was
born in Denbighshire about 1640, was bred to the
Bar, and became Recorder of London; in the dis-
putes with the City he joined the court party and
was promoted to the office of Chief Justice in 1683.
By James II he was made Lord Chancellor, in Sep-
tember, 1685, as a reward for his exertions in pun-
ishing the adherents of the Duke of Monmouth.
His conduct on the Bench had long been dis-
tinguished for coarseness,* but in his "campayn,"
as the King himself called it, Jefferies displayed
such atrocious cruelty as rendered him the object
of abhorrence. On the flight of his master in 1688
he attempted to flee also, but on December 13
was taken at Wapping, disguised as a sailor, and
being with difficulty saved from summary execu-
tion, was lodged in the Tower, where he died, April
1 8, 1689.

Observe, within a niche over the entrance, the
*See under Christ Church, Newgate Street, p. 304.

3 5 6 London Churches

little effigy of the Blessed Virgin with the Infant
Christ, and internally, over the opposite door,
a painting of the Last Supper, by Old Franks,
presented to the church by a Mr Whitchurch,
Clerk to the Company of Brewers. Until the
terrible upheaval of 1864 this picture formed the
altarpiece. The two arcades of Composite columns
supporting an architrave and cornice are worthy
of notice.

The steeple of St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, has
been ever regarded as the happiest of Wren's
efforts. With liberal funds at his disposal,* the
architect had the boldness to challenge a compari-
son with the proudest specimens of antiquity.
Aware he could never excel these masterpieces, he
had the confidence to imitate them in a different
style of architecture, and Bow Church hands down
to posterity his success.

How beautiful are the proportions, how har-
moniously does the spire decrease from its base to its
vane, without abruptness! Viewed in detail, how
delightful are the parts so admirably selected and
adapted to their office without the least discordant
feature! Columns, scrolls, trusses and entablatures,
all the constituents and ornaments of architecture,
appear to have been as perfectly subservient to the
master-genius of the architect as if he had in-
vented them for the use of this splendid com-
position. St Bride's spire would have immortalized
any man; if Wren's fame had rested on that alone
he would have stood in the first rank of his profes-
sion, but the designer of Bow steeple is deserving of

*Chiefly by a donation of £2,000 from Dame Dyonis William-
ion of Hale's Hall, Norfolk, besides other liberal subscriptions

St Mary-le-Bow 357

a higher place, than that which is occupied by
original genius alone.

It is not surprising that this noble piece of work-
manship has met with so few imitators. The design
appears too grand for ordinary talent to undertake.
Dance, the elder, at Shoreditch, produced a
pleasing imitation, but it is still far below the
original, while at Shadwell, Hollis has kept Sir
Christopher in his eye as a model without descend-
ing to a mere copyist.

Of the old tower of Bow Church a view is pre-
served, not only in Hollar's General View of Lon-
don, but in a brass seal made by the parish in 1580.
This latter shows the upper part of the steeple with
the following legend: Sigillum. EC dice. Beat<z,
Mariee. de. Arcubus. Londini. 1580.

At the angles were four open-work turrets from
which sprang four flying buttresses, which, uniting
in a common centre, sustained at their junction a
fifth turret. All five were glazed and used as
beacons, or land lighthouses, on winter nights to
direct travellers to the Metropolis. It was from this
that Wren took his idea for the spire of St Dun-
stan's-in-the-East.

When the church was rebuilt, the architect
determined to bring forward his new structure to
the street, and the site of two houses was pur-
chased to make room for it. In digging to a great
depth to ensure a firm foundation he came to an
ancient Roman causeway, 18 feet below the level
of the street, and so firm was this pavement that
he resolved to build his superstructure upon
it. The old church stood back 40 feet from
Cheapside.

358 London Churches

The spire of St Mary-le-Bow is a composition of
varieties, the solid and the open, the square and the
circular, the horizontal and the flowing. The solid
square tower and the light circular spire with its
beautiful peristyle where the columns are lost in
succession, the flowing lines of the open arches
above, the return to columns in the next story, and
the finish by repeating the flat forms of the tower,
the play of light and shade and the elegance of the
outline, render it a masterpiece of its kind which
will probably never be surpassed.

The walls of the tower are 7 feet thick as high
as the belfry. The terminations in the form of
scrolls, placed at the corners of the tower and sur-
mounted by vases, have great beauty of form, and
admirably prevent any abruptness in the transition
from the square tower to the circular spire.

The spire, the centre of which is a cylinder of
masonry 9 inches thick, is supported on a dome
resting on massive moulded corbellings, at the
angles of the belfry. The dome is circular in plan
and 20 feet 8 inches in diameter at the base.

It is slightly curved in section, and rises to a
height of 1 8 feet above the springing. The joints
in the masonry of the dome are horizontal, as
may be observed in the entrance to the upper
part which passes through one of the sides.

The staircase in Bow steeple, like that at St
Bride's, is very interesting. I believe the hint for the
way in which the latter was carried, and the
strength afforded by it, was derived from natural
objects, from a study of conchology.

The bells at Bow Church were originally six in
number, and on these was played the celebrated

ST. MARY-LE-BOW.

St Mary-le-Bow 359

"Whittington tune," named after Sir Richard Whit-
tington, who was "thrice Lord Mayor of London,"
1397-8, 1406-7 and 1419-20. Of course they per-
ished in the Great Fire of 1666. A new set of eight
were cast between then and 1680 for the present
steeple by Hodsons, of St Mary Cray, Kent. In 1738
the tenor, which had cracked, was recast by Phelps
and Lester, of Whitechapel. Twenty years later, all
the bells but the tenor were condemned, and a new
set, making ten in all, were hung by the same firm.
In 1 88 1 Messrs Mears and Stainbank, their succes-
sors, added two bells at top of the scale, making
twelve in all. This complete set of bells has now
great beauty of tone.

The 1758 set of ten "Bow Bells"were first rung in
long peal in 1762, on the occasion of George
Ill's twenty-fifth birthday. The 1881 set of
twelve were not rung with all the full honours of a
"maximus," or twelve-bell method, till January
19 of the present year, 1907. On that occasion a
select party from the "Ancient Society of College
Youths" — who were established in 1637, anc^ have
always since that date been the Bow Church
ringers — rang a touch on the method known among
campanologists as "Triple Bob Maximus," which,
if I mistake not, is the ne -plus ultra of twelve-bell
ringing. The completion of the same would have
taken nearly thirty-eight years.The "Youths" got
as far as 5,088 changes, which appears to be a cer-
tain stage in the proceedings, in four hours and one
minute, working at terrific speed. This would give
four bell-strokes per second, and each ringer would
pull once in three seconds. To do this for the larger
bells must require enormous skill. There was a con-

360 London Churches

tinuous roar of sound, but one can hardly say much
campanological beauty, for the whole of the four
hours. The noise in the belfry must have been
pandemoniac. However, after this ceremony, one
must suppose that the bells, which have cost lately
a great deal of money, in their final equipment,
may be considered to be fully baptized and ready
for any sort of service.

A short time ago Sir Villiers Stanford composed
a new set of quarter chimes for the Bow Church
clock, operating on the set of twelve bells, and these
chimes were played for the first time on St Luke's
Day, October 18, 1905. As a matter of fact, Sir
Villiers used only eleven bells. When "pealing"
goes on, the chiming apparatus is switched off.

In preparing the foundations for the new struc-
ture, we are told in the Parentalia that Wren found
one "firm enough for the intended fabric, which,
on further inspection, after digging down suf-
ficiently and removing what earth and rubbish lay
in the way, appear to be the walls, with the
windows also and the pavement of a temple or
church of Roman workmanship, entirely buried
under the level of the present street."

Had Wren studied such a crypt as that of Wor-
cester Cathedral, he would not have mistaken a
Norman church for a Roman temple. He was led
into this mistake by the round arches of the build-
ing. Having been accustomed to treat all the
ancient buildings in the country with pointed
arches (called by him "Gothic") as barbarisms, he
never supposed workmen whom he held in such
profound contempt could construct arches which
would not shrink from a comparison with Roman

St Mary-le-Bow 361

works; and the excellence of which, is proved by the
deception into which so great a master was led by
them.

The dimensions and plan of the present church,
whose interior is poor and disappointing, were
taken from the Temple of Peace, at Rome. A
spacious vestibule connects the north aisle of the
nave with the tower, while the space lying between
the houses in Cheapside and the aisle is occupied by
the vestry-room.

It appears to have been the architect's wish to
have erected a piazza of two bays surmounted by
an open balcony and statues, and a drawing of this
design by Hawksmoor, Wren's scholar and domes-
tic clerk, is included in George Ill's valuable
collection of original drawings and sketches for the
churches of Wren and his contemporaries, pre-
served in the King's Library of the British Mu-
seum.* In the same collection is a fine elevation of
Bow steeple, drawn by Hawksmoor and engraved
by Hulsbergh, also a most delicate outline drawing
in pencil of the same subject, unfortunately not
signed.

The balcony above the noble Doric entrance, a
piece of work which Palladio himself might have
designed, is a pleasing memorial of the saldam or
shed which King Edward III "caused to be made
and to be strongly builded of stone, for himself,
the Queen and other estates to stand in, there to
behold the joustings and other shows," for which
in mediaeval times Chepe Syde was renowned, "at
their pleasures."

The ceremony of "confirmation" of bishops of

'This drawing bears the inscription, "Porticus olim designata."

362 London Churches

the southern Province takes place in St Mary-le-
Bow, and on three occasions within the last sixty
years has not been attended without some dis-
turbance, viz., Bishop Hampden's in 1848, Bishop
Creighton's in 1897 and Bishop Winnington In-
gram's in 1901.

St Mary-at-Hill, "called on the Hill because of
the Ascent from Billingsgate" (Stow), is perhaps the
most successful of the three churches whose
interiors were designed by Wren on the plan of a
Greek cross.

Here we have a skilful combination of the domed
and vaulted church, but the barrel vaults cover
the four arms of the cross, instead of intersecting in
a groin as in SS. Anne and Agnes, and St Martin's,
Ludgate, and carry a pleasingly designed cupola
resting on pendentives.

The columns in St Mary-at-Hill are of a type
only employed by Wren in this instance, viz., a
union of the Doric and Composite Orders, fluted
and cabled. They are elevated on pedestals as high
as the pews, and the entablature is continuous round
the building.

The tower of the old church was but little
injured by the Fire of 1666, and it was retained
until 1780 when the present uninteresting one of
brick was built.

Indeed, a considerable portion of the mediaeval
church is incorporated with the present structure,*

*Traces of the previous building are invariably found whenever
one of Wren's churches is removed. Great alterations and repairs
were made to St Mary-at-Hill in 1827-8, when it was, in fact,
nearly rebuilt, under James Savage, the architect of St Luke's,
Chelsea, and the same hand was occupied in other alterations and
beautifyings shortly before his death in 1852.

St Mary-at-Hill 363

which has been so much altered at various times
that Wren's work is almost lost.

The interior of St Mary-at-Hill recalls in general
outline St Stephen's, Walbrook, and during the
rectorate of the Rev. John Clarke Crosthwaite
was entirely refitted with such an extent of wood-
carving as had not been executed before in the
City for many years. The pillars supporting the
organ-gallery are enriched with fruit and flowers.
The great screen has a frame of oak, the rector's
pew and reading desk are enriched with carved
open tracery and brackets surmounted with the
royal supporters, bearing shields with V.R.,
1849.

The pulpit was entirely reconstructed and very
elaborately carved, and in the sounding board are
bosses of flowers of twelve-inch projection. From
the eyes of the volutes, garlands of flowers are sus-
pended, which pass through the split trusses and
fall down, crossing and uniting behind. Within the
pulpit at the back is a well-executed bunch of fruit
and flowers, and on the front of the organ gallery
are bold clusters of musical trophies and garlands of
flowers, with birds and fruit. The royal arms, with
a mantle scroll about ten feet long, form a perfora-
ted screen on the top of the gallery.

The whole of this beautiful wood-carving was
executed by William Gibbs Rogers, who ten years
later, was employed by Sir Gilbert Scott upon
similar work at St Michael's, Cornhill.

Brand, author of the Popular Antiquities, and
Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries, was rector
of St Mary-at-Hill from 1789 till his death in 1806.
He was buried in the chancel.

364 London Churches

The register records the marriage in May, 1731,
of Dr Young, author of Night Thoughts.

I alluded just now to the Rev. J. C. Crosthwaite.
"An earnest and highly cultured church musician,
he was born in Dublin in 1799 and took holy orders
in 1827, becoming Precentor's Vicar in Christ
Church Cathedral in 1834 and Dean's Vicar in
1837. He quitted Ireland in 1844 on his acceptance
of the living of St Mary-at-Hill. Here he minis-
tered till his death in 1874. Mr Crosthwaite took
a deep interest in the church committed to his
charge, the beautiful interior being embellished
during his rectorate by a quantity of fine wood-
carving by W. Gibbs Rogers, one of the most
eminent of modern workers in that branch of
ecclesiastical art. MrCrosthwaite's church composi-
tions include an Evening Service in G, a Sanctus
and prearranged from Martini, a set of Responses
and a Litany. He also wrote some excellent double
chants, seven of which were printed in the Dublin
Collection of 1883. He arranged an anthem, Praise
the Lord, O my soul, to music from Haydn's Crea-
tion. While a City rector he published by subscrip-
tion a collection of his psalm and hymn tunes.

"Mr Crosthwaite was esteemed as a theologian,
Discourses on the Christian Ministry, Modern
Hagiology and A Treatise on the Holy Communion
proceeding at various time from his pen. He also
found leisure to cultivate archaeology, for in 1843
he edited The Book of Obits and Martyrology of
the Holy Trinity, Dublin, for the Irish and Celtic
Archaeological Society, of which the Hon. Sec. was
the Rev. Dr James HenthornTodd,* for some years
* The Irish Pusey. .

St Michael's, Cornhill 365

Precentor of St Patrick's Cathedral. Dr Todd
edited for the same society Liber Hymnorum, the
Book of Hymns of the Ancient Church of Ireland"*

Of St Mary Somerhythe, in Thames Street, the
tower was left when the church was removed about
fifty years ago. It was spared by an agitation
led by the late Mr Ewan Christian, architect to
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

With its obelisks and vases it is a curious rather
than an actually beautiful composition, though like
all Wren's steeples of excellent proportions.f

The church was merely a pillarless oblong, but
contained some fairly good fittings, removed in
1873 to St Mary's, Britannia Street, Ho xton, one of
the several unsatisfactory structures built out of
the proceeds of the sale of one of Wren's churches.

St Michael's, Cornhill, as remarkable for the
curious agglomeration of architectural styles found
within its comparatively small area, as for its magni-
ficently proportioned pinnacled tower, is pre-
sumed to occupy the site of a church dating from
the Saxon dynasty.

In his Survey Stow tells us that the mediaeval St
Michael's "hath been a fair and beautiful church,
but of late years, since the surrender of their lands
to Edward VI, greatly blemished by the building
of lower tenements on the north side thereof to-
wards the High Street, in place of a green church-
yard, whereby the church is darkened and other
ways annoyed. . . . This parish church hath on the
south side thereof a proper cloister and a fair

* From Sir John Stevenson, a Biographical sketch by John S.
Bumpus.

fSee the drawing by Mr Herbert Nelson on the endpapers.

366 London Churches

churchyard with a pulpit cross, not much unlike to
that in Paul's churchyard."

In the Great Fire the body of the church was
destroyed, but the tower escaped. This tower had
been rebuilt in 1421, and of its predecessor, a pen
and ink drawing upon vellum is preserved on the
fly-leaf of a vellum vestry book (temp. Henry V)
belonging to the parish. Wilkinson gives an engra-
ving of it in hisLondinalllustrata. Appended to the
original drawing is the following:

"This representeth the symylitude of th* olde
steeple A° Dni, 1421.

"Remembrance that the Monday the xxviithday
of May, the yere of our Lord God m.ccccxxi, and
the yere of the reigne of King Harry, the fyfte
after the Conquest, ix; in the time of the forsayd
chirch wardeins, the olde steeple of the forsayd
chirch was beginne to drawe adowne.

" Remembrance that the Tewesday, the xxv day
of September, being that day the fest of Seynte
Fyrmin the Byshop, the yere of our Lorde Christ
m.ccccxxi: in the tyme of the forsayd chirch
wardeins, the first ston of fundement of the newe
steeple was leyd be the rev'ent & discrete p'son
Mr Piers Hynewke, p'son of the chirch forsayd,
and he the forsayd chirch wardeins and many of
worthy men of the p'ishe, in the worship of the
Holy Trynyte and of oure Lady Seynte Mary and
of Seynte Myghell the Archangell, and of all the
Holy Company of Hevein. 'Of the which begyn-
nyng God grante a good endying. Amen.' '

This second steeple which was begun in 1421 and
probably finished about 1430, escaped (as I have
said) the Great Fire, but was taken down and re-

THE TOWER OF ST. MICHAEL, CORNHILL.

St Michael's, Cornhill 367

built some time after the completion of the present
church, the last stone having been laid August 29,
1721.

In George Ill's collection of Drawings and
Engravings now in the King's Library, British
Museum, are two designs by Wren for St Michael's
tower, one dated May, the other July, 1716, and
differing from each other in several particulars.
The first design, which is merely in outline, shows
a classic doorway at the base, and in each of the next
three stages a pointed window. There are battle-
ments and octangular turrets crowned by very tall,
sharply pointed and plain pinnacles. Between each
pair of pinnacles is a smaller one. In the second
design, which is done in water-colours, is an ogee-
headed doorway surmounted by a circular window
of eight cuspings. The three next stages have each
a Gothic window as in the first design, i.e., in the
stage immediately above the doorway there is an
acutely pointed one of two lights, in the next story
a depressed headed one of three, and in the third
story a window similar to that in number one. In
this design one of the turrets is shown with its eight
sides enriched with shallow gabled arcades and
crockets, and the pinnacle has crocketed sides and a
large finial at the apex. The other pinnacle, as well
as the small intermediate one is left plain as in the
first sketch. In the second design the angle turrets
of the tower are divided by their sets-off into eight
equal compartments, whereas in the first there are
only four divisions corresponding to those of the
tower, and quite devoid of ornament.

We may perhaps congratulate ourselves that
neither of these designs was carried out, for the

368 London Churches

present tower, in spite of its solecisms of detail, is
certainly a noble composition, and were the pin-
nacles which crown its turrets pointed instead of
concave, the whole might, as regards elegance of pro-
portion, challenge comparison with the celebrated
fifteenth - century tower of Magdalen College,
Oxford.*

The pinnacles were formerly surmounted by
vanes in the form of comets, which were removed
early in the last century.

The windows on the south side of the nave were
originally large round-headed ones of the usual
Wrennian type, but when the church was repaired
in 1790, they were converted, by the addition of a
reversed arch to their headways, into circles. Sir
Gilbert Scott reopened these windows to their full
length in 1859-60, but inserted mullions and
tracery in an Italian style transitional from Roman-
esque to Pointed Gothic.

In 1 8 5 6 a fine work was achieved in pulling down a
house which had been built against,or rather formed,
the wall, and had absorbed a porch which apparently
consisted of fan-tracery vaulting with pendants.
Curiously enough the church never had, and has
not now, its own north wall. The houses abut on it
and do duty for the church wall. When the house
was demolished, Sir Gilbert Scott was called upon
to design a porch to the tower, and it was suggested
to him to take his motif from the florid and efflo-
rescent— it is not flamboyant — pointed work of

"The tower of St Michael's, Cornhill, was one of Sir Christo-
pher's latest works. It must have been designed when he was 90
years of age and during the period of his forced retirement at
Hampton Court.

St Michael's, Cornhill 369

Burgos; where there is a happy combination of
luxuriance in this later Spanish Pointed style with
something that would not have been altogether
incongruous with the dignified, solemn and aspir-
ing tower of St Michael's.

In the sequel, however, Sir Gilbert gave us that
truly beautiful, if not somewhat incongruous, por-
tal, rich in sculpture, and edited, so to speak, in that
Franco-Italian Gothic style to which the architect
had been directing his studies at that epoch of his
career. It was completed in 1859, and at the same
time the interior of the church — a basilica with two
rows of Doric columns on unusually low bases and
supporting round arches and a clerestory of circu-
lar windows — was rearranged. A chorus cantorum
was formed at the east end of the nave; an altar-
piece of Early Italian Gothic character took the
place of the Wrennian one; the tracery above men-
tioned was inserted in the windows; much beau-
tiful wood-carving introduced from the hand of
Rogers ; colour and gilding lavishly applied ; and all
the windows filled with stained glass by Clayton
and Bell, which, although it may be reckoned
among the early works of those artists, must still
be spoken of in terms of the greatest commenda-
tion.

The circumstances of the case emancipated
Messrs Clayton and Bell from conventionalism, and
they accordingly combined fine vigorous drawing
with hieratic feeling. The tinctures, which are full,
are yet harmonious, and in this instance we hardly
desiderate white glass. The subjects are the History
of our Lord, from the Annunciation in the first
window of the south aisle to the Crucifixion in the

1-24

370 London Churches

great west window and the Session in Majesty in
the circle above the altar. The west window,
though a striking production, is perhaps in some
respects the least successful of the series, the large
scale of the figures somewhat dwarfing the remain-
ing design, while the whole effect is more remi-
niscent of sixteenth-century glass than any other
window. But the eastern Majesty deserves all
praise. It is treated conventionally and mystically.
Our Lord's arms are extended in the form of a
cross to bless the world; He is surrounded with a
circular aureole of seraphim, and adoring angels
complete the composition. The whole effect, seen
down the entire church, is most impressive.

It is almost needless to say that such a work as
the remodelling of the interior of St Michael's at-
tracted much attention at the time, though such a
mode of procedure in our own day with one of
Wren's churches would meet with a storm of disap-
proval, and rightly, for reasons too obvious to need
commenting upon here.

Remodelled St Michael's gained the honour of a
Royal visit. The Prince Consort inspected it on
March 3, 1860, when he passed many encomiums
upon its rich ensemble, and on April 20 the Bishop
of London, Dr Tait, afterwards Archbishop of
Canterbury, paid St Michael's a special visit, after
holding a Confirmation at St Helen's, Bishopsgate,
when he likewise expressed his approval of what
had been done. The reopening took place on May 1 3
of the same year.

In a building which has a stately Gothic tower
and a ground plan formed on mediaeval precedents,
with a body composed of Classic features, a com-

St Michael's, Cornhill 3 71

promise between the two styles was justifiably
made throughout the decorative additions of St
Michael's.

Much of the colouring of the interior was added
in 1867-68, additions being made at the same time
to the marble decorations of the sanctuary and the
present tiled floor of the church laid down.

A recess under the west window is filled with a
large, deep green marble slab bordered with red,
forming a good background to what is, indeed, a
treasure belonging to the church. I refer to a most
vigorous representation of the Pelican in her piety
feeding her young and standing upon a nest. This
group, formerly over the altarpiece and removed
during the alterations of 1860-67, is attributed to
Gibbons, but is replete with a true mediaeval char-
acter and quaintness.

The poor-box, an antique pedestal on clawed
feet, fluted, and with drapery fastened to the upper
part, is inscribed: "The poor cannot recompense
thee, but thou shalt be recompensed at the resur-
rection of the just." The vase for the money is sup-
ported on two dolphins. There is some rich armo-
rial glass in a window of the western vestibule.
It was placed here long before Scott's renovations,
and was originally in the window over the altar
which was then glazed with kaleidescopic patterns.

The musical services at St Michael's have en-
joyed a celebrity since the reopening of the church
in 1860.

In 1725 Obadiah Shuttleworth was organist. A
violinist at the Swan Tavern concerts, Cornhill,
Shuttleworth is described by Sir John Hawkins,
the musical historian, as "a mere harpsichord player

372 London Churches

who, having the advantage of a good finger,
charmed his hearers with such music as was alone
fit for that instrument, and drew after him greater
numbers than came to hear the preacher."

Joseph Kelway, organist of St Michael's from
1734 to 1736, and son of Thomas Kelway, organist
of Chichester Cathedral, appears to have been a
remarkable performer, drawing crowds of musi-
cians including Handel, to hear him at St Martin's-
in-the-Fields, of which church he was organist
between 1736 and 1782.

Kelway's successor at St Michael's was William
Boyce, who also filled the post of organist and com-
poser to the Chapel Royal. One of the greatest
Church composers of his period, Dr Boyce remained
at St Michael's until 1768, dying eleven years
later.

Another eighteenth-century organist was Theo-
dore Aylward who held the post from 1768 to 1788,
when he became organist of St George's Chapel,
Windsor. Aylward, who died in 1801, filled the
Chair of Professor of Music at Gresham College.

R. D. Limpus, founder of the Royal College of
Organists, and E. H. Thome, of Chichester
Cathedral and St Anne's, Soho, are the most
distinguished organists St Michael's had during
the last century (1849-1875).

The following eminent persons were interred in
the old church and churchyard: Robert Fabyan
the chronicler and sheriff (1511), and the father and
grandfather of Stow the antiquary (1559, 1526).
The grandfather, in his will, directs "his body to be
buryed in the litell grene Churchyard of the
Paryshe Churche of Seynt Myghel in Cornehill,

St Michael's, College Hill 373

betwene the Crosse and the Church wall, nigh the
wall as may be by my father and mother, systers
and brothers, and also my own childerne." In the
church was buried Philip Nye, with "the thanks-
giving beard," "buried in the uppermost vault of
the church," in 1672. Nye was curate of St
Michael's from 1620 to 1633, when, by not com-
plying with the ecclesiastical constitution, he
became obnoxious to the censure of the Ecclesias-
tical Court and was ejected.

St Michael's, Paternoster Royal, College Hill,
Thames Street, was rebuilt and made a collegiate
church (hence the derivation of its locale) by the
executors of Richard Whittington, "thrice Lord
Mayor of London," who, as Stow informs us,
"was in this church thrice buried; first, by his
executors under a fair monument; then, in the
reign of Edward VI, the parson of that church,
thinking some great riches (as he said) to be buried
with him, caused his monument to be broken, his
body to be spoiled of his leaden sheet, and again
the second time to be buried; and in the reign of
Queen Mary, the parishioners were forced to take
him up, to lap him in lead as before, to bury him
the third time, and to place his monument, or the
like, over him again, which remaineth, and so he
resteth."

The church and its memorial of the great Lord
Mayor perished in the Fire of 1666, and was
rebuilt by Wren in the form of an aisleless paralle-
logram, showing in its main lines a resemblance to
another large, square-roomed interior, All Hallows',
Lombard Street, especially as regards the tower
and the arrangement of the west end. The former,

374 London Churches

placed in the south-west angle, features those of St
James' Garlick-Hythe andSt Stephen's, Walbrook.
At St Michael's, the tower is surmounted by two
diminishing octagons, with concave sides and
detached Ionic pillars between each side of the
lower one, which is supported on a dome resting on
deep corbels in the angles of the belfry.

The interior of St Michael's contains some of the
fine wood-carving characteristic of its epoch, and
was " rearranged " during the rectorate of the Rev.
Thomas Darling * in 1866, under the direction of
Butterfield, when some stained glass windows were
introduced; one of them, a memorial to Whitting-
ton being by Preedy from the designs of the archi-
tect above named. There are three other windows
of similar design by this artist. The picture above
the altar, St Mary Magdalene Anointing the Feet of
our Lord, is by Hilton, and was presented to the
church in 1820 by the Directors of the British
Institution.

William Hilton was born at Lincoln in 1 786, and
first exhibited in 1803. From 1806 he attended the
Schools of the Royal Academy, where he studied
anatomy and made himself complete master of the
human figure. Hilton, who was for many years
Keeper of the Royal Academy, was imbued with a
strong poetic feeling, as evidenced by his choice of
subjects, selecting such as would admit the intro-

•The Rev. Thomas Darlingwas Rector of StMichael's from 1 848
to 1893. In 1855 he published Hymns of the Church of England
arranged according to the Book of Common Prayer.The last edition
published in 1887 contains 336 hymns, of which about 20 are by
the editor. Great liberties appear to have been taken with many
well-known hymns

St Mildred's, Bread Street 375

duction of the most beautiful human forms — the
Rapes of Proserpine, Ganymede, Europa and
Amphitrite; and Hebe, Comus and others, as des-
cribed by Milton and Spenser, his favourite poets;
but fewer of his pictures have been engraved than
those of most artists of celebrity.

He married in 1828 the sister of his fellow-pupil,
Peter de Wint; died in London, December 30,
1839, and was buried in the Chapel of the Savoy.

Another of Hilton's pictures, " Christ crowned
with Thorns," was presented by the Directors of
the British Institution to St Peter's, Eaton Square,
on its completion in 1826, but in 1877 was sold by
the churchwardens for ^1,000, the purchase-
money being invested in consols and the dividends
being applied to the ornamentation of the church.

It is a thousand pities that when Sir Arthur
Blomfield built the handsome Auvergnat-Roman-
esque chancel and sanctuary to St Peter's, a suitable
altarpiece was not prepared to contain this picture
of Hilton's.

In 1864 a sumptuous monument from the
designs of Blore was erected at the east end of the
Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral to Hilton and
his brother-in-law, De Wint. A favourite subject
with the latter was the noble minster which
crowns the hill of Lincoln. Several of the originals
are in the Victoria and Albert Museum at South
Kensington.

In the pretty little church of St Mildred, Bread
Street, which must have had a very narrow escape
on the formation of Queen Victoria Street, the
dome is the governing feature of the interior, whose
plan is a rectangle 60 feet by 37, with a shallow

376 London Churches

vestibule and organ gallery at the west end, and a
north-western tower with lead spire. There are no
pillars, and all the enrichment is centred in its
domical roof which is reduced in length by a small
portion being cut off at each of the extremities; both
the portions so made are bounded by two semi-
circular arches, partly attached to and dying into
the walls of the church, and partly sustained on
imposts composed of a group of consoles surmoun-
ted by a fascia. The soffits of the architraves of the
unengaged arches are ornamented with sunk panels;
the ceilings of those divisions are also semicircular
and panelled into square and oblong compartments,
and at the springings are the Arms of the Four King-
doms in relief, with regal accompaniments. Thus a
square centre is formed, covered by a dome sup-
ported on pendentives resting on the four arches
just described, with the addition of others partly
concealed and dying into the side walls.

The whole design is, in the mass, very grand, and
gives a grace and size to a building which would
hardly be expected from its exterior.

St Nicholas, Cole Abbey, Knight Rider Street,
the first church built and finished after the Fire,
has a pillarless interior beautifully decorated du-
ring the rectorate of Henry Gary Shuttleworth
(1885-1900) from the designs of Mr G. H. Birch.
It is a perfect picture, and the type of how a City
church interior should be treated.

The great chandelier or "branch" suspended
from the roof in the centre of the church is one of
the finest of its date in London. The concave
leaden spire of this church, with the balcony en-
circling it towards the top, cannot be pronounced

St Peter's, Cornhill 377

graceful. In striving after originality, Wren appears
in this instance to have lost sight of fitness and
propriety.

The foundation of St Peter's, Cornhill, is at-
tributed to Lucius, the first Christian King of
Britain, who is said to have lived in the latter half
of the second century of the Christian era.

It claimed even a higher rank than a parochial
church, and to have been not only the first Chris-
tian church founded in London, but the metro-
politan church when London was the seat of an
archbishop. This great antiquity is supported prin-
cipally by an inscription on a brass plate, of which
we read in Holinshed's Chronicles of Great Britain,

1574*

Weaver, in Funeral Monuments, 1631, p. 413, sets
out the original, destroyed in the Fire of 1666, in
the old style of spelling:

"Be hit known to all Men, that theYeerysof our
Lord God, An clxxix, Lucius, the fyrst Christen
King of this Lond, then callyd Brytayne, foundyd
the fyrst Chyrch in London, that is to sey, the
Chyrch of Sent Peter, apon Cornhyl; and he
foundyd then an Archbishop's See, and made that
Chirch the Metropolitant and cheef Chirch of this
Kindom, and so enduryd the space of cccc yeerys
and more, unto the Commyng of Sent Austen, an
Apostyl of Englond, the whych was sent into the
Lond by Sent Gregory, the Doctor of the Chirch,
in the tyme of King Ethelbert, and then was the
Archbyshoppys See and Pol removyd from the

*Howbeit by the Tables hanging in the revestrie of Saint
Paules at London, and also a table hanging in St Peter's church in
Cornehill was the same that Lucius builded.

3 7 8 London Churches

aforeseyd Chirch of Sent Peter's apon Cornhyl
unto Derebernaum, that now ys callyd Canter-
bury, and ther y* remeynyth to this Dey.

"And Millet* Monk, whych came into this Lond
wyth Sent Austen, was made the fyrst Bishop of
London, and hys See was made in Powllys Chyrch.
And this Lucius, Kyng, was the fyrst Foundyr of
Peters Chyrch apon Cornhyl; and he regnyd King
in thys Ilond after Brut mccxlv yeerys. And the
yeerys of our Lord God a cxxiv Lucius was crown yd
Kyng, and the yeerys of hys Reygne Ixxvii yeerys,
and he was beryd aftyr sum Cronekil at London,
and aftyr sum Cronekil he was beryd at Glow-
cester, at that Place wher the Ordyrs of Sent
Francys standyth."

The exact year in which the original was set up
is unknown. Strype says it is supposed to be of the
date of Edward IV, and that the plate which is now
preserved in the vestry of the present church over
the mantelpiece is "the old one revived."

Bishop Usher, who died in 1655, personally in-
spected the plate in old St Paul's.

Another proof of the important, if not cathedral,
character of this church may be inferred from the
school which anciently belonged to it. By a decree
of the eleventh General Council of Lateran, dated
1179, fr was ordained that a school should be at-
tached to every cathedral church, and in the 25th
Henry VI, 1447, the school of St Peter's appears as
one of the four parochial schools directed by
Parliament to be maintained in London.

Stow cites authorities for the great antiquity of
the library belonging to this school. He says it was

•Mellitus.

St Peter's, Cornhill 379

established by Elvanus, second Archbishop of Lon-
don. There are frequent allusions in the vestry
books to this school from 1576 to 1717.

From an occurrence related in the Liber Albus*-,
loth Henry III, we find that, as early as 1226, this
church was of sufficient importance to have three
chaplains:

" On the morrow of Saint Luke the Evangelist
(October 18) it happened that Amise, deacon of
the church of Saint Peter on Cornhulle, was found
slain at the door of Martin the priest, in the soke of
Cornhulle. Wakelin, a vicar of St Paul's in London,
slew him with an anelace [dagger] and took to
flight. Thereupon Martin, John and William, chap-
lains of the church of St Peter, and Robert, clerk of
the same church, who were in the house before the
door of which he was found slain, were arrested on
suspicion of such death; and were afterwards de-
livered to Master John de Ponte, official of the Arch-
deacon of London, by the aforesaid Chamberlain
and Sheriffs. Judgement was given against them,
but they were afterwards acquitted."

Very little is known of the style of the church
which preceded the Fire. That considerable repairs
were executed during the early part of the seven-
teenth century appears from the parish books. The
early entries relate to whitewashing and show the
custom to have been then in use.

The information derived from these parochial
books respecting the church before 1666 is but
slight, and from other sources we gain little in
addition. All that Stow writes about St Peter's is
evidently taken from these books. A view of the

•P- 75-

380 London Churches

church is given by Cornelius Visscher in his Plan of
London, 1618, and a more accurate representation
appears by Hollar in his View of London, published
in 1647. The tower is shown square and of two
stories surmounted by battlements, within which
was a pointed dome or cupola raised upon clustered
columns and crowned by a vane. At the south-west
corner of the church in St Peter's Alley, Hollar
places a round tower embattled. The chancel of
the old church extended 10 feet further eastward
than at present and occupied a portion of what is
now Gracechurch Street.

The Great Fire of September 2, 1666, consumed
all that was inflammable in this church. The walls of
the church and all the upper part of the tower
were afterwards taken down. The foundations may
have been used for the present building, but the
only part now above ground of the old church is
the lower story of the tower, a picturesque struc-
ture of red brick crowned by a timber-framed
lantern and cupola, latterly covered with copper,
and supporting a short spire whose vane assumes
the form of a large key, the emblem of the saint
to whom the church is dedicated.

We learn from a number of very interesting
entries in the vestry books that, although two
surveyors were employed at an early period of the
preparations for rebuilding the church, and a model
was ordered of the same, still but little if any pro-
gress was made in the works before the employ-
ment of Sir Christopher Wren as surveyor or archi-
tect of the new church in 1670. We may, therefore,
consider that the present church is mainly his work.

It was completed in 1682 and opened November

St Peter's, Cornhill 381

27, when Beveridge,* then Rector of this parish,
delivered his famous sermon on the excellence and
usefulness of the Common Prayer.

The church, he said, had lain waste for above five
times three years, but is now rebuilt and fitted
again for service. He also alludes to the great
feature of St Peter's, the magnificent oak chancel
screen, designed by Wren's daughter, and carved by
Thomas Poultney and Thomas Athew.f

Speaking of the chancel on this occasion,
Beveridge observed that it "was always made and
represented the highest place in the church," and,
therefore, he adds, "it was wont to be separated from
the rest of the church by a screen or partition of net-
work, in Latin cancelli, and that so generally that
from thence the place itself is called the chancel."

After having said that this was generally to be
found in all considerable churches of old, he adds :
"I mention it only because some perhaps may
wonder why this screen should be observed in one
church rather than in all the other churches which
have lately been built in this City, whereas they
should rather wonder why it was not observed in
all other as well as this." He further proceeds to
say that the chancel in all Christian churches was

"Afterwards the eminent and pious Bishop of St Asaph. He
was appointed Rector of St Peter's, Cornhill, by the Corporation
of London in 1672, before the church was rebuilt. He died
March 5, 1708 and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral. His arms
(date 1704) with those of his immediate successor in the rectory,
Dr Waugh, Bishop of Chichester, who was buried in the chancel,
were until the insertion of the present stained glass in 1872, in the
east window.

tit was to be thirteen feet high from the pavement and made
according to model.

382

London Churches

always looked upon as answerable to the Holy of
Holies in the Temple, and that all the seats should
look towards the chancel."

The interior of St Peter's, Cornhill, rearranged
and coloured in 1872, when the present coarse
stained glass by Gibbs was introduced into the
double tier of round-headed windows at the east
end, is divided into a chancel, nave and two aisles.
Its length within the walls is 80 feet, the breadth
47 feet and the height 40 feet, being nearly a
double cube. The aisles are very narrow, and
vaulted transversely by barrel vaults, in bays con-
centric with the nave arcade, which springs from
Doric pilasters attached to square piers.

The very fine organ in the western gallery was
ouilt by Bernard Schmidt in 1681. He was appoint-
ed organ-builder to Charles II in 1671, and apart-
ments were allotted to him at Whitehall. In 1644,
under the Puritan rule, organs were banished from
churches, but at the Restoration organ-builders
from abroad were invited to furnish churches with
new instruments, and amongst them were "Father"
Smith* and his great rival Renatus Harris.f

*Schmidt soon gained great fame and much employment. St
Paul's, Westminster Abbey, the Temple, St Margaret's, West-
minster, and many other churches were enriched with organs
from his hand. One stop of Father Smith has often sufficed to
give a reputation to an instrument. The beauty and sweetness of
his tone has always been unrivalled. But Father Smith (we must
accept the Anglicism) had his mechanical defects, and the action,
packing and general arrangement was bad even for his own day,
and now would not be tolerated. Even his pipes were externally
ill finished. When he was remonstrated with in respect of the
latter incompleteness, he is reported to have replied, "I do not
care if ze pipe looks like von teufel [devil]; I shall make him schpeak
like von engel" (angel).

tSee Chapter II; in description of the Temple Church.

St Peter's, Cornhill 383

The organ in St Peter's, Cornhill, was remodelled
by Messrs Hill in 1840 under the inspection of
Dr Gauntlett, at a cost to the parish of about
£1,000*

On Sunday, June 12, 1842, Mendelssohn ex-
temporized on this organ. The congregation had
been engaged in singing a hymn to Haydn's well-
known tune, Gott erhalte Franz der Kaiser, and on
this he poured forth all his magnificent powers in a
fantasia as a concluding voluntary.

Mendelssohn had a very high opinion of the
organ in St Peter's, Cornhill, and of all these
instruments that had come under his notice, he
considered it second only to the large one built by
Messrs Hill in the Town Hall at Birmingham.

It was on this occasion that the composer of St
Paul and Elijah distinguished Miss Elizabeth
Mounsey, the organist of St Peter's from 1834 to
1 88 1, with his autograph which is still preserved in
the church. This lady was a member of the Phil-
harmonic Society and composer of works for the
pianoforte, guitar, organ and voice.

Her equally talented sister, Anne Sheppard
Mounsey, was another veteran lady church
organist officiating at St Vedast's, Foster Lane,
from 1837 till 1 891.1 Miss Anne, who was likewise a
member of the Philharmonic Society and member
of the Royal Society of Musicians, married in 1855
Mr W. Bartholomew, who is chiefly remembered

*From the Vestry Minute Book, Smith's organ at St Peter's
cost £210.

tThe writer has distinct recollections of seeing this venerable
lady step into the vehicle which was in waiting at the door of St
Vedast's church to convey her to her residence in Brunswick
Place, City Road.

384 LondonChurches

as the adapter of the librettos of Mendelssohn's
works. Bartholomew was also a composer, and many,
of his hymns have considerable merit; but he is
best known for his connexion with Mendelssohn
than for any eminence gained by works of his own
production. His intercourse with Mendelssohn
was friendly and intimate, and he was always
mentioned by him in terms of respect. His care-
ful selection of Scripture passages for the Elijah is
highly creditable to his good taste.

Mr Bartholomew, who died in 1 867, also arranged
the librettos for Mendelssohn's Antigone, (Edipus
ad Colonos, Lorely and Christus; those of Eli and
Naaman by Sir Michael Costa were also entrusted
to him.

The font in St Peter's, Cornhill, does not require
any particular notice, but its cover is interesting as
being perhaps the only portion of the furniture
preserved from the Great Fire, and even this has
not escaped unmarked by the destroying element.

Nor are the monuments of any great interest. A
mural monument on the south side of the church
commemorates the destruction by fire of the seven
children of James Woodmanson, of Leadenhall
Street. This fire caused no little stir, as several other
persons perished at the same time. Mr Woodman-
son was present at a ball at St James' Palace on the
late Queen's birthday, and was called out only to
findhis seven children consumed in the flames. This
was deeply felt by the Royal Family, some of whom
visited the scene of the sad occurrence.

In the vestry of St Peter's, Cornhill, is preserved
a copy of Jerome's Vulgate, very beautifully
written throughout in a bold hand on fine whrte

St Sepulchre's, Holborn 385

vellum. It consists of 586 leaves. The miniature
paintings, which are 150 in number, are very
curious, comprising historical scenes, portraits of
the Patriarchs, Evangelists and others, and afford
interesting examples of English costume at that
early period. The painted borders which decorate
some of the pages are beautiful specimens of
mediaeval art, and proximately fix the date. But
what renders this volume the most interesting and
valuable to St Peter's is that by the colophon at the
end we learn that it was written for this church. It
runs thus:

"Iste liber 'pertinet *per/petu<z Cantarie Quorum
capellanorum celebrantium ad altare Sanctte Trini-
tatis in Ecclesia Sancti Petri su-per Cornhill.

St Sepulchre's, Holborn, which has the largest
area of any church within the City boundaries,*
dates, according to the earliest notice, from 1178,
when it was given to the prior and canons of St
Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield, by Roger,
Bishop of Sarum.

About the middle of the fifteenth century it was
rebuilt, one of the Popham family, who was Chan-
cellor of Normandy and Treasurer of the King's
Household, becoming a munificent patron, and,
according to Stow, erected a handsome chapel "on
the south side" of the choir, and the interesting and
beautiful south-western parvise porch, which, to-
gether with the tower and some other mediaeval
features discovered during the restoration of 1879-
80, still remain. Between 1630 and 1634 ^e tower
was rebuilt.

*It is 150 feet long, by 62 feet wide, and, with the addition of
St Stephen's Chapel on the North, 8 1 feet wide internally.

1-25

386 London Churches

The church was not destroyed but very much
injured in the Great Fire, which stopped at Pye
Corner, near St Sepulchre's. The inhabitants, how-
ever, would not wait until Sir Christopher Wren
could attend to them,but repaired their own church,
and did it so badly that a long time elapsed before
he would grant the certificate necessary to enable
them to obtain the money from the Commissioners.

The Perpendicular nave, arcade, and roofs, were
entirely removed, and a long range of Roman Doric
columns supporting semicircular arches substituted,
but the walls, retaining the Perpendicular windows
and battlemented parapets, stood until 1790 when
the former were replaced by simple round-headed
ones, such as may still be seen at the east end and in S t
Stephen's Chapel,and the latter removed altogether.

At the same time, columns and arches in the
style of architecture then prevalent were built
within the old Gothic ones of the tower. In 1834
the erection of a new roof and ceiling, together
with some repairs to the exterior of the tower, took
place. In 1867 the large round-headed window
above the altar was filled with stained glass by
Lavers and Barraud, and between 1873 and 1878
the porch and tower, whose pinnacles had become
impoverished, were restored under the direction of
Mr W. P. Griffiths. In 1 879-80 more extensive works
took place under Mr Billings, when the galleries
and pews were taken out, the Perpendicular win-
dows restored to the south side and east ends of the
aisles, the arches which had been inserted in the
original Gothic ones of the tower removed, and the
interior almost entirely refitted.*

*Some of the late seventeenth-century carved panels have been

St Sepulchre's, Holborn 387

Whatever may be thought of the manner in
which St Sepulchre's was refitted and decorated
in 1879, it must be admitted that the removal of
the pews and galleries has brought to light many
interesting relics of its mediaeval predecessors,
inter alia the remains of the ancient window jambs
and arches. Though much calcined in places by
the Great Fire, it was not a difficult task to make
out the mouldings and restore the same through-
out, the new tracery portions being designed in the
same character as they originally existed about
1450. That these windows should have been filled
with anything so offensive as their present glazing
is truly lamentable, when we remember those
beautiful "stamped quarries" of Powell's, which we
so often find supplying the place, pro tanto, of
figured glass.

The remains of a two-light window with a
transom placed midway were also discovered near
the angle of the south-east wall, having been filled
up with brickwork when the south side of the
church was altered in 1790.*

There is still extant a view of the south side of St
Sepulchre's taken in 1737 showing the church with
Gothic windows complete, together with a portion
of the wagon-headed roof over the east end of the
nave. Some remains of Scripture texts were also
discovered in 1879 painted in old black letter under
the east window-sill in the north aisle.

The removal of the organ gallery brought to

inserted in the base of the screen dividing the nave from the ante-
church.

*These old remaining portions were found to be of either
Kentish rag or fire-stone.

388 London Churches

light the original arches forming the lower struc-
ture of the tower. These three arches were found
to have been filled up in 1790, and not by Wren a?
alleged, when circular arches were inserted within
the ancient Perpendicular ones of the tower, not
with the intention of strengthening that structure,
which it did not require, but to invest the work
with a "classical" dress, and to cover the surface of
the damaged stonework where it had been much
calcined by the fire. A perfect restoration of each
arch being found possible, it was faithfully carried
out in stone with their original beautiful mould-
ings, and columns, with caps and bases beneath the
arches. The walls are 6 feet in thickness, the
largest arch, that on the east side of the tower,
being 30 feet high. These piers and arches were
composed of Kentish rag formed of large sizes laid
in courses, very finely set and pointed. Many old
portions of moulded stone forming these arches are
still to be seen. The restored west window of the
tower, a good Perpendicular one of four lights,
once transomed, was filled in 1884 with excellent
stained glass by Clayton and Bell. It should be
observed that the aisles are continued alongside of
the tower as was the case at St Andrew's until Wren
made the present square erections to contain the
gallery staircases.

Upon the removal of the old loft connected with
the vestry-clerk's office upon the south side near
the west end of the church, was found remains of
an old stone doorway leading into the chamber
over the porch from the church, and at the side of
this doorway part of a window, which from its
position and small size is supposed to have been

St Sepulchre's, Holborn 389

a watching window, as from this spot an uninter-
rupted view from the "parvise" chamber to the
high altar could be obtained. Some distance up the
south aisle was also discovered (having been filled
up with rubble) the remains of an old sepulchre
or tomb of large size with a well-moulded arch
formed contemporary with the church itself, and
thought by some to have boen the tomb of Sir
John Popham, whose statue whilome existed in a
niche immediately over the doorway of the porch.

A few feet beyond are the remains of a piscina,
with portions of the shelf for the cruets, and a
water drain. Another piscina was discovered at the
south-eastern respond of the north aisle, being
double, having a small column dividing it in two,
with two water drains and a shelf above.

These were much injured by the fire. One other
piscina still exists in St Stephen's Chapel, but in a
good state of preservation, with the exception of
the projecting basin at the bottom of the same.

Almost immediately opposite this piscina was
discovered a recessed tomb cut out in the thickness
of the wall, having a groined head with reticulated
pattern tracery upon it; the lower portion with its
slab placed about three feet above the floor had
been, however, almost entirely destroyed and after-
wards broken up.

Near the piscina in the south wall of the aisle
was found the remains of a stone doorway partially
destroyed, but ranging in a line with a similarly
placed doorway on the north side of the church in
the north aisle, indicating at once the position of
the ancient rood-screen marking the commence-
ment of the chancel; also portions of several stone

39° London Churches

steps built up at the back, and a small stone door-
way with, its original door-hooks about twelve feet
above the floor is now to be seen. This gave access
to the rood-loft from one doorway to the other
across the church from north to south, immediately
in front of the chancel.

There were also discovered, buried beneath the
floor, two large sculptured blocks of stone, with
remains of the wings of angels cut out upon them.
These probably formed corbels for timbers of an
ancient roof. There were several other portions of
stone tracery and mouldings of a Decorated char-
acter and many more were to be seen built up in-
side of the walls, particularly in St Stephen's
Chapel, giving evidence of there having been a
former church of much earlier date.

There are two large corbels upon the face of the
east wall cf St Stephen's Chapel formed ap-
parently by the wall below being cut away for the
altar space immediately beneath. These corbels
correspond in both form and moulding with corbels
to be seen on the inside face of the south wall of
the tower of St Margaret's, Westminster, and
would appear to indicate that the same hands had
been engaged in the masonry of both churches,
from their style and date being nearly coeval.

The most interesting feature of the church is its
fan-groined south-western porch. There are seven-
teen carved bosses placed at the intersection of the
ribs, some consisting of angels (some with shields),
and others of wreaths of foliage, birds, knots and a
variety of devices. The small niches immediately
above the heads of the. doorway upon the inside of
the porch contain figures, one apparently that

St Sepulchre's, Holborn 3 9 1

of a male, the other of a female, but together with
the whole of the carving these were much damaged
in the Fire of 1666.

In 1880 the floor of the porch was lowered down
to its original level, the column supporting the
groin reinstated as before, and the old wrought-iron
gate lengthened and refixed. Stained glass has been
placed in the Perpendicular windows lighting the
sides.

The pinnacled tower,* of noble contour con-
tains one of the finest rings of ten bells in the
Metropolis. While they were ringing a merry peal
as the Lord Mayor's Procession passed on Novem-
ber 9, 1829, the tenor or great bell, weighing
3,300 Ib. fell out of its hangings with a most
tremendous crash into the pit beneath, to the great
alarm of the ringers who were three floors beneath.
The accident was caused by one of the gudgeons, by
which the bell was suspended, giving way owing to
their having been worn by constant friction during
a period of nearly three centuries. The crown and
upper part of the bell were completely severed
from the remaining part as if with a knife.

The pulpit of St Sepulchre's was formerly sur-
mounted by a sounding-board in the shape of a
large parabolic reflector about twelve feet in
diameter, put up during the vicariate of the Rev.
J. Natt. It was constructed of ribs of mahogany, so
arranged that the grain of the wood radiated all

*On April 10, 1600, one William Dorrington threw himself
from the roof of this tower, leaving there a written prayer for
forgiveness.

"Unreasonable people," says Howell, "are as hard to reconcile
as the vanes of St Sepulchre's tower, "which in his day never
looked all four upon one point of the heavens."

392 London Churches

ways from the centre, and the face was var-
nished.

The organ has long been famous. It was built in
1677 by Renatus Harris, and until the alterations
of 1879-80 stood in the western gallery. It was
then rebuilt by Messrs Gray and Davison and
placed in St Stephen's Chapel, the magnificent old
case being preserved, though it has lost much of the
grand effect that its elevated position imparted to it.

InNewcourt's time,* St Sepulchre's was"remark-
able for possessing an exceedingly fine organ, and
the playing is thought so beautiful that large congre-
gations are attracted, though some of the parishioners
object to the mode of performing Divine Service."

George Cooper, deputy organist of St Paul's
Cathedral under Sir John Goss and Sir John
Stainer, was organist of St Sepulchre's from 1843
till his death in 1876. His accompaniments to the
parochial psalmody were considered remarkably
fine, and many musical amateurs found their way
to St Sepulchre's on Sunday evenings to hear his
concluding voluntaries.

St Stephen's, Walbrook, internally the most
original and beautiful of the fifty parochial
churches rebuilt by Wren, is, at the same time, the
one in which the greatest deviation from the
basilican model is apparent. This is tantamount
to pronouncing it his masterpiece. Though the
steeple is graceful, the exterior of the body is un-
promising, but the interior is all elegance and even
grandeur. Never was so sweet a kernel in so rough a
shell — so rich a jewel in so poor a setting. The tame-
ness of its form, a simple cell enclosed by four
* The early part of the eighteenth century.

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St Stephen's, Walbrook 393

walls, wholly disappears behind the unique and
varied arrangement of its sixteen Corinthian col-
umns. They reproduce and unite almost every
beauty of plan to be found in all the cathedrals of
Europe. Now they form the Latin cross, with its
nave, transept and chancel; anon they divide the
whole space into five aisles, regularly diminishing
from the centre to the sides; again we perceive, in
the midst, a square apartment with recesses on all
its sides — a square, nay, an octagon — no, a circle.
It changes at every glance, as we view the enta-
blature or the arches above it, or the all-uniting
dome through which a glorious flood of light is
poured into the church. With the same harmoni-
ous variety, we have every form of ceiling brought
together at once — flat, camerated, groined, pen-
dentive, domical — yet without any confusion or
straining after effect.

The fitness of St Stephen's to its destination is
perfect; every eye can see the altar, the pulpit and
the reading desk, and every ear is within hearing of
the officiant in every part of the service.

The ensemble, as the visitor enters by the western
doorway after ascending the flight of steps within
the vestibule, bursts upon him like some wondrous
vision. Even John Carter, who was seldom disposed
to regard Wren's works favourably, admits that in
St Stephen's, Walbrook,"much novelty is on view;
embellishments, many, but not profusely distribu-
ted; judicious continuance of the plan; and lastly,
the attempt of setting up a dome, a comparative
imitation (though on a diminutive scale) of the
Pantheon at Rome (ever adulated, ever admired)
and which, no doubt, was a probationary trial

394 London Churches

previous to his gigantic operation of fixing one on
his octagonal superstructure in the centre of his
new St Paul's."

"I was desired," says John Wesley in his Diary y
under date, Monday, December 4, 1758, "to step
into the little church behind the Mansion House,
commonly called St Stephen's, Walbrook. It is
nothing grand, but neat and elegant beyond ex-
pression, so that I do not wonder at the speech of
the famous Italian architect who met Lord Bur-
lington in Italy, 'My lord, go back and see St
Stephen's in London. We have not so fine a piece
of architecture in Rome.' '

In 1 86 1 the oval windows in the north and south
aisles, and the large round-headed one at the east
end of either aisle were filled with stained glass by
Gibbs as a memorial to Dr Croly, Rector of St
Stephen's from 1835 to 1860. Dr Croly, a writer
of tragedy and comedy, an almost universal poet, a
painter of rich and glowing romance,a daring inter-
preter of the darkest mystery of the Scriptures —
the Apocalypse of St John — and an eloquent and
accomplished preacher, was as much sought after
in his day as Dale at St Bride's and St Pancras, and
Melvill at Camberwell and Lothbury. His poems
did not obtain a popularity adequate to their merit,
perhaps because he manifested but little sym-
pathy with his kind. He was grand and gorgeous,
but rarely tender and affectionate; he built a lofty
and magnificent temple, but it was too cold and
stately to be a home for the heart. His first prose
work, full of fancy and imagination, was Salathiel, a
Story of the Past, the Present and the Future. Founded
on the legend of the Wandering Jew, it is the liter-

St Stephen's, Walbrook 395

ary production by which Dr Croly' s name is best
preserved.

When, in June, 1848, Currer and Acton Bell
(Charlotte and Anne Bronte) paid their first visit
to London to prove their separate identity to their
publishers, Messrs Smith, Elder and Co., as the
authors of Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell
Hall, their wish had been to hear Dr Croly on the
Sunday morning. Mr Williams, a gentleman con-
nected with the firm of publishers alluded to,
escorted the sisters to St Stephen's, but they were
disappointed, as Dr Croly did not preach.

Here are the bust of Dr Croly, by Behnes, and
the monument to him by Birnie Philip. The
former, placed in St Stephen's in 1862, was presen-
ted to the Rector at the Mansion House shortly
before his death by the parishioners and friends as
an expression of esteem and regard, and was
bequeathed by him to the parish over which he had
been the pastor for a quarter of a century.

Sir Benjamin West's picture of "Devout Men
Carrying Stephen to his Burial," now on the wall of
the northern transept, was, until 1850, at the east
end above the altar. Some repairs taking place
about that year, the great east window was opened
out and the present stained glass by Thomas
Willement placed in it.

There is much fine wood-carving about the
pulpit, altarpiece and organ case, but the entire
removal of the old pewing and the substitution of
meagre-looking open benches is open to question.

The original organ, by Byfield, was removed in
1888 to St Bartholomew's, Smithfield, and an
entirely new instrument by Messrs Hill introduced,

396

London Churches

the old case being happily retained. This organ
was rebuilt by the same hands, and is now one
of the finest in the City. It stands at the west
end of the nave, in an apse, the radius of which
is only 8 feet II inches, and the extreme height
23 feet 2 inches. The capacity of this space is
exactly equal to that of a room 16 feet long, 15 feet
wide and lofeet 6 inches high; yet in the extremely
limited space are stored reservoir, sound-board,
console, the whole of the action and 2,002 pipes, as
well as a convenient gangway for tuning purposes.

At St Stephen's a full choral service is well
rendered by an excellent surpliced choir. That
the late Mr H. J. White, who held the post of
organist for over thirty years, was an expert in
" matters organic " is clearly proved by his
skilful design for the rebuilding of his organ,
which, containing but thirty-five sounding stops,
is a veritable multum in parvo.

In striking contrast to the church just described
is the other City church dedicated to St Stephen, in
Coleman Street, the poorest and least interesting
of all Wren's works, and remarkable only for the
curious piece of square oak carving (about 5 feet by
2-J-) in alto-relief, inserted over the gateway to the
churchyard.

It represents the Last Judgement. From the two
upper corners seems to hang a festoon of clouds,
upon which, in the centre, the Saviour is seated in
cumbrous drapery, holding the banner of Redemp-
tion in the right hand, and the orb and cross in the
left; the significant action of the Judge is, therefore,
entirely lost. He has a large beard and rough hair,
but no nimbus.

St Stephen's, Coleman Street 397

Immediately beneath the Saviour, in front of
the clouds, Satan is falling. He is represented of a
slim, human form, with hideous face, horn and
bat's wings; his feet are tied together.

The entire space below is filled with the dead —
all entirely naked — issuing from their coffins, which
are shaped like those now in use. At each end some
figures are seen issuing from caverns. The central
figures below are large, fat children; but otherwise
there is no distinction of age or sex. One angel, to
the left of the Saviour, sounds the trumpet.

There are no musical instruments nor indications
of entrance to the places of final reward. The Book
of Life also is not represented. The remaining
space within the line of clouds is filled with winged
angels, many of them exceedingly graceful, busied
in assisting the aspirants to heaven by reaching
their hands over the clouds. Many of the figures,
in their excitement, seem ready to scale the walls
of heaven, but the treatment of the whole is hardly
worthy of the subject. As a piece of carving it is
remarkably good, and superior to that over the
"Resurrection Gate" of St Giles'-in-the-Fields.*

In the old church was buried Master Antony
Munday, who wrote a continuation of Stow's
Survey, and for more than forty years arranged the
City pageants and shows.

Of this parish John Hayward was under-sexton
during the Great Plague, when he carried the dead
to their graves and fetched the bodies with the
Dead Cart and Bell, yet escaped the fearful scourge
as narrated by Defoe in his Memoirs of the Plague:

"John Hayward, at that time under-sexton of
*See vol. n, page 72.

398 London Churches

the parish of St Stephen, Coleman Street, carried
or assisted to carry all the dead to their graves,
which were buried in that large parish, and who
were carried in form, and after that form of bury-
ing was stopped, he went with the Dead Cart and
the Bell to fetch the dead bodies from the houses
where they lay and fetched many of them out of
the chambers and houses. For the parish was and is
still remarkable, particularly above all the parishes
in London, for a great number of alleys and
thoroughfares, very long, into which no carts could
come and where they were obliged to go and fetch
the bodies a very long way; which alleys now
remain to witness it; such as White's Alley, Cross
Key Court, Swan Alley, Bell Alley, White Horse
Alley and many more. Here he went with a kind of
hand barrow and laid the dead bodies on it and
carried them out to the carts; which work he
performed and never had the distemper at all, but
lived about twenty years after it and was sexton of
the parish to the time of his death."

A tablet has lately been erected in St Stephen's
by one of his descendants in America to perpetu-
ate the memory of the Rev. John Davenport,
vicar of this church from 162410 1633. Davenport
sailed from England in 1 637 in the"Hector,"and was
foremost in the founding of a colony in the New
World, in which he served as a minister for more
than thirty years. This colony was composed in
part of members of this parish, and has since
become the City of New Haven in the State of
Connecticut, U.S.A., which is the location of the
Yale University.

In designing the domed church of St Swithin,

St Swithin's, Cannon Street 399

London Stone, Cannon Street, Wren first reduced
it to a square and then, by means of attached col-
umns, covered it with a dome springing from an
octagonal architrave. In this instance, however,
the dome is not spherical, but keeps its octagonal
shape to the crown.

The interior is not very picturesque, as it was
completely spoilt in 1869 by a Mr Woodthorpe,
who, intolerant of Wren's large simple round-
headed windows, inserted mullions and tracery of
would-be early Italian Renaissance in them; and
the stained glass is equally feeble. The same
architect was responsible for the mischief at St
Mary, Aldermanbury.

The last leaf of a mouldering register records on
December I, 1663, the marriage of the poet
Dryden to the Lady Elizabeth Howard, an entry
which escaped the anxious researches of Malone.*
They were married in the old church destroyed in
the Great Fire.

London Stone is a rounded block, set in a large
stone case and built into the outer or street wall of
St Swithin's. The top is seen through an oval open-
ing. Camden considers it to have been the ancient
Milliariunij or milestone, similar to that in the
forum at Rome, from which the British highroads
radiated, and from which the distances on them
were reckoned.

"On the south side of this high street [Candle-
wick or Cannon Street] near unto the church is
pitched upright a great stone called London Stone,

*In his Prose Works, Critical and Miscellaneous of John Dryden
with notes and illustrations, and Life of the author, with selections
from his Letters, 4 vols, 8vo, 1800.

400 London Churches

fixed in the ground very deep, fastened with bars
of iron and otherwise so strongly set that if carts do
run against it through negligence the wheels be
broken and the stone itself unshaken. The cause
why this stone was set there, the time when, or
other memory hereof is none." — Stow.

Stow, as we have seen, describes London Stone
as standing on the south side of the street.* The
removal from the south side of the channel to the
north side, close to the wall and south-west door
of St Swithin's church, took place on December
13, 1742. In 1798 it was again removed, and but
for the praiseworthy interposition of Mr Thomas
Maiden, a printer in Sherbourne Lane, would, it is
said, have been destroyed. On both occasions it was
complained of as a nuisance and obstruction to the
neighbourhood.

St Vedast's, Foster Lane, off Cheapside, is the
possessor of a south-western stone tower and spire
to which allusion has been made earlier in these
pages as a charming composition of varieties — •
the square, the concave, the convex, and the
square repeated in the spiral termination, giving
hard and soft shadows most agreeably distributed.

Above the western doorway, whose tympanum
has an expressive bas-relief of Religion and Charity,
is a large square-headed window of four lights,
crossed near the top by a transom. It is quite
Jacobean, and of so pleasing a character that one
cannot help regretting Wren did not employ the
same type of window more often.

*In Strype's map of Walbrook Ward the position of the stone
on the south side of the street is distinctly laid down. See his
edition of Stow's Survey, n, 171. 1720.

St Vedast's, Foster Lane 401

The interior is somewhat injured by want of
symmetry and regularity, caused by the intrusion of
the tower, and by the introduction of a single aisle
divided from the nave by round arches on Doric
columns. Besides this, the sides of the church do
not form right angles one with another, owing
probably to the circumstance that the architect,
when rebuilding the church, used all the old walls
that were available.

There is some fine wood-carving about the
interior of St Vedast's, notably the altarpiece, and
some tolerable modern stained glass in the side
windows,* inserted when the building was quietly
and conservatively renovated and rearranged
during the rectorate of the Rev. W. Sparrow Simp-
son. On the demolition of his former church, St
Matthew's, Friday Street,f in 1880, Dr Simpson
succeeded to the cure of St Vedast's, which during
the latter part of the life of its previous rector, the
Rev. T. Pelham Dale, had been on every one's lips,
owing to the ritual persecution of that clergyman
by the " Church Association."

With the single exception of Tathwell in Lin-
colnshire, St Vedast's, Foster Lane, is the only
church in England dedicated to that Saint, who

*In 1839, when Godwin and Britton published their Churches
of London, the windows at the east end of the aisles were covered
by transparent blinds, painted to represent the Delivery of St
Peter from prison and the Transfiguration.

|The parish of St Matthew's was then united with that of St
Vedast, which after the great Fire had had two others (whose
churches were not rebuilt) amalgamated with it, viz., St Michael
le Querne and St Peter's, Cheap.

For some account of Rev. W. Sparrow Simpson see Thf
Cathedrals of England and Wales, n, 120.

1-26

402 London Churches

was Bishop of Arras in French Flanders in the
sixth century. He left his country, which is sup-
posed to have been Aquitaine, at an early age, and
led a holy life in the diocese of Toul, where he was
ordained priest by the bishop of that city. Soon
afterwards he was appointed by Clovis I, King of
France, to instruct and prepare him for baptism.
He was next consecrated Bishop of Arras by St
Remigius, Archbishop of Rheims. The diocese of
Arras, which had formerly been evangelized, had
now again become heathen, and it was with the
utmost difficulty that our Saint overcame his
people's unbelief. He succeeded, however, at last
and planted the Cross of Christ, where for a long
time naught but superstition and ignorance had
prevailed. In 510 the diocese of Cambrai was
added to his own, and the two sees for long re-
mained united. St Vedast (styled in France, St
Vaast) worked thus for nearly forty years and died
in the odour of sanctity, February 6, 539. He was
buried in his own cathedral, one of the predecessors
of a building entirely destroyed during the great
French Revolution, but rebuilt under Napoleon I.
Together with St Amandus, the Sarum Breviary
honoured St Vedast with an Office of nine les-
sons. He was chiefly noted for his patience, meek-
ness and charity, and, of course, worked several
miracles.

In Christian art St Vedast is represented as a
bishop with near him a wolf holding a goose in its
mouth, which he is legended to have rescued from it.

In his Lives of the Saints Alban Butler says our
ancestors had a particular devotion to St Vedast,
whom they called St Foster, whence descends the

St Vedast's, Foster Lane 403

family name of Foster, as Camden takes notice of in
his Remains.

Foster Lane, in which St Vedast's stands, was
originally Vedast's Lane, but became corrupted
into Foster Lane, while in many old histories of
London we find St Vedast's styled alias St Foster.
Thus in the Calendar of State Papers of Charles I
(Domestic) A.D. 1635, p. 47, is the following:
"Petition of James Batty, priest and rector of St
Vedast's, alias St Foster's, London, to Archbishop
Laud. There are many disorders and * undecencies '
among his parishioners in receiving the most
blessed Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, for want
of a frame of wood, commonly called a rail, about
the communion table, to which they may come
kneeling in most humble manner. Prays the Arch-
bishop to give order for a rail, and also for the man-
ner of setting the communion table."

Dr Simpson was most assiduous in his endeavours
to glean all the particulars he could respecting the
saint to whom his church is dedicated, and in 1894
made a special journey to Arras for this purpose.*

With regard to this, the following passage from
The Memoir of the Rev. W . Sparrow Simpson, com-
piled and edited by his son, the Rev. W. J. Sparrow
Simpson, M.A., published in 1899, may be inter-
esting:

The dream of visiting Arras was at length ful-
filled in 1894, and its fulfilment was at once a joy
and a disappointment — a joy to visit the actual

*" The History and Legend of St Vedast"originally appeared in
Transactions of the British Archaeological Association, XLIII, 56-81,
in 1887. After Dr Simpson's visit to Arras it was reprinted and
expanded to fifty pages.

404 London Churches

place of St Vedast's labour, a disappointment to
find that the saintly bishop's name had been
practically eclipsed by the more popular Joan of
Arc.

It was somewhat singular for French priests to
hear inquiries about the altar of St Vedast from a
priest of the Anglican Church whose zeal for the
Saint evidently far exceeded that which prevailed
among themselves. They mournfully confessed, " II
est tout a fait oublie." And so it was! In the shops,
the prints and figures were Joan of Arc, not St
Vedast; in his own cathedral it was she who was
commemorated in popular esteem, and not the
bishop.

"9 Amen Court,

"All Saints' Day, 1894.

"I had a grand time at Arras and opened up a
rich mine of material. The accomplished librarians
introduced me to a good copyist, who writes, not
an angular, spider-legged Frenchified hand, but a
clear, round, legible hand, with well-formed
letters. And I have given him plenty of work to do.
The matter to be transcribed is all Latin, and this
gentleman can speak Latin."

The outcome of this pilgrimage to the shrine of
St Vedast was a large, minute, exhaustive bio-
graphy, which he dedicated to Vedast's memory.

The approval which his work on St Vedast met
with was remarkable. Like so much of his work, it
was cast in a form chiefly attractive to scholars, but
it was welcomed by Roman and Anglican alike.

He valued particularly the following graceful
words from the Abbess of a Roman convent ID
England:

St Anne's, Soho 405

"... I trust that the dear Saint will reward your
labours to make him known and to restore his hon-
our by obtaining much blessing from Almighty
God on you and yours; and by coming to meet
you on the eternal shores when your labours are
ended."

The History and Legend of St Vedast was Dr
Simpson's only attempt at mediaeval biography.
"It led him quite away from his habitual studies
and into problems of a totally different kind. In
writing this work one of the chief difficulties to be
considered was a problem confronting all readers of
mediaeval history — that of ecclesiastical miracles.
He read everything that he could find bearing upon
the subject and formed his own conclusions."

As to many of the legends he says, without
hesitation, " The day has gone by when they can be
taken as veritable histories; perhaps they were never
intended to be so taken"*

I have not included the massive, though heavy,
if not dignified, St Anne's, Soho, among Sir Chris-
topher Wren's churches, as, although it has been
attributed to him by some writers, I am quite
unable to afford any confirmation that he was
engaged upon it. Regarded as an ecclesiastical
structure, little that is favourable can be said for
this church. Like certain of the City churches! St
Anne's was supposed to have been the work of that

*From the Memoir of Dr Simpson by his son; from which, as
well as from the Life and Letters of the Rev. Thos Pelham Dale, by
his daughter, 2 vols, Geo. Allen, 1894, many interesting parti-
culars relating to St Vedast's Church and parish may be gleaned.

f As, for instance, St Stephen's, Coleman Street, the nave arcade
of St Sepulchre's, Holborn, and the now demolished St Mat-
thew's, Friday Street.

406 London Churches

architect, but, for his reputation, it is to be hoped
that he had nothing to do with its erection.

From the Autobiography of Sir John Bramston,
p. 223, we learn that,"Vpon the twentie-first of the
same March, 1685-8, was the new parish church St
Anne's, Soho, consecrated by the Lord Bishop of
London, Henry Compton, a most pious prelate
and admirable governor. This parish is taken, as
was St James's, out of St Martin's-in-the-Fields, by
Act of Parliament, and the patronage thereof set-
tled in the Bishop of London and his successors.
The consecration (as was the buildinge) of it was
the more hastened, for that, by the Act of Parlia-
ment, it was to be a parish from the Lady Day next
after the consecration; and had it not been con-
secrated that day, it must have lost the benefit of a
year, for there was noe other Sunday before Our
Lady Day. But the material! parts being finished,
though all the pewes were nott sett, neither below
nor in the galleries, his lordship made no scruple of
consecrating it; yet he would be ascertained that
all the workmen were pa yd or secured their monie
and dues first, and to that end made particular
enquiries of the workmen." No architect's name is
mentioned.

In his Original Letters Illustrative of English
History (1825-27) Sir Henry Ellis gives one from
Sir John Bramston, dated April 6, 1686, containing
the following passage :

"I imagine your Countess of Dorchester [Sedley's
daughter] will speedily move hitherward, for the
house is furnishing very fine in St James's Square,
and a seat taking for her in the new consecrated St
Anne's Church."

St Anne's, Soho 407

These extracts are interesting, but they throw no
light upon the designer of St Anne's.

The tower of St Anne's, Soho, as depicted by
Cole in Maitland's History of London (1756), had
originally four angle-vases, and carried an ogee-
shaped eight-sided cupola which supported an
open octagonal lantern surmounted with a con-
caved base bearing a bulbous spire and a finial, the
whole being very similar to those seventeenth-
century steeples one encounters so frequently in
the Netherlands, North Germany, and Denmark.

These interesting features were regrettably re-
moved in 1 800 and the upper portion of the steeple
rebuilt in its present form in 1803. Malcolm in his
Londinium Redivivum assigns it to Professor Cocke-
rell, others to Henry Hake will the elder (i 77 1-1830).

In Grace's Collection is a view by Cole taken in
1754 and showing the church from the north.

The plain interior of St Anne's, with its deep
galleries and spacious apsidal sanctuary, was placed
in the hands of the late Sir Arthur Blomfield about
1865, when a chorus cantorum was formed at the
east end of the nave, and a low screen effectively
carved in a style of ornamentation founded on
early eighteenth-century examples, was erected.
Unfortunately, some obtrusive monuments have
militated against a more complete decoration of
the apse, which it should be remarked is only
visible internally, like the semicircular recesses in
the aisles of St Paul's Cathedral.

The stained glass in the east window, by Ward
and Hughes, attracted much notice in the Great
Exhibition of 1862. As a specimen of revived
Renaissance glass it is very praiseworthy.

408

London Churches

St Anne's has long been noted for the excellence
of its choral services,* principally under the late
Sir Joseph Barnby (organist from 1871 to 1875),
and Mr E. H. Thorne. During the Christmas
and Lenten seasons, Bach's Christmas Oratorio
and his Passion Music according to St John,
are given on weekday evenings and attract very
large auditories.

Here is a tablet to the memory of Theodore
Anthony Neuhoff, King of Corsica, who died in
the parish of St Anne's in 1756, soon after his
liberation from the King's Bench Prison by the
Act of Insolvency. The friend who gave shelter to
this unfortunate monarch, whom nobles could
praise when praise could not reach his ear, and who
refused to succour him in his miseries, was himself
so poor as to be unable to defray the cost of his
funeral. His remains were, therefore, about to be
interred as a parish pauper, when one John Wright,
an oilman in Compton Street, declared, he for once
would -pay the funeral expenses of a king, which he
did.

The tablet was erected by Horace Walpole, who
inscribed upon it:

The grave, great teacher to a level brings
Heroes and beggars, galley-slaves and kings;
But THEODORE this moral learn'd ere dead;
Fate poured its lesson on his living head,
Bestow'd a kingdom and denied him bread.

In the church is buried David Williams, founder
of the Literary Fund (d. 1816); and in the church-

• Dr Croft was organist of St Anne's, Soho, from 1700 to 1711,
his famous psalm-tune St Anne's being named in compliment of
that church.

St Anne's, Soho 409

yard is a headstone over the grave of William
Hazlitt (d. 1830), with a pompous inscription very
unlike the style of the writer it celebrated.

" Many parts of this parish," says Maitland in his
History and Survey of London (1756), "so greatly
abound with French, that it is an easy matter for a
stranger to imagine himself in France." This is true
of the parish a century and a half after: it is still a
petty France. The emigrants from all the Revolu-
tions have congregated hereabouts.

ADDENDA

The Founder's Tomb, and Prior Bolton's

Oriel Window in St Bartholomew

the Great, Smithfield

THE tomb of Rahere, the founder and first prior
of St Bartholomew's, stands within the eastern-
most arch on the north side of the choir.

The tabernacle work over the tomb and the
panels beneath it are of Perpendicular date.

The effigy of the founder is certainly anterior to
this, and, those who have studied the effigies of
William Longspee, Earl of Salisbury (d. 1226), in
Salisbury Cathedral, will perceive that Rahere's
figure is decidedly the earlier. The effigy was pro-
bably placed upon Rahere's tomb by Thomas or
St Osyth, his successor, Prior of St Bartholomew's
till 1 1 74. Rahere is represented with shaven crown,
and habited in the black robe of a Canon of the
Augustinian Order. At his feet a crowned angel
holds a shield bearing the arms of the priory, viz,
"gules, two lions passant guardant, with two crowns
or in chief." At each side of the prior is a small
kneeling figure of a monk reading from a book.
The effigy has well-marked features, and is certainly
a portrait of Rahere, who built the church in which
his bones still repose.

The projecting bay window, of the latest and
plainest Perpendicular architecture, above the third

412 London Churches

bay on the opposite side of the choir, was probably
built as a watching chamber for keeping guard over
the high altar, though by some antiquaries it is
considered to have been the private seat of the
prior. From the rebus of Bolton — a cross-bow
through a wine-tun, we may infer that this oriel
was the work of that ecclesiastic who ruled the
house from 1532 to 1536. It is alluded to by
Ben Jonson, "Prior Bolton, with his bolt in tun."*
There is a watching chamber in the shape of a
small oriel window of Perpendicular date, formerly
communicating with the Sacrist's lodgings in the
north choir aisle of Worcester Cathedral. From it
the high altar, and the shrines of St Oswald and
St Wulfstan could be watched. Ecclesiologists hardly
need to be reminded of the magnificent watching
chambers over against the shrines of St Frideswide
and St Alban in Oxford and St Albans Cathedrals.

The Chapel of Gray's Inn

THIS is a small, aisleless building of the late
Perpendicular Period, and not particularly
interesting architecturally. It is lighted at the sides
by poor obtuse-headed [windows of three lights, but
at the east end by a very good window of five
compartments with super-mullions.

Before the Reformation the Chapel of Gray's Inn
had a stained glass window representing St Thomas
of Canterbury, but by an order of May 1 6, 3 1 Henry

* For some of the above information I am indebted to Dr
Norman Moore of St Bartholomew's Hospital.

Addenda 413

VIII, "Consideration being had of the King's com-
mand that all images of Thomas Becket, sometime
Archbishop of Canterbury, in any windows, either of
churches or chapels, should be obliterated, it was
ordered that Ed. Hall, then one of the readers of
this house shall take out a certain window in the
chapel wherein the picture of the said Archbishop
was gloriously painted, and place another instead
thereof, in memory of our Lord praying in the
wilderness."

At the reopening of the chapel after a restoration
of its interior under the direction of Mr C. H.
Shoppee (January 28, 1894), the Bishop of Marl-
borough (Dr Earle, now Dean of Exeter), called
attention to the fad of five primates having been
students of the Inn, and an offer was made to the
Benchers by one of the barristers of Gray's Inn to
replace the Becket window.

Shortly after this a new Becket window, from the
designs of Mr Ostrehan, was inserted in the chapel.
It represents the primate as Archbishop and Lord
Chancellor. Above the figure, which occupies more
than half the space of the light, are the towers and
outline of Canterbury Cathedral, and beneath is the
scene of his martyrdom, with figures of monks en-
gaged in prayer. A suitable Latin inscription records
the removal of the old window, and its restoration
by the donor, the late Mr H. C. Richards, M.P.,
treasurer to the Inn at the time of his death.

During the late autumn of 1907 Gray's Inn

414 London Churches

Chapel was enriched with another stained glass
window, under circumstances equally interesting,
and making a notable addition to the series which
commemorates the association of Archbishop Wake,
Whitgift, Laud and Juxon, with the ancient and
honourable society. In the new window, which is
also a memorial to Mr Richards, the connexion of
Bishop Lancelot Andrewes as a student is recalled.
Mr Selwyn Image is the artist who designed the
window, which is exceedingly dignified in effect, and
shows the figure of the Bishop vested in a cope of
subdued crimson, with a cassock of ecclesiastical
purple, a rich green carpet being underfoot. In one
hand is a copy of the Holy Bible, recalling his deep
research into the Scriptures, and a reminder of his
devotional writings.

In his sermon at the dedication of this window on
Sunday, October 27, 1907, the preacher of the Inn,
the Rev. R. J. Fletcher, said it was as an example
of Christian culture that Bishop Andrewes was to
be remembered. His sermons were marked by eru-
dition and piety, seamed with humour and knowledge
of human nature, but he was wont to say if he
preached twice on a Sunday he prated once. In brief
outline, Mr Fletcher traced Andrewes' career at
Cambridge, his association with Walsingham, and
the purpose of his admission to Gray's Inn, which
was not improbably that he should use there, as he
had elsewhere, his influence to counteract the Roman
propaganda. It was here, the preacher suggested, that
his friendship with Francis Bacon began.

Addenda 415

There appears to be no record of the preachers
earlier than 1574, when Mr W. Cherke or Charke
was appointed; he was afterwards Preacher of Lin-
coln's Inn, and Fellow of Eton College.

Among those who have filled the office of Preacher
at Gray's Inn since Cherke's time may be mentioned,
Dr Roger Fenton, one of the translators of the Bible;
Dr Richard Sibbs, the celebrated Puritan, author of
The Bruised Reed; Dean Nicholas Bernard, Chaplain
to Oliver Cromwell, and one of his almoners; Dr
Wilkins, Bishop of Chester; Archbishop Wake;
Dean Robert Moss; Archdeacon Stebbing; Bishop
Walker King; Dr Matthew Ramm, Head Master
of Charterhouse School; Dr George Sheppard, an
accomplished and sound scholar, who died in 1 849 ;
and the Rev. Dr Hessey, afterwards Archdeacon of
Middlesex.

Divine Service is performed on Sundays (except
during vacation) at eleven o'clock, with services and
anthems in the cathedral manner. The choral ser-
vice was first established at Gray's Inn Chapel in
1850, Mr Turle Lee officiating for some years as
organist.

Index

Abchurch, St Mary, 348
Alban, St, Wood Street, 273
Aldermanbury, St Mary, 355
Aldermary, St Mary, 350
All Hallows, Barking, 164; Lom-
bard Street, 275; Thames
St., 342; Tottenham, 229-238
All Saints, Fulham, 212-216
All Souls, Langham Place, 22
Altarpieces, 159, 181, 184, 275,

308,321,338

Andrew, St, Holborn, 277; Un-
dershaft, 148-156; by the
Wardrobe, 285
Andrewes, Bishop, 161
Anne, St, Soho, 406
Anne and Agnes, SS., Gresham

Street, 288

Anne Queen, churches promo-
ted during reign of, 16
Archer, Thos, architect, 16
Architectural styles, nomen-
clature of, 3
Architecture, London Church,

short history of, 1-45
Augustinian Church, the, 51,

125-130

Augustine and Faith, SS., Wat-
ling Street, 289

Barbauld, Mrs, poetess,etc.,225
Barking, Abbey of, 147
Barking, All Hallows, 164
Barry, Sir Charles, architect,

26, 122, 224

Barry, E. M., architect, 121
Bartholomew-the-Great, St,

Smithneld, 4, 5 1 , 58-79
Baxter, Richard, divine, 303
Bells, 66, 163, 181, 358

Benet, St, Paul's Wharf, 290

Bethnal Green, Church Exten-
sion in, 30

Beveridge, Bishop, 381

Bishopsgate.St Ethelburga,i45 j
St Helen, 131

Blomfield, Bishop, 29; monu-
ment to in St Paul's, 214

Blomfield, SirArthur, architect.
213

Boswell, James, 306

Bow Church, 356-362

Boyce, Dr, composer, 182

Brasses, 142, 151, 165, 175, 234

Bread Street, St Mildred, 375

Brett Robert, distinguished
layman, 235

Bride, St, Fleet Street, 263, 291-
298

Bromley-by-Bow, St Leonard,
223

Burgon, Dean, 297

Burlison and Grylls, stained
glass by, 310

Butterfield, William, architect,
39, 42. 230, 235, 237

Cambridge Camden Society, 33
Cannon Street, St Swithin, 399
Carlos, E. J., antiquary, 27
Carlyle, Thos, 190
Carving in Wren's churches,

268, 276, 321, 349, 363, 396
Catherine Cree, St, Leadenhall

Street, 241-249
Ceremonies and customs, 78,

176, 245

Chapels, Royal and Private, 52
Chapel Royal, Savoy, 169; St

James, 193

London Churches

Chapel within Lambeth Palace,

4, 104; Lincoln's Inn, 249; the

Charterhouse, 252
Chapel in Ely Place, 5, in. 121
Charterhouse, the, 252
Chatterton, Thomas, 284
Cheap Church, epoch of the, 28
Chelsea, old Church of St Luke,

205, 212

Choirs, surpliced, 102
Christ Church, Newgate Street,

263, 298-304
Church Extension in Bethnal

Green, etc., 29
City Churches of Sir C. Wren, 8,

256
Clayton and Bell, stained glass

by, 107, 164, 174, 186, 354,

369

Clement, St, Danes, 304; East-
cheap, 310

Clerkenwell, crypt of St John's,

Si

Cloisters of St Bartholomew-

the-Great, 76

Coleman St., St Stephen, 396
College Hill, St Michael Royal,

373
Commissioners' churches, the,

19,24

Cowie, Rev. B. M., 333
Cowper, William, 121, 157, 192
Cox, Bishop of Ely, 113
Cripplegate, St Giles, 1 57
Croly, Dr, poet and divine, 394
Crosby Hall, 133, 143
Crosby, Sir John, 133
Crosthwaite, Rev. J. C., 364
Crusaders' effigies in Temple

Church, 87
Crypts, 79, 360
Customs and ceremonies, 78,

176, 245

Dale, Rev. Thomas, 296
Decorated Period, churches of

the, in, I2i, 125
Demolition of City Churches, 9,

14.256
De Wint, Peter, artist, 374

Dickens Charles, on the City

Churches, 10
Dollman, Francis, architect,

116
Domed churches, 348, 375, 393

398

Douglas, Bishop Gavan, 175
Dunstan-in-the-East, St, 265;

Stepney, 217-222
Durandus' Rationale, 249

Early English Period, Churches
of the, 4, 88

Early Hanoverian Period.Chur-
ches of the, 16

Early Post-Ref ormationPeriod ,
Churches of the, 8, 239-255

Early Victorian Period, Chur-
ches of the, 32

Eastcheap, St Clement, 310

Ecclesiological Revival, the, 33,
36

Edmund the King, St, Lom-
bard Street, 313

Effigies, monumental, 87, 89,
142, 155, 157, 185

Elizabeth, Queen, 113

Ely Chapel and House, 111-121

Ethelburga, St, Bishopsgate,

145
Etheldreda, St. Ely Place, 5,

Ill-Ill

Evangelical Revival, the, 33
Evelyn, John, 120, 311, 321

Fast Day Sermons, 190
Fielding, Henry, novelist, 290
Fire, the Great, 8; churches re-
built after the, 256-408
Fleet Street, St Bride, 291-298;

St Clement Danes, 304
Flitcroft, Henry, architect, 17
Fonts, 119, 218, 315, 322, 338,

344, 347. 349. 354
Foreign influence on English

Gothic, 40
Foster Lane, St Vedast, 402-

405

Fulham, All Saints, 212-216
Fuller, Thomas, historian and
divine, 171

Index

Furniture of Wren's churches,
268

Galleried churches, 278, 306

Garlick-Hythe, St James, 315

George IV. churches built in
reign of, 20

Gibbons, Grinling, wood carv-
ing by, 268, 321, 349; fonts
carved by, 322, 344

Giles, St, Cripplegate, 157-161

Goldsmith, Oliver, 103

Good Friday, Dr Johnson and,
306; custom at St Bartholo-
mew the Great, 78

Gothic churches of Wren, 15,
265, 350, 367

Gothic Revival, the, 25, 33

Gresham Street, SS., Anne and
Agnes, 288; St Laurence,

329-335
Gundulph, Bishop, 53

Hacket, Bishop, 282
Hackett, Miss Maria, 144
Hanover Chapel, 22
Harris, Renatus, organ-builder,

99, 152, 279, 332
Hart Street, StOlave, 161-163
Hatton, Sir Christopher, 113
Hawksmoor, Nicholas, archi-
tect, 1 6

Helen , St, Bishopsgate, 131-143
Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusa-
lem, 8 1

Hilton, William, artist, 374
Holborn, St Andrew, 277-285;

St Sepulchre, 385-392
Hopkins, Dr E. J., organist and

composer, 101

Home, Rev. T. Hartwell. 315
Hornsey, St Mary, 227
Howley, Archbishop, 106
Hunt, Leigh, poet and journa-
list, 24

Jackson, Rev. Thos, 167
Jacobean Period, churches of

the, 239
James, St, Garlick-Hythe, 315;

Piccadilly, 319-328

Jefferies, Lord Chief Justice,

304, 355

John, St, Chapel of, in the
Tower, 4, 53; in the Savoy,
169-176

John of Jerusalem, St, Clerken
well, 51,79

Johnson, Dr, 301, 306

Jones, Inigo, 249

Jordan, Abraham, organ-buil-
der, 338

Kingsley, Henry, novelist, 205
Knights Hospitallers, church of
the, 51, 79

Lady Chapel, St Bartholomew
the Great, 74

Lamb, Charles 285

Lambeth Palace.Chapel within,
4, 104

Lambeth, St Mary the Virgin,
199

Later Hanoverian Period, chur-
ches of the, 1 8

Laud, Archbishop, 107, 243,252

Laurence, St, Gresham Street,

329-335
Leadenhall Street, St Andrew

Undershaft, 148-156; St

Catherine Cree, 241-249
Leonard, St, Bromley-by-Bow,

223

Lincoln's Inn Chapel, 250
Lombard Street, All Hallows,

27 5 ;St Edmund, 313
Londina Illustrata, 62
London Church Architecture,

short history of, 1-45
London, mediaeval aspect of, 46
London Stone, 399
Lothbury, St Margaret, 341
Ludgate Hill, St Martin, 346
Luke, St, Chelsea, old church,

205-212; new church, 25

Macaulay, Lord, 167
Magnus, St, London Bridge
263, 335-341

London Churches

Margaret, St, Lothbury, 341;
Pattens, 344; Westminster,

176-193

Martin, St, Ludgate, 346
Mary.jSt, Abchurch, 348; Alder-

manbury, 355; Aldermary,

350; at Hill, 362; Hornsey.

227; le-Bow, 263, 356-362;

Overy, 4, 50; Somerhythe,

365; Stoke Newington, 223;

Stratford-le-Bow, 222
Mary, the Virgin, St, Lambeth,

199; Putney, 216
Mediaeval London, aspect of, 46
Mediaeval Remains, 4, 49, 387-

390

Melvill, Rev. Henry, 30
Mendelssohn, Felix, 299, 383
Metropolis Churches Fund , 29
Metropolitan Improvements, 20
Michael, St, Cornhill, 365-373;

Paternoster Royal, 373
Middlesex, ancient churches of,

6

Milbourne, Rev. Luke, 148
Mildred, St, Bread Street, 375
"Million Act," churches built

under the, 19, 24
Milton John, 157, 189, 295
Monuments, 87, 89, 142, 155,

157. !63. 185, 206, 212, 214,

221, 225, 234, 254, 408

Montaigne, Archbishop, 250
More, Sir Thomas, 206
Moore, Tom, 228
Musical Associations of London
Churches, 101, 144, 166, 192,

Nash, John, architect, 20
Newgate Street, Christ Church,

298-304

Nicholas, St, Cole Abbey, 376
Norman Period, churches of

the. 4, S3, 57

Olave, St, Hart Street, 161-164

Organists and composers, 101,

144, 153, 166, 192, 197, 280,

297, 323, 333. 340.37L 383.
392, 408

Organs and organ cases, 99,137,
152, 191, 219, 252, 279, 299,
323. 331, 338, 382, 392. 395

Oxford Movement, the, 33

Paintings and Pictures, 93, 125,
I5L 159. 175, 194. 308, 324,
33L 349, 374. 395
Pancras, St, 23
Parker, Archbishop, 108
"Parliamentary" churches, 19,

24

Parr, Rev. Dr, 301
Parvise porches, 231, 388
Paul's Wharf, St Benet. 290
Pearson, Bishop of Chester, 311
Pepys, Samuel, 162, 250
Perpendicular Period, churches
of the, 5, 131, 145, 148, 157,
161, 164, 167, 169, 176, 212,

2l6, 217, 222, 278, 388

Peter, St. ad Vincula, 167;

Cornhill, 377-385
Philip, St, Regent Street, 22
Piccadilly, St James, 319-328
Pietas Londiniensis, 152, 280
Plans of Wren's churches, 265
Poe, Edgar Allan, poet and

novelist, 225

Porches, 96, 231, 388, 390
Prices, the, glass painters, 280
Private Chapels, 52
Pugin, A.W., architect, 35 ,37, 47
Putney, St Mary-the- Virgin,

216
Rahere, 58; tomb of, in St

Bartholomew-the-Great ,note

to Vol. I

Recastings of churches, 270
Reformation, the, influence of

on church architecture, 239
Renaissance, the, 8, 15, 243
Reredoses and altarpieces, 1 59,

181, 184
Restoration, churches built

after the, 256-408
Resurrection gateway, 396
Revival, the Gothic, 25, 33
Rich, Sir Richard, 61, 74, 76
Richardson, Samuel, novelist,

294

Index

Robinson, Bishop of London,

138
Rogers, W. Gibbs, wood-carver,

363

Rogers, Samuel, poet, 228

Romaine, Rev. W., 286

Rood Lane, St Margaret Pat-
tens, 344

Roof and wall painting, 93, 125,

151. 194
"Round," the, of the Temple

Church, 84
Ruskin, John, 40

Sacheverell, Dr, 279, 281, 283
Savage, Richard, poet, 283
Saviour's, St, Cathedral, 4, 50
Savoy, Chapel of St John in the,

169-176
Schmidt or Smith, Father,

organ-builder, 99, 279, 382
Scott, Sir Gilbert, architect, 36,

42, 368

Screens, 341, 381
Sepulchre, St, Holbora, 385-

392
Seventeenth century, churches

of the, 239

Simpson, Rev. W. Sparrow, 403
Slater and Lewis, architects, 62
Smithfield, St Bartholomew-

the-Great, 57
Soho, St Anne, 406
Somerhythe, St Mary, 365
Southwark, St Saviour's Cathe-
dral, 4, 50

Spectator, The, 221, 317
Spital Sermons, 301
Stained glass, 94, 107, 117, 138,

146, 150, 174, 182, 184, 186,

200, 233, 243, 251, 280, 313,

321,354,369, 394
Stalls, 139

Steele, Sir Richard, 221, 317
Steelyard, the, 341
Steeples of Sir C. Wren, 9, 261,

291. 316, 335, 356, 367, 374.

380
Stephen, St, Coleman Street,

396; Walbrook, 392-396

Stephen's, St, Chapel, West-
minster, 121-125

Stepney, St Dunstan, 217-222

Stoke Newington, St Mary, 223

Stow, John, historian, 58, 129,
149. 155. 399

Stratford-le-Bow, St Mary, 222

Street, G. E., architect, 42

Styles, architectural, 3

Sutton, Thomas, 254

Swithin, St, Cannon Street, 399

Sword-holders, 141, 354

Temple Church, the, 4, 50, 81-

104
Terrick, Bishop of London, 215,

287
Teulon, S. S., architect, 278,

282

Thirlby, Bishop, 8, 201
Tombs, 87, 89, 142, 155, 168,

20 1, 204, 221
Tottenham, All Hallows, 229-

238
Tower, Chapel of St John in the,

53

Tower Street, All Hallows, 164
Tractarian Movement, the, 33
Transition Period, work of the,

4,83

Undershaft, St Andrew, 148-
156

Vedast, St, Foster Lane, 263,
400-405

Wadmore, Mr, architect, 136.

138, 140

Walbrook, St Stephen, 392
Wall and roof -pain ting, 93, 125,

IS*. 194

Wardrobe, St Andrew, 285
Watling Street, SS. Augustine

and Faith, 289
Webb, Sir Aston, architect, 64,

66,74

Wesley, John, 78, 277, 394
West/Bishop of Ely, 216

London Churches

Westminster, St James, 319; Winston, Wm, artist in stained

StMargaret.i76; St Stephen's glass, 95

Chapel, liV Wood -carving, 268, 276, 363

Westminster Abbey, 4 Wood Street, St Alban, 273

Westminster, Bishopric of, 201 Worgan, Dr, organist and com-

Whitaker, John, organist and poser, 153

composer, 312 Wren, Sir Christopher, 8, 15,

Whittington, Sir Richard, 373 256-274, 352
Willement, Thomas, stained

glass by, 94, 174